In a January 2009 promo for his Fox News show shortly before it debuted, Glenn Beck claimed that he was “tired of the politics of left and right. It's about right and wrong. We argue back and forth -- 'If you haven't voted for the donkey, you're just a hatemonger.' The other side -- 'Oh, those donkeys trying to turn us into communist Russia.' Stop!” But despite this professed disgust with communist name-calling, Beck proceeded to use his Fox News show to relentlessly smear people and groups as Communists, Marxists, and Socialists.
Seeing Red: After Decrying Communist Name-Calling, Beck Repeatedly Smeared His Opponents As Communists
Published
In January '09 Promo For His Then-Upcoming Fox Show, Beck Decried Communist Name-Calling
Beck Decried Communist Name-Calling In Promo For His Fox Show Shortly Before It Debuted. In a January 2009 promotion for his then-upcoming Fox News program, Beck claimed: “I'm tired of the politics of left and right. It's about right and wrong. We argue back and forth -- 'If you haven't voted for the donkey, you're just a hatemonger.' The other side -- 'Oh, those donkeys trying to turn us into communist Russia.' Stop!”
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But Beck Quickly Began Smearing Numerous People And Organizations As Communists, Socialists, And Marxists
The following is an extensive list of instances in which Glenn Beck baselessly smeared opponents of his beliefs as Communists, Socialists, or Marxists.
Beck: “The President Is A Marxist” Who Is “Setting Up A Class System.” On the July 17, 2009, edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck, Fox Business contributor Charles Payne claimed, "[T]he president has a real fixation against rich -- people being rich." Beck “translate[d]” Payne's comment by saying, “The president is a Marxist.” Beck later claimed: “I think that we are setting up a class system. If you're Ted Kennedy, you're rich, you're powerful already. This is -- this is what de Tocqueville talked about in Democracy in America.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 7/17/09, via Media Matters]
Beck: Obama “Is So Clearly” A Socialist: “He's Surrounded Himself With Marxists His Whole Life.” Appearing as a guest on the March 9, 2009, edition of Fox News' Your World, Beck responded to host Neil Cavuto's statement that Beck “started” the accusations of socialism against the president by claiming Obama is “so clearly a socialist” because “he's surrounded himself with Marxists his whole life.” [Fox News, Your World, 3/9/09 via Media Matters]
More on Beck calling Obama and his family Communists and Socialists:
Beck Suggests Obama Has "Big-Government, Socialist, Or -- Dare I Say It -- Thug-Like Tendencies" [4/26/11]
Beck Accuses Soros, Tides And Obama Of Conspiring To Start A Czech-Style Communist Revolution [11/29/10]
Beck: "I Can Not Believe I Live In A Country" Where “300 Communist" Groups “Endorsed By The President" Meet On The Mall [10/5/10]
Beck: Obama And Congress Are Running The Country "With The Advice And Counsel ... Of The Communist Party USA" [10/4/10]
Beck Traces Obama's "Yes We Can" Chant To Communist Party USA [9/28/10]
Beck Continues His Ceaseless Attacks On Obama's Family, Again Smearing His Parents As Communists" [7/29/10]
Beck Criticizes The Media For Failing To Report That Obama's Mom Was "A Little Red Girl -- A Communist" [7/20/10]
Beck Claims "Many Of The People That Are In And Around This President And This White House Are Going For" A "Marxist Utopia" In The U.S. [7/9/10]
Beck Pushes Bogus "Evidence Of Socialism" In Obama's Policies [4/6/10]
Progressives
Beck: The “End Of The Progressive Road” Is “Nazis Or Communists.” On the March 1, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck claimed that moderate progressives are “moving toward” the fringe of the ideology, adding that “progressives know what's at the end of the progressive road, whether it's Nazis or Communists, someone has to control your life, someone will be at the controls.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 6/27/10, via Media Matters]
Beck: “What I Would Call Socialist Or Communist, They'll Call Just Social Justice Or Progressive.” On the January 4, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck said: “What I would call socialist or communist, they'll call just social justice or progressive. That is critical to understand, because it really is what helps these people sleep at night, and what's allowing them to get away with it.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 1/4/10, via Media Matters]
More on Beck calling progressives Communists and Marxists:
Again Flogging Stern's "Workers Of The World Unite" Remarks, Beck Claims "Global Marxism" And "Redistribution Of Wealth" Are Coming [11/19/09]
Democrats
Beck: Dems Are Aligned With “Socialist, Marxist, [And] Communist Revolutionaries.” On the April 25, edition of his show, Beck claimed to be from “a long line of lifelong Democrats” but added that “none of them would stand with the Socialist, Marxist, or Communist revolutionaries that the Democrats today have aligned themselves with.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 4/25/11]
More on Beck calling Democrats Communists, Marxists, and Socialists:
Beck: Democrats “Are Controlled By Radicals And Revolutionaries -- Communists” [11/16/10]
Beck: If Health Care Passes, "Don't We Lose Really The Democratic Party To The Socialists?" [3/19/10]
False Advertising: Beck Show Promo Denounced Calling Dems Communists, But He Often Does That On His Show [3/5/09]
Nancy Pelosi
Beck: “Comrade Pelosi” Knows “How Desperate The Situation Is For The Americans.” On a “Comrade Update” segment in his February 5, 2009, show, Beck, delivering a mock speech to communist “comrades” to the strains of the Soviet national anthem, said: “Comrades, today I bring you good news from the western front. Our fearless leader of the American swine say their country will never recover if the stimulus doesn't pass quickly ... You and I both know how desperate the situation is for the Americans. Yes. And thankfully, our good friend Comrade Pelosi does as well.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 2/5/09, via Media Matters]
George Soros
Beck: Soros Making Argument “For Scrapping The Free Market In Favor Of Failed Socialist Or Marxist Policies.” On the October 20, 2010, edition of his show, Beck quoted George Soros saying that "[t]he gap between the rich and the poor continues to grow" and claimed it was “the argument ... for scrapping the free market in favor of failed socialist or Marxist policies.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 10/20/10, via Media Matters]
More on Beck calling George Soros a Communist and Socialist:
Beck Accuses Soros, Tides And Obama Of Conspiring To Start A Czech-Style Communist Revolution [11/29/10]
Soros "Attended The Fabian Socialist London School Of Economics" [11/9/10]
Van Jones
Beck Complained No Reporters Will Ask “Van Jones If He Is Still A Communist.” On the March 1, 2010, edition of his show, Beck said: “Have you noticed, while on this rehab tour, no one is asking Van Jones if he is still a communist? No one will ask him if he has rejected communism and rejected Marxism and if he now believes in the free market system. Because he has said in the past that the free market system doesn't work.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 3/1/10]
Beck On Van Jones: "[D]o We Want Communists ... As Special Advisers To The President?" On the September 1, 2009, edition of his show, Beck played a clip of Van Jones and asked, "[D]o we want communists in the United States government as special advisers to the president? To be honest with you, and maybe it's just me, I don't even want communists having lunch with our president." [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 9/1/09 via Media Matters]
More on Beck calling Van Jones a Communist and Marxist:
Beck: Van Jones Is "A Radical, Revolutionary Communist That Doesn't Like Cops" [3/3/11]
Beck: "Don't Expect The White House To Apologize For Hiring A Self-Avowed Communist, Green Jobs Czar Van Jones" [8/31/09]
Beck: Van Jones' Place In The Administration Shows Obama's Agenda Is “Radical, Revolutionary, And In Some Cases, Marxist" [9/3/09]
Beck: Van Jones Is "A Committed Communist Revolutionary," Who "Loves Mao" [10/15/09]
Anita Dunn
Beck: Dunn Is a “Revolutionar[y] Who Idoliz[es] Mao.” On the October 15, 2009, edition of his show, Beck played footage of former White House communications director Anita Dunn saying two of her “favorite political philosophers” were Mao Tzetong and Mother Theresa and claimed, “We're not just talking about progressives now, we're talking about revolutionaries that idolize Mao.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 10/15/09 via Media Matters]
More on Beck calling Anita Dunn Communist and Marxist:
Beck Repeats His Debunked Smear Of Anita Dunn As A Mao Sympathizer [2/3/11]
Beck Cropped Dunn Quote To Falsely Claim She Said Mao Was "The Man She Turns To Most" [10/19/09]
Shirley Sherrod
Beck Suggested Sherrod Should've Been Made A “Czar” Because “She Fits In With All You Maoists.” On the July 20, 2010, edition of his show, Beck stated that former Agricultural Department official Shirley Sherrod should have been made a “czar” because “she fits in” with the “Maoists” in the Obama administration. [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 7/20/10, via Media Matters]
Jim Wallis
Beck Distorted Wallis' Comments To Claim He Is A “Marxist.” During the March 23, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck distorted a segment of an interview in which Rev. Jim Wallis discussed meeting activist Dorothy Day to claim that Wallis admitted he was a “Marxist.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 3/23/10, via Media Matters]
For the truth about Rev. Jim Wallis, SEE HERE.
Reverend Al Sharpton
Beck Twisted Sharpton's Comments To Claim “Progressives Are Revealing Themselves” As Socialists. After Rev. Al Sharpton appeared on Fox News and said that “the American public overwhelmingly voted for socialism when they elected President Obama,” Beck responded on the March 22, 2010, edition of his show by claiming, “The mask is coming off. This is good news. Progressives are revealing themselves.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 3/22/10, via Media Matters]
For the truth about Rev. Sharpton's comments, SEE HERE
Unions/Union Leaders
Beck Explained Conspiracy Theory About Egypt Protests With Red-Baiting Union Smears. On the February 7 edition of his show, Beck explained his theory about the protests in Egypt by attacking labor unions. He said that “powerful” unions “led by communists” want to “end the Western way of life as you and I understand it” and later claimed that unions are working to “help stomp out the free market and capitalism,” which is “why they're rushing in to support the democratic revolution in Egypt.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 2/8/11, via Media Matters]
More on Beck calling unions and union leaders communist and socialist:
Beck: Unions Are Just Plain Old Communism [2/17/11]
Beck: "Powerful" Unions That Are "Led By Communists" Want To "End The Western Way Of Life As You And I Understand It" [2/7/11]
AFL-CIO
Modern-Day McCarthy: Beck Uses Flimsy Evidence To Attack AFL-CIO's Trumka As “In Bed With” Communists. On the November 15, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck attacked the AFL-CIO and its president, Richard Trumka, claiming that the “Communist Party USA is admitting to the party's working relationship with Richard Trumka ... and the AFL-CIO.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 11/15/10, via Media Matters]
For the truth about the AFL-CIO and Trumka, SEE HERE
SEIU
Beck Tried To Connect WI Protests To Communists, Egypt Revolutionaries. On the February 23 edition of his show, Beck tried to link the protests in Wisconsin, which were held in response to anti-union legislation, to Communist groups as well as the anti-government protests in the Middle East. He claimed that a number of “groups[s] on the left” backing the Wisconsin protests -- including SEIU, AFL-CIO, and MoveOn.org -- “were standing with Communists” at a previous rally, the One Nation Rally, held in October 2010 in Washington, D.C. [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 2/23/11, via Media Matters]
More on Beck calling SEIU communist:
Beck Suggests SEIU's Stern A Communist Because He Said "Workers Of The World, Unite" [11/16/09]
Beck: “Socialist[s]” And “Communist[s]” Are “Working In Egypt” With The “Help Of Google.” On the February 11 edition of his show, Beck claimed the media is “completely oblivious to the fact that socialist, communist and extreme Islamicists all working in Egypt to bring this about, along with the amazing technology and help of Google.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 2/11/11, accessed via Nexis]
Teachers/Education
Beck: Posters For Protests Against Education Cuts “Look Eerily Reminiscent Of Communist Propaganda.” On the March 5, 2010, edition of his show, Beck claimed that posters advertising for protests against education cuts looked “eerily reminiscent of communist propaganda.” [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 3/5/10, via Media Matters]
TSA
Beck: TSA May Be Using Full-Body Scanners To Precipitate A Communist Revolution. On the November 18, 2010, edition of Fox Business' Freedom Watch, Beck told host Andrew Napolitano that one reason the Transportation Security Authority (TSA) began using full-body scanners was to spark a communist revolution, saying: “It's bottom up, top down, inside out that Van Jones talked about, and the way the Czechoslovakian revolution happened in '46. That is what's happening here. Get the people to rise up so the top can come down and squelch it.” [Fox Business, Freedom Watch, 11/18/10, via Media Matters]
Media Matters for America intern Jessica Torres contributed to this item.