In Wake Of Arizona Shooting, Beck Backs Off Claim That Obama Wants Him Dead

Responding to criticism of violent political rhetoric in the wake of the tragic shooting in Arizona, Glenn Beck ridiculed the notion that “spirited debate” leads to violence, asking rhetorically whether, because he is “enemy number one of Barack Obama,” the president “wants me dead.” In fact, Beck has a long history of suggesting just that.

Beck: “I'm Enemy Number One. Do You Hear Me Whining About It? No.”

Beck Dismisses Idea That Obama Wants Him Dead. From the January 11 edition of Beck's radio show:

BECK: Sixty percent of Americans say the rhetoric in America has nothing to do with the shooting. It's -- it's quite honestly an abomination that it's only 60 percent of the American people. I don't understand how rhetoric had anything to do with it. It's -- there is zero evidence. And since when -- since when has a spirited debate -- I can be, and believe me I know I'm enemy number one of Barack Obama. Do I -- do I think that he wants to kill me? He wants me dead?

Lemme - lemme say this. I know when it comes to Richard Trumka, a -- a thug in the unions. When it comes to what's his name, from SEIU?

PAT GRAY (co-host): Uh, Andy Stern.

BECK: Andy Stern. Andy Stern. A guy who says 'we're going to use the power of persuasion, and if that doesn't work we're using the persuasion of power.' He's a thug. I'm enemy number one. I'm enemy number one. Do you hear me whining about it? No. If you're in the game, you're in the game. You roll up your sleeves. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 1/11/11]

“I'd Better Start Wearing A Vest”: Beck's History Of Suggesting Obama Wants To “Destroy” Him

August 24, 2009: Beck Claims There Is “Evil At Play” In Obama Admin., But He Is “On To Them,” Adds “You May Not Save My Life, But You Will Be Responsible In Saving The Republic.” From the August 24, 2009, edition of The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: We already -- you can take CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN, combine them, and I still beat them with a lot of ratings left over. We can beat -- we beat on a regular basis, if I'm not mistaken, Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann combined.

GRAY: Oh yeah.

STU BURGUIERE (producer): That's confirmed, Glenn.

BECK: Thank you. It's not -- It's not about ratings. However, it is about ratings for me in this one sense: I need to know that you know this information. I need to know that you are passing this information on. I look at you as a vault of information.

The other -- and I don't hold out much hope for this -- is that if the ratings are big enough, maybe, maybe others will start to go down this path. There needs to be a -- a shift, and I will tell you on Wednesday -- I think it's on Wednesday's show, is it Wednesday or Thursday? -- we're doing free speech on the ropes, and I will show you how they are going to dismantle this and shut you up, and shut me up, and shut all of us up. And unless people understand what's being done, unless people understand what's being built -- and I'm not even sure what's being built, I just know that something is being built. And the czars are part of it. And there is -- quite honestly, I believe there is evil at play.

Unless you know, unless you're questioning, unless you come to these town hall meetings armed with something, you're too easily dismissed. And I will tell you this, as the -- as the light grows lighter, so do the shadows. By arming you every day, by arming you not with guns, but with facts, and you walking into these places armed with facts -- the biggest stick you can carry -- the opposition on me is growing stronger and stronger, which means one thing. They don't -- you -- you dismiss idiots. You just let the idiot -- he'll burn himself out.' You have to destroy people who are on to you. I'm on to 'em and it's driving 'em crazy, and they're doing everything they can to put a stop to it. What they don't understand is, I got you. You may not save my life, but you will be responsible in saving the republic. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 8/24/09; emphasis added]

January 28, 2010: Beck Says Obama “Made An Enemies List Last Night,” Suggests Obama's “TV Pundits” Comment Was About Him. From the January 28, 2010, edition of The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: He also said that he is tired of TV pundits who are making a joke out of everything. Well now let's see, who could those TV pundits be? You think it's the guy - you think he was talking about the guy who forgot that he was black last night for an hour? You think that's who he was talking about?

Barack Obama, just mention us by name from here on out. You know why he won't? Because it would make us more powerful. So he'll just allude to us. The only name -- in fact in Congress they actually refer to me - we have two senators who have referred to me on the floor in Congress as “He Who Shall Not Be Named.” He made an enemies list last night. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 1/28/10]

February 16, 2010: Beck: “I'd Better Start Wearing A Vest” Because WH Promises More Aggressive Response To GOP Attacks. From the February 16, 2010, edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: Second, the White House advisers promise a quicker, more aggressive response to GOP attacks on the president and his policies. Well, looks like I better start wearing a vest. They noted that the White House advisors have pushed back hard against Republican accusations that the FBI mishandled interrogation of the man accused of trying to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day as Biden did on Sunday. Oh good, so they're going to unleash Biden. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 2/16/10]

March 23, 2010: Beck Suggests Obama Administration “Coming After Him” And May Kill Him. From the March 23, 2010, edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: This is why you must be careful. Jesus preached many things, but he never preached Marxism. If you voluntarily want to live in a commune, I can see Jesus saying, “That's cool. It's cool with me.”

But I never heard him say, “Take from someone and give it to someone else.” In fact, I'm pretty sure we got that tip, not just from Jesus, but also from the original Jewish religious leader, Moses. “Thou shall not steal, thou shall not covet.” I want what they have.

And for those who say, somehow or another, that I am distorting the socialist view of social justice -- oh my goodness. “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy brother.” Holy cow, you've broken three commandments, three of them. Three of them all in one principle. That's amazing.

And for those of you in the administration who are coming after me on this one -- I mean, remember, you've broken three, let's not make it four. “Thou shall not kill.” Back in a minute. [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 3/23/10; emphasis added]

April 9, 2010: Beck Claims He's Been “Targeted By Those Who Are In The Oval Office With The President.” From the April 9, 2010, edition of The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: Let me ask you this: You know they have Van Jones' organization leading a boycott against me. You have Jim Wallis who is leading a boycott against me - an advisor, political and spiritual adviser of the president of the United States. You have Andy Stern and SEIU leading a boycott against me now. You have the labor union, AFL-CIO saying that they're going to take me on as well. I don't believe that there has ever been a time in American history where someone has been targeted by those who are in the Oval Office with the president. I don't believe this has ever happened before. And they are - they are calling me and the Tea Partiers violent, et cetera et cetera. and they are spreading vicious, vicious lies. Um, A, have you seen this happen before?

ANDREW BREITBART: No, no, no. Ha, no, no, no. This is really very, very bad what they're doing out here. They're trying to find any schism that they can get, they're trying to find any supporters they can, and the ends justify the means. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 4/9/10]

May 21, 2010: On O'Reilly Factor, Beck Suggests White House Involved In Conspiracy To “Destroy” Him. From the May 21, 2010, edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: But that's why it's not a joke. That's why it's not a joke. Because if [Rep. Anthony] Weiner -- if Weiner is working with people in Congress or in the White House to try to destroy you, that's not a joke, Beck. Then I have to get involved and defend you.

BECK: Wait a minute. Hold it, hold it. Hang on just a second. Thank you.

O'REILLY: You're welcome.

BECK: Here's the thing. So it wasn't a joke when Jim Wallis, the spiritual and political adviser of President Barack Obama, is boycotting me. Leading a boycott. Leading a --

O'REILLY: Nobody knows who he is, though.

BECK: He is a spiritual and political adviser --

O'REILLY: Yeah, but nobody knows. Nobody cares.

BECK: He's meeting with the president. Then you have Andy Stern, SEIU.

O'REILLY: Yeah.

BECK: SEIU leading a boycott, trying to put me out of business. Huh. There's two people that are targets of mine. Van Jones, his organization leading a boycott.

You have AFL-CIO president of -- what's his name, Trumka -- coming out and saying, “We're going to do something about the Beck problem.” Really? And now Weiner. Please call me to testify, please? Please. I will be so respectful.

O'REILLY: Of all those people -- of all those people, Weiner -- Weiner is the one you should take seriously. The others are, you know. [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 5/21/10]

May 24, 2010: Beck Says The White House Is “Trying To Make A Lesson Out Of Me.” On the May 24, 2010, edition of The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: There is a problem with the truth. There is an absolute problem with the truth. There's nobody telling it -- very few. And those -- I think there are a lot of members of the media that want to but for some reason or another are not. And whether that's, you know, get along to get along, you don't know what the future holds, am I on the right side? Am I on the wrong side? What are the corporations saying?

I mean, there's -- there's something to be said when you don't think that them -- that SEIU, Van Jones, Jim Wallis, and now a Weiner investigation --

BURGUIERE: Weinergate?

BECK: -- yeah, Weinergate -- on my sponsors, you don't think that that's a message just meant for me, do you? That's a message meant for everybody in the press. Don't screw with us. Don't screw with us. Remember what they said. Remember when they came out against Fox; they said we don't recommend that you treat them -- we're not going to treat them like a legitimate news source, and we recommend that you don't either. Well, now that didn't work. So instead of just coming out and saying it, you nudge people. That's what's happening. They're nudging people. They are trying to make a lesson out of me. You will be a pariah. We'll destroy you.

[...]

They get you by isolating everything, by separating everything. It's not. These are not isolated incidents. These are -- these are coordinated. They're all coordinated. And I believe the Center for American Progress is, you know, the star chamber, if you want to call it that. It's the doom bunker. It's where it all comes from. Center for American Progress, period.

Now, where did Weiner come from? What are his connections to Center for American Progress? I know that his -- what is it, his assistant works for or used to work for Media Matters?

BURGUIERE: I guess his press secretary or something.

BECK: His press secretary used to work for Media Matters. Well, who started this thing? Media Matters. Coincidence? Really? I mean, it's just -- come on. It's ridiculous. It's laughable, and that's why we're treating it like a big wiener investigation. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 5/24/10]

May 24, 2010: Beck Says White House “Strateg[y]” To “Take ... Out” Fox Hosts “One At A Time” Is Worse Than “The Nixon Enemy List” From the May 24, 2010, edition of Fox Business' America's Nightly Scoreboard:

BECK: Look, I have -- David, I have -- I have Van Jones leading a boycott against me. I have Jim Wallis, the president's spiritual and political adviser, leading a boycott against me. I have SEIU and Andy Stern -- SEIU, most frequent guest in the White House -- Andy Stern, also an adviser. I have AFL-CIO, Richard Trumka giving a speech at Harvard saying we're going to do something about this Glenn Beck stuff. I mean, he's [Weiner] just the fifth. His assistant was the PR director, I think, or the spokesperson for Media Matters.

DAVID ASMAN (host): Oh, that's a coincidence.

BECK: I mean, you've got the same -- you've got the same people. An hour after he held this press conference, he was at the White House.

ASMAN: Is the White House directing his attack?

BECK: I don't know. I don't know.

ASMAN: What do you think?

BECK: Well, seeing that we already have three people already doing it directly related to the president of the United States, I don't think it's that much of a stretch to think that Weiner might be doing it.

[...]

BECK: Polarize that individual and make that individual toxic. That's not coming after all of Fox, because that wakes everybody up. Do it small. Take them out one at a time. I'm just the first. And if you take me out, then what happens? Does [Bill] O'Reilly go? Does Sean [Hannity] go? Do you go? And once they clean this place out, then who goes? Is it Diane Sawyer? Is it [George] Stephanopoulos? Who is it? Who's next? I mean, it's -- I've never seen anything like it before. This, this -- the Nixon enemy list? Please. This is nothing like that. This is targeting and destroying. [Fox Business, America's Nightly Scoreboard, 5/24/10]