Beck distorts Wallis' comments to claim he is a “Marxist”

Written by Tom Allison

Published

During the March 23 edition of his Fox News show, Glenn 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.” In fact, Wallis recounted discussing with Day their “conversion” from “secular radicalism and Marxism to Jesus Christ.”

Beck: “Surely the president couldn't have yet another Marxist for a spiritual adviser.” During his show, Beck said: “Surely, the president couldn't have yet another Marxist for a spiritual adviser. Didn't he just leave one?” He then played a portion of Wallis' January 21 interview on Chicago radio station WBEZ in which Wallis discussed meeting Dorothy Day, a Catholic activist who co-founded the Catholic Worker movement in 1933. Beck played a clip of Wallis saying, “And I'm in the parlor of the Catholic Worker, and in walks the great lady. Dorothy wrote a book about her life called Love Is the Measure, but she wasn't ever soft. Very tough. 'So, you were a radical student like me, right?' 'Yeah.' 'You were a Marxist like me, right?' 'Yeah.' ”

After playing the segment, Beck said: “So, how does Reverend Wallis explain all of this to Barack Obama? I don't think he has to. They're on the exact same spread-the-wealth page.”

Wallis was actually discussing with Day their “conversion” from “secular radicalism and Marxism to Jesus Christ.” In a March 24 blog post, Wallis discussed retelling the story of his first meeting with Day. Wallis included an extended portion of his WBEZ interview and wrote of Beck:

Beck recounted a conversation I had with Dorothy as a new young convert to Christianity. She was in her eighties and asked me if I had been a radical student in my early years as she had been. “Yeah,” Beck recorded me saying. And if I had been attracted to Marxism, as she had. “Yeah” I said again. Gotcha! Beck said. They're both Marxists! What he left out was the next lines of our conversation that I still remember and, of course, were on the same tape he abruptly cut off. “And now, you're a Catholic?” Dorothy Day asked me. “Well, now I'm a Christian,” I said. “You're not a Catholic?” she chided. I lamely responded that “some of my best friends” were Catholic, and Dorothy smiled. We were sharing our conversion stories from secular radicalism and Marxism to Jesus Christ and his gospel of love and justice. Glenn Beck just left that part out, as he often leaves stuff out or just makes up stuff and puts it in.