Beck claims: “I'm not telling you who to vote for”

Beck repeatedly claimed that he never endorses candidates. On November 30, 2009, Beck claimed: “I just gave an interview just the other day, where people said 'so you're going to be endorsing candidates?' I said not over -- not on -- over my dead body will I be endorsing candidates.” Since then, Beck has claimed: “I don't ever endorse anybody. Nor do I want to. I'll tell you what I think about individuals, but I don't endorse them. I don't lend my credibility to anybody. I struggle to keep my credibility with myself.”

Beck: “I don't want to tell who to vote for.” From the September 20 edition of his Fox News show (emphasis added):

BECK: Well, what's the solution? Well, the immediate thing you can do is vote. You are the last line of defense -- and our founders knew. Our founders that, in the end, our branches of government would fail and the last line of defense would be you.

But here's the problem. Our turn-out is pathetic. Now, I don't want to tell who to vote for. I don't even know the candidates. Sean covers the candidates. I don't.

Beck: “I'm not telling you who to vote for.” And on his Fox News television show on September 30, Beck claimed (emphasis added):

BECK: We are facing the worst threat. We may stand in line for 20 minutes with someone trying to sell you Amway products, or I don't know, you know, somebody is like, I got to tell you some -- you know. But nobody has threatened our lives. Have you called your neighbor yet? Have you volunteered at a nursing home or a community center to help people get registered and tell people to vote? I'm not telling you who to vote for. I have don't care if it's a Republican or a Democrat or an Independent. Find someone who you believe more than the other.

Beck has made clear to his radio audience who he thinks they should support or oppose

Beck: “Do not vote for Dick Blumenthal.” Discussing the Connecticut senate race, Beck stated on October 25: “Do not vote for Dick Blumenthal. That's the one thing I do know. I know who this guy is. This guy is a guy who -- I mean, he's the chief law enforcement officer and he'll just disregard the law.” He later added that all he “need[ed] to know” about Blumenthal's opponent Linda McMahon was that “she's not Dick Blumenthal.” Beck previously said on September 16 that he “just might have to” leave Connecticut “if Blumenthal becomes the senate -- the senator from Connecticut. Richard Blumenthal, there's something wrong with this guy.”

Beck: Whitman is “not Jerry Brown. I mean what part of this don't we understand?” On October 25, Beck also said: “Let's try California. You've got Jerry Brown. Jerry Brown. Now, what's her face. Meg Whitman, she seems like a delightful person. But do you trust her? Is she another Arnold Schwarzenneger? Yeah, could be, could be. Is that good? Nope. But she's not Jerry Brown. I mean what part of this don't we understand.”

Beck: Chris Coons is “a bad candidate.” On September 16, Beck said, “You want to talk about extremists? It's the progressives and the revolutionaries in the Democratic Party. Real revolutionaries. Now you look at O'Donnell. For some reason, they're all attacking her, and I have to ask myself, has anyone looked at Harry Reid's pet?” Beck then read a quote from Reid about O'Donnell's opponent Chris Coons and said that Coons is “a Marxist. The guy's a staunch anti-capitalist. You want to talk about a bad candidate. OK, you can talk about the masturbation thing all you want. Really? Is that what we've turned into in this country?”

Beck on Barbara Boxer: To end arrogance by her and others, we have to “get these guys out of Washington.” On September 23, after playing an ad by California Republican candidate Carly Fiorina attacking her 2010 opponent, Sen. Barbara Boxer, Beck stated: “Isn't this all about arrogance?” He later said: “The best way to end the arrogance is to get these guys out of Washington. We've got to look at Washington as Chernobyl, that you go in and you pull them out before they die from the radiation that is Washington political arrogance.”

Beck: “I don't endorse candidates, ... but I'm going to endorse Rubio and the other guy ... over the dirtbag Charlie Crist.” On April 30, Beck stated: “I'm about to break my policy and endorse a candidate. I don't endorse candidates, I don't think anybody needs my endorsement, but I'm going to endorse Rubio and the other guy that's running for the Democrats ... over the dirtbag Charlie Crist.”

Beck suggests Reid is a “danger to society.” On July 14, discussing a comment Sen. Harry Reid -- who is facing a 2010 re-election challenge from Sharron Angle -- made about immigration reform, Beck stated: “Politicians will just say something like 'what are you talking about? I don't have any face. I don't have a face. You're not looking me in the eye, because I don't have any eyes. This is nothing. I don't even have a mouth. I'm not talking to you right now.' And you're like 'what the hell -- what? What are you saying?' 'Nothing, I'm not saying anything, because I don't even have a mouth. You are a danger to society, sir.”

Beck: “I agree” with Palin on Rand Paul endorsement. On February 8, after playing a clip of Sarah Palin defending her decision to endorse Kentucky senatorial candidate Rand Paul, Beck said “I have to tell you. I know Pat, because you're shaking your head, I agree with her.” Later in the segment, Beck stated: “I can make friends with Rand Paul because I think Rand Paul is somebody I disagree with, but the fundamentals are there, the fundamental of the understanding of the Constitution. I would rather make a friend with Rand Paul than John McCain. If I had to campaign -- if I had to choose who am I going to campaign for, Rand Paul, from what I know about Rand Paul and what I know about John McCain, if I had to choose, Rand Paul.”

Beck: Paladino “is damn near nuts. He's still better than Cuomo.” On October 14, Beck discussed a controversial comment New York gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino said with Michelle Bachmann and said: “I live in the next state over from New York, and I don't even pay attention to this race. ... He's damn near nuts. He's still better than Cuomo, but he's nuts.”

Beck also running his own get out the vote operation for midterm elections

As Media Matters has documented, since September, Beck has repeatedly urged his audience to voter and to "[g]et your friends and neighbors to go in record-breaking numbers to vote," warning them of terrible consequences if they failed to do so. In the process, Beck has urged his audience to “vote for America” to stop communists, Marxists, and Nazis.