Glenn Beck on His Mission to Rescue People in Afghanistan

CLAY: Really excited to be joined now by Glenn Beck, who gave Buck Sexton his start in media, which is reason enough to be excited for him to be here. But he’s also the nationally syndicated radio host, founder of The Blaze. Glenn, I don’t know that we’ve ever spoken. This is Clay. You obviously have been wildly successful.

We got to commend you right now, to start off this interview for the work that you have done on behalf of Christians in Afghanistan. For people who may not have heard what you have been doing, tell us that backstory, where did the idea come from, and what has the impact of your fundraising tens of millions of dollars been for all these Afghanistan Christians?

BECK: Well, first of all, I’m a big fan of yours too — and, of course, Buck, you guys are doing a great job. And I do not envy you, on what you guys are doing. But with that said, this idea came to me… I mean, we started The Nazarene Fund, when no one was rescuing the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq. And they were trapped on a mountain.

And then these Christians here crucified. And nobody was doing anything. And I thought, “What are…? Why…? What…?” Somebody’s got to stand up. And so we did. And we raised money. And we’ve moved, I think — I can’t remember the numbers — but about 30,000 people we have moved out of the Middle East to countries like Australia, I think Brazil.

CLAY: Wow.

BECK: There’s several countries around the world. And what’s strange is, we became, like, known in the region for doing it, and somehow or another, we became like the go-to people. And I don’t know how that happened. It just did. And then, when this happened in Afghanistan and all these Christians were marked, that’s our charter.

I called our COO, Rudy Atallah, who used to be on the National Security Council. He is a… I think he’s a colonel or was a colonel for the Air Force. And he’s just really buttoned up, and he’s our COO. And I called him, and I said, “Rudy, how do we get these people out and what would that cost?” So he said, “I’ll figure it out and I’ll call you in the morning.” Well, when he called me, I was on the air, and he gave me a number and I almost choked. He said, “It will cost about 30 million — or, 20 million to get it done.”

CLAY: Wow.

BECK: And I’m like, “You’ve got to be kidding me,” and I said — and he said, “We would need the money by Friday, because we need to be able to secure the aircraft and everything else.” And I didn’t think it could be done. And we were on the air, and I said to the audience, “Now is the time. If we believe in, ‘We hold these … truths self-evident,’ that we band together. I’m tired of being told, ‘There’s nothing you can do.’ I’m tired of feeling that way.”

And so we raised $20 million in three days. It was incredible. It was like $22 million in three days. It’s now up to $35 million. But more importantly, we and our partners on the ground, we have moved about 12,000 Christians and people who are targeted. Not just Christians. This is a humanitarian disaster that we never thought it would be this bad. So we are moving —

BUCK: Glenn, it’s Buck. And, of course, always good to talk to you, my friend. I want to know. Because I saw some of your reporting on this. And some of just what was being said, that the State Department was making this harder for you? I mean, one would think that the State Department —

CLAY: Ohhhh.

BUCK: Oh, I know the State Department, so I’m not surprised. But tell us how that went down. Because it would seem like you raising a lot of money to save a lot of people’s lives is something that the Biden administration could get along with too. But apparently there were some issues.

BECK: Yeah. Buck, I just got a briefing about an hour ago. I’m glad this interview wasn’t an hour ago because I had a full-fledged meltdown. You cannot believe the evil that is being done in the American people’s name by the State Department. There’s an incident that just happened that is beyond — that I would renounce my citizenship!

I will renounce my citizenship if something isn’t done when this comes to full light. It is horrendous what they’re doing. But the State Department — and it can no longer be chalked up to incompetence. They are openly mocking us now on the phone. They have said at the beginning of this — and we kind of believed it, that they were not giving us…

I think these are called DIP clearances to be able to take a plane off and have it land in another country. We’re not asking them to vouch for the manifest. We’re not asking them to vouch for us. We’re just asking them to tell the other country that we haven’t smuggled children out and that plane can land. They have our manifest. They know who’s on the plane.

I can’t tell you because of what’s going on, but there is blood on their hands — blood on their hands — and when America finds out what’s going on, every congressman, every senator should be called right now and demand that the secretary of state answer for everything that is going on in the Middle East. Our guy… I mean, I can’t tell you this either.

Buck, you know me, and you know the kind of people that I surround myself with. I surround myself with people like you. They’re good. They’re really good people. The guy who is our COO, like I said, was part of I think two president’s National Security Council. He said to me about an hour ago, he’s never seen anything like this. And he cannot figure out, other than evil, why our planes keep getting canceled, why our manifest just might happen to show up in the hands of a Taliban fighter. What the hell is going on?

CLAY: Glenn, you’re a student of history. And I know there’s a lot of people listening to us right now that are outraged by what they’re seeing going on. Is this the most incompetent American foreign policy exit disaster that you have seen in your life? How can you even compare it — or can you — to anything else that we’ve seen?

BECK: I can’t. I can’t compare this as incompetent and a disaster on any level. I mean, I’ve talked to members of Parliament over in England. I have talked to prime ministers and ambassadors all over the world. What they tell me about us — thank God, not about our military. Maybe about our military brass and civilian control.

But about our administration and about our State Department, I’ve never heard anything like this said about us, at any time. At any time. It is a full-fledged meltdown. It will take years to restore our credibility. Beyond that, the other crisis I can compare it to, if I look at this story as a minuscule example — just a microscopic example of what’s going on right now — is the U.S.S. St. Louis, where we carried Jews that were destined for death, and we wouldn’t allow any of our borders to be opened for them. That is a scar that will last forever. That’s nothing — nothing — compared to what’s happening right now.

BUCK: Glenn, we have to ask. What happens now? I know you have operational security concerns for ongoing efforts to get people out and to make sure that you can continue on with this work. But can you just give us a sense of, one — in the broadest strokes if you have to — what is next, and also for anyone listening who wants to help in whatever way they can, how can they do so with your efforts to get thousands of Christians and others who deserve to get out of Afghanistan to get out?

BECK: I can’t, Buck. I’m not you. I’m not used to the lingo of… I don’t know. I stop myself all the time from saying too much, ‘ccause you get people killed or you destroy missions. So I can only tell you, do not mistake silence for inaction. There are so many things going on inside and outside of Afghanistan. This is going to be the largest rescue. But not by the federal government. This will end up being the largest private rescue ever attempted. This is our beaches… Uh, I’m trying to hear the name of the operation where the British sent all of the boats over.

BUCK: Dunkirk.

BECK: Yeah. Dunkirk. This is our Dunkirk, and it’s going to be just like in Dunkirk, the people that did it. Not the government. If you want to help, I will tell you, the biggest thing — and I am not saying this… I’m not saying this to be cute or whatever. I mean this sincerely. America has to pray like she’s never prayed before.

Because our country is in real trouble. What’s happening right now with the lies that are coming out of Washington from this administration, just simply on the number of people that have been left behind — Americans that have been left behind — is reprehensible. There is blood on the hands of the State Department. They are openly mocking us when…

I can’t give you more details other than that. Openly mocking us as they thwart us. There is evil that is happening. And we’ve got to ask God to calm our hearts, keep us peaceful, walk in the way of Christ, bless our country. Forgive our country for all of the things that we have done. But it’s only going to be saved by Him, and pray for the people in Afghanistan who are in hiding right now. Buck, I know you’ve been in situations like this. They are in hiding, fearing for their life — and most of them are alone, fearing for their life in hiding.

BUCK: How can people help? How can we help?

BECK: Go to TheNazareneFund.org. TheNazareneFund.org.

BUCK: Glenn, can we have you back to tell us, when you can, more about how this is going?

BECK: sure.

BUCK: Because we know this is not over. We have Americans and others still left behind enemy lines.

BECK: Yes. I would be more than happy. When I can tell the story, I am going to relish telling the story of the heroes and the monsters.

BUCK: Glenn Beck, nationally syndicated radio host, founder of TheBlaze.com —

CLAY: Thanks. Thanks for all you’re doing.

BECK: You bet.

BUCK: — and the guy who gave me my start when I got out of the CIA. And, Glenn, forever grateful, my friend. Thank you so much.

BECK: Thank you. God bless both you guys.

BUCK: I mean, there you have it, Clay. The State Department… Look, Glenn… I’m going want to to hear the whole story. I know there’s a lot of moving pieces. This isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this. So they understand how to get this going. They’ve obviously already gotten thousands of people out. But you can just tell from his voice.

I mean, the Biden administration, I’m sure at some level, they just didn’t want to be shown up my private citizens. I know others. I know ex-special operations folks in particular who are trying to do everything they can as private citizens. And I can’t even describe on the air, some of the things that I know they’re doing, because of operational security concerns, to get people out so they don’t end up on a video in orange pajamas. We all know what that means.

CLAY: Yeah. Dunkirk is a great example. For those of you out there, who are history nerds like we are, the British people saved their army. And in many ways, a lot of great people, all over the world — many of them Americans — are doing whatever they can, to get as many people out, safely out of Afghanistan, as they can. But my goodness, what a closely calamitous failure by the Biden administration with what’s going on in Afghanistan.