The Glenn Beck Program: Best of the Program | Guest: Sebastian Gorka | 10/23/25

Date: October 23, 2025
Host: Glenn Beck
Guest: Sebastian Gorka (Deputy Assistant to the President, National Security Council, Counterterrorism Senior Director)
Network: Blaze Podcast Network

Episode Overview

This episode delivers an intense exploration of American culture and politics. Glenn Beck spotlights two marquee interviews—one with Sebastian Gorka on U.S. counterterrorism strategy and another with Charles Murray on the importance of faith—before diving into pressing cultural debates: the sanctity of life, American identity, radicalism in education, and media hypocrisy concerning the White House. The show is characteristically sharp and candid, dominated by Beck’s distinct, impassioned commentary.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Sebastian Gorka on Counterterrorism and the ‘Red Mist’ Campaign

(Segment starts: 03:06)

Achievements in Counterterrorism

• Glenn Beck lauds Gorka's "unbelievable job" behind the scenes, neutralizing over 370 jihadists in nine months.

  "Sebastian has been working behind the scenes quietly the whole time, making a list and checking it twice... 370, I think, jihadist have been neutralized in the last nine months." — Glenn Beck (03:24)

• Gorka deflects personal credit, emphasizing team effort led by President Trump and the intelligence community:

  "It’s not up to me. It's not my accomplishment. It's President Trump and the amazing team I have... members of the intelligence community... bringing eternal justice to these evildoers and turning them into red mist." — Sebastian Gorka (04:09)

Detailed Success Story: Bringing Jafar (Sharifullah) to Justice

• Gorka’s top priority: capture “Jafar,” mastermind of the Abbey Gate massacre during the Kabul airport evacuation.
• Remarkably, within 41 days of the new administration, Jafar (Sharifullah) was apprehended and brought to the U.S. for trial.

  "41 days later, Glenn... the DOJ jet is about to land from Pakistan with Jafar, his real name is Sharifullah, on board in handcuffs." — Sebastian Gorka (07:36)

Rules of Engagement Shift

• Under Biden: “Every HVT target had to be sent up to the top levels for approval” (Jake Sullivan, Biden) — led to paralysis.

• Under Trump: Commanders regained authority to eliminate threats swiftly.

  "Under Biden, every HVT target... had to be sent to Jake Sullivan... who would then wake up Joe Biden from his nap and say, sir, would you want to kill this jihadi? And of course, nothing ever happened." — Sebastian Gorka (09:47)

• First major operation: Trump greenlights a strike 11 days in, resulting in a live, televised elimination of a terrorist leader.

  "At 0845 on that Saturday morning, he turned into a cloud of red mist. And we watched it live with the National Security adviser." — Sebastian Gorka (11:25)

On Domestic Security and Border Policy

• Gorka describes an open southern border as a major terror vulnerability, suggesting bad actors are exploiting the system.

  “If you know that the President... literally has dismantled the southern border... Of course, you’re going to flood the zone.” — Sebastian Gorka (13:34)

• Boasts mass deportation efforts and self-deportations under current leadership.

  “More than half a million... have self-deported since January.” — Sebastian Gorka (14:36)

Domestic Subversion: Antifa and the Color Revolution

• Beck questions whether the DOJ and intelligence community are genuinely targeting domestic threats and subversive organizations.

• Gorka affirms seriousness, referencing designation of Antifa as a terrorist organization.

  "We are taking every threat to America, especially those that are subverting or attempting to subvert our republic from the inside, as seriously as a heart attack... we will follow the money to any organization that is funding unconstitutional actions in the United States." — Sebastian Gorka (16:09)

Thank-yous & Closing

• Beck expresses personal gratitude; Gorka reciprocates, underscoring the program’s patriotic mission.

2. The Moral Crisis: “Choose Life” and the Erosion of Western Values

(Segment starts: 18:20)

• Beck casts America as historically defined by a commitment to life and charity.

• Criticizes the rise of death-centric policies (Canadian MAiD/assisted suicide) and increasing public apathy towards violence, referencing the “no Kings” rallies and casual calls for violence.

  "We choose life... It is why we offer aid to those people... We are losing this quickly. We are losing it." — Glenn Beck (19:06)

• Warns against a cultural shift towards death and violence—identifying it as fundamentally anti-Christian and anti-American.

3. Radicalism in Education and Civil Service Targeting

(Segment starts: 21:15)

Teacher Union Radicalization

• Recalls how teaching bans against those associated with subversive groups were removed in 2008, foreshadowing an influx of radicalism into public education.

ICE Agents & Political Violence

• Beck condemns a California teacher advocating armed resistance against ICE.

• Highlights a controversial plan by Democrats to create a “master ICE tracker” for public access to agent whereabouts, linking it to threats and violence against federal officials.

  "This is assisting premeditated murder. I believe this is treason myself." — Glenn Beck (26:17)

• Draws an analogy: Tracking ICE agents versus tracking members of Congress—underscoring double standards and risks.

4. Media Hypocrisy: The White House “Restoration Scandal”

(Segment starts: 34:44)

Trump’s White House Improvements

• Explains outrage over Trump’s privately funded upgrades (ballroom, state dining room).

• Details the long history of presidents updating the White House:

  • FDR added wings and pools during the Great Depression.
  • Nancy Reagan privately raised money for new china, yet was vilified.
  • Melania Trump restored the rose garden to Jackie Kennedy’s plan—met with scorn by the press.

  "What Trump is doing will not cost the American people a dime. Not a dime... It’s privately funded by him and those friends... Not for his use." — Glenn Beck (37:25)

• Highlights double standards: Other presidents’ changes were lauded or ignored.

Historical Anecdotes

• Beck shares stories from the White House butler about past first ladies and historical preservation, highlighting the dignity and discretion once respected in American public life.

Media’s Selective Outrage

• Contrasts media torrents over rose gardens and ballrooms with silence during riots, statue-toppling, and church burnings near the White House.

  "The same press that is now howling about historic preservation... stood absolutely dead silent about history while America's history was being destroyed." — Glenn Beck (43:57)

Closing Reflections

• Beck frames the restoration furor as symptomatic of "the pettiness of the ruling class" and a broader political culture war.

  "What is being exposed now isn’t excess or ego but the pettiness of the ruling class that despises restoration, hates beauty, and cannot stand the idea that someone might build something lasting privately and with pride because they're serving the nation." — Glenn Beck (48:08)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "It’s President Trump and the amazing team I have... bringing eternal justice to these evildoers and turning them into red mist." — Sebastian Gorka (04:09)
• "America is back in the business of counterterrorism." — Sebastian Gorka (05:45)
• "We choose life, and we do it in every way possible... We are losing this quickly. We are losing it." — Glenn Beck (19:06)
• "This is assisting premeditated murder. I believe this is treason myself." — Glenn Beck (26:17)
• "What Trump is doing will not cost the American people a dime. Not a dime." — Glenn Beck (37:25)
• "The real scandal is what is happening every day in the newsrooms all across America where Truth was evicted long before the roses ever were evicted from the Rose Garden." — Glenn Beck (48:32)

Key Timestamps

• 03:06 – Opening praise for Gorka; counterterrorism overview
• 04:04 – Gorka credits Trump and team; the “red mist” metaphor
• 07:35 – The Jafar/Sharifullah story—Abbey Gate justice
• 09:47 – Counterterrorism: rules of engagement under Biden vs. Trump
• 11:23 – First strike order—28 hours from approval to execution
• 13:18 – Domestic terror risk and the open border
• 16:09 – Domestic subversion: Antifa, DOJ priorities, "color revolution"
• 19:06 – Beck’s “choose life” treatise on Western values
• 21:15 – Teacher union radicalism; rise of anti-ICE activism
• 26:17 – ICE tracker criticism and analogy
• 34:44 – White House restoration ‘scandal’: history, media bias, and facts
• 37:25 – Privately funded White House improvements under Trump
• 43:57 – Press silence during riots and church arson, contrasted with outrage over beautification
• 48:08 – Beck’s critique of the ruling class’s “pettiness”
• 48:32 – The “real scandal”: media hypocrisy and the loss of truth

Tone and Language

• Glenn Beck’s style is impassioned, polemical, and story-driven, peppered with historical anecdotes, direct moral appeals, and combative jabs at political and media adversaries.
• Gorka is formal, assertive, and tactical, sticking to security operations and attributing success to team effort and presidential leadership.

Summary for Non-Listeners

This episode is a sweeping tour through today's most heated issues on the right: security successes abroad, dangers at home, media bias, the sanctity of life, cultural dissolution, and double standards. With a headline interview from Sebastian Gorka detailing the rapid success of Trump-era counterterrorism operations, Beck pivots to a strong defense of Western moral values, then flays radicals in education, and ends by exposing what he calls the pettiness and hypocrisy of elites and mainstream press, all in his trademark, unfiltered voice.