The Glenn Beck Program

Episode: The WORST Crooks in Minnesota AREN'T Somalis | Guests: Alex Clark & Seamus Bruner | 1/13/26
Date: January 13, 2026
Host: Glenn Beck

Episode Overview

In this thought-provoking episode, Glenn Beck launches into a passionate critique of the recent child food program fraud in Minnesota, arguing the real scandal lies not primarily with Somali perpetrators but with a much larger web of complicit institutions, especially banks and state officials. Beck breaks down how the system designed to catch fraud failed repeatedly, implicates Minnesota government leaders for escalating tensions as a distraction, and argues that the behavior of major banks enables widespread criminality. Joined by guests Seamus Bruner and Alex Clark, Beck explores the funding pipelines driving political instability, the roots of American health failures, and policy changes regarding food and vaccines. The episode is infused with Beck’s characteristic wit and direct style, peppered with memorable analogies and a deep skepticism toward institutional narratives.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Minnesota’s Massive Child Food Program Fraud: Not Just a Somali Story

• Opening Rant: Beck expresses outrage over the Minnesota daycare food program scandal, noting that while Somalis have been highlighted in headlines, they are only one part of the story. He insists the real crooks are those in positions of power in government and in banking who allowed or enabled the fraud to become so massive.
• How Did This Happen?
  • Beck deconstructs the mechanics: Checks were issued by the State of Minnesota for supposed daycare meal support, without proper verification. Those checks, meant for feeding children, were deposited, cashed out, and ultimately smuggled out of the country ("$700 million through an airport in cash...a million dollars every day... [and] nobody noticed?" [13:45]).
  • He highlights the normalization of absurdity: numbers grew from suspicious to impossible, with more and more money flowing without intervention.
  • Beck repeatedly emphasizes systemic failure: "Every tripwire failed… there are hundreds of them. I don't believe they failed. People intentionally were either involved or chose not to get involved" ([38:20]).
• Who’s Responsible?
  • Beck compiles a detailed list of officials, supervisors, bankers, auditors, and compliance officers who should be held accountable, not just the low-level operators or the Somali community ([~29:00 & 38:20]).
  • He rails against what he calls a "cover-up" by Minnesota's leadership, accusing them of stoking civil unrest to distract attention away from their own failures and possibly criminal negligence ([37:20]).

2. Banks as the Common Denominator in Modern Scandals

• Banking Compliance Dodge:
  • Beck laments what he calls the "optimization of banking for plausible deniability," where banks “document suspicion to manage their exposure, not actually stop crime” ([21:30]).
  • He ties this pattern back to pre-9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, and even Jeffrey Epstein, arguing banks knowingly service risky or criminal clients as long as liability is contained.
  • "The banking system has no way to learn 'Ow, don't touch the stove' because nothing's ever hot for them. They get away with everything." ([43:08])
• Theme Continuity:
  • This systemic critique of banking—how they profit through fees, ignore red flags, and always avoid consequences—is woven throughout the episode, including a segment explaining how global banks circumvent sanctions and enable actors from Iran to China ([68:10; chalkboard segment]).

3. Political Leadership: Distraction and Division

• Beck accuses Minnesota’s governor and attorney general of trying to scapegoat federal authorities sent to investigate the fraud, and of manufacturing outrage to ignite civil unrest, possibly as a smokescreen ([37:20]).
• He connects this phenomenon to broader trends in U.S. politics, where populations become too conditioned to admit error, and parties stoke division for self-preservation.

4. Riot Funding and NGO Networks Exposed (with Seamus Bruner)

• Guest Interview (Seamus Bruner, Government Accountability Institute) ([50:09]):
  • Bruner outlines how major left-wing funding pipes (e.g., Arabella Advisors, Soros, Tides Foundation, Rockefeller Network) use taxpayer money as "force multipliers" for their agenda.
  • Funds are laundered through shell non-profits for riot organizing, bail funds, and ballot initiatives.
  • "They bribe new voters with welfare...millions and billions of dollars with zero oversight, zero accountability" ([62:48-65:04]).
  • The same small set of actors appear again and again at the top of these networks—a “pretty small club.”
  • Bruner and Beck stress the inadequacy of law enforcement and the urgency for criminal accountability, not just at the "grassroots" level but for those at the top ([65:17]).
  • Beck laments ongoing complacency: “We need to clean these places out—from Epstein to China to Venezuela, the drug cartels, all over to ‘Riot Inc’...the problem is really starting to be apparent: banks are enabling everybody” ([82:09]).

5. American Health & Food: How Big Business Rigged the Food Pyramid (with Alex Clark)

• Guest Interview (Alex Clark, host of Culture Apothecary) ([112:50]):
  • The food pyramid, Clark argues, was designed not for health but for profit, shaped by lobbying from grain and sugar interests. School lunches, hospitals, the military all followed these faulty guidelines, contributing to the national obesity epidemic.
  • New dietary guidelines now recommend higher protein, whole milk, more unprocessed foods, and de-emphasize low-fat and high-carb recommendations. This shift marks "the government telling parents the truth, at least about this” ([117:32]).
  • Clark also praises new CDC guidance reducing the number of recommended childhood vaccines and spacing them more thoughtfully, empowering parental choice ([122:24]).
  • Both agree that powerful industries enriched themselves while public health suffered, but Clark calls the recent changes “an exciting time in America” for nutrition and parental rights.

6. Iran, China, and the Global Banking Loophole — The Parable of 'Mo and Ming'

• Beck presents the story of “Mo’s apple farm and Ming’s juice company” ([69:02]): a parable for how Iranian oil gets around sanctions via bartered deals with Chinese refineries, with global banks insuring and facilitating the trade, all while skirting international law and hiding their tracks.
• "Once you understand this… you realize global banks are keeping really bad people in position because they get a cut and they’ll walk away in the end" ([78:45]).
• The broader lesson: these shadowy financial networks are central actors across crimes, revolutions, and geopolitical instability.

7. Tribute to Scott Adams & Reflections on Courage

• Beck interrupts the show with an emotional announcement of the passing of Scott Adams (creator of Dilbert), reflecting on his wit, honesty, and courage to think differently ([85:28-99:15]).
• Memorable quote from Adams:
  • “You don’t need to talk me into it, I am now convinced that the risk/reward [of Christianity] is completely smart... If there is something there, I win.” ([97:38])
• Beck encourages listeners to pursue clarity and truth, delivering it with wit rather than anger, and celebrates everyday acts of courage in facing modern challenges.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Minnesota fraud scandal:

  "You have to question the program directors, the division directors ... these are people who possibly will face jail time if the universe worked the way it should." — Glenn Beck ([31:30])

• On systemic banking fraud:

  "The banks know. The banks know who the drug lords are. They know where the money is. They knew about Epstein... That’s how bad guys keep getting away with it." — Glenn Beck ([20:00])

• On political distraction:

  "They’re asking you to pick a side in a street fight, so you don’t look at who enabled this theft." — Glenn Beck ([37:20])

• On the funding of riots:

  “What happens is the radical left ... use your money as a force multiplier for their agenda. ... Your taxpayer money. Even Soros.” — Seamus Bruner ([51:39])

• On health guidelines and parental choice:

  "This is exciting: for the first time maybe ever, the government is telling parents the truth at least about [nutrition]...full-fat dairy is back, beef is back." – Alex Clark ([117:32])

• On courage and clarity:

  “Truth can be delivered with wit and can reach places anger never will. Encouragement doesn’t always roar. Sometimes, it just keeps showing up.” — Glenn Beck ([99:10])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00-17:00 — Opening Monologue:

  • Beck’s “banking jihad” and introduction to the Minnesota daycare fraud.

• 17:00-25:00 — Dissecting Systemic Failures:

  • How state controls failed, the banking system’s “yellow ticket” alarm mechanism, introduction of the broader theme: complicit institutions.

• 25:00-40:00 — Accountability & Civil Unrest:

  • Beck’s (satirical) list of people who should be questioned; state leadership’s attempts at distraction; the public's psychology.

• 42:21-45:00 — Producer Segment:

  • Producer Ricky investigates convictions: “No banking … So what’s gonna happen long-term if we don’t actually roll some banking heads?” ([43:01])

• 50:09-65:17 — Interview: Seamus Bruner:

  • Deep dive into how riot-organizing groups are funded, the pipeline from government grants to street unrest.

• 68:10-83:00 — Parable of ‘Mo and Ming’ / Iran-China Oil:

  • Beck uses the apple farm story to decode global banking’s role in sanctions evasion and global instability.

• 85:28-99:15 — Tribute to Scott Adams (Dilbert):

  • Emotional reflections, Adams’ last words, lessons on courage and truth-telling.

• 112:50-125:30 — Interview: Alex Clark:

  • The truth about the food pyramid, new nutrition guidelines, vaccine policy changes, and water myths.

Style & Tone

Glenn Beck’s signature delivery shines throughout: passionate, irreverent, skeptical, and at times deeply personal. The language is vivid and direct, featuring extended analogies (“Mo and Ming” story), biting humor, and regular appeals to listener common sense. Whether on fraud, banks, riots, or even dietary guidelines, Beck’s tone is conspiratorial-yet-instructive—aiming to rally, inform, and provoke critical thinking rather than settle for institutional platitudes.

Final Thoughts

Glenn Beck’s deep dive into the Minnesota welfare fraud scandal is less about the details of financial abuse by one ethnic group and more about the systemic rot in American institutions: banks, bureaucrats, and politicians who evade accountability. Guest interviews anchor his thesis with specific evidence, while segments on health and personal courage round out a sweeping indictment of how modern America’s most dire problems—from riot funding to dietary disasters—are structured, hidden, and perpetuated by the very systems that claim to keep us safe.

Beck ends with a call for renewed courage, skeptical inquiry, and a refusal to accept institutional narratives at face value—a fitting capstone to an episode aimed at challenging the “fusion of entertainment, enlightenment, and empowerment.”