Why Sen. Mike Lee wants Glenn Beck to run for president

Jennifer Graham
·3 min read
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U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, center, of Utah, and his wife, Sharon Lee, left, greet radio talk-show host Glenn Beck as he walks on stage during a Utah Republican election night party, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in South Jordan, Utah.
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Utah Sen. Mike Lee has repeatedly asked Glenn Beck to run for president, the talk show host said last week. At first, it was unclear just how serious the request actually was.

In a clip posted by Mediaite today, Beck spoke about the conversations.

“A story I’ve never shared before, Mike Lee — and I think it started as a joke — Mike Lee used to say to me all the time, ‘You should run for president,’ and I’m like, ‘Are you out of your mind?’” Beck told Steve Deace of BlazeTV.

Beck went on to describe a conversation from about a year ago in which Lee again tried to talk him into a presidential run. Beck told him, “Mike, that’s the dumbest thing” and said he had no chance of winning. But Lee laughed and said winning wasn’t the point.

“(Lee) said ‘I’m not saying you should run for president because I think you could win. Somebody needs to articulate where we are and what we face and who we have always been and need to remember who we are.’ He said, ‘We need a storyteller,’” Beck said.

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But Beck went on to say, “I think we have that now,” noting the performances of Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy in the GOP debate the night before in Milwaukee. He’s also been giving air time to the current GOP front-runner, Donald Trump.

Lee confirmed to Deseret News that he’s been urging Beck to run — for even longer than Beck indicated.

“I’ve been talking to Glenn about that since the day I met him more than 13 years ago. I have long appreciated his trust in the American system of government,” he said in a statement.

It’s not the first time that Beck has had to shut down talk about running for office. In 2010, there was buzz about a Beck-Sarah Palin ticket in 2012 that led to Beck saying on Fox News that there was “not a chance” he would run. (Palin called the idea “a hoot.”)

But Politico noted then that although talk show hosts ranging from Chris Matthews to Neal Boortz had considered running for office, few do — with notable exceptions such as former Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat and alumnus of Air America, and former Vice President Mike Pence, who had a radio show in the 1990s before breaking through in politics.

But that doesn’t stop their fans from dreaming.

Even before Fox News parted ways with Tucker Carlson, there was hopeful talk among some in the GOP about Carlson running for president in 2024. Some have even proposed a Trump-Carlson ticket, and those fantasies seem less far-fetched than usual, given their joint appearance the night of the GOP debate.

As for Beck, though, he’s made it clear in the past that he’s not interested in seeking office. He has plenty of opportunities to tell the kinds of stories Lee wants America to hear — through his radio show, books, media company and podcast.

And as Politico noted in 2010, he’d probably have to take a pay cut as president.

Suzanne Bates contributed to this report.