Beck on CNN: 'I Evolved' as Country Becomes 'Fragile'

Glenn Beck wants to end the polarization in America because the nation is “much more fragile than I thought.” 

In a Sunday CNN interview, Beck said he regrets calling President Barack Obama a racist and feels the temperature in politics must be lowered to prevent the “fragile” country from fighting a “civil war.” He suggested that partisans should “evolve” like he has after he faced what he called “pivot points” in his life.

“I think we’re a country in civil war. I just think we’re in a cold civil war,” he said on Sunday’s Reliable Sources. “Shooting hasn’t started, but somebody stupid is going to do something stupid, and it will escalate, unless we talk to each other.”

Beck said that the polarization must end because “we are much more fragile than I thought.”

Host Brian Stelter asked, “But how can we lower the temperature when you’re still making those kinds of suggestions? I wouldn’t call it a prediction, but to talk in that language about a possible shooting civil war?”

Beck replied, “I’m not calling for one.” 

Stelter noted that Beck may have intensified much of the polarization and told him that many Americans just remember Beck for “saying on [Fox News] that President Obama is a racist.” Stelter asked him if “the racist comment” was a “stupid” one that he regrets. 

“Of course it was,” Beck said. “But… we all live and learn.”

Stelter praised Beck, saying that was an example of how “you evolve your views” and “change your mind” on issues, though Beck emphasized, “I’m still a conservative.”

Beck called for the intensity in politics to be ratcheted down and cried as he recalled the “vicious” and “mean” things that were said to him in front of his daughter as they were walking on the street. 

Beck said people are “so angry with each other” that they are “calling each other horrible things” because they view others as enemies, especially in the online comments sections on liberal, mainstream, and right-of-center websites.

“We have to change all of our language,” Beck said. “And it’s really difficult when people on both sides [are combative]. I know there are people who are watching me and say, ‘you know, the guy’s full of crap. He’s just an act. He’s just doing it for money. I don’t like him.'” 

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