Elites, especially on the Left, always say they want to help the poor…but then, they turn around and sell out blue collar workers while encouraging illegal immigration! In fact, economic turmoil is making MORE people poor. But that’s exactly what they want, argues “Second Class” author Batya Ungar-Sargon. She joins Glenn to make the case that the elites “want everybody to be poor because they control the college-educated and the poor…that’s how the Democrats win.” Plus, she explains what the working class actually wants, and it sounds a lot like a certain presidential candidate…
TranscriptBelow is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: Batya, welcome to the Glenn Beck Program. How are you?
BATYA: Oh, man. Thank you so much for having me back, Glenn!
It's a pleasure to be here with you.
GLENN: You bet. You bet. So I have been saying for a while now, as I'm looking at what the western world, the elites are doing to their own countries.
And our own civilization. They are impoverishing people. They are giving our stuff away, to other people.
And I mean that in Europe and here where -- where illegals are just permeating the country. And the jobs are going there.
They're -- they're disarming us. They're -- they're selling us, bound and gagged to our foe, it feels like.
Is that what's happening?
BATYA: Yeah. Yeah. 100 percent. Glenn, you have been on this for such a long time. Because you're so clear-eyed about this. There has been a massive plunder of the middle class by the elites. First, they shift good manufacturing jobs overseas to build up China and Mexico's middle class.
Then they said, they're not coming back, right?
We're never going to get those jobs back. If you want the American dream. You will have to go to college. Where you'll become a card-carrying Democrat. Right? And now they opened the border and brought in 15 million illegal migrants from failed socialist states just to undercut the wages in the jobs that remained here.
And it's because fundamentally, to the elites. There is no difference between working class and poor.
They want everybody to be poor because they control the college educated and the poor. That is why they're trying to get everybody out of the middle class, and either into the college credentials. You know, leftist elites or to make them poor.
Because that's how the Democrats win.
GLENN: While I've never heard that opinion before, I think, where they were intentionally doing it because they can control the poor.
BATYA: Yeah. Absolutely. Otherwise it makes no sense, right? Where does the contempt from the working class come from. Where does this plunder come from? Why did they sell out labor?
Remember, the Democrats used to -- to making working class people poor, with these policies, that you talk about all the time, Glenn.
Opening the border. Bringing in massive, massive amounts of competition for the working class.
Like, who would do such a thing, right?
And it's not on accident, Glenn.
Of course, this is all intentional. Joe Biden showed up on day one.
To the executive Trump orders. Which secured the border.
Which would sun do that on purpose, if they didn't want that before?
GLENN: Well, it's amazing to me that the labor unions were part of it. The Democrats were for labor, you say. They were always -- they did seem to represent the working class much more. But it was their love of the labor unions.
The labor unions are still with them. As they are helping them dismantle American jobs.
BATYA: 100 percent. And I think that's why, you see only 6 percent of the private sector is unionized. Working-class Americans, they may want the wages and the protections that unions can get their members.
But they see the unions, actively supporting the party and the policy, of importing their competition.
And so, they don't see a future for themselves, in the labor unions. And, you know, Joe Biden likes to say, he's the most pro-union president to ever rule. Maybe that's true. But the unions themselves, are no longer able to represent their actual members.
GLENN: Correct.
BATYA: I have to say, I thought it was great that Trump met with the teamsters. And he got a donation for the RNC from the teamsters.
Because it shows that the teamsters are listening to the rank-and-file. Who, of course, prefer Trump.
GLENN: So you say, that the working class, in America.
Is super diverse.
But united on the policies, that they think would Mike their lives better.
And you say, that is true, whether you're Republican or Democrat.
Where is that unity on policy?
What are those policies?
BATYA: Right. For my book, second class. How the elites betrayed America's working men and women.
I traveled around the country for a year, interviewing working class Americans of all races, all backgrounds and religions. And many, many, many different industries. Totally across the country. And what I found was so much more unites them than divides them.
First of all, polarization, a totally elite phenomenon. And I know your listeners know this. Because I know you have a strong working class listenership.
They know, that they would never hate their neighbor, just because they happen to vote for another party.
They hate both parties, by the way. You know, there is a lot of contempt for the elites in the political class, who love to go to Washington and fight with each other, pretend they're fighting with each other.
While both parties turn their backs on labor.
Here's what I found was the most common view.
So I met a lot of people. Including a lot of Christians. Who had a gay person in their life, who they wanted to be treated with respect. But they were extremely worried about the transgender agenda.
I met a lot of people who were really unhappy about how much welfare there is. And new people who were scamming the system.
And they were very frustrated by that. But they also really didn't like that corporations seemed to them, to be, you know, against their interests.
And that they -- there was so much support for corporations. And not for them.
They were very against immigration. Most of the people, I interviewed.
Including the Democrats, wanted something like a total moratorium on immigration. But they also felt like there should be some sort of government backed -- catastrophic health care.
They couldn't stand the idea that they work with their hands and do physical labor, and they can't afford good health care. So you see how their views are sort of united?
The working class, but neither party really aligns with those set of views.
GLENN: So how come -- because you would say, I don't want to make this into a partisan thing.
I think I have to. When you're looking at Donald Trump, that describes him, respect for gay people.
You know, he is -- he is -- he is the first person to ever have gay people openly speak at the convention.
He's very open to that.
But he is also -- doesn't want to be harmful to transgender people. But is against all of this craziness.
When it comes to -- the -- the -- they're very much against immigration.
That's huge. And that's Donald Trump. How is it that you don't see Democrats looking at some of these big, big items. And say, okay.
Well, clearly, this side is -- is totally against everything I really believe in.
How about the Democrats?
BATYA: Oh, we're definitely -- we're definitely seeing that. Trump is now polling at 35 percent of black men. He's going to get much more than that.
So 2020, he got -- he was polling at 8 percent of black men, and he got 18 percent.
He's now polling at 35 percent of black men. He has the majority of Hispanics polling for him. We're seeing a mass defection of working class people of color, away from the Democrats who are actively undermining them and their future towards Donald Trump.
I will tell you something else, Glenn.
Donald Trump is the consensus candidate, that Joe Biden pretended he will be. You're so right.
His entire agenda is right at the 50-yard line. It's where 70 percent of the Americans are. And 0 percent of the elites. So we are seeing mass defection from the Democrats to Donald Trump. In the working class. And we're seeing the elites, you know, the Nikki Haleys, G.O.P. elites will probably vote for Joe Biden.
That's the political realignment that we're seeing. The rich are moving towards the Democrats. Or have moved to the Democrats. Including conservative rich people. I bet you. We know that Wall Street gave more money to Joe Biden, than they did to Donald Trump.
That's not an accident. I think you're completely right about that.
GLENN: Well, not all rich people support Joe Biden. I want you to know that.
GLENN: So the elites, at what point do you think we break through the ice, on people realizing, that it's not Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
That it is truly, the elites against -- you know, people who say, hey. Can you pay attention to us in America?
First, can you just -- can you not continue to just put me under water. When are we going to break the lie that, and stop playing the left/right game. And realize, it's these people who think they're better than us. That are just trying to put their foot on our neck, all the time.
BATYA: I think this election is going to come down to the working class.
And I think it will become totally unignorable after that. The question is: What happens after that?
These working class people aren't voting for the Republicans. They are voting for Donald Trump. And if the G.O.P. wants to keep these voters, they have to stop pushing tax cuts over everything else. And they have to start listening to the working class. I interviewed 100 people, and 25 of them are quoted at great length in my book, second class.
You want to hear how working class people, who agree with you, about woke. And agree with you about conservative values.
But very much need an economic agenda. They need the G.O.P. to stop pimping them out, on the altar of the woke ideas, that they agree with.
But that, you know, tickle the pickle of the conservative elites, right?
And start creating an economic agenda, for the working class. The first party, that gets to that combination of house care, plus controlling immigration, is going to have a ruling majority.
GLENN: Hmm.
Batya, thank you so much for being on.
The name of the book, again, is really all about everything that we're doing, right now. Everything you're feeling right now. It's called Second Class.
Batya, thank you so much.