Free Republic

When Ted Cruz headlined a recent fundraising luncheon in New York, the Baptist senator was presented with a gift: a menorah. "It was very heartfelt," Mica Mosbacher, a Cruz supporter who was there, said of the feelings on both sides. "He strikes a chord with the Jewish community." Cruz, the son of a pastor, has spent several years aggressively courting the support of Jewish voters, particularly those who are Orthodox. Touting his conservative views on Israel, his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal and his adherence to traditional values, Cruz has found a conservative niche in the Orthodox community in...

Glenn Beck brought a fasting child on stage yesterday during his campaign speech for Ted Cruz in Utah. Beck declared to the Cruz crowd: “This is the priesthood rising.”

Cruz also basked in the praise of two big-name Mormons: former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney and conservative talk show host Glenn Beck. […] Beck, a Mormon and conservative radio talk show host, said he always vows to be the worst enemy of politicians who do not keep promises. “I don’t have any friends in Washington except these two,” he said about Cruz and Lee. He added they are the first politicians he has even endorsed. Beck said that he, like many Mormons, believe in a prophecy that the Constitution will hang by a thread in the last days....

“I want to speak to you about something that may be controversial. And it’s not something that I have said when I have been out for Ted [Cruz] and now Mike [Lee]. But it’s something that this crowd needs to hear – that Utah needs to hear. The body of the priesthood is known to stand up when the Constitution hangs by a thread,” Beck said. ... “I joined many times. What held me through was the prophesy that the Constitution will hang by a thread, and this People would remember what our Founders did. It is our responsibility to...

Cruz in Utah: Glenn Beck says he’s fulfillment of Mormon prophecy, Gayle Ruzicka predicts he’ll be better than Reagan. Republican Presidential candidate Ted Cruz told Utahns on Saturday that the biggest danger America faces is career politicians who no longer listen — and he relishes battling them for the people. -snip- Beck, a Mormon and conservative radio talk show host, said he always vows to be the worst enemy of politicians who do not keep promises. "I don't have any friends in Washington except these two," he said about Cruz and Lee. He added they are the first politicians he...

On his daily radio and television shows, Glenn Beck has elevated once-obscure conservative thinkers onto best-seller lists. Recently, he has elevated a 78-year-old liberal academic to celebrity of a different sort, in a way that some say is endangering her life. Frances Fox Piven, a City University of New York professor, has been a primary character in Mr. Beck’s warnings about a progressive take-down of America. Ms. Piven, Mr. Beck says, is responsible for a plan to “intentionally collapse our economic system.” Her name has become a kind of shorthand for “enemy” on Mr. Beck’s Fox News Channel program, which...

I’ve entitled this column “Burning Bridges over Beck” only because the original title, “How to Lose Conservative Friends and Alienate Readers While Drawing a Line in the Sand on the Banks of the Rubicon” was, as the Mrs. put it, “a bit verbose.”          Let’s get down to it. Glenn Beck is an influential figure; no one can deny that he has made considerable advances for the conservative movement. I have never watched his television program, so most of what I know about him I have learned by watching the response to him. That response is very impressive.The rally in Washington this...