Glenn Beck Denies Ever Talking About FEMA Concentration Camps

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:28 pm

Don't Miss Sarah Jones's Essay On Kristi Noem Titled Predatory Is The Point On The Daily.

Glenn Beck has been popping up on FNC outside of his own program, including last night’s O’Reilly Factor to claim that he never mentioned the conspiracy theory of FEMA concentration camps, the problem for Beck is that in March he did
mention that he couldn’t debunk the FEMA concentration camps theory.

Here is Beck on The O’Reilly Factor with his denial:

Beck said of the FEMA concentration camps, “I never said that. Never said that, you know the reason why I did that concentration camp, or that FEMA story is because I snapped on the air one day. Somebody called me on the radio, and I said can we stop with the FEMA camps, can we stop with the FEMA camps. I want one way or another, I want it yes or no, so I went to my staff and I said I want proof that these don’t exist please. Maybe about a week later they said well we don’t really have proof.” Beck said they found the so called prison, but it was an abandoned train station.

Here is the debunking video that Beck is referring to:The problem for Beck is that the month before on Fox and Friends, Beck mentioned that he investigated the FEMA concentration camps, but couldn’t find evidence that he didn’t exist:

Fox News is at war with Paul Krugman because of a June 12 column in the New York Times where he mentions Beck and the FEMA camps. Krugman said, “Exhibit A for the mainstreaming of right-wing extremism is Fox News’s new star, Glenn Beck. Here we have a network where, like it or not, millions of Americans get their news — and it gives daily airtime to a commentator who, among other things, warned viewers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency might be building concentration camps as part of the Obama administration’s “totalitarian” agenda (although he eventually conceded that nothing of the kind was happening).”

Krugman was correct in his description of Beck’s position. If you don’t believe me, watch the above videos. Beck put something out there in his Fox and Friends appearance that the conspiracy theorists ran with. That clip of Beck is on every major far right website. Beck and O’Reilly conveniently leave out the fact that Krugman acknowledged that Beck no longer held that position.

The problem for Beck is that he did talk about the possibility of FEMA concentration camps in March. I think Beck should have waited until the April report aired on his show before he made a statement that served as fuel for the conspiracy theorists, but for him to maintain that he never said, just isn’t true. He said it and Krugman reminded everyone about it.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association