Glenn Beck Compares Rick Santorum to Winston Churchill

Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report at 2:12 PM on February 26, 2008.

Remember, CNN pays this guy lots of money.

This morning on NPR, host Steve Inskeep asked right-wing pundit Glenn Beck who the "rising star" is in the conservative movement. Beck's response? Defeated senator Rick Santorum. "I think the guy is a Winston Churchill in many ways," said Beck.

"You know, there's really only one guy that I've talked to that I really really like. I think the guy is a Winston Churchill in many ways. He blew his Senate campaign because he spoke the truth. His advisers kept saying, 'Don't say this, don't say this, this is going to hurt you.'

"And that's Rick Santorum out of Pennsylvania. I think this guy really has it. I think he really understands the world we live in right now."

So, when Beck isn't calling Democrats communists on the air, or suggesting wildfire victims "hate America," or agreeing with al Qaeda about America's shortcomings, or defending the John Birch Society, Glenn Beck is arguing that Rick "Man on Dog" Santorum reminds him of Winston Churchill.

I'm curious, do you suppose CNN ever feels a twinge of embarrassment signing this guy's very large checks?

For what it's worth, Amanda at TP notes that Santorum probably approves of the historical comparison.

Whereas Churchill was actually battling Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in World War II, Santorum likes to pretend he is fighting a similar foe. In 2005, he blasted Democrats blocking President Bush's judicial nominees and compared them to "Adolf Hitler in 1942":

"Some are suggesting we're trying to change the law, we're trying to break the rules. Remarkable. Remarkable hubris.

"I mean, imagine. The rule has been in place for 214 years that this is the way we confirm judges. Broken by the other side two years ago, and the audacity of some members to stand up and say, "How dare you break this rule?"

"It's the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942: 'I'm in Paris. How dare you invade me? How dare you bomb my city? It's mine.'"

Amazing this guy only lost by 18 points.

Tagged as: media, cnn, beck, sanotirm, churchill

Steve Benen is a freelance writer/researcher and creator of The Carpetbagger Report. In addition, he is the lead editor of Salon.com's Blog Report, and has been a contributor to Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Crooks & Liars, The American Prospect, and the Guardian.