Beck called "Comrade Clinton" a "liberal fascist," Edwards "a communist"

Summary: Glenn Beck asserted that Hillary Clinton is "a liberal fascist ... who wants to redistribute the wealth in this country the way she believes is good for everybody," adding that her desire "to get back to the appropriate balance of power between government and the market ... sounds like the Soviet Union," and that "Comrade Clinton has railed against the excesses of the offensive executive pay packages and an out of whack tax code that favors the wealthy while holding down the middle class." Beck also said of John Edwards: "Now, put a red star on his furry head. He's a communist."

On the January 24 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck asserted that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton's desire "to get back to the appropriate balance of power between government and the market ... sounds like the Soviet Union," and that "Comrade Clinton has railed against the excesses of the offensive executive pay packages and an out of whack tax code that favors the wealthy while holding down the middle class." He further called her "a liberal fascist ... who wants to redistribute the wealth in this country the way she believes is good for everybody." Beck added that "promising to steal from the rich and give to the poor" only worked for former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin "because he killed 50 million people to force them to live that way." He concluded that Clinton's "fiscal ideas are plenty reason enough" not to vote for her, adding: "Unless you're [Venezuelan President] Hugo Chavez." Later in the program, Beck said of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards: "Now, put a red star on his furry head. He's a communist."

Beck frequently compares supporters of progressive economic policies to communists and socialists. For instance, on the January 22 edition of his show, he said to Jeff Frankel, an economics professor from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, "Nice of you to join us, Stalin" when Frankel suggested focusing tax cuts on "lower-income, working Americans." On January 9, Beck remarked of Edwards: "I listened to him last night give a speech, and, I mean, why not just start wearing the Soviet star on your head and the Workers World Party?"

From the January 24 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

BECK: Hillary said that if she becomes president, the federal government will take more of an active role in the economy to address what she called the excesses of the market. Wow. That sounds pretty Left. But just in case you haven't had enough, it gets much, much worse.

She also said she wants to get back to the appropriate balance of power between government and the market. OK. That sounds like the Soviet Union.

And to top it all off, Comrade Clinton has railed against the excesses of the offensive executive pay packages and an out-of-whack tax code that favors the wealthy while holding down the middle class. I can't imagine anybody putting it more plainly than that.

Hillary Clinton is a liberal fascist. She is somebody who wants to redistribute the wealth in this country the way she believes is good for everybody. It is the new New Deal, and it is what kept this country in a depression for 10 solid years while the rest of the world recovered.

Hillary, I just want to point this out. Executives earn big money because it's their skills that help their companies earn even bigger money, you know, so they can hire more employees, et cetera, et cetera. And if the companies don't like it, they should fire them and lower the pay scale.

And you don't hear me crying when your husband takes home a million-dollar speaking fee. I, instead, say, God bless America. I can't believe somebody would pay that.

And finally, businesses need tax breaks because they need capital to grow the business, hire more employees, and that expands the economy. Not food stamps.

I like to call this Economics 101. You know, and it's fine if you want to prance around like Robin Hood, promising to steal from the rich and give to the poor, but that doesn't mean it works. The only reason it worked for Stalin is because he killed 50 million people to force them to live that way.

We are the greatest country on earth because of our capitalist system, not in spite of it. So, thanks, Hillary. Just in case people weren't sure why they shouldn't vote for you, your fiscal ideas are plenty reason enough. Unless you're Hugo Chavez.

[...]

BECK: Why is -- why is John Edwards in the race? I mean, at this point?

LAURA SCHWARTZ (Democratic strategist): He is passionate about his ideas, and I have to tell you --

BECK: Come on.

SCHWARTZ: -- I'm with the group that says he shouldn't drop out. I mean, this guy has at least 15 percent. If he drops below 15 percent nationally --

BECK: Wait a minute.

SCHWARTZ: -- this guy will have some second thoughts.

BECK: OK. Wait a minute. If he's so passionate about his viewpoints, why are they so different from the last time he was in the race? He was running as a moderate. Now, put a red star on his furry head. He's a communist.

—K.E.