On his radio show today, Glenn Beck defended repeatedly trashing the Tides Foundation over the last year — saying that he is just trying to “turn the light of day” onto the organization — even after it was allegedly among the planned targets of an anti-government gunman in California.
Beck’s focus on the Tides Foundation has been scrutinized in recent days, after it was reported as being among the targets of Byron Williams, the California gunman charged after a shootout with authorities on an Oakland, California highway. Williams allegedly planned to target Tides and the ACLU.
Beck has repeatedly discussed the Tides Foundation on his show, trying to tie the group to a number of other people and organizations who he says are part of a conspiracy to help President Obama spread Marxism throughout the government.
The group describes its mission statement this way:
To partner with philanthropists, foundations, activists, and organizations across the country and across the globe to promote economic justice, robust democratic processes, and the opportunity to live in a healthy and sustainable environment where human rights are preserved and protected.
On his radio show today, Beck played a clip of Color of Change’s James Rucker mentioning Beck’s Tides talk at the progressive Netroots Nation conference over the weekend. Rucker pointed out that Tides was relatively obscure until Beck gave it the blackboard treatment on his Fox News show.
Beck responded that Ruckner’s comments show that Tides “need[s] the cover of darkness.” He continues: “They must silence people that turn the light of day on to these organizations.”
Tides was one of the hardest things that we ever tried to explain, and everyone told us that we couldn’t. It is the reason why the blackboard really became what the blackboard is, is because I was trying to explain Tides, and how all of this worked.
Beck apparently made no mention of Williams.
Listen:
h/t MediaMatters.
Jillian Rayfield
Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.
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