Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck said Monday that he's not only backing Ted Cruz in the GOP presidential nomination race because he believes him to be a "true Constitutionalist", but also because he believes front-runner Donald Trump "is a very dangerous man."
"If you listen to things he said this weekend, 'I could go on to 5th Avenue and shoot people and wouldn't lose a vote,' Beck told CNN's Chris Cuomo on the morning
"New Day" program.
"He has joked about killing reporters and not killing reporters like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin does. He is a very dangerous man."
Further, said Beck, who was one of 22 prominent conservatives who wrote
anti-Trump essays for National Review last week, if Trump is reflecting the mood of the country, "we are in more trouble than I thought."
"You have a guy who is angry and then has an enemy's list, and [he] starts just to take people down over and over and over again," he said of Trump. "If you disagree with him, he destroys you."
Beck told Cuomo that he has decided to back Cruz, even though in nearly 40 years of broadcasting he's never endorsed anyone "because I don't like really any politician," because Cruz "is who he says he is, and I have watched him over the last couple of years. I have watched him and I have seen that he does exactly what he says he is going to do."
In addition, Beck said that he believes Cruz has been building for the presidency since he was a child.
"At 13-years-old he had memorized the Constitution and was going around the state doing this amazing memory thing on the Constitution," said Beck. "He was raised by a father who escaped from Cuba, actually fought for Fidel Castro, came to America, realized the difference, became an American citizen, and raised Ted on the Constitution, so it is in his bones."
Meanwhile, Trump is a "a progressive," said Beck, but he denied statements made by Trump that he would choose Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders over him, if the two end up in the general election.
"That is absolutely not what I said," said Beck. "I said that Bernie Sanders is at least honest about who he is, and I have said this for years. I actually have respect for Bernie Sanders because he is not afraid to say 'I'm a socialist and I think we should be more like Denmark.' I disagree with that. But I respect Bernie Sanders for having the guts to tell the truth."
He also denied reports that Cruz has switched opinions on key issues like immigration and ethanol subsidies.
"He has absolutely been straight on ethanol," said Beck. "I heard him about a year ago say to people in Iowa, 'I am not for ethanol subsidies.' The reason why the governor of Iowa doesn't like him is because he is not for ethanol subsidies . . . I have not seen Ted Cruz change his position on anything."
Beck said there are a few other candidates he likes, but he thinks Cruz is the most qualified for the White House.
"I like Rand Paul, but Rand Paul I don't think has a chance of winning," said Beck. "I like Ben Carson, but I think he is under prepared for it. I like Marco Rubio, but I think he is too big of a government guy. He agrees with the NSA spying. I find that reprehensible on the Constitution."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.