Politics

Glenn Beck to Sarah Palin: An ‘attempt on you could bring the Republic down’

Laura Donovan Contributor
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In the wake of Saturday’s Tucson, Ariz., shooting that left Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition, six dead and more than a dozen injured, former Alaska gov. Sarah Palin reached out to Fox’s Glenn Beck via e-mail.

“Sarah, as you know, peace is always the answer. I know you are felling the same heat, if not much more on this,” Beck wrote Palin in an e-mail, which he read on-air during his radio program Monday.

“I want you to know you have my full support,” Beck told Palin. “You are always in my thoughts and prayers.”

Concerned for her safety,  Beck urged Palin to protect herself and invest in more security because an “attempt on you could bring the Republic down.”

“There are nutjobs on all sides,” Beck said. “Tomorrow I am issuing a challenge to reject all violence. If people really believe Americans can become some version of al Qaeda, I will not stand in the shadows as too many overseas did after 9/11. Terror is terror. I don’t care if it’s for Allah or for your party, you are not a freedom fighter, but a killer. There is a difference between a hard-fought political battle and violence … It’s time for politics to stop and sanity to begin.”

Palin responded, “I hate violence. I hate war. Our children will not have peace if politicos just capitalize on this to succeed in portraying anyone as inciting terror and violence. Thanks for all you do to send the message of truth and love and God as the answer.”

Beck went on to say a few brief words about Giffords, who he had talked about on his show once before.

“I used her as an example of someone with some political courage,” Beck said.

Since Saturday’s massacre, both Beck and Palin have been criticized by dozens of pundits and bloggers. Palin has been accused of inspiring the incident for creating a map during elections targeting districts of several liberal lawmakers, including Giffords’s district, with the cross hairs of a rifle scope and instructing her followers, “Don’t retreat, reload.”

The full radio reading can be found at this link.

Will Rahn contributed to this report.