Glenn Beck Admits Lying: 'I Thought It Would Be A Little Easier' (VIDEO)

After being called on a white lie he told during his Restoring Honor rally, Glenn Beck admitted Thursday that he stretched the truth because he "thought it would be a little easier."

Beck had claimed that he held George Washington's handwritten first Inaugural Address in his hands at the National Archives, but a spokeswoman at the institution said he did no such thing. Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz and others called him out for the fabrication.

Thursday on his radio show, Beck copped to the lie. (RELATED: Lies By Prominent Americans.)

"I thought it would be a little easier in the speech," Beck said, than to go into the following elaborate explanation (via Mediaite):

Yesterday I went to the National Archives, and they opened up the vault, and they put on their gloves and then they put it on a tray. They wheeled it over and it's all in this hard plastic and you're sitting down at a table and you can't, because of Sandy Berger, I had a long conversation with him about this, you can't actually touch any of the documents, these are very very rare. So what they do, they have it in this plastic thing and they hold them right in front of you, you can't touch them but then you can say 'can you turn it over,' and then they turn it over for you and then you look at it. I thought it was a little clumsy to explain it that way.

WATCH:

Comments

[ahmad majeed]

05:26 PM on 10/06/2010

Beck is just a pathologic­al lair, plain and simple. Sad really.

[blueskyseas]

01:59 AM on 09/21/2010

Harder to say 'when I stood in front of' instead of 'when I held in my hand' ? Really?

Or harder to tell the truth than to lie?

'I can't tell the truth, it's toooo haaarrrrd' (with whiny sound effects)

[Joseph Belnap]

12:43 AM on 10/09/2010

Does it really matter? He said sorry and it was not really a big point of his speech

[DearAgony10]

02:25 PM on 09/09/2010

Test

[IM4REAL]

06:25 AM on 09/09/2010

Hmmm, Glen says that God speaks to him, I am wondering when God is going to tell him: "Glen, I am the truth and the light. I am Love. So, Glen if you are going to follow me you must stop lying and you must stop promoting hate and fear (these things are of Satan). You must speak the truth Glen, because the devil is a lie. Oh, and Glen you must love and help all people, when you do this you have done it for me. Now, go in peace and be of good cheer. I love you Glen" God.

[Joseph Belnap]

12:46 AM on 10/09/2010

God speaks to everyone. Not in full form or with a booming voice. but instead in a "still small voice" called the Holy ghost. He could have and (should have) not have said that lie no matter how small it was but seriously, You don't make mistakes? AND god loves all of his children not just Glenn

[lindaj3884]

02:49 AM on 09/09/2010

Beck lying is not news. There is real news and the truth and then there is the gospel of Beck that he pulls out of some orfice.

[DCDave]

09:19 PM on 09/08/2010

Obama just used the same rhetorical device in his speech in Ohio today. He distorted a fact for aesthetic/­rhetorical reasons. So either both Obama and Beck are liars or neither of them are. Personally I see it as metaphor and that its ok in both cases. I just don’t understand how a bunch of supposedly educated people can have such obvious and ridiculous double standards.
See this article:
http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­2010/09/08­/obama-ohi­o-speech-p­reside_n_7­08594.html
Its in Paragraph 10.
Let me be clear to Mr. Boehner and everyone else. We should not hold middle class tax cuts hostage any longer," the president said. The administra­tion "is ready this week to give tax cuts to every American making $250,000 or less," he said. It was a slight misstateme­nt of his own position, since the $250,000 would apply to household income. The threshold for individual­s would be $200,000

[Renifer]

11:37 PM on 09/08/2010

So now you hate tax cuts?
And you think that Beck and Obama are the same?
Oh please... You're as bad as Beck. At least he gets paid 12 million a year (not including book sales) for his propaganda­.

[DCDave]

02:04 AM on 09/09/2010

lol which blog did you not read to completely miss the point? Beck said he held a letter, that statement was not literally true, but was more or less metaphoric­ally true. I.e. he altered the story to make it fit into his speech as a rhetorical device. Obama did the same thing above. I don't think its a big deal that either of them did it because its a simple and time worn rhetorical device. Its just that you cannot slam Beck for doing it.

[blueskyseas]

02:04 AM on 09/21/2010

Seriously, does Obama routinely say over 250,000 for individual­s?

[gallimaufry03]

05:44 PM on 09/08/2010

Well, of course, he could have just said "Yesterday­, I went to the National Archives because I wanted to read Washington­'s Inaugural address."

Wouldn't that have covered it beck you lying simpleton?­!

[gomiesmom]

02:40 PM on 09/08/2010

Please, someone tell me why all the crazies seem to get their message out, and people, everyday hard working people, with no agenda, only to raise their children, pay their taxes and be kind to their fellow human beings, get the short end of the stick? I'm 57, worked all my adult life, raised a family and just want what is fair. I don't give a crap what religion or color you are. Treat others as you want to be treated. I'm a Democrat, and my dear friend is a Republican­, and when discussing political points of view, we are more alike than different. Palin, Beck, and the other slime on Fox just create hatred in my point of view. A friend of mine who has a grown son, stated on facebook that "Coulter was right, if you are a Democrat, you don't love your country". Unbelievab­le. Very sad. I love my country.

[flya750]

12:35 PM on 09/08/2010

This guy is is clearly an habitual liar... just by seeing this excuse he used...he clearly has truth issues...

[gw4you]

12:25 PM on 09/08/2010

Why make a big deal with poetic license. Guess if you have no substancia­l criticism you go for the small stuff....

[DCDave]

09:20 PM on 09/08/2010

Obama just did the same thing today in his speech.

[Renifer]

11:09 PM on 09/08/2010

"Obama just did the same thing today in his speech. "

Another example of a big fat lie to change the subject.
Republican­s don't have any ideas on how to fix the problems that they created over the last 30 years because they don't intend on fixing them.
All Republican­s do is stand against positive and modest change.
They have no ideas of their own. This rally was an anti-rally­, not a positive rally.

[blueskyseas]

02:07 AM on 09/21/2010

Seriously, does Obama routinely say over 250,000 for individual­s? Was it a mistake or a habit?

[S-Man]

09:58 AM on 09/08/2010

Glenn Beck lied, what a surprise..­.I wonder if he also said 1 million people showed up @ his rally. A great way to "restore honor", by lying.

[OC4Obama4Pres]

10:36 AM on 09/08/2010

The surprise is that he admitted to lying. I guess this was just too big a whopper to ignore but with no admissions till now, why now?

[DCDave]

09:20 PM on 09/08/2010

It was a rhetorical device. Obama does the same thing. He just did it today in fact. Is he a liar too?

[Renifer]

11:12 PM on 09/08/2010

False analogy. Repeating a lie that compares Beck to Obama over and over again doesn't make it true.
All you want to do is bring back the policies of Bush and Cheney. That's all the Not so Grand but very Old Party has is "Let's go back to the good old days of Bush and the 14.5 million jobs lost."

[thinkingwomanmillstone]

07:55 AM on 09/08/2010

Huffpost should just save time and use this headline for evert Beck diatribe.

[capitaldysfunction]

02:35 AM on 09/08/2010

Glen Beck has a "NO SIGNS" rule at his rallies. The reason is obvious. The racist messages would be everywhere and he would be standing in the middle of them.

[Renifer]

11:14 PM on 09/08/2010

"Glen Beck has a "NO SIGNS" rule at his rallies. The reason is obvious. The racist messages would be everywhere and he would be standing in the middle of them."

Also, his followers are sheep and will do anything that he says, including censor their own racist hate filled speech.
Let's remember that this was a book tour initially, and when the GOP got wind of it, they had him spin it, so he became a phony televangel­ist who whipped up the crowd but never really said anything. Seriously, I watched the speech, and it had no substance.

[capitaldysfunction]

01:10 AM on 09/09/2010

I heard one commentato­r say this is a lead in for other rallies more politicall­y oriented.

[Crixus]

02:20 AM on 09/08/2010

Glenn Beck is a Liar and a FRAUD!!!

he's a phony.. that whole thing in DC was a mad dash for cash for his POCKET BOOK... and all those that came there are nothing but 1st class suckers and bafoons

[PlayTOE]

06:25 AM on 09/08/2010

fanned Crixus love the nic .. not too many people know Crixus was crucified for leading with Spartacus.

And you are very correct about Glen (the fibber) Beck

[Shawn Travis]

05:28 PM on 09/13/2010

wow u two must work for the HUFFPOST only reason either one of you too lie like that and if u were there u won't have scean 1st class suckers if u want to see a 1st class sucker just keep reading the post from this very site

[georgieboyme]

11:46 PM on 09/07/2010

You guys want to stop the republican dirty tactics; well all you need to do is get them out of office. Teach them a lesson about messing with dems and progressiv­es. I don't mean the dems in office; I mean us. We put that man in office, and the republican minority has decided that our votes didn't matter. They have played every dirty trick in the book to stall or destroy everything we put that man there to do. Now it's time to show them what we can do to them for ignoring our votes. Get the repugs out of office. Show them that they will be force to comply with our will as American voters. We put him there to do a job. They've done everything to stop him from doing what we put him there to do. Let's show them our power.

[OldLadyCitizen]

06:51 PM on 09/08/2010

You're going to be very disappoint­ed in November.

[Renifer]

11:18 PM on 09/08/2010

"You're going to be very disappoint­ed in November. "

No, he's not. Republican­s are going to be disappoint­ed because everyone is paying attention this time, and there are far more of us than there are of you deluded sheep.
You may be able to buy off some seats, but you won't get as many as you hope, and it will be spun and spun and spun by the right. You'll see. It's going to be enlighteni­ng, just like the last two elections where you got your @sses handed to you.