People interviewed included Ron Paul, Al Sharpton, Janice Dickinson, Larry King, Nancy Grace, Benjamin Netanyahu, Anderson Cooper, Jeff Foxworthy, and Ben Stein.

"[2] Media Matters for America described it as "Glenn Beck's Climate of Distortion" which "rehashed several falsehoods and misleading talking points", including the claim that the so-called Oregon Petition had credibility.

Glenn Beck's self-titled television show on Fox News Channel premiered January 19, 2009, with his move resulting in a significant viewership increase.

Van Jones resigned from his position as Special Advisor to the president in September 2009 after becoming a major subject of news stories on programs such as Glenn Beck, after lesser known conservative groups had first aired concerns as early as April.

[14][15] They forced Van Jones in July and August 2009 to defend his past including membership in a socialist group and support for Mumia Abu-Jamal, a death row prisoner convicted of killing a police officer.

She stated "two of my favorite political philosophers, Mao Zedong and Mother Teresa – not often coupled with each other – but the two people that I turn to most to basically deliver a simple point, which is, 'You're going to make choices, you're going to challenge, you're going to say, why not?, you're going to figure out how to do things that have never been done before."

[22] Within days of its premiere, Beck began using his program on Fox News to warn the public about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

[24] The story immediately had a disparaging effect on the organization, with one reporter from the New York Times proclaiming that the videos "caught ACORN's low-level employees in five cities sounding eager to assist with tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution.

[26][27][28] On 13 August 2010, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed and remanded on the grounds that only 10 percent of ACORN's funding was federal and that did not constitute "punishment".

Beck's shows have been described as a "mix of moral lessons, outrage and an apocalyptic view of the future ... capturing the feelings of an alienated class of Americans.

In late July 2009, Beck argued that reparations and social justice were driving President Obama's agenda, discussing issues of diversity and institutional racism.

"[44] These remarks drew criticism from MSNBC commentators, the NAACP, and resulted in as many as 80[citation needed] advertisers boycotting both Beck's show and FNC.

[46] Time describes Beck as "the new populist superstar of Fox News" saying it is easier to see a set of attitudes rather than a specific ideology, noting his criticism of Wall Street, yet defending bonuses to AIG and denouncing conspiracies against FEMA but warning against indoctrination of children by the AmeriCorps program.

[54] As of September 21, 2010, a total of 296 advertisers had asked that their commercials not be shown on Fox News during Beck's programming[55] including Wal-Mart, CVS Caremark, Best Buy, Ally Financial, Travelocity, LexisNexis-owned Lawyers.com, Procter & Gamble, Verizon Wireless, HSBC, Progressive Corporation and GEICO.

On the November 16 show, Beck acknowledged the parody, noting the use of chalkboards, crying on TV and questioning the President, saying, "You haven't lived until South Park has done an entire episode on you.