Glenn Beck's inside story on failed Current TV bid

'The Blaze' host talks about his offer to buy Current TV from Al Gore

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," January 10, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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O'REILLY: "Personal Story Segment" tonight. Our pal Glenn Beck has been very busy down in Texas. Apparently he tried to buy Al Gore's loony cable network. And now he says he's rebranding his media company as libertarian operation. John Stossel would be very pleased with that.

Beck joins us now from Dallas. Howdy. Howdy, how are you doing? Howdy?

BECK: This is -- this is what all of the media is reporting. And I appreciate, Bill you giving me a chance to clear this up. I'm not rebranding anything.

O'REILLY: Yes.

BECK: The media just picked up on the fact that this week I said, look, the Republicans and the Democrats are going exactly the same place. And it's a diminishing return here. The difference is getting smaller and smaller. The growing segment is the libertarian movement and that's what we concentrate on my network and that's what we concentrate on my show.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: All right what is that -- what is that mean -- libertarian -- let's -- let's take the debt ceiling ok which is we just talked about.

BECK: Yes.

O'REILLY: We owe $16.5 trillion. All right? And obviously any intelligent person knows if we keep going this way the U.S. dollar is going to collapse which is why you demand to be paid in gold, all right?

BECK: I don't but that's not a bad idea.

O'REILLY: So what is libertarian outlook on that? Does the libertarian say we don't want any paper money anymore? What do you want?

BECK: No, you know I can't speak for the libertarian movement.

O'REILLY: What do you mean, you said you're a libertarian. Now you can't speak for them?

BECK: I am. I can speak for me as a libertarian. But that is a very wide platform. For me, stop spending. Cut the size of the government. Go into reason. You know you were just talking a minute ago about this new coin.

O'REILLY: Yes.

BECK: Are you out of your mind?

O'REILLY: They are not going to do that.

BECK: Washington is -- Bill, the fact that they're even debating it shows you how far from reality they really are.

O'REILLY: Yes but they -- that's probably on the Current TV network which I want to get into now. Now Beck, yes did you really make a formal offer to buy this dopey network?

(CROSSTALK)

BECK: Here's what happened -- here's what happened, we called, we debated back and forth. Because I think it was worth about half of what they paid. And so we debated back and forth so we thought, ok, you know what? If we can get that number of households, it's worth it, let's call them up and make an offer.

O'REILLY: All right so you made a $250 million offer?

BECK: No. We called them up and we said, so, we want to make an offer. Blah, blah, blah, and they said great and who is this Mercury Company?

O'REILLY: Right.

BECK: And they said well, we -- that would have to actually go to the Vice President I don't -- I yes I can't -- we're going to call you back. Within 15 minutes they called us back they said the Vice President has a reputation and under no circumstance will he ever entertain an offer from Glenn Beck.

O'REILLY: All right even if it was $500 or $700 million?

BECK: We never got to the table. We weren't allowed to the table because his reputation -- was his -- his legacy of his network was too important so he sold it to Al Jazeera.

O'REILLY: Well that's what I want to say. How do you process it personally when you are more loathsome to Al Gore than guys who glorify Osama bin Laden? Your words?

BECK: That's a badge of honor, I want that on my resume. I want that on my -- it's a badge of honor that I'm more loathsome, that I am -- that I am not anywhere close to his agenda, close to his values because Al Jazeera is closer.

O'REILLY: The guy is taking money from Gulf oil sheikhs when he is blasting big oil.

BECK: Oh no, no, no, it's so much more than that, it's so much more than that. It's not just that he has -- he claims all those global warming bull crap and that he really cares and then sells and takes all the Gulf oil money. It's more than that. His values he said that his network and Al Jazeera were launched on the same values, the network that was hiding information about Osama bin Laden and beyond that the people who started it and launched it stoned women and homosexuals in their streets. Wow, I am proud to not have the same corner stone of values as Al Gore.

O'REILLY: Do you really believe though, I mean, I -- it's hard for me to believe that Gore would just dismiss -- Mercury Arts is your company. And if they came up with a legitimate offer because he thinks your --

BECK: Oh no. I believe it 110 percent.

O'REILLY: So you believe that Al Gore in his mind thinks that you are more of a threat to the world.

BECK: Oh, yes I do.

O'REILLY: Than Al Jazeera?

BECK: I do believe, I really do believe, first of all, Al Gore, I think is -- I think he is a fraud. I think he is a total fraud. But I do absolutely believe that he is more in line with Al Jazeera than he is with anything that I would preach American exceptionalism, American common sense, responsibility, hard work.

Hey, I live in Texas. Drill. You bet. I think he thinks I am much more dangerous than Al Jazeera. He is that insane.

O'REILLY: Now, does it trouble you at all that he was almost the president of the United States? That it was just by the Supreme Court one vote that kept him out?

BECK: On many levels, yes. On many levels, yes. But what -- what is disturbing in this particular case is that here is a guy who used to wear a flag lapel pin and then gets in bed, again, with an organization that CNN said in March of 2002 they are hiding information about Osama bin Laden that would be good for the United States.

An organization that on the weekend has a regular, you know, well, like a Jesus show except it's all about Mohammed, where they are talking about oh, please, Allah, give me the courage to stone the Jews to death. I mean.

(CROSSTALK)

O'REILLY: What's the name of that show? Sticks and stones can break your bones I think.

BECK: Yes and Al Jazeera will kill you.

O'REILLY: Beck I've got to go. But I heard one rumor and I don't know whether you know it's true or not. But Al Gore doesn't wear a flag lapel pin anymore. He wears lapel of an oil rig. Is that true do you think that's true?

BECK: I -- I -- I bet that man for the right price will wear anything on his lapel.

O'REILLY: Except a Glenn Beck button.

BECK: Glenn Beck.

O'REILLY: It's not happening. Thank you very much, Bill.

O'REILLY: All right Beck, good to see you, man.

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