This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Glenn Beck, the conservative talk radio icon, ripped into Rep. Chris Stewart on Tuesday for voting to give House Speaker John Boehner another term in the top job.
He went so far as to tell Stewart, R-Utah: "We think you're losing your soul."
It's no surprise that some conservatives have gripes with Boehner, who overcame the far right angst to keep the speakership. But what makes Beck's comments about Stewart interesting is their past history.
Beck and Stewart have long been friends and they have a business relationship. Stewart is a successful author and Beck's publishing company, Mercury Ink, produced a series of e-books from Stewart's Wrath & Righteousness series.
According to Stewart's personal financial disclosures, he's made about $98,000 in royalties from Mercury Ink.
When Stewart was first elected in 2012, he appeared on Beck's radio show where Beck mentioned their business arrangement and suggested he wanted to further it: "I was trying to hire him when he feels he had a higher calling from God to try to fix the problem in Washington. I tried to tell him, 'I think that was alcohol, Chris. Somebody might have been drinking around you.'"
Beck wasn't goofing around on Tuesday. When Stewart defended Boehner against attacks that he hasn't been strong enough on President Barack Obama, Beck tried to turn it around and make an analogy.
He asked Stewart what he would do if he found Beck in a brothel and Beck said he was just hanging with friends.
"Well, it depends, Glenn. How attractive are the young ladies in the brothel, right?" Stewart tried to joke.
Beck didn't think it was funny: "You told, us, Chris, to come down on you like a bag of bricks if we ever felt you were losing your soul. This is bag of bricks time. We think you're losing your soul."
Beck ended the interview by thanking Stewart for being willing to come on the show and take the beating. He was a proxy for the 216 House Republicans who supported Boehner — a majority that included all of Utah's four House members including Freshman Rep. Mia Love.