Why does Texas elect their Speaker of the House with Democrats? And then we walk through a foreign policy discussion regarding Pete Hegseth and are we inevitably going to go to war with China? A very informative and deep conversation with our guest, Will Tebow.
00:00:59.000He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA. We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
00:01:18.000Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of The Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals.
00:01:28.000Learn how you can protect your wealth with Noble Gold Investments at noblegoldinvestments.com.
00:01:45.000One of the more conservative states in the country, and they have tried to pour, all the Democrats have tried to pour money and money and money and money and money into Texas.
00:02:14.000A 14-point victory for President Trump in Texas when you have Republicans that are going to work with Democrats to elect a Speaker of the House.
00:02:22.000Joining us now is Abraham George, Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.
00:02:41.000For the last decade or so, a small group of Republicans going to Democrats, which is the minority party here.
00:02:48.000This time it is 62 members from the Democrat side, 88 from our side.
00:02:54.000Some Republicans will partner with the Democrats to choose a moderate or a rhino Republican, for lack of a better term, to put as a speaker.
00:03:04.000Then they will go and kill all the conservative bills in Texas House.
00:03:10.000The Texas Senate is very conservative.
00:03:13.000Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and the group will pass good legislation.
00:03:18.000One of the legislation that got killed last time is the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government is buying land in Texas, especially around our military bases.
00:04:50.000Joining the Democrats, most likely going to elect a speaker.
00:04:54.000At least they're going to try to do that tomorrow, which is what we're fighting at this point.
00:04:58.000Yeah, so to walk through this, there is David Cooks, the conservative choice, Dustin Burroughs, yourself, Cody Harris.
00:05:07.000So there's a lot of these different dynamics here.
00:05:10.000Can you just reinforce, though, that there's a group of Republicans that are willing to vote with a Democrat?
00:05:18.000Are Democrats willing to vote with a Republican or vice versa?
00:05:21.000It's so hard for me to comprehend this.
00:05:24.000So, you know, in Minnesota, you heard this a couple of days ago, they have one seat majority, and they decided we're going to elect a speaker by the Republican caucus, which is the normal thing to do, which is what everybody does.
00:05:39.000In Texas, a group of Republicans will join the Democrats and elect...
00:05:44.000A speaker who is backed majority by the Democrats.
00:07:35.000So we spent a lot of money over the last two, two and a half months, educating our constituents, saying this is what's happening in Texas.
00:07:45.000And one of the legislators, Cordy Harris, took that as a legislative bribery for the party to send mailers to his district, which will potentially affect his re-election, and filed the Texas ethics violation against me personally, saying the party chairman is bribing and threatening legislators, which is a crime punishable by minimum of two years in prison.
00:08:10.000So this is how crazy they are and how far they're willing to go.
00:08:29.000And by the way, is there anything in the Constitution that prohibits a simple majority vote?
00:08:33.000So just so you guys understand, it would be like if we did a Speaker of the House in this current House and we had to go get Nancy Pelosi and to go get Hakeem Jeffries to go support our Speaker candidate, correct?
00:08:57.000So if 10 or 15 Republicans go to Jeffries and say, hey, if you put one of us as a speaker, but we will give you all the committee chairmanships you need, and we will pass all of your bills, and we will do everything you guys want.
00:09:38.000It started at the same time when Barack Obama got elected because we did not have enough Republicans who had the balls to stand up and say, hey, we're going to still support a Republican nominee and we're going to have a conservative as a speaker and we're going to pass some conservative bills.
00:09:52.000But they're basically giving power away to Hakeem Jeffries, and that's exactly what they're doing in Texas House.
00:09:59.000Very interested in what's happening in Texas.
00:10:13.000The grassroots needs to get behind the Republican nominee and actually talk to their representatives and say, if you do this, we are going to primer you and we're going to get you out.
00:10:25.000That needs to come from the grassroots, from their district.
00:10:28.000That's the only thing that we can do at this point.
00:10:33.000The people, the constituents, need to wake up and say, well, this is not what we elected.
00:10:41.000While we may have won this election, the fight to restore our great nation is only beginning.
00:10:46.000Now is the time to take a stand, and Patriot Mobile is leading the charge.
00:10:49.000As America's only Christian conservative wireless provider, Patriot Mobile offers a way to vote with your wallet without compromising on quality or convenience.
00:10:58.000Patriot Mobile isn't just about providing exceptional cell phone service.
00:11:02.000It's a call to action to defend our rights and freedoms with Patriot Mobile.
00:11:05.000You'll get outstanding nationwide coverage because they operate on all three major networks.
00:11:09.000If you have a cell phone service today, you can get a cell phone service with Patriot Mobile with a coverage guarantee.
00:11:14.000But the difference is every dollar you spend supports the First and Second Amendments, Sanctity of Life, our veterans, and first responders.
00:13:10.000Moving forward, what can we do to make the Republican Party more representative of its voters?
00:13:17.000Well, one thing is we need conservatives running in 2026.
00:13:22.000And that goes from all across the state for real Republicans who actually gets America First agenda, who actually will stand for state of Texas to run in the Republican ballot.
00:13:37.000Not everyone's going to be successful, but we just replaced about 25, 26 members who were against the school choice, who were out there impeaching Ken Paxton, one of our favorite attorney generals in the entire nation.
00:13:52.000So the party is doing the right thing.
00:13:57.000But we need you and your audience to talk to them and wake them up a little bit and get them to the polls and actually get them to engage with the candidate who is actually going to be a MAGA candidate.
00:14:41.000And party can be somewhat neutral unless there's really horrible Republicans who does some really horrible things against the party platform and its principles.
00:14:51.000And one thing that changed in the last convention, which is we have one of the largest conventions, about 10,000 people come together every two years to put our platform and our priorities.
00:15:02.000We'd love to have you as a speaker on the next one in 26. Yeah, sounds great.
00:15:09.000They came together and they said the party's name belongs to the people, not to the electorate officials.
00:15:17.000So they basically said, if you're not going to play by the rules that's set by these grassroots members, they're going to hold you off from the ballot.
00:15:28.000They're going to say you cannot run as a Republican.
00:15:30.000You can run as a Democrat or Independent, but the Republican Party's name belongs to the...
00:15:36.000To the grassroots members, not to the elected officials.
00:15:39.000So there is a lot of that going on, conversations, which is one of the reasons why Cody Harris thinks he can actually file a felony charge against me if I were to remove him from the ballot.
00:15:53.000It's up to the members of the party who makes that decision, and it comes with a lot of censoring, things like that.
00:16:00.000And he has to violate multiple rules and all those things.
00:16:03.000But at the same time, That gives the party a lot of power over elected officials, and they hate that.
00:16:11.000But I think the people are waking up, and your audience can help a lot by making that phone call, talking to the elected officials, and also showing up to the Capitol.
00:16:24.000Starting tomorrow, the session starts for 140 days.
00:16:28.000We only meet 140 days every other year.
00:16:31.000So they need to show up and say, This is a bill that I like.
00:16:35.000I want you to actually work on this and support this, get behind this asset.
00:16:42.000Would love to come to your convention.
00:16:43.000Keep Texas red and responsive to its voters.
00:16:48.000Are you tired of scrolling through shows on TV and finding nothing but the same mind-numbing content?
00:16:53.000Don't waste your time on that nonsense instead.
00:16:55.000Use that time to learn something new and inspiring.
00:16:58.000Hillsdale College offers more than 40 free online courses.
00:17:01.000Learn about the works of C.S. Lewis, the meaning of the U.S. Constitution, the rise and fall of the Roman Republic, or the history of the ancient Christian church with Hillsdale College's free online courses.
00:17:15.000In it, you'll explore the design and purpose of the Constitution, the challenge it faced during the Civil War, and how it has been undermined for more than a century by progressivism and liberalism.
00:17:25.000Our country needs more Americans who can understand the Constitution and can defend the freedom of the American people against the encroachments of an increasingly large and unaccountable government.
00:17:34.000Start the Constitution 101 course today.
00:17:37.000Right now, go to charlieforhillsdale.com to enroll.
00:17:39.000There's no cost, and it's easy to get started.
00:17:41.000That's charlieforhillsdale.com, the register, charlieforhillsdale.com.
00:17:47.000Joining us now is Will Tebow, Army veteran and director of the American Military Project at the Claremont Institute.
00:18:03.000There are two critical things about Pete Hegg, Seth.
00:18:05.000The first is he understands that the military is, frankly, broken, and that business as usual is not going to be enough to preserve the integrity of our armed forces in a way that allows them to defend our nation.
00:18:18.000DEI has corrupted defense policy, and there's a sclerotic being to everything that the military does that affects personnel to technology policy.
00:18:28.000But the second thing about him is his incentive structure is completely separate from the military-industrial complex, from the senior ranks of military brass.
00:18:38.000And that means he's going to be accountable to President Trump and the American people who sent President Trump back to D.C. in order to fix the military.
00:18:48.000That's why it's so important that he gets confirmed.
00:18:50.000Well, is it fair to say that the United States military is in a place of crisis right now?
00:18:56.000Is it fair to say that the military is in free I think by any measure, Charlie.
00:19:02.000I was part of the two wars that we spent 20 years fighting, and neither one yielded a legitimate military victory.
00:19:13.000You can't tell what the blood, sweat, and tears we spent in the Middle East has produced for the American people, for American interests.
00:19:27.000But what we see now is a military with dwindling end strength because people don't want to join and because the military doesn't want to hire the kinds of men who have served in uniform throughout our history.
00:19:39.000And the only way that we're kind of hiding the story here is because the military has changed recruitment goals.
00:19:46.000The military has changed the imperative to seem as if they are.
00:19:51.000Doing okay or keeping the ship afloat.
00:20:20.000Your association with the Claremont Institute, I imagine you are not a John Bolton neoconservative because I love the Claremont Institute and everyone there is very rational.
00:20:28.000But of course you believe in American strength and American dominance militarily.
00:20:32.000What does the Pete Hegseth nomination and the selection of people like Michael Anton in the State Department and the selection of Mr. Caldwell that is helping out in DOD, can you explain the philosophical divergence away from traditional neoliberal, neoconservative dogma and where the Trump Department of Defense is going to differ for the better for the American people?
00:20:53.000Yeah, Charlie, I think we'll be in large agreement here, but it reflects the understanding that America is a nation in that...
00:21:01.000what benefits America is not an ideology attached to a real life game of risk with soldiers displacing other soldiers around the world.
00:21:11.000The American nation is what must benefit from defense policy, from foreign policy, from Department of the Interior policy.
00:21:22.000And that means it's about affecting the kitchen table, right?
00:21:26.000It is about the ability of a mom and dad to raise their family with the confidence that their children will be growing up in the land of prosperity and freedom and values.
00:21:39.000and that they could perhaps send their sons to join the military.
00:21:44.000Without fear that their lives would be wasted in far-flung adventures overseas with a nebulous tie to what matters to the American people and to their lives at home.
00:22:22.000The one that is harder to articulate is the rise of China.
00:22:27.000I am a China, I don't want to say hawk, but I'm certainly, I think they're a great enemy of ours.
00:22:32.000But am I correct in viewing that some people that have been largely silent on China for the last 20 years, suddenly now...
00:22:40.000Want us to get closer and closer with a Connecticut hot war?
00:22:43.000Help me understand how we should think about the rising threat of the Chinese Communist Party.
00:22:49.000Well, I think you touched on it there, Charlie.
00:22:51.000You know, there's a lot of reasons to be, I don't think necessarily afraid even, but really wary of China and their growing prominence in the Pacific and in the world and even what they do at home.
00:23:07.000The question is if you think war is inevitable or not.
00:23:10.000And I think any reasonable American, and certainly those who are going to be in charge of our military, our intelligence community, and our foreign policy establishment, should seek to make war not inevitable, to avoid it while preserving American interests.
00:23:30.000You know, if we move into the space of the Pacific kind of with a fait accompli that certain actions by the Chinese would produce a military response by America, that'll frankly limit our creativity and our ability to respond to China because we'll think that it's only about killing and destroying Chinese tanks.
00:23:53.000We should understand that war doesn't have to happen, that there's a way that America can still leverage her economic muscle and her military deterrence in order to make any future Chinese military incursions unacceptable to them and to make it clear to them that the cost will be too high.
00:24:18.000So there's something called the Thucydides trap, which you know, which is a belief that when you have a rising power that threatens the displaced and existing dominant power, that it will almost necessarily lead to conflict or war.
00:24:35.000And I'm starting to listen to some of these people in D.C. and I'm friends with them.
00:24:54.000Because it's now being built into the kind of non-negotiable aspect of even challenging the premise that in the next 10 years, we're going to be in a hot war with China.
00:25:05.000Yeah, we shouldn't forget that one of the more recent purveyors of the notion of the Thucydides trap is none other than Mark Milley.
00:25:12.000And we should make sure that that's a lesson for many of our friends, Charlie, who want to pick up the mantle of this supposedly inevitable war.
00:25:22.000I think it helps to kind of read the neoconservative...
00:25:28.000The Center for Strategic International Studies produced a really, frankly, excellent war game about what a war over Taiwan would look like.
00:25:37.000Their conservative estimate of a war in Taiwan where the U.S. is militarily involved is the loss of over 5,000 U.S. Marines, soldiers, and sailors in the span of less than 96 hours.
00:25:51.000Half of our losses in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan combined in just a few days, a long weekend.
00:25:58.000The CSIS, frankly, they pass off those war game results like it's some mere academic exercise.
00:26:04.000But that's what we're talking about when we discuss the possibility of war and of defeating the Chinese Communist Party often.
00:26:14.000We should, again, tie our aims in the Pacific to those results that benefit the American This doesn't mean we let China eat our lunch economically or militarily.
00:26:26.000It means we punish them in many ways, and it means we preserve our economic interests.
00:26:31.000But it's not a license to act with reckless abandon.
00:26:35.000Well, and so here's the other component of this.
00:26:37.000So there's one analysis where you say, OK, war is inevitable with China, and I reject the Thucydides trap.
00:26:45.000However, the Mark Milley perspective...
00:26:48.000It's like, okay, war is inevitable, but what if we decide not to fight?
00:26:52.000What if we just acknowledge that they're the dominant power and that we just kind of have this fusionism?
00:27:19.000You know, it's a problem of creativity.
00:27:23.000A big problem with the foreign policy establishment is not necessarily that they're neoconsertive or dovish.
00:27:28.000It's the fact that you think there are only two choices, to be a neocon or a dove.
00:27:32.000Let's think about ways that we can enable allies to have a credible military deterrent themselves.
00:27:38.000Let's think about how we can punish China economically and lay those punishments in place now so they know military incursions would be too costly for them to bear because they are susceptible and they are wary of those risks.
00:27:55.000That's why the people who lead in the Trump administration need to be ready to never take the first answer, the first policy proposal at face value.
00:28:10.000I try to make my time with bureaucrats limited, and it's really bad for you because I think they're contagious.
00:28:17.000I think they shed just really bad energy.
00:28:23.000And when I'm around some of these bureaucrats lately, not to share any private information, there's no depth of thought of analyzing a— That could result in the worst possible thing.
00:28:37.000I mean, the Russian-Ukraine one is the greatest example.
00:28:40.000We'll talk about this after the break.
00:28:42.000Is that they build all of their second and third movements, their sequential movements, while Putin's going to march through Europe just the way Hitler did.
00:28:50.000So if you start with that base premise, then you can get to a really, really bad outcome like we have to fire American-made missiles into the interior of Russia.
00:29:00.000Hey everybody, Charlie Kirk here with New Year's Resolutions.
00:29:02.000Many of us will vow to eat healthier, and that's a good thing.
00:29:04.000But what about your beloved pets and their nutrition?
00:29:07.000Naturopathic Dr. Dennis Black is on a mission to provide better nutrition for cats and dogs because truthfully, it's not what you are feeding your pet, it's what you are not.
00:29:16.000Which is why he created Rough Greens and Meow Greens in the first place.
00:29:19.000Bring their dead food back to life with live vitamins, minerals, probiotics, enzymes, omega oils, antioxidants, and so much more.
00:29:27.000All in their tasty formula your dog or cat will love.
00:29:31.000Improve your pet's coat, digestion, and energy and have less vet bills.
00:29:36.000Let 2025 bring a new year and a new pet.
00:30:48.000But why isn't the government and our military studying how warfare is changing in Ukraine?
00:30:54.000Because, frankly, I think it's changing in ways we don't appreciate.
00:30:59.000And understanding that is going to be what keeps us out of war in the future.
00:31:04.000And so we can be, you know, articulate and reasonable about this in a way that burnishes our military power without falling into this false choice that is really, again, a lack of creativity and a sign of how sclerotic our bureaucracy has become.
00:31:20.000If you had your druthers and you could list five things that Pete Hegg said slash President Trump could do in the first week, if not the first day, what would they be?
00:31:29.000The first thing is to end race quotas at the Pentagon.
00:31:33.000Why does every institution from West Point to an Army rifle squad have to be a racially proportional representation?
00:31:43.000The military should be something different.
00:31:45.000The second thing, let's enable our allies in the Pacific to have the military resources they need to build their own defense capability, from drones to submarines to cruise missiles.
00:32:01.000Let's give it to them and let's get it in place fast so China knows that the costs of war are high.
00:32:07.000When it comes to Russia and Ukraine, we need to move to peace.
00:32:11.000We need to show the Ukrainians that the gravy train is not infinite.
00:32:16.000But we also need to show the Russians that we're still in charge.
00:32:20.000And I think there's a way that we can do that through diplomacy and economic power.
00:32:24.000But let's couple that with an effort to get Russia out of China's pocketbook.
00:32:29.000Let's remove a huge partner of the Chinese in Europe and Asia, and let's tie the Ukrainian negotiation to those ends.
00:32:39.000The fourth thing is, frankly, we need to fire a lot of generals.
00:32:44.000It's not just a problem of political appointees.
00:32:47.000Uniformed senior officers have been a part of obviously military defeat, but also the encroachment of leftism in the military.
00:32:57.000There's a great catalog that Claremont's produced of over 600 generals in their effort to make DEI military policy.
00:33:06.000And finally, though, we need to think really creatively, again, about reforming key institutions in America and in the military specifically.
00:33:14.000Why does West Point produce cadets who receive a degree in diversity and inclusion studies?
00:33:22.000A body that should only provide advice and consent to the president, why do they have influence over military operational decision-making?
00:33:30.000Let's make the joint staff a lot smaller so the next Mark Milley can't have influence over Chinese nuclear policy, and let's move them right next to the White House, close to the flagpole, as we would say, in the Army, so they're under close supervision and they can just provide that advice to the president that they're statutory obligated to do so.
00:33:49.000Those are, I think, five things that will get us a long way.