The Charlie Kirk Show - A Never-Before-Heard Rush Limbaugh Speech

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, diving back into the archives, I found a speech that Rush Limbaugh gave at the Turning Point USA Lifetime Achievement Award dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

00:00:10.000 It's never been aired publicly before, so you get to enjoy it right here.

00:00:13.000 Advertiser-free.

00:00:16.000 Thanks to those of you that support us at charliekirk.com/slash support.

00:00:20.000 If you enjoy this podcast and you want to help our team of researchers and editors continue to do what they do, go to charliekirk.com/slash support.

00:00:28.000 Rush Limbaugh, his speech at Mar-a-Lago.

00:00:31.000 Enjoy.

00:00:32.000 Here we go.

00:00:33.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

00:00:35.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

00:00:37.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.

00:00:40.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

00:00:44.000 I want to thank Charlie.

00:00:45.000 He's an incredible guy.

00:00:46.000 His spirit, his love of this country.

00:00:48.000 He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA.

00:00:54.000 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.

00:01:03.000 That's why we are here.

00:01:07.000 Thank you all very much.

00:01:08.000 Thank you.

00:01:12.000 I very seldom accept awards because I'm never offered any.

00:01:20.000 It's the plight.

00:01:21.000 It's the plight of being conservative in the media today, but this is truly, it is truly an honor.

00:01:27.000 Charlie asked me a number of weeks ago, and it's really close to the Christmas season.

00:01:31.000 I wasn't sure I was going to be in town tonight, so I couldn't tell him.

00:01:35.000 And he kept holding it open, kept holding it open.

00:01:37.000 And I really can't tell you how honored I am to be here and to accept this and to be recognized.

00:01:44.000 I'm just a guy on the radio.

00:01:45.000 When I started this 30 years ago, I never envisioned any of this happening.

00:01:51.000 What I wanted to become was the best radio guy in the country defined by the largest audience.

00:01:58.000 Radio was my business.

00:01:59.000 I loved it.

00:02:01.000 I believe in it.

00:02:03.000 And I just wanted to be the best at that.

00:02:06.000 And I had this great opportunity.

00:02:08.000 I could be me.

00:02:10.000 I could be honest.

00:02:11.000 I could talk about whatever I wanted to talk about.

00:02:14.000 And there was nobody that could tell me I couldn't.

00:02:16.000 And so all of this happens.

00:02:19.000 None of it was planned.

00:02:21.000 None of it was architected.

00:02:22.000 It just happened.

00:02:24.000 And the fact that it's been constantly supported by so many millions of people, I can't tell you how gratifying that it is.

00:02:32.000 And it is still the happiest three hours of my life, that radio show every day, and prepping for it, having the opportunity to tell people what's right, have the opportunity to tell people what's wrong, have the opportunity to stand up for what you believe in in front of 30 million people, have the opportunity to persuade them.

00:02:50.000 It is a golden opportunity, and I take it seriously, but it's much different today than when I started.

00:02:57.000 Things evolve, and hopefully you change and you adapt and you stay current with the times.

00:03:03.000 But when I first started out, I was trying to be funny and irreverent and sarcastic, and I was.

00:03:10.000 And a couple of things happened early on that taught me something that I was a DJ for 16 years and didn't really succeed at that.

00:03:21.000 And the time you hit 30 and you're still telling people about Donnie Osmond records.

00:03:27.000 So I wanted to get into talk radio, spoken word format, where there was no other reason that people would listen to radio but me.

00:03:34.000 Not the music, not promotions, not contests, not giveaways.

00:03:37.000 I wanted to find out if I could be the reason people would listen because I always thought I could, but I was never given the opportunity to do it at various radio stations that I worked at.

00:03:48.000 And it finally all came together for me in Sacramento, California.

00:03:51.000 I actually replaced a guy that got fired, Morton Downey Jr., because he told a joke about an ethnic member of the city council out there and wouldn't apologize for it.

00:04:01.000 So I got the job and the best thing in the world that happened, I was doing 9 a.m. to noon, the radio station hired a new morning team, a couple of guys, Dave and Bob were their names.

00:04:13.000 And in radio, prime time, back then, it isn't anymore because of me.

00:04:19.000 But back then, prime time was morning drive, 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.

00:04:24.000 So they go and hire these Dave and Bob characters and they promptly forgot about me.

00:04:29.000 I was free to do whatever I wanted to do.

00:04:31.000 Nobody was watching because they were focusing all their energy on the morning show.

00:04:36.000 And with no supervision, with nobody telling me I can't do this, and my whole career had been, you can't say that.

00:04:43.000 You can't do this.

00:04:45.000 You've got to conform.

00:04:46.000 I got fired once for using the word therefore too many times.

00:04:52.000 I wish I had time for that story. 0.97

00:04:55.000 I got reprimanded once for calling a female co-anchor dear.

00:05:00.000 Look, I've been at the forefront of so much of the left's poison in this country.

00:05:06.000 And I've had to deal with it.

00:05:07.000 I've been affected by it.

00:05:08.000 And I've taken it on and I've swatted it away.

00:05:12.000 I got fired once for playing under my thumb by the Rolling Stones too many times.

00:05:17.000 I mean, it's radio, but in Sacramento, all of that changed.

00:05:22.000 And I finally got to do a radio show the way I wanted to do it.

00:05:25.000 The things that I cared about, the things I thought people would listen to.

00:05:28.000 And it was basically just sharing my passions.

00:05:31.000 I love sharing my passions.

00:05:33.000 I come up with things that are passionate and I want everybody to know about it.

00:05:35.000 I want everybody to experience it.

00:05:37.000 I want everybody to agree or at least think about it.

00:05:41.000 But I also had this side of me that was featuring irreverent and sarcastic humor.

00:05:46.000 And it succeeded, but it's something that's not found in the media much.

00:05:50.000 To be credible when you're discussing issues seriously, forcefully, and to also be credible when you're laughing and making jokes and being irreverent, it's a tough thing to do.

00:06:01.000 And my radio show was really the only place nationally where that happened.

00:06:04.000 I'll give you an example.

00:06:06.000 If Ted Coppel during the Nightline days had come out and opened Nightline with a 10-minute joke monologue, you'd just, what the hell is this?

00:06:12.000 I don't know what this is.

00:06:13.000 That's not why I'm watching this.

00:06:14.000 In the same token, if Johnny Carson had come out and spent 10 minutes really seriously telling you about politics, not while you're there, you turn it off, make you nervous.

00:06:23.000 I combine both, still do.

00:06:27.000 And that's what leads to the unpredictability.

00:06:30.000 And it manifests itself still today.

00:06:32.000 But as the program has gotten longer, it's got older.

00:06:37.000 I've matured.

00:06:38.000 I was in my early 30s when this program started and I just celebrated 30 years back in August.

00:06:43.000 So you get older, you get older, you become more mature.

00:06:47.000 Hopefully you learn some things, you make mistakes and learn from them.

00:06:52.000 But the thing that I found out, and even when I first started this and I was dead set on being the most listened to, there were two things that happened that taught me how serious it was.

00:07:06.000 If you make a successful politician, a successful media person has to make a connection with the audience.

00:07:16.000 In fact, when I saw the first Trump rally, I knew that he was going to win the election.

00:07:22.000 There was nobody in American politics, there still isn't, that has that connection with their voters or with their audience.

00:07:30.000 When Trump came down the elevator, June 15th, June 16th, 2015, everybody remembers what he said.

00:07:37.000 Everybody's on TV, this is a joke.

00:07:39.000 He can't possibly be serious. 0.99

00:07:41.000 Mexican murderers and rapists, this is not somebody serious. 1.00

00:07:44.000 He's just promoting a TV show. 1.00

00:07:46.000 And I said, you wait.

00:07:48.000 You wait.

00:07:49.000 And then the campaign goes on and the first polling data comes out and Trump is way ahead, not in the lead, but he's way ahead of a whole lot of people, including Jeb.

00:08:01.000 And people say, this can't be.

00:08:02.000 This has got to be, there's something wrong.

00:08:04.000 No, no, no.

00:08:04.000 I said, you people don't understand.

00:08:06.000 Are you watching this?

00:08:07.000 Are you watching the connection Trump has with these people?

00:08:12.000 His entire rally, it looks like it's improv, but it isn't.

00:08:16.000 It's structured.

00:08:18.000 It was perfectly presented.

00:08:20.000 It had its sections.

00:08:22.000 Also had a teleprompter, sometimes using it, sometimes not.

00:08:26.000 But at some point in every one of those rallies, it might have been for 30 seconds, it might have been for two minutes.

00:08:32.000 But at some point in those rallies, he would thank people seriously and tell them what an honor it was for him that they were there.

00:08:42.000 That's all it took.

00:08:44.000 That connection was made.

00:08:46.000 That bond was built.

00:08:48.000 The media did not make Donald Trump, and the media, despite their best efforts, cannot destroy him.

00:08:55.000 When the media, and this is a very important point, when the media makes you, when you're nothing and the media comes along and starts giving you a bunch of buzz and PR and a bunch of hype, you are a prisoner to it.

00:09:10.000 And you had better keep doing whatever it is they like, which nobody can do because the media loves to build people up and then chop them off and chop them down.

00:09:19.000 They can't get rid of Donald Trump.

00:09:23.000 The media can't.

00:09:24.000 The Democrats can't.

00:09:25.000 They've thrown every, one of the reasons why we have such partisanship, the Democrat Party has been able to get rid of every Republican they've wanted to.

00:09:34.000 And it's been fairly easy.

00:09:36.000 The Republicans ends up quitting.

00:09:38.000 One simple allegation.

00:09:41.000 Oh, no, don't say that about Biota.

00:09:43.000 And they resign, they quit.

00:09:45.000 Government shut down.

00:09:46.000 Everybody panics.

00:09:47.000 Oh, no, we can't do that.

00:09:49.000 Not today.

00:09:50.000 Like Kimberly told you, the House passed 5.

00:09:53.000 I think it's 5.8 million.

00:09:55.000 I just had a chance to scan it.

00:09:57.000 And earlier today, it's another great example.

00:10:00.000 All kinds of people after the meeting at the White House, where the president told the Republicans, I'm not signing this unless there's border security in it.

00:10:09.000 So they came out of the White House and says, well, the president's very serious about this, border security, but we're not sure if we're going to be able to get the votes.

00:10:16.000 And a lot of Republicans have gone home.

00:10:18.000 I see, you guys, who are you kidding?

00:10:20.000 Nobody's got the guts to vote against this now, not with President Trump leading the way, putting his career and his presidency on the line.

00:10:27.000 So I'm not surprised that it passed.

00:10:29.000 Now it goes over to the Senate where the turtle gets a chance to slow walk this thing.

00:10:34.000 Well, that's my pet nickname for, it's not, by the way, it's just because he looks like Jiminy Cricket.

00:10:40.000 That's not because he's slow.

00:10:42.000 It's just, but they don't want to pass it.

00:10:48.000 This is the thing, folks.

00:10:49.000 Nobody in that town wants a wall.

00:10:52.000 Nobody wants border security.

00:10:54.000 I mean, Trump does and the Republican conservative caucus and that sort of people.

00:10:58.000 But for the most part, the vast majority of that town doesn't want any part of this.

00:11:03.000 The Democrats need a permanent underclass.

00:11:06.000 They need a permanent voter base that cannot speak English and is not going to be taught, that cannot do anything other than menial labor.

00:11:15.000 They need a never-ending parade of dependent people who can't get by without government or some other kind of assistance.

00:11:25.000 The greatest success, the threat to the Democrat Party is a mobile, an upwardly mobile middle class.

00:11:32.000 And so the Republicans have their own reason for wanting open borders and it has to do.

00:11:37.000 You know, the chief labor and this kind of thing.

00:11:39.000 But the point is, Donald Trump has this thing.

00:11:42.000 People on my side, I've had to instruct them about how he does things.

00:11:47.000 I call it, I call it pacing.

00:11:49.000 If you remember, remember when the Kavanaugh hears is a great example. 0.97

00:11:55.000 Here comes Christine Ballsey Ford.

00:12:02.000 You remember Dr. Ford? 0.99

00:12:04.000 She's testifying there.

00:12:07.000 I'm terrified.

00:12:11.000 What did this supposedly happen 30 years ago?

00:12:14.000 And she's still scared to death something's going to come out of the wall and eat her alive.

00:12:18.000 I still, I, and then, and then he pushed me down.

00:12:27.000 We all know this is a crock.

00:12:29.000 We all know what to set up.

00:12:30.000 Diane Feinstein, who I'm sure Kimberly knows well. 0.99

00:12:35.000 Diane Feinstein set this whole thing up.

00:12:37.000 What does Trump do?

00:12:40.000 Trump says, you know, I found her very compelling.

00:12:45.000 And if we find out that there's anything to this, I'm going to have no problem getting rid of Kavanaugh.

00:12:54.000 So I had people calling, oh my God, Russia's going to cave.

00:12:57.000 Oh my God, it's like every other Republican.

00:12:59.000 They build us up and they can't.

00:13:01.000 Wait a minute.

00:13:01.000 This is not what's happening at all.

00:13:05.000 You've seen this.

00:13:06.000 Let me remind this.

00:13:07.000 I call this Trump pacing.

00:13:08.000 So an issue like this happens, whatever it is.

00:13:11.000 And the first statement the president makes is to demonstrate open-mindedness, no prejudice, a willingness to listen and comprehend and understand.

00:13:22.000 But it didn't take, what, five minutes?

00:13:25.000 And then he unloads on her at one of his rallies.

00:13:29.000 It shouldn't have surprised anybody that his first statement, well, I found her compelling.

00:13:36.000 It buys off the media for a while and it gives them, it forces them to acknowledge that Trump is not closed-minded about things and not acting in a prejudicial way.

00:13:48.000 And it works.

00:13:49.000 And he's got this down.

00:13:51.000 He did this today with the wall business.

00:13:55.000 Let's go back to when this current iteration of this began.

00:14:01.000 There's this Oval Office meeting.

00:14:03.000 Trump is in there and Chuck and Nancy.

00:14:08.000 Chuck and Nancy, you know, like the latest stars of reality TV, Chuck and Nancy.

00:14:17.000 You know, I went to the George H.W. Bush funeral at the National Cathedral, and I happened to be, I come, I used the restroom.

00:14:28.000 So I'm in the back of the place at the time Pelosi and her husband walked in.

00:14:34.000 Oh, it was everything I could do.

00:14:35.000 And I did.

00:14:37.000 Madam Speaker-elect, I'm Rush Lindbaugh.

00:14:41.000 And once those bug eyes pop out, didn't happen, but she was looking around waiting to be noticed.

00:14:50.000 Notice me, notice me. 0.93

00:14:52.000 Stood about 35 or 40 seconds before finding, trudging off and finding her seat.

00:14:57.000 So anyway, here, Chuck and Nancy, and the cameras are still there in the Oval Office.

00:15:04.000 Trump has not kicked the cameras out.

00:15:06.000 And they're starting to talk about the wall and funding and so forth.

00:15:10.000 And Nancy hears Trump say, look, I'm going to build the wall.

00:15:16.000 And if we don't get the wall built, I'm going to shut down the government.

00:15:19.000 And I'm going to put my name to it, Chuck.

00:15:22.000 I'll own it.

00:15:23.000 I'm serious about it.

00:15:24.000 And Nancy's saying, let's talk about this, Mr. President, after the cameras are gone.

00:15:29.000 Because the Democrats folks cannot afford to be seen as who they are.

00:15:35.000 The Democrats, the left, wear a constant mask.

00:15:38.000 They're constantly camouflaged to deny people learning what they really are, what they really believe.

00:15:46.000 There was a picture, Chuck of Chuck and Nancy was sitting there and the president is talking to him.

00:15:55.000 It's a still shot, talking to him very forcibly.

00:15:59.000 And Chuck is sitting there and he's looking down at his lap.

00:16:03.000 You remember this picture?

00:16:05.000 He's looking down at his lap.

00:16:07.000 You know what the caption in that picture is?

00:16:10.000 What happened to my manhood?

00:16:17.000 So they walk, they walk out of there and they think the first thing they do, they go to the cameras and microphones outside the White House and they start spinning their version of what happened.

00:16:28.000 And they started talking about the president really doesn't know about this.

00:16:32.000 He's not that experienced.

00:16:33.000 He doesn't really, he's not sure what he's doing.

00:16:37.000 We've got it handled.

00:16:38.000 We're going to take care of it.

00:16:40.000 And they think, they think Trump is toast when the votes in the Senate and the votes in the House don't have any money for the walls.

00:16:47.000 And when you hear wall, they border security, because it's what this really is.

00:16:52.000 And there has to be some.

00:16:53.000 We can't go on.

00:16:53.000 We're going to lose America as founded if this is not fixed and solved.

00:16:58.000 And Donald Trump is the only person willing to even try.

00:17:02.000 We can't.

00:17:06.000 We really are.

00:17:08.000 I said this introducing him in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

00:17:11.000 Thank God he is willing to put up with this abuse.

00:17:14.000 You know, there's not a single, there's not a single elected official in that town.

00:17:21.000 There's not a single member of the FBI leadership.

00:17:24.000 There isn't a single member at the Rod Rosenstein DOJ.

00:17:29.000 There isn't a single person that could put up for half a day what Donald Trump gets in a week.

00:17:34.000 They couldn't tolerate it.

00:17:36.000 They'd be begging, suing for peace.

00:17:38.000 They'd be crying.

00:17:38.000 It's unfair.

00:17:40.000 I've never seen anything like this.

00:17:42.000 It's worse than what Richard Nixon got.

00:17:45.000 And President Trump gets up every day, goes to work, and continues to implement this agenda.

00:17:50.000 And I'm telling you, we need to be as grateful as we can.

00:17:53.000 And he needs to know how grateful we are.

00:17:57.000 Encouragement is so important.

00:18:00.000 There's a guy in this audience tonight.

00:18:02.000 His name is Byron Thomas.

00:18:05.000 And Byron is who introduced me to Charlie Kirk.

00:18:08.000 And by the way, I don't care where I go.

00:18:11.000 There's Charlie Kirk.

00:18:11.000 I was in the restroom at McDonald's.

00:18:13.000 There's Charlie Kirk.

00:18:14.000 I'm at the White House at Christmas reception on Monday.

00:18:17.000 I look up.

00:18:18.000 There's Charlie Kirk.

00:18:20.000 Everywhere I go now, there's Charlie.

00:18:22.000 I'm getting ready to play golf on Saturday morning at the Everglades Club Reddit.

00:18:26.000 In the front door walks Charlie Kirk.

00:18:28.000 And he's in there with Byron Thomas.

00:18:30.000 And Byron introduces us.

00:18:32.000 And I, and I, is it, is it, by, let me tell you what Byron does, though.

00:18:38.000 By the way, there's no bigger heart.

00:18:40.000 There's no more forceful commitment to what we all believe than Byron Thomas.

00:18:46.000 He lives it.

00:18:47.000 He raises his kids by it.

00:18:49.000 He promotes it.

00:18:51.000 But what he does, every time I see Byron Thomas, he tells me, and don't misunderstand this.

00:18:59.000 This is not an ego thing.

00:19:01.000 Byron Thomas starts quoting to me things he's heard me say on the radio.

00:19:05.000 He starts telling me how important I am.

00:19:08.000 He starts telling me how great it is.

00:19:10.000 He starts telling me, don't stop.

00:19:12.000 He continues every, I mean, every time, once a week, Byron Thomas, Timmy, this is important.

00:19:19.000 I've been doing this 30 years.

00:19:22.000 30 years goes by, you know, it's a long time.

00:19:25.000 You get into routines.

00:19:26.000 But Byron Thomas treats me like he just discovered me.

00:19:34.000 I don't mean this to be, I mean, I can't help being funny.

00:19:38.000 It's a natural thing.

00:19:40.000 The point is, it's encouraging things I now take for granted that I'm great, that I'm popular.

00:19:48.000 He reminds me every day that he sees me.

00:19:52.000 And it's worthwhile encouraging.

00:19:54.000 I used to do commencement speeches back when conservatives were invited to do them, which is a long time ago.

00:20:01.000 And when I did my first commencement speech, I was in my early 30s.

00:20:05.000 And so I got it there, and I'm telling you students, everybody at every other university in the country today, every commencement speaker is looking at the audience like I'm looking at you and saying, you are the future.

00:20:16.000 Let me tell you something, you're not.

00:20:19.000 You got to go through me to get where you're going.

00:20:22.000 The world is not just going to open up and welcome you.

00:20:24.000 I'm 30 years old there.

00:20:27.000 Now I'm 67.

00:20:29.000 Now when I look at people that age, guess what?

00:20:31.000 They are the future.

00:20:33.000 And it's important that they be encouraged.

00:20:35.000 I don't know how many of you here tonight are actual participants in Turning Point.

00:20:39.000 I know there's a lot of donors and parents here, but boy, it is so important to encourage each other, especially as surrounded as it appears that we are, to have all of the mainstream media aligned against us.

00:20:55.000 And not just us personally, aligned against what we believe in, aligned and arrayed against our founding.

00:21:04.000 There is pressure every day on people who are young and who are conservative.

00:21:09.000 And it is the most powerful pressure you can imagine, peer pressure.

00:21:13.000 It's mocking, it's laughing at, it's making fun.

00:21:17.000 And there aren't many people who want to put up with it.

00:21:20.000 Life shouldn't, nobody is raised wanting to be disliked.

00:21:24.000 Nobody is raised wanting to be hated.

00:21:28.000 We all want to be loved.

00:21:29.000 And because of that, we all change who we are now and then.

00:21:33.000 We figure out what somebody wants us to be.

00:21:36.000 We try to be it because we want their approval.

00:21:38.000 We want their love.

00:21:39.000 We want to be liked.

00:21:41.000 We don't even have that chance for the people that we're up against.

00:21:44.000 They're predisposed to hate us because they are the bigots and they're the people who are prejudiced.

00:21:49.000 They're the people who have no idea who we really are and that we have to face it.

00:21:54.000 But the young people today that are part of Turning Point or any other youthful organization that is conservative are under immense pressure.

00:22:02.000 Look at what's going on at college campuses. 1.00

00:22:04.000 It's absurd, this stupid snowflake stuff where you can't even speak your mind. 1.00

00:22:08.000 You can't even think. 1.00

00:22:09.000 It takes fortitude and it takes guts to stay committed to what you believe and to stay true to the way you've been raised by parents.

00:22:21.000 And so anytime there is a chance to encourage people, like Byron does to me, I know that sounded funny, but it works.

00:22:30.000 Encouragement always works.

00:22:32.000 No matter how much you think somebody already knows about themselves, no matter how much you think people are secure, encouraging them with your kids, it's a little bit different because you can't go overboard doing it.

00:22:47.000 But outside your family, encouraging people is one of the, especially during these times, because it creates confidence and assuredness.

00:22:57.000 And believe me, there's no substitute for confidence.

00:23:00.000 There's no substitute in confidence in who you are, confidence in what you believe.

00:23:05.000 It is confidence and your heart that allows you to persuade, that allows you to engage people.

00:23:10.000 It's confidence that says you don't need a teleprompter.

00:23:13.000 It's confidence that says you don't need notes.

00:23:15.000 It's confidence and passion.

00:23:17.000 And there are people trying to shake and destroy this out of all of us, and especially our young people.

00:23:24.000 And this is one of the things that's so wonderful about Turning Point is that it is allowing for these people who instinctively know right from wrong, they instinctively know our value system and our value base to get together and have it validated from person to person rather than mocked and laughed and made fun of.

00:23:45.000 And this is making all of these people stronger, these young people, it's making them stronger, it's giving them confidence, and it's happening at the grassroots, which is another thing that's crucially important.

00:23:58.000 And we have the opportunity to start sneaking up on people with this demographic because it's largely ignored or laughed at and made fun of.

00:24:08.000 So congrats, Charlie, for what you're doing.

00:24:10.000 And I hope you continue to have interest in it and your passion in it doesn't wane because there's no substitute for that.

00:24:18.000 Now, I mentioned earlier that there's some things that I had learned during the course of my program.

00:24:25.000 And these things, by the way, have helped me to understand the success that President Trump has with his rallies and how they worked.

00:24:34.000 I used to do miniature versions of them myself when the show was new.

00:24:38.000 We started with 56 little radio stations.

00:24:40.000 The audience, all 56 combined, you could put in a thimble.

00:24:45.000 But it's what we had to start with.

00:24:47.000 And so when we get a new station, I would go there on a Saturday and do a public appearance, stand it back an hour and a half, and draw large crowds.

00:24:56.000 And I would do these things that I saw.

00:24:58.000 One of the reasons I just glommed on, because it brought me back to 1988, 89, 90.

00:25:03.000 It's exactly what I did.

00:25:04.000 And I understood it.

00:25:05.000 I understood the bond under establishing it and building it.

00:25:09.000 But what I learned is, as time went on, that people believed me.

00:25:17.000 And I wasn't saying things that weren't true, but there were one thing that happened that really drove this home.

00:25:29.000 This is in early, late 89, early 90s, and there were constant debates over the defense budget, as there always are. 0.98

00:25:37.000 And I was growing weary of leftists calling me with their stupid philosophy on things. 0.97

00:25:44.000 If you didn't serve, you can't talk about it. 0.99

00:25:47.000 And you didn't serve, you got no right.

00:25:50.000 Who do you think?

00:25:51.000 And you know, this is the way to cancel free speech for people.

00:25:54.000 If you didn't do something, then you can't weigh in about it.

00:25:56.000 You can't opine.

00:25:57.000 It was just their way of shutting people up.

00:25:58.000 One day, I got so fed up with this.

00:26:02.000 And remember, I had established a reputation as a great satirist with poignant parody.

00:26:10.000 So I told one clown on the floor, I said, you know what, sir, I want to come clean on something.

00:26:16.000 Well, look, I never get to see myself on TV. 0.83

00:26:24.000 I told this guy, I said, sir, you know what?

00:26:26.000 You have a point.

00:26:29.000 I came from a small town, sir, very prominent family, small town.

00:26:34.000 My family ran the town.

00:26:37.000 I told my dad in 1969, Dad, I don't want to go to Vietnam.

00:26:43.000 I have no desire. 0.66

00:26:46.000 Fine, son.

00:26:47.000 And he went down to the draft board and he wrote him a $3,000 check and I got a four-if.

00:26:51.000 I'm saying this on the air.

00:26:54.000 The last thing I said on that, see, some of you even think it's true.

00:26:58.000 This is what I'm trying to, you're what?

00:27:00.000 God, did he really?

00:27:02.000 No, I was being, I was, I was, I was being satirical and cynical with this guy because I'd been fed up with it.

00:27:09.000 And it was the last of the last words I spoke that day on the radio.

00:27:14.000 So I finished the show and I'm thinking, man, this is great.

00:27:17.000 People are going to think that was just brilliant.

00:27:19.000 I got home and the phone rings and it's my dad and I got a string of profanity like I had never heard from.

00:27:34.000 What the hell did you do?

00:27:37.000 Because everybody, he said, son, they believe you.

00:27:42.000 They trust you.

00:27:45.000 Other members of the family had a council meeting, whether or not to publicly throw me overboard.

00:27:55.000 It was a big controversy at the time.

00:27:58.000 I had to fix it the next time I was on the air.

00:28:01.000 But that was one of the first lessons in how if you have a bond with people, if you have credibility, people will believe it.

00:28:13.000 And by the way, it wasn't just critics, leftists, and so on.

00:28:16.000 People in the audience believed it and it gave me a real problem.

00:28:19.000 I mean, it was something that had to be corrected again with credibility.

00:28:22.000 It was another example.

00:28:24.000 This is a little bit more fun.

00:28:28.000 A news story came across the wire.

00:28:31.000 There were still wires in these days, that an Ohio minister had discovered a satanic message in the Mr. Ed TV show theme song.

00:28:44.000 And media reported this, and they said, when the minister played the song backwards is when he heard the satanic message.

00:28:55.000 Now, I could have dealt with that as I just did with you here and just say it like that, but I have always had a working philosophy, demonstrate absurdity, illustrate absurdity by being absurd.

00:29:10.000 So at the time this was happening, the left had this thing called a great peace march.

00:29:16.000 They were marching from California to Washington.

00:29:19.000 When they got to Washington, they were going to simulate what happens when a nuclear bomb goes on.

00:29:24.000 They're going to do a die-in.

00:29:26.000 And so we were tracking them, and I had an update theme for, as they were making their trek across the country, Slim Whitman's Una Paloma Blanca, the song I was using.

00:29:37.000 So I decided that I would discover a satanic message in Slim Whitman's Una Paloma Blanca.

00:29:45.000 Now, this little bit went on for a full week.

00:29:49.000 I'm not going to take a week to tell you about it.

00:29:52.000 I went into the production room and we put the record on tape, reel-to-reel tape.

00:29:57.000 That's the only way there's no turntable, please, backwards.

00:29:59.000 You can't do that.

00:30:00.000 So we got it playing backwards.

00:30:01.000 And I had a guy turn on a voice analyzer synthesizer.

00:30:07.000 And I recorded a track that played in this song.

00:30:11.000 Only you could hear it playing backwards, put it in there two times.

00:30:14.000 I went on the radio the next day, said, ladies and gentlemen, I don't know if I can continue today.

00:30:20.000 I have made a discovery, thanks to this minister in Ohio.

00:30:25.000 I have discovered that I may be being used as a tool by the devil.

00:30:33.000 And I'm devastated by what I've learned.

00:30:36.000 And I don't know if I can continue.

00:30:38.000 If I have been possessed by the devil, I don't know that I can sit here and continue to do this show.

00:30:47.000 So naturally, the audience, what did you do?

00:30:50.000 What are you talking?

00:30:51.000 I'm not going to tell you.

00:30:52.000 It's so horrible.

00:30:53.000 I can't.

00:30:55.000 It's bad enough that I learned.

00:30:57.000 You have been exposed to it.

00:30:59.000 You don't know it, but I have found out about it.

00:31:01.000 I can't continue to do this knowing that you could likewise become poisoned by this.

00:31:07.000 No, what did you do?

00:31:09.000 I'm just reeling them in, folks.

00:31:12.000 Reeling them in.

00:31:13.000 So, three days of this goes by, and I finally act like, okay, I'm now under pressure from station management to let you know what I have discovered.

00:31:24.000 I have said that I will do this under protest.

00:31:27.000 I do not want to subject you to this.

00:31:30.000 I have no desire, but I'm being forced to do it.

00:31:34.000 I discovered because of this Ohio minister that when I played Slim Whitman's Una Paloma Blama blocka song backwards, there is a satanic message in it too.

00:31:44.000 The devil is everywhere.

00:31:49.000 So I'm having so much fun with it.

00:31:53.000 So I give big countdown.

00:31:56.000 Here it comes, getting ready to do this.

00:31:57.000 And I start the song playing.

00:31:59.000 Now, I don't know if you've heard Una Paloma Blanca.

00:32:01.000 Slim Whitman yodels.

00:32:03.000 And to hear this song backwards is hilarious in and of itself.

00:32:06.000 But play it backwards.

00:32:07.000 And the message that I recorded through the synthesizer was very simple.

00:32:13.000 Be azumba.

00:32:16.000 Yes, it's me, the old devil himself, lurking right here in the Slim Whitman record grooves.

00:32:24.000 Tell me, where'd you get a turntable that plays backwards like this?

00:32:29.000 Well, I got to be going way down the line.

00:32:32.000 If you know what I mean, I'll be chatting with you.

00:32:35.000 And it played it a couple more times.

00:32:37.000 And when it was over, I told the audience, this is why I don't think I can continue.

00:32:42.000 Now, I'm thinking while the song is playing and I'm executing what I think is the finale of the bit, I'm thinking they're thinking this is the smartest.

00:32:50.000 This is the greatest thing you've ever heard.

00:32:52.000 Johnny Carson's going to call.

00:32:53.000 Want me to be on the tonight show?

00:32:54.000 This is stunning.

00:32:55.000 This was so creative.

00:32:57.000 And it's not what happened.

00:33:00.000 People were calling the switchboard of the radio station asking if they should burn their Slim Whitman record.

00:33:07.000 Folks, they believed it.

00:33:10.000 I'm not, they believed it.

00:33:12.000 I'm sitting there.

00:33:13.000 I'm stunned because now I've got a problem.

00:33:16.000 They believed it.

00:33:17.000 And the station has a problem with me.

00:33:19.000 What are you going to do?

00:33:20.000 I said, no, we can milk this in another way.

00:33:24.000 And it played out for another week.

00:33:26.000 And one funny call, you know, a guy calls it, I don't think this is it.

00:33:30.000 You're making all this up.

00:33:32.000 You know, there ain't no way you can do this.

00:33:34.000 I have that record.

00:33:36.000 I have a record.

00:33:36.000 Now, my turntable don't play backwards, but I put it on there and I've been spinning it, but it ain't no satanic messages.

00:33:43.000 I had to think fast.

00:33:44.000 I said, sir, does your turntable have disgronificator circuitry?

00:33:49.000 What?

00:33:50.000 I said, yes, disgronificator.

00:33:52.000 So if it wasn't, this is a special circuitry that only received, it splits the highs out, splits the lows out, and boosts the mid-range, which is where satanic messages lurk.

00:34:06.000 I don't think I don't.

00:34:07.000 So the point of all this is, is that here I think that I am impressing everybody with my creative ability, but a lot of people, not a lot of people got it too, don't miss it, but a lot of people believed it.

00:34:21.000 And since these two things happened, I've had a, and it's a long time ago, but I do not monkey around now with things that I passionately believe in my heart.

00:34:34.000 I still try to have humor, you know, mocking and making fun of the left, but I too benefit from this connection with my, and my audience is now approaching 27 million people over the course of a week, 27 million unique people.

00:34:54.000 It's humongous.

00:34:56.000 And I do not toy with them in this way.

00:35:01.000 I don't, you know, I was 30 years, 35 years old then.

00:35:05.000 I'm 67 today.

00:35:06.000 So I'm not, my humor has different expressions anyway, but you grow older and you grow more mature.

00:35:14.000 But the idea that people are listening closely and have this bond, and believe what I say, is something that I give service to each and every day.

00:35:27.000 And I have, folks, I have to tell you, it is the greatest blessing that I have ever had is to have the opportunity I do each and every day.

00:35:34.000 I have yet to take it for granted.

00:35:37.000 If you would have told me 30 years ago when I'm just starting this, if you would have told me then that everything that's happened was going to happen and that I hit 65, I would have said to you, well, by now, maybe I'll be doing three days a week, slowly fading away.

00:35:58.000 Just exact opposite.

00:36:00.000 I am probably working harder in terms of more hours than I ever have.

00:36:05.000 You know why?

00:36:07.000 Because it used to be I could prepare a three-hour radio show with five newspapers.

00:36:13.000 Then the internet comes along and it's not possible.

00:36:16.000 There is so much to learn.

00:36:18.000 There's so much to learn and remember, so much that you have to be able to have an instant recall.

00:36:22.000 There's so much more competition.

00:36:24.000 When I started my show, I was it.

00:36:27.000 You had the back in, this is, it seems strange even to think about, 1988, three networks, the Washington Post, New York Times, that was it.

00:36:34.000 CNN was only just starting and they were the only cable news network and they were nowhere near like they are today.

00:36:42.000 It was a genuine news network.

00:36:43.000 I mean, they had their leftist slants.

00:36:45.000 It was nothing like it is today.

00:36:47.000 And then my radio show starts and it's it.

00:36:49.000 And contrary to the media said, my audience, which are mind numb robots that don't know anything, and they follow whatever I say, it's not that at all.

00:36:57.000 There were people who thought like me, they just never had anywhere in the media to validate it.

00:37:03.000 So anyway, the show picks up and other radio stations started doing their own talk shows and Fox News starts in 1997.

00:37:10.000 And now look what we have.

00:37:11.000 We have this burgeoning new media and thank God for it.

00:37:16.000 Think where we would be if there was no way to respond to the New York Times, Washington Post, or CNN.

00:37:24.000 It's frightening, but it's also led to the fact that there's just far more competition than there's ever been.

00:37:30.000 So I spend more waking hours today doing what I call prep.

00:37:35.000 It's not really prep.

00:37:36.000 It's just absorbing.

00:37:37.000 It's just learning.

00:37:38.000 And I've benefited greatly from the fact that I haven't grown tired of it.

00:37:44.000 I have not reached a flat line.

00:37:46.000 I still am as energized by this, maybe more so today than I've ever been.

00:37:52.000 And it's that way every day.

00:37:54.000 And you know why?

00:37:55.000 It's because of the expectations of the audience.

00:37:57.000 I know what they are.

00:37:58.000 They expect way up here every day.

00:38:02.000 And I feel compelled.

00:38:03.000 I can't, a number of days I go home thinking that I have blown it.

00:38:08.000 I had a lot of stuff I wanted to get to.

00:38:08.000 I feel bad.

00:38:10.000 It was great.

00:38:11.000 I didn't get to it.

00:38:12.000 I'm the only one that knows it, but I still think that I let everybody down.

00:38:16.000 I will, if I make a mistake, if I do something not as well as I could think I could have done it, I'll take it home with me.

00:38:22.000 But the saving grace is there's always tomorrow.

00:38:25.000 I can go in tomorrow and fix it.

00:38:27.000 I can go in tomorrow and apologize or do whatever I want to make it work.

00:38:33.000 And that opportunity is something that I'm blessed and I never take it for granted.

00:38:39.000 I look forward to it each and every day.

00:38:42.000 And I wish everybody could experience.

00:38:44.000 I've met people I would have never otherwise met.

00:38:47.000 I've had the opportunity.

00:38:49.000 Charlie Kirk in the White House.

00:38:50.000 I mean, who is going to see Charlie Kirk in the White House?

00:38:54.000 That's a special moment for that to happen.

00:38:57.000 And you know what else about that?

00:39:02.000 Charlie, When I had to go, he said, Yeah, which way are you going out?

00:39:09.000 I said, Well, I came in the West.

00:39:11.000 I'll take care of it.

00:39:12.000 He calls some guy named Avi.

00:39:14.000 He said, Avi, come get Rush.

00:39:17.000 Rush needs to leave.

00:39:18.000 Five minutes, Avi's there.

00:39:20.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

00:39:25.000 He just doesn't have the ego to tell you that.

00:39:29.000 Anyway, Charlie, thank you very much.

00:39:31.000 I'm sorry to be long-winded here, but I...

00:39:33.000 I really, folks, thank you so much for everything.

00:39:36.000 It's a Christmas season.

00:39:37.000 I get very sentimental at Christmas, more so than Thanks for giving.

00:39:40.000 You've meant so much to me.

00:39:42.000 You've made my life so meaningful.

00:39:45.000 I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

00:39:47.000 Thank you very much.

00:39:51.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.

00:39:52.000 Get involved with Turning Point USA, TPUSA.com, and support us if you can at charliekirk.com slash support.

00:40:00.000 God bless you, everybody.

00:40:01.000 Speak to you, sir.

The Charlie Kirk Show - February 21, 2021

A Never-Before-Heard Rush Limbaugh Speech

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