The Charlie Kirk Show - October 26, 2023


Dana White Explains the Bud Light Deal with Dana White and Stephen Moore


Episode Stats

Length

36 minutes

Words per Minute

182.9059

Word Count

6,609

Sentence Count

520


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

Transcript

Transcripts from "The Charlie Kirk Show" are sourced from the Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool. Explore them interactively here.
00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, it's Anthony Charlie Kirk Show.
00:00:01.000 Dana White joins us to address the Anheuser-Busch controversy.
00:00:06.000 And then we have Steve Moore to talk about the wonderful Biden economy.
00:00:10.000 Email us as alwaysfreedom at charliekirk.com.
00:00:13.000 Subscribe to our podcast.
00:00:14.000 Open up your podcast application and type in Charlie Kirk Show.
00:00:18.000 Get involved with TurningPointUSA at tpusa.com.
00:00:21.000 That is tpusa.com.
00:00:24.000 Email us as alwaysfreedom at charliekirk.com.
00:00:27.000 Buckle up, everybody.
00:00:28.000 Here we go.
00:00:29.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
00:00:31.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
00:00:33.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
00:00:36.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
00:00:40.000 I want to thank Charlie.
00:00:41.000 He's an incredible guy.
00:00:42.000 His spirit, his love of this country.
00:00:44.000 He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created.
00:00:49.000 Turning point USA.
00:00:50.000 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.
00:00:59.000 That's why we are here.
00:01:02.000 Brought to you by the Loan Experts I Trust, Andrew and Todd at Sierra Pacific Mortgage at AndrewandTodd.com.
00:01:11.000 Joining us now is Dana White, president of the UFC.
00:01:14.000 Dana, thanks for taking time.
00:01:16.000 Dana, there's some big news you want to share with the audience.
00:01:19.000 It's been going viral, and I'm 100% behind you.
00:01:22.000 Dana, share it with our audience and let's dive into it.
00:01:25.000 Yeah, how are you?
00:01:26.000 Thanks for having me.
00:01:27.000 Good to see you.
00:01:27.000 Good to see you.
00:01:28.000 We just did a we just, you know, our beer deal was up with the UFC and we just renewed a deal with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light.
00:01:39.000 They were our original sponsor a few years ago when we first got our first big beer sponsor.
00:01:46.000 And we are back together again.
00:01:48.000 Yeah.
00:01:48.000 And so here's my take on this, Dana.
00:01:50.000 Is first, you know, we complain very loudly when companies funnel money to woke stuff, right?
00:01:55.000 They put all this money towards garbage.
00:01:58.000 So it follows that we should be happy and thrilled when they do the opposite.
00:02:01.000 Talk about the core values at UFC, Dana, and kind of why you came to this decision.
00:02:07.000 Well, you know, as you get into negotiating a new big sponsorship deal, you know, where you're going to be in long-term business with somebody, I always want to be, I'm at a point in my life, I'm going to point in my career where we're going to get the money no matter who we do the sponsorship deal.
00:02:25.000 You know, everybody's like when they start talking about being a sellout and you did this.
00:02:29.000 I'm going to get money from whoever I end up with.
00:02:33.000 It's a sponsorship deal.
00:02:34.000 That's how it works.
00:02:36.000 I want to be with somebody that I am aligned with.
00:02:39.000 And I know that, you know, obviously all the controversy that's gone on with Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light over the last, however long it's been.
00:02:47.000 But when it comes to core values and what they really are as a company, and then the reason that they've been this unbelievable, powerful, American-built business, a lot of their core values align with mine.
00:03:04.000 As far as military, I'm a big supporter of military and law enforcement.
00:03:09.000 I love their, you know, their thing that they do.
00:03:15.000 Folds of honor.
00:03:15.000 Folds of honor.
00:03:16.000 Yeah.
00:03:17.000 Exactly.
00:03:17.000 Where they have spent like $44 million over the last however many years for scholarships for fallen heroes, you know, whether it's military or first responders.
00:03:32.000 And I could go on and on for days about how much I am aligned with Anheuser-Busch.
00:03:38.000 Hey, whenever there's a big natural disaster in the United States, they turn the plant into a water bottling factory and they've done like 100 million bottles of water for people in need during natural disasters.
00:03:51.000 So as we got down to it, we started to talk and I met with the CEO of Anheuser-Busch.
00:03:57.000 It was a no-brainer for me.
00:03:58.000 Yeah.
00:03:58.000 And so, look, you know, a lot of people in the last couple of months, you could see that the effort against, you know, Anheuser-Busch was very, very successful.
00:04:06.000 The question is, what does success look like?
00:04:08.000 Right.
00:04:08.000 And we, as conservatives and our audience, need to ask ourselves the question, right?
00:04:12.000 And I consider it pretty amazing and awesome that they want to partner with you, Dana, at UFC.
00:04:17.000 And by the way, we played that hype reel.
00:04:18.000 You were the best on COVID.
00:04:20.000 You've been great for Trump.
00:04:21.000 You've been great for the country, great on conservative values.
00:04:24.000 And so, so, Dana, I want also you to build this out that value alignment, but this is a good thing to all of a sudden say, wait a second.
00:04:32.000 So, Anheuser-Busch, they made a mistake with this Dylan Mulvaney thing, no doubt, right?
00:04:36.000 But it was a one-off can influencer thing.
00:04:38.000 But isn't this a big, isn't this a movement in the right direction and a win and a success that they want to do business with you, Dana?
00:04:46.000 And also, you've had your pick of the litter, right?
00:04:48.000 There's no lack of companies that want to do business with UFC.
00:04:52.000 Right.
00:04:53.000 And, you know, this isn't, again, like I was saying, you know, you got everybody out there creating their own narratives.
00:04:59.000 This is a sponsorship deal.
00:05:01.000 There were people at the table.
00:05:03.000 You know, I could have picked anybody.
00:05:06.000 I picked Anheuser-Busch and I picked him for all the reasons that I laid out for you.
00:05:10.000 And yeah, there's no doubt that, you know, the fact that Anheuser-Busch wants to be in business with me, they know exactly what they're getting.
00:05:18.000 They know who I am.
00:05:19.000 They know what I stand for.
00:05:21.000 And not just me personally, but the UFC.
00:05:25.000 If you look at, you know, I could do a fight in San Francisco, okay?
00:05:32.000 And Trump could walk in and the place is going to erupt.
00:05:35.000 Our fan base is very conservative.
00:05:39.000 Yeah, they love the country.
00:05:40.000 So, Dana, your critics are saying that you're reading a script.
00:05:44.000 If anyone knows Dana White, they know that you're not.
00:05:47.000 You had a response to that last evening.
00:05:48.000 Do you mind repeating it for our audience?
00:05:50.000 Yeah, I saw some people saying, oh, look, it sounds like Anheuser-Busch wrote a script for him.
00:05:56.000 Nobody writes scripts for me.
00:05:57.000 Nobody tells me what to say.
00:05:59.000 Nobody tells me what to do.
00:06:01.000 I mean, for instance, going through COVID was absolutely positively the hardest thing that I have ever done.
00:06:09.000 I built the UFC from zero to where it is today.
00:06:13.000 Going through COVID was harder than any of that.
00:06:16.000 It was the toughest thing I've ever done.
00:06:18.000 And you think people weren't telling me, don't do this.
00:06:21.000 You can't do this.
00:06:23.000 You're going to kill people.
00:06:24.000 This is irresponsible.
00:06:26.000 I mean, the list goes on and on.
00:06:28.000 The bottom line is: if you know me or you know anything about me, nobody tells me what to do.
00:06:32.000 Nobody tells me what to say, especially when it comes to things like this that I really believe in.
00:06:39.000 I love this country.
00:06:40.000 Love this country.
00:06:41.000 I built a global brand.
00:06:43.000 I have fighters from all over the world.
00:06:46.000 I let everybody represent their country.
00:06:49.000 Everybody be proud of their country, their religion, who they are, where they come from.
00:06:55.000 Freedom of speech for everybody.
00:06:57.000 It's the fight business.
00:06:58.000 If people hurt people's feelings, too bad.
00:07:01.000 This is the business we're in.
00:07:03.000 And nobody speaks for me and nobody tells me what to say.
00:07:06.000 Well, yeah.
00:07:06.000 And this is what's important, right?
00:07:08.000 Is that it's lead, follower, get out of the way, as General Patton would say.
00:07:12.000 And, you know, Dana, you're admired by so many people because you really don't care what people have to say or the pushback or the nonsense that you have to receive.
00:07:19.000 And as a leader, you have to make decisions.
00:07:21.000 It's very easy for people, a spectator, to say, oh, you know, to kind of play, you call it Monday morning quarterback or all that kind of nonsense, right?
00:07:28.000 But here's the thing is you've been proven to be a patriot, been proven to be an entrepreneur.
00:07:31.000 And by the way, in a business that is not easy to run, you know, I haven't run something your size, but I've run about a $100 million deal here with Turning Point, Turning Point Action, and what we have going on here.
00:07:43.000 And there's a lot of people that think they can always tell you what to do and they know what to do better than you.
00:07:49.000 But, you know, Dana, I think it's important that people understand, though, that, you know, the attitude that you bring to the UFC, the attitude you bring to this country is one that has always pursued excellence, has been good for the country, good for your fans, good for your fighters.
00:08:03.000 And honestly, you know, there are many other forks in the road, Dana, that you've been through where people were overwhelmingly giving you negative feedback.
00:08:10.000 And it turns out your gut instinct was right.
00:08:12.000 And as an entrepreneur and a leader, I'm sure you could, you know, reflect on those situations.
00:08:16.000 So I just, I find it funny when people that have never built a darn thing in their life are willing to go sit on their tail and run their mouth against entrepreneurs and people that have worked 20-hour days for 30 years to build something beautiful and excellent.
00:08:32.000 Your thoughts, Dana?
00:08:34.000 Yeah, I agree with you.
00:08:35.000 I think that everybody's always going to, you're always going to have people out there that are going to have opinions.
00:08:40.000 And the problem today is they all get to voice them on social media.
00:08:43.000 So we got to listen to everybody.
00:08:46.000 But yeah, I've always been a person that, you know, I love my country.
00:08:51.000 I love my family.
00:08:53.000 I love my business.
00:08:55.000 And I'm always going to like, I'll give you the best example is when COVID happened.
00:09:00.000 The world's losing their mind.
00:09:02.000 Everybody's going crazy.
00:09:03.000 I said, here's what I need to do.
00:09:05.000 I need to focus on my people.
00:09:08.000 It was a time when people were getting laid off.
00:09:10.000 Scariest time ever in our lifetime.
00:09:13.000 People are getting laid off.
00:09:14.000 People don't know if they're going to die or what's going to happen.
00:09:18.000 We all stuck together, me and my crew, my family, my employees, my people that are close to me, and my fighters.
00:09:25.000 So they believed in me that I said, we're going to go through this and we're going to figure it out.
00:09:30.000 And we did it and we did it together.
00:09:33.000 And that's the way I feel.
00:09:35.000 I'm always going to go, like you said, with my gut, with my heart, and with common sense is how I lead.
00:09:42.000 Yeah.
00:09:43.000 And I mean, it's also, you've had to manage insane issues.
00:09:46.000 I mean, the Russia-Ukraine thing, Israel-Palestine thing, through your talk about that, Dana.
00:09:51.000 It's not as if you've been immune to controversy, but you've proven that you can do that in a way with freedom of speech issues, you know, threading the needle, having both sides equally respected and still producing an excellent type product.
00:10:03.000 And I just want to reiterate this for people that are just tuning in, you know, because some people are emailing us.
00:10:07.000 They say, oh, my goodness, you know, I have an issue with this.
00:10:10.000 Let me just say, hold on.
00:10:11.000 So this, first of all, shows the power of the conservative base.
00:10:14.000 Look at the last six months.
00:10:15.000 The message has been received.
00:10:16.000 So then what is, what do you want?
00:10:18.000 Would you rather have Anheuser-Busch go and sponsor some insane left-wing lackadoodle thing?
00:10:25.000 Or what do you say, hey, we're going to go sponsor the most patriotic conservative sports league out there and say we want to make good for a mistake we made.
00:10:34.000 Dana, just rationally, it's like, actually, it's a move in the right direction, isn't it?
00:10:38.000 And let me say this to the people that are listening.
00:10:40.000 Okay.
00:10:40.000 Now, I get it.
00:10:41.000 You can lose your minds and go, oh, they did this, they did that.
00:10:44.000 Let's break it down and look at it like this: 65,000 Americans work for Anheuser-Busch.
00:10:53.000 These are your uncles, your fathers, your brothers, your neighbors.
00:10:57.000 You know, these are Americans here in America.
00:11:01.000 65,000 of them work there, right?
00:11:03.000 They spend, Anheuser-Busch spends almost a billion dollars a year with U.S. farmers for their products to make the beer.
00:11:14.000 Okay.
00:11:15.000 Why would you want to put a bullet in that?
00:11:18.000 Why would you want to hurt this company?
00:11:20.000 They get it.
00:11:21.000 You're pissed.
00:11:23.000 Message received.
00:11:25.000 Okay.
00:11:26.000 They got it.
00:11:27.000 Now they're going to do a sponsorship deal with me.
00:11:30.000 I am aligned with everything that they are about.
00:11:34.000 All these things.
00:11:35.000 Look at all the good things that Anheuser-Busch has done and the time that they have been in business.
00:11:44.000 Look at all the good they have done.
00:11:47.000 Now, you didn't like what they did with the can and all this other stuff.
00:11:51.000 Okay, message received.
00:11:53.000 Let's move on.
00:11:54.000 What are we going to do?
00:11:55.000 We're going to hurt all these American farmers that make the products to make the beer.
00:12:01.000 We're going to make sure that 65,000 Americans get laid off.
00:12:06.000 Thousands of them are vets.
00:12:08.000 Come on.
00:12:08.000 It gets to a point where now it's just, it's getting silly.
00:12:12.000 It's getting ridiculous.
00:12:13.000 I'm very aligned with Anheuser-Busch.
00:12:15.000 I'm excited to be in business with them for the next six years.
00:12:18.000 And we're going to do some cool stuff together and we're going to take care of a lot of people with this relationship.
00:12:23.000 Well, it's also, let's understand that Dana White spoke at the Trump convention.
00:12:27.000 He's been a huge MAGA donor and guy that other brands would consider Dana White too toxic and they want to try to align with you.
00:12:37.000 Hey, everybody, Mike Lindellis, a passion to help you get the best sleep of your life.
00:12:40.000 He didn't stop at the pillow.
00:12:42.000 Mike Lindellis created the Giza Dream bed sheets.
00:12:45.000 These sheets look and feel great, which means an even better night's sleep, which is crucial for your overall health.
00:12:51.000 Mike found the world's best cotton called Giza.
00:12:54.000 It's ultra-soft and breathable, but extremely durable.
00:12:58.000 Mike's Giza sheets come with a 60-day money-back guarantee and a 10-year warranty.
00:13:03.000 Mike's latest incredible deal is the sale of the year.
00:13:05.000 For a limited time, he'll receive 50% off the Giza dream sheets, marking prices down as low as $29.98, depending on the size.
00:13:13.000 Go to mypillow.com, promo code Kirk.
00:13:17.000 That is mypillow.com, promo code Kirk, including the MyPillow 2.0 mattress topper, my pillow kitchen towel sets, and so much more.
00:13:25.000 Call 800-875-0425 or go to mypillow.com, use promo code Kirk, mypillow.com, promo code Kirk.
00:13:34.000 So, Dana, I don't want to go too deep into private conversations, but it is true, though, that other sponsors in the past have sometimes gotten angry with some of your political statements.
00:13:42.000 Is that fair to say?
00:13:44.000 Is that there have been other people tried to muzzle you?
00:13:48.000 Our sponsors have been, our sponsors have been solid, man.
00:13:53.000 Listen, I'm at a point, like I said earlier, in my life and in my career, I want to be with people that I'm aligned with.
00:13:59.000 It's not about money anymore for me.
00:14:01.000 It's about being with like-minded people that, you know, feel the way I do, look at things the way that I do.
00:14:10.000 Not everything is going to be perfect all the time, but I've had a great history with my sponsors.
00:14:16.000 You know, I think when we're talking about, you know, the beer deal, when I was saying this was based on way more than money for me, so for people to come out and say, oh, it's all about the money, I already make money.
00:14:30.000 We're making money.
00:14:31.000 Sponsor, when you talk about what sponsorship means, guys come in and they give you money to have to be aligned with your brand.
00:14:38.000 They come in and they pay you to be aligned with your brand and put their logo wherever it is.
00:14:43.000 The logo goes.
00:14:46.000 And everybody that comes into the UFC knows what this business is about.
00:14:52.000 It's and what I'm about and what I stand for.
00:14:56.000 And, you know, I don't have problems with sponsors these days.
00:15:01.000 You know, I'm not going to say that everything has been perfect or whatever, but for the most part, this decision to go with Bud Light was based on anything but money.
00:15:12.000 So, Dana, there's been a fair amount of criticism from just general people towards sports in general.
00:15:17.000 How have you navigated, you know, staying loyal to your audience and delivering excellent products and not pandering to all of this like end racism?
00:15:26.000 I can't watch an NFL game anymore, Dana, without kind of the virtue signaling stuff.
00:15:30.000 How have you allowed UFC to rise above it?
00:15:32.000 I mean, Donald Trump comes to your events.
00:15:34.000 It's as if he's walking into a MAGA rally, as you mentioned, even in downtown San Francisco.
00:15:38.000 And it's one of the few sporting events I can watch where masculinity is elevated, where I don't feel as if there's all these external pressures.
00:15:47.000 How have you really allowed UFC to be immune from all of these different pressures and infiltration campaigns that we've seen with these other sport leagues?
00:15:57.000 Well, it's common sense.
00:15:59.000 We stay out of politics.
00:16:01.000 As far as the UFC goes, the business, we stay out of politics.
00:16:04.000 Donald Trump has been a fan of this thing since day one.
00:16:09.000 When this first started, arenas didn't even want the UFC.
00:16:15.000 Trump and I started a relationship 20-something years ago because he actually picked up the phone and reached out to us and said, hey, bring it to the Taj Mahal.
00:16:26.000 And, you know, we'd love to have you.
00:16:27.000 We did our first two events there.
00:16:30.000 And ever since then, he and I have been friends.
00:16:34.000 So he has always been a fixture inside UFC anyway.
00:16:38.000 So, but other than that, like if I have support politically, I do that on my own personal social media.
00:16:47.000 I do that on, you know, my own stuff.
00:16:50.000 I don't integrate politics into the UFC, even during COVID.
00:16:56.000 When we were putting on events, we never talked about COVID during the event.
00:17:00.000 You didn't see people wearing masks if we didn't have to.
00:17:03.000 We were inside the bubble.
00:17:05.000 And, you know, we didn't talk about any of that stuff.
00:17:07.000 Sports is supposed to be an escape away from all the other, you know, crap that's going on in your life.
00:17:15.000 You get to sit down on the couch, whether it's with your family, your friends, whoever, and enjoy a sport without any of the nonsense.
00:17:22.000 You want all that other nonsense?
00:17:24.000 Turn on any other channel.
00:17:25.000 You know, turn on the radio, the TV.
00:17:28.000 It's coming at you 50 different ways.
00:17:30.000 It should not be involved in sports.
00:17:32.000 No, it's exhausting and it deteriorates the product.
00:17:35.000 So, Dana, I just want to say in closing, you've been an amazing American patriot.
00:17:39.000 You stuck your neck out for Donald Trump when other people ran to the hills.
00:17:43.000 I was there in 2016 in Cleveland, and you gave one of the most powerful speeches about loyalty, about friendship, about your love of this country.
00:17:51.000 And you have personally, you know, been attacked by the media time and time again, but you always rise stronger.
00:17:56.000 And a lot of different ways people have compared you and Trump together.
00:17:59.000 And I know that friendship is as tight as ever.
00:18:01.000 And that was really, really admirable to me.
00:18:03.000 Any closing thoughts, Dana White?
00:18:04.000 No, I appreciate it.
00:18:06.000 Yes.
00:18:06.000 And thank you.
00:18:07.000 Obviously, I run a global business.
00:18:10.000 And like you were saying earlier, I love this country.
00:18:14.000 And I love these kids that fight for me who love their countries, whether you're from Russia or you're from wherever in the world.
00:18:23.000 When we're talking about the Russian thing, I didn't shut down and boycott my Russian fighters.
00:18:29.000 They don't determine what happens in their country.
00:18:32.000 They're just trying to make a living and live their life just like everybody else.
00:18:35.000 And, you know, the world has lost its mind.
00:18:40.000 And I'm just trying to run this business with a little bit of common sense.
00:18:44.000 That's it.
00:18:45.000 You've been doing a great job.
00:18:46.000 Dana White, thanks for joining us.
00:18:48.000 And thanks for taking a stand for our country and always having our presidents back.
00:18:51.000 Thanks so much, Dana.
00:18:52.000 Thanks for having me, buddy.
00:18:54.000 I know there's a lot of emails people are saying, you know, what you would expect, but I just want to ask a very simple question.
00:18:59.000 Just email me this.
00:18:59.000 Okay.
00:19:01.000 What is the best outcome that you would like to see happen with Anheuser-Busch?
00:19:07.000 When do you declare victory?
00:19:09.000 I'm just, I'm curious.
00:19:10.000 I'm not even stating that I know the answer to this question.
00:19:14.000 So you might say, we want to bankrupt them into oblivion and destroy the company.
00:19:17.000 That probably won't happen.
00:19:17.000 They'll probably still exist.
00:19:18.000 They have tons of capital.
00:19:19.000 Would you rather see them go sponsor like the most radical, like Drag Queen Story Hour or UFC?
00:19:26.000 That's a serious question I want you to think about.
00:19:29.000 Okay.
00:19:30.000 Putting capital behind Dana White, one of the most outspoken conservatives and MAGA supporters out there.
00:19:35.000 Is that a success?
00:19:38.000 Looks like they're trying to win over the people that they upset the last six months.
00:19:43.000 Something to think about.
00:19:46.000 Hey, everybody, Charlie Kirk here.
00:19:48.000 When the government used emergency edicts during COVID to restrict the gathering and worship of churches, three pastors facing the risk of imprisonment, unlimited fines, and their own churches being ripped apart took a courageous stand and reopened their doors in the face of a world that chose to comply.
00:20:03.000 The Essential Church is a feature-length documentary that explores the struggle between the church and government throughout history.
00:20:10.000 The story uncovers those who have sacrificed their lives throughout history for what they believe in.
00:20:15.000 Rediscover why the church is essential and how we prove this stand remains true from a scientific, legal, and most importantly, a theological and biblical perspective.
00:20:24.000 This is not your typical movie.
00:20:27.000 It will change your life.
00:20:28.000 You need to see this movie with your family and friends.
00:20:31.000 The Essential Church is streaming today exclusively at salemnow.com.
00:20:35.000 That's Essential Church Movie streaming at salemnow.com.
00:20:39.000 That is salemnow.com.
00:20:41.000 Check out the essential church movie.
00:20:42.000 It's terrific.
00:20:43.000 So go to salemnow.com right now.
00:20:49.000 We're told that the economy is better than ever.
00:20:52.000 It's 4.9% growth, GDP growth.
00:20:56.000 They say it's the greatest number ever.
00:20:58.000 It reminds me of a newspaper clipping from Pravda, which means truth in Russian, where they would send out all these announcements.
00:21:14.000 And it was in the midst of a famine.
00:21:17.000 And they'd say, greatest harvest ever.
00:21:19.000 And the Kulaks would say, there's no food.
00:21:22.000 It's a greatest harvest ever.
00:21:24.000 If you disagree, go to a gulag.
00:21:26.000 Joining us now is Stephen Moore, co-founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity.
00:21:30.000 Stephen, 4.9%, greatest economy ever.
00:21:34.000 Your reaction.
00:21:35.000 Yeah, I would, rather than calling it GDP gross domestic product, we should call this government domestic product.
00:21:42.000 Because do you know what the fastest component of the growth was?
00:21:46.000 Yeah, it's spending of the $6 trillion of the federal budget, right?
00:21:49.000 Yes.
00:21:50.000 Yes.
00:21:51.000 This is basically a house of sand we've created.
00:21:54.000 We've created a $33 trillion national debt, about $6 trillion, which was added just in the last two years, Charlie.
00:22:02.000 We've got government spending out of control.
00:22:04.000 The biggest employer, the biggest industry that's added workers this year, you know what that is?
00:22:09.000 Government.
00:22:10.000 So this is all this kind of phantom recovery that's all built on government debt and government spending, when in fact we want government debt and spending to be falling, not rising.
00:22:21.000 If you look at the domestic side of the business side of the equation, it's not looking very good.
00:22:28.000 Look, when you have 70% of Americans, Charlie, who've been telling pollsters for the same thing for the last two years, whether it's the Fox Poll or the Gallup poll or the MSNBC poll, when you have 70% saying that the U.S. economy is headed in the wrong direction, and another 70%, maybe the same 70%, saying that their own personal finances are worse today than they were three years ago, that's telling you that Americans are onto this gambit.
00:22:57.000 They get it, that this is an economy that feels like it's running on fumes right now.
00:23:03.000 And I think that happens to be true.
00:23:05.000 So Politico.com says this is a quote stellar economic report, stellar economic report.
00:23:12.000 In my experience, Steve, in life, if you have to tell people something is stellar, then it rally isn't that stellar, right?
00:23:20.000 Usually just kind of know it, like, hey, my wages are going up.
00:23:24.000 Everything is more expensive.
00:23:26.000 And it is a, I think we would agree, Steve, it's a goofy economy, right?
00:23:30.000 It is, it is strange with the stock market, asset prices.
00:23:35.000 But the most important thing that I hope people highlight is that this is not actual small business, entrepreneurial driven economic growth.
00:23:44.000 This is largely driven by deficit spending, isn't it, Stephen?
00:23:48.000 Yeah, yes, absolutely.
00:23:49.000 And look, it is true that a 4.9% economic growth rate is a really good number.
00:23:54.000 And there are jobs out there.
00:23:56.000 So that's the good news on the economy.
00:23:58.000 The bad news is, as you just said, that it's all built on debt.
00:24:01.000 And by the way, not just government debt.
00:24:04.000 And absolutely, that's the main driver.
00:24:07.000 But if you look at what's happened with the, and this is shown in the report, that consumers spent a lot of money.
00:24:13.000 And so it's basically government spending and consumer spending that created this good number.
00:24:18.000 But guess what, Charlie?
00:24:20.000 Where are the consumers getting the money?
00:24:23.000 They're going into debt themselves.
00:24:25.000 We now, did you know we now have $1 trillion of credit card debt?
00:24:29.000 This thing is going to bust up.
00:24:30.000 It's going to blow up.
00:24:32.000 Well, it's almost as if they want it to blow up.
00:24:34.000 And so let's talk about the inflation number.
00:24:35.000 You know, they're saying inflation is 5%.
00:24:37.000 You know, I talk to any business owner.
00:24:39.000 Costs are up anywhere between 15 to 20%, Steve.
00:24:42.000 What is the actual inflation number and how do we calculate it?
00:24:45.000 Well, you're raising another good point is that, you know, if you look at the official forecast numbers right now, they say inflation is 4% to 5%.
00:24:53.000 By the way, remember, I want to remind your listeners and viewers that when Trump left office, the inflation rate was 1.9%, or I mean, less than that.
00:25:02.000 I think it was like 1.8, 1.7%.
00:25:05.000 Then we went to, remember, we went to 9.2% this time last year.
00:25:09.000 Now it's come down a bit.
00:25:11.000 Thank God it's come down.
00:25:12.000 But the fact is, when I literally, when I'll be walking down the street and somebody will recognize me from being on the Charlie Kirk show or being on Fox News, and people will accost me and they'll say, why do you keep saying inflation is only 5%?
00:25:26.000 They say to me exactly what you said, Charlie.
00:25:28.000 They say, my groceries are up by 20%.
00:25:30.000 My gas is up 50%.
00:25:31.000 My mortgage is up 40%.
00:25:33.000 The things that people have to buy are way, way higher than this official number.
00:25:38.000 Yes.
00:25:38.000 And I mean, you look at one thing in particular.
00:25:41.000 If you are a young millennial, 28 to 30, you know, 25 to 35 years old, and you want to buy a home, it is harder than ever for two reasons.
00:25:48.000 Firstly, asset price is super inflated and it's not going to come down.
00:25:52.000 Secondly, no one wants to buy, no one wants to build new inventory because it's so expensive, right?
00:25:57.000 So therefore, prices go up.
00:25:59.000 And then the price of money is really high.
00:26:02.000 And so just a very basic thing.
00:26:04.000 Can your young people buy homes and be invested in the American?
00:26:08.000 Talk about that, Steve, because a huge part of my audience says, Charlie, what American dream?
00:26:13.000 I'm renting for $3,800 a month.
00:26:15.000 I'm renting for $4,200 a month.
00:26:19.000 Steve, that's really bad for the country.
00:26:21.000 It's actually bad for our politics, too.
00:26:23.000 It creates almost many socialists if you don't end up owning property.
00:26:26.000 Yeah, again, well put, Charlie.
00:26:28.000 And you get an A in economics today, my friend, because you're hitting all the right buttons.
00:26:32.000 And the fact is that if you look at what happened, again, I like to go back to Trump.
00:26:36.000 As you know, I worked for Trump.
00:26:38.000 I'm proud of what we did.
00:26:39.000 I mean, it's so interesting.
00:26:40.000 Even when I talk to people who hate Trump, I say, okay, maybe you don't like some of the things he says or some of his actions or January 6th, but you've got to love what he did, his policies.
00:26:49.000 And then they say, yeah, I kind of like his policies.
00:26:51.000 Well, the policies worked.
00:26:53.000 And one of the policies was to, you know, obviously produce American energy to bring inflation down.
00:27:00.000 And we did.
00:27:01.000 Inflation rate and the more here, let me give you another one.
00:27:04.000 The mortgage rate when Trump left office was 3%.
00:27:07.000 Now it's 8%.
00:27:08.000 Now, this makes your point.
00:27:10.000 So if you want to buy an average price home today, which is about $450,000 to $500,000, you used to have to pay about $1,500 a month mortgage payment.
00:27:21.000 Now you're going to pay $3,200 a month.
00:27:24.000 So in other words, the mortgage payments have doubled on a house for 30 years.
00:27:29.000 Who can afford that?
00:27:30.000 No one can.
00:27:30.000 No.
00:27:31.000 And yet what's amazing though, Steve, is that you're not seeing home prices go down dramatically.
00:27:38.000 They are going to go down.
00:27:39.000 Okay, I think that's what I'm saying.
00:27:40.000 Charlie, I have to do, right?
00:27:42.000 I don't always make predictions, and it's always tough to figure out what's going to happen with energy or housing.
00:27:48.000 But I'm going to make a prediction on your show.
00:27:50.000 Housing prices are going to have to come down because people, and just even in the area that I live, and I live in Washington, where we're recession-proof, right, in Washington, D.C. Even in Washington, D.C., the home prices are starting to come down because people can't afford it any longer.
00:28:06.000 Those higher mortgage rates hurt the home buyer because you have to pay more in mortgage interest rates.
00:28:12.000 And they hurt someone like myself who owns a home because guess what?
00:28:16.000 Biden has depressed the value of my property.
00:28:18.000 Yeah, it's just kind of a chicken and the egg thing.
00:28:20.000 In certain markets, I see that.
00:28:22.000 But, you know, for example, here in Phoenix, which is one of the fastest growing, if not the fastest growing market, there just isn't inventory enough to then depress home prices, right?
00:28:30.000 So can you talk about that?
00:28:31.000 If you're a developer, you're an entrepreneur, you say, hey, I'm going to go build 800 homes, right?
00:28:36.000 Like Del Webb did in the western part of Phoenix.
00:28:38.000 Well, the price of money is so much.
00:28:39.000 Why would I go take that risk?
00:28:40.000 Meanwhile, you have labor issues, supply chain issues.
00:28:44.000 You have people that would say, I'd rather sit on the money than go deploy $100 million in equity and $200 million in debt.
00:28:51.000 It's not worth it.
00:28:52.000 So I agree, Steve, in certain markets where there is oversupply, but in some of the hot markets that are hot as a pistol, Dallas, Atlanta, Austin, Houston, and Phoenix, Denver, I don't know if that's going to happen.
00:29:07.000 So again, you make a good point because America is really like two countries right now.
00:29:12.000 You know, I've talked about this over the last, it's red state America and it's blue state America.
00:29:16.000 So blue state America, where people moving out of, you're seeing a big, big decline in housing values.
00:29:21.000 But you're living in Arizona, which is a red state, mostly a red state.
00:29:24.000 You got to keep it red.
00:29:25.000 Will you please make sure that Arizona is don't shame me into that?
00:29:28.000 I'm waiting on it.
00:29:30.000 But, you know, Arizona is a hot market.
00:29:33.000 So you're going to probably see a lot of demand because you got all these blue state people moving in.
00:29:37.000 But I'll give you an example of how fragile the housing market is right now.
00:29:42.000 This week it was reported by Bloomberg that the number of new mortgage applications has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years.
00:29:54.000 Wow.
00:29:56.000 That's not a good harbinger for things to come.
00:29:59.000 Can you just say that one more time for our audience?
00:30:00.000 Just repeat that really quick.
00:30:02.000 Yes, the number of people, Americans who are applying for a mortgage to buy a house, that number has fallen to its lowest level in 20 years.
00:30:11.000 Steve Moore, by the way, the CNN article is so proud to ask.
00:30:14.000 We are living in the Soviet Union.
00:30:15.000 Why Biden's strong economy feels so bad to most Americans?
00:30:19.000 Really?
00:30:20.000 If it's so great, why does nobody think it's great?
00:30:25.000 So Steve Moore is with us.
00:30:27.000 So Steve, let me just play devil's advocate because during the Trump administration, I remember one time there was a big celebration when Trump said, you know, almost 4% growth.
00:30:36.000 I think it was like 3.8%.
00:30:38.000 What makes this different than the actual material economic healthy growth that you helped engineer and you helped pioneer under President Trump?
00:30:48.000 Well, first of all, I'll say that even Donald Trump spent and borrowed too much money.
00:30:53.000 And I tell the president that when I see him.
00:30:56.000 So, you know, politicians like to spend money.
00:30:58.000 And I'm not going to just blame Democrats for this, you know, $33 trillion of debt we have right now, Charlie.
00:31:04.000 I mean, unfortunately, it's both parties to run up this debt.
00:31:07.000 And it's immoral.
00:31:08.000 And it's going to blow up and really bankrupt our country if we stay on this course.
00:31:15.000 But look, the growth under Trump was private sector growth.
00:31:20.000 We had too much government, but most of it was driven by investment, new technology, increases in manufacturing.
00:31:27.000 And we saw big Real income gains for median income families.
00:31:33.000 So from the four years that Trump was in office, according to the Census Bureau, so that's the gold, you know, gold standard of economic data, they found that the average family income rose by $6,400 when Trump was president.
00:31:46.000 That's a lot.
00:31:47.000 You know what the number is for Biden so far?
00:31:50.000 Negative 2,000.
00:31:52.000 Wow.
00:31:53.000 Wow.
00:31:54.000 So, Steve, another question our audience has is about the stock market.
00:31:59.000 Why is it that the stock market, it went down a little bit earlier in the year, and then we had these bank failures and they were posting 400, 500-point losses on the Dow.
00:32:09.000 And then it kind of almost went up.
00:32:11.000 The working theory that makes sense to me is that the Fed quietly expanded its balance sheet back in the spring when all these bank failures occurred.
00:32:19.000 And when the Fed expands its balance sheet, cause and effect, you're going to see asset prices go up.
00:32:25.000 We see hyper-inflated price to earning ratios continuing.
00:32:29.000 I think that 33,000 on the Dow is still so ridiculously overpriced, considering how crummy the economy is.
00:32:37.000 And how many dollar bills are still on the sidelines, Steve Moore?
00:32:42.000 Well, first of all, let's talk about the stock market because, you know, we've seen from the time that Ronald Reagan was president through the end of the Trump administration, we saw the biggest boom in the wealth of American households in the history of the world, where the Dow went from 1,000 to 33,000.
00:32:59.000 And so, you know, you never bet against the American economy.
00:33:02.000 You never bet against the U.S. economy and American businesses.
00:33:05.000 We're the best in the world.
00:33:06.000 Now, that being said, now, since Biden's come into office, the Dow was roughly, I don't remember the exact number, it was around 33,500 when Trump left office, and it's about 33,500 today.
00:33:18.000 So you'd think, oh, it's being leveled.
00:33:20.000 But no, it's not level because of 18% inflation.
00:33:23.000 So in real terms, the stock market's down by 18 to 20% since Biden came in.
00:33:29.000 And that's killing people's 401k plans.
00:33:32.000 That's such a great point that if the stock market does not keep up with inflation, then you're actually losing.
00:33:38.000 So you can't just look at the chart and say, oh, okay, we're doing all right.
00:33:42.000 And this is what is so frustrating to everyday Americans.
00:33:45.000 And it puts unnecessary, I think real inflation is near, again, 15 to 20%.
00:33:49.000 Forget all this nonsense, right?
00:33:51.000 Is that therefore, if you're, let's say you have a Schwab account or TD Ameritrade, whatever, or you have a wealth advisor, if you're, at the end of the year, when you get your reports, if you are not posting a 15 to 20% return on investment, you're actually getting poorer, aren't you, Steve?
00:34:06.000 That's exactly right.
00:34:07.000 We estimate that the average 401k plan, and I've got the vast majority of people watching or listening to this show have a 401k plan, has lost about $30,000 since Biden came into office.
00:34:19.000 So that's a big loss in people's wealth and their retirement income.
00:34:23.000 In closing, Steve, it's really simple.
00:34:25.000 We need to cut spending.
00:34:26.000 And so if we don't dramatically cut spending, I'm talking about trillions of dollars of immediate and long-term spending, then we are going to live through a perpetual new normal of structural inflation of 10 to 15% annually.
00:34:42.000 Yes.
00:34:42.000 So I want to, I know we're running out of time.
00:34:44.000 I want to mention two things related to what you just said.
00:34:47.000 Because Charlie, you know, that now Congress wants to spend another $100 billion, well, Biden, on these aid packages.
00:34:54.000 Now, people may have different opinions on whether to do it or not.
00:34:57.000 I'm against it.
00:34:58.000 But even if we do spend that money, I think it should come with two conditions.
00:35:03.000 Okay, ready, Charlie?
00:35:04.000 Yes.
00:35:05.000 Number one, that every single penny of any of this aid that goes to Ukraine and Israel should be paid for by cutting other government spending.
00:35:15.000 So simple.
00:35:16.000 I totally agree.
00:35:17.000 Yes.
00:35:17.000 Okay.
00:35:18.000 Number two, ready for number two?
00:35:20.000 Yes.
00:35:21.000 All of this craziness that's going on in the world, what's happening in the Ukraine, what's happening with Hamas, all of this is a direct result of Biden's war on American energy.
00:35:31.000 If I were in Congress, I would say, if I were Republican, and this is what I want you to help me on: Republicans say, We're not giving you one dime of more money for this until you open the spigots and produce more American energy.
00:35:44.000 That's the best way to stop it.
00:35:45.000 And also opening up the financing.
00:35:47.000 That's the problem: oil and gas entrepreneurs can't get access to capital.
00:35:53.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.
00:35:55.000 Email us as always: freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:35:58.000 Thanks so much for listening, and God bless.
00:36:03.000 For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to CharlieKirk.com.