The Charlie Kirk Show - Does Trump Really Need Nikki?

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.

00:00:01.000 Andrew Colvett filling in for Charlie Kirk.

00:00:04.000 Honored to be with you.

00:00:05.000 As always, today we have Kurt Schlichter.

00:00:07.000 He gives us a little, I would say, as a former DeSantis supporter, he's got some words for Nikki.

00:00:14.000 He's got some advice.

00:00:15.000 I think it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

00:00:18.000 Very, very good analysis from Kurt per usual.

00:00:20.000 And then we bring in the pollster extraordinaire, Rich Barris.

00:00:24.000 We ask the question: Does Trump even need Nikki?

00:00:26.000 We break down the polls.

00:00:27.000 What does it say about the Republican and the conservative movement?

00:00:30.000 Is it coalescing around Trump or not?

00:00:33.000 The data says a lot.

00:00:35.000 You're not going to want to miss this conversation with Rich.

00:00:37.000 It's fantastic.

00:00:38.000 So buckle up.

00:00:39.000 Here we go.

00:00:40.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

00:00:42.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

00:00:44.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.

00:00:47.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

00:00:51.000 I want to thank Charlie.

00:00:52.000 He's an incredible guy.

00:00:53.000 His spirit, his love of this country.

00:00:55.000 He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created.

00:01:00.000 Turning point USA. 0.65

00:01:01.000 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.

00:01:10.000 That's why we are here.

00:01:13.000 Noble 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.

00:01:23.000 Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble Gold Investments at noblegoldinvestments.com.

00:01:30.000 That is noblegoldinvestments.com.

00:01:32.000 It's where I buy all of my gold.

00:01:34.000 Go to noblegoldinvestments.com.

00:01:39.000 Very excited to have my next guest on, fellow Californian living in exile here, Kurt Schlichter, senior columnist for townhall.com.

00:01:48.000 Kurt, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.

00:01:51.000 Well, Andrew, well, thanks for having me.

00:01:53.000 You'll notice there's absolutely nothing in my house and a weird echo because my floor flooded.

00:01:59.000 So my entire first floor is completely empty.

00:02:02.000 So it's just you and me and my camera stand.

00:02:08.000 And you're somehow that feels symbolic to the state of the country right now, Kurt.

00:02:13.000 So I was looking at your Twitter thread here, and we were talking about this conundrum.

00:02:20.000 The emails flooded in.

00:02:21.000 Basically, the premise is that if anybody has the toughest job in America right now, is it Joe Biden or is it Speaker Johnson?

00:02:28.000 Very, very, I would say, apt criticisms of this minibus bill.

00:02:33.000 You're tweeting about it.

00:02:34.000 You know, you retweeted Mike Lee, who we love here.

00:02:36.000 This is how Republicans lose elections by acting like Democrats.

00:02:40.000 He was quote tweeting.

00:02:41.000 He was responding to Chip Roy, who's basically saying, and Thomas Matthews, who are saying that actually the budget outlays are higher under Speaker Johnson than they were under Nancy Pelosi.

00:02:52.000 Kurt, what is going on here?

00:02:54.000 Well, I had the chance to talk to Mike Lee earlier today.

00:02:57.000 I was out hosting for Salem Boeing Hugh Hewitt at O'Dark 30 California time.

00:03:02.000 So if I'm a little bleary, it's because I haven't got any sleep.

00:03:07.000 But no, he's fired up and he should be.

00:03:10.000 Look, are we going to stop spending money like drunken sailors or are we not?

00:03:17.000 And if the answer is that we're not, let's not call ourselves Republicans anymore.

00:03:22.000 Let's just call ourselves slower Democrats. 0.97

00:03:27.000 Because this is, I mean, this is ridiculous. 0.75

00:03:29.000 It is the time to make some tough decisions.

00:03:34.000 We don't have a huge amount of leverage, but you know, we have some leverage.

00:03:38.000 And I'd like to see us use it.

00:03:40.000 Yeah, okay.

00:03:40.000 So that's the issue here, right?

00:03:43.000 This dynamic, and I know this is true because I've spoken with a number of conservatives, conservatives in the House conference.

00:03:50.000 They are very well aware.

00:03:51.000 Now, most of these people ended up voting against this, right?

00:03:54.000 They were the, however, 80 plus no votes on this.

00:03:57.000 There was two Democrat no votes.

00:04:00.000 But most of the Republicans are going along with this additional spending.

00:04:04.000 So I completely agree.

00:04:06.000 We need better Republicans.

00:04:07.000 We absolutely do.

00:04:08.000 But he only does have a two-vote majority.

00:04:11.000 Now, this is the other thing.

00:04:12.000 These conservatives are very well aware of the polling.

00:04:14.000 Some agree with it, some disagree with it.

00:04:16.000 That says that if we shut down the government, that we are putting in serious jeopardy our ability to hold a majority in November when hopefully President Trump gets sworn into office and we can actually do some real damage here.

00:04:32.000 What's your take on that?

00:04:34.000 Is polling that shows that it would be damaging to holding the majority?

00:04:38.000 You think that's hogwash.

00:04:40.000 And what's your prescription for it?

00:04:42.000 Should we shut it down?

00:04:44.000 Should we try and get concessions on the border on spending and risk what Speaker Johnson's probably thinking about is losing control of the conservatives in the House and potentially losing majority in November?

00:04:57.000 Well, look, there are a lot of dumb things the Republicans have done lately that I'm not sure that refusing to spend a ton more money is one of them.

00:05:11.000 Yeah, I mean, look, we're in a tough place and it's a place of our own making. 0.78

00:05:16.000 We didn't get a bigger majority.

00:05:19.000 And when we have, you know, when we have a majority that's so razor-thin, we're not going to get everything we want.

00:05:28.000 But, you know, I think we should get some things.

00:05:32.000 And I don't think the American people are going to be absolutely upset if we're not spending a ton more money on, you know, frankly, nonsense. 0.62

00:05:45.000 A lot of what we're spending money on is just ridiculous stuff.

00:05:50.000 Yeah, it's going to, you know, look, we've got to get a more substantial majority in the House.

00:05:55.000 We have to get a majority in the Senate.

00:05:56.000 We have to get President Trump back in.

00:05:59.000 But even then, there's going to be another excuse about why we can't possibly cut spending.

00:06:04.000 Remember, there are Republicans, Democrats, and appropriators.

00:06:09.000 And the appropriators like appropriating.

00:06:13.000 The problem is we're spending a trillion dollars every hundred days.

00:06:17.000 Now, math is probably great, isn't it?

00:06:20.000 Yeah, I mean, math was my worth grade at the University of College.

00:06:27.000 But even I know that a trillion dollars every three months is unsustainable.

00:06:33.000 Yeah, no, it's and the other slap in the face here is the earmarks.

00:06:36.000 I mean, there was like 6,000 earmarks.

00:06:38.000 Over 100 of them had Diane Feinstein's name on them.

00:06:42.000 She's dead.

00:06:43.000 Why are these getting passed through?

00:06:45.000 This process is so broken.

00:06:46.000 And again, Rick Scott, who comes on this show often, said, again, we didn't get visibility on this minibus until basically a couple hours before we were supposed to vote to pass it.

00:06:57.000 I mean, the system is absolutely broken.

00:07:00.000 That is true.

00:07:01.000 But again, I come back to the fact, do you try and slow walk as much out of control insanity as you can between now and November to keep the, I don't know, some semblance of order in place and get that majority and then you execute on your plan?

00:07:18.000 Or do you burn it all down right now?

00:07:20.000 And I agree.

00:07:21.000 I don't understand why we can't get more concessions.

00:07:24.000 The fact that a Republican-controlled House is spending more than Nancy Pelosi, even with inflation, even with just built-in increases in budgetary outlays, I don't understand why we can't get more.

00:07:37.000 That has constantly been one of the most frustrating aspects of D.C. is why McConnell can't get anything done.

00:07:46.000 Why are we constantly getting outmaneuvered and out-negotiated by really mediocre Democrats?

00:07:53.000 One of the big problems.

00:07:54.000 Look in the Senate, the big problem is Mitch McConnell.

00:07:57.000 And Mitch McConnell used to be the master of the Senate and a, you know, really formidable guy.

00:08:03.000 And look, the fact is, his health is deteriorated.

00:08:06.000 He had a stroke.

00:08:07.000 He's not the Mitch McConnell of old.

00:08:09.000 And look, even the old Mitch McConnell is very frustrating sometimes, right?

00:08:14.000 But, you know, he could keep 49 senators together.

00:08:18.000 He could keep everybody from Susan Collins all the way to Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz all voting the same way.

00:08:25.000 And when you've got 49 votes, you have a say in the Senate.

00:08:31.000 He's not able to do that right now.

00:08:33.000 He's not able to leverage that power that he has.

00:08:40.000 And, you know, he's going to hold on for six or eight more months.

00:08:43.000 And that's, you know, frankly, that's not very, very helpful.

00:08:49.000 As for Mike Johnston, A, he's inexperienced.

00:08:54.000 We got rid of the most experienced guy, a guy, again, I'm no fan of Kevin McCarthy.

00:09:00.000 I think Kevin McCarthy was awful in a lot of ways, and I find him obnoxious.

00:09:05.000 On the other hand, he knew how to run the house.

00:09:08.000 Mike Johnston, who I like and respect, is still new at it, and he's got the problem of having a two-seat majority.

00:09:16.000 So, you know, until we get leadership that can build a coalition that stands firm and says, no, we're not doing this.

00:09:25.000 You know, I would love to see them draw the line and say, hey, we're having a spending freeze.

00:09:30.000 We're not going to raise spending.

00:09:32.000 You can explain that to the American people.

00:09:34.000 Hey, we're just not spending any more than we were last year.

00:09:38.000 Yeah, I like that idea.

00:09:39.000 You could explain that and fight that fight.

00:09:42.000 But right now, our leadership's just not capable of it, apparently.

00:09:46.000 Yeah, you know, part of the issue is the messaging.

00:09:49.000 I totally agree.

00:09:50.000 And you have to get, you have to distill the simplest, most easily to understand sort of messaging bites.

00:09:57.000 A spending freeze is very, very easy to understand.

00:10:00.000 We're not going to spend more, okay?

00:10:02.000 We're just simply not going to do it.

00:10:03.000 Yet, that's exactly what we see.

00:10:05.000 And we're running trillion-dollar deficits every hundred dollars, every hundred days.

00:10:09.000 I mean, you think about the entire history of America and how long it took us to get to $10 trillion in debt.

00:10:15.000 And all of a sudden, we're doing it $1 trillion every single hundred days, which is absolute insanity.

00:10:24.000 Do you know if you're getting enough magnesium?

00:10:26.000 Because four out of five of Americans are not.

00:10:28.000 And that's a big problem because magnesium is involved in more than 300 biochemical reactions in your body.

00:10:33.000 Today, I want to tell you and talk to you about one of the most common signs to look for that can indicate you're magnesium deficient.

00:10:39.000 Listen carefully to the end for this special offer happening, and this could be exactly what you need.

00:10:44.000 Are you irritable or anxious?

00:10:45.000 Do you struggle with insomnium?

00:10:47.000 Do you experience muscle cramps or twitches?

00:10:49.000 Do you have high blood pressure?

00:10:50.000 Are you sometimes constipated?

00:10:52.000 There are dozens of symptoms that magnesium deficiency.

00:10:55.000 So these are just a few common ones.

00:10:56.000 Now, here's what most people don't know.

00:10:58.000 Taking just any magnesium supplement won't solve your problem because most supplements use the cheapest kind that your body can't use or absorb.

00:11:05.000 I am a believer in magnesium.

00:11:07.000 It's helped me with my health and wellness.

00:11:08.000 All bioptimizer supplements are best in class.

00:11:11.000 If for some reason you feel differently, you can get a full refund.

00:11:13.000 No questions asked.

00:11:15.000 They're so confident that they offer a 365-day money-back guarantee.

00:11:18.000 Go to buyoptimizers.com slash Kirk.

00:11:20.000 Just go to buyoptimizers.com slash Kirk and you use promo code Kirk10.

00:11:25.000 You can get gifts with purchase and up to 20 travel-sized bottles of magnesium breakthrough.

00:11:29.000 Act Fast.

00:11:29.000 This is a limit time offer.

00:11:30.000 Go to buyoptimizers.com slash Kirk, promo code Kirk10.

00:11:36.000 Kurt, I'm going to play Cut 83 and I'm going to get your instant reaction.

00:11:39.000 Play Cut 83.

00:11:41.000 But yeah, I signed the pledge and you signed the pledge saying that you're going to not take your ball and go home. 0.99

00:11:48.000 And so I honored the pledge and she's going to have to make a decision about whether she wants to or not.

00:11:53.000 But the idea that somehow circumstances have changed, I think we all knew what we were doing when we did that.

00:12:01.000 And you got to make a judgment about whether that's meaningful to you.

00:12:04.000 And so for me, I tell people, you know, if I say, I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it.

00:12:08.000 Kurt, your reaction.

00:12:10.000 Well, look, this is that's the kind of character why I was proud to support Ron DeSantis.

00:12:16.000 He said he was going to support the nominee, and he did.

00:12:20.000 I always said I was going to support the nominee, and I did.

00:12:23.000 And I, like Ron DeSantis, I am full-throated and unequivocally in support of President Trump because President Trump won the primaries fair and square.

00:12:33.000 And I don't understand why Nikki Haley doesn't do it.

00:12:36.000 Now, maybe she's waiting to do it on a bigger stage.

00:12:41.000 I mean, I could see if he was, you know, talking to the president and they were going to come out together and make a big announcement.

00:12:48.000 I can see that.

00:12:49.000 But I really consider it a character flaw if she fails to keep her word, both expressly because she said she would, and impliedly because she's allegedly a Republican.

00:13:01.000 Now, again, she hasn't refused to endorse him.

00:13:06.000 And we don't know what phone calls are going on behind the scenes, maybe arranging some joint campaign of hero, which I think would be great and a great show for unity.

00:13:17.000 So before we jump on Nikki Haley for that, and I'm always willing to trash Nikki Haley, but not for this, because I want to give her a fair chance to do the right thing.

00:13:27.000 But Governor DeSantis is absolutely right.

00:13:29.000 Look, we need people who do what they say.

00:13:32.000 One of the things I like best about President Trump is with him, it was promises made, promises kept.

00:13:39.000 And it's the same with Governor DeSantis.

00:13:43.000 He made a promise.

00:13:44.000 He kept the promise.

00:13:45.000 He's not backing out on it, weaseling around, trying to do something that's going to allow him to leverage himself in as an MSNBC commentator to replace John Peyton.

00:13:57.000 No, you say what you're going to do and then you do it.

00:14:00.000 And so I'm hoping Nikki Haley does the right thing.

00:14:04.000 Yeah, I mean, Kurt, but what bigger stage would there have been than the morning after national press conference?

00:14:10.000 You know, everybody's waiting on bated breath to see if she's going to drop out or not and say, yes, I am dropping out.

00:14:16.000 And yes, I am endorsing President Trump.

00:14:19.000 This tactic that she's using, yeah, maybe she's going to exert a little leverage to, you know, get her pound of flesh in the process or try and maybe angle for some sort of administration appointment, which I think would really infuriate Trump supporters, to be honest.

00:14:35.000 But these people talk about honor and integrity and honesty.

00:14:40.000 And then when the chips are down, you know, they have none.

00:14:45.000 And so I don't think she's doing herself any long-term favors by drawing this out longer than it should be drawn out.

00:14:51.000 Well, again, and I'm now in the weird position of seeming to defend Nikki Haley.

00:14:56.000 Let's not presume that the greatest showman in American politics maybe hasn't said, hey, hang on, Nikki.

00:15:04.000 You know, let's hold off and we'll do it together and it'll be great.

00:15:08.000 It'll be wonderful.

00:15:08.000 It'll be the biggest thing ever.

00:15:10.000 Everybody will love you to be terrific.

00:15:12.000 I don't know.

00:15:13.000 That absolutely could happen.

00:15:15.000 Again, Donald Trump is a huge showman and he might want to make a production out of it. 0.99

00:15:20.000 Let's give her a shot.

00:15:20.000 I don't know.

00:15:20.000 All right.

00:15:24.000 I'll give you the benefit of the doubt there.

00:15:25.000 We just about to lose you here, Kurt.

00:15:28.000 For our national audience, Steve Garvey, does he stand a chance, a snowball's chance in, you know what, in California to actually become a U.S. Senator?

00:15:36.000 Let's just say it's really unlikely.

00:15:40.000 Let's just say, Look, I'm going to proudly vote for Steve Garvey, and I think Steve Garvey is going to help a lot of congressmen by bringing people out because there aren't two Democrats near the top of the ticket.

00:15:55.000 But no, it's very unlikely.

00:15:58.000 California is not hit bottom like a drunk.

00:16:02.000 California has to wake up wearing someone else's pants over the county line with his shoes in the second.

00:16:09.000 So Steve Garvey, no chance.

00:16:10.000 Okay, so Steve, so we don't even want him on our show.

00:16:14.000 We don't want to like, you know, we don't want to taint him with partisanship.

00:16:18.000 You know, he's voted for Trump twice in the past, but he is doing his best to reach across the aisle.

00:16:22.000 He's a former Dodger, former MVP, former San Diego Padre.

00:16:27.000 You know, if anybody could get it done, I mean, California loves its celebrity.

00:16:34.000 Hey, everybody, Charlie Kirk here.

00:16:35.000 What an unbelievable start to 2024.

00:16:37.000 We had last month saving babies with pre-born by providing ultrasounds.

00:16:41.000 And we're doing again this year what we did last year.

00:16:43.000 We're going to stand for life because remaining silent in the face of the most radically pro-death administration is not an option.

00:16:48.000 As Sir Edmund Burke said, the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, and we're not going to do nothing.

00:16:54.000 Your gift to pre-born will give a girl the truth about what's happening in her body so that she can make the right choice.

00:17:00.000 $280 can save 10 babies.

00:17:03.000 $28 a month can save a baby a month all year long.

00:17:06.000 And a $15,000 gift will provide a complete ultrasound machine that will save thousands of babies for years and years to come.

00:17:12.000 And will also save moms from a lifetime of pain and regret.

00:17:15.000 Call 833-850-2229.

00:17:18.000 That's 833-850-2229.

00:17:21.000 Or click on the pre-born banner at charliekirk.com.

00:17:24.000 That is charliekirk.com and click on the pre-born banner.

00:17:27.000 Also, save moms from a lifetime of pain and regret.

00:17:29.000 I'm a donor of this organization.

00:17:30.000 They're terrific.

00:17:31.000 Go to charliekirk.com, click on the pre-born banner.

00:17:36.000 Rich, welcome to the Charlie Kirk show.

00:17:38.000 Sorry to keep you waiting.

00:17:39.000 Got to pay the bill.

00:17:40.000 That's okay, brother.

00:17:41.000 That's okay, brother.

00:17:43.000 I hear you.

00:17:43.000 You got to keep the lights on.

00:17:44.000 All right.

00:17:46.000 Let me set the table for you here.

00:17:48.000 Nikki Haley has refused to endorse thus far. 0.80

00:17:52.000 Let's give her a little maybe grace period. 0.54

00:17:54.000 I find it obnoxious.

00:17:54.000 I don't know.

00:17:57.000 Are her voters that are actually Republican, are they going to come home or not?

00:18:03.000 Rich Bears.

00:18:04.000 Yes, without a doubt.

00:18:06.000 Donald Trump's base right now is more consolidated than Joe Biden's.

00:18:10.000 I'm not the only one who finds that that is the case.

00:18:14.000 I mean, it's not even really up for debate.

00:18:16.000 People think that primary voters are indicative of general election voters.

00:18:22.000 That is not truly the case.

00:18:24.000 And in fact, I mean, Andrew, this year there was something novel that happened in the Republican primary.

00:18:30.000 It's been talked about in the past, but it didn't happen in the past the way we saw it happen this cycle.

00:18:36.000 And when you're talking about who is a Haley voter, it's made up of a bunch of people who don't want to be bothered with Joe Biden, but they are, in fact, Biden voters.

00:18:44.000 It's the resistance of the resistance that even includes those who are registered or toll exit pollsters they're independent or MPA.

00:18:52.000 And then the second and smaller part of that coalition is a group of Republicans who wanted a second choice.

00:19:01.000 But at the end of the day, the vast majority of them will come home to Donald Trump.

00:19:05.000 So I'm going to play Cut 73 here.

00:19:07.000 This is Steve Kornacki.

00:19:09.000 I think you've even said nice things about Steve before.

00:19:12.000 He's a good guy.

00:19:13.000 I get along with you.

00:19:15.000 Yeah, you're pretty picky when it comes to pollsters.

00:19:17.000 So when I hear him, I'm taking it pretty seriously.

00:19:22.000 Now, he's just reflecting on some outside polling.

00:19:24.000 So we'll take it with a grain of salt.

00:19:26.000 But let's play 73.

00:19:27.000 And, you know, is it possible for the, if you're Trump, are you looking at this going, we are picking off Biden voters in droves?

00:19:35.000 Check it out.

00:19:36.000 73.

00:19:37.000 So the numbers he's posting in general election polling against Biden right now are absolutely consistent with what he's got among Republicans in past elections.

00:19:46.000 So again, if you're looking at the primaries and saying, boy, there's all evidence here of Republicans turning on Trump, unwilling to vote for Trump in the fall, you're not seeing it in the general election polling in these Trump numbers.

00:19:59.000 And then you take a look at one final thing here.

00:20:02.000 This is from the New York Times Sienna poll.

00:20:04.000 They looked at it this way.

00:20:05.000 They asked respondents in their poll, who did you vote for in 2020?

00:20:08.000 And are you still with that candidate now?

00:20:11.000 97% of folks who said they voted for Trump in 2020 say in this poll they're still with Trump, but only 85% of Joe Biden's 2020 voters say they're with him.

00:20:23.000 If you're Joe Biden, how big of a five-alarm fire are you polling right now?

00:20:29.000 Yeah, big.

00:20:29.000 I mean, this is a problem.

00:20:31.000 And by the way, our numbers are very similar to that.

00:20:34.000 I was talking to Steve about his poll for NBC that came out a couple of weeks ago.

00:20:39.000 That's the same situation they were seeing.

00:20:41.000 I mean, everyone maybe got a little, the numbers vary a little bit, Andrew, but for the most part, we had Joe Biden at about 80%, a little bit over 80% of the 2020 vote that he got.

00:20:53.000 Some of it goes to someone else, but a huge chunk of it goes to Donald Trump.

00:20:57.000 And Donald Trump has almost unified support.

00:21:00.000 The New York Times, the poll he was just going over, it was a half a percent of Trump vote who said they would go to Biden.

00:21:06.000 Ours is usually a little bit bigger than that, but still statistically insignificant.

00:21:11.000 It's like 1.3, 1.5.

00:21:14.000 Why is that such a big deal?

00:21:15.000 Why is it a big, you know, you better pull that alarm?

00:21:18.000 Because those are really the swing vote.

00:21:20.000 These are people who are truly swing voters and persuadable people.

00:21:24.000 You know, they're, you know, I mean, there's, we make a huge deal over the swing vote, the independent vote.

00:21:30.000 They're two different things.

00:21:31.000 Persuadable voters in this country are actually very small.

00:21:35.000 That's about it.

00:21:36.000 What you're just looking at with Steve Pernanke right there.

00:21:38.000 But the reason why that's big is because Joe Biden got, let's, you know, I mean, the official number here, Andrew, Joe Biden got 81 million votes.

00:21:48.000 If 10% of them are going to Donald Trump, that's 8.1 million.

00:21:52.000 If a half a percent of Donald Trump's votes are going to Joe Biden, it's about 350,000.

00:21:58.000 So it's a little over an 8 million vote swing nationally that Joe Biden is losing.

00:22:04.000 Ours is usually in the neighborhood of 6.5 million when we're polling.

00:22:07.000 That's what we estimate.

00:22:09.000 Time's a little bit bigger.

00:22:10.000 Either way, it's a very consistent finding across all different pollsters.

00:22:15.000 New York Times, Steve himself, his poll at NBC, and our poll at Big Data Paul.

00:22:19.000 Interesting.

00:22:20.000 So put it in historical terms then for me, Rich.

00:22:23.000 You know, I think this is something Charlie talks about a lot when he games out, if you're a Democrat, how you were attacking 2024.

00:22:33.000 You were depending on Ron DeSantis having a good showing.

00:22:38.000 You were depending on the Republican challengers slowing him down, Donald Trump, even maybe surpassing him and Ron DeSantis was going to be the nominee.

00:22:48.000 None of that happened.

00:22:50.000 So put it in historical terms.

00:22:51.000 I think Laura Ingram said that this is the greatest comeback story in American political history with Donald Trump, right?

00:22:58.000 January 2023, he was looking real vulnerable.

00:23:03.000 Now he's consolidated the party almost completely.

00:23:06.000 Historical terms, how impressive is what Donald Trump has pulled off in this primary?

00:23:12.000 We've never seen anything like this before.

00:23:14.000 I mean, Andrew, this is a completely ahistoric event.

00:23:18.000 We just, and by the way, he did it rolling through primary after primary, setting record after record, even in states where he was weak.

00:23:25.000 New Hampshire, right?

00:23:27.000 Yeah, Governor Sununu endorsing Nikki Haley, which by the way, you're right, the Democrats love.

00:23:32.000 The Biden White House just said it last week.

00:23:34.000 We hope Nikki stays in until after Super Tuesday.

00:23:37.000 But even in states where they tried to pull this off, it's amazing.

00:23:43.000 They get all these Democrats to come out and vote, all these behavioral Democrats to come out and vote.

00:23:47.000 Any other candidate would have succumbed to that, Andrew.

00:23:50.000 There would not have been enough voters to be able to fight back that coalition in New Hampshire, but he did it and he set a record.

00:23:57.000 He got the most votes of any candidate, Republican or Democrat, in the state of New Hampshire for a primary.

00:24:03.000 More than 12% of the state's entire population voted for Donald Trump in a primary.

00:24:08.000 We don't see numbers like this.

00:24:10.000 Iowa, he got the most votes.

00:24:12.000 He won by the biggest margin.

00:24:14.000 It was the quickest call ever.

00:24:16.000 South Carolina, record broken.

00:24:18.000 I mean, we've been going through these states one after the other and at least one record in each of these states.

00:24:25.000 It's insane.

00:24:26.000 It's insane.

00:24:27.000 It's totally, and that's without the comeback, but it just tells you the level of dominance he's had.

00:24:34.000 Yeah, well, I mean, so I have so many questions for you, Rich.

00:24:38.000 What, if you had to pinpoint, was it the legal, was it the lawfare assault on Trump that helped consolidate it?

00:24:46.000 Was it just a poor showing from DeSantis?

00:24:50.000 What made this possible?

00:24:52.000 I really do think, like all things in politics, it's never just one thing.

00:24:57.000 The media likes to try to dumb that down.

00:25:00.000 But it's not just the indictments.

00:25:02.000 It's how, you know, going back to that point in time, it's how Ron DeSantis handled those indictments.

00:25:08.000 And then it also came on the heels.

00:25:10.000 Remember, back then, Tucker Carlson's still on the air on Fox News.

00:25:15.000 We've been tracking the primary since the beginning, and we saw it in real time.

00:25:20.000 When he got into trouble with Tucker Carlson over the flip-flop with Ukraine, he gave a very MAGA response first, and then the donors, you know, Ken Griffin called and, you know, complained in his ear and he and he flip-flopped.

00:25:32.000 That was when I will say, I'll equate it to this.

00:25:35.000 That's when Republican voters kind of like raised their eyebrow.

00:25:37.000 Like, wait a minute, maybe this guy isn't MAGA.

00:25:39.000 Maybe he's not the Trump.

00:25:41.000 Maybe he's not, you know, all of the good of MAGA without the Trump, the grassness of Trump.

00:25:46.000 And then a series of events that happened after just really reinforced to Republican voters why they picked Trump to begin with in 2016, why they went with him to begin with, and then why they stuck with him through his presidency.

00:25:59.000 And, you know, I would put Nikki Haley in a different category, as Ron DeSantis.

00:26:03.000 I really would.

00:26:04.000 I'd put her in a totally different category.

00:26:05.000 She never really had a prayer.

00:26:07.000 The only thing that she was in this primary to do was to sabotage. 0.95

00:26:13.000 I mean, she was running a sabotage campaign. 1.00

00:26:16.000 I mean, that's it. 1.00

00:26:17.000 Or she was looking for leverage to extract her pounding cash in a future Trumpet, yeah, future Trump administration.

00:26:24.000 I mean, I, but if you look at what Steve Cornacki just broke down and what you've articulated to, I don't think she has any power.

00:26:31.000 She has no leverage.

00:26:32.000 She does. 0.94

00:26:33.000 I think she was trying to run this election out to say, hey, look at my movement that I've built.

00:26:38.000 You know, I got a quarter of the base here with me. 0.92

00:26:40.000 You better give me what I want.

00:26:42.000 I'm looking at Steve Cornaki's number and saying, they're coming home anyways.

00:26:45.000 I don't need it.

00:26:46.000 So I just, I don't, I can't figure out her calculus of what she's trying to play at here by extending this time of not endorsing Trump unless she's going to lie to us again and she's going to go third party.

00:26:58.000 I mean, I have, I can't figure out what her play is here.

00:27:01.000 I put nothing past Nikki Haley.

00:27:02.000 She is like the characterization of an ambitious politician who breaks her word no matter what, does self-serving, makes makes decisions that are self-serving.

00:27:12.000 I mean, so I would put nothing past her, but really what you just said is so important.

00:27:16.000 And I've been trying to get this point across for weeks and weeks and weeks.

00:27:20.000 They will try to come and say, look, my coalition, you'll need me.

00:27:24.000 He doesn't need Nikki Haley at all.

00:27:27.000 All right.

00:27:28.000 Anyone who's pretending as if her primary performance was this referendum against Trump, that there's a chunk of Republican voters who don't like him and won't come home is either incompetent.

00:27:38.000 They don't understand the numbers. 0.99

00:27:41.000 They're just not smart enough to understand what happened this cycle, or they're liars. 0.93

00:27:45.000 And they're also trying to get some pound of flesh. 0.91

00:27:48.000 He doesn't need her whatsoever, Andrew.

00:27:50.000 He doesn't.

00:27:51.000 And the numbers bear it out.

00:27:56.000 Hey, everybody, Charlie Kirk here.

00:27:57.000 As you know, Mike Lindell has a passion to help you get the best sleep of your life after he invented the world's best pillow.

00:28:03.000 He created the famous Giza dream sheets.

00:28:05.000 They are the best sheets you'll ever sleep on.

00:28:07.000 The best night's sleep just got even better.

00:28:09.000 For a limited time, you'll get a queen size set of $59.98, king size for just $69.98, the lowest prices in history.

00:28:17.000 Mike and the MyPillow employees continue to be canceled by big box stores and attacked by the media.

00:28:22.000 They appreciate all of your great support during these times.

00:28:26.000 Want to thank you by giving you the best specials on all their MyPillow products.

00:28:30.000 To get the best specials ever, go to mypillow.com or call 800-875-0425.

00:28:35.000 Use promo code Kirk.

00:28:36.000 You get the famous Giza Dream Sheets, Queen Size for just $59.98 and King Size for just $69.98.

00:28:44.000 You also get 60% off the original My Slippers.

00:28:48.000 So call 800-875-0425 or go to mypillow.com, promo code Kirk.

00:28:53.000 That is mypillow.com, promo code Kirk.

00:28:59.000 Rich, real quick on this. 1.00

00:29:01.000 Do you think Nikki thinks she's actually got a shot at VP?

00:29:04.000 Because she doesn't.

00:29:05.000 Is that the play?

00:29:06.000 Like, I was just thinking.

00:29:08.000 I mean, listening to, just listening to her speech alone.

00:29:08.000 I really do.

00:29:11.000 And I do think that they were trying, they being the, you know, the establishment, the administrative state, the people, the political class that can't stand Donald Trump, can't stand you out there. 0.63

00:29:23.000 If you're listening, they hate your guts too.

00:29:25.000 They're trying to keep their hooks in somehow.

00:29:29.000 They never give up.

00:29:30.000 And when they cannot beat you, they will try to join you.

00:29:33.000 This is a very common tactic.

00:29:36.000 You know, they did it to the Tea Party for those of us old enough to remember.

00:29:39.000 They started running people like Adam Kinzinger as a Tea Party guy.

00:29:43.000 Indiki Haley herself was a Tea Party embed.

00:29:47.000 And it turned out it was total, it was a total hoax, total frauds, but they do this.

00:29:53.000 And I think if you're them, Andrew, what other play do you have?

00:29:56.000 You know what we're saying is true.

00:29:58.000 Those voters are not really your voters.

00:30:00.000 We've been running exit poll interviews on Inside the Numbers on our show for weeks and weeks and weeks.

00:30:06.000 We are showing people firsthand.

00:30:09.000 These are not Republicans who are angry with Donald Trump or truly persuadable independents who are angry and won't vote for Donald Trump.

00:30:17.000 These are Biden voters doing what Rush Limbaugh called Operation Chaos.

00:30:22.000 They know that's true.

00:30:24.000 So if you have their knowledge, what else do you do, brother?

00:30:27.000 What's your play?

00:30:28.000 All right.

00:30:28.000 So, Rich, I got to ask you about the uncommitted voters phenomenon, Minnesota, Hawaii, Michigan.

00:30:37.000 What's going on here?

00:30:38.000 Are they going to come home to the Democrat Party or are they going to go third party?

00:30:42.000 And I have one follow-up question.

00:30:43.000 So just race against the clock here.

00:30:46.000 Are they going to come home to Biden?

00:30:47.000 Are they going third party?

00:30:49.000 I got to tell you, I think depending on state, a lot of them, we'll see who is a third party option.

00:30:56.000 But if they're not, if it's like RFK, if they're too pro-Israel or something like that, they will not come home.

00:31:02.000 I mean, they will not go third party.

00:31:04.000 They probably, a lot of them probably will stay home.

00:31:07.000 And the question he has, what have is whether Democrats will go out and harvest those votes.

00:31:11.000 But this is a serious problem.

00:31:13.000 It is.

00:31:13.000 Right.

00:31:14.000 Yeah.

00:31:14.000 Okay.

00:31:15.000 So next question.

00:31:17.000 We talk about black Hispanic voters, right?

00:31:20.000 We have, you know, I think this is New York Times, Sienna, I believe, but don't quote me on that.

00:31:25.000 46% Trump leads outright with Hispanics, 46 to 40.

00:31:30.000 And now it's saying he's got 23% of the black vote.

00:31:34.000 Now, it's mostly black men. 1.00

00:31:36.000 And they're saying it's the economy, stupid. 1.00

00:31:39.000 It's basically, you know, they're saying that they're poorer under Bidenomics. 0.99

00:31:44.000 Is this the great white whale that's never going to fully materialize because the Democrats are just too good at harvesting these votes and getting out low prop?

00:31:51.000 They're going to close that gap.

00:31:53.000 Or is this something you're seeing that's real?

00:31:55.000 Is it real?

00:31:56.000 Yeah, it's real.

00:31:57.000 There's no doubt about it.

00:31:59.000 How much Republicans and Trump can get it to materialize?

00:32:02.000 Part of that will be get out the vote.

00:32:03.000 I have a good friend, African-American, who's been a Republican for years.

00:32:06.000 He hates it when he hears, you know, African Americans are 90, 95% Democrat because he lives in the community.

00:32:12.000 He knows.

00:32:13.000 I know his family.

00:32:14.000 They're not.

00:32:15.000 What Democrats are good at doing is getting out their vote.

00:32:19.000 The African-American and even Hispanic who is more Trumpy is a less likely voter.

00:32:25.000 It's really, there's a big part of the equation that that is impacting.

00:32:29.000 Republicans have to go get them.

00:32:31.000 And I'll tell you what, Andrew, we've already seen evidence of African-American votes for Trump in South Carolina, in Michigan.

00:32:38.000 I think we saw it in the South on Super Tuesday.

00:32:41.000 It's there.

00:32:42.000 I mean, we can see, is it huge?

00:32:43.000 No.

00:32:44.000 So when 10% is non-white in a Republican primary, that's a big deal.

00:32:48.000 It's a big deal.

00:32:49.000 So national polls have Trump up anywhere between like 3% to 6%, 7%.

00:32:54.000 That means he's winning the popular vote, which Republicans haven't done since what, 2004, Bush's reelection.

00:33:03.000 So if you're looking at that, let's say an average of 4% up, once you factor in Democrats' superior get out the vote, funding mechanisms, projects, campaigns, what does that shrink to?

00:33:18.000 4% on average.

00:33:20.000 What does that shrink to?

00:33:21.000 That's why the model we just did, you know, showing people if it's a popular vote lead of this much, what does that mean for the Battleground States?

00:33:28.000 That's why we did a Trump roughly plus two, because Democrats are very good at getting their votes, you know, counted, Andrew.

00:33:36.000 And Republicans, as you know, well, full aware.

00:33:39.000 I mean, there are efforts, but it's up in the air.

00:33:42.000 Trump is a turnout machine.

00:33:44.000 Yeah.

00:33:44.000 That's right.

00:33:45.000 I mean, we're just getting started.

00:33:46.000 At turning point action, I mean, yeah, we're going to have an impact now, but you give us two, three cycles.

00:33:52.000 This thing is going to get up and running and we're going to be a machine.

00:33:55.000 We're not saying we've got enough to get this done.

00:33:57.000 We're saying we got to start chipping away at this, like, you know, this arms race now.

00:34:03.000 We have to start making inroads now, or we're just, we're never going to, we're never going to win again.

00:34:07.000 I mean, it's that clear.

00:34:08.000 And instead of criticizing, people can come and help, you know?

00:34:12.000 Yeah, I got it.

00:34:13.000 We got to hit.

00:34:14.000 We got to go.

00:34:14.000 But Rich, you're the best, man.

00:34:16.000 Thank you for making the time today.

00:34:17.000 I appreciate it.

00:34:20.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.

00:34:21.000 If you love this show as much as I do, well, maybe, maybe even more.

00:34:25.000 Maybe you love it more than I do, which is saying something.

00:34:28.000 We would love for you to be a member at members.charlikirk.com, members.charliekirk.com, where you get exclusive access to Charlie, exclusive Zoom calls, where you get to ask him questions.

00:34:39.000 You also get a weekly column.

00:34:41.000 You get other exclusive video content, reactions to videos.

00:34:44.000 It is a one-stop shop for the people that want to be in the inside of what Charlie's up to.

00:34:50.000 Please consider going to members.charliekirk.com.

00:34:53.000 Thanks so much.

00:34:54.000 We'll talk to you soon.

00:34:57.000 For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to CharlieKirk.com.

The Charlie Kirk Show - March 07, 2024

Does Trump Really Need Nikki?

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript