The Charlie Kirk Show - December 27, 2021


For Such a Time As This with Kayleigh McEnany and Erika Kirk

Topics
prayer and confidence at podium shut doors problem solving wardrobe mishap in the White House
Hosted by
Charlie Kirk
Mentioned
Kayleigh McEnany Erica Turning Point USA Chad Gilmartin Sarah Sanders Kevin Spacey Jeremy Camp Mike Pence Julia Hahn Brett Jois Alex Azar Chad Wolf COVID-19 Melissa Trump Blake
How The Senate Can Save America From ‘The Void’ with Senator Ted Cruz Queer Theory, CRT, and The Gateway to Hell with Alex Marlow & Dr. James Lindsay

Episode Stats


Length

18 minutes

Words per minute

210.88

Word count

3,852

Sentence count

298

Harmful content

Misogyny

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

1

sentences flagged


Summary

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

In this episode, President Donald Trump sits down with his wife, former Vice President Mike Pence's wife, Kaylee McEnany, to talk about her experience as a Christian woman in the White House and how she handled her first day of work as Vice President.

Transcript

Transcripts from "The Charlie Kirk Show" are sourced from the Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool. Explore them interactively here.
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, my wife's conversation with Kaylee McEnany.
00:00:03.000 They hijacked my studio.
00:00:05.000 It was kind of awesome.
00:00:06.000 And you should support her by going to Biblein365.com to read the entire Bible in a year.
00:00:12.000 It kicks off on January 3rd, cover to cover, every page, every verse, every syllable of the Bible should be inputted into your central operating system.
00:00:22.000 So go to biblein365.com.
00:00:24.000 That's Biblein365.com.
00:00:26.000 And to support Erica's streetwear, go to proclaimstreetwear.com.
00:00:30.000 That's proclaimstreetwear.com.
00:00:33.000 Kaylee McEnany, you can buy her book for such a time as this.
00:00:36.000 She was very generous with her time.
00:00:37.000 Two amazing Christian women.
00:00:39.000 I'm partial to one of them, as you probably know.
00:00:42.000 Buckle up. 0.96
00:00:42.000 Here we go. 0.96
00:00:44.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
00:00:45.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
00:00:47.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
00:00:51.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
00:00:54.000 I want to thank Charlie.
00:00:55.000 He's an incredible guy.
00:00:56.000 His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA.
00:01:04.000 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.
00:01:13.000 That's why we are here.
00:01:16.000 I am here with the most amazing woman.
00:01:19.000 You are a phenomenal role model to so many girls.
00:01:22.000 You are a woman of God.
00:01:24.000 You're a mother.
00:01:25.000 You're an author.
00:01:26.000 You're incredible.
00:01:29.000 If anyone can't see this, I'm with Kayleigh McEnany, the one and only.
00:01:33.000 But you were our strong voice in the White House for the longest time when there was chaos everywhere.
00:01:41.000 Yeah.
00:01:41.000 We just, every time you stepped up to that podium, we knew that you were going to give us the facts.
00:01:47.000 Absolutely.
00:01:47.000 Yeah, it was important.
00:01:48.000 There are actually t-shirts that say facts on it, which I'm very honored to be.
00:01:52.000 Thank you for that.
00:01:53.000 And thank you for the kind words, Erica.
00:01:54.000 I feel the same about you, a strong woman of faith.
00:01:57.000 And you and Charlie are just what a powerhouse couple.
00:01:59.000 So it's an honor.
00:02:00.000 Every time I get to come to Turning Point USA, we've crossed paths so many times from Young Women's Leadership Summit to the...
00:02:06.000 And you did phenomenal there, too.
00:02:08.000 The girls were just on the edge of their seat, just listening to every word and soaking it in.
00:02:13.000 And being a role model and having the weight on your shoulders every time you walked up to that podium, what was going through your head?
00:02:21.000 I know you talk about this in your book, but what would go through your head before you stepped out there and walked up to that podium?
00:02:28.000 Were you just saying prayers?
00:02:29.000 Were you saying a Bible verse?
00:02:30.000 Like, what were you, what was going through your head?
00:02:32.000 Yeah, it's a great question.
00:02:34.000 I certainly, you know, though I projected confidence at the podium, oftentimes the steps up to the podium were not so confident.
00:02:41.000 They were filled with nerves and apprehension.
00:02:43.000 Certainly the first time I did it, I mean, I was in tears in my office and I'm supposed to be at the podium.
00:02:48.000 It's my very first briefing and my assistant comes in, you can't be crying right now and puts my parents on speakerphone and we said a prayer together.
00:02:56.000 And then I went to the private West Wing bathroom and got on my knees and said a prayer.
00:03:01.000 And then I went to the podium and people like Mike Pence were so wonderful.
00:03:04.000 He motioned towards me with praying hands and said, you know, I've been praying for you and I love the verse you tweeted out, Philippians 4, 13.
00:03:11.000 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
00:03:14.000 So while I was very nervous, there were great Christian men and women around the country praying.
00:03:18.000 One was Sarah Sanders, my predecessor, who told me before each of her briefings, she read a Jesus calling devotional.
00:03:24.000 I happened to have the same devotional and I would read it.
00:03:27.000 And she sent me the day of my first briefing, her devotional from exactly two years prior, which said, you know, essentially you're on the path of my choosing.
00:03:35.000 Don't worry.
00:03:36.000 But I couldn't help the human side of me from worrying.
00:03:39.000 But when I stood at the podium, I felt total serenity that first time, like I was standing somewhere.
00:03:44.000 I had stood a thousand times.
00:03:45.000 Like it was somewhere I was meant to be.
00:03:47.000 And so the calm that I projected was not anything that I achieved.
00:03:51.000 You know, yes, we put in the hard work and the facts and the research, but it was something so much bigger than me.
00:03:57.000 And it was because of all of the people across the country who prayed for the Trump administration.
00:04:01.000 I hear it all the time, and we certainly felt those prayers.
00:04:04.000 Yeah, and it was divine.
00:04:05.000 True.
00:04:05.000 Yes.
00:04:06.000 And I feel like your career path in general has been divine.
00:04:09.000 I feel like God has really guided your steps throughout everything.
00:04:12.000 And for me, I hear a lot of young men and women when I was living in New York City, especially saying they wanted their dream would be to be on Fox or their dream would be to be on the news.
00:04:23.000 And as you know, this industry, the news industry, can be ruthless.
00:04:27.000 Hollywood industry in general can be ruthless.
00:04:30.000 But when you were going through this career path and you, before you got to Fox and before you got to be where you are today, how would you handle rejection when you were going through the motions of, I'm almost there.
00:04:45.000 I'm almost there.
00:04:46.000 Yeah, it's important.
00:04:47.000 You know, I had a million shut doors in my face.
00:04:51.000 Right.
00:04:51.000 You're right.
00:04:51.000 These industries can be brutal.
00:04:53.000 The swamp is no exception.
00:04:54.000 You know, if you think media is intense, just mosey on over to the swamp and see what politics is like.
00:04:59.000 It's honestly eye-opening.
00:05:01.000 You know, I would watch that.
00:05:03.000 There's some film I'm blanking on it right now, the one with Kevin Spacey in it.
00:05:06.000 Oh, gosh.
00:05:07.000 Do you remember?
00:05:08.000 It's that series.
00:05:08.000 I'm like, House of Cards.
00:05:10.000 Oh, House of Cards.
00:05:11.000 Yes.
00:05:12.000 While like no one has like so savage.
00:05:14.000 Right, right.
00:05:15.000 While like no one's pushed in a metro.
00:05:16.000 And they go a little far in that show.
00:05:18.000 I will say, it is pretty brutal.
00:05:20.000 It's competitive.
00:05:20.000 People, you know, I'm someone who, with the press, I would never leak for personal purposes or for any purposes.
00:05:27.000 I wasn't a leaker.
00:05:28.000 You provide information on background to help support the president and the administration.
00:05:32.000 That's separate from leaking maliciously in an unauthorized fashion.
00:05:37.000 But that happens all the time.
00:05:38.000 Oh, yeah.
00:05:38.000 So, you know, from that to shut doors along the pathway, you have to be confident and know that God's leading the way.
00:05:45.000 And it's not always easy.
00:05:46.000 Look, I had shut doors, and my mom and I would sit at our counter at home in Florida, and we'd sit there and just have many nights up until 1, 2 a.m., you know, just saying, okay, this door's shut.
00:05:57.000 How can I have another one open?
00:05:59.000 And ultimately, when I look back in life over this maybe 10-year path from 12-year path from leaving college and going out to Fox, where I started and then into politics, I now look back, having been press secretary, oh, wait, these doors were shut for a reason.
00:06:14.000 You know, if that door would have opened and I would have furthered my career at CNN, where I was for a year and a half, that door would have opened.
00:06:21.000 I wouldn't have gone to Washington to the RNC and then to the campaign and then to the White House at the podium.
00:06:27.000 So every shut door looking back in life had a reason and a purpose.
00:06:31.000 And I didn't know that then.
00:06:32.000 It's immensely frustrating when you're like, do this.
00:06:35.000 Yes.
00:06:35.000 But just trust that God's leading your path.
00:06:38.000 And I think that's the biggest piece of advice I can give.
00:06:40.000 If a door shuts, there is a reason.
00:06:43.000 There's a reason.
00:06:43.000 And especially just remember, not just me, but anyone listening, you know, you are made for such a time as this, as they're 414.
00:06:50.000 That's meant for all of us to hear.
00:06:51.000 And you just trust and work hard.
00:06:52.000 Amen.
00:06:53.000 I totally agree.
00:06:54.000 And you've been in many situations where you've had to problem solve.
00:06:59.000 And not many people can think on their feet and problem solve the way that you did, whether that's at the podium with the binder.
00:07:06.000 I loved that, by the way, because when school supply season was out, I got the binder, the pens, the notebooks, everything.
00:07:13.000 So when I saw that, I was like, we would have been friends in middle school.
00:07:16.000 Yes.
00:07:17.000 But no, but when it comes to problem solving, I feel like you made it look so easy.
00:07:22.000 I can't even imagine how many problems came to you daily.
00:07:27.000 And what would be your go-to for problem solving?
00:07:30.000 Would you write out like the different solutions, the pros and cons?
00:07:33.000 Like, what would be a way for you to problem solve?
00:07:36.000 So I had two very smart, trusted aides, Chad Gilmartin and Julia Hahn.
00:07:42.000 And the three of us were just obsessed with the political process, obsessed with the White House and the different problems that would emerge, like getting PPE or supplies or testing for COVID-19.
00:07:53.000 We were all just obsessed with our jobs.
00:07:55.000 And so we would sit there by the fireplace in my office and just strategize for hours and hours.
00:08:00.000 And if I didn't think of one question the press would ask, they would fill the gap.
00:08:04.000 And together, the three of us really managed to figure out how to accurately convey information to the American people.
00:08:10.000 And it took, you know, number one, researching the facts and the data, which some of that you could aggregate from public sources or news reports.
00:08:17.000 But what's neat about being in the White House is you don't have to just rely on that.
00:08:22.000 You know, as a commentator now or host of Outnumbered, I go and my sources are news articles and, you know, I discern what's the best information and move forward.
00:08:31.000 But when you're in the White House, you are the primary source, which is really cool.
00:08:35.000 You know, I think back about the relationships I made, be it with Alex Azar, the head of HHS, or Brett Jois, who was in charge of really the supply chains or was a big part of it.
00:08:44.000 These were guys I would call every day and say, tell me the latest.
00:08:46.000 You know, what have you sent out?
00:08:47.000 And, you know, it was extremely neat to have access to the world's brightest minds, top leaders, be it at HHS or at DHS with Chad Wolf, and they'd give you inside information on what's going on in their agency.
00:08:59.000 And you could bring that information to the American people.
00:09:01.000 And, you know, it's really cool to be press secretary because you're just not reading articles.
00:09:04.000 You're talking to the people making decisions about the nation's biggest problems.
00:09:08.000 Totally.
00:09:09.000 Yeah.
00:09:09.000 So I enjoyed it.
00:09:10.000 It was a job that I loved.
00:09:11.000 And I think people always say, was it stressful?
00:09:13.000 Certainly, but the key was we had fun doing the job.
00:09:16.000 And I think that's what made it so much easier.
00:09:18.000 Totally.
00:09:19.000 And I remember, I think it was Young Women's Leadership Summit.
00:09:23.000 You had shared with Charlie some of the background of your book and some also like random embarrassing moments.
00:09:29.000 And the one that I will never forget was when you talked about your wardrobe situation that happened in the White House.
00:09:34.000 And I just sat there and I was mortified.
00:09:36.000 I was mortified.
00:09:37.000 But my question, though, about clothes and everything, are you given a wardrobe or do you just pick out your own wardrobe or is someone daily being like, no, no, no, you can't wear that color.
00:09:47.000 That color is not good today.
00:09:48.000 You can wear purple on Thursday, but not today.
00:09:50.000 Like, is there someone that's helping with the wardrobe side of things?
00:09:53.000 My mom.
00:09:54.000 I love that.
00:09:55.000 Yeah.
00:09:55.000 So in the White House, yeah, I had that wardrobe mishap where I had a dress that zipped all the way up the back and it literally split open like one of those robes that you wear to the doctor's office.
00:10:06.000 Oh, I know.
00:10:06.000 And then the president, of course, calls me in.
00:10:08.000 It's like day five on the job.
00:10:09.000 And I like wear a winter coat all throughout the White House.
00:10:12.000 And it's still the winter coat split open in the back.
00:10:15.000 So I had to like lean against the wall.
00:10:16.000 It was terrible.
00:10:17.000 But my mom, you know, helped a lot with that.
00:10:20.000 I remember one day I did not consult her and I wore like a flowery dress to the podium and I immediately got a call.
00:10:25.000 Why did you wear that?
00:10:26.000 That was not appropriate for a White House press secretary.
00:10:29.000 That was, you know, something you wear out to lunch with your friends, but not at the podium.
00:10:33.000 So I'm very grateful for my mom.
00:10:34.000 She has good classy advice.
00:10:36.000 No, for sure.
00:10:36.000 And your family is amazing.
00:10:37.000 The last time I met them, they were really sweet.
00:10:39.000 And I love how close you are with them because that in some similar way.
00:10:43.000 And I feel like you were always raised to be a woman of God.
00:10:46.000 That's been something that your family has always instilled in you, especially your dad and your mom.
00:10:51.000 Your sister's super sweet as well. 1.00
00:10:52.000 Your husband's great.
00:10:54.000 And so as a woman of God, is there a Bible verse aside from, I know you mentioned Philippians, but is there a Bible verse or something else that you would, if there was just a moment where you were like, dear God, I don't know if I can do this today, that you would hold on to or memorize?
00:11:14.000 Or was there a scripture that your parents kept reiterating to you?
00:11:17.000 Or maybe not a piece of scripture, but something they would reiterate to you when you were younger about like, God's got this.
00:11:23.000 It's okay.
00:11:23.000 Yeah.
00:11:24.000 You know, there are a lot out there, certainly.
00:11:26.000 But I think one really hard day in the White House, my White House assistant, who is a friend of mine and a young woman of faith who was raised that way by two great parents, much like your own or my own, she, instead of giving me a daily schedule that day, she put a list of Bible verses.
00:11:42.000 That's cool.
00:11:42.000 Yeah.
00:11:43.000 And one stuck out to me, and it was 2 Corinthians 4, 17.
00:11:46.000 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that outweighs them all.
00:11:51.000 So focus not on what is seen, but what is unseen, because what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal.
00:11:58.000 And it made me realize what I'm seeing right here at the White House, whatever the problem is, however tough of a day it can be, you know, this is temporary.
00:12:08.000 It's fleeting.
00:12:09.000 It's momentary.
00:12:10.000 The trouble, the hurt, the pain that you're going through is fleeting.
00:12:13.000 It's momentary because there's this eternal life that awaits those who trust in Christ.
00:12:18.000 And, you know, that eternal life is.
00:12:20.000 what we're all working towards.
00:12:21.000 It's easy to lose sight of that.
00:12:22.000 You know, I'm someone who I get busy and I'm like, I didn't read my devotional today or Blake and I forgot to say our prayers because we're in a hotel room.
00:12:28.000 You know, so it's not, I'm in no way a perfect virtuous Christian, but I do try my best.
00:12:35.000 And I think if we can keep our focus on the eternal, it helps to not become so consumed with the temporary and the problem, let the problem block you from the bigger goal.
00:12:44.000 Totally.
00:12:45.000 And so your book, For Such a Time as This, My Faith Journey Through the White House and Beyond, this is amazing.
00:12:51.000 Thank you.
00:12:52.000 I thought it was really sweet that you did the dedication to your daughter, Blake.
00:12:56.000 Super cute.
00:12:57.000 Thank you.
00:12:58.000 And I'll read it because I just think it's really sweet.
00:13:00.000 You said, for my daughter, baby Blake, your smile melts my heart.
00:13:04.000 Dream big, find your purpose, and then move mountains.
00:13:07.000 You were made for such a time as this.
00:13:08.000 And I think that's so beautiful.
00:13:10.000 And you have phenomenal reviews about this book.
00:13:13.000 I think everyone should have it on their shelf because you are such an inspiring, amazing woman.
00:13:18.000 And if someone were to just grab this and be like, okay, not everyone has time to read or listen to an audible, if there's one chapter in here that someone could just gain insight into what's going on or something that you were, you were like, this chapter is my favorite chapter.
00:13:35.000 What would that be?
00:13:36.000 Yeah, it's a great question that I have not been asked yet.
00:13:39.000 I would say probably the final chapter, a parallel journey.
00:13:42.000 And I began talking about, you know, my battle with the breast cancer gene.
00:13:46.000 That's what they call it colloquially, but the BRCA2 genetic mutation.
00:13:49.000 But the chapter, and I had a preventative double mastectomy, so I'm fine.
00:13:53.000 You know, I'm never going to get breast cancer.
00:13:54.000 It's a very, very, it's like a 0.001% chance because of the surgery I had.
00:13:58.000 But, you know, I've told that story before, but I think the way the book ends is very powerful.
00:14:04.000 And it's about how, you know, for some reason in my life, you know, God, I had a scare with an ovarian situation because this gene puts you at risk of ovarian cancer as well.
00:14:15.000 But it ended up being fine.
00:14:16.000 But for a while, I thought, oh, they might have to remove one of my ovaries, maybe both.
00:14:20.000 Maybe I won't be able to have a child.
00:14:22.000 And, you know, I always had that desire in my heart.
00:14:25.000 And I also always, you know, loved adoption.
00:14:27.000 So I thought maybe God wants me to adopt.
00:14:29.000 But literally a year after that scare, I'm dancing with baby Blake in the White House.
00:14:34.000 Two years after that scare, I'm dancing with her in the White House.
00:14:37.000 So for some reason, God allowed my situation to turn out that way.
00:14:41.000 And who knows what the future holds, you know?
00:14:44.000 But for some reason, I talk about the story of Jeremy Camp, who got, fell in love at a young age in college, got married to a beautiful girl named Melissa, and she succumbed, unfortunately, to cancer at a very, very young age.
00:14:57.000 And she has this beautiful monologue at the end of this movie that depicts their journey together.
00:15:04.000 And she talks about realizing that she's one star in a bigger constellation of stars.
00:15:09.000 And this woman of such strong faith, you know, as she is on her deathbed is manages to say, you know, I'm just one star and, you know, the stars that flame out the quickest burn the brightest.
00:15:19.000 And she has this beautiful, you know, monologue.
00:15:21.000 And I say, you know, for some reason, my journey is turning out this way.
00:15:24.000 Who knows what the future holds?
00:15:25.000 And her journey with ovarian cancer turned out a very different way.
00:15:28.000 And I don't know why that is.
00:15:29.000 And I don't know why we have sickness and plagues and horrible things and family issues, but God can use your trouble to achieve a greater eternal glory.
00:15:39.000 And I think the way it ends should be uplifting to anyone going through a hardship.
00:15:43.000 And I think, you know, it's an it's an important chapter to read.
00:15:46.000 That's beautiful.
00:15:47.000 Absolutely.
00:15:48.000 And so in closing, what is something, how old's baby Blake now?
00:15:53.000 So she just turned two.
00:15:54.000 Two.
00:15:55.000 It's crazy how fast it goes.
00:15:56.000 It's a wild.
00:15:58.000 So what do you think you would tell her in this book or in your life when she's in high school and just living her life?
00:16:05.000 And you reflect back on this time and you reflect back the moments that are within these pages.
00:16:09.000 What would you tell her?
00:16:10.000 You know, I think I saw Charlie actually giving a speech and I am paraphrasing because I don't remember exactly what he said, but I thought it was such an important message.
00:16:18.000 He was talking to a room of young people and he talked about self-worth and value and people who are battling with suicidal thoughts or whatever problems that are plaguing young people.
00:16:28.000 And there are a lot.
00:16:29.000 If you see this, the social complexes people are having from social media and it's a really hard environment.
00:16:35.000 And I worry about my daughter.
00:16:36.000 You know, I'll raise her with the right values, but there's something going on with young people. 0.98
00:16:40.000 There's a tremendous amount of depression, drug use, and there's just, I think we're at a cultural tipping point where they're trying to insert really insidious ideologies into the classroom.
00:16:50.000 And it's a much harder path, I think, for a young person today than even it was for me.
00:16:55.000 So I think the message of that Charlie gave about self-worth and God having a plan for you and a purpose, I think it is so important to ingrain that into our young people.
00:17:03.000 I certainly will ingrain it into my daughter because whatever demons she'll have to battle growing up, depression, whatever it may be, God forbid, if she knows there's something so much bigger and there's someone to turn to, get on your knees and pray no matter how you're feeling.
00:17:17.000 And God can make a bad situation better.
00:17:20.000 I think that is the one message I want her to have going through life, similar to the one that Charlie gave to a group of young people.
00:17:26.000 And it's so important today more than ever.
00:17:28.000 You're sweet.
00:17:28.000 Well, I'm so proud of you for such a time as this, my faith journey through the White House and beyond.
00:17:34.000 Everyone, like I said, needs a copy.
00:17:36.000 And so you are amazing.
00:17:37.000 I can't wait to see what's in store for you for next year and the year beyond and for such a time as this.
00:17:43.000 Well, you are amazing.
00:17:44.000 Charlie is so lucky to have you.
00:17:46.000 We make a good team.
00:17:47.000 You do, but Charlie is very, very blessed.
00:17:49.000 And we'll all have to hang out in Florida.
00:17:52.000 I would love that.
00:17:53.000 Until next time.
00:17:54.000 Yes.
00:18:07.000 Thank you so much for listening, everybody.
00:18:09.000 If you want to support our show, go to charliekirk.com/slash support.
00:18:12.000 But more importantly, go to BibleIn365.com.
00:18:15.000 God bless you guys.
00:18:15.000 Speak to you soon.