The Charlie Kirk Show - February 04, 2021


How to Take On Big Tech and WIN—Lessons from Ron DeSantis


Episode Stats


Length

35 minutes

Words per minute

157.95105

Word count

5,602

Sentence count

396

Harmful content

Toxicity

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

2

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, takes on Big Tech in a way that is a blueprint for conservatives all across the country. In this episode, Ron explains why he thinks Big Tech is a threat to freedom and how we can fight back.

Transcript

Transcripts from "The Charlie Kirk Show" are sourced from the Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool. Explore them interactively here.
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, today in the Charlie Kirk Show, Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, takes on big tech in a way that is a blueprint for conservatives all across the country.
00:00:09.000 If you want to support this program, go to charliekirk.com slash support to get behind the work that we are doing to educate the next generation via podcasting, doing what we are doing through video, and our whole production team is supported by those of you that support us at charliekirk.com slash support.
00:00:28.000 Email us your questions, freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:00:32.000 So we are partnering with our buddy Mike Lindell.
00:00:35.000 So go right now to mypillow.com, use the promo code Kirk.
00:00:38.000 Help out Mike Lindell.
00:00:39.000 He's under a lot of fire from the liberal mob.
00:00:41.000 Let's stand up together with him and go to mypillow.com promo code Kirk.
00:00:45.000 Do it right now.
00:00:46.000 It'll help out Mike and help our country.
00:00:48.000 Ron DeSantis takes on big tech.
00:00:50.000 Buckle up, everybody.
00:00:52.000 Here we go.
00:00:53.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
00:00:55.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
00:00:57.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
00:01:00.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
00:01:04.000 I want to thank Charlie.
00:01:05.000 He's an incredible guy.
00:01:06.000 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.
00:01:14.000 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.
00:01:23.000 That's why we are here.
00:01:26.000 No one likes being nauseous.
00:01:27.000 It's obviously uncomfortable.
00:01:29.000 You can't focus, and it ruins an otherwise fun time.
00:01:32.000 That's why I'm so excited about our new partner, Relief Band.
00:01:36.000 Relief Band is the number one FDA-cleared anti-nausea wristband that has been clinically proven to quickly relieve and effectively prevent nausea and vomiting associated with motion sickness, anxiety, migraine, hangover, morning sickness, chemotherapy, and so much more.
00:01:50.000 This product is 100% drug-free, non-drowsy, and provides all-natural relief with zero side effects.
00:01:56.000 This technology was originally developed over 20 years ago in hospitals to relieve nausea from its patients, but now through Relief Band is available to the masses.
00:02:05.000 Relief Band stimulates a nerve in your wrist that travels to the part of your brain that controls nausea.
00:02:10.000 Then it blocks the signal on your brain and is sending to your stomach telling you that you are sick.
00:02:15.000 Relief Band is the only over-the-counter wearable device that has been used in hospitals and oncology clinics to treat nausea and vomiting.
00:02:23.000 A lot of people talk very highly of Relief Band.
00:02:26.000 This new year, ensure nausea is never the reason to miss out on life's important moments.
00:02:30.000 Right now, Relief Band has an exclusive offer just for Charlie Kirk listeners.
00:02:34.000 If you go to reliefband.com and use the promo code Kirk, you'll receive 20% off plus free shipping and no questions asked, 30-day money-back guarantee.
00:02:42.000 So head to reliefband.com, R-E-L-I-E-F-B-A-N-D.com, and use the promo code Kirk for 20% off.
00:02:54.000 Hey, everybody, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show today.
00:02:57.000 Honor to be with you today.
00:02:59.000 Of course, make sure you subscribe to the Charlie Kirk Show podcast.
00:03:02.000 We have some really exciting new episodes there, including an exclusive conversation with none other than Eric Metaxas.
00:03:11.000 I'm here at my very good friend's place, the Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona.
00:03:17.000 Hello to everybody in Phoenix, Arizona.
00:03:19.000 So I want to get to a story here that has really caught my attention.
00:03:24.000 There are a lot of people that have been complaining about big tech over the last couple weeks and last couple months.
00:03:32.000 Those complaints are well received.
00:03:38.000 Those complaints are around the accusations that big tech is censoring conservative voices.
00:03:48.000 And this is not even up for debate.
00:03:50.000 There's a couple studies that we'll get into that are funded by the tech companies that say that conservatives being banned on social media is a myth.
00:03:57.000 Well, the president literally has no access to social media, former President Trump.
00:04:04.000 There are hundreds, if not thousands, of examples of social media tech censorship.
00:04:10.000 Not to mention the monopolistic practices, the predominant nature of the political affiliation of their employees, how willing they are to kowtow to the most radical left-wing activist voices.
00:04:23.000 We know the threat that big tech poses to our country, big tech and big data.
00:04:31.000 So a lot of people have been wondering: well, how do we fight back against big tech?
00:04:36.000 Do we try to repeal Section 230?
00:04:38.000 Yeah, that's a good idea.
00:04:40.000 It's probably not going to happen with the Democrats controlling the House, the Senate, and the Presidency.
00:04:44.000 Why the Republicans didn't do it when they controlled the House, the Senate, and the presidency is beyond me.
00:04:49.000 Should we try and push back against them for antitrust?
00:04:54.000 It's probably a good idea, but it's unrealistic given the fact that Joe Biden has just staffed the Department of Justice with former tech staffers that have worked for these companies.
00:05:07.000 But all those things should be tried and tested.
00:05:12.000 One area that conservatives control that we have never utilized is the states.
00:05:22.000 You see, when the Democrats find a source of power that they don't like, when the Democrats find an organization or they see a group of conservatives that they don't like, they instantaneously and immediately use their constitutional power on a state level to go after that conservative group or even just a industry they don't like.
00:05:45.000 A great example is the California Attorney General going after ExxonMobil, largely unfairly.
00:05:52.000 Another example would be the New York Attorney General going after the National Rifle Association.
00:06:01.000 The National Rifle Association rarely ever endorses Democrats.
00:06:05.000 It is a pro-Second Amendment organization, and the left has despised the NRA for decades.
00:06:13.000 Google is a more powerful, more sophisticated, more solvent NRA for the left.
00:06:21.000 Google is a political advocacy company for Democrats.
00:06:26.000 There are very few people on the conservative side that are actually fighting right now, that are actually taking stances against the most pressing and urgent needs for our country.
00:06:47.000 One governor is showing the rest of the country how to lead.
00:06:55.000 He delivered a state that is the third most populous state in the country, a battleground state, to Donald Trump by 400,000 votes, despite Michael Bloomberg spending $2 million a day the last 60 days of the campaign.
00:07:10.000 It was a blowout.
00:07:12.000 He had safe and secure elections with all of the election results in by 9.30 Eastern on election night with zero allegations of fraud.
00:07:23.000 We're, of course, talking about Governor Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida.
00:07:27.000 And now Ron DeSantis, being a leader, is exhausted with seeing conservative bluster in Washington, D.C., and is now actually pushing back against the tech tyranny that we have seen.
00:07:45.000 Not just talking about it, not just doing a press conference, not just giving lip service like most Republicans are trained to do, but doing something about it.
00:07:54.000 Ron DeSantis has come out and said, quote, as these companies have grown and their influence has expanded, big tech has come to look more like Big Brother with each passing day.
00:08:08.000 He's right.
00:08:09.000 But this is 2021, not 1984.
00:08:12.000 And this is real life, not George Orwell's fiction.
00:08:15.000 These companies exert monopoly power over a centrally important forum and the public discourse and the access of information that Floridians rely on.
00:08:26.000 He continued by saying that if these companies violate the new rules that are put forward by Florida, then these companies, these tech companies, could be fined up to $100,000 a day.
00:08:47.000 Now, that might not be a lot of money for these tech companies, but $100,000 a day, if I do my math correctly, is about either $36.5 million or $365 million.
00:09:04.000 No, that's right, $36.5 million a year.
00:09:08.000 That's about the cost of Facebook and Google's lobbying budget every single year.
00:09:13.000 However, if this piece of legislation passes in the Florida State House and State Senate and gets signed into law by Ron DeSantis, which it looks like it will, what if other states followed?
00:09:27.000 South Dakota, North Dakota, Missouri, Ohio, West Virginia.
00:09:36.000 What if South Dakota came out and said, we'll find you $250,000 a day if you continue to crack down on conservative voices?
00:09:43.000 Now, you might say, oh, it's no big deal.
00:09:45.000 These tech companies can never be challenged.
00:09:48.000 Just the threat of state-based legislation against these tech companies is enough to challenge and push back against the behavior that they have been displaying and exhibiting.
00:10:04.000 Ron DeSantis says, quote, the message is loud and clear.
00:10:06.000 When it comes to elections in Florida, big tech should stay out of it, which, of course, he's talking about big tech that did not allow the story of Hunter Biden or Joe Biden to be spread on any of their tech platforms going into November.
00:10:20.000 The Washington Post, which is funded by a tech company itself, Amazon, came out and said, quote, the claim of anti-conservative animus in itself is a form of disinformation, a falsehood with no reliable evidence to support it.
00:10:33.000 No trustworthy large-scale studies have determined that conservative content is being removed for ideological reasons or that searches are being manipulated to favor liberal interests.
00:10:43.000 Just the way they word that is so deceiving.
00:10:46.000 Let's word this again.
00:10:47.000 Let's go through this again.
00:10:48.000 This is a study from some tech company that was funded by some tech company.
00:10:54.000 Conservative content is being removed for ideological reasons.
00:10:57.000 No, they don't remove conservative content ever for ideological reasons. 0.96
00:11:02.000 They remove it because they say it's a violation of their terms of service, which of course is actually they don't like the ideology, but they hide behind some stupid paperwork. 0.96
00:11:10.000 That's what they end up doing. 0.94
00:11:12.000 So it's incredibly deceiving the way that they worded this.
00:11:18.000 When we have clear and present threats against our country, the question should be, why are more governors not standing up against this like Ron DeSantis?
00:11:26.000 Ron DeSantis is a governor of a battleground state, yet he's governing as if he's the governor of Texas.
00:11:34.000 Governor Abbott should step up.
00:11:37.000 I'm sure Governor Christy Noam will step up and pass similar pieces of legislation.
00:11:43.000 Ron DeSantis has already taught us how to do elections in our country, how to do them safely and securely, and now he's leading the charge on how to hold big tech accountable.
00:11:52.000 Republicans control 28 state legislatures, state senates, and governor's mansions.
00:11:59.000 28.
00:12:02.000 My friend, Governor Gianforte in Montana, I will send him a note encouraging him to support this kind of legislation.
00:12:09.000 If we are going to have the robber barons of our time, if we are going to have these companies with unchecked influence, it's about time that the conservative states stand up and rise up and say, You are suppressing our citizens, you're interfering with our elections.
00:12:24.000 And we're not going to take it any longer.
00:12:26.000 We will fine you, we will put you in court, we'll pass legislation that makes it impossible to do business in our state if your pattern of behavior continues.
00:12:38.000 Ron DeSantis is showing us how we use the power the people gave us to protect freedom and liberty.
00:12:48.000 Look, a lot of people are getting canceled unnecessarily.
00:12:51.000 And the fact is, the internet never forgets.
00:12:54.000 There's never been a more important time to protect your internet activity.
00:12:57.000 That's why I urge you to get ExpressVPN.
00:12:59.000 Everything you search for, watch, or click online can be tracked by big tech companies.
00:13:03.000 They can match your activity to your true identity using your device's unique IP address, which is why I switch on ExpressVPN with my computer or phone.
00:13:12.000 My IP address is masked by a secure VPN server, which makes it harder for websites to identify me.
00:13:18.000 The ExpressVPN app also encrypts my network data to protect my sense of information from being compromised.
00:13:22.000 Plus, you can use ExpressVPN on up to five devices simultaneously.
00:13:26.000 So multiple users on your network can stay safe with a single subscription.
00:13:31.000 What I like most is how easy it is to use.
00:13:33.000 It just takes one click to protect all your devices.
00:13:35.000 That's why they are rated the number one VPN by CNET and Wired.
00:13:39.000 So stop handing over all your data to big tech companies.
00:13:42.000 Go with the VPN I trust with my online protection.
00:13:44.000 It's on my phone right now.
00:13:46.000 Visit expressvpn.com/slash Charlie.
00:13:48.000 That's expressvpn.com/slash Charlie to get three months free on a one-year package.
00:13:52.000 That's expresvpn.com/slash Charlie to get three extra months free.
00:13:58.000 Go to expressvpn.com/slash Charlie right now to learn more.
00:14:04.000 And so I want to get to some more sound here of Governor Ron DeSantis, who is leading the constitutional reset in our country.
00:14:14.000 Not the great reset, but the constitutional reset to bring us back to our constitutional roots.
00:14:19.000 Remember, the states created the federal government.
00:14:21.000 The federal government did not create the states.
00:14:25.000 We are a bottom-up country, not a top-down country.
00:14:28.000 And so, if these big tech oligarchs in Silicon Valley are going to want to make America in their image or remake America in their image, they're going to have to go through a series of states, not just through executive federal fiat.
00:14:43.000 And Governor Ron DeSantis is showing us heroically and courageously how to fight.
00:14:47.000 This is a fight that he does not have to pick, by the way.
00:14:50.000 He's going up against the trillionaire class of Menlo Park.
00:14:54.000 He's going up against people that can change search results to manipulate what people think of him.
00:15:00.000 He's in the re-election cycle.
00:15:02.000 But Governor Ron DeSantis seems to be putting the well-being of the state of Florida, a state of which I am a resident in, a proud resident in, to have a governor like this who takes a stand.
00:15:13.000 Let's go to Cut 38, where Ron DeSantis says: if the Hunter Biden story was true, we rely on social media so we can get around corporate legacy media.
00:15:21.000 He's speaking my language.
00:15:22.000 Cut 38.
00:15:24.000 Well, I think it's been done in a way that's completely unprincipled.
00:15:28.000 They mentioned the Hunter Biden.
00:15:30.000 Hunter Biden's story was true.
00:15:33.000 Okay, we now know it was true.
00:15:35.000 And the typical corporate media outlets, they just chose to ignore it.
00:15:39.000 Obviously, they wanted to beat Trump.
00:15:42.000 They had a view on the election.
00:15:44.000 They didn't want to give it any air.
00:15:46.000 So we rely on social media to go around that, not let corporate legacy media outlets control the discourse and let us speak.
00:15:55.000 So you had the New York Post to run it, and you couldn't get any traction.
00:15:58.000 You couldn't get any reach on it because big tech put their thumb on the scale.
00:16:02.000 So that was true.
00:16:03.000 What they said at the time, oh, it's a conspiracy or it's based on hacked information.
00:16:10.000 Are you kidding me?
00:16:12.000 Where are members of Congress saying that?
00:16:14.000 Where are members of Congress standing up and demanding action?
00:16:19.000 But here's the brilliance of the system that our founding fathers gave us.
00:16:24.000 Our founding fathers never wanted a purely federal system.
00:16:28.000 We do have a federal government for certain reasons.
00:16:33.000 But I think we have lost the critical nature and the importance of states' rights.
00:16:39.000 Now, mind you, every time a Democrat becomes president, it seems as if we reimmerse ourselves in the Federalist Papers and we talk about states' rights.
00:16:47.000 Democrats are unafraid to use states' rights to try and push forth unconstitutional policies such as sanctuary cities, their own immigration laws, in defiance to federal law.
00:16:58.000 But this is not even in defiance to federal law.
00:17:01.000 This is the governor of Florida saying, if you are going to have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google, YouTube used and monetized and profit off of the citizens of Florida, then you are not going to be able to interfere with elections.
00:17:19.000 You're not going to be able to manipulate data.
00:17:22.000 And you are not going to be able to act in the way you have been.
00:17:25.000 Let's go to Cut 39, where Governor Ron DeSantis has, let's just say, a pretty good response to one of these reporters.
00:17:30.000 Cut 39.
00:17:32.000 You're trying to tell me if there was hacked information that could damage me, you guys wouldn't print it.
00:17:37.000 Give me a break.
00:17:38.000 You can whiz on my leg, but don't tell me it's raining.
00:17:41.000 You guys would print it every single day if you could.
00:17:43.000 And big tech would allow it to proliferate every single day 24-7.
00:17:48.000 So it's not being done in a principled basis.
00:17:51.000 And it's not, there's threats on me.
00:17:54.000 And it only gets taken down if law enforcement goes and tells them to do it.
00:17:58.000 Otherwise, it just stays up.
00:18:00.000 They're not moderating any of that.
00:18:02.000 So they haven't done a good job in it.
00:18:04.000 The thumb's always on the scale in one direction.
00:18:07.000 And we just need to bring we need to bring some protection for folks.
00:18:10.000 I really, really worry when you have a business owner that may rely on some of these tools to do small business.
00:18:18.000 If they engage in wrongthink or they go to the wrong political event, then all of a sudden they can act in concert and just take you off.
00:18:25.000 You need to have protection against that.
00:18:27.000 If Governor Ron DeSantis ever wants to run for the presidency, he's sure starting off pretty strong.
00:18:34.000 And again, it's too early to talk about what's going to happen in the years to come.
00:18:37.000 But when a lot of people are floating out names of people that have good name ID or good slogans, you have Governor Ron DeSantis, the governor of the third largest state in the country, who delivered the state for 400,000 plus votes for Donald Trump, the safest and securest elections with no allegations of fraud.
00:18:55.000 And now he's going after big tech and he's protecting your freedom and liberty.
00:18:59.000 But Ron DeSantis is leaning into the constitutional firewall that our founding fathers gave us.
00:19:05.000 And Florida is full of people like me that left Illinois and we're trying to seek a state that at least some form of sanity.
00:19:13.000 In fact, I was just reading this article in the break to our friends at AM560, The Answer in Chicago.
00:19:20.000 Illinois has lost more residents since 2010 than all but one state.
00:19:26.000 Illinois has the 46th worst lowest growth rate in the country, which is unbelievable considering its population. 0.75
00:19:34.000 The outward migration of Illinois is extraordinary. 0.93
00:19:37.000 Speaking to WBEZ, Aaron Aylman, who is the head of CMAP, which I'm not really sure what that is, says, quote, we need to shore up our policies that we need to attract and retain business and identify those places where businesses might want to locate.
00:19:52.000 Do you know what the property tax is for a commercial building in Cook County every single year?
00:19:57.000 6%.
00:19:58.000 You can't do business with a 6% property tax rate in Illinois.
00:20:04.000 6%.
00:20:05.000 That's commercial.
00:20:07.000 So for my friends listening on AM560D Answer, here's my piece of advice.
00:20:12.000 Sarasota is beautiful this time of year.
00:20:14.000 So back to the state of freedom and liberty of Florida.
00:20:16.000 Let's get to Cut 48, Governor Ron DeSantis.
00:20:19.000 Yeah, and it's more than that.
00:20:20.000 I mean, I think we're going to do three different things.
00:20:22.000 One is protect Floridians' data privacy from big tech, which is a huge issue.
00:20:27.000 As you said, protect big tech from interfering in an election.
00:20:31.000 And that may mean you de-platform a candidate you don't like.
00:20:35.000 Two guesses as to which type of candidate big tech wouldn't like.
00:20:38.000 But it also means doing the algorithms in a way that will suppress stories or accelerate them to benefit a candidate.
00:20:46.000 That's effectively an in-kind contribution.
00:20:48.000 And then the general protections for deplatforming users.
00:20:53.000 And what we're allowing people to do is bring civil suits under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Statute, an anti-fraud statute.
00:21:02.000 There is so much there.
00:21:03.000 Now, Governor Ron DeSantis went to Yale, if I'm not mistaken.
00:21:09.000 He was a congressman, and then became governor.
00:21:13.000 In that short clip, there was more wisdom about the threat of big tech than I have heard from most of the Republican Party in the last couple of years.
00:21:19.000 Let's go step by step of what he said.
00:21:22.000 In-kind contribution.
00:21:25.000 I've been making this point for years, and I'm thrilled to see someone in a position of leadership of the third largest state focus on this.
00:21:36.000 So, for example, if Mark Zuckerberg writes a check to the Democrat Party, that is considered a contribution, a $10 million contribution in cash.
00:21:48.000 If Sergey Brin, one of the co-founders of Google, writes a check to Raphael Warnock's Senate campaign for $5 million, that's a contribution.
00:21:58.000 If someone running for office gets on Jeff Bezos' plane for a political reason, that's an in-kind contribution.
00:22:08.000 So it's not a cash contribution, but it's a contribution of assets that they had used for a political purpose.
00:22:13.000 The argument that Ron DeSantis is making is that when Facebook comes in and does not allow Donald Trump's content to be shared, when Facebook comes in and says you cannot spread bad stories about Hunter Biden, when Twitter does the same, it is no different than if Mark Zuckerberg were to write a $10 million check to the Joe Biden campaign.
00:22:33.000 It's no different.
00:22:35.000 It's a really smart legal argument that Ron DeSantis is making here.
00:22:40.000 And what he said is that we are going to allow people to sue these tech companies in Florida court under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
00:22:47.000 Whoa.
00:22:48.000 The Silicon Valley companies are meeting right now.
00:22:52.000 There's a conference call that happened today about Ron DeSantis in Menlo Park.
00:22:58.000 The general counsel for Facebook is trying to brainstorm ideas and loopholes where they can work around Ron DeSantis.
00:23:06.000 But here's the brilliance.
00:23:08.000 Ron DeSantis is using the left's own precedent against them.
00:23:13.000 The left has used the power of the states to go after nonprofits, corporations, and entities that they did not like that were on the conservative or free market side, from ExxonMobil to the NRA to many others.
00:23:26.000 So Ron DeSantis has the sovereignty of the state of Florida.
00:23:29.000 He is allowed to regulate commerce in his state as he sees fit.
00:23:34.000 Now, Ron DeSantis can't regulate what happens between Georgia and Florida.
00:23:38.000 That's a federal issue.
00:23:40.000 But Ron DeSantis has full authority over what businesses can and cannot do in his state, especially through the state legislature.
00:23:49.000 And California has already set this precedent.
00:23:53.000 If you're a nonprofit in California, you must disclose your donors to the California Attorney General.
00:23:59.000 Federal law, who cares?
00:24:02.000 And so the left and the Democrats have used their states to make America in their image.
00:24:09.000 So Ron DeSantis is basically saying, so why are we waiting for Congress to do this?
00:24:14.000 We hold the cards.
00:24:15.000 The Constitution says clearly that anything that is not delegated specifically in the Constitution goes to the states and the people.
00:24:22.000 That's the 10th Amendment.
00:24:24.000 Says it.
00:24:25.000 There is not a clause in the United States Constitution around big tech.
00:24:30.000 There is about free speech.
00:24:31.000 There is about personal privacy.
00:24:32.000 Therefore, Ron DeSantis is saying everything that happens in the state of Florida is under Florida jurisdiction.
00:24:38.000 What happens in California is their own problem.
00:24:42.000 And that's exactly the precedent, by the way, of how these states, through liberal left-leaning advocacy efforts, have been able to legalize marijuana.
00:24:53.000 They've been able to raise taxes.
00:24:57.000 So there's no constitutional measure that these tech companies are going to be able to use to prevent the third largest state from pushing back.
00:25:10.000 It was Gibbons versus Ogden, which Congress may regulate interstate commerce.
00:25:16.000 Got to remember my Supreme Court case is a little bit sharper on that.
00:25:22.000 Which is, can states pass laws that challenge the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce?
00:25:28.000 And the answer is yes, but the states still control everything that happens within their own states, which is exactly why in Nevada, they have casino gaming, whereas it's very rare in most states to have that.
00:25:46.000 If you're not on a Native American reservation or near a body of water, it's very hard to get gaming licenses in most states.
00:25:52.000 States created the federal government.
00:25:54.000 The federal government didn't create the states.
00:25:56.000 These tech companies, as we predicted, overplayed their hand.
00:26:02.000 They got too cocky.
00:26:03.000 They got too confident.
00:26:05.000 And they expose themselves now to a coalition of states saying, if Congress is not going to do anything, we will.
00:26:14.000 How much money do you think Facebook has made off to the citizens of Florida the last decade?
00:26:18.000 It's the third largest state in the country.
00:26:21.000 How many YouTube content creators now live in Miami?
00:26:24.000 That one guy who thinks he's a boxer, Jake Paul, is that his name?
00:26:28.000 He lives in Miami now.
00:26:29.000 He's made YouTube billions of dollars with all of the video revenue they've done.
00:26:38.000 So there's no claim that Facebook, YouTube, Twitter can say, oh, we don't need Florida.
00:26:43.000 No, no, they need Florida.
00:26:45.000 You see, if South Dakota led the charge on this, maybe Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube would say, ah, maybe we're just going to turn ourselves off in South Dakota.
00:26:52.000 Now, now you're talking about a state that is the third largest state.
00:26:58.000 I don't know the population of Florida.
00:27:00.000 I'm guessing it's probably about 28 million.
00:27:03.000 I'm going to get a fact check on that.
00:27:05.000 28 million, probably.
00:27:07.000 California is about, what, 36 million?
00:27:09.000 36 million?
00:27:12.000 Yeah, usually the rule is about you get an electoral vote for about every 800,000 people.
00:27:16.000 So if you multiply that out, it's probably 25, 26 million.
00:27:19.000 That's a massive market with a lot of purchasing power.
00:27:23.000 21.9 million people in Florida.
00:27:25.000 I wasn't that far off.
00:27:27.000 800,000 per electoral vote.
00:27:29.000 That's about right.
00:27:32.000 So, Ron DeSantis is the person that holds the cards now.
00:27:34.000 And guess what?
00:27:36.000 Now, we as grassroots conservatives, and you're listening to this on our national radio program and you're listening to this on our podcast, go contact your state legislatures and have every single conservative state pass this right now, carbon copy of the Florida bill, Oklahoma, Kansas, South Dakota, Iowa.
00:27:54.000 And all of a sudden, you're going to, these tech companies are going to realize California's 39 million.
00:28:00.000 Anyway, these tech companies are going to realize that the infrastructure they have for lobbying was all for Washington, D.C. Facebook is scrambling to now go hire a lobbyist to get on a plane to Tallahassee.
00:28:18.000 The Facebook Government Affairs Office has never heard of Tallahassee before.
00:28:22.000 They only care about D.C. Because everything they've been worrying about is federal government monopolistic breakups.
00:28:29.000 Everything they've been worrying about is influencing members of Congress.
00:28:34.000 Ron DeSantis just did a chess move that they are not prepared for because now they're going to have to get on their Gulfstream private jet to go to Topeka.
00:28:42.000 They're going to have to go to Pier, South Dakota.
00:28:47.000 They're going to have to go to Austin, Texas.
00:28:50.000 They're going to have to go to Helena, Montana.
00:28:53.000 And now they're going to have to go into Montana and tell Montana that the Menlo Park masters and the Silicon Valley people shouldn't be regulated by the state of Montana.
00:29:02.000 And my friend Governor Greg Gianforte, and I know him very well, he's going to say, yeah, not so fast.
00:29:09.000 Because this is an immensely popular issue now amongst the conservative base.
00:29:14.000 If we keep this drumbeat going based on what Ron DeSantis has led on, if I was the masters of Menlo Park and I was the tech companies, I'd be nervous about this.
00:29:27.000 You're talking about half of the U.S. market that could be restricted, half of the purchasing power of the wealthiest country on the planet.
00:29:36.000 But Ron DeSantis is doing this for a different reason.
00:29:39.000 He actually knows he's not going to be able to crush the tech companies, but he will be able to tap them back into behavior.
00:29:47.000 This is a big deal.
00:29:48.000 We're going to keep on building this out because this is the constitutional firewall that our movement has been missing.
00:29:55.000 And if you're listening to this from West Virginia to Utah, you now have a roadmap to take back your liberty.
00:30:03.000 Let's go to Cut 49 of the great governor Ron DeSantis standing up to the tech companies and really serving the people of Florida.
00:30:10.000 Cut 49.
00:30:12.000 I think most folks do want protections for their privacy and their data.
00:30:17.000 I think most folks want protections from being deplatformed.
00:30:20.000 And it's not just being banned from Twitter or something.
00:30:22.000 As we've seen, these companies can act, they can collude, they can deny you, if you're a small business, of payment processing, the ability to use email and text.
00:30:31.000 So what?
00:30:32.000 You go to a rally that they don't like or you engage in wrongthink and all of a sudden your flower business is decapitated for a month because they take action.
00:30:42.000 What makes the American model different than the European model is that we have states that are able to be checks and balances, laboratories of democracy, the liberal Louis Brandeis said.
00:30:55.000 Where the states are the checks and balances against an ever complacent or even corrupt, some would say tyrannical federal government.
00:31:08.000 You see, the European model is the federal government dictates everything.
00:31:12.000 In America, the states have a lot of say, a tremendous amount of say.
00:31:17.000 In fact, the Founding Fathers always wanted this.
00:31:20.000 And one of the Negatives of the People's Party, which was a populist movement that started in 1896 by William Jennings Bryan, was they got rid of the state legislature appointing of senators.
00:31:34.000 Instead, they went to the direct election of senators.
00:31:36.000 I can't remember what amendment that was.
00:31:37.000 Was that the 16th Amendment or the 17th Amendment?
00:31:40.000 We'll look it up where they got rid of the direct elect, where they got the direct election of senators.
00:31:46.000 The states were always supposed to have 17th Amendment, my memory was right.
00:31:50.000 The states were always supposed to have a not just a say, but more of a check on federal power than the federal government has a check on the states.
00:32:10.000 And that balance has been discussed in courts.
00:32:14.000 It has been argued.
00:32:15.000 It's been sued over.
00:32:19.000 And so the other Republicans that control governors' mansions and state legislatures, it's now time to stand up.
00:32:32.000 If you're listening to this podcast, if you're listening to this on radio, contact your state legislatures.
00:32:37.000 And if the Republicans control your state, demand that they follow Governor Ron DeSantis.
00:32:43.000 From South Dakota to Kansas to West Virginia to South Carolina to Alabama to Mississippi to Louisiana to Arkansas to Kansas to Oklahoma to Utah.
00:32:56.000 These are deep red states.
00:32:57.000 Wyoming, if every single one of these states built a coalition and they passed their own laws with their own fines, these tech companies would knock it off immediately.
00:33:09.000 And Arizona needs to do the same.
00:33:12.000 Georgia needs to do the same.
00:33:14.000 But isn't it interesting?
00:33:16.000 Governor Ron DeSantis and Governor Brian Kemp both became governors in the same year, 2018.
00:33:22.000 And look at the difference that leadership, whatever the opposite of leadership is in Georgia, cowardice, what it makes.
00:33:34.000 You have safe and secure elections in Florida, no allegations of fraud, a booming economy, schools that are wide open, tech companies that are now being challenged.
00:33:44.000 And in Georgia, well, Governor Brian Kemp, if you want to make some conservatives actually go vote for you, which you have a terrible problem with conservatives in Georgia right now, we are broadcasting this show on the Salem Radio Network station in Atlanta, Georgia.
00:33:58.000 So some patriots are listening to this right now in Georgia, then stand up to the tech companies, Governor Brian Kemp.
00:34:06.000 Introduce this bill right now.
00:34:08.000 Say it's your top priority.
00:34:10.000 Or are you a little bit worried you might upset some of the Hollywood elites that get film tax credits in Buckhead?
00:34:15.000 I don't know.
00:34:15.000 I'm just asking a couple questions here.
00:34:17.000 What I do know, though, is that we as Republicans need to elevate and support solutions to our problems, not just complain about them.
00:34:24.000 Big tech is a problem, no doubt.
00:34:27.000 A lot of people complain about it, I being one of them.
00:34:30.000 I've always tried to look for solutions.
00:34:32.000 I think we need to build new servers.
00:34:33.000 We need to build new companies, new hardware.
00:34:36.000 But now an entirely new check and balance has presented itself where a massive state represents the people.
00:34:43.000 And by the way, it's not even about politics.
00:34:44.000 It's about privacy.
00:34:45.000 It's about expression.
00:34:47.000 It's about pushing back against monopolistic practices.
00:34:50.000 That's what leaders do.
00:34:52.000 It's what conservatives do.
00:34:53.000 They look for solutions.
00:34:54.000 They don't just give a press conference and walk away.
00:34:58.000 And for that, Governor Ron DeSantis deserves phenomenal credit.
00:35:01.000 But let's make this the start, not the finish, and every state follows in step.
00:35:09.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.
00:35:11.000 If you want to get involved with Turning Point USA, go to tpusa.com.
00:35:14.000 Email us your questions, freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:35:17.000 I love reading your emails.
00:35:19.000 And if you want to get involved with Turning Point USA, I highly encourage you to start a high school chapter, a college chapter, go to tpusa.com.
00:35:26.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.
00:35:28.000 God bless.