The Charlie Kirk Show - Inside the 2025 AmericaFest Straw Poll

00:00:03.000 My name is Charlie Kirk.

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00:01:09.000 All right, welcome back to the Charlie Kirk Show.

00:01:11.000 Hour two is underway, and it is the hour that everybody's been waiting for.

00:01:16.000 The results of our 2025 Turning Point Action Amfest straw poll.

00:01:22.000 So this is something we do at every Amfest, and we've got a major publication that's going to go live with it in just a second as well.

00:01:30.000 And here to unpack what we found from this straw poll is the one and only Rich Barris, big data poll, who conducted it on our behalf.

00:01:39.000 Rich, welcome back to the show.

00:01:40.000 Thanks for having me as always.

00:01:42.000 Yeah, well, Richard Andrew.

00:01:44.000 Let's start with your reaction, your experience at Amfest.

00:01:49.000 You were there.

00:01:50.000 You and Mark Mitchell led a breakout.

00:01:53.000 Just, you know, 30,000 foot view.

00:01:55.000 What was it like in there?

00:01:57.000 And maybe what's the disconnect between maybe what some people are saying online versus what you experienced in person?

00:02:02.000 Well, first, visually, and I know, I actually know this to be a fact, but visually, this looked like the biggest AmFest ever.

00:02:10.000 And you could see it.

00:02:11.000 If you've been to an AmFest before, this one was just as a matter of attendance and everything that was going on was huge.

00:02:19.000 It was huge.

00:02:21.000 So congratulations on that because we're talking about a massive attendance, folks.

00:02:26.000 And secondly, you know, the biggest thing that'll stand out is, you know, the media narrative and the infighting that they projected was going on over there.

00:02:36.000 And we'll see this with the results of the straw poll.

00:02:39.000 Yeah, people debate.

00:02:40.000 And that's what Turning Point has always been about.

00:02:42.000 But people there, people in attendance, right?

00:02:46.000 And the folks who were talking and interacting with people agree on so much more.

00:02:52.000 I mean, that's what it comes to.

00:02:53.000 That's the biggest disconnect that the media, as usual, always projects.

00:02:59.000 There was a lot more agreement than there was disagreement.

00:03:02.000 Yeah.

00:03:02.000 And you, so some top-level marks that you were just telling me about is, so this was the youngest straw poll result based on just who took the poll, right?

00:03:12.000 It was, it skewed the youngest of any that we've ever had because, you know, even we struggle sometimes, Rich, with getting the students to take the darn straw poll.

00:03:20.000 This time, we got lots, lots, just the average age of who took the poll was younger.

00:03:25.000 So it's actually going to give us a more interesting insight in some ways about where younger Americans, younger conservative voters, younger base voters, where their heads are at right now.

00:03:36.000 And it was also the most responses that we've ever gotten at a straw poll.

00:03:41.000 And what's remarkable about that, Rich, is that, you know, we intentionally delayed this until we sent it out overnight after day three and into day four.

00:03:52.000 We wanted people to have this full experience before we asked them these questions.

00:03:56.000 So the response rate on a relatively short turn was pretty remarkable.

00:04:00.000 Just explain that from a pollster's perspective, Rich.

00:04:04.000 Well, straw polls can be a bit of a upholster's nightmare, right?

00:04:08.000 Because as the pollster, you're like, I want to start early.

00:04:10.000 I want to get this going.

00:04:11.000 But you also want people to have the experience before they answer some of these questions.

00:04:17.000 And honestly, it'll become very evident when we show people some of the questions, right?

00:04:21.000 Why we want people to hear things first, which can be challenging because for people who are taking it and the pollster, because you are now limiting yourself on the reaction time.

00:04:32.000 So we expect a certain percentage.

00:04:34.000 And just from experience, we know what that is.

00:04:37.000 This blew up.

00:04:38.000 And you said it.

00:04:39.000 And I was going to say it if you didn't.

00:04:41.000 This is the biggest America Fest straw poll ever.

00:04:44.000 It's a very large sample, which means, folks, it's representative.

00:04:49.000 It's statistically significant.

00:04:51.000 So I was over the moon.

00:04:53.000 You know, I mean, as a pollster, I was over the moon.

00:04:56.000 When I, you know, one minute, you're logging in, you're seeing the responses come in.

00:04:59.000 The next minute, you see an explosion.

00:05:02.000 So I think, too, it also tells you that the respondents, Andrew, also were kind of hanging back and saying, let me, you know, let me open it up.

00:05:10.000 I'll take what I think I can.

00:05:12.000 We always give people a little bit of time to complete it.

00:05:14.000 And then once they had the experience, they felt it was sufficient for them, they all filled it out almost at once on that last day.

00:05:21.000 A huge amount came in, which was great for us.

00:05:25.000 It really was.

00:05:26.000 It was great.

00:05:27.000 So, you know, I'm toying with everybody wants to know the who do we want as our 2028 GOP nominee.

00:05:36.000 I don't think anybody's, you know, I'm toying with delaying it, but I think we just have to, you know, I think we just have to do the reveal here, Rich.

00:05:44.000 What is not surprising is who won, but what is surprising is by what margin.

00:05:51.000 So, you know, drum roll, please.

00:05:55.000 Studio, let's go ahead and throw up image 166.

00:05:59.000 Who does the Amfest attendees, who do they want as their 2028 GOP?

00:06:04.000 228.

00:06:05.000 And that big old bar right at the top is, of course, JD Vance.

00:06:10.000 The next closest was Marco Rubio, the great Secretary of State in the Trump administration.

00:06:16.000 Rich, break this down.

00:06:18.000 JD Vance is running away with the who do we want as the 2028 GOP nominee.

00:06:27.000 Explain the significance of that graph.

00:06:30.000 And the consistency of him polling at that level, I don't think he ever polled below 75%, folks.

00:06:37.000 That's well over a super majority.

00:06:39.000 And I will tell you this, like we said just a moment ago, there were people who are waiting back, waiting to see.

00:06:46.000 And when the vice president gave his speech, it just went to that level.

00:06:51.000 Never looked back.

00:06:52.000 I mean, it was, you know, some people, you know, sitting back, I can't wait to see what the vice president has to say.

00:06:58.000 This has never happened.

00:07:00.000 Andrew, this has never.

00:07:01.000 I've done a lot of straw polls at a lot of different events.

00:07:04.000 We've done a lot of Amfest ones, right?

00:07:06.000 This has never happened.

00:07:08.000 There has never been such widespread agreement over, because what are they really telling you when they're picking who they want for the future nominee, right?

00:07:16.000 What is the base?

00:07:16.000 What is the turning point family telling you?

00:07:19.000 This is the direction we want to go in the future.

00:07:22.000 This is what we want for the future of the movement, for the future of the party.

00:07:27.000 And there, you know, the media wanted to talk about all of the different factions in the coalition, right?

00:07:33.000 This is near, you know, it's nearly unanimous.

00:07:38.000 It's overwhelming.

00:07:40.000 And we asked a lot of other questions.

00:07:43.000 It doesn't matter what the answers for different demographic groups, how one favored others, something over the other.

00:07:48.000 It doesn't matter.

00:07:49.000 When it comes to this question, who do you want for your nominee?

00:07:52.000 Everybody is in agreement.

00:07:53.000 There's not a single group that's disconnected or has a different opinion.

00:07:58.000 You know, always, and this is statistics, you're always going to have marginal support for something over another, right?

00:08:04.000 I mean, that's just the way it works.

00:08:05.000 This is about as uniformity as you get.

00:08:09.000 Close to uniformity as you get.

00:08:10.000 So just so people have the exact numbers, it's 84.2% chose JD Vance.

00:08:16.000 4.8%, so just under 5%, chose Marco Rubio.

00:08:20.000 2.9% chose Ron DeSantis.

00:08:23.000 1.8% chose Don Jr.

00:08:26.000 0.3% chose Ted Cruz.

00:08:29.000 And 0.4% chose Yunkin.

00:08:31.000 I'm not sure why the orders got swapped there.

00:08:34.000 But so that is basically the field, you know, Undecided was at 2.5%.

00:08:41.000 And we had 3.1% write-ins, right?

00:08:44.000 So I don't know if there was anybody worth mentioning in the write-in section, Rich, but that is the field that people most predict for 2028.

00:08:54.000 There is something worth mentioning, all right?

00:08:58.000 And that is there is there are more than a few responses for Donald J. Trump for a third term, right?

00:09:07.000 But again, I mean, you're going to get that some, and that just shows you how much the president is loved, right, by the base.

00:09:13.000 But there's outside of that, you know, there's a representation of libertarian wing.

00:09:18.000 You get a few for Thomas Massey and stuff like that.

00:09:21.000 But it's not, you know, you can see the percentage guys collectively what that comes to.

00:09:26.000 It's still not that much.

00:09:28.000 I mean, this poll, the results of this poll are very clear.

00:09:32.000 We don't get results like this.

00:09:33.000 It just doesn't happen.

00:09:35.000 Hey, Rich, I have a question.

00:09:36.000 In the history of a turning point straw poll that you've conducted, have we ever seen a question like this get, you know, have a front runner with this much margin of victory?

00:09:47.000 Nope.

00:09:48.000 That's what I was just about to say.

00:09:50.000 Especially, I mean, could you imagine this early?

00:09:52.000 We did turning point straw polls going into 24 even, and it was a robust field.

00:09:58.000 There's some pretty, you know, significant debate between who, do we want Ron DeSantis?

00:10:03.000 Do we want President Trump?

00:10:04.000 President Trump was always winning that and winning it overwhelmingly.

00:10:08.000 But this early particularly, it's not because we don't have a vision of where other candidates would take the party, Andrew.

00:10:16.000 That's not what's going on here.

00:10:17.000 It's that people do understand the differences in whatever minor or major they may be.

00:10:22.000 They understand it.

00:10:23.000 They are choosing JD Vance.

00:10:25.000 They're choosing the vice president.

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00:11:31.000 Charlie loved Christmas, and we love Christmas around here.

00:11:34.000 So Merry Christmas to all of you.

00:11:35.000 We are a mere three days out from the big day.

00:11:38.000 I'm very excited about that.

00:11:40.000 So, Blake, I promised you that you were going to get to do the big reveal.

00:11:44.000 It is about to be, it's about ready to be thrown up.

00:11:48.000 So, I don't know.

00:11:49.000 You want to take it away, Blake?

00:11:50.000 Yeah, it'll be ready by the time I get to it.

00:11:53.000 We were, we actually were shopping what questions to put into the straw poll.

00:11:57.000 We just did it the night, I think Saturday night.

00:11:59.000 We were talking about what to put into it.

00:12:01.000 And obviously, we had the stuff, we've had debates over the past year about America's relationship with Israel, how it relates to stuff in the Middle East.

00:12:11.000 We had people bring it up on stage.

00:12:13.000 It was a recurring theme in our member exclusives interviews.

00:12:16.000 So we just said, throw in to the attendees, what best describes what your view of Israel is?

00:12:21.000 Do you view them as our number one ally, as just one ally of many, or do you think they're not an American ally, which some prominent figures have said.

00:12:31.000 And do we have that result ready to throw up?

00:12:32.000 Yeah, let's throw up 178. 0.98

00:12:34.000 And I think the result was pretty refreshing.

00:12:36.000 You got, you said 33% said it was our top ally.

00:12:40.000 53% went for one of many.

00:12:42.000 And 13% said not an ally, which I think you mentioned it is the youngest group we've had at Amfest.

00:12:49.000 And I think it does put into perspective, I think, one ally of many, it gets an outright majority.

00:12:55.000 I think that would probably describe the position Charlie was in over the last couple of years, that they are a friendly country.

00:13:05.000 They're a country we care about, but they're not necessarily this monomaniacal focus that we must be fixated on to the exclusion of other potential allies.

00:13:14.000 And I think this also shows only 13% say not an ally, that they're basically at best a neutral or perhaps even a hostile country to us.

00:13:23.000 This is a take you hear a lot online.

00:13:24.000 It's a take you hear a lot on X.

00:13:26.000 It's a take some influencers really push.

00:13:28.000 But I don't think it's really, it's taking over the GOP in the way that a lot of critics have tried to argue.

00:13:36.000 Yeah.

00:13:37.000 So, so, Rich, if you go online, you would be entirely surprised by the fact that within, you know, a statistically significant sample of the youngest and the youngest sample set that we've ever had from an Amphest straw poll, that 13.3%, like you, if you went online, you would think it would be like 50-50.

00:13:56.000 What do you make of this poll result?

00:13:59.000 And what's your message to the GOP with this in mind?

00:14:02.000 You know, neither Laura or I were surprised by this.

00:14:05.000 And we were thinking and comparing it to what we see.

00:14:07.000 And it really has been a trend with the general public, not just among the base of the Republican Party.

00:14:14.000 Look, the internet is real, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's really representative, right?

00:14:20.000 I mean, that's the difference people have to keep reminding themselves when they see these narrative wars and these pushes online.

00:14:27.000 This is basically representative, too, of what we heard walking around and talking to people.

00:14:32.000 I mean, Andrew, and same thing with winning the midterms, by the way.

00:14:35.000 That was the number one question I got walking around talking with different people.

00:14:39.000 They would say, oh, this is, you know, great.

00:14:40.000 And I understand the debate, but we really, you know, what can we do to win?

00:14:44.000 We want to win.

00:14:45.000 That was overwhelming.

00:14:47.000 Just walking around the place.

00:14:48.000 So a lot of this didn't surprise me.

00:14:50.000 I do think, though, that it is a bit of a wake-up call to, you know, the older guard of the GOP who are used to, they've become, there's an expectation, you know, that Israel will get a always, you know, like a bit of a privileged or special place in the conversation.

00:15:10.000 And that's not where the future really sees our, you know, when it comes to, you know, where we prioritize our public foreign policy.

00:15:20.000 That's just not the future that people see, especially among younger people.

00:15:26.000 So that's something they'll have to come to grip with, but it doesn't mean there's this outward hatred or anti-Semitism.

00:15:33.000 It's just like, hey, look, we have been put last for a very long time.

00:15:36.000 We just want to be put first.

00:15:38.000 And we don't really think that, you know, questioning the old orthodoxy or the right is a bad thing.

00:15:46.000 And I'm not necessarily sure it is myself, Andrew, you know, to be honest.

00:15:50.000 No, no, totally.

00:15:51.000 I share some of that.

00:15:52.000 I think you articulated it well.

00:15:54.000 And in hour one, Rich, I said, you know, what's interesting about Amfest and Turning Point in these conferences, we're looking to define the dominant core of a winning coalition, right?

00:16:06.000 The dominant center cut.

00:16:09.000 And so you're going to get these really loud voices that want us to be anti-Israel.

00:16:12.000 You're going to get these really loud voices that want us to, you know, essentially say that Israel is the most important topic that there is because it's a proxy war for other things, whatever.

00:16:22.000 What we found here is that, you know, my takeaway from this poll, Rich, was that maybe a couple years ago, maybe five, 10 years, before October 2023, October 7th, that you maybe would have seen that chunk that said it's our top ally be a little larger.

00:16:37.000 And where it looks like the consensus of the movement is really going is that, hey, Israel is an ally, but they're one of many.

00:16:46.000 And so let's just put our own country first.

00:16:48.000 I think that is the new consensus that is emerging on the right.

00:16:52.000 And that's an important insight to glean from this.

00:16:55.000 I really believe that.

00:16:58.000 This is Lane Schoenberger, Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of WhyReFi.

00:17:03.000 It has been an honor and a privilege to partner with Turning Point and for Charlie to endorse us.

00:17:08.000 His endorsement means the world to us, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Turning Point for years to come.

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00:18:06.000 Without further ado, Rich, we got to get to these other polls, okay?

00:18:14.000 These other poll questions.

00:18:16.000 And I think they're really important.

00:18:17.000 So we've already kind of mentioned what are the most important topics for people.

00:18:23.000 Blake kind of already did the big reveal.

00:18:25.000 165.

00:18:27.000 Winning the midterms is the most important by far.

00:18:30.000 Let's go ahead and show that image 165.

00:18:33.000 All right.

00:18:34.000 See how much it stands out.

00:18:35.000 It's like, you know, it's a sore thumb right there.

00:18:38.000 It is by far and away the number one topic.

00:18:42.000 And to Blake's point, it kind of had me wishing we wouldn't have done that.

00:18:46.000 Just so we could have seen what the other ones.

00:18:48.000 But what we see behind it are voter integrity, voter ID at 9.3%, the affordability crisis, which I'm not surprised at at 8.1%, mass deportations, 5.3%, and accountability for deep state law fare at 4.2%, rounding out the top five issues.

00:19:06.000 It's really the midterms.

00:19:08.000 Yeah, go ahead, Blake.

00:19:10.000 Ending the war in Ukraine dead last.

00:19:13.000 I think, what is that?

00:19:14.000 0.4%?

00:19:15.000 It's well under 1%.

00:19:17.000 And yeah.

00:19:18.000 I noticed that too.

00:19:20.000 Ending the war in Ukraine is the last.

00:19:24.000 I think because we're not sending them money like we used to be.

00:19:27.000 I mean, that's what really, I think, brought it home for people is it felt like we're running these huge deficits.

00:19:31.000 We've got this huge tax burden.

00:19:33.000 The economy sucks.

00:19:34.000 And we're spending all our money on a war abroad to fight Putin.

00:19:39.000 And that's what made it.

00:19:40.000 Yeah.

00:19:40.000 Go ahead, Rich.

00:19:41.000 Well, I was just going to say, I think it's indicative of two things.

00:19:44.000 One is how many problems people think that we have, right?

00:19:48.000 That has to get before that because I don't think there's much support out there for the Ukraine war anymore.

00:19:53.000 And then, two, is I do think, and I'm just from speaking to people about this, I think everybody pretty much sees the ends in sight.

00:20:00.000 It's really kind of only a matter of time among the base anyway.

00:20:04.000 They definitely do.

00:20:06.000 Whereas, you know, the public, that's a little bit, that would be a different result if we were polling the general public.

00:20:12.000 But as far as the, you know, not adding the winning the midterms, I do hear what you guys are saying, but in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, I think I am glad we did it this way because it does show that despite, again, what the media narrative was or was trying to spin, at the end of the day, like the turning point family wants to win.

00:20:34.000 I mean, despite everything that they tried to showcase is division, they want to win.

00:20:39.000 And the reason for that is simple because they know what's unlike maybe some of the middle of the country, middle of the road, and less politically active parts of our coalition.

00:20:52.000 They don't understand what's going to happen if Democrats win.

00:20:56.000 I mean, that's what it comes down to.

00:20:57.000 Well, the base does.

00:20:59.000 They know what kind of turbulence, if that's even the appropriate word, we're in for.

00:21:06.000 What's on the horizon there?

00:21:07.000 Yeah, people get it.

00:21:08.000 Yeah, they get it.

00:21:09.000 Let's go ahead and throw this one I thought was really, really surprised me, actually.

00:21:16.000 And this was the what are the biggest threats facing the country?

00:21:20.000 Let's go ahead and throw up 164, biggest threats facing America right now.

00:21:26.000 And up at the top, now this was a rank order poll.

00:21:30.000 So people could go one through whatever the number was.

00:21:34.000 And by far, radical Islam, Rich, did this surprise you?

00:21:38.000 Radical Islam, surprisingly. 0.99

00:21:40.000 And then socialism, Marxism is number two, mass migration number three. 0.86

00:21:45.000 Yeah, you know what?

00:21:46.000 It did a little, but then when I was looking at it, I thought this.

00:21:49.000 The first two that really are at the top of the rank distribution are ideologies that the base feels are just not compatible with the American ideals, the American way of life.

00:22:02.000 And then everything else kind of is stemmed.

00:22:05.000 Yes, there are problems, there are social problems, there are economic problems.

00:22:08.000 But if we could tackle this other thing first, which is that fundamentally, we've been letting in a lot of people who are not really compatible or not, you know, that, and some of those other problems are stemming from that.

00:22:23.000 So, yeah, I mean, I did see where they were, where they were coming from with this.

00:22:27.000 And then when after you get past rank two, into rank three through five, we start to see, you know, those other, you know, more traditional things that we would expect people to say.

00:22:36.000 So, you know, given that, of course, large faith-based, you know, obviously this is a where there's a population that is extremely Christian.

00:22:46.000 So they're extremely pro-America, extremely nationalist.

00:22:50.000 So they're looking at some of these ideas that over in the long term, Andrew, it's almost like some of the other things are just symptoms to a greater problem and we have to deal with the greater problem.

00:23:00.000 Blake, what's your take on the top five here?

00:23:04.000 Number one is just a big testament, frankly, to Charlie, who was really fixated on that topic in the last few months of his life.

00:23:11.000 He talked about it a lot.

00:23:13.000 And I think he deserves some credit for really bringing it back.

00:23:16.000 In some ways, you could say it feels like a time warp to 2002 or something.

00:23:21.000 And then we went through a pretty long period where it was more in the background, yet it still remains a concern.

00:23:28.000 And the reason it's a concern is because of issue number three: mass migration.

00:23:32.000 We still, we went to fight them over there so that we could then import them over here and then have to fight them here again. 1.00

00:23:38.000 And Charlie really saw that when he was in the UK.

00:23:42.000 He was really becoming concerned.

00:23:43.000 It was hitting him.

00:23:44.000 We're going to have this very large, often very radical Islamic component to Western societies that just did not exist before 15, 20 years ago.

00:23:57.000 And I think he really did a lot of work to spread that awareness among the base.

00:24:03.000 Besides that, I think it's really interesting that corrupt courts, so to speak, has broke into the top five.

00:24:09.000 That's expressing this realization that the biggest obstacle to a lot of President Trump's core agenda, certainly on mass deportations, or DEI, is this fact there's just judges who seem to have really taken it to heart that even if they have no legal basis, no constitutional basis for what they're doing, they can gum up the process for years on end.

00:24:33.000 If you need the Supreme Court to step in for anything the president wants to do, you can really slow down the agenda in a big way.

00:24:41.000 I was most surprised besides, I was really surprised that low fertility finished second from last.

00:24:48.000 That was a big topic.

00:24:49.000 Charlie's talked about.

00:24:50.000 It's a big thing.

00:24:50.000 A lot of people have talked about the need to revive the American family, the need for people to have more kids.

00:24:57.000 But we didn't successfully get it out of the basement on this poll.

00:25:00.000 It was right there, just only above technology and AI as a concern for America.

00:25:06.000 Can I just add something to that real quick?

00:25:08.000 Because I was too.

00:25:09.000 I was stunned by that.

00:25:10.000 And then I remembered that Benny gave this blockbuster speech.

00:25:15.000 And on the big screen, he threw up this graph showing a recovery in fertility rates, especially among Christians in general.

00:25:25.000 And I thought, I hope that didn't impact that because it showed that there has been a lot of improvement in recent years as opposed to what was really, and I still believe is an existential threat to our culture, to our way of life, to our, you know, being able to, in perpetuity, continue the American experience.

00:25:48.000 So I thought about it and I said, well, there was that.

00:25:51.000 And that speech was attended.

00:25:54.000 That was a barn.

00:25:55.000 He really, he lit the house on fire with that.

00:25:57.000 It was great.

00:25:58.000 But I wonder if that didn't have something to do with it or people in general aren't thinking that we're making more progress with it.

00:26:05.000 But like Blake, I think that's something that, you know, myself included, I mean, we need to keep an eye on because, you know, while there has been progress, it's not nearly enough.

00:26:15.000 I want to go to another one here, Rich.

00:26:17.000 And this is a fascinating one.

00:26:19.000 Pick for your approval rating of various members of the Trump cabinet.

00:26:25.000 And I think some people might be surprised at who came out on top.

00:26:29.000 You know, I thought for sure it was going to be Secretary Rubio.

00:26:32.000 But let's go ahead and throw up 163. 0.94

00:26:35.000 And the way that you walk with the audience through, Rich, how you had people answer this question.

00:26:39.000 So it was basically the same way that a pollster will ask about the approval for the president, only this time you said, look, we want to ask about the cabinet members one by one.

00:26:48.000 Tell us whether you approve or disapprove.

00:26:50.000 And of course, gave them the option for strongly somewhat.

00:26:55.000 And can I just go ahead?

00:26:56.000 Oh, it's up.

00:26:56.000 So I can just go ahead and say it.

00:26:58.000 Look, Secretary Hegset, Pete blew it away.

00:27:01.000 83% who strongly approve of the job that he's doing.

00:27:05.000 I mean, overall, with the exception of a few here and there, Pam Bondi stands out.

00:27:10.000 Others are just not as well known, right?

00:27:12.000 And they're not in the public light as much, like Doug Bargham, for instance.

00:27:16.000 For the exception of a few, the cabinet members are doing well.

00:27:21.000 RFK did extremely well.

00:27:23.000 Robert Kennedy Jr. did extremely well.

00:27:25.000 I mean, incredible.

00:27:26.000 But Hegset definitely came out on top here. 1.00

00:27:29.000 Secretary of Rubio did strong as well.

00:27:32.000 But strongly approved for him was 79%.

00:27:35.000 But it really does come out.

00:27:36.000 You know, I think it's the fighting spirit, Andrew.

00:27:38.000 You know, when the media comes after him and says, we're going to, we're going to, this is a war crime.

00:27:42.000 We're going to impeach you for this.

00:27:43.000 He says, yeah, and I'm going to smoke another narco-terrorist. 0.99

00:27:47.000 I mean, this guy, you got the base wants their leaders to fight.

00:27:52.000 They want their leaders to fight for them.

00:27:54.000 They want them to fight back.

00:27:56.000 And Pete Hexaf fights back.

00:27:58.000 Well, yeah, I mean, that's exactly right.

00:28:00.000 You know, who surprised me on this as well was, and I was looking, was Secretary Christy Noam, Department of Homeland Security.

00:28:09.000 I actually thought she performed extraordinarily well in this poll.

00:28:14.000 And I had been hearing that maybe she wouldn't perform as well in this poll.

00:28:18.000 So she got 72.8% strongly approved, 17.3% somewhat approve, right?

00:28:24.000 And so people love deportations, Rich.

00:28:28.000 They love the deportations.

00:28:30.000 That's what it comes down to.

00:28:31.000 And I was thinking much along the lines of what you just said, but she's a part of what people see to be Trump's biggest success or part of that entire issue.

00:28:44.000 And on that note, yeah, Rich, why don't we just throw it up?

00:28:48.000 The 169 Trump 2.0 biggest accomplishments.

00:28:52.000 We have a minute left in this segment.

00:28:54.000 And it's deportations and securing the border.

00:28:58.000 I mean, one and two, those are the things people are most happy about.

00:29:02.000 Yeah, it's overwhelming.

00:29:04.000 And you know what?

00:29:04.000 On this note, and I know we're getting close to the end of the segment.

00:29:07.000 On this note, the administration is starting to do a better job of reminding the American people about this accomplishment.

00:29:14.000 The base knows the base is giving him credit for it.

00:29:17.000 He's got to do a little bit better.

00:29:18.000 They know that.

00:29:19.000 It's good that he's trying because unfortunately, it's a sad testament to the American voter.

00:29:24.000 When you fix a problem, they forget.

00:29:26.000 And you have to constantly remind them that remember what it was.

00:29:29.000 The president did that in his speech the other, the prime time speech, by the way.

00:29:33.000 And that was the right move.

00:29:36.000 Good conversation is about showing respect.

00:29:39.000 It's how we create a space where people are able to share their ideas and to be heard.

00:29:44.000 Charlie knew that.

00:29:46.000 TikTok has always strived to build that kind of place that thrives on respectful connection, where curiosity fuels connection and we can share what's on our minds and learn from each other.

00:29:56.000 When ideas meet respect, good things happen.

00:29:58.000 On TikTok, you can find a mechanic explaining the why behind a problem most of us wouldn't even know how to name, or a father sharing a lifetime of knowledge with his viewers.

00:30:08.000 Viewers who listen, discuss, and respond.

00:30:11.000 TikTok turns connection into community through small acts of understanding.

00:30:15.000 You can feel it in the comments in the thank you from a stranger halfway across the world.

00:30:20.000 TikTok is a place where respect opens the door for discussion and discussion helps us build something real.

00:30:26.000 Portions of our program are sponsored in part by TikTok.

00:30:31.000 Rich, your lovely wife gave you an insight on that fertility rate thing. 0.99

00:30:35.000 What was the point there?

00:30:37.000 Yeah, the point was a lot of after you got past that, you know, first and second tier, a lot of it was about affordability.

00:30:43.000 And maybe people, you know, are worried or concerned about being able to afford to have a lot of children, right?

00:30:48.000 Or other people's ability to have other children.

00:30:51.000 So you put that stuff first in your mind when you're considering these as priorities.

00:30:57.000 And I hadn't thought about that point, but it's probably some of that has to do with it.

00:31:01.000 Yeah, I think you're right.

00:31:02.000 I think affordability, I mean, also, you know, the thing that occurs to me in that particular venue with those particular people, there's so many babies and kids running around.

00:31:11.000 You know, like probably those people think, you know, we're going to have a lot of babies.

00:31:15.000 That's not our top concern.

00:31:16.000 So that's my other theory on that.

00:31:18.000 And we have the most responded to youngest by average age of the respondent, Straw Poll, that we are unpacking with big data poll, Rich Barris, the pollster that conducted the poll on our behalf.

00:31:32.000 And this one, Rich, I think I'm just going to say it.

00:31:36.000 Backstage, I had a conversation with a very important person that we're mapping out 2026 in the midterms.

00:31:42.000 And I'm telling you, you know, you've got this issue of base fatigue or maybe lack of enthusiasm, whatever it is.

00:31:48.000 We saw this with some of the special elections.

00:31:50.000 We struggle in off years.

00:31:52.000 The question is, how do you get people energetic?

00:31:55.000 And I looked at the early results on this, this question, this next one, and I said, I'm telling you, I know people are terrified of it.

00:32:02.000 I know that the rank and file Republican in D.C. is terrified of it.

00:32:07.000 The base wants this.

00:32:08.000 If you want to drive base turnout, lean into this issue.

00:32:11.000 Find a way to thread the needle so you don't freak out the people that are in these contested elections, I'm sure.

00:32:19.000 But I'm telling you, this will drive turnout.

00:32:20.000 I think it's a winner even amongst some Democrats that don't want to even admit it or independents that don't want to admit it.

00:32:27.000 They don't necessarily want to say it out loud.

00:32:29.000 We asked the question, Rich, would you support an immigration moratorium?

00:32:35.000 Go ahead and throw up 168.

00:32:36.000 This did way better than even I anticipated, 168.

00:32:41.000 Look at that number.

00:32:42.000 The purple number.

00:32:43.000 90%.

00:32:44.000 90% of the attendees at America Fest, which again is those, these are the grassroots.

00:32:50.000 This is like the plumbers, the electricians.

00:32:52.000 These are everyday people that attend this and lots of students.

00:32:56.000 They want an immigration moratorium.

00:32:58.000 Now, I am not naive.

00:33:00.000 I know that the Republicans in Congress are not ready to tackle this issue.

00:33:05.000 I strongly encourage you to reconsider your appetite for this issue ahead of the midterms.

00:33:11.000 Rich, what's your takeaway here?

00:33:12.000 Yeah, I would say suck it up, buttercup. 0.81

00:33:15.000 I mean, if you remember when President Trump posted that he would do the moratorium, we actually polled that even nationally and it did extremely well.

00:33:23.000 That was right before Tennessee, the special election in Tennessee 7.

00:33:27.000 And if you remember, Emerson had a poll.

00:33:29.000 It was very close.

00:33:30.000 It was only two points.

00:33:31.000 And then I came on the show to tell you that once he did that, how much extremely enthusiastic and certainty to vote jumped by double digits.

00:33:41.000 And I do attribute that larger margin than some people expected to have come from giving him a little bit of a shot, a wake-up call to the base, wake-up call to the voters.

00:33:50.000 This is popular.

00:33:51.000 Not only is it popular, I mean, look at some of the other questions.

00:33:55.000 You know, mass migration is viewed as an existential threat to people.

00:33:58.000 So to have this as a backbone issue, which you can then deliver an economic message out of, right?

00:34:05.000 Like so many of our problems come from this immigration issue basically being broken since Hart Seller, right? 0.96

00:34:12.000 So this is a gold mine, Andrew, a gold mine.

00:34:16.000 So I mean, strongly suggest, I would tell them, you got to do it.

00:34:20.000 You want to win.

00:34:21.000 Do it.

00:34:22.000 Lean into it.

00:34:23.000 Make it the case.

00:34:24.000 Oh, sorry.

00:34:26.000 Yeah, it's just, yeah, honestly, when I saw it get 90%, the first question that came to mind was, do they all know what a moratorium is?

00:34:36.000 But listen, go ahead.

00:34:41.000 Go ahead.

00:34:42.000 It shows the energy for the base because in practice, would a full moratorium, would it really have 90% support?

00:34:48.000 I'm not sure.

00:34:49.000 I kind of like the idea, but I'm also, I realize that would be pretty dramatic for a lot of people.

00:34:57.000 But I think it shows the energy on this.

00:34:59.000 It shows how people are enthusiastic to see a sea change on immigration, that there's really been an expansion of what people see as possible in American politics.

00:35:09.000 Oh, you actually can secure your border.

00:35:12.000 You actually can deport people, especially criminals, people who hate America, and so on.

00:35:17.000 And so people are also entertaining.

00:35:20.000 Oh, you actually can stop.

00:35:23.000 You don't need to let people into your country necessarily.

00:35:26.000 That's a choice that you can make.

00:35:28.000 We've also had horrific scandals lately, right, that highlighted some of these in Minnesota and there are others, right?

00:35:36.000 They haven't gotten as much media attention, but people are seeing this, you know, when they open up their social media.

00:35:41.000 They are seeing this.

00:35:42.000 And again, we did poll a very similar question nationally and it got 55% support.

00:35:47.000 So, you know, I think that people are at a point where they understand that this thing has been kind of like a runaway, you know, car for years.

00:35:55.000 Somebody's got to pump the brake until we figure out what it is, until we get our hands on what has happened and what needs to happen going forward.

00:36:03.000 Because we just, how much more of this can we take, right?

00:36:06.000 How much more of this can we take?

00:36:07.000 Well, Rich, thank you for partnering with us and turning point action, getting this poll done, this straw poll done.

00:36:13.000 And I think the results are wonderfully revealing about where, again, that core center winning coalition is ideologically where they're at on the issues, where they're at on Trump, where they're at on Vance, where they're at on the cabinet.

00:36:27.000 Well done, my friend.

00:36:28.000 And thank you for joining us for this hour.

00:36:30.000 Thank you and Merry Christmas, guys.

00:36:33.000 Merry Christmas, Rich.

00:36:34.000 Merry Christmas to all of you as well out there.

00:36:37.000 We'll see you tomorrow.

The Charlie Kirk Show - December 23, 2025

Inside the 2025 AmericaFest Straw Poll

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