The Charlie Kirk Show - Less Amnesty, More Jobs

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, Charlie Kirk here live from the Bitcoin.com studio with some breaking Epstein news from President Trump.

00:00:07.000 Very positive, very encouraging.

00:00:09.000 We say thank you, President Trump.

00:00:10.000 And then the push for amnesty is on.

00:00:12.000 Maria Elvairas Salazar is pushing it.

00:00:16.000 And we talk about that.

00:00:17.000 And then Mike Rowe joins the program, one of my favorite people about something we've been talking about for quite some time.

00:00:22.000 Email us as always, freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:00:24.000 Subscribe to the Charlie Kirk Show podcast page and become a member today, members.charliekirk.com and get involved with TurningPointUSA at tpusa.com.

00:00:33.000 That is tpusa.com.

00:00:36.000 Buckle up, everybody.

00:00:36.000 Here we go.

00:00:38.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

00:00:39.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

00:00:41.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.

00:00:45.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

00:00:48.000 I want to thank Charlie.

00:00:49.000 He's an incredible guy.

00:00:50.000 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.

00:00:59.000 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.

00:01:07.000 That's why we are here.

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00:01:36.000 Happy Friday, everybody.

00:01:37.000 Breaking last night.

00:01:39.000 The Wall Street Journal attempted a terrible drive-by, as the great Rush Lumbaugh would say it, as I'm wearing my Rush Was Right t-shirt, of our phenomenal president. 0.98

00:01:49.000 I mean, this goes, as soon as I read the story, I said, this is the dumbest, obviously fakest thing. 0.98

00:01:55.000 I don't believe it. 0.98

00:01:56.000 Apparently, it was some sort of like a pseudo-love letter.

00:02:00.000 The bombshell story was some kind of birthday card album assembled for Epstein by Ghelane Maxwell in 2003.

00:02:10.000 There's no photo of the letter in question or the birthday cards supposedly sent by other people.

00:02:16.000 It only described by the Wall Street Journal, which also cites people familiar with them, so they clearly didn't see the whole thing.

00:02:22.000 The card is some sort of a hand-drawn illustration of a naked woman, Don and Marker, and then Donald Trump's signature over her midsection to apparently imitate pubic hair.

00:02:33.000 It's just like so for Epstein's 50th birthday.

00:02:37.000 The implication is that Trump might have made this illustration himself, which just sounds so bizarre.

00:02:41.000 When has he ever done anything like this?

00:02:43.000 Look, I have several handwritten notes from President Trump.

00:02:46.000 He's not a doodler.

00:02:48.000 He's not a draw.

00:02:49.000 I mean, this is nothing like him at all.

00:02:52.000 I mean, these are, yeah.

00:02:56.000 So there's a typed-up third-person conversation between Trump and Epstein where the lines attributed to Trump don't sound like him at all.

00:03:03.000 Like this, quote, enigmas never age. 1.00

00:03:07.000 Okay, let me just say this.

00:03:08.000 I know the president.

00:03:09.000 You guys know the president.

00:03:11.000 You have watched him for over a decade do MAGA rallies ever since he went down the golden escalator.

00:03:16.000 Does quote enigmas never age, quote, may every day be a wonderful secret?

00:03:21.000 Does that sound like President Donald Trump?

00:03:25.000 Trump never said, says Trump says this was all a hoax and says, as far as he's concerned, it sounds like it.

00:03:30.000 Nothing sounds remotely like Trump, like he would write up on his own.

00:03:33.000 And so the Wall Street Journal releases this last night.

00:03:36.000 Now, I quickly, and we quickly came to the president's defense because this thing was obviously a hit job, obviously a drive-by shooting trying to go after President Trump, trying to tie some of the Epstein news to President Trump to try to bring down his approval ratings and try to weaken him.

00:03:54.000 Right after that, though, was a like literally within an hour, President Donald Trump announced a bombshell development, massive, where President Donald Trump announced that he is authorizing Pam Bondi to move to unseal the grand jury testimony in the Ghana Maxwell case.

00:04:13.000 We discussed this a couple times throughout the week.

00:04:16.000 This is a massive development.

00:04:17.000 This is something that needs to be focused on.

00:04:20.000 For any of you that care about the Epstein story, what's likely to be in the transcripts?

00:04:24.000 Well, testimony of Epstein and Maxwell victims and witnesses, in particular their actions, their associations, locations, and timelines.

00:04:32.000 Discussions of physical and documentary evidence is likely to be in there.

00:04:36.000 Maxwell's phone wiretap records, logbooks, private island, and photographic evidence.

00:04:41.000 We don't know for sure if that's going to be in there, but any references to any of that stuff very well might be in the grand jury documents.

00:04:48.000 However, certain experts note that these transcripts may be limited in scope.

00:04:52.000 They will focus on Epstein and Maxwell, not on the broader allegations among other high-profile individuals.

00:04:59.000 But still, this is a phenomenal development.

00:05:01.000 And thank you, President Trump, and thank you to this Trump administration.

00:05:04.000 So the team decided to play, you know, I get along with the help of my friends is a little bit kind of as a light-hearted joke and a little bit of a wink and a nod.

00:05:12.000 You see, I went viral this week because I said, look, a lot of people that I know in the administration, my friends and the White House staff and throughout the government, they were working on this, that your voices were heard over the weekend at the Student Action Summit.

00:05:26.000 And people were mocking me.

00:05:27.000 They say, oh, Charlie, do you trust the government?

00:05:29.000 I said, look, okay, I'm not saying I trust the government.

00:05:32.000 I say my friends are working on this.

00:05:34.000 Well, it turns out it's, well, it looks like they were, and they deserve great credit for it.

00:05:39.000 For all the White House staff, for everyone that was involved in this, and especially, of course, the president.

00:05:44.000 This is a massive move and one that is met with celebration and one that is met with gratitude.

00:05:49.000 And one that honestly shows that President Trump is moving in a transparent way that Joe Biden never moved.

00:05:55.000 Joe Biden very well could have moved to unseal the grand jury documents.

00:06:00.000 Many of these things have been in the works.

00:06:03.000 And I didn't know how long any of this was going to take, obviously.

00:06:06.000 And look, this show is full of, at times, little Easter eggs and tidbits.

00:06:11.000 And instead of assuming the worst, perhaps I want everyone to see things more clearly.

00:06:16.000 And again, has President Trump not earned our trust at this time?

00:06:19.000 That's what I was trying to say back on Monday.

00:06:21.000 And maybe I said it a little imprecisely after a sleepless weekend and a high adrenaline event.

00:06:27.000 What I was trying to get at is after the tariffs, after the Iran, after the Iran situation, after all the successes, President Donald Trump is worthy of our confidence.

00:06:37.000 We should have a full confidence vote in President Donald Trump.

00:06:41.000 And throughout the entire week, I know that there was a lot of question of, hey, what's going on here?

00:06:46.000 What's going on here?

00:06:47.000 And now here we are on Friday.

00:06:49.000 Number one, he gets attacked just relentlessly by the Wall Street Journal in such an uncalled-for way.

00:06:54.000 And we have his back 100% against this smearing and this slandering.

00:06:59.000 And then number two, President Donald Trump has authorized Pam Bondi in a historic way to show a commitment to transparency and what he has said this entire week.

00:07:10.000 And he has always had an ace in the hole to play.

00:07:13.000 Boom.

00:07:14.000 Last night, President Donald Trump drops this massive news.

00:07:18.000 And President Donald Trump has been alluding to that all week.

00:07:21.000 I want the credible information out.

00:07:22.000 You know, if it's credible, we should get it out.

00:07:24.000 And the grand jury documentation largely is credible and should be received as such.

00:07:28.000 And also, let's just be honest, everybody.

00:07:31.000 We do not want what has happened this last week to slow down the momentum of this great administration.

00:07:36.000 We're not going to let that happen on this program.

00:07:37.000 That is why we're going to cover this in just one segment.

00:07:40.000 We have Mike Rowe later this week, later this hour.

00:07:43.000 And then I'm going to talk about amnesty the next segment.

00:07:45.000 This is very important, and the president deserves thanks.

00:07:48.000 So, for any of you in the audience that were a little uneasy, that were a little anxious, I think it's morally incumbent on you to say, thank you, President Trump.

00:07:57.000 Thank you for stepping up and for doing this.

00:07:59.000 Thank you, President Trump, for fulfilling what you said you were going to do because he does deserve credit.

00:08:05.000 And the entire White House administration deserves credit because they've been dealing with 900 different things.

00:08:11.000 And I know that patience in the time of social media is a virtue that is lost.

00:08:16.000 It's very difficult for a lot of us.

00:08:17.000 I'm one of the most impatient people imaginable.

00:08:19.000 My entire team will tell you.

00:08:20.000 It's like, where's it going?

00:08:21.000 What's happening in real time?

00:08:22.000 Mike, you will attest to this.

00:08:23.000 I'm one of the most impatient people ever created on God's green earth.

00:08:28.000 But President Donald Trump, we should take a step back.

00:08:30.000 He's doing a phenomenal job.

00:08:31.000 The border's secure.

00:08:32.000 The economy is doing much better.

00:08:33.000 He's ending wars all over the world.

00:08:36.000 That he has earned one of my favorite words in the English language.

00:08:40.000 He has earned our confidence.

00:08:43.000 He has earned it.

00:08:45.000 And I think we should say at this particular time, this is a massive move.

00:08:51.000 It is a major move that is deserving of gratitude and of thanks with all the other stuff that he's working on.

00:08:58.000 But also, it was very fun to see.

00:09:00.000 Nothing unites MAGA like fake news.

00:09:04.000 And it was also so interesting because the DOJ news became second.

00:09:09.000 It was very telling when to see who actually came to the president's defense when this Wall Street Journal piece was dropped.

00:09:17.000 It was very telling.

00:09:19.000 A lot of people were coming to the president's defense after the Pam Bondi news, but it was very telling that a lot of people did not defend the president there. 0.96

00:09:28.000 I mean, this is so ridiculous. 0.91

00:09:29.000 Someone said this is like the picture of Donald Trump, that Donald Trump did this. 0.97

00:09:33.000 It's such a joke that he's like some sort of doodler and now he's some, you know, he's Robert Frost or something as a poet.

00:09:42.000 It doesn't read like him.

00:09:43.000 It doesn't sound like him.

00:09:44.000 I don't believe it.

00:09:45.000 I will say, though, the Wall Street Journal story does not pass the smell test.

00:09:50.000 Why didn't Democrats use this story years ago?

00:09:52.000 It's a good question.

00:09:53.000 Nothing unites MAGA quite like fake news.

00:09:56.000 Last night was a big night.

00:09:57.000 We say thank you, President Trump.

00:09:59.000 And now it's in the hands of the courts.

00:10:01.000 It's in the hands of the Department of Justice.

00:10:03.000 And we'll see what happens.

00:10:07.000 Look, the headlines are getting darker by the day.

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00:11:06.000 We are going to keep our eyes closely on the move to unseal the documents and all Epstein news as it develops.

00:11:12.000 And we are not done with it by any means necessary.

00:11:15.000 But Andrew had all the fun yesterday.

00:11:17.000 I want to get in on the action.

00:11:19.000 You know, I took a day to kind of enjoy the beauty and the undisclosed location.

00:11:24.000 So I want to get out of the fun here.

00:11:26.000 There will be time next week we're going to cover all the Epstein stuff.

00:11:30.000 I got to get in on Amnesty.

00:11:31.000 That's fun.

00:11:31.000 I want to get in on that.

00:11:32.000 Andrew had a whole show on amnesty, and people are texting me.

00:11:35.000 They said, Charlie, Andrew's crushing it.

00:11:37.000 I said, oh, hold on.

00:11:38.000 Andrew did great, but I want to get, he gets all the amnesty fund.

00:11:41.000 The one day I take off, he gets a whole hour on amnesty.

00:11:45.000 I said, I want to jump into that because let's be honest, everybody, no amnesty is a core, core, core promise.

00:11:54.000 Andrew did a whole half, okay, he did a half an hour on amnesty.

00:11:57.000 And so I saw this clip, and I know her.

00:12:01.000 I know Maria Elvira Salazar.

00:12:04.000 We actually campaigned for her once. 0.97

00:12:06.000 She's in a very Cuban district, which is unusual why she's so pro-amnesty, being from a Cuban Venezuelan district, because there's not a lot of illegals in the Cuban demographic.

00:12:19.000 Many of them have come here legally or they came under legitimate asylum or refugee status.

00:12:23.000 So it doesn't make a lot of sense.

00:12:25.000 It'd make a lot more sense if she was a representative from a border town in Texas.

00:12:31.000 But remember, we warned about this a couple weeks ago.

00:12:34.000 I heard whispers of this yesterday.

00:12:36.000 A U.S. senator who I really respect text me, Charlie, real chats for amnesty on the hill.

00:12:40.000 In fact, let me read you the text from this U.S. senator.

00:12:43.000 Here it is.

00:12:44.000 He said, he said, we got to kill this amnesty push right now.

00:12:48.000 I'm so grateful for your post on this.

00:12:50.000 We really need to go hard on this.

00:12:51.000 I said, is there really a big amnesty push question?

00:12:53.000 He said, there is, yes, unless we kill this quickly.

00:12:56.000 So it's happening on Congress.

00:12:58.000 The president doesn't want amnesty.

00:12:59.000 But Congress is going to try to frame this in a manipulative and deceitful way.

00:13:02.000 Again, President Donald Trump, he has been resolute and stalwart in this.

00:13:06.000 So let's play this.

00:13:06.000 This is Maria Alvira Salazar, Chief Amnesty Czar of the U.S. Congress, the Dignity Act.

00:13:13.000 What is the one that I want to play, though?

00:13:15.000 Oh, yeah, Play Cut 402.

00:13:17.000 This is Miss Amnesty.

00:13:18.000 Oh, no, no, no, it's not amnesty, but it's amnesty.

00:13:21.000 If you ever say it's not amnesty, but it's 100% amnesty.

00:13:25.000 This is low-calorie amnesty.

00:13:27.000 I'm sorry, it's still amnesty.

00:13:28.000 Play cut 402.

00:13:30.000 They did break the law.

00:13:31.000 They are illegals or undocumented, but they have been here for more than five years, contributing to the economy.

00:13:37.000 Those people, someone gave them a job, and they are needed because we need hands in order to continue being the number one economy in the world.

00:13:44.000 So why don't we do something solomonic and let's break the baby into two.

00:13:49.000 No path to citizenship in my law.

00:13:52.000 No amnesty.

00:13:53.000 No path ever.

00:13:54.000 Just bring them out of the shadows, make them pay a fine for seven years.

00:13:58.000 That is billions of dollars to the treasury.

00:14:01.000 Make them give us 1% of their salary over seven years. 0.72

00:14:05.000 No federal programs, no health insurance, and then they can go back home for Christmas.

00:14:12.000 They can come back, continue working, buying homes, paying taxes, and contributing to the economy.

00:14:18.000 Okay. 0.62

00:14:19.000 First of all, she says, why don't we split something Solomonic and split the baby in two?

00:14:24.000 I don't know if she was being metaphorical.

00:14:26.000 In 1 Kings 3, you guys can read it.

00:14:28.000 That's not actually what happened.

00:14:30.000 Anyway, that's a whole separate, whole separate biblical issue.

00:14:32.000 First of all, Maria Elvira Salazar.

00:14:34.000 Let me tell you exactly how this is going to work. 1.00

00:14:36.000 If you pass this ridiculous dignity act, this is what will happen.

00:14:40.000 Every illegal will claim that they have been here for more than five years, thus ending all deportation in real time.

00:14:46.000 You see, Maria, she's lying to you.

00:14:48.000 Maria is deceiving you. 1.00

00:14:50.000 Congresswoman Elvira Salazar is a snake on this topic.

00:14:54.000 I just got to be honest. 1.00

00:14:55.000 She's like, oh, you know, we're going to have some dignity.

00:14:57.000 No, no, no.

00:14:58.000 This is not the Dignity Act.

00:14:59.000 This is the Stop Deportation Act of 2025.

00:15:02.000 So imagine if you've been here for three years.

00:15:05.000 To say you've been here for five years, that's an easy fib.

00:15:08.000 That is an easy lie.

00:15:10.000 All of a sudden, a deportation officer knocks on your door and they have removal orders.

00:15:14.000 And our record keeping is a joke.

00:15:16.000 It is a fraud.

00:15:18.000 And all of a sudden, someone says, no, no, no, no.

00:15:20.000 Cinco, cinco on, cinco años, cinco años, cinco años.

00:15:23.000 That's all they have to say.

00:15:24.000 Cinco años, cinco años.

00:15:26.000 And all of a sudden, boom, the deportation officer has to go put them through a whole other rigmarole.

00:15:31.000 Our record keeping is a joke because we have intentionally sabotaged it.

00:15:35.000 We intentionally let people lie.

00:15:37.000 I'm not even going to get into the merits of how bad her idea is.

00:15:40.000 I'm getting down to the technical enforcement problem of what Maria Alvares Salazar, the amnesty czar of Congress, is saying.

00:15:47.000 What she is saying here basically is that all of a sudden we go get hands on someone that has been here for two years under the threshold, what she considers to be there.

00:15:56.000 And all they have to do, they have to say the magic words.

00:15:59.000 Remember, the hocus pocus words to get into America under Biden was asylum, asylum, asylum, asylum.

00:16:05.000 Those were the hocus-pocus words to be able to get to your travel agent from expedia.com, which Board of Patrol was.

00:16:11.000 Now the average words is all they have to say is two things in Spanish.

00:16:15.000 Cinco años.

00:16:19.000 If they say that, it's the secret password to stop all deportation.

00:16:23.000 Oh, but it's no pathway to citizenship.

00:16:26.000 Oh, but it's worse than amnesty.

00:16:28.000 It grinds mass portations that you voted for to a halt. 0.69

00:16:31.000 Okay, so look, I know Maria Alvira Salazar. 1.00

00:16:33.000 I'm sure she votes for us on certain stuff, but she is obsessed with this amnesty topic.

00:16:38.000 And for once, can we get actually what we voted for? 0.99

00:16:41.000 Maria Alvira-Salazar, she's only in the House majority because we voted for mass deportations. 0.92

00:16:47.000 She says, well, no pathway to citizenship.

00:16:49.000 So it's not amnesty.

00:16:50.000 Yes, again, it's worse than amnesty.

00:16:52.000 It grinds all the mass deportations that you voted for and remain massively popular to a halt.

00:16:58.000 But of course, that is the whole point.

00:17:00.000 And that is the kicker, everybody.

00:17:01.000 Don't look at the thing they're presenting to you.

00:17:04.000 Look at the actual thing that is being presented.

00:17:07.000 It is a head fake.

00:17:07.000 It is a smokescreen operation.

00:17:09.000 And she's trying to prey on the best intentions of MAGA.

00:17:12.000 Because a lot of MAGA says, yeah, I guess if you've been here for seven years, it's not about the seven years or eight years, even though that's wrong and they should all go.

00:17:19.000 It's about what it will do practically.

00:17:23.000 It's about what it will do.

00:17:24.000 So can we get this straight, Maria Elvira-Sarazar?

00:17:28.000 We passed this standing, amazing allocation of $100 billion for ICE.

00:17:35.000 And we have all these ICE agents who effectively will now be able to deport like a couple thousand people a year. 1.00

00:17:41.000 Because all that they have to do, and get how stupid this is. 0.95

00:17:44.000 All someone has to do now is wait for their five-year mark. 0.99

00:17:47.000 They just have to avoid law enforcement till five years.

00:17:50.000 So they just have to bounce around the country to sanctuary city to sanctuary city until they hit five years and then they're fine.

00:17:56.000 This is madness.

00:17:58.000 This is a congressionally created corporate-driven loophole.

00:18:02.000 Say, I'm going to split the baby. 0.97

00:18:04.000 Sit down, Maria Elvira. 0.80

00:18:06.000 We didn't vote for this. 0.98

00:18:07.000 I don't know who you are, what you think you're doing.

00:18:09.000 I campaigned for you once.

00:18:11.000 This is a joke.

00:18:12.000 This is a fraud.

00:18:13.000 And if you want to go run with the Democrats to go push amnesty, it's 100% amnesty.

00:18:17.000 Because what it would do, oh, it will not give them citizenship.

00:18:20.000 It will end all of what we voted for.

00:18:23.000 We did not have the rallies and millions of people vote in first-time numbers so we could have the ICE agents who are getting dox and having their lives put in danger not be able to do their job.

00:18:34.000 I want to just play one more piece of tape here from Maria Elvira Sarazar.

00:18:40.000 Let's go.

00:18:41.000 Oh, it's not in English.

00:18:42.000 Fitting.

00:18:43.000 Play Cut 428.

00:18:44.000 Yo, senor presidente.

00:18:46.000 El mismo dios que los se los albo usted de la muerta en Pennsylvania sé solamente humano, y que le púzo de ulta en los ficino val en contrade todo prognostico.

00:18:55.000 E el mismo dios todo poderoso.

00:18:58.000 Al que milliones hi milliones, le estánrogando hoy por dignidar, no por amnitía.

00:19:03.000 Señor presidente, yo se que usté puedecer para imigración lo que elin confue para la esclavitut de vegam par el communismo.

00:19:11.000 Okay, so if you didn't understand that, it's fine.

00:19:12.000 I'm reading the subtitles.

00:19:13.000 I don't speak Spanish.

00:19:14.000 Brian speaks Spanish.

00:19:15.000 So you understand that?

00:19:17.000 She said, be for dignity the same way that Lincoln was against slavery and Reagan was against communism.

00:19:23.000 I mean, that's just gross.

00:19:24.000 I'm sorry.

00:19:24.000 That is disgusting.

00:19:25.000 That is repulsive to kind of like morally blackmail MAGA as if this is like the new fight for the abolitionist slavery. 0.90

00:19:32.000 How about this, Maria? 1.00

00:19:34.000 Go home.

00:19:35.000 Not you, but to the people that you're trying to protect.

00:19:37.000 Go home.

00:19:38.000 Stop trying to guilt trip us.

00:19:40.000 Stop the moral blackmail.

00:19:41.000 We have no record keeping of any of the stuff.

00:19:43.000 You broke into America. 0.96

00:19:45.000 You get to valla candidos.

00:19:47.000 Go with God.

00:19:48.000 You've been in America.

00:19:50.000 Hasta la vista.

00:19:52.000 Enjoy your voyage.

00:19:53.000 Back to La Casa.

00:19:58.000 Gentlemen, let's get real for a second.

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00:21:15.000 Joining us now is the legendary Mike Rowe.

00:21:18.000 Mike, thank you so much for taking the time.

00:21:20.000 I want to start with cut 444 and we'll take it from there.

00:21:22.000 Play cut 444.

00:21:24.000 We've been telling kids for 15 years to code.

00:21:27.000 Learn to code, we said.

00:21:30.000 Yeah, well, AI is coming for the coders.

00:21:32.000 They're not coming for the welders.

00:21:34.000 They're not coming for the plumbers.

00:21:36.000 They're not coming for the steam fitters or the pipe fitters or the HVAC.

00:21:41.000 They're not coming for the electricians.

00:21:43.000 You know, that ideas festival I was telling you about in Aspen, I sat there and listened to Larry Fink say, we need 500,000 electricians in the next couple of years.

00:21:56.000 Not hyperbole.

00:21:58.000 This is me being the alarmist again.

00:22:01.000 Mike, that clip went so viral.

00:22:03.000 Thank you for saying that.

00:22:05.000 Tell us more about where you said it and the significance of your push to rebuild Blue Collar America.

00:22:12.000 Mike Rowe.

00:22:12.000 Thanks, Charlie.

00:22:14.000 Yeah, one of the craziest events I've ever attended simply because of its import and I think the lack of coverage that it's gotten.

00:22:26.000 This was the Energy and AI Summit convened in Pittsburgh a couple days ago by both sitting senators of that state.

00:22:36.000 This was primarily David McCormick's event.

00:22:40.000 He's the Republican, but John Fetterman was there, the Democrat, along with hundreds of people and 30 or 40 of the CEOs of the biggest companies in the country.

00:22:52.000 And the president was there.

00:22:54.000 I was on the stage with the president and 30 CEOs as they pledged $92 billion to create a bunch of jobs in the energy sector, specifically in Pennsylvania for the purposes of building data centers, which are basically AI factories, as we know.

00:23:17.000 And this was a big deal.

00:23:20.000 And I mean, everybody was there.

00:23:22.000 And I think I got invited to sort of remind the crowd that creating jobs is different than creating enthusiasm for jobs.

00:23:35.000 And, you know, I'm kind of a Debbie downer in a situation like that because I think a lot of people still cling to this idea that the way to get people back to work is to create jobs or create more opportunity.

00:23:49.000 But that kind of collapses under its own weight when you look at 7.6 million open jobs at the moment, including 500,000 open jobs in manufacturing.

00:24:00.000 So in general, Charlie, my message was, look, I was rooting for Obama in 2009 when he promised 3 million shovel-ready jobs in his Highway Infrastructure Act.

00:24:12.000 But I said at the time, very publicly, you're going to have a tough time selling 3 million shovel-ready jobs to a country that is not all that enthused about picking up a shovel.

00:24:22.000 And I worry too today with this president, if he succeeds, and I'm rooting for him too, I want to see reshoring.

00:24:30.000 I want to see this reindustrialization in this country, this manufacturing renaissance.

00:24:36.000 But he's going to create a couple million jobs if he pulls this off.

00:24:40.000 And we're living in a world and in a moment where we got 500,000 jobs in manufacturing right now that we can't fill.

00:24:48.000 So that's kind of why I was there in the only suit and tie that I actually own testifying.

00:24:55.000 I was shocked to see you dressed like a banker, Mike Rowe.

00:25:00.000 I wasn't even sure what to think of it.

00:25:02.000 I said, what is he doing?

00:25:03.000 Some sort of like a merger acquisition deal?

00:25:06.000 It was incredible.

00:25:08.000 But Mike, look at that.

00:25:10.000 Mike Rowe, as a banker, I said, this is new.

00:25:14.000 The president looked at me and said, Mike Rowe, I didn't recognize you in that getup.

00:25:18.000 And I said, well, Mr. President, you know, all my other suits are rubber if it makes you feel any better.

00:25:23.000 I love it.

00:25:24.000 So I want to dive into this for a second.

00:25:25.000 And Mike, you deserve such credit.

00:25:27.000 And I cite you all the time.

00:25:28.000 As you know, I am an outspoken critic of the current college model.

00:25:32.000 I didn't go to college.

00:25:34.000 I represent a lot of blue-collar workers who are fans of our show because I try to give a voice to that portion of the country.

00:25:43.000 But part of the problem, and we call them the muscular class on the show, as you know, Mike, part of the problem are parents around the country would rather have their kid go into debt to study sociology at Wellesley than to go work construction.

00:25:58.000 Can you speak to that?

00:26:00.000 Part of that needs to be a cultural change for specifically suburban America.

00:26:04.000 If their son says, mom, I want to be an electrician, they should applaud that.

00:26:09.000 They should celebrate it.

00:26:10.000 They should encourage it because they actually might have better character, a better financial balance sheet, less debt, and greater job opportunities than studying communications at University of Illinois.

00:26:22.000 Mike Rowe.

00:26:24.000 Well, to be charitable about it, I'm sympathetic to parents who are desperately trying not to screw their kids up.

00:26:34.000 There's no playbook for this, of course, and parents want to offer good advice.

00:26:40.000 They don't want to mess it up.

00:26:41.000 They're desperate for an instruction manual.

00:26:45.000 But we fall into this cookie cutter world where politicians in particular, but lots of other people too, speak very broadly and paint with a real broad brush.

00:26:56.000 And so a lot of parents who really don't know any better have been told from the get-go that the best path for the most people is the most expensive path and that their kids are screwed if they don't take that path.

00:27:08.000 Therefore, surprise, surprise, universities have been able to charge whatever they want, essentially, because the feds have opened up a bottomless pile of free money.

00:27:18.000 And we have collectively encouraged a whole generation to borrow whatever it takes to fulfill their dreams.

00:27:25.000 So it's not one person doing a really foolish thing.

00:27:29.000 It's a lot of people standing by watching a lot of dumb things happen, including, and perhaps especially the removal of shop class from high school.

00:27:40.000 That really put us, that put us on a road, Charlie, a bad road.

00:27:45.000 And, you know, it didn't just impact the widening skills gap.

00:27:51.000 It removed from view any optical proof that a regular kid could have that these muscular jobs exist, walking from English to math class and sticking your head in the metal shop and seeing that image right there.

00:28:07.000 At least you could get a look at something that resembled work.

00:28:12.000 But we took it all out.

00:28:13.000 We just arbitraged it right out of the whole process.

00:28:17.000 And so parents were left with this idea that there was really only one path for their kid.

00:28:24.000 And if their kid couldn't take that path, everything else, including that guy welding two pipes together, was some sort of vocational consolation prize.

00:28:35.000 Well, the chickens have come home to roost.

00:28:37.000 AI, as I said in that clip, is coming for the coders. 1.00

00:28:41.000 It's not coming for that guy.

00:28:43.000 That guy's job is secure and he's making mid-six figures.

00:28:47.000 And that's the message.

00:28:49.000 To shout.

00:28:50.000 So yes, I love that.

00:28:52.000 So I want to zero in on that because that's so important.

00:28:55.000 So number one, I can speak from personal experience.

00:28:58.000 I've never really been into crafts or shop.

00:29:01.000 That's not my focus or emphasis.

00:29:03.000 But I went to school at Wheeling High School in the suburbs of Chicago and we had a huge automotives and shop class.

00:29:08.000 However, it was always treated as if those were kind of like the secondary kids.

00:29:15.000 Like those are the kids that they're not in the AP classes and they're not the ones that are going to be getting the good jobs.

00:29:21.000 And it was kind of looked down upon.

00:29:23.000 Again, it wasn't said, you know, as audibly, but it was a vibe.

00:29:26.000 It was definitely the perspective that we were given that, come on, you're going to, you know, you're going to shop class.

00:29:34.000 You're kind of like beneath the surface.

00:29:36.000 So we need to change that.

00:29:39.000 But I want to just, in the three and a half minutes we have in this segment, because it's the most important thing.

00:29:42.000 We could talk about the vibes and the cultural stuff forever.

00:29:45.000 Can you go through the numbers, Micro?

00:29:47.000 How many of these muscular jobs are going to be necessary?

00:29:50.000 How many AI jobs are going to be lost?

00:29:53.000 And how many job openings are there right now in America that pay a decent wage that require a little bit of skill, a little bit of training, and a lot of hard work?

00:30:02.000 What is the current economic number showing us?

00:30:06.000 I can tell you what I know.

00:30:07.000 I don't have a crystal ball, obviously, so I'm not sure exactly how this is going to play out.

00:30:12.000 But in real time right now, we have 7.6 million open jobs, the vast majority of which do not require a four-year degree.

00:30:21.000 They require training.

00:30:23.000 Within that cohort, we've got another 482,000 jobs that are open in manufacturing right now.

00:30:31.000 I can't tell you definitively what they pay and what kind of path you're going to get on if you jump into that end of the pool, because state by state, it varies.

00:30:44.000 This is the thing, Charlie.

00:30:46.000 It's a trap.

00:30:47.000 You know, we want to be able to say, this is what a welder makes.

00:30:52.000 Well, I've trained 2,500 welders.

00:30:56.000 Many of them are making well into the six figures.

00:30:59.000 I just talked to a guy the other day who came back from the Gulf of Oman underwater welding 300 grand a year tax-free.

00:31:07.000 Okay.

00:31:07.000 Now, there are also welders in this country making $55,000, $60,000 in Louisiana and Ohio.

00:31:14.000 So it's difficult, right?

00:31:16.000 But here's what gets lost.

00:31:18.000 And here's what I'll leave you with, because I know you got to go to a break.

00:31:22.000 People talk about welders and electricians and steam fitters and pipe fitters as workers, period.

00:31:29.000 The vast majority of small businesses we have in this country were formed by men and women, but mostly men, who mastered a skill that was in demand and then went on to buy a couple of vans and hire their buddy, maybe a plumber, maybe a couple HVAC guys, maybe some electricians.

00:31:48.000 And now they have a mechanical contracting company and they're doing a few million bucks a year.

00:31:52.000 Those stories need to be told as well.

00:31:56.000 Because even though that event I was just at, that was all about the macro economy.

00:32:01.000 That was macro works.

00:32:03.000 I'm micro works, right?

00:32:05.000 And I don't want to lose sight of the individual.

00:32:08.000 I don't want to lose sight of the fact that mastering a skill that's in demand can still take the right person with a modicum of entrepreneurial spirit and a little bit of ambition.

00:32:21.000 It'll put that person on a road, and that road leads to someplace that looks an awful lot like prosperity.

00:32:28.000 Microworks.org.

00:32:30.000 That is microworks.org.

00:32:32.000 And thank you, Mike, for celebrating and, dare I say, giving the dignity that so many of these people deserve.

00:32:39.000 They are looked down upon so often, and they're the ones that make the entire economy work.

00:32:44.000 And as you say, Larry Fink says we need 500,000 new electricians.

00:32:49.000 He's not saying that we need 500,000 new sociologists.

00:32:52.000 No, he's not.

00:32:53.000 That's not the contention.

00:32:55.000 Right?

00:32:55.000 Right.

00:32:56.000 So hold that thought.

00:32:58.000 I could see you want to chime in there because let's talk about that because there is like this, there's this beacon being sent out by corporate America.

00:33:05.000 Hey, we need 500,000 electricians.

00:33:07.000 We need 250,000 pipe fitters.

00:33:09.000 We need carpenters.

00:33:10.000 We need welders.

00:33:11.000 No one is begging you for more sociologists.

00:33:14.000 That demand does not exist.

00:33:16.000 Their credential might exist in the community you come from, but the economy is not asking for more of it.

00:33:24.000 Private student loan debt in America totals about $300 billion.

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00:33:59.000 That is why.com.

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00:34:06.000 They provide you with a custom loan payment based on your ability to pay.

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00:34:11.000 So check it out right now at yrefi.com.

00:34:14.000 May not be available in all 50 states.

00:34:15.000 Go to yrefi.com.

00:34:16.000 That is why.com.

00:34:20.000 I want to point your attention to microworks.org.

00:34:23.000 That is microworks.org.

00:34:26.000 You guys can find out a ton of information on how you can also get a career in a high-quality job.

00:34:32.000 Look, what I love is that he's very real.

00:34:34.000 He's real that this is tough, gritty work.

00:34:36.000 And his show Dirty Jobs was just one of my favorite job shows growing up.

00:34:40.000 Mike, sorry, I cut you off.

00:34:41.000 You wanted to chime in about we don't need more sociology degrees.

00:34:45.000 Well, I want to agree with you, but make one other point vis-a-vis macro and micro.

00:34:50.000 On a macro works level, you're 100% right.

00:34:54.000 The country is not reeling or freaking out over a lack of sociologists or philosophers.

00:35:01.000 But the individual message is and always will be a bit more nuanced.

00:35:05.000 And you just reminded me of that line from Marco Rubio when he was running for office back in 2015, I guess it was.

00:35:13.000 And he said, our country needs more welders and fewer philosophers.

00:35:17.000 And of course, he's right, but he's not correct.

00:35:21.000 What we need, I believe, on an individual level, are more welders who can talk intelligently about Nietzsche and Descartes, right?

00:35:31.000 I mean, you didn't go to college, but you're educated, Charlie, and you're curious, and you've got a better liberal arts background than really most liberal arts students that I've ever met.

00:35:44.000 But it's equally true as well that we'd be better off as a people with more philosophers who could run an even bead and have a conversation, right, about the muscular trades.

00:35:57.000 So I don't want to be the guy who paints with too broad a brush, but I certainly agree with you.

00:36:03.000 When you talk, when you hear from a billionaire like Larry Fink freaking out over 500,000 empty slots and electricians, you start to get it.

00:36:14.000 And if you're me, not a week goes by where I don't hear from the American industrial base or the maritime base.

00:36:21.000 They need 140,000 welders for our submarines and the automotive industry who needs 80,000 people in collision repair and energy, who's 600,0700,000.

00:36:32.000 So, yeah, a memo has gone out.

00:36:35.000 The C-suite are paying attention, and that's good news.

00:36:39.000 So in closing here, Mike, I know that you're doing a great job of this.

00:36:43.000 How do the biggest impediment is the cultural one?

00:36:47.000 How then do we overcome this kind of cultural gap where so many are still not?

00:36:53.000 I know I asked the question previously, but let me rephrase it and reiterate it because it's very important.

00:36:56.000 I'm going to ask you plainly: how then do we make parents comfortable with their kids entering into these trades?

00:37:04.000 How do we make it socially and culturally acceptable?

00:37:07.000 A, it will take time.

00:37:09.000 B, it's a multi-front war.

00:37:12.000 There are a couple of things that I've seen work.

00:37:14.000 Actually, I take that back.

00:37:16.000 There's only one thing I've seen that actually moves the needle, both with parents, guidance counselors, which are also important, and of course, the kids themselves, which is the most important cohort.

00:37:27.000 And that is honest, authentic conversations with people who look like them and talk like them and who have mastered a skill that's in demand and who are prospering as a result.

00:37:44.000 At Microworks, I spend most of my time now trying to find people that we assisted five, six years ago and then Zoom with them, just like we're doing right now, or meet with them in person and get their stories.

00:37:58.000 What I said to the crowd in Pittsburgh was, look, guys, you just committed $92 billion with a B.

00:38:06.000 I was in the room.

00:38:08.000 I see what you're doing.

00:38:09.000 For the love of God, carve off a fraction of a percentage of that and allocate it to tell the stories of the people in the industries you hope to reinvigorate.

00:38:23.000 I will help you if I can.

00:38:25.000 You know, we're modest by foundation levels, but I'll give away $5 million next month in work ethics scholarships.

00:38:32.000 Give me some money so I can tell those stories from sea to shining sea, and the needle will move.

00:38:40.000 So that's the short answer.

00:38:42.000 The evidence demands a verdict.

00:38:43.000 That's a terrific book you would love.

00:38:45.000 Josh McDowell wrote it years ago, but it applies now.

00:38:49.000 The evidence is on our side.

00:38:51.000 The proof is in the pudding.

00:38:53.000 We simply have to tell it, and then parents will get it.

00:38:58.000 But it will take time.

00:38:59.000 I wish I could flip a switch.

00:39:01.000 I can't.

00:39:02.000 Microworks.org.

00:39:04.000 Mike, come back anytime.

00:39:05.000 You are doing phenomenal work.

00:39:07.000 Thanks, Charlie.

00:39:08.000 I think I'll get over seeing you in a suit.

00:39:10.000 I think I'll get over it, but we'll see what happens.

00:39:13.000 It's seared into my retina.

00:39:13.000 I don't know, man.

00:39:15.000 I don't even know how to, you wouldn't believe.

00:39:16.000 I've got 200 emails from people who think I've, I don't know, gone over to the dark side or something.

00:39:21.000 It's funny.

00:39:23.000 Don't worry.

00:39:23.000 He's not working for private equity, everybody.

00:39:25.000 Don't worry.

00:39:26.000 Mike, thank you so much.

00:39:28.000 You're welcome.

00:39:29.000 Email us, Freedom at Charlie.

00:39:30.000 He's the greatest.

00:39:31.000 Freedom at CharlieKirk.com.

00:39:32.000 He has been so consistent for my entire life on this theme.

00:39:36.000 And I really think he is made for this moment.

00:39:38.000 I really do.

00:39:39.000 I think his voice is more important than ever.

00:39:41.000 There are millions of young people, primarily young men, that are looking for purpose and they don't know what to do other than just go get good grades.

00:39:48.000 Go get good grades.

00:39:49.000 And then they end up becoming, you know, a lawyer, consultant, and then maybe AI takes their job away.

00:39:54.000 We're going to figure this out.

00:39:55.000 Mike Rose a big piece of it.

00:39:57.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.

00:39:58.000 Email us as always, freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:40:00.000 Thanks so much for listening, and God bless.

00:40:04.000 For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to CharlieKirk.com.

The Charlie Kirk Show - July 18, 2025

Less Amnesty, More Jobs

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