The Charlie Kirk Show - The Best Moments of the Biggest AmFest Ever

00:00:03.000 My name is Charlie Kirk.

00:00:05.000 I run the largest pro-American student organization in the country fighting for the future of our republic.

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00:00:39.000 I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade.

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00:00:48.000 Buckle up, everybody.

00:00:49.000 Here we go.

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00:01:09.000 Welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.

00:01:09.000 All right.

00:01:11.000 It is Monday after America Fest.

00:01:14.000 We are all exhausted but energized.

00:01:16.000 What an amazing event.

00:01:17.000 Blake and the team are back in studio.

00:01:20.000 Blake, welcome.

00:01:21.000 Happy Monday.

00:01:23.000 Happy Monday.

00:01:24.000 Where are you, Andrew?

00:01:26.000 I am in an undisclosed location, but excited about the holidays fast approaching.

00:01:32.000 I told everybody I was, you know, what did I do, like 48 interviews or something during the course of Amfest?

00:01:38.000 And I told everybody all I want to do for Christmas, all I want for Christmas is to sit on the couch, watch Christmas movies, eat baked goods, and add a few LBs and not even care.

00:01:48.000 So that is the plan this week.

00:01:50.000 But, you know, we have to tell the tale that was four action-packed days of America Fest, Blake.

00:01:58.000 I mean, that was, you know, every side of the political debate seemed to get in on what happened at Amfest.

00:02:04.000 Everybody had an opinion.

00:02:06.000 I'm all here for it.

00:02:08.000 And, you know, more than any other AmFest in the history of Turning Point, this was, we had the eyes of the world, the nation certainly, on this event.

00:02:17.000 And so you're going to get a lot of opinions either way.

00:02:19.000 But one thing is very clear.

00:02:20.000 Anybody that was there absolutely had the time of their lives and realized just how much unity there is in the movement, in the love of the people.

00:02:29.000 I think it was truly transformative if you were in the space, in the event, and if you were just on Twitter taking pot shots, I guess there's no pleasing you.

00:02:39.000 But I mean, honestly, what an event.

00:02:41.000 What an absolutely historic, enormous achievement for the team.

00:02:46.000 And I'm really proud of everybody that was involved.

00:02:49.000 It was such a triumph in so many ways.

00:02:51.000 Blake, you were obviously there.

00:02:53.000 You were taking part in a lot of the activities and interviews and shows.

00:02:58.000 What was your take?

00:02:59.000 Yeah, it's very funny because we were doing so many interviews for the exclusive segments that I kind of had a bit of tunnel vision.

00:03:06.000 I didn't see that many of the speeches on stage.

00:03:08.000 So I'm actually looking forward to catching some of the clips that we have here because we did.

00:03:13.000 As I'm sure a lot of you listening right now know, we had our CK exclusives room.

00:03:18.000 We talked to Megan Kelly.

00:03:19.000 We had Michael Knowles.

00:03:20.000 We had Tom Homan.

00:03:22.000 We had the sons of that Korean pastor, Pastor Salon, who was arrested in Korea, who we had on the show at Amfest last week.

00:03:30.000 And so we saw all of that.

00:03:32.000 But what we were seeing on stage at the same time was, I think what was most interesting about this AmFest is we've had it as a big event.

00:03:39.000 We've had it as an event to get people fired up.

00:03:42.000 We've had it as an event for people to celebrate after the 2024 win.

00:03:48.000 But I think this was probably the most significant America Fest in terms of it really being a space where different members of the coalition, different members of MAGA, go to state their position on what the movement should be, how they should approach significant issues.

00:04:07.000 I think it stands out.

00:04:08.000 We built on the debate that we had last summer, and we had several debates on different issues.

00:04:14.000 And I think that's a very promising theme that we'll be having.

00:04:17.000 going forward because we can do we can do debates about Israel.

00:04:20.000 We can do debates about weed.

00:04:21.000 We can do maybe we'll have a debate about the property tax and everyone can yell at me again.

00:04:26.000 I think it that's what stood out about this America Fest that there was a certain combativeness over issues.

00:04:35.000 But as you said, people on the ground, it was a very positive vibe, a very good attitude.

00:04:42.000 There was a lot of unity coming from everyone remembering Charlie and what he meant for the movement.

00:04:48.000 And I think most people there, the vast majority of people there, were extremely upbeat and they were remembering the things that we're all fighting for.

00:04:57.000 Yeah.

00:04:58.000 And then, you know, like I said, it was like an it was like a play in four acts or something.

00:05:02.000 You know, it was like night one.

00:05:03.000 It was, you know, Ben Shapiro came on the stage, kind of name-checked a lot of people, kind of took, as I said, it kind of took like a howitzer to a lot of the online right and had, you know, it was like the festivist for the rest of us.

00:05:18.000 It was an episode of Seinfeld, aired his grievances, got it out of his system.

00:05:22.000 And then you had a couple of those people, Tucker on the first night that kind of fired back.

00:05:26.000 But, you know, I think Tucker was a little bit more restrained.

00:05:29.000 And then you had Steve Bannon, obviously, Megan Kelly.

00:05:33.000 So you had a bunch of that kind of chatter.

00:05:36.000 But by the, I think it was Saturday night, you had Jesse Waters come on and basically just tell funny stories about Trump and kind of talked about how Charlie inspired him and ended the Saturday night.

00:05:48.000 And then we had Faith Night.

00:05:49.000 So we had, you know, proclamation of the gospel.

00:05:52.000 And we had, of course, Sunday where we had the surprise guest, Nikki Minaj.

00:05:58.000 We had Erica interview her.

00:06:01.000 We had Don Jr.

00:06:03.000 We had then, of course, JD Vance, who was the capstone of the entire event.

00:06:08.000 And I was telling people, I was like, you know, the capstone of this event with JD coming in, it felt like, you know, dad's home.

00:06:15.000 All right, settle down, kids.

00:06:17.000 Here's what's going to be the message and the takeaway.

00:06:21.000 And he just did such a good job of crystallizing, I think, all of the sort of various, I don't know, messaging, like through lines that you could pick apart and you could see.

00:06:33.000 And then JD Vance just comes in and says, settle down.

00:06:35.000 Here's the way it's going to go.

00:06:37.000 We're not going to cancel anybody.

00:06:38.000 We're not deplatforming anybody.

00:06:39.000 We're going to have these arguments out in the open.

00:06:42.000 And by the way, here's where we're going as a movement.

00:06:46.000 Here's why we're going to win the midterms.

00:06:47.000 Here's why we're different than the left.

00:06:49.000 Here's why you're not going to get high-minded collectivism and sit down, shut up, and pipe down.

00:06:56.000 It was just such a morally clear speech.

00:06:59.000 I think it's going to go down in history books as one of the most important speeches ever.

00:07:05.000 Not just because this was the first Amfest of the post-Charlie era, which was on everybody's hearts and minds the entire time.

00:07:13.000 I mean, by the way, I just want to give a shout out to so many of the patriots that came up and gave me a hug and took a selfie.

00:07:21.000 I could feel how much Charlie meant to you guys and how much he's still present in your hearts and in this movement and certainly at this event.

00:07:29.000 But that speech was so important because of all of the storylines that were going into the event and then obviously following the event through the week.

00:07:40.000 He just added that moral clarity, and it underscored for me, Blake, that this is a politician that's not afraid to, you know, really declare the moral center of the conservative right and to do it forcefully, to do it articulately.

00:07:56.000 And I just felt so uplifted by that.

00:07:59.000 And I felt like, you know, for all of the noise and all the contentiousness of the last few days, it was like that was the way to end it.

00:08:07.000 JD Vance brought the clarity that the movement needed.

00:08:10.000 And if you really go back and watch that speech where he talks about getting rid of racism and the DEI anti-meritocracy and saying it's okay to be, you don't have to apologize for being white in the country, but you don't have to apologize for being Asian in the country.

00:08:23.000 That we are a Christian nation, that we are a very diverse coalition, but we are pulling in one direction.

00:08:31.000 I genuinely think it was historic.

00:08:33.000 It was important.

00:08:34.000 And it's going to be looking back this moment that all of us can look to and say that was the moment where things really began to crystallize again.

00:08:43.000 Yeah, I mean, how about we let's play 130.

00:08:47.000 The fruits of true Christianity are good husbands, patient fathers, builders of great things, and slayers of dragons.

00:08:57.000 And yes, men who are willing to die for a principle if that's what God asked them to do.

00:09:09.000 Because so many of us recognize that it is better to die a patriot than live a coward.

00:09:18.000 I think that was the biggest applause line of his speech.

00:09:21.000 It was that line.

00:09:22.000 It's almost too bad we cut it off there, but it was a good line.

00:09:25.000 It really crystallized what Charlie stood for.

00:09:28.000 And I think that's got to be the glue that binds the movement together in this year and probably the years to come.

00:09:37.000 The legacy of Charlie, that great coalition builder, that great event planner, that great speaker, that great show host, that great man.

00:09:48.000 And I think that was the biggest thing about Amfest was that we got the opportunity to spend four days remembering him.

00:09:54.000 Yeah, well said, Blake.

00:09:56.000 That's perfectly said.

00:09:59.000 Hey, everybody, this is Andrew Colvett, executive producer of The Charlie Kirk Show.

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00:11:02.000 Blake, did you get any sleep during this event?

00:11:05.000 I feel like I got like five hours of sleep.

00:11:08.000 My mom did that thing again where she's like, you look tired.

00:11:11.000 And I'm like, I know, mom.

00:11:13.000 I got a medium amount of sleep, I think.

00:11:17.000 Now I'm remembering how Charlie said he would get eight or nine a night.

00:11:20.000 And did he do that during Amfest?

00:11:22.000 It sounds hard to believe, but.

00:11:25.000 No, but you know what?

00:11:26.000 He would still really discipline.

00:11:27.000 I tried.

00:11:28.000 Don't get me wrong.

00:11:29.000 I tried.

00:11:30.000 But it was, you know, you wake up early, you got 48 urgent things to get done.

00:11:35.000 And by the way, I just want to say that the team, the turning point team, the events team, I've gotten just overwhelmed, inundated with people saying that was just how positive they are, how helpful they were.

00:11:49.000 Everybody has an interaction with a turning point staff member at these events and they need something and they get help and there's just nobody like it.

00:11:56.000 Nobody in the space does this.

00:11:58.000 And these are like from top to bottom, the kids that just got hired, or to the top-level staff, there is so much just grassroots humility.

00:12:10.000 And this is an event to serve the base, to serve everyday Americans.

00:12:14.000 If you walk around those halls, it's just average everyday Americans that love their country, that are there to make sure that the movement is in a good place, that they want to honor Charlie, honor his memory.

00:12:27.000 And it's just we the people, man.

00:12:29.000 This event is just we the people.

00:12:32.000 Blake, we do have that clip that you wanted, I believe.

00:12:35.000 Set it up for us from JD Vance.

00:12:37.000 All right.

00:12:38.000 It's just, we're trying to figure out what America's identity is.

00:12:42.000 We're trying to figure out what the rights identity is.

00:12:45.000 And that's what a big theme of the event was.

00:12:48.000 And Charlie would always want to be searching for positive identifications.

00:12:54.000 You don't define the right by what things offend you or what things you disagree with or what things make you angry.

00:13:01.000 The best way to build a durable coalition is to find positive, shared things that can unite different peoples.

00:13:10.000 And JD Vance made a case for one Charlie would agree with, we would agree with America as it's not a nation where everyone is Christian, but it is a Christian nation.

00:13:20.000 Let's play 171.

00:13:22.000 More than any time I can recount, people are talking about American identity and figuring out what it is that unites us.

00:13:30.000 But I want to say something here.

00:13:32.000 The only thing that has truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be a Christian nation.

00:13:59.000 And he continued for a bit after that and elaborate on what he meant.

00:14:03.000 It wasn't just a throwaway line.

00:14:05.000 He talks about that not everyone in America is Christian.

00:14:09.000 Many follow other religions.

00:14:11.000 As we know, his own wife is not a Christian.

00:14:14.000 But it's that America is, it's built on this bedrock of Christian values, that it undergirds all of American history.

00:14:22.000 It undergirds its founding documents.

00:14:25.000 It's what drove America to become the greatest nation in the world.

00:14:29.000 It's what makes America such a desirable nation today.

00:14:32.000 And even if you are not Christian, you live in a world that is completely pervaded by those Christian values and that the preservation of them is central to keeping America great.

00:14:44.000 And I think he made a very strong case for that.

00:14:46.000 Yeah, you know, he says Christianity is America's creed, the shared moral language from the Revolution to the Civil War and beyond.

00:14:54.000 And I thought that was a beautiful way to sum it up because, you know, we've been talking about what is an American a lot on this show.

00:15:01.000 Charlie was talking about it and he was contemplating that notion a lot.

00:15:07.000 And we played clips or not clips.

00:15:09.000 We showed quotes from Teddy Roosevelt talking about what they were believed an American to be in the early 1900s.

00:15:17.000 And that idea is something that we have to contend with generation after generation, especially after the mass migration that we have absorbed as a country over the last 40 years.

00:15:28.000 And I think especially poignant was that moment because we do have a lot more people in this country that are not Christian.

00:15:37.000 Church attendance rates have dropped among those who used to be Christian, right?

00:15:41.000 That come from Christian families and heritage and backgrounds.

00:15:44.000 And so for him to go out there and to state definitively, I think especially given the fact that his own wife is not a professing Christian, was a powerful, powerful moment.

00:15:54.000 And it truly is uniting if you let it be, because it doesn't matter if you profess that same faith.

00:16:01.000 You are drawn to this country because of the freedoms that are afforded us by the fact that our moral framework, our laws, our customs are built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and the Christian faith.

00:16:13.000 And that's something that we can never lose sight of.

00:16:15.000 That's something that Charlie never lost sight of.

00:16:18.000 We are a Christian nation.

00:16:20.000 And amen, yes and amen.

00:16:22.000 And may it always be that way.

00:16:24.000 So here to JD Vance, again, the moral clarity is astounding.

00:16:29.000 Candles were lit on Bondi Beach by families, by children, by people of faith to celebrate a festival of light, a festival from Bible times, one that Jesus himself celebrated.

00:16:40.000 People gathered with hope, seeking unity and comfort in tradition.

00:16:43.000 But instead of light, there was darkness, violence, fear, hatred showing itself at a time meant for prayer and rejoicing.

00:16:51.000 Times like this remind us that even with the ceasefire in Israel, Jewish people are being targeted simply because of their faith.

00:16:58.000 And times like this remind us why the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews exists, to stand in the gap, providing safety and security to God's people.

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00:17:39.000 Blake, we have to get into the big surprise guest yesterday that as I'm going through social media right now, it seems the whole world is still talking about.

00:17:49.000 And that is, of course, Nikki Minaj on stage with Erica Kirk.

00:17:54.000 It was a pretty profound moment, I have to say.

00:17:58.000 You know, there was a lot of, you know, people were guessing, was it Elon Musk?

00:18:02.000 Was it, was it going to be some other person?

00:18:05.000 Was it going to be POTUS himself?

00:18:07.000 Actually, the president called in when Don Jr. was on stage, and that was a really special moment.

00:18:12.000 But we had even more surprises in store, and that, of course, was Nikki Minaj.

00:18:17.000 Some people might kind of scratch their head a little bit and go like, oh, Nikki, you know, what's, you know, what's, why would she be invited to something like this?

00:18:25.000 Well, I'll tell you why, because Nikki Minaj has shown a lot of courage, actually.

00:18:30.000 Obviously, she's lived a life that I'm not here to endorse or say is the model for young women.

00:18:37.000 But she showed a lot of courage.

00:18:38.000 And more recently, she's been speaking out and advocating for the persecuted church in Nigeria and helping get even the U.S. government to take action on our brothers and sisters in Christ that are suffering devastating losses, devastating attacks and murder.

00:18:54.000 It's persecution in the truest sense of the word.

00:18:57.000 And so, you know, I was honored that she agreed to come on stage.

00:19:00.000 And what I was struck by, Blake, and I'd be curious to get your thoughts on this, is, you know, as a huge rap fan that you are, is she, that was a joke in case people are wondering.

00:19:11.000 Yeah, yeah, the radio viewers can't see my grimace right now.

00:19:15.000 Yeah, exactly.

00:19:16.000 No, I'm definitely not a rap fan either, I have to say.

00:19:19.000 But, you know, I do appreciate somebody in her position that's willing to have to have the courage to speak out and advocate for things that are unpopular in her position to advocate for, to cut against the grain.

00:19:31.000 I was very impressed also with just the depth of her wisdom, Blake.

00:19:35.000 I said to her backstage, I said, I have to be honest, I was surprised at how I was riveted by what you said, how I was hanging on every word that you said, because it felt like you have wisdom that only comes through like kind of a hard knock life, only through hard-fought wins and courage in the face of a lot of opposition.

00:19:54.000 That's the only time, you know, somebody can really drop truth on you and it kind of makes you sit back and you're like, you earned every ounce of this wisdom the hard way, and you can feel that.

00:20:06.000 So, what was your take, Blake?

00:20:07.000 And then we'll play some of her clips.

00:20:08.000 Well, I think let's get into the clips first.

00:20:11.000 I think that's what people who may have missed it want to see.

00:20:14.000 We have quite a few, but let's just start with 129.

00:20:18.000 I've performed for huge crowds all around the world.

00:20:25.000 And no matter how many songs I do on that stage, it didn't mean as much as this because this is a direct link for younger people.

00:20:41.000 This is a direct link between young people and God.

00:20:49.000 That was a good one.

00:20:50.000 And let's see.

00:20:54.000 How about let's just go into 124.

00:20:56.000 So, why now have you been involved with speaking about politics?

00:21:02.000 What was kind of the turning point?

00:21:07.000 What was the turning point?

00:21:09.000 I just got tired of being pushed around.

00:21:13.000 Sometimes you just get tired of it, and then you realize, wait a minute, I have something inside of me that's stronger than what's out there.

00:21:23.000 That's right.

00:21:24.000 So when you've had enough, you realize, wait a minute, why do I even care about these people and what they think?

00:21:34.000 Who are they?

00:21:35.000 They don't even know who they are.

00:21:38.000 So I'm not going to, I'm not going to back down anymore.

00:21:42.000 I'm not going to back down ever again.

00:21:44.000 Amen.

00:21:46.000 Any others you want to do, or should we dive into it?

00:21:49.000 Yeah, I just want to make a comment really quick.

00:21:51.000 You know, I was talking about this with Tyler Boyer, and, you know, this is a position that Erica Kirk has not been placed in a whole lot, honestly, where she's the interviewer on stage.

00:22:01.000 And it was like, you know, she was a mix between, you know, Barbara Walters and I don't know, and sort of just a godly representation of a woman of Christ.

00:22:13.000 I mean, it was really amazing.

00:22:15.000 And, of course, I mean, I don't want to call it the elephant in the room, but, you know, Nikki said something kind of awkward when she was about to praise JD Vance.

00:22:24.000 And, you know, she called, she was trying to give a compliment to the vice president because she had just complimented President Trump.

00:22:32.000 She went and complimented JD Vance, but she used kind of a very awkward word in that setting, right?

00:22:39.000 I'm sure Blue Sky went crazy with it.

00:22:42.000 But Erica Kirk then covered over it with such grace and with such poise.

00:22:48.000 I was sitting back there.

00:22:49.000 I mean, honestly, I got, I was like, what's going to happen next?

00:22:54.000 And then Erica completely made it okay.

00:22:58.000 And I was just so, I was so impressed, you know, because again, you know, if Charlie's put in those kind of situations, he was a pro.

00:23:04.000 He knew exactly how to handle it and roll with it.

00:23:06.000 But I think Erica did as well as anybody in the whole entire world could have done with that moment.

00:23:12.000 And it didn't even, like in the end of the day, it didn't even matter.

00:23:15.000 And I was just so impressed with her.

00:23:17.000 So, but here were some other things that she did that ended up playing into JD's Vance's speech later when JD was talking about it's okay to be a white American, it's okay to be an Asian American.

00:23:26.000 You don't have to talk around the color of your skin anymore in Trump's America.

00:23:31.000 Let's go ahead and play cut 137, this Nikki Minaj.

00:23:35.000 If as black women, we felt that we were not being represented and not being admired for our beauty.

00:23:51.000 If we felt like that as black women, why would we want to do that to other women?

00:23:57.000 Why would we now need to make other people downplay their beauty so that we can feel no, that's not how it works.

00:24:05.000 I don't need someone with blonde hair and blue eyes to downplay their beauty because I know my beauty.

00:24:13.000 Do you understand?

00:24:14.000 It doesn't bother me that a woman feels and says that she's beautiful.

00:24:21.000 Why shouldn't she feel that?

00:24:23.000 Why have we gotten to a point where certain colors or certain kinds of people have to be afraid of loving themselves and loving the way they look?

00:24:34.000 Like, it's isn't that wild?

00:24:37.000 Yeah, the message of everybody is equal before God, and we need to stop attacking people for this anti-white sentiment.

00:24:46.000 She hit it right on the head, and as a black woman doing that, as a rapper doing that, I thought it was a pretty profound moment of moral clarity.

00:24:52.000 Blake, yeah, it was strong.

00:24:54.000 I did like also, you know, you mentioned the dynamic between her and the vice president, where I think JD Vance said he was worried that Nikki Minaj would think he looks like the JD Vance face that we've used.

00:25:08.000 And he said he was glad she didn't.

00:25:09.000 But I think it actually would have been funnier if she did.

00:25:12.000 It would have been a good clip.

00:25:13.000 She walks in.

00:25:13.000 He's like, he looks different from what I was expecting.

00:25:16.000 But can't win them all.

00:25:19.000 Should we dive into, should we get into Rob Schneider?

00:25:22.000 I think that was one of the big favorites of people during the event.

00:25:26.000 He was one of the people I heard most about, most of the feedback about.

00:25:29.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:25:29.000 Yeah, you know, someone pointed out that he was really good because he's a comic.

00:25:35.000 Comedians, they need to know when something is discongruent because that is what drives comedy.

00:25:39.000 But then as a result, they also know what congruence is.

00:25:42.000 They know how to make a good serious point.

00:25:45.000 And I've always been very impressed with him when we've had him on the show.

00:25:48.000 He's very good at speaking to faith topics and so on.

00:25:52.000 And he gave a very good testimony about Charlie and about the attacks against him and the attacks against all of us.

00:26:00.000 Let's play 141.

00:26:02.000 The left is trying to reframe Charlie into something he wasn't, and by extension, all of us.

00:26:09.000 Extremists, Nazis, fascists, white supremacists, by taking moderate people with views held by the majority and turning them into monsters hides the real monsters among us.

00:26:23.000 So when actual extremists show up, people can't tell the difference anymore.

00:26:27.000 Now here's the warning.

00:26:29.000 If the right doesn't learn from the left's mistakes, if we start embracing our extremists the way the left embraced theirs, we'll go down the same path they did.

00:26:39.000 And another one, because it's very quick, 142.

00:26:42.000 Charlie Kirk was only interested in the pursuit of the divine truth and love of family and country and freedom and saving the republic.

00:26:52.000 It was a good testimony, and I like that line about having to learn from the left because I think that's a lesson we do need to take in, that we have to remember one reason we're blessed enough to be here is that the left had a lot of wild radicals that they indulged and indulged and indulged, and then it boiled over.

00:27:13.000 And I guess we should be grateful that it derailed their movement.

00:27:16.000 But I remember being there in 2019, 2020, 2021, and people saying, Yeah, you have to get used to the woke moment.

00:27:23.000 That's going to be the rest of our lives is going to be totally dominated by these people.

00:27:28.000 And I think he gave a very good spiritual perspective on that.

00:27:32.000 Yeah.

00:27:33.000 Blake, I think what was really hashed out, again, everybody's got an opinion.

00:27:37.000 Everybody's like, no, we need to shut down these people and block them out.

00:27:40.000 And that's why I thought JD Vance's speech was so critically important because it gave that moral clarity, that leadership.

00:27:48.000 As a final speech of the event, it kind of made it all make sense.

00:27:51.000 It crystallized everything and synthesized everything that people had just experienced over the last four days.

00:27:56.000 But what we are trying to do, what Turning Point's always been about, what Charlie's always been about, is finding that dominant center, that core center of the movement, and that is big enough and broad enough and dynamic enough, energized enough to win, right?

00:28:11.000 To win those kind of tough fights that we're going to have in 2026, 2028.

00:28:16.000 So where is that dominant center of the movement?

00:28:18.000 That center cut.

00:28:20.000 And I feel like that was what Rob Schneider was getting at.

00:28:23.000 That was what Glenn Beck was getting at.

00:28:24.000 That was what Jesse Waters was getting at.

00:28:26.000 Greg Gutfeld.

00:28:27.000 And of course, JD Vance.

00:28:29.000 And then, you know, so it's like you're going to have people on either end of that center cut feeling like it needs to go that way more, feeling like it needs to go this way more.

00:28:38.000 But what you saw and what Charlie was always so genius at was finding where that dominant core is.

00:28:44.000 And I feel like we really landed in that good spot.

00:28:47.000 Well, I think I like all of the clips we got from him.

00:28:50.000 So let's do another Robin, which I think laid that out well, 143.

00:28:54.000 I don't know about you, but when I voted November 5th, 2024, I voted for closed borders.

00:29:01.000 I voted for affordable groceries.

00:29:04.000 I voted for lower gas prices.

00:29:06.000 I voted for no more censorship.

00:29:09.000 I voted for no more men in women's sports.

00:29:18.000 And I also voted to blow up small boats off the coast of Venezuela.

00:29:30.000 What I like best about that is he is basically saying, I voted for the things that President Trump actually promised to do during the campaign, because I think so much resentment ends up being driven by people who they decide they wanted things that weren't the campaign issues that everyone agreed on even a year ago.

00:29:47.000 Yeah, I mean, here's the big takeaway, Blake.

00:29:50.000 Twitter is not real life.

00:29:51.000 Go to a Turning Point event and find out.

00:29:55.000 This is Lane Schoenberger, Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of YReFi.

00:30:00.000 It has been an honor and a privilege to partner with Turning Point and for Charlie to endorse us.

00:30:05.000 His endorsement means the world to us, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Turning Point for years to come.

00:30:11.000 Now, here Charlie, in his own words, tell you about WhyReFi.

00:30:15.000 I'm going to tell you guys about whyRefi.com.

00:30:17.000 That is why F.Y.com.

00:30:19.000 WhyReFi is incredible.

00:30:21.000 Private student loan debt in America totals about $300 billion.

00:30:24.000 WhyReFi is refinancing distress or defaulted private student loans?

00:30:28.000 You can finally take control of your student loan situation with a plan that works for your monthly budget.

00:30:32.000 Go to yrefi.com.

00:30:34.000 That is whyrefi.com.

00:30:35.000 Do you have a co-borrower?

00:30:36.000 WhyReFi can get them released from the loan?

00:30:39.000 You're going to skip a payment up to 12 times without penalty.

00:30:41.000 It may not be available in all 50 states.

00:30:43.000 Go to yrefi.com.

00:30:45.000 That is yrefy.com.

00:30:47.000 Let's face it, if you have distress or defaulted student loans, it can be overwhelming.

00:30:51.000 Because of private student loan debt, so many people feel stuck.

00:30:55.000 Go to yrefi.com.

00:30:56.000 That is why.com.

00:30:59.000 Private student loan debtrelief, yrefi.com.

00:31:04.000 You know, it is not every day that you get 31,000 grassroots activists in a space.

00:31:11.000 I mean, these are door knockers.

00:31:14.000 These are phone bankers.

00:31:15.000 These are precinct committeemen.

00:31:17.000 These are the grassroots volunteers that make the whole country work.

00:31:22.000 They are the firewall to freedom.

00:31:24.000 And one of the things that I don't think online you get as much because you get the sort of more intense statements made by some high-profile people, you know, some of the inviting or the division or whatever.

00:31:36.000 One of the things I don't think people appreciate enough, Blake, was just how much Christian faith was shared on that stage and within the people attending the event.

00:31:46.000 And one of the best moments, I believe, is when Matt Shaw, who plays third base for the Chicago Cubs, just a few weeks before Charlie was murdered, I was with Charlie at Wrigley Field and we got to hang out with Matt.

00:31:58.000 Matt was a neighbor of Charlie's in the offseason in Phoenix.

00:32:02.000 And he came and he got a really amazing question.

00:32:05.000 Let's go ahead and play it.

00:32:07.000 He gave a great answer, 172.

00:32:09.000 How do you share Jesus with your fellow teammates?

00:32:14.000 The best thing that I can do isn't to talk to them and disciple them, but it's to show what my beliefs look like in my life.

00:32:22.000 And sometimes it's not a conversation, but it's simply the light that you shine around to other people.

00:32:29.000 And because of how much love you have for other people and for Jesus, it's going to show them, hey, maybe this is something I'm interested in.

00:32:38.000 Maybe this is something that can provide me fulfillment in my life.

00:32:43.000 And I hope that for everyone.

00:32:44.000 And I hope it for you, Camden.

00:32:46.000 Just a beautiful moment.

00:32:48.000 Really heartfelt, really simple.

00:32:49.000 It's great.

00:32:50.000 It's great.

00:32:50.000 And I'm looking at the same people who, I'm looking now online at the same people who freaked out that he went to the memorial.

00:32:56.000 And of course, they're freaked out he went to this in the offseason.

00:32:59.000 They're just, there's some really hateful, crappy baseball fans out there, but I'm very glad we have them in our corner.

00:33:05.000 The loudest critics probably have very sad lives.

00:33:09.000 That's what I've concluded.

00:33:10.000 Very, very sad.

00:33:11.000 Blake, you know, this Grandma Jeannie from Chico, not to be confused with another totally different California towns.

00:33:21.000 We have Soki versus NorCal.

00:33:24.000 I mean, this was an amazing, amazing story because she gets accosted as she's working at Target.

00:33:30.000 She was retired.

00:33:31.000 She came out of retirement, we found out, because she loved working with people.

00:33:36.000 And here she is at Target wearing a red freedom shirt with Charlie's name on it, gets accosted, said that she's a racist, said that she's all these terrible things.

00:33:46.000 And she just handled it with such grace and humility.

00:33:49.000 And of course, the internet went wild wondering if we were going to have Genie at turning point.

00:33:54.000 And I mean, I had reached out to her, multiple other people, Glenn Beck had reached out to her, Jack Pesobic and Benny Johnson.

00:34:01.000 And so we were going to get Genie at Amfest.

00:34:04.000 There was come hella high water.

00:34:06.000 We were going to get Genie to Amfest.

00:34:08.000 And there's a beautiful moment here with Glenn Beck with Jeannie on stage.

00:34:11.000 Let's go ahead and play Cut 173.

00:34:14.000 She said she didn't understand why everybody was asking her for a selfie.

00:34:19.000 Can you explain what you're curious about, but you don't understand?

00:34:24.000 Because I'm just a normal person.

00:34:33.000 And that is why you're here.

00:34:35.000 Okay.

00:34:37.000 This is, we were talking backstage, and I said, when I was young, when I was your age, when she was your age, there wouldn't have been somebody like this up on stage because it was the normal thing to do.

00:34:50.000 Now it's not.

00:34:51.000 And I wanted to thank you for being normal.

00:34:56.000 Thank you.

00:35:00.000 Thank you for being normal.

00:35:02.000 Okay, all right.

00:35:03.000 I should shout out, by the way, because we mentioned it on the last thing.

00:35:06.000 Her Give Send Go is up to $285,000.

00:35:10.000 And if any of you feel inclined to donate to that, it's givesendgo.com slash genie from Target, G-E-A-N-I-E.

00:35:18.000 Again, that's givesendgo.com slash genie from Target.

00:35:22.000 Give that a look.

00:35:23.000 Maybe we can get that over 300.

00:35:24.000 But we were super glad to see her.

00:35:26.000 I think that was a great moment.

00:35:27.000 It was a great moment.

00:35:28.000 And again, just everyday people, that's what this event is about.

00:35:32.000 And, you know, I spoke with Jeannie backstage and I just said, you know, are you going to go back to work for Target?

00:35:38.000 And, you know, she's like, well, you know, if I can.

00:35:41.000 And her daughter was with her.

00:35:43.000 And I said, I said, Jeannie, you know, I hope you'll, because there was some concern that she would refuse the money.

00:35:49.000 And I told her daughter, I said, don't you dare let her refuse the money.

00:35:53.000 Like, she's, she's just, I mean, no more deserving, maybe.

00:35:57.000 We don't care what she does with it, but she shouldn't refuse it.

00:36:00.000 Exactly.

00:36:01.000 I just told, I told Jeannie, I said, do something nice for yourself with it.

00:36:04.000 Like, God bless you.

00:36:05.000 Like, take, like, do something nice, you know, whether that's like fully retire or take a trip or whatever it is.

00:36:12.000 Like, we people wanted to bless you and don't deny them of the blessing of blessing you.

00:36:18.000 And she was really sweet about it.

00:36:20.000 And just a very, very sweet, sweet moment.

00:36:24.000 And she also went up on stage with Jack Pisovic and Benny Johnson.

00:36:29.000 That was the big reveal.

00:36:30.000 And then I love that Glenn got a chance on Sunday to bring her back out onto stage.

00:36:35.000 Yeah, you can see the B-roll right there.

00:36:37.000 Benny Johnson and Jack Pisovic.

00:36:38.000 And she's just sitting there kind of going, why does everybody care about me so much?

00:36:43.000 And I think Glenn said it well, because you're normal.

00:36:46.000 Because in a world gone mad, Jeannie, you are normal and you're sweet and you're kind and you don't repay hatred with more hatred.

00:36:54.000 You repaid it with graciousness.

00:36:56.000 And it was just a beautiful model.

00:36:58.000 Yeah, that was the best thing about what she did.

00:37:00.000 She doesn't own the woman who was filming her in some dramatic way.

00:37:06.000 She was just very kind to her and really acquitted herself very well in a very Christian way.

00:37:12.000 Yeah, well, we're getting some great emails, by the way, from some of you who were at Amfest or were merely watching it.

00:37:17.000 I love Claire just sent us one into the inbox.

00:37:20.000 So send us stuff at Freedom.

00:37:21.000 We're looking at it.

00:37:23.000 I would like to take a minute to tell you how fabulous, totally fabulous this past weekend was.

00:37:27.000 And looking at the magnificent crowd that gathered to honor Charlie, I want to give a shout out.

00:37:32.000 She gives a shout out to Glenn Beck as well as to Erica coming out with Nikki.

00:37:37.000 She says Rob Schneider was equally amazing.

00:37:39.000 It was an uplifting weekend.

00:37:41.000 And the youth that were represented there were totally inspirational and dynamic.

00:37:46.000 It was the best of the best.

00:37:47.000 And I admire everybody in the Turning Point family who put that program together.

00:37:52.000 I wish I was there to witness it.

00:37:54.000 Well, pre-sales, I believe.

00:37:55.000 I think I got an email from Turning Point yesterday that pre-sales for 2026 have opened.

00:38:00.000 So we'd love to have you next year, Claire.

00:38:02.000 And anyone else who has thoughts, please send them in.

00:38:05.000 Yeah, there were so many people, by the way, and I've reposted some of them on my X feed if you want to check it out there.

00:38:12.000 But, you know, as a first-time attendee, this is from Walter Kurt.

00:38:15.000 I can confidently say this was the best political event I ever attended.

00:38:19.000 Your staff was nothing but friendly and helpful from the second I walked in to the moment I left.

00:38:23.000 I will never miss another one.

00:38:24.000 You should all be proud.

00:38:25.000 Charlie would be.

00:38:26.000 And amen.

00:38:27.000 That's a good note to end our one on.

00:38:29.000 But we hope we did Charlie proud.

00:38:31.000 It was a lot going on.

00:38:32.000 We hope we did him proud.

00:38:39.000 For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to CharlieKirk.com.

The Charlie Kirk Show - December 22, 2025

The Best Moments of the Biggest AmFest Ever

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