The Charlie Kirk Show - January 08, 2026


The Donroe Doctrine and Venezuela ft. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth


Episode Stats


Length

46 minutes

Words per minute

189.03249

Word count

8,727

Sentence count

697

Harmful content

Misogyny

3

sentences flagged

Hate speech

11

sentences flagged


Summary

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

Rich Barris, founder of the People's Pundit, joins me to debate whether or not there is a split within the Republican Party on the issue of MAGA vs. America First and why it's time to stop sending our kids to college.

Transcript

Transcripts from "The Charlie Kirk Show" are sourced from the Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool. Explore them interactively here.
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
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.
00:00:11.000 My call is to fight evil and to proclaim truth.
00:00:14.000 If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're going to end up miserable.
00:00:19.000 But if the most important thing is doing good, you'll end up purposeful.
00:00:24.000 College is a scam, everybody.
00:00:26.000 You got to stop sending your kids to college.
00:00:27.000 You should get married as young as possible and have as many kids as possible.
00:00:31.000 Go start a Turning Point USA college chapter.
00:00:33.000 Go start a Turning Point USA high school chapter.
00:00:35.000 Go find out how your church can get involved.
00:00:37.000 Sign up and become an activist.
00:00:39.000 I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade.
00:00:41.000 Most important decision I ever made in my life.
00:00:43.000 And I encourage you to do the same.
00:00:45.000 Here I am.
00:00:46.000 Lord, use me.
00:00:48.000 Buckle up, everybody.
00:00:49.000 Here we go.
00:00:56.000 The Charlie Kirk Show is proudly sponsored by Preserve Gold, the leading gold and silver experts and the only precious metals company I recommend to my family, friends, and viewers.
00:01:09.000 All right, welcome back, hour two of the Charlie Kirk Show.
00:01:11.000 We have Rich Barris, the people's pundit, founder of Big Data Poll, joining us now.
00:01:16.000 I tweeted something yesterday.
00:01:18.000 Welcome, Rich.
00:01:19.000 I tweeted something yesterday from Harry Enton from CNN, and I saw you get into the comments, and I was like, I got to get my boy Rich on.
00:01:30.000 When I tweeted it, I was like, I thought about you in the back of my head.
00:01:34.000 I was like, I know Rich is going to totally disagree, but I kind of disagree with you a little bit.
00:01:37.000 That could make for a fun conversation.
00:01:39.000 So Harry Enton is saying that there is no rift in MAGA, that President Trump was at 84% of approval rate within the GOP or his base, previous Trump voters.
00:01:50.000 Now he's at 85%.
00:01:51.000 Six months goes by.
00:01:53.000 He goes up one percentage point, which is nominal, obviously, but at least it's not going the other way.
00:01:58.000 It's going presumably up.
00:02:00.000 And this is after Venezuela, which raised some questions about our foreign policy.
00:02:04.000 MAGA is America first.
00:02:06.000 So how does this jive with that whole vibe?
00:02:08.000 So, Rich, tell me why Harry Enton is wrong.
00:02:12.000 What am I missing?
00:02:14.000 The floor is yours.
00:02:15.000 So first, and for folks, maybe this was the easiest way to explain it.
00:02:19.000 And as always, by the way, thanks for having me.
00:02:21.000 Of course.
00:02:22.000 Think about the MAGA coalition like a simple Venn diagram.
00:02:26.000 All right.
00:02:27.000 Republican does not equal MAGA, and MAGA does not equal Republican.
00:02:31.000 If you looked at it like a Venn diagram, you would see in the middle, you know, all of the various groups that come together.
00:02:37.000 But MAGA is actually made up of several different groups of people.
00:02:41.000 One, you're going to have those hardcore Republicans.
00:02:43.000 They're Republicans.
00:02:44.000 They vote Republican no matter what.
00:02:46.000 And they also vote MAGA.
00:02:47.000 And Trump has won the argument even with them.
00:02:50.000 And then you have a smaller group of Republicans that they're not MA.
00:02:54.000 And by the way, I mean, we have some public figures that pretend like they are, but in truth, in the populace, they've been voting Democrat for a while.
00:03:02.000 They may vote for a moderate Republican or traditional rhino or something, but they don't vote for MAGA.
00:03:08.000 But they're overwhelmed and they're more than offset by a group of independents and even a small sliver of orphan Democrats that only vote for MAGA.
00:03:18.000 And they'll only come out for America. 0.89
00:03:20.000 And I don't even know if MAGA is the right way to say it anymore, Andrew, because we've had this like debate over MAGA versus America first.
00:03:26.000 So the messaging is getting muddled there.
00:03:28.000 But for all the time that we have been tracking it, it's, you know, in theory, you know, this is Donald Trump's vision of America first.
00:03:35.000 All right.
00:03:36.000 And I know we're debating what that means right now, right?
00:03:38.000 Even with the president off doing things that other people disagree with.
00:03:41.000 But Harry Enton, I would warn all of you, he is a prime actor in what has long been a use of public polls to dupe the right.
00:03:51.000 And the right falls for it every single day.
00:03:54.000 Hold on.
00:03:55.000 Hold on, Rich.
00:03:56.000 Now, I remember Harry Enton in the run-up to the 2024 election showing poll after poll of Trump winning, of Trump being ahead in the polls, of Trump winning on this issue, that issue.
00:04:07.000 And I, so not only.
00:04:09.000 I'm just saying, maybe that's my memory, and maybe I'm selectively, you know, choosing what I remember and what I don't.
00:04:16.000 But I do remember him, like, candidly, it was Charlie's Twitter feed.
00:04:20.000 It was just like clip after clip after clip, and it ended up, you know, proving to be accurate.
00:04:25.000 He's manic.
00:04:26.000 He goes back and forth on a 24-hour basis.
00:04:28.000 The video that you, the video that you reposted, not 24 hours before, he had just posted another video about how awful the strike polled in the public.
00:04:38.000 And then he went back immediately after and did another video within a day, which is the one that you posted.
00:04:44.000 This is what they do, guys.
00:04:46.000 And think about it in terms of COVID because it's like one of the best examples of what the media does.
00:04:46.000 All right.
00:04:50.000 And people like, we call them over here the election mafia, right?
00:04:53.000 So Harry Enton, Nate Silver, or Larry Sabado at the crystal ball.
00:04:58.000 These guys, we've long called on our side the election mafia.
00:05:02.000 And what they'll do is they'll understate somebody like Trump's great.
00:05:05.000 They'll understate Trump's approval rating way below where it really is.
00:05:11.000 And then when he does something stupid that they like, they'll jack his approval rating up, like COVID, shut down the government, right?
00:05:17.000 And then all of a sudden you'll get polls saying, you know, Trump said a majority approval for the first time ever in his administration.
00:05:23.000 They did this in the first administration.
00:05:25.000 And it was not the smart political thing to do.
00:05:28.000 It exposed him politically.
00:05:30.000 Then when that vulnerability hits, they'll crash him into the 30s.
00:05:35.000 And the right falls for it all.
00:05:37.000 Yeah, no, that's fair.
00:05:38.000 So would you, would you say, Rich, though, that Trump's, I guess his political backing from his supporters is pretty like resilient.
00:05:49.000 It's pretty stable, but it's been challenged in this first year and even with the Venezuela strike in new ways, I think, you know, because again, foreign policy seems to be the hot button topic, right?
00:06:04.000 It's like, we don't want to focus on it.
00:06:05.000 We want to focus domestically.
00:06:07.000 And then when we do, everybody's scared of the neocon intervention, you know, foreign abstractions rabbit holes that we've trails, what we've, we've followed in years past.
00:06:17.000 So where are we at right now?
00:06:19.000 So Harry Enton says that actually the strike is more popular than we previously thought.
00:06:25.000 What do you think?
00:06:26.000 It's historically, it's basically the most unpopular military action of its kind.
00:06:33.000 Grenada had 82%.
00:06:35.000 Even 57% approved of the military action against Syria that Donald Trump took in his first administration in response to what we now probably, you know, almost assuredly know were false flag attacks, right?
00:06:46.000 So historically, compared to other, including Iran last year, by the way, which was very even, you know, very evenly divided among the Americans.
00:06:56.000 So where is this at according to your numbers, Rich?
00:06:58.000 It's not good.
00:06:59.000 It's negative.
00:07:00.000 It's not horribly negative, but it is negative.
00:07:02.000 And the reason why, and this is where like, you know, Republicans should like snap out of this like haze that they're in.
00:07:08.000 Democrats are never going to believe anything that the Trump administration says that Nicholas Maduro did.
00:07:14.000 We're asking people not just about the strike, but whether or not they even believe the charges against Nicholas Maduro.
00:07:20.000 And Democrats don't even believe the charges.
00:07:23.000 So this idea that you could get into a solid majority who opposes this is ridiculous.
00:07:29.000 I hate to say it, but we're actually really close to the Washington Post, Andrew.
00:07:33.000 Unlike everybody else, we didn't drop the numbers right away.
00:07:36.000 And there's a reason for that.
00:07:37.000 The war drums, at the time they're beating war propaganda, is always one of the most powerful forms of propaganda you can get.
00:07:44.000 And when you initially poll, you will get the strongest level of support, typically, then you're ever going to see.
00:07:50.000 And then that support will decline over time.
00:07:52.000 It happened with Iran as well.
00:07:53.000 Iran initially, even in some polls, the Iran, the strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities were pretty popular, not in ours.
00:08:00.000 And I think we were right and they were wrong.
00:08:02.000 But you can even see in those polls that were more favorable to that, it dips over time.
00:08:07.000 So we didn't want to snap poll it.
00:08:09.000 We wanted to get an accurate reflection of how the public digested everything.
00:08:13.000 The question is, what comes after this?
00:08:15.000 So people are going to be okay.
00:08:17.000 And this is what, and just so people understand.
00:08:19.000 My own personal views are very different from what I think the, you know, how I think the public sees this or what they're telling us right now.
00:08:27.000 My own personal views, if you can get a, if you can get a guy like that out of there, Andrew, with a limited strike like this, you know, in a limited operation, Intel-led operation, get him out of there and then bring the regime to heel, take the gold and the oil, go ahead, because we're $40 trillion in debt and you need to back the petrodollar.
00:08:43.000 That's my view.
00:08:44.000 That's Rich Barris's view.
00:08:46.000 That's not the public's view.
00:08:48.000 Unfortunately, they're like, they have PTSD over this, brother.
00:08:51.000 Do you understand?
00:08:52.000 Like, they have PTSD over this.
00:08:55.000 And the administration sold it like garbage.
00:08:57.000 This was the easiest sell.
00:08:59.000 Look, they stole our oil a few years ago.
00:09:02.000 You know, Joe, Joe, you know, the Democrats were too, you know, George Bush actually was the wiener here, but they were too weak to do anything about it.
00:09:11.000 I'm not.
00:09:12.000 I'm taking it back because China and Iran can't have it. 1.00
00:09:14.000 Period.
00:09:15.000 End of story.
00:09:16.000 And we're not going to nation build.
00:09:17.000 That's what we're going to do.
00:09:18.000 Don't give the public some garbage rehatch version of the failed war on drugs, which they laugh at and think is ridiculous.
00:09:26.000 Don't and don't insult their intelligence like that.
00:09:29.000 Come out and just say, be the strong man that you were elected to be.
00:09:34.000 You know, we talked about this at the conference quite a bit.
00:09:36.000 Andrew, especially voters under 45, they don't care if he acts like a Franco.
00:09:41.000 They don't care.
00:09:42.000 They want it.
00:09:43.000 So be that guy and don't exp. 1.00
00:09:45.000 You know, that's it.
00:09:46.000 I'm not going to explain myself.
00:09:47.000 I personally want Greenland.
00:09:49.000 Don't explain yourself over Greenland.
00:09:52.000 We have to colonize space and the United States has to lead that effort.
00:09:55.000 Guess what?
00:09:55.000 We need Greenland to do it.
00:09:57.000 Tough.
00:09:57.000 End of story.
00:09:58.000 And you don't even have to do that with military action.
00:10:01.000 So and the public wouldn't even care.
00:10:03.000 I don't think that much about that because the question of what comes next is less of a, you know, a very concerning question, right?
00:10:11.000 I mean, you can leave people in charge there that obviously Western values hold our same belief systems, right?
00:10:17.000 Have been in the international order for a long time.
00:10:20.000 So there's no, there's less of a danger of this crisis and destabilization.
00:10:26.000 So again, I think that's well said.
00:10:30.000 I think that's well said, Rich.
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00:11:33.000 I just want to, I guess I want to ask a little more on this.
00:11:39.000 As you say, you say Harry Enton and others, they directly manipulate the polls to manipulate Trump.
00:11:46.000 I guess that struck me as a very strong claim.
00:11:50.000 Like, how many people are involved in this decision?
00:11:52.000 How do they do it?
00:11:54.000 And because that's like a big swing.
00:11:56.000 And I just feel, among other things, I feel like there'd probably be whistleblowers from these organizations with a lot of independent editorial decisions, too.
00:12:05.000 But yeah, go ahead, Rich.
00:12:06.000 Yeah, I mean, the fact is that my industry is completely dominated by leftists.
00:12:10.000 I mean, guys, I literally created the polling critic industry.
00:12:14.000 It was like me, and that was it for years.
00:12:16.000 It has grown over the years now, and thank God it has.
00:12:19.000 But if you're somebody like me and you come up, like, look, I think you're understating Republican shares of the vote.
00:12:25.000 You get ostracized, right?
00:12:26.000 So these guys, the Enton average, for instance, or the Enton aggregate that he pushed the entire cycle, excluded most of the polls that got the election correct, including ours.
00:12:36.000 So, you know, when he, you got to watch that little writing, when he puts up on the screen underneath the Enton aggregate or whatever poll he's talking about, you better look damn close at what he's citing and where he's getting it from because all of the people who not fairly but accurately have predicted the outcome of elections in the Trump era are excluded from most of Enton's stuff.
00:12:57.000 You will never see him cite, you know, one of the guys who are part of our association.
00:13:03.000 That will never happen on CNN, right?
00:13:05.000 So go back and look at how some of these pollsters fared in 24.
00:13:09.000 They know it.
00:13:10.000 The evidence of what they have been looking, even if you are pretending that this was just a, you know, a difference of opinion on who should be cited and who should not be, or what kind of data collection modes make the poll more accurate, make that pollster more accurate, and it's a methodological, you know, discussion or debate.
00:13:30.000 Even if we were going to pretend for a second that that was true, which it's not anymore, I pretended for the first five years of my career.
00:13:36.000 It's not true.
00:13:37.000 But even if we were to, the evidence built up over many years and it became overwhelming.
00:13:43.000 They continued to do it intentionally.
00:13:46.000 And no one's going to call them on it because there's various things going on.
00:13:49.000 There's groupthink, there's being afraid to get contracts, losing a contract with the media outlet.
00:13:55.000 And in the industry post-24, they've consolidated a lot.
00:13:59.000 So Reuters, Yahoo, CBS, they're all using the same online panel and same data set as youGov.
00:14:07.000 I believe it, Rich.
00:14:08.000 I believe it absolutely that they think Harry Enton's not as bad as you think he is, but I do think he probably, you know, he plays both sides.
00:14:17.000 That much I can see until it's very true.
00:14:19.000 All right, Rich, the, you know, I, Blake and I have taken a pretty, I would say, middle of the road approach on the Venezuela thing.
00:14:27.000 I'm going to show my cards.
00:14:29.000 There is something, and I, and I, I've, I watched Mike Cernovich, who's a friend of the show, uh, kind of give his take why he supported it.
00:14:39.000 I support it.
00:14:41.000 I support it.
00:14:42.000 Yeah, I support it.
00:14:43.000 And I'm surprised that I support it because Charlie and I spent years railing against the military-industrial complex.
00:14:50.000 We're going to have Secretary of War Pete Hegseth on next.
00:14:53.000 We're going to talk about this.
00:14:56.000 I've devoted basically the majority of my adult political life to railing against the war machine.
00:15:03.000 But this is different.
00:15:04.000 This is the Monroe doctrine. 0.76
00:15:06.000 And the way you boiled it down.
00:15:07.000 Don Roe doctrine.
00:15:08.000 Don Rowe doctrine.
00:15:09.000 Don Rowe.
00:15:10.000 The way you boiled it down, I thought, was brilliant.
00:15:13.000 We want our oil back.
00:15:14.000 I'm not making excuses for it.
00:15:16.000 Iran, China, Russia, you have no place in this hemisphere. 0.99
00:15:20.000 Get the hell out.
00:15:22.000 This is our backyard.
00:15:24.000 We're not going to be suffering fools any longer.
00:15:26.000 We're not going to be playing patty cake.
00:15:28.000 Get out.
00:15:28.000 This is our oil.
00:15:29.000 We're going to take the revenues.
00:15:30.000 We're enriching the homeland.
00:15:31.000 We're securing our defenses.
00:15:33.000 That's why I like it.
00:15:35.000 You know, obviously, the proof is in the pudding how this plays out.
00:15:39.000 But is there a chance, based on where you see the base at, where you see Trump voters at, that we can turn this into a win politically from a polling standpoint?
00:15:49.000 I do.
00:15:50.000 I think there's a way to really give the American people a vision because right now, Republicans, one of the main reasons they're losing, and we can get into some of the gripes that certain factions within the coalition have.
00:16:02.000 But one of the, I would say the main reason that they have, they lost in 25 and we go into 26 with them being the underdog here is that they don't have a vision.
00:16:13.000 They haven't given the American public an idea of what's the agenda for this year.
00:16:17.000 What's the agenda for the country?
00:16:20.000 And I think this is actually a really good opportunity.
00:16:22.000 And I think the interview with Cernovich on Tucker was just great because I think Mike, whether you agree with him right now or not, guys, I think what Mike started to do was lay out what kind of a vision you could give to the American public and give, which could, look, Americans are dying for something to believe in again, guys.
00:16:40.000 They really are.
00:16:42.000 And I'm not saying that we should start toppling governments one by one in the Western hemisphere, but Reagan understood something about the unique identity of Americans and what it meant to be an American.
00:16:55.000 It's optimistic.
00:16:56.000 It's forward thinking.
00:16:58.000 And for so many years, one of the reasons for Trump's success is that, forget about the Malays, they've been in the gutter thinking, you know, hopelessness with hopelessness and despair, right?
00:17:09.000 And some people look at, you know, especially younger people, they look at the situation you just brought up during the break.
00:17:16.000 You know, student loan debt.
00:17:18.000 We have national debt.
00:17:20.000 We have credit card debt.
00:17:21.000 We can't afford homes, right?
00:17:22.000 Our country's getting invaded, Rich.
00:17:25.000 That's the thing.
00:17:25.000 I mean, I...
00:17:26.000 I tell you, that is the single most demoralizing aspect of modern American life is that you look across the street and you don't recognize your neighbors.
00:17:33.000 You go to the DMV, you don't recognize your neighbors.
00:17:35.000 You go on an airplane, you don't recognize your neighbors.
00:17:38.000 And there is something insidious about this.
00:17:40.000 Blake, I would love to build this out from a data standpoint at some point.
00:17:44.000 There is something about when your country gets invaded by foreigners where American families stop or whatever the country is, stop having babies and stop believing in. 0.98
00:17:53.000 100%.
00:17:54.000 Like, mass immigration lowers.
00:17:57.000 It's not the cure-all because Japan doesn't have a lot.
00:18:00.000 South Korea doesn't have a lot and they're lower than us.
00:18:02.000 Switzerland.
00:18:03.000 Switzerland.
00:18:03.000 So it's not the only factor.
00:18:05.000 Yeah, there's something insidious about it and demoralizing about it.
00:18:10.000 And this is why I constantly harp on the issue of immigration.
00:18:13.000 I think it is visceral.
00:18:15.000 I think there is a, you know, we talk about illegal and you still get these boomer cons that say, you know, oh, I support legal immigration and I'm just anti-legal.
00:18:24.000 No, like, nope.
00:18:25.000 We've had too much.
00:18:26.000 We've had too much.
00:18:28.000 And we are watching the eraser of American culture before our eyes.
00:18:33.000 We are watching the communities that remind us of America shrink and get like these enclaves get shrunk.
00:18:40.000 It's not about skin color, by the way.
00:18:42.000 I think it's about pre-modern and post-modern.
00:18:44.000 I'm going to build this idea out too.
00:18:46.000 It's people that see the economic system as an opportunity to get ahead and those who view it as a extraction tool to oppress people.
00:18:54.000 That's the dividing line.
00:18:55.000 Because if you look at the American opportunity as a chance to enrich yourself and your family and the future generations that come after you, then you will be a contributing member of this society.
00:19:06.000 If you look at America as an extraction machine operation like the Somalis do pre-modern, then you're going to treat us as oppressors and you're going to try and take back the wealth that you think was wrongly stolen by the white man. 0.98
00:19:18.000 Rich Barris, final word.
00:19:19.000 Yeah, if you look at just the chart or the graphic that Donald Trump put out on Truth the other day about these populations and how much they take, right?
00:19:29.000 What are the percentage?
00:19:30.000 What are the household percentages receiving benefits from the country?
00:19:34.000 And there is this feeling.
00:19:35.000 And if you're a domestic population, it does give you this sense of, you know, I'm just losing.
00:19:40.000 We're just losing because you can see that people come in here and they don't have the attitude you have.
00:19:46.000 You want to thrive, right?
00:19:48.000 Where these populations want to come in, they want to survive and they want to, like you said, they want to extract, right? 1.00
00:19:53.000 So it's just fleece system. 0.99
00:19:55.000 They want to build.
00:19:56.000 Yeah, that's right.
00:19:57.000 While domestic U.S.-born citizens don't, because if, well, of course, we all have criminal populations, criminal elements, but that largely, that's not what we're talking about here, right?
00:20:08.000 We're talking about people who are trying to be good citizens and then just constantly beaten down by the system that they're fleecing.
00:20:15.000 It just, come on.
00:20:16.000 I mean, it's not hard to understand why people had this sense.
00:20:19.000 It's like clouds, this dark blanket come over them that the future is bleak.
00:20:23.000 So again, I think this is, this can be used as an opportunity to turn this into like an American resurgence.
00:20:30.000 It just has to be done right, Andy.
00:20:31.000 Exactly.
00:20:31.000 I mean, there is a sense.
00:20:32.000 I even looked at Blake in one of the breaks and I said, I'm loving this sort of unapologetic.
00:20:37.000 Yeah, we're going to take Greenland.
00:20:39.000 Yeah, we're going to, we're going to, we're going to seize a Russia to pay this.
00:20:42.000 I'm just saying, I like the vibe.
00:20:44.000 I like the energy.
00:20:45.000 It's resurgent.
00:20:46.000 Thank you, Rich Barris.
00:20:47.000 You're the man.
00:20:50.000 This is Lane Schoenberger, Chief Investment Officer and Founding Partner of YReFi.
00:20:55.000 It has been an honor and a privilege to partner with Turning Point and for Charlie to endorse us.
00:21:00.000 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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00:21:59.000 We are waiting on Secretary Pete Heg Seth to join us.
00:22:02.000 We are busy man.
00:22:05.000 We are monitoring the feed.
00:22:06.000 I will see him as soon as he sits down.
00:22:09.000 Got the video up there.
00:22:10.000 As soon as he sits down, we're going to take him.
00:22:13.000 You have sent over a lot of questions.
00:22:15.000 Blake has been filtering through them.
00:22:16.000 We've added them to the list.
00:22:17.000 We're going to get it together.
00:22:18.000 Hopefully we can get to as many of them as we can.
00:22:19.000 As we can.
00:22:20.000 Yeah.
00:22:21.000 So Secretary Hag says, obviously a busy, busy man.
00:22:23.000 Lots of questions about Venezuela.
00:22:25.000 Lots of questions about what's going on with Greenland.
00:22:29.000 There's been rumors that the U.S. is open to military force to take Greenland.
00:22:34.000 I don't know how else you want to put that.
00:22:37.000 But we, Blake, why don't you set up the next clip for us here?
00:22:42.000 We'll have this ready to go so we can ask him about it once he sits down.
00:22:45.000 But there's this big, obviously there's been a lot of stuff about Greenland after the Venezuela thing because there's chatter, which the administration has encouraged that, okay, we're flexing our muscle in this hemisphere.
00:22:56.000 Could that mean we'll make a bid for Greenland?
00:22:58.000 And there's debate whether it would be just seizing it or now there's also backroom.
00:23:03.000 We really just want to buy it.
00:23:04.000 All of that.
00:23:05.000 Anyway, this got a lot of attention because Denmark's prime minister reacted to this and basically said, if the U.S. goes after Greenland, and effectively this is going to be the end of the NATO alliance.
00:23:19.000 Let's play 246. 0.84
00:23:21.000 Firstly, I believe that the American president should be taken seriously when he says that he wants Greenland.
00:23:27.000 But I also want to make it clear that if the United States chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops.
00:23:35.000 That is including our NATO and thus the security that has been provided since the end of the Second World War.
00:23:42.000 I believe in democracy and I believe in the international rules.
00:23:46.000 Of course, I also believe that you do not change borders by force either one way or another.
00:23:51.000 It is not only the position of Denmark and the Danish kingdom, fortunately, of Europe, too.
00:23:56.000 So I hope that the people will also take note of the once again significant European support that we are receiving.
00:24:02.000 Yeah, after which Trump truthed that America will always support and have NATO's back, even if they never have our back.
00:24:09.000 And after he bragged that he got them to spend 2% to 5% GDP, which is fair, which is accurate.
00:24:15.000 That's what we wanted.
00:24:16.000 Like, I think it's worth, because I think some people have responded to this with some chest thumping.
00:24:16.000 Yeah, absolutely.
00:24:22.000 Like, there's a lot of attitude.
00:24:24.000 I think this is part of what Stephen Miller said when he was on CNN.
00:24:28.000 He said, Denmark can't stop us from taking it, which is true. 1.00
00:24:32.000 But some people have actually just embraced people have embraced this attitude of that's all that matters is whether they can stop us or not.
00:24:40.000 And that's all it reduces to.
00:24:42.000 And I guess I would caution people from going really far down that rabbit hole.
00:24:46.000 First of all, it's not ever been America's way, even when we were the global unquestioned superpower, not in decline anyway.
00:24:53.000 It's not been our way to just bully weaker nations to beat them up.
00:24:58.000 That's not really a great long-term play for America.
00:25:02.000 Like what's greatly been to America's benefit historically is a lot of nations far weaker than us have been willing to work with us, have been willing to just accede to our leadership.
00:25:13.000 And that led us in a dumb way where we just started to put other countries' interests first over ours, where we just did dumb things, where we're funneling endless foreign aid to crappy countries that don't like us and are taking advantage of us.
00:25:26.000 But I don't think you swing back the other way and you just, for example, dissolve NATO because you feel like making your image on a map bigger.
00:25:34.000 No, I mean, listen, I think you have to ask the question, how would we acquire Greenland?
00:25:39.000 You've got to involve the people.
00:25:41.000 Yeah, right?
00:25:41.000 It should be done by vote.
00:25:43.000 I think, you know.
00:25:44.000 I think the way you do it is you buy it.
00:25:48.000 You just make the pitch.
00:25:49.000 I think one thing that's been an issue is we've been, it's almost been too attractive to just, again, chest thump and say, like, oh, we could easily do it, which we could.
00:25:57.000 But I think the way you make it a long-term play is you point out it is a win-win.
00:26:00.000 You can say Denmark, you just talk about how Denmark is a great ally.
00:26:03.000 They actually have been.
00:26:04.000 They have spent money.
00:26:05.000 They've ponied up for Ukraine, whereas other countries haven't.
00:26:08.000 They sent troops to Afghanistan.
00:26:10.000 They had more troops die per capita in Afghanistan than I think any of our allies.
00:26:14.000 And they've been a good ally to us.
00:26:17.000 And they're also the European country that restricts immigration.
00:26:20.000 They're good on a lot of ways.
00:26:21.000 And so we talk about how Denmark is a great ally.
00:26:23.000 And Denmark has taken on this burden of supporting Greenland.
00:26:27.000 Well, they spend $4 billion a year.
00:26:29.000 Yeah, they spend a ton of money.
00:26:30.000 It's not really a very profitable endeavor in any way.
00:26:33.000 It's a loser.
00:26:34.000 It's a big welfare sink for them.
00:26:36.000 They spend a lot on this.
00:26:39.000 And for us, it would be a far more trivial amount of money to spend.
00:26:42.000 So we could increase the amount of money.
00:26:43.000 So we can say it's good for Greenland.
00:26:44.000 We can develop you more.
00:26:46.000 We can give you more money.
00:26:47.000 It's good for Denmark.
00:26:49.000 You're getting this off of your books.
00:26:50.000 And it's good for America because we have the long-term certainty of owning Greenland.
00:26:54.000 We have that long-term military security.
00:26:56.000 We can potentially develop the natural resources with more.
00:26:59.000 I was going to say the natural resources is.
00:27:01.000 That's the pitch you make.
00:27:02.000 You say win, for everyone involved.
00:27:06.000 And then we get our oil lands back in Venezuela.
00:27:08.000 We're talking about, and by the way, we have Secretary Wright on the show tomorrow, Energy Secretary of the United States.
00:27:15.000 So we're going to be talking all about Venezuelan oil.
00:27:18.000 What's at stake?
00:27:19.000 What could we benefit from?
00:27:21.000 How much money could we make?
00:27:22.000 How much money would flow back into the hands of the Venezuelan people?
00:27:28.000 We are monitoring the situation.
00:27:30.000 Secretary Hegseth should be sitting down in just a second.
00:27:34.000 Blake, what are some of the questions that people want to ask Secretary Hegseth?
00:27:38.000 Someone really wanted to know what are your thoughts on the Russians sending a submarine to assist the Russian-flagged oil tanker.
00:27:46.000 It wasn't much because the, I think, you know, what I believe that the Russian submarine, by the way, I've looked into this, was basically doing surveillance ahead of where the territory is all.
00:27:54.000 Because they actually, this tanker evaded a blockade, probably with the help of additional resources provided by the Russians.
00:28:02.000 So I like this question from Evan.
00:28:03.000 What has the Department of War done to correct shipbuilding problems in the U.S. Navy?
00:28:07.000 We've covered that.
00:28:08.000 We had a guest on at the start of the year.
00:28:10.000 We're not building ships very well.
00:28:12.000 When America won World War II, we could famously build a ship in a single day.
00:28:16.000 We did it once as a publicity stunt.
00:28:17.000 We built a Liberty ship from nothing to finished vessel 24 hours.
00:28:22.000 That's fast.
00:28:23.000 And we could literally build ships.
00:28:24.000 How long does it take?
00:28:25.000 We could build ships faster than the Japanese and the Germans could sink them. 1.00
00:28:29.000 And now China can build ships faster than we would be able to sink them.
00:28:32.000 Well, that's certainly true.
00:28:34.000 Probably faster than we could build the missiles that would blow them up. 0.89
00:28:36.000 And they can build missiles faster than us.
00:28:38.000 So we're going to be asking about these seized vessels.
00:28:41.000 We're going to be asking about, you know, what is the military obligation in Venezuela to, if we're going to be running Venezuela, is there a military obligation and what is the extent of that obligation?
00:28:55.000 We're going to be asking about, you know, do we have proof that Iran, China, Russia are still on the ground in Venezuela?
00:29:04.000 Are they fomenting dissent?
00:29:05.000 Are they fomenting factions?
00:29:08.000 You know, we're going to be talking about Greenland.
00:29:10.000 And if we can get to it, we're going to find out how many push-ups and pull-ups Secretary Hegseth can do, which is what everybody wants to know, obviously, Blake.
00:29:18.000 And I just want to remind everybody one thing here.
00:29:21.000 Secretary, so we did a flash poll, well, a straw poll at Amfest.
00:29:27.000 So for our 31,000 attendees of Amfest, we asked them who was the most popular secretary.
00:29:32.000 We have that graphic, I believe.
00:29:35.000 Secretary Hegseth was the most popular cabinet secretary in Trump's administration, according to our attendees at AmericaFest, which should tell you something.
00:29:46.000 83% strong approval and only 0.6% strong disapproval.
00:29:54.000 That's a pretty favorable crowd, however, you want to slice it.
00:29:58.000 So again, it looks like we're getting some activity here.
00:30:01.000 We will have Secretary Hegseth on in just a second from an undisclosed location.
00:30:07.000 What other questions do you want us to ask the Secretary?
00:30:09.000 Email us freedom at CharlieKirk.com.
00:30:12.000 Freedom at CharlieKirk.com.
00:30:14.000 I also want to know where our recruitment is at.
00:30:18.000 So there's been a lot of headlines made about the recruiting numbers coming out of the U.S. military that they are through the roof.
00:30:24.000 I want to know exactly where those numbers are at.
00:30:28.000 All right.
00:30:28.000 So email us your questions.
00:30:30.000 Freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:30:31.000 Freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:30:33.000 By the way, breaking news: there is video now of the shooting incident out of Minneapolis involving an ICE agent.
00:30:42.000 It does appear that the woman was attempting to ram the ICE agent.
00:30:46.000 That video is now circulating online.
00:30:49.000 I would show it to you, except we are still eagerly awaiting the secretary.
00:30:54.000 So, Blake, what else you got for us?
00:30:56.000 Well, we were going to do this after, but we might be going right up against the end of the show here.
00:31:00.000 President Trump has announced he's going to be pursuing new measures, not clear yet, but to make it easier for a single-family home.
00:31:08.000 He says, for a long time, buying and owning a home was considered the pinnacle of the American dream.
00:31:12.000 It was a reward for working hard and doing the right thing.
00:31:14.000 But because of the record high inflation of Joe Biden and the Democrats, the American dream is increasingly out of reach for many people, especially younger Americans.
00:31:23.000 For that reason, I am immediately taking steps to ban large institutional investors from buying more single-family homes, and I will be calling on Congress to codify it.
00:31:36.000 People live in homes, not corporations.
00:31:39.000 I will discuss this topic and more at my speech in Davos in two weeks.
00:31:44.000 I don't know what it's going to be.
00:31:45.000 That is tremendous, and it's exactly what Charlie was saying.
00:31:47.000 I was going to say, this is a Charlie Kirk special.
00:31:49.000 So, we talk about the Gen Z economic moonshot, and it is very clear that President Trump is hearing the pushback.
00:31:57.000 But this is the economic moonshot that Charlie wanted.
00:32:00.000 This is what he said: we are in a race against the clock.
00:32:03.000 We have to prove that our ideas work, and we have to clear away from a policy standpoint to make sure that Gen Z and let's be honest, generations after, are not getting blocked out by institutional investors, foreign buyers, and the like.
00:32:19.000 Think about it: every single dollar you spend is either supporting your values or working against them.
00:32:25.000 In today's economy, where you spend your money, it really matters, and that's how we take back our country.
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00:33:41.000 Secretary Pete Hegseth, Department of War, welcome, welcome to the show.
00:33:46.000 It's great to see you.
00:33:47.000 Thanks for having me.
00:33:48.000 Appreciate it.
00:33:48.000 Secretary, we'll get right into it.
00:33:50.000 Two tankers have been boarded and apprehended by the U.S. military.
00:33:54.000 A senior Russian lawmaker is quoted as saying this is outright piracy.
00:33:58.000 What do you call these actions?
00:34:00.000 Outright accountability, actual enforcement.
00:34:02.000 There's been a long time illicit activity emanating from Venezuela around the world, really.
00:34:07.000 The Dark Fleet's a global enterprise, but Venezuela has used it to transport sanctioned oil flagless vessels that enrich the regime.
00:34:16.000 And we have said an oil blockade is in full effect around Venezuela to ensure that that oil on the Dark Fleet doesn't make it anywhere.
00:34:24.000 So there was one vessel that attempted to move toward Venezuela when we put the blockade in, turned around.
00:34:30.000 So we've been pursuing that one for a couple of weeks, frankly.
00:34:34.000 Just a reminder that we will follow you.
00:34:36.000 And when we have the opportunity, we'll ensure you are seize that vessel, which we did.
00:34:41.000 And then there was another one inside closer to Venezuelan waters this morning at the same time simultaneously that we also confiscated.
00:34:49.000 So this is an ongoing effort.
00:34:51.000 It's in full effect.
00:34:52.000 The pressure is on.
00:34:53.000 And as Marco has laid out, we're working with the Venezuelan government to ensure that there's a new way by which they can process that oil, partnering with the United States.
00:35:05.000 And we're going to continue to enforce it.
00:35:08.000 This blockade as necessary.
00:35:09.000 So far, Secretary, we haven't had any U.S. boots on the ground in Venezuela, but President Trump has said we're going to run the country in some capacity.
00:35:18.000 Is there any possibility that that will take place?
00:35:21.000 And if so, how many, what could that situation look like?
00:35:25.000 Well, I think in these cases, what the president is so good about is we're not closing doors here.
00:35:30.000 We're not opening doors.
00:35:32.000 We're not revealing to anybody what we will or will not do.
00:35:35.000 Strategic ambiguity is a really important thing.
00:35:38.000 Leveraged properly, it creates opportunities that did not exist before.
00:35:42.000 Just like that raid on Maduro that no one in the world anticipated, the most sophisticated raid maybe that's ever happened in military history, changed the entire dynamic.
00:35:50.000 We didn't talk about whether something like that was possible.
00:35:53.000 So, what happens next depends a lot on the decisions that are made inside Caracas and by leadership.
00:35:59.000 The blockade remains in full effect.
00:36:01.000 The strikes on narco-terrorists and boats, full effect.
00:36:04.000 The pressure continues to ensure that they work with the United States to ensure that that oil, and Marco made it clear, the president put out a statement yesterday: 30 to 50 million barrels of oil to be brought to the United States to be processed, to be used properly by the Venezuelans to ensure that that transition happens the way that it should.
00:36:24.000 You could see scenarios where, hey, maybe we reopen the embassy and you've got Marines there to guard the embassy.
00:36:30.000 You could look at scenarios where there's cooperation, but I wouldn't foreclose anything.
00:36:35.000 And I think it's important not to foreclose anything to make sure that the outcome is one that benefits the interests of the United States in our own hemisphere.
00:36:42.000 This is the Donroe Doctrine.
00:36:44.000 This is, you know, Russia, Iran, Cuba, others had their tentacles all over Venezuela to exploit it and also to leverage their opportunity to be closer to us and pull those energy assets out.
00:36:57.000 We're flipping the script, putting America first, controlling our hemisphere. 0.99
00:37:01.000 And that action taken on Nicholas Maduro was the star of it, but it's certainly not the end.
00:37:06.000 Secretary, you watched the raid happen live as it was happening.
00:37:11.000 And you mentioned that this was the most sophisticated raid of its kind, probably in who knows, living memory.
00:37:18.000 What was it like watching it happen?
00:37:20.000 The apprehension of Maduro and his wife.
00:37:22.000 Like, what's the memory that stands out from that moment?
00:37:26.000 The memory that stands out the most for me was watching the drone feed at the end when you could see the, I won't reveal the exact number, but the helicopters leaving Venezuelan territory over the water, and they looked like little ants, little dots, on their way out of the country.
00:37:43.000 They have Maduro and his wife, indicted individuals, and all the Americans are out safely.
00:37:49.000 We had some wounded, but no, no KIA.
00:37:51.000 That was the enduring image because everything in between, you know, yes, these are the best of the best.
00:37:57.000 They're trained for it.
00:37:58.000 In fact, the commanders have said they've never been more supported.
00:38:01.000 They've never felt like they've had better intelligence.
00:38:03.000 They've never had clearer and better authorities.
00:38:06.000 They've never been given everything that they need.
00:38:07.000 That's one of the things we're very proud of here at the War Department.
00:38:10.000 We're going to support our fighters, back them up 100%, give them whatever they need, give them the authorities and rules of engagement to be successful.
00:38:17.000 And they had all of that.
00:38:18.000 Still, the enemy and the other side gets a vote.
00:38:21.000 And it was a contested raid, even with the sophistication that went into it.
00:38:25.000 And we watched them hover over.
00:38:27.000 We watched the actions on.
00:38:28.000 We watched Venezuelan man pads get shot while they could potentially try to shoot at helicopters.
00:38:35.000 I mean, it was all in real time.
00:38:36.000 But it wasn't until we saw those birds floating out that any of us could really exhale.
00:38:43.000 The courage it took for the president to authorize it, the sheer courage and competency of our men and women in the military, those assaulters, that extraction force, incredible, the best in the world.
00:38:54.000 They went downtown without being heard, without being seen, with no notice, extracted that indicted individual and brought him back to the United States.
00:39:02.000 Only the United States of America could do this mission, second to none, no doubt.
00:39:06.000 And you even saw that on CNN, Mr. Secretary, where you had analysts saying that even China and Russia were looking at this going like, wow, this is incredible.
00:39:15.000 So to your point, they've never felt that your men and women in the military have never felt more support, more backup.
00:39:21.000 I mean, I know this is hard to quantify, but you came in with a mandate to make the military more lethal.
00:39:27.000 The lethality, you said it again and again, fitness, excellence, meritocracy.
00:39:32.000 You know, two-part question.
00:39:33.000 Where are we at now?
00:39:34.000 How much more excellent, how much more lethal are we now than when you took over?
00:39:38.000 And I also am curious about where recruitment stands right now for the U.S. military.
00:39:42.000 Well, we've always had great Americans, right?
00:39:45.000 Our job has been to unleash them, to allow them to do their job without tinkering in the way they operate, without more burdensome rules of engagement, without more political caveats, while actually giving them the authorities we need.
00:39:58.000 And a lot of that emanated out of the speech I gave at Quantico to generals and senior enlisted saying, I'm putting commanders back in charge.
00:40:05.000 It's not my job to tell that extraction force exactly how to do it.
00:40:09.000 It's my job to get them what they need, ensure their standards are clear, they're able to execute at the highest possible level, and unleash them to do what they do best.
00:40:19.000 I mean, that's the reflections I've gotten back from not just special operators, but conventional units just saying it's a new environment.
00:40:25.000 It's a new vibe, a new aura inside the military where we feel empowered to be the warriors that we're supposed to be.
00:40:32.000 We've always been that way, but other things have held us back.
00:40:35.000 There have been political correctness or prerogatives or DEI or new priorities were emphasized and we didn't feel like we were fully supported, not anymore.
00:40:44.000 And you mentioned the recruiting numbers.
00:40:46.000 That's why last year was the most historic recruiting numbers we've seen in decades.
00:40:50.000 This year is even beyond that so far, guys.
00:40:52.000 The recruiting numbers are surpassing so far in FY26 what they were last year because the spirit continues.
00:40:59.000 The word is getting out.
00:41:00.000 This is a military you want to be in.
00:41:02.000 President Trump has your back.
00:41:04.000 The secretary has your back.
00:41:05.000 We're training better than ever before in what we do.
00:41:08.000 And we've got historic financing to make sure we've got the weapons to do it.
00:41:12.000 But also we're focusing on barracks and quality of life for the men and women who serve, raising pay.
00:41:17.000 That's the way it should be, putting the troops first, and that's been our focus.
00:41:21.000 Speaking of the troops under you, yesterday you announced you're going to seek a reduction in Mark Kelly, Senator Mark Kelly's rank as a result of his statements about possibly defiant orders.
00:41:33.000 One of our viewers, Elizabeth, has asked us, she's wondering, she says, why not bring charges against him?
00:41:39.000 She wonders how you reached that decision.
00:41:41.000 Well, we went through the regular process and we have evaluated those statements, not just that one video, which was incredibly reckless.
00:41:49.000 He knew exactly what he was doing.
00:41:50.000 By the way, he was the senior member of that video.
00:41:53.000 He's the only one we have jurisdiction over because he's retired, he's receiving a pension, money from the government, which means he's still subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
00:42:02.000 And watching the, I don't know, hissy fit that he's been throwing ever since shows us just how over the target we are.
00:42:09.000 He knew exactly what he was saying.
00:42:11.000 He understands the rules.
00:42:13.000 He understands he's still subject to UCMJ.
00:42:15.000 He understood the doubt and uncertainty he was putting into the process by vaguely alluding to illegal orders but never pointing to what that would mean underneath the Trump.
00:42:25.000 So he knew and he understands.
00:42:27.000 And the reaction underscores how serious this action is.
00:42:31.000 Reducing a rank or pay is a serious administrative action that sends real signals that we take these things incredibly seriously.
00:42:41.000 So he's got the time by statute or by directive to reply.
00:42:45.000 We'll review after that.
00:42:47.000 But this is, I don't think anybody should minimize how significant this is.
00:42:53.000 We don't do it without understanding that.
00:42:55.000 And we're following up by the book and we'll see what happens.
00:42:58.000 Yeah, my brother who's in the military said that this is a pretty massive demoralization for him.
00:43:04.000 I mean, this is a getting demoted in retirement is pretty big.
00:43:08.000 Secretary, last question here.
00:43:11.000 I want to say first, I want you to know that you were our most popular.
00:43:15.000 We did a straw poll at AmericaFest and 31,000 people, we gave it to all of them.
00:43:21.000 They said that you are their favorite cabinet secretary in the Trump administration.
00:43:26.000 So I just, I want you to know that.
00:43:28.000 There's other questions about how many pull-ups you can do, how many push-ups, but we're going to skip that for the interest of time.
00:43:34.000 But I'm sure that that had some influence in your favorable marks there.
00:43:38.000 I want to end it with this, and we should.
00:43:40.000 This is the Charlie Kirk show.
00:43:42.000 You were friends with Charlie.
00:43:43.000 Charlie fought like tooth and nail to get you over the finish line in your confirmation.
00:43:49.000 I think he'd be very proud of you, Mr. Secretary.
00:43:52.000 You've done a tremendous job, and we're proud of you.
00:43:56.000 What do you remember about him?
00:43:57.000 And what do you want the world to know about your friend that maybe they don't from your POV?
00:44:02.000 You're giving me chills.
00:44:04.000 I wouldn't be in this position right here without Charlie Kirk, probably without the Charlie Kirk show, without his platform, without his courage.
00:44:10.000 Throughout the confirmation battle, he was always right there saying, hold the line, don't give in.
00:44:17.000 We've got your back.
00:44:18.000 And the wind that put in my sails, I mean, he and Donald Trump Jr. and others just unrelenting in backing me up.
00:44:25.000 So I wouldn't be here without him.
00:44:27.000 Listen, he was the thermometer and the thermostat of our movement, and you understand what that means.
00:44:33.000 He understood what was going on around the country, and he understood how to ensure we were calibrated correctly to make sure make America great again or America first was moving in the right direction.
00:44:43.000 But he did it because he had a, listen, he was a true believer on every front in politically and what he believed in in his own Christian faith and how he lived that out.
00:44:52.000 And he wasn't about praise for Charlie Kirk.
00:44:54.000 He was about the country and Christ and the cause and doing everything he could to advance it.
00:44:59.000 He never cared whether it was his name in the headlines.
00:45:02.000 So he backed people up.
00:45:03.000 He backed President Trump up.
00:45:04.000 He backed me up.
00:45:05.000 He backed the other members of the cabinet up and created the opportunity for us to do exactly what we should do, which is what we said we would do, which President Trump appointed us to do, which is, you know, peace through strength, America first, bring the warrior ethos back to the military.
00:45:19.000 All the things Charlie cared about, you guys care about, we're doing.
00:45:22.000 So I wouldn't be here without him.
00:45:24.000 We think of him every single day.
00:45:26.000 I love him.
00:45:27.000 His wife, Erica, is incredible.
00:45:29.000 Anything we will do here at the War Department.
00:45:31.000 And just grateful to live in such a country that produces men like Charlie Kirk.
00:45:36.000 Well, God bless you.
00:45:36.000 We're grateful to live in a country that produces men like you, Secretary.
00:45:40.000 And thank you for making the time.
00:45:41.000 I know you're busy.
00:45:42.000 You got a heart out.
00:45:43.000 Get on to your next thing.
00:45:45.000 We pray for you.
00:45:46.000 We support you.
00:45:46.000 We have your back 100%.
00:45:47.000 We'll see you soon.
00:45:48.000 Thank you, guys.
00:45:49.000 Appreciate it.
00:45:49.000 God bless you.
00:45:51.000 All right.
00:45:52.000 The Secretary.
00:45:53.000 We've got to.
00:45:54.000 We got a couple of questions.
00:45:54.000 We got two questions in the amount of time.
00:45:57.000 I'm proud of us.
00:45:58.000 It was delayed, complicated business.
00:46:00.000 Thank you for everyone who sent them in.
00:46:01.000 I know we only got to a couple of them, unfortunately.
00:46:04.000 Yeah, but we appreciate it.
00:46:06.000 Keep sending us emails, freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:46:08.000 We will see you tomorrow.