The Charlie Kirk Show - The Greatest Fight Night Ever + An Iran Deal, At Last

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 will 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, 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 Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of The Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals.

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00:01:13.000 That is NobleGoldInvestments.com.

00:01:17.000 All right.

00:01:18.000 Welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.

00:01:19.000 It's Monday.

00:01:20.000 What a beautiful Monday it is, June 15th.

00:01:22.000 I'm here at the YRefi Studio.

00:01:24.000 Blake Neff is remote today.

00:01:27.000 He just couldn't stay away.

00:01:28.000 Good to see you, Blake.

00:01:29.000 How are you doing?

00:01:30.000 Oh, it's a great.

00:01:31.000 I definitely can't stay away today.

00:01:32.000 We have massive important news and we have massive fun news.

00:01:36.000 And that's a good combo to have.

00:01:38.000 This is the theme today.

00:01:40.000 Is no bad vibes.

00:01:43.000 Everything is honestly looking great.

00:01:46.000 And you know, it's funny, we have Rich Bears coming on the show about in the half hour mark.

00:01:50.000 And he was basically like, I'm so excited.

00:01:53.000 I'm like, Rich, are you going to be Black Pill Rich today?

00:01:55.000 He's like, Absolutely.

00:01:56.000 Are you kidding me?

00:01:57.000 Like, this is amazing.

00:01:58.000 And, you know, by the way, if you watched the UFC Freedom 250 at the White House last night, I want to hear from you.

00:02:05.000 Send us your emails freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:02:07.000 Blake is going to be monitoring the inbox like usual.

00:02:11.000 But I just thought it was tremendous. 0.89

00:02:13.000 I mean, I know we've got this Iran deal.

00:02:14.000 President Trump is meeting with Emmanuel Macron as we speak, as a bilateral meeting, as part of the G7.

00:02:19.000 So he gets done with this incredible UFC event that was just so beautiful and so well done.

00:02:26.000 And the production value was incredible.

00:02:28.000 And yeah, you could see the video right there.

00:02:31.000 And, you know, you got the fighters coming out of the White House.

00:02:33.000 That's their walk up.

00:02:34.000 I mean, it was just amazing.

00:02:36.000 And then he gets on a plane and flies to Europe for the G7.

00:02:41.000 You know, tremendous.

00:02:42.000 The energy that that octogenarian, he's officially 80 years old now.

00:02:47.000 It was his birthday on Saturday.

00:02:48.000 So happy birthday, Mr. Trump, President Trump.

00:02:50.000 But the whole thing was just tremendous.

00:02:52.000 Look at that.

00:02:53.000 It's just stunning.

00:02:54.000 And that eagle right there.

00:02:56.000 And then, Blake, on top of everything, the fight with Justin Gaichi to win the final fight.

00:03:05.000 It was perfect.

00:03:06.000 It was perfect.

00:03:08.000 So this guy, you see in the B roll right now, if you're watching, this guy had just.

00:03:12.000 KO'd, knocked out the last three opponents he'd been, he'd fought against. 1.00

00:03:16.000 And these were not schlubs. 0.90

00:03:17.000 These were like the top guys ever in the lightweight division of UFC.

00:03:22.000 And, you know, this guy, so fast, you can see him.

00:03:25.000 He's like a pitbull.

00:03:27.000 And he really did body shot Justin Gaetje a couple times, really hurt him, said he hurt his liver real bad.

00:03:35.000 But Gaetje put him in the hospital.

00:03:37.000 He had an ocular bone, his ocular bone got broke in the fight.

00:03:40.000 Yeah, go ahead, Blake.

00:03:41.000 It was my friend who's a big UFC fan.

00:03:44.000 First of all, going in, He was telling me, okay, this has been a fun night. 1.00

00:03:48.000 Now we get to watch Gaith G get destroyed.

00:03:50.000 He was not hyped up on him at all.

00:03:53.000 He said, this is a very imbalanced fight.

00:03:56.000 He was predicting a big walkover, and this guy is about a decade older than his opponent.

00:04:01.000 He's near retirement, but he's an American patriot from very near us.

00:04:05.000 He's from a small mining town here in Arizona.

00:04:09.000 And he got this massive upset over this incredible, I think he was previously undefeated.

00:04:15.000 And then he delivered his big speech celebrating America.

00:04:19.000 And it was one of those perfect instances.

00:04:22.000 We joke sometimes that President Trump has this almost magical luck that events often align in his ways.

00:04:28.000 And you could not have scripted all of that better for the White House event, a patriotic, Upset victory in the final fight by a great American patriot who then delivers a big speech, and then the Marine Corps band starts blasting the stars and stripes forever.

00:04:44.000 It was incredible to watch.

00:04:46.000 And, big picture, it was so remarkable.

00:04:47.000 We've gotten.

00:04:49.000 I saw a great post that pointed out the left would only use the White House for these staged events. 0.55

00:04:55.000 They'd light it up rainbow and they'd have trans people read sad poems there, and they'd say that's the only legitimate use of the White House.

00:05:04.000 And no, we put on this big.

00:05:07.000 Popular event with thousands of people.

00:05:09.000 It was a ton of fun, and we should be able to have a fun event at the White House because the White House belongs to the American people.

00:05:17.000 And the American people, we do love fun.

00:05:20.000 Yeah, we do.

00:05:21.000 And it was a lot of fun.

00:05:22.000 Yeah, and the images from last night, I mean, everything is iconic.

00:05:26.000 Here's Justin Gaetje's message after his UFC victory.

00:05:30.000 By the way, he was a six to one underdog, and I just love it.

00:05:34.000 It was just so perfect.

00:05:36.000 Sock 28.

00:05:37.000 Hey, I'm from America.

00:05:39.000 250 years ago, we were way bigger than six-to-one dogs.

00:05:42.000 And look at us thriving now.

00:05:45.000 To all the current, former, and future military service members, thank you so much.

00:05:51.000 Thank you so much to all the first responders, the police officers, firefighters, ambulance, EMTs.

00:05:58.000 You guys have no idea how grateful I am.

00:06:01.000 And for as long as I'm able to, I will use my name to make money and support you guys.

00:06:06.000 First and foremost, thank you.

00:06:09.000 All glory to God.

00:06:10.000 I prayed so much for this opportunity to do something legendary.

00:06:14.000 And I know that was absolutely legendary because I cannot even believe it.

00:06:19.000 Wow.

00:06:22.000 That would have been eight years ago.

00:06:24.000 We were bigger dogs then.

00:06:24.000 Yeah.

00:06:26.000 I loved that.

00:06:27.000 I loved every aspect of it.

00:06:29.000 And it was a very fun watch.

00:06:32.000 And here's the thing, Blake to all the haters, to all the black pillars, to all the nihilists, to all the like burn it down people look at that.

00:06:42.000 The Delta formation flying over this like $70 million production at the White House.

00:06:48.000 You have Staff Sergeant Hannah Davis singing you soprano the whole time.

00:06:54.000 And you had the ellipse filled with 80,000 more people for a giant watch party just outside beyond the White House.

00:07:02.000 And so the visuals were just incredible.

00:07:05.000 But this is what we just want to remind you you do not fight because you know you're going to win.

00:07:10.000 Justin Gaiji did not fight that.

00:07:12.000 Fight because he knew he was going to win.

00:07:14.000 He was a 6 1 underdog and he pulled it off.

00:07:17.000 We don't fight because we know we're going to win.

00:07:18.000 We fight because it's the right thing to do.

00:07:20.000 We fight because we need to keep going.

00:07:22.000 You do not give up on your team just because they're down.

00:07:26.000 You do not give up on your team just because they are down.

00:07:30.000 If the Dodger team right now, which is in first place, God bless them, but if they were in last place after winning two World Series, would you give up on them?

00:07:37.000 Would you walk out on the team?

00:07:39.000 No.

00:07:40.000 You fight to make the team better.

00:07:41.000 Would Doc Roberts, the manager of the Dodgers, be in his right to Just abandon the effort to give up?

00:07:49.000 No.

00:07:51.000 So, listen, I don't know what's going to happen in the midterms.

00:07:53.000 I don't know what's going to happen in 2028.

00:07:55.000 All I know is that last night was a beautiful, beautiful reminder that we live in the greatest country in the history of the world.

00:08:01.000 I'm proud to be an American.

00:08:02.000 I'm proud of this country.

00:08:04.000 I'm proud of this administration.

00:08:05.000 I'm proud that they're getting peace deals signed, MOUs signed for peace in Iran.

00:08:11.000 I just was sitting on a briefing call, Blake, about the peace deal.

00:08:16.000 I just put a tweet out about it.

00:08:18.000 There was a lot of positive momentum.

00:08:20.000 Gas prices are already coming down.

00:08:23.000 We're going to see that Strait of Hormuz open more and more in the next two weeks.

00:08:27.000 And then by four weeks, if everything keeps.

00:08:29.000 Progressing the way we hope it is, then things are going to be basically back to normal.

00:08:33.000 And so there's a lot of good momentum.

00:08:36.000 And I'm just over the moon.

00:08:38.000 And I'm grateful that President Trump, he's 80 years old, and he got on a plane, Blake, right after this and headed all the way to.

00:08:46.000 He's hanging out with Macron right now.

00:08:47.000 Like, what 80 year old does that?

00:08:50.000 I don't know one, but we have one as president.

00:08:53.000 Absolutely.

00:08:55.000 It's.

00:08:56.000 It just.

00:08:57.000 Again, everything aligns so well because.

00:09:02.000 This administration, this movement we're in, it embraces trying new things, trying big things, doing what hasn't been attempted before.

00:09:12.000 And it's by daring those things that you get beautiful results.

00:09:17.000 And sometimes it's just something fun like what we saw last night.

00:09:20.000 We got a great patriotic visual, the kind of celebration our country deserves to have for its 250th anniversary.

00:09:27.000 We got the great contrast with, you saw it during the Cold Open. 0.96

00:09:31.000 Pathetic culture. 0.95

00:09:33.000 We'll play a clip on their tambourines or whatever. 1.00

00:09:33.000 Yeah. 1.00

00:09:36.000 We'll play a clip.

00:09:37.000 Are you fascists bound to lose? 0.74

00:09:40.000 You're bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose. 0.98

00:09:43.000 Hey there, are you fascists? 0.97

00:09:47.000 Let me put you straight. 1.00

00:09:48.000 When you come for the rest of us, we'll fight you at the gate and you will lose, you fascists bound to lose. 0.61

00:09:57.000 Well, that was not UFC Freedom 250. 1.00

00:10:00.000 That was an aged and decrepit, bitter old woman. 1.00

00:10:04.000 Formerly known as Bette Midler, trying, I don't know what she was attempting to do there, but. 0.90

00:10:11.000 Whatever it was, it was powerfully uncool.

00:10:14.000 I am grateful to them for putting on that concert.

00:10:18.000 It made every single aspect of yesterday better that we could cut over to that for funny clips throughout the night.

00:10:24.000 It was amazing.

00:10:26.000 It was.

00:10:26.000 And I want to give a shout out to Staff Sergeant Hannah Davis.

00:10:29.000 This gal was just next level. 0.99

00:10:31.000 Like, there were so many.

00:10:33.000 Just seeing the military band there, it was.

00:10:36.000 I just loved it so much, and she was excellent.

00:10:38.000 So, I'm going to play, I'm going to give her a shout out here, SOT 22.

00:10:45.000 I am digging this live.

00:10:51.000 Yes, it's awesome.

00:10:53.000 It's awesome. 0.99

00:10:55.000 Whoever that girl is, you can see amazing. 1.00

00:11:02.000 It just adds another.

00:11:05.000 We're wearing ties.

00:11:07.000 I kind of feel classy for once in my life.

00:11:12.000 I kind of feel not alone for once in the poop.

00:11:20.000 It was so good.

00:11:21.000 I mean, there's Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier's commentary over the top of it.

00:11:26.000 I mean, it was just, it was a magical, magical night.

00:11:29.000 And I actually was kind of bummed they did it on a Sunday, but I guess President Trump's birthday was on the Saturday and there were some other things going on.

00:11:35.000 But I loved it.

00:11:36.000 I thought I was going to be so distracted by work, but it was all show prep, Blake.

00:11:36.000 I loved it.

00:11:41.000 And we have to play this one.

00:11:43.000 I'm telling you, when I say Justin Gaichi put on the performance of his life and beat the heck out of basically the most dominant lightweight, listen to this.

00:11:52.000 Dana White tells what happened to him.

00:11:54.000 25.

00:11:56.000 Yeah, Ilya's in the hospital.

00:11:58.000 He's busted up.

00:11:59.000 You know, I'm not a doctor, but his eye looked like he probably has broken orbital.

00:12:05.000 I don't know that.

00:12:06.000 That's not a fact, but I'm just assuming.

00:12:10.000 And my plans for him are to go home and rest and recover and take his time.

00:12:15.000 And, you know, tonight was a rough night for him.

00:12:20.000 Did you see?

00:12:21.000 Was that Gaichi next to him there?

00:12:22.000 Yeah. 0.96

00:12:22.000 The guy looked practically untouched by comparison. 0.96

00:12:25.000 It's remarkable.

00:12:25.000 Well, that's a good one.

00:12:26.000 The hardest shots that Gaetje took, and play that B roll of them fighting if you guys can.

00:12:31.000 The hardest shots that Gaetje took were to the liver.

00:12:35.000 He said that.

00:12:35.000 He's like, man, he pounded my liver.

00:12:38.000 The guy is shorter than Gaetje, so he would come up and uppercut him with these body shots, especially in round two.

00:12:44.000 So Gaetje almost got tapped in round two.

00:12:47.000 He almost got taken out.

00:12:48.000 I thought he was going to lose that fight, and you could tell he was just playing for the clock.

00:12:54.000 He knew, I just have to survive this round, and I can come back in the next one.

00:12:58.000 It was a true.

00:13:00.000 It was a masterclass of strategy.

00:13:02.000 It was, we mean no exaggeration when we say this is actually one of the greatest sports moments in American history because an American underdog won a big upset with good strategy and good planning, good preparation.

00:13:16.000 And just heart and spirit.

00:13:19.000 And he had no business beating that guy.

00:13:22.000 That's how, like, and the fact that Dana White and, you know, put him at the top of the card for such a monumental fight and moment in our country for 250.

00:13:33.000 And he pulled it off.

00:13:36.000 It just doesn't get much better.

00:13:37.000 It was so great.

00:13:39.000 And I want to pause.

00:13:41.000 If you guys missed the cold open, I just want to say Charlie was a UFC fan.

00:13:46.000 He really loved the, it really captures that combination of hard work and intensity and self confidence.

00:13:54.000 And he loved the spectacle of it.

00:13:55.000 He was friends with Dana White.

00:13:57.000 And he was incredibly excited for this.

00:14:00.000 And it could not have gone any better than I know he would have been hoping.

00:14:04.000 Well, and let's go ahead and play CK because he was planning on attending this one, which kind of breaks my heart, but he would have had such a great time.

00:14:12.000 49.

00:14:13.000 Politics doesn't have to be boring.

00:14:15.000 You know, we're going to have fight night next July 4th on the White House lawn.

00:14:18.000 Hey, I mean, there's something to be said for that.

00:14:21.000 Oh, there's something to be said for it.

00:14:22.000 Look, I don't ask for a lot of favors out of the White House.

00:14:25.000 Every so often I'll ask for something.

00:14:27.000 No, I'm asking for front row seats.

00:14:29.000 I don't think maybe second row I'll go with.

00:14:32.000 I'll say, hey, guys, of all the different things, I want to be at this UFC fight.

00:14:36.000 I'm going to bring my wife.

00:14:37.000 I'm going to kind of call him whatever favor I have to be there because UFC fight night on the White House lawn to celebrate the 250th birthday.

00:14:45.000 World Cup tickets, that doesn't mean anything.

00:14:47.000 Fight night, that's where I'm calling him the favor.

00:14:49.000 You know what's hilarious, Blake?

00:14:50.000 I hadn't seen this clip yet.

00:14:51.000 The team just loaded it up.

00:14:53.000 Is that President Trump is meeting with Emmanuel Macron and actually a French fighter, Cyril Gahn, won the heavyweight bout.

00:15:02.000 And I think it was the interim title fight.

00:15:05.000 And he's meeting with the French president talking about UFC last night, SOP 51.

00:15:10.000 So I want to congratulate the president.

00:15:14.000 Last night, Cyril Gunn won the fight against a great fighter, supposed to be unbeatable.

00:15:24.000 And Cyril is from France.

00:15:26.000 Did you watch the fight?

00:15:28.000 Yeah.

00:15:29.000 Not in direct, but I saw it in the morning.

00:15:31.000 That was a great fight.

00:15:33.000 It was a great evening at the White House.

00:15:37.000 It was very fun.

00:15:38.000 Danny points out using UFC fights for diplomacy is a peak Donald Trump thing.

00:15:43.000 This is actually absolutely right.

00:15:45.000 This is actually real.

00:15:46.000 So Dana White signed a deal with the State Department and Marco Rubio.

00:15:50.000 They did a whole signing together where they're now using UFC for international diplomacy.

00:15:55.000 It's actually official.

00:15:56.000 So this is happening now, which is hilarious because Dana White says there's no way that he's going to do another event at the White House.

00:16:03.000 He can't afford it.

00:16:04.000 I'm pretty sure that they took this as a loss leader.

00:16:07.000 You know, like he was, he's like, I'll play the clip 26.

00:16:11.000 You don't think there's a chance the president says, that was good.

00:16:14.000 Let's do it again next year?

00:16:16.000 I can't afford it.

00:16:17.000 There's no way we can do this again.

00:16:19.000 This was, I'll never do the sphere again and we'll never do this again.

00:16:24.000 I love Dana White.

00:16:25.000 He said that, but he said $70 million.

00:16:28.000 I don't know. 0.99

00:16:28.000 Maybe people will get mad at me, but I feel the stuff we blow stupid money on that gets absolutely no value add whatsoever. 0.99

00:16:36.000 I would say, Congress, could we kick in $25 million to put that up on the 4th of July? 0.95

00:16:41.000 Seriously.

00:16:42.000 Every year.

00:16:43.000 I'd get more out of that than a lot of things.

00:16:45.000 No, I totally agree.

00:16:46.000 I mean, I think the way that President Trump has been having to do a lot of these kind of pet projects that he knows the Dems are going to lose their brains about is he's having to force.

00:16:56.000 Private money or donations and things like that.

00:16:58.000 And in this case, I think Dana White just kind of ponied up, right?

00:17:01.000 And he was like, don't worry, Mr. President, we got this.

00:17:04.000 And sure, they could handle it.

00:17:06.000 Do we have enough time for this? 0.54

00:17:08.000 Yeah, let's go ahead and play Cut 23.

00:17:10.000 Politics is a big part of this.

00:17:11.000 You know, UFC's audience is 68% male and most of it's under age 54.

00:17:16.000 It just so happens that men under age 54 or under age 50 are a key target demographic for Republicans in this election.

00:17:23.000 Trump won men by a dozen or so against Kamala Harris, but he only won young men by about one, and they tend to vote.

00:17:29.000 Infrequently in midterm elections.

00:17:30.000 So, Democrats can mock this all they want, but the UFC audience is the audience that the president needs to reach for Republicans.

00:17:37.000 Well, we actually won young men, but that's fine.

00:17:40.000 His facts are fake facts.

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00:19:41.000 All right.

00:19:42.000 Without further ado, we're going to welcome in the great Rich Barris.

00:19:46.000 Rich, you know, we were talking about it, and I think this was the like we were texting, and I was like, Hey, how good is today?

00:19:55.000 And you were actually legitimately on my wavelength, and you were like, This is amazing.

00:19:59.000 Peace deals getting signed in the Middle East.

00:20:01.000 And I said this peace in the Middle East, but absolute violence on the White House lawn. 0.69

00:20:06.000 It was just a perfect night last night. 0.99

00:20:09.000 Yeah, this is, and look, credit where credit's due.

00:20:13.000 I mean, you got the vice president.

00:20:16.000 And the president breaking their bots on birthdays and anniversaries.

00:20:20.000 And, you know, I mean, I think that should be.

00:20:22.000 I know that, you know, they ran for the job and they signed up for the job, but I just want people to understand how much effort got put into this deal and how much work goes into it.

00:20:30.000 And then, of course, they have this celebration going on at the same time.

00:20:33.000 Andrew, look, for people who've been criticizing, and I don't jump too far ahead here, but for people who've been criticizing, and I've been very critical of this, this is a good day.

00:20:43.000 This is a win.

00:20:45.000 Let's take the W, let's move forward.

00:20:48.000 Uh, let's focus on November and other things.

00:20:50.000 Uh, he could actually have pulled off something here that everyone's been claiming they want to have pulled off, right?

00:20:55.000 If the goal was to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons, developing nuclear weapons, uh, then that is that has never been so close. 0.56

00:21:05.000 That goal has never been so close to being achieved as it is right now. 0.61

00:21:08.000 So, what are we complaining about?

00:21:10.000 Yeah, and I want to get to Iran in just a second. 0.83

00:21:12.000 I totally agree, but look at this clip here.

00:21:15.000 So, this was from the uh fan fest, which was at the ellipse, so just adjacent to the White House fight.

00:21:23.000 But there were 80,000 people there.

00:21:25.000 And I want you to look at the demographics of that crowd.

00:21:29.000 It is all young men, Rich.

00:21:32.000 All men, at least under 54, is what we're told.

00:21:35.000 But like all young men, there's like 20s and 30s.

00:21:38.000 Okay.

00:21:39.000 Tens and tens of thousands of them cheering on these fights.

00:21:43.000 How important is getting our mojo back with young men, Rich?

00:21:49.000 This is so crucial.

00:21:51.000 I mean, we spoke a little bit about this last week because, you know, shamelessly, Plug of the book here.

00:21:57.000 I mean, that's what Burn It Down is all about.

00:21:59.000 The book that Joshua Lysak, my co author, and I wrote, it's on pre order now.

00:22:03.000 It'll be out in September.

00:22:05.000 We have to win these men.

00:22:06.000 They had, and listening to Brad Todd on CNN in the last segment, he was exactly correct. 0.55

00:22:12.000 And I understand the argument that younger men tend to not vote that much. 1.00

00:22:16.000 Well, guess what, guys?

00:22:17.000 Age demographics, age buckets do not stay the same with the same groups of people as time moves on.

00:22:23.000 Those younger men are our coalition for the next 30 plus years.

00:22:29.000 Years, and they're going to participate more as they get older.

00:22:32.000 We can't lose them.

00:22:33.000 We have to add to newer ranks as they age into the electorate as well.

00:22:37.000 And we have to start to change the dynamic that these people don't vote in midterms.

00:22:41.000 We have to change the midterm electorate.

00:22:44.000 Otherwise, we'll be at the disadvantage that Democrats used to be in. 0.92

00:22:47.000 If you go back and you look around like 2010 and 2014 when Republicans would have good midterms, the idea that we could carry a midterm by pandering to boomers is not only wrong, but it's disastrous. 0.68

00:22:59.000 It's mathematically incorrect. 0.82

00:23:01.000 That's number one.

00:23:02.000 But it's disastrous for the future of the party, the roadmap that the party must follow if they want to remain politically viable, as especially the silent gen, which is almost gone, completely phases out.

00:23:13.000 And then Boomer, there's Boomer One, Boomer Two.

00:23:16.000 Boomer One served in the war.

00:23:18.000 They didn't dodge the draft because of their birthday.

00:23:20.000 Boomer Two did.

00:23:21.000 And they went on to become the professional class in this country. 0.60

00:23:24.000 They built the professional class in this country.

00:23:27.000 Guess what?

00:23:28.000 They're more democratic.

00:23:29.000 So the 65 plus will become a much, and it already has.

00:23:33.000 But it will become a much more competitive age bucket.

00:23:35.000 We have got to bring these people in from Gen X and down, and young men, especially under 50.

00:23:41.000 And if we please them, they will vote, guys.

00:23:44.000 It's that simple.

00:23:46.000 So, Rich, I think with events unfolding right now in the Middle East and at home, we actually have a perfect.

00:23:51.000 I want to poke at your understanding as a pollster because last night's UFC event, it was pandering to young men, catering to young men and their interests.

00:24:01.000 But also, it is, we'll be frank, it's a superficial event.

00:24:04.000 It's not about affordability or national policy.

00:24:07.000 It's a fun circus, a very fun circus.

00:24:10.000 And then in the Middle East, we have significant progress on an issue where we know we've talked to young people, young people.

00:24:18.000 Did not like the conflict with Iran and they wanted it to end.

00:24:21.000 So, how much impact do each of these things have?

00:24:25.000 Does a really fun circus event get young men excited, engaged, make them pay more attention, maybe feel more like voting if they're generally in Trump's direction?

00:24:37.000 Or should we not look at it too much that way?

00:24:39.000 And how does it compare to significant progress on a real material issue that they do voice opinions on, but it's also maybe not something that they're watching on TV regularly?

00:24:49.000 I think it was, and that's a great question because I don't want to overstate it, but I think we should look at it as a great affirmation, right?

00:24:56.000 It was like a one two punch between what the coalition suffered last year between the Epstein thing and on to Iran was like a one two punch. 0.70

00:25:05.000 Well, this was a nice little one two shot back in the right direction of something they want to see. 0.83

00:25:09.000 And we shouldn't say this is the end all be all and be done with it, but it's a great opportunity.

00:25:13.000 This is something we can build on, and this is something we can use to pivot and try to circle, you know, turn back.

00:25:20.000 In the direction that they want us to turn back on.

00:25:23.000 You know, I would also add that never underestimate these circuses, right?

00:25:29.000 Because, I mean, this is not just American history, it's human history.

00:25:32.000 What did Caesar do and then Caesars who followed him when they wanted to be popular?

00:25:37.000 Rich.

00:25:38.000 Rich, Rich, this is okay.

00:25:41.000 It works.

00:25:43.000 Here's my basic understanding of the political landscape.

00:25:46.000 People are pissed.

00:25:47.000 It's like nothing you can do is good enough.

00:25:50.000 This felt.

00:25:52.000 Like it was important.

00:25:53.000 It felt legitimately important because the vibes have been off.

00:25:58.000 The vibes have been bad.

00:25:59.000 Everybody's just feeling like angsty.

00:26:01.000 It's like you can't, you know, put anything on social media without like half everybody getting pissed off for no good reason.

00:26:09.000 This kind of stuff, the bread and circuses stuff, to your point, like Caesar and all this stuff, it is important.

00:26:15.000 We have to come together.

00:26:16.000 We have to rally around. 0.99

00:26:17.000 And, you know, by the way, it makes all the like naysayers and the black pillars and the doomers look just pathetic. 0.98

00:26:24.000 When you got Bette Midler up there trying to counter program, Hassan Piker, you got Miss Rachel, by the way. 0.98

00:26:29.000 Don't let your kids watch Miss Rachel. 1.00

00:26:30.000 She's a total radical and a kook. 1.00

00:26:32.000 But the point is, they look terrible. 1.00

00:26:35.000 They look awful in this.

00:26:37.000 And actually, the people that love their country, you got Joe Rogan, Daniel Cormier, you've got Justin Gaetje, who won the fight, so proud to be American.

00:26:45.000 That stuff leads.

00:26:46.000 It leads.

00:26:47.000 And guess what?

00:26:48.000 Young men will follow because we will follow a warrior.

00:26:52.000 I think you're right, Andrew.

00:26:53.000 And you mentioned.

00:26:54.000 The Caesars did this.

00:26:55.000 If you look at, we have the will of Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of Rome.

00:27:00.000 And in his will, he lists his big accomplishments and it includes material things.

00:27:04.000 I built aqueducts.

00:27:05.000 I built fine temples to the gods in the city.

00:27:08.000 And also, one time I organized this fake naval battle on a lake outside of town and it was awesome and everyone loved it.

00:27:15.000 So he has both of those things.

00:27:16.000 And I think you're so right that, Andrew, politics is so visual, it's vibes based.

00:27:22.000 A lot of it is how do we feel that we're doing?

00:27:24.000 And one of the big strengths that President Trump That President Trump brings to politics is his kind of that harmony of the heart and the head, that harmony of does he make you feel like America's a winner?

00:27:38.000 Does it feel like things are awesome?

00:27:39.000 And he cares about the policy stuff.

00:27:42.000 He does deliver the goods on the border on DEI, but he doesn't do it in this stiff way where you're hiding away and you're letting the left dominate the culture.

00:27:51.000 He's going out there and saying, Actually, this is the culture.

00:27:54.000 Look at this awesome stuff.

00:27:56.000 We're going to have you watch it because it's going to make you feel proud to be an American.

00:27:59.000 And I think this is a great, powerful symbol of that.

00:28:02.000 I'm going to play two clips here because I think both are illuminating.

00:28:07.000 All right.

00:28:08.000 And one is getting a lot of pushback.

00:28:10.000 I can't believe he said this at the White House.

00:28:11.000 Whatever.

00:28:12.000 Young men, think about if you're a young man on the internet and how you would interpret this.

00:28:17.000 Saw 21.

00:28:18.000 Michelle Obama is a man.

00:28:20.000 Am I right, America?

00:28:27.000 I mean, okay.

00:28:29.000 I'm not endorsing.

00:28:30.000 I'm just saying.

00:28:31.000 Democracy is the right to say that Michelle Obama is the man.

00:28:35.000 Didn't say the man.

00:28:37.000 If you watch this.

00:28:38.000 But yeah.

00:28:39.000 I mean, I found that hilarious.

00:28:41.000 And here's Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier just having way too much fun after the bout.

00:28:47.000 52.

00:28:48.000 Believe that a little kid from Lafayette, Louisiana is at the White House.

00:28:51.000 I never in my wildest dream would have imagined that this would be an opportunity I would have in my lifetime.

00:28:56.000 And to do it with my brothers is so tremendous.

00:28:59.000 So I love y'all, man.

00:29:00.000 We love you too.

00:29:01.000 We love you too.

00:29:04.000 Vibes, Rich.

00:29:06.000 Vibes.

00:29:07.000 30 seconds to Rich.

00:29:08.000 This is what I wanted to say.

00:29:10.000 And I said it last week.

00:29:11.000 And I think the president delivered exactly what I was talking about.

00:29:14.000 We needed a W in this country.

00:29:16.000 The vibe that you were just talking about was not only.

00:29:19.000 Not what we wanted, but it was just getting stale that it was like that every day.

00:29:22.000 We needed something to feel good and we needed a W.

00:29:26.000 And the fact that, and when I said that, I was only talking about this event specifically, not a deal.

00:29:31.000 And he delivered two W's in one day that could make people feel good.

00:29:36.000 It's a, I really do believe this is something that we can build on.

00:29:40.000 I do.

00:29:40.000 We paired a spectacle with a real win right when we're all paying attention.

00:29:45.000 Yes.

00:29:45.000 And I think that can be a huge win if this deal sticks.

00:29:50.000 So, Rich, I look at what happened yesterday, these two things, as sort of a brain reset, especially for young men.

00:29:57.000 It's like a.

00:29:59.000 And I'm telling you, so much is vibes.

00:30:01.000 Like, I saw more patriotism and more proud America post on social media last night than I'd seen in months.

00:30:08.000 It was just, it was like oozing out of everybody.

00:30:11.000 Let's talk about this, though.

00:30:12.000 What did the reset need to happen?

00:30:14.000 I wanted to have you on the show last week when that Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan piece came out, which I still don't know who their sources are.

00:30:22.000 I mean, their sources are apparently.

00:30:23.000 Impeccable because and maybe, yeah, maybe people are alleging there might be a transcript from the situation room, which or a recording or something.

00:30:33.000 That's sort of that part aside, Rich.

00:30:36.000 We go back to the Epstein, I couldn't help but think back.

00:30:39.000 You know, I remember Student Action Summit with Charlie, and we were talking about it a lot, and we felt like it was botched, right?

00:30:46.000 I think even the admin would admit the rollout was botched and the comms on it was botched.

00:30:50.000 And by the way, there's some people trying to say that I was saying there's no there there in terms of anything with Epstein.

00:30:55.000 Blake will attest that's not actually what I think at all.

00:30:58.000 I think there's a lot more there than maybe Blake thinks, but I meant in terms of the president.

00:31:03.000 There's nothing there, is mostly what I think.

00:31:05.000 Yeah, that's what Blake thinks.

00:31:07.000 I think there's there, there, and I'm pretty sure I can prove it.

00:31:10.000 But, anyways, the point is, Rich, I was saying no there, there in terms of the president.

00:31:14.000 I mean, JD in that piece was quoted as saying, hey, there's some embarrassing stuff, whatever.

00:31:18.000 Like, doesn't matter.

00:31:18.000 Get it out.

00:31:19.000 Like, President Trump isn't implicated in that way.

00:31:21.000 So that was my point.

00:31:23.000 I'll never forget that visual you said.

00:31:25.000 It was like a graph.

00:31:26.000 It was like, Epstein approval rating drops.

00:31:29.000 Tell me about that and can we repair this with young men?

00:31:32.000 I've been saying this for a while that, you know, some people, we said there was anger before, but in truth, I think it was more like a disappointment.

00:31:39.000 And people tend to project, especially men, project their disappointment as anger and we misinterpret it.

00:31:46.000 I think there's a lot that can be repaired.

00:31:48.000 Why?

00:31:49.000 And let me just, before even getting back to that specific issue, because if we appreciate why so many of these young men voted for President Trump and Vice President Vance, then you'll understand it better.

00:31:59.000 And they really did view them as their last chance.

00:32:02.000 Like they are their best hope of repairing what they see as a declining superpower that has squandered their inheritance.

00:32:11.000 You know, so the generations before them had a much better shot at the American dream that they feel that they have now.

00:32:16.000 And I believe that they're right.

00:32:17.000 And I think Donald Trump has a grace with voters that no other person I've ever polled or I've ever seen or studied in politics has ever been afforded.

00:32:28.000 So if the president moved in the direction that they wanted him to move back into, I think the overwhelming majority of them would forgive and forget and move forward because they know what the alternative is.

00:32:41.000 So that's that part of it.

00:32:44.000 The other part with How the Epstein, I'm not getting into how it specifically was rolled out, but I think what people missed at that point is that, and the vice president was right.

00:32:53.000 When you take this in concert with what I'm saying, Trump has faced far worse.

00:32:57.000 So the rolling out of just dumping it all out there was the right call because the president would have weathered it.

00:33:02.000 He would have weathered it.

00:33:03.000 It's always, and we say this from the Nixon years, and I don't think there's a crime there for the president, but they always say that the cover up is worse than the actual crime. 0.97

00:33:13.000 Even if there is no crime and people are just going to make stupid allegations that you committed one.

00:33:17.000 Based on something they may or may not really understand in an email release, that still means nothing compared to them perceiving that you're trying to cover it up. 0.86

00:33:27.000 And that was always the danger there.

00:33:28.000 And what happened during the Epstein, you know, the botched handling of it, is that first that younger voter group started to break off. 0.97

00:33:36.000 And actually, women were first.

00:33:38.000 The 18 to 29 women probably disliked this the most for obvious reasons, actually.

00:33:43.000 If we go back and look, makes sense, right? 0.98

00:33:46.000 Women would be a little bit more sensitive to this.

00:33:48.000 Uh, and in truth, like the millennial men and the Gen Z men hung on longer than they did, but it just was a lot, it was a lot for them to stomach.

00:33:56.000 And I think it was more than just the Epstein thing, you could see it on that graph that you're talking about.

00:34:01.000 And by the way, that graph is on Big Data Poll, guys.

00:34:03.000 If you want to go check it out, you could see it by event Trump's approval rating by event.

00:34:07.000 It really was the oh, wait a minute, what's going on here with that?

00:34:10.000 You know, with the Epstein thing, you're not trying to cover this up, are you? 0.67

00:34:13.000 Then pivoting from that into Iran and away from the domestic served as kind of like it was, you know, a psychic break. 0.60

00:34:21.000 Rich.

00:34:22.000 It was a psychic break for a lot of people.

00:34:24.000 It really was.

00:34:25.000 And that's why I'm saying we got to repair it.

00:34:27.000 These kind of things.

00:34:27.000 It is repairable, though.

00:34:29.000 Yeah, it is.

00:34:29.000 That is good.

00:34:30.000 I got to throw this up, actually.

00:34:32.000 I saw Jack just sent me this, so I'm going to give Poso some credit here.

00:34:36.000 Throw this up, Rich.

00:34:37.000 I want to get your take on it.

00:34:38.000 The fact that Mark Zuckerberg is at the White House UFC Freedom 250 and Meta is a sponsor are indicators that Republicans will win the midterms.

00:34:46.000 He goes where the wind blows and has access to more data than anyone from Facebook, IG.

00:34:50.000 His data is telling him it's good to be a Republican in 2026.

00:34:54.000 I'm sure you have some notes, but it's a fascinating tweet.

00:34:58.000 Your reaction, Rich Bears.

00:34:59.000 Listen, I don't, I have never felt that midterm losses because you're the incumbent party is inevitable.

00:35:06.000 Like we have just come to accept the reason why I've been so critical is because I vehemently reject that premise.

00:35:13.000 That is a modern phenomenon.

00:35:15.000 If you study American politics the way that I have and others have, you know, and cephalogy in general, that is a modern phenomenon, which I have argued in a thesis, I believe is the result.

00:35:26.000 Of the system being captured by interests the way it hadn't been in the past.

00:35:30.000 Now, we've always had interest groups, long history of that.

00:35:32.000 But it's basically every party rolls in promising something.

00:35:37.000 They can't deliver on the level that they promise it.

00:35:39.000 So Americans just wildly gyrate back and forth, hoping to punish the people who didn't deliver.

00:35:45.000 And they go between these alternatives.

00:35:47.000 And it wasn't always like that.

00:35:48.000 We've had one party rule in this country for 30 year periods.

00:35:51.000 I mean, so that is what I anticipate.

00:35:54.000 So we could be down nine right now, Andrew, and I don't care.

00:35:57.000 If we do the right thing and we course correct, we can break history.

00:36:00.000 History is meant to be broken.

00:36:02.000 And we just did that because we just had.

00:36:05.000 Big event so everyone can pay attention and they can immediately pivot that to hey, wasn't that event cool?

00:36:11.000 By the way, we're getting peace in the Middle East.

00:36:13.000 And by the way, gas is getting below $80 a barrel right now.

00:36:18.000 That's huge.

00:36:20.000 $80, brother.

00:36:21.000 It's great.

00:36:22.000 Let's get it lower.

00:36:23.000 Rich Bear, you're the man, and you've been right a lot, Rich Bearus.

00:36:26.000 God bless you, my friend.

00:36:27.000 Appreciate that, brother.

00:36:28.000 Appreciate that.

00:36:29.000 Take care, guys.

00:36:32.000 Gentlemen, let's get real for a second.

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00:37:57.000 We have a great guest, and that's a guy who's been a friend of mine for a long time.

00:38:00.000 And I just want to say a couple of things.

00:38:03.000 He's running.

00:38:04.000 His name's John Strand.

00:38:05.000 He's running to become a congressman in Florida's 19th, so to replace Byron Donalds, essentially.

00:38:13.000 Who's running for governor?

00:38:14.000 And I just want to say, I like some of the other guys in this race, but John Strand has been faithful.

00:38:21.000 He's been courageous.

00:38:23.000 He's been loyal.

00:38:24.000 And I just, you know, you see people's character over time.

00:38:28.000 And I've had a front row seat to see John's character over a long stretch of time.

00:38:33.000 And I've always just been impressed with how sincere, how hardworking he's been.

00:38:38.000 And so I'm excited to have him on the show right now.

00:38:40.000 And that is John Strand running for Florida's 19th.

00:38:43.000 Welcome to the show, John.

00:38:45.000 Amazing to be with both of you guys, Andrew, Blake.

00:38:47.000 Thank you.

00:38:48.000 It's amazing, and I'm excited to be here.

00:38:50.000 Yeah, man.

00:38:50.000 Well, Turning Point Action has endorsed John's candidacy here in Florida 19th.

00:38:55.000 John, tell us, you know, I first met you during COVID, and I remember seeing how just passionate and how much work and energy you were putting into just really grassroots stuff.

00:39:08.000 So, John, tell us about your journey from COVID activists, you know, medical freedom, autonomy, and then.

00:39:17.000 To J6, which was a big, huge part of your story, and what happened to you?

00:39:21.000 Absolutely.

00:39:22.000 We've all been through so much in the last six, seven years of this period, and my journey has been extraordinary.

00:39:28.000 There's a book on the screen behind me that's coming out in about a week that tells the full story.

00:39:32.000 But before COVID and any of that, I was just pursuing the American dream with a lot of grit and gusto as an up and coming actor and talent in the media space and entertainment world.

00:39:43.000 I really had a heart, actually, for trying to bring Christian values into the culture wars and into the entertainment field.

00:39:51.000 But then COVID came crashing down around all of us.

00:39:53.000 And really, because of the Judeo Christian values and the good family upbringing that I had, I was able to have just the internal wisdom and intuition to see. 0.74

00:40:01.000 Immediately, that these were fraudulent schemes, both the COVID tyranny and also the BLM Marxism in the summer of love. 0.81

00:40:07.000 So I began speaking out against that quite early, which basically burned down my chances of having a career in Hollywood.

00:40:14.000 That was the wrong team.

00:40:15.000 And that led me to start and organize the Beverly Hills Freedom Rally in California at the time, which was so vibrant, I never could have imagined the success.

00:40:24.000 President Trump actually tweeted to celebrate that rally, bringing tens of thousands of people into LA during what became the stolen election.

00:40:31.000 But because of that Freedom Rally, I became the creative director at America's Frontline Doctors.

00:40:35.000 And goldcare.com.

00:40:36.000 That's how I got to meet you, Andrew, and Charlie, and a lot of folks that really started taking it seriously that we have to fight to save our country and save freedom as we see tyranny in real time happening through these COVID mechanisms and the Marxist takeover of our culture and those sorts of things.

00:40:52.000 Well, and then you got obviously a big part of your story is January 6th. 1.00

00:40:56.000 And you were a J6er. 0.96

00:41:00.000 Tell us what you did that day. 0.52

00:41:02.000 And then tell us how the weaponized DOJ came after you and really tried to ruin your life, John.

00:41:09.000 They sure did.

00:41:10.000 So, johnstrand.com slash J6 will take you to a video that you can see every minute of my time in the Capitol building, which was just over 45 minutes, but we fast forwarded it.

00:41:20.000 So, it only takes 13 minutes to watch.

00:41:22.000 The point is, I don't hide or cut things out.

00:41:24.000 You watch the whole experience and you have it narrated to understand what was happening while it was there.

00:41:29.000 But essentially, as you all know, the 2020 election was rigged, fraudulent, highly untrustworthy.

00:41:35.000 And there were people in the government legitimately trying to challenge that and ask for a forensic audit to prove to the American people what the truth was.

00:41:42.000 And the fact that that was railroaded over was just a travesty for all of us.

00:41:47.000 But Dr. Gold and myself for America's Frontline Doctors, we were scheduled to be in DC as part of a two week speaking tour on the East Coast.

00:41:53.000 So we were traveling all over the country.

00:41:55.000 DC was just one of those dates for us.

00:41:56.000 And on January 5th, we spoke without any issue.

00:41:59.000 On January 6th, we tried to do our speech and it went sideways, as we all know.

00:42:04.000 But in the course of that process with J6, they splintered my front door with a battering ram 12 days after the event with no warning. 0.98

00:42:13.000 Disappeared me in jail for four days without a phone call. 1.00

00:42:15.000 When I got out, I was facing a 20 year felony and four other charges.

00:42:19.000 And then they offered me the equivalent of a get out of jail nearly free card, a single misdemeanor plea deal.

00:42:24.000 So if I just played along with the Washington, D.C. program and signed their false confession, I could go home and all that be wiped away.

00:42:31.000 But I refused that because, Andrew, there is never a right time to do the wrong thing.

00:42:36.000 And it was a simple test for me and a simple choice between a lie and the truth and between doing what I know is right and relying on God to take care of me or betraying my fellow Americans.

00:42:47.000 By taking that easy way out, I refused to do it.

00:42:49.000 That took me through an incredible process of going to trial where I knew I would be fraudulently convicted.

00:42:54.000 But because I didn't take that plea from prison, we were granted cert at the Supreme Court.

00:42:59.000 And I was vindicated by the United States Supreme Court at the same ruling that vindicated President Trump.

00:43:04.000 I was one of only two men released six months before President Trump was back in office.

00:43:07.000 And ever since then, God has really put it on my heart to do what I can in my way to take back the nation and step back to the front lines.

00:43:17.000 And now we're getting into this space of running for office, which I never would have imagined doing.

00:43:21.000 But God has done so many extraordinary things in our country and in my life.

00:43:24.000 And there's a moment of incredible opportunity.

00:43:27.000 This is not just the midterms.

00:43:29.000 It is the final countdown to decide as a generation and as a nation if we are going to engage with our government.

00:43:36.000 2026 is our generation's 1776.

00:43:41.000 I really believe that. 0.69

00:43:44.000 Well said, John.

00:43:45.000 And what they did to you was a total travesty.

00:43:48.000 I mean, you were completely nonviolent.

00:43:49.000 You were, you know, I'm reminded of this.

00:43:53.000 Interview, and you probably saw the clip where she's saying, Oh, yeah, there's no evidence of that.

00:43:58.000 And he's like, They got escorted in.

00:44:00.000 I mean, your experience that day, right, John, was like basically you were just inside.

00:44:06.000 I'm not, I'm pretty certain you wouldn't sort of justify being inside, but probably nobody should have been.

00:44:11.000 But the whole craziness of that day, and like there, it did seem like people were getting let in, you know, and escorted around.

00:44:18.000 Is that, was that your experience that day?

00:44:21.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:44:23.000 Absolutely.

00:44:24.000 No one's trying to say that on any given day, you just Waltz into the Capitol without going through a metal detector and a security process, et cetera.

00:44:31.000 So, we're not trying to make disingenuous arguments about that.

00:44:34.000 But January 6th is a very complicated event with a lot of things going on.

00:44:38.000 And specifically, people talk about trespassing and that concept.

00:44:42.000 Well, an inherent part of trespassing, in fact, the statute I was charged with is entering and remaining.

00:44:48.000 Well, entering means that you entered where you knew you shouldn't be.

00:44:51.000 And that requires clear signage and advisement of the public.

00:44:55.000 So, they're claiming that the whole plaza, Was a restricted area.

00:44:58.000 I mean, that's nonsense.

00:44:59.000 That's literally the public square of our Capitol building, and people eat lunch there every day.

00:45:03.000 So, being there where we were scheduled to have a speech on the grounds there, not only wasn't it illegal, I mean, it was insane to suggest that anyone had the expectation that they shouldn't be on the plaza.

00:45:13.000 Now, how do we get to the steps and to the door?

00:45:15.000 The video I mentioned explains all of that.

00:45:17.000 Of course, there's a lot of corrupt elements involved in making that happen.

00:45:20.000 John, we're running out of time here.

00:45:22.000 I think you're just a tremendous man.

00:45:24.000 I think you have character, I think you have grit and courage.

00:45:27.000 I know you will fight and do the right thing.

00:45:29.000 I know that you'll stand up for the conservative movement and the grassroots and the base voters that are going to put you there.

00:45:36.000 Tell people how they can get behind your campaign.

00:45:38.000 What do you need right now?

00:45:39.000 You guys, it's very simple.

00:45:40.000 We are the outsider, independent, anti establishment, anti corruption candidate.

00:45:45.000 Every other person in this race has millions of dollars.

00:45:47.000 So we need you to go to JohnStrand.com.

00:45:50.000 We need you to donate anything and everything that you possibly can.

00:45:53.000 And here's why we're going to send a message to President Trump and his administration that we need the Trump endorsement because we will win this race.

00:46:00.000 We will get a patriot in Congress in Byron's seat.

00:46:03.000 It's existential for this nation.

00:46:05.000 Get behind us now, and we will win.

00:46:07.000 That's my promise to you.

00:46:08.000 JohnStrand.com.

00:46:09.000 God bless you.

00:46:10.000 God bless Charlie Kirk and this whole Turning Point family for the incredible work you're doing.

00:46:14.000 I will always have your back.

00:46:17.000 Well, we have your back too, John.

00:46:19.000 And like I said, I like some of the other guys in this race, but you are the Turning Point Action Endorsed candidate, and we're proud of you.

00:46:24.000 We know that you are going to do a great job.

00:46:26.000 We have your back, brother.

00:46:28.000 Amen.

00:46:29.000 God bless you, and keep fighting to save this amazing country.

00:46:31.000 God bless the United States of America.

00:46:33.000 Amen.

00:46:33.000 God bless America.

00:46:34.000 All right, Blake, remember when the Japanese purged our timelines on the Twitter? 1.00

00:46:43.000 Not purged, they flooded it. 1.00

00:46:44.000 It was amazing.

00:46:46.000 Thanks to Elon Musk, we have the auto translate, and we've discovered so many Japanese people.

00:46:51.000 They come to America.

00:46:52.000 They love America.

00:46:53.000 They love country music.

00:46:54.000 They love barbecue. 1.00

00:46:55.000 They love how much space we have compared to Japan. 0.99

00:47:00.000 And it's great because I know you're setting this up. 0.98

00:47:03.000 Thanks to the World Cup, we've always had Europeans and foreigners come to America, but they always go to New York City. 0.75

00:47:11.000 LA, maybe Miami, maybe Vegas, and like that's it.

00:47:14.000 Or they'll go to a national park that is very heavily trafficked and they'll just see that park.

00:47:18.000 So Yellowstone, Grand Canyon.

00:47:21.000 And they get a very limited view of America.

00:47:23.000 And if they're in a big city, they see, oh, you're in LA.

00:47:26.000 Okay, you see homeless encampments.

00:47:28.000 You see garbage everywhere.

00:47:30.000 You don't interact a ton with Americans. 0.94

00:47:32.000 But thanks to the World Cup, we are getting Americans do something, or we're getting Europeans and other guests who do something they rarely do.

00:47:41.000 They are road tripping across real America.

00:47:45.000 Yes, exactly. 0.78

00:47:46.000 Well, by the way, speaking of the Japanese, they were, so there was a Jap, I think Japan versus the Netherlands World Cup group. 0.76

00:47:52.000 Group stage match, and there's video of the Japanese with bags, like picking up trash.

00:47:58.000 They clean up after themselves. 1.00

00:48:00.000 Yeah, and I've been very loud and proud about an immigration moratorium. 1.00

00:48:04.000 I believe we need one. 1.00

00:48:06.000 We've had too much over the last 40, 50 years. 1.00

00:48:09.000 But I will take Japanese. 1.00

00:48:12.000 If the Japanese want to immigrate here, I will take them along with the South African farmers. 1.00

00:48:16.000 Okay? 1.00

00:48:17.000 That's where I'm at.

00:48:18.000 They're great people.

00:48:19.000 They are.

00:48:20.000 Okay, so let's play some of these videos, though. 0.65

00:48:24.000 Of Europeans discovering real America, SAT 29. 0.90

00:48:28.000 These neighborhoods look exactly the same as every movie we've ever seen. 0.93

00:48:32.000 The American flags, people've got race flags up.

00:48:37.000 This old couple just walked past me and they go, Good morning. 0.92

00:48:40.000 I was like, What the hell?

00:48:41.000 Did you guys talk to each other here? 0.95

00:48:45.000 Like, this is a high school stadium.

00:48:49.000 What?

00:48:50.000 Look at the amount of seats in this place.

00:48:53.000 Just incredible.

00:48:55.000 Absolutely incredible.

00:48:57.000 There really is.

00:48:59.000 Like no other.

00:49:00.000 I honestly think, unless you live in America or unless you visit here, you can't really comprehend how nice these areas are.

00:49:12.000 That one, all of them, they're so beautiful.

00:49:15.000 Everybody's so friendly, Southern hospitality.

00:49:18.000 Everything's beautiful.

00:49:19.000 Isn't that great?

00:49:21.000 I think we just have another montage.

00:49:21.000 Ah, it's so great.

00:49:23.000 Let's do the second one.

00:49:24.000 Let's do it.

00:49:25.000 Clip 30.

00:49:30.000 I can refill this a thousand times.

00:49:33.000 Yeah, but you won't drink a thousand cups of coffee.

00:49:36.000 And it's free.

00:49:38.000 You paid for it, you paid it.

00:49:39.000 Once.

00:49:40.000 Bro, slow down.

00:49:42.000 And in America, it is so amazing.

00:49:47.000 Seriously, Americans, what have you done to me?

00:49:50.000 I need to come back.

00:49:54.000 These clips are so good.

00:49:54.000 It's great.

00:49:56.000 I have a feeling the clips are better than anything we could say.

00:49:59.000 Go ahead, Blake.

00:50:00.000 Yeah, yeah, it's amazing.

00:50:01.000 I want to set up this specific one.

00:50:03.000 There's a character, you guys should all follow him.

00:50:05.000 He goes by Freddy.

00:50:05.000 He's on X.

00:50:07.000 His full name here is FreddyLA7.

00:50:11.000 He's a soccer fan, came with two of his friends, and they're planning to go to several World Cup games and they're road tripping across the South.

00:50:19.000 And he's basically become a celebrity at this point because people are hyped up.

00:50:24.000 This guy's showing up.

00:50:25.000 He's going to the college football stadiums, he's marveling at them, he's discovering our giant gas station.

00:50:32.000 Actually, that's a great one for us to play.

00:50:34.000 I believe this is Freddy or someone like him discovering Bucky's, clip 32.

00:50:39.000 Check this out it's called Bucky's and it's this big.

00:50:45.000 And still this big.

00:50:47.000 And oh, just no trash, no one begging, no one doing drugs, no one stealing, no one's breaking into my truck.

00:50:55.000 Look at this just huge, just huge.

00:50:59.000 You know, when they say everything's big in America, they weren't lying.

00:51:04.000 And that's actually a South African guy, but yes, same effect. 0.51

00:51:07.000 Yeah, and that's getting at what I said, though, that no one's breaking your truck.

00:51:10.000 Yeah, so he'd have to worry about that in South Africa, but he'd also have to worry about that if he was just visiting LA, which so many people do.

00:51:17.000 Oh, go to LA, go to the Walk of Fame.

00:51:19.000 You're going to see garbage, you're going to see homeless people.

00:51:21.000 It's not going to be America's best to look.

00:51:26.000 But you go to a Bucky's, which we have these outside a dozen cities in the South, and you go there, it's gigantic.

00:51:35.000 There's a huge amount of bounty, it's affordable.

00:51:38.000 The bathrooms are immaculately clean.

00:51:41.000 The workers are cheerful, they're well paid. 0.88

00:51:43.000 And that is when I went to a Bucky's for the first time, that made me feel great about America. 1.00

00:51:49.000 I thought, We can beat China. 0.98

00:51:51.000 We can beat anyone.

00:51:52.000 This is the greatest country. 0.95

00:51:54.000 Bucky's made you white pill. 0.98

00:51:55.000 I love it.

00:51:56.000 Yes, it white pills you.

00:51:57.000 And yeah.

00:51:58.000 Well, here's some visitors enjoying country music on the radio.

00:52:03.000 31.

00:52:04.000 I've been driving for five minutes now and I can't wipe this smile off my face.

00:52:08.000 I'm driving a round truck in America.

00:52:11.000 Like, look how sick this is.

00:52:13.000 Country music on the radio.

00:52:15.000 Oh, come on.

00:52:17.000 I'm going to the Whoers in a round truck.

00:52:28.000 That was definitely not country music, but I think that might have been a dub over a lot of the time.

00:52:32.000 That was a track over the top.

00:52:34.000 But he's driving a truck, going to, I think he said he's going to Hooters, which is, you know, not necessarily America's best look either, but it's uniquely American, I will say.

00:52:44.000 And that Freddie guy, he found a Bass Pro Shop and he was marveling at that.

00:52:50.000 And he's like, They have a shooting range inside this store.

00:52:54.000 They're selling everything.

00:52:56.000 And we're very happy because the truth is, Americans, we don't hate Europe.

00:53:01.000 We find Europe disappointing.

00:53:03.000 And we love America and we love showing it to other people.

00:53:07.000 Yeah.

00:53:07.000 I think so.

00:53:08.000 This is all like part of our segment with Rich Barris before, Blake.

00:53:14.000 It is a psychic repair of a psychic break.

00:53:18.000 Like the vibes are good.

00:53:20.000 You got sports, the Knicks are winning, which people love.

00:53:23.000 You've got World Cup.

00:53:24.000 Things are looking good.

00:53:28.000 Good conversation is about respect.

00:53:31.000 It's how we create a space where people are able to share their ideas and be heard.

00:53:35.000 Charlie knew that.

00:53:36.000 Turning Point still knows that.

00:53:37.000 And TikTok has always strived to build the kind of place that thrives on respectful connection, where curiosity fuels connection and we can share what's on our minds and learn from each other.

00:53:47.000 When ideas meet respect, good things happen.

00:53:49.000 On TikTok, you can find a mechanic explaining the why behind a problem most of us wouldn't even know how to name, or a father explaining.

00:53:56.000 Sharing a lifetime of knowledge with his viewers, viewers who listen, discuss, and then they respond.

00:54:00.000 TikTok turns connection into community through small acts of understanding.

00:54:04.000 You can feel it in the comments, in the thank you from a stranger halfway across the world.

00:54:09.000 TikTok is a place where respect opens the door for discussion, and discussion helps us build something real.

00:54:18.000 Mark Halperin, Two Way TV, and so much more.

00:54:22.000 Gosh, Mark, you're a busy guy.

00:54:24.000 Mark, so we normally get very serious with you here, but.

00:54:29.000 We just have to keep going on this segment because I love it so much.

00:54:32.000 These Europeans are visiting America and they're like discovering that they've been lied to by the European media and the internet.

00:54:41.000 It's actually an amazing place.

00:54:43.000 There's a bunch of Scotland fans singing Take Me Home, Country Roads 58.

00:54:48.000 Country Roads.

00:55:07.000 I love you can hear their accent and country roads.

00:55:10.000 Mark, you were about to say something.

00:55:12.000 I was going to say, I was under the impression this segment was entirely about the Knicks.

00:55:15.000 It's really all I'm interested in talking about, but I'll make an exception.

00:55:18.000 Can I tell you my favorite American cultural imperialism story?

00:55:22.000 100%.

00:55:22.000 Yes.

00:55:22.000 Oh, yes.

00:55:23.000 I mean, you know, our cultural imperialism is just crazy, right?

00:55:26.000 Hollywood movies and rock music and just social media, right?

00:55:30.000 Everything.

00:55:31.000 So the first time I went to Canada, I was in the gym and I was watching the equivalent of like the evening, national evening newscast.

00:55:38.000 And that day, Regis and Kathy Lee had announced that they were going to do a week of their shows in Canada.

00:55:44.000 And it was the lead story on the evening news.

00:55:47.000 And I thought, imagine if the Canadian equivalent of Regis and Kathy and Kelly were doing a week of shows from like Hilton Head.

00:55:54.000 Imagine, imagine, it probably wouldn't even be covered in Hilton Head, let alone the lead story on the national news.

00:56:00.000 People love us.

00:56:01.000 They love our culture.

00:56:02.000 They love, I know this went too far when I read in one of the many stories you're referring to, someone said, Oh my God, I thought they're, Fast food was so horrible, but I came here and ate a Burger King hamburger.

00:56:15.000 Oh my goodness, it's so much better.

00:56:16.000 Now, I like Burger King just fine, but it's gone too far when they're lauding the quality of our fast food burgers as some sign of the superiority of American culture.

00:56:25.000 Well, maybe guilty of the lily a little bit.

00:56:27.000 Yeah.

00:56:28.000 I will tell you, though, there was a, there's a, there's all this is going viral, by the way, all over.

00:56:31.000 It's a beautiful timeline purge.

00:56:33.000 And there was a gal, I think she must have been English.

00:56:36.000 She was eating In N Out for the first time, and she was literally, you know, almost hyperventilating that it was so good, and the animal style fries.

00:56:43.000 So that, I will.

00:56:44.000 Oh.

00:56:45.000 Oh, In and Out.

00:56:46.000 In and Out, I get.

00:56:47.000 This is Burger King, I object to.

00:56:49.000 In and Out, of course.

00:56:51.000 America is at its finest.

00:56:52.000 Exactly.

00:56:53.000 So, this is, we were talking about Freddie, who's actually, I think, German, Blake.

00:56:58.000 This is what's so funny about this.

00:57:00.000 These are the videos that are going viral.

00:57:02.000 It's simply him driving down like some two lane highway, and it's beautiful, but he's listening to Ella Langley.

00:57:10.000 He discovers Ella Langley, and this goes viral.

00:57:13.000 Cut 57.

00:57:30.000 Apparently, that's worth it.

00:57:32.000 He goes, The best discovery of our road trip has been a musician called Ella Langley.

00:57:36.000 We had never heard of her before, but after hearing her on pretty much every country radio station, we've become big fans.

00:57:41.000 She's basically the soundtrack of our.

00:57:43.000 This is what I'm saying.

00:57:44.000 America is great.

00:57:45.000 This is a great place.

00:57:47.000 And I see it through their eyes, and it makes me appreciate it in a new way again, Mark.

00:57:52.000 Yeah.

00:57:53.000 I mean, part of it is just the image, right?

00:57:58.000 They just love America.

00:58:00.000 You could go.

00:58:00.000 To any country in Africa or Asia and sell t shirts that say USA, people will buy them or pictures of Patrick Ewing.

00:58:07.000 They'll buy anything that's associated with America.

00:58:09.000 But it's not just the brand, it's the quality, right?

00:58:12.000 It's like Apple products.

00:58:13.000 People pay a premium for the brand, but Apple products are great, except for the iPods don't always work, but everything else is fantastic.

00:58:20.000 Our stuff's great.

00:58:22.000 Nobody can match our country music.

00:58:25.000 There's nothing in the world as good as our country music.

00:58:27.000 I totally agree with that.

00:58:27.000 I totally disagree with that.

00:58:28.000 Stuff we take for granted.

00:58:30.000 Stuff we take for granted.

00:58:31.000 I saw.

00:58:31.000 They're marveling at those wacky Coke mixing machines where you can get a thousand different flavors.

00:58:39.000 And I asked someone, my friends are a foreigner, do you guys not have these?

00:58:42.000 And I say, I have never seen one of those in my entire life.

00:58:45.000 And we think about sometimes we'll go abroad to another country and say, oh, Japan's amazing.

00:58:51.000 The train's always on time.

00:58:53.000 Europe's amazing.

00:58:53.000 They have more varieties of beer and it's cheaper or something.

00:58:57.000 But in America, we just don't even think of that.

00:58:59.000 Oh, we have the most amazing soda machine ever and you can get infinite refills.

00:59:03.000 No one else has that.

00:59:04.000 I'll tell you two other things we have, or three other things we have that really most places don't have.

00:59:09.000 One is it's just a big place, not just the country's big.

00:59:11.000 The roads are really wide, right?

00:59:14.000 There's a lot of parks, a lot of big stuff, number one.

00:59:17.000 Number two, people here are really friendly.

00:59:19.000 And I know, you know, there's kind of sometimes an image that they're not, like in New York.

00:59:23.000 People in New York are so friendly.

00:59:24.000 It's just a friendly place.

00:59:26.000 It's not like France or Belgium where people are a little bit unfriendly.

00:59:30.000 And then lastly, although there's this impression that we're jingoistic and isolationist, and those are well earned and somewhat accurate, We're interested in other people.

00:59:41.000 Like, we like having them here.

00:59:42.000 There are countries like Japan and France where they don't really care about the tourists.

00:59:46.000 They don't want them there.

00:59:46.000 We want the tourists here.

00:59:47.000 We're like, yeah, enjoy America.

00:59:50.000 Welcome in, everybody, because, yeah, you should enjoy this greatest country in the world.

00:59:53.000 And if you came here for some game you call football that's really soccer, that's fine.

00:59:57.000 We're just happy to host you here.

01:00:00.000 You didn't realize I was like De Tocqueville and Alistair Cook, did you?

01:00:03.000 Yeah, well, this is an amazing analysis.

01:00:05.000 We know you're a great guy.

01:00:06.000 Go ahead.

01:00:07.000 Yeah, throw your video up.

01:00:08.000 I was just.

01:00:10.000 It's the Freddy thing.

01:00:11.000 You introduced me to Freddy, so I'm trying to give you your due here, Blake.

01:00:16.000 The Buckies, he goes, We found another surreal place on our way.

01:00:19.000 I know some people will say, I'm too positive about everything I see, but this place was crazy.

01:00:24.000 They had a shooting range in the store.

01:00:25.000 That was a shout out to your earlier reference.

01:00:28.000 And you go into Outdoor World, the Bass Bro Shop, and you're like, This is actually legitimately Americana.

01:00:35.000 There's no way.

01:00:36.000 We have stores big enough to have their own climate system.

01:00:38.000 Exactly.

01:00:39.000 Exactly.

01:00:39.000 But.

01:00:41.000 Mark, you're an analyst.

01:00:42.000 You've been watching this a long time.

01:00:43.000 So, we were asking an earlier guest, Rich Barris, about this, but you might have thoughts as well.

01:00:49.000 Is there an impact to this vibe shift feeling?

01:00:52.000 Do you think it actually matters that we're having this big love fest on America, thanks to the World Cup?

01:00:58.000 It seems like the UFC fight was also pretty successful.

01:01:02.000 People feel high on America.

01:01:03.000 Do you think that has an impact on the national vibe?

01:01:06.000 I don't think it's a negative thing, but.

01:01:10.000 This is just an in real life manifestation of what happens every day all over the world.

01:01:17.000 You know, there's obviously a lot of covers in the media first about, you know, Canadians and Europeans didn't like George W. Bush, and now they're like, well, they really don't like Trump.

01:01:26.000 But through it all, they love America.

01:01:29.000 And I think, look, I'm from the Barack Obama school that a lot of your audience will not like.

01:01:33.000 I don't think it's helpful for us or right for us to go around saying, we're the greatest country in the history of the world.

01:01:39.000 I think this is off putting.

01:01:40.000 But we are, Mark.

01:01:41.000 We are.

01:01:41.000 Well, we are, but I think it's off putting to say we are.

01:01:44.000 In so many ways, we are.

01:01:45.000 Just go on our freedom and our liberty.

01:01:46.000 We are the greatest country in the history of the world.

01:01:48.000 But this cultural imperialism, where it's like Madonna is, you know, just, you know, we have literally a million, like, rock artists who, not literally, not literally, figuratively, so many, who are, like, so big overseas. 0.51

01:02:02.000 Like, You know, you guys can name one K pop band, right? 0.58

01:02:06.000 We are culturally imperialists. 1.00

01:02:07.000 And I think that there's something off about that. 0.99

01:02:10.000 Like, Japanese culture should be a lot bigger than the United States.

01:02:13.000 Their food is better than ours, their architecture, their clothes.

01:02:17.000 It's all better than ours, honestly.

01:02:19.000 But American cultural imperialism is one of the strongest forces in the world.

01:02:23.000 And it's been reinforced by social media.

01:02:26.000 So the two things you cite, World Cup and the fight last night, like, these are manifestations of what has existed for decades, which is People around the world, they just love American culture.

01:02:36.000 They love our high culture and especially our low culture.

01:02:39.000 Yeah, especially our low culture, I would say.

01:02:42.000 And low, I take issue with that word, actually.

01:02:45.000 It's the real people, it's the grassroots, it's the Americana.

01:02:49.000 Not low in a bad way.

01:02:50.000 Not low in a bad way.

01:02:51.000 Just available to all.

01:02:53.000 Yeah, exactly.

01:02:54.000 But I think what Blake is getting at is you go on social media for the last however many months, and there's just a tinge of negativity, of cynicism.

01:03:02.000 Not even a tinge, it's kind of like right in your face.

01:03:06.000 It just feels like.

01:03:08.000 Last night on X, for example, it was just loud and proud patriotism for the first time that I've seen in a while.

01:03:16.000 And, you know, there was a lot of analysts looking at the crowd at the ellipse.

01:03:20.000 It was all young men.

01:03:22.000 And UFC is a powerful vehicle for this. 0.86

01:03:26.000 Can this psychic break that started with Epstein, that started with Midnight Hammer, that started again with the latest Iran strikes, now that we're looking at peace, now that we've got this like 250 celebration, World Cup, it just feels like the vibes are shifting in a good way.

01:03:39.000 And that could impact.

01:03:41.000 Sorry, no. 1.00

01:03:44.000 Fuck. 1.00

01:03:45.000 Prove it. 1.00

01:03:47.000 Sorry.

01:03:47.000 Time will tell, as they say in the news business.

01:03:49.000 I just don't think so.

01:03:51.000 I mean, I hope you're right, but I don't think so.

01:03:53.000 We'll win you over.

01:03:55.000 We'll win you over.

01:03:55.000 I disagree completely.

01:03:57.000 USA.

01:03:58.000 Yes, exactly.

01:04:00.000 You know what?

01:04:01.000 Just for that, Mark, just for that, I'm going to pull up that clip of you on Colbert in 2016.

01:04:08.000 This was a great, the whole thing with you on the Colbert show was amazing, actually.

01:04:12.000 People should go back and watch it.

01:04:14.000 But this particular clip was so good.

01:04:17.000 I laughed so hard when I found it because Colbert's losing it.

01:04:22.000 And because Trump is surprising everybody, he's defying the odds.

01:04:26.000 The New York Times had their dial.

01:04:28.000 Remember, it was like 99% for Hillary. 0.82

01:04:30.000 And then over the night, Colbert's losing it.

01:04:34.000 You're on with, I forget the other gentleman's name, but from the circus, the Showtime, the circus, whatever.

01:04:39.000 And you're trying to make sense of this.

01:04:40.000 He's asking for some hope, some good tidings, something to hang on to, hang his hat on.

01:04:47.000 And you just dashed his hopes.

01:04:48.000 It was an amazing moment.

01:04:50.000 Cut 60.

01:04:51.000 Is there a comparable moment in American political history that you can pull out?

01:04:59.000 Outside of the Civil War, World War II, and including 9 11, this may be the most cataclysmic event the country's ever seen.

01:05:07.000 Well.

01:05:14.000 You guys.

01:05:15.000 Cataclysmic was an interesting word choice.

01:05:18.000 I do agree, though.

01:05:19.000 Tectonic shift, a shift happened that night.

01:05:22.000 Just to be clear, sometimes people in MAGA say, Oh, how dare you say it would be horrible.

01:05:27.000 That's not what cataclysmic means.

01:05:28.000 It means a fundamental change.

01:05:30.000 And I stand by it.

01:05:31.000 I stand by it.

01:05:32.000 I think it really affected the country more than 9 11, as tragic as that was.

01:05:37.000 I had a, can I lapse into story mode?

01:05:39.000 Yeah.

01:05:40.000 Anytime.

01:05:41.000 I had a unique night on election night because I started at the Clinton headquarters.

01:05:45.000 And because of the way media assignments work, or not headquarters, but victory party at the Javits Center, because of the way media assignments work and because of the extraordinary security for a presidential candidate, I don't know that anybody else was both in.

01:06:00.000 In all these places, in the Clinton Victory Party, the Clinton Hotel, which she never left because she never went to her Victory Party, the Trump Victory Event, and also I was on Colbert.

01:06:14.000 So I was going all around Manhattan, whereas most people were in one location because of security and assignments.

01:06:20.000 And so I went from Colbert to the Clinton Hotel and then to the Trump Victory Party.

01:06:25.000 And because I knew Secret Service and I knew Trump folks, they got me in, even though the building was locked down at that point.

01:06:31.000 And it was just an incredible night to go from.

01:06:35.000 The Clinton place where they thought they were going to win until they realized they weren't.

01:06:40.000 And then the extreme emotion, positive emotion at the Trump thing was it was an incredible night.

01:06:45.000 I wish I'd taken better notes.

01:06:46.000 I have a lot of notes, but I should have just had a GoPro on after the whole battle.

01:06:51.000 Yeah, you were witness to history.

01:06:53.000 You really were.

01:06:54.000 And I mean, I'll never forget that night.

01:06:56.000 I was in Los Angeles at the time, and I think my particular precinct, I looked it up afterwards, it was something like 16% of people that I lived around voted for Trump that night.

01:07:07.000 That many?

01:07:08.000 Yeah.

01:07:09.000 I was in the real red area of LA.

01:07:11.000 Higher than mine.

01:07:12.000 Higher than mine.

01:07:12.000 I think mine was 9%.

01:07:14.000 Oh, you were in DC at the time.

01:07:15.000 Well, I was in DC living, voting, but I was actually also in New York for election night.

01:07:21.000 I was at, it was still Facebook at the time.

01:07:24.000 Their New York campus, they were having streams and stuff on it.

01:07:27.000 So I was there with the Daily Caller.

01:07:30.000 And then we went to the Hillary Victory Party as people were leaving it.

01:07:33.000 And to this day, I have some interviews on my phone with some of those people.

01:07:37.000 They were having a bad night.

01:07:40.000 And it was, I'll never forget it.

01:07:42.000 They were like Cobert.

01:07:43.000 Yeah, exactly.

01:07:44.000 You guys were like, he brought out the old fashions.

01:07:48.000 I mean, he was really up against it that night.

01:07:51.000 Mark, I want to turn our attention in the last four minutes we have here to the Iran deal.

01:07:56.000 I can't tell you enough, speaking to students at Turning Point, how much they want this war to be done with.

01:08:03.000 And this is why I sort of fundamentally disagree with your earlier take.

01:08:08.000 I think the vibes are basically how the country is getting run now.

01:08:12.000 It's based like how elections go is like vibes.

01:08:15.000 And if the vibes are good, if gas is cheap, if there's progress being made, if we're not focusing abroad, that could really have fundamental electoral consequences.

01:08:26.000 Tell us about the Iran deal, though, and what you think is really going on here.

01:08:30.000 And how significant do you think this ultimately could be?

01:08:33.000 I'm not against vibes as part of election analysis at all.

01:08:36.000 I think vibes is a super important thing.

01:08:39.000 It's too soon to say whether this is going to be good.

01:08:44.000 All the way through November or sooner, as voters start to think about who they're going to vote for, it almost certainly will bring down the price of gas.

01:08:50.000 I've got a theory, a working theory here, and nothing I've seen today, I woke up with the theory, and nothing I've seen today has moved me off of it.

01:08:58.000 I think what Trump realized is the economic pressure was not going to work before the midterms, that Iran, they had miscalculated whether Iran would give in because they couldn't sell oil robustly and because they were having overcapacity and they could, they risk ruining their oil infrastructure.

01:09:14.000 I think they realized they were about 10 months off in their prediction about that.

01:09:18.000 And so that meant there's no economic pressure that will break their back before the midterms.

01:09:22.000 He had to bring down gas prices before then. 0.58

01:09:25.000 So get them to agree to open the strait, drop the blockade, drop Iran's threats against ships, lower gas prices, and then negotiate past the midterms.

01:09:33.000 Even though they claim 60 days, between Israel fighting with Hezbollah, between Iranian recalcitrance and the difficulty of negotiating something like this, I think the negotiations will go past the midterms.

01:09:45.000 That means gas prices will stay low.

01:09:47.000 There won't be any more kinetic activity of any significance beyond Israel and Hezbollah. 0.53

01:09:51.000 And then he can figure it out after the midterms when the pressure is somewhat off.

01:09:56.000 To make sure that the war doesn't start back up.

01:09:58.000 And maybe at that point, he does start the war back up, or maybe at that point, he strikes a deal with Iran that he wouldn't risk striking now for fear of demoralizing the neocons.

01:10:06.000 So I was on this call this morning.

01:10:08.000 It was a sort of on background call with senior American officials that were involved in the negotiation.

01:10:14.000 Were you on that same call, Mark?

01:10:16.000 I was on a different call with, I believe, the same officials.

01:10:18.000 All right.

01:10:19.000 So, well, this was officials.

01:10:21.000 Anyways, they said, interestingly enough, the nuclear aspect of the deal has been the easiest.

01:10:26.000 One of the easier parts, rather, of the negotiations because they basically realize that U.S. intelligence is so adept that they can't start the nuclear program again and without us knowing.

01:10:40.000 And secondly, they need our help to get the dust out, anyways, right?

01:10:43.000 So, technically, the expertise, the resources to do that. 0.72

01:10:48.000 So, the point is, I think actually the most interesting part of this deal, you referenced it, is Israel Hezbollah.

01:10:54.000 You see, Mark Levin is very skeptical of this deal and some other of the hardliners.

01:10:59.000 Tell it in one minute left.

01:11:01.000 Break down that aspect of it for us. 0.73

01:11:03.000 Well, you're not going to get Hezbollah to stop attacking Israel or Israel from responding.

01:11:07.000 That's just not going to happen.

01:11:08.000 So, if the deal is predicated on a sustained ceasefire between those entities, forget it. 0.76

01:11:14.000 And of course, Israel would be delighted to scuttle the U.S. Iran deal by having conflict with Hezbollah. 0.75

01:11:21.000 For them, that's a twofer. 0.89

01:11:23.000 So, I think the reason you see the president criticizing Netanyahu is to say to the Iranians, I can't control the guy. 0.99

01:11:30.000 He's not my guy anymore. 0.97

01:11:31.000 He's doing what he wants to do.

01:11:33.000 So, I think the question is going to be in Iran's court. 0.94

01:11:35.000 When the United States says we can't stop him, and they say you guys got to stop Hezbollah, Iran's going to say, I think it's either going to be everything or nothing. 0.82

01:11:46.000 Either Iran's going to accept the fact that there'll continue to be conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, or they'll scuttle the deal over it, and that's going to be up to Tehran for the most part. 0.95

01:11:54.000 I think that's good analysis.

01:11:56.000 Mark Halperin, editor in chief of Two Way TV, and next up with Megan Kelly.

01:12:00.000 Check out both of those.

01:12:01.000 Mark, I appreciate you so much.

01:12:03.000 Thanks, guys.

01:12:03.000 Thanks for the time.

01:12:08.000 For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to charliekirk.com.

The Charlie Kirk Show - June 15, 2026

The Greatest Fight Night Ever + An Iran Deal, At Last

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