The Charlie Kirk Show - The Potomac Crash, The Northern Border, and The Confirmation Battles

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, today on the Charlie Kirk Show, latest of what happened over the Potomac breaking news here with Amber Smith, an analysis of Cash, Tulsi, and Bobby Kennedy, and then Josh Parker, who might be running for Congress in upstate New York, joins the program.

00:00:12.000 Email me, as always, freedom at charliekirk.com, and subscribe to our podcast.

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00:00:20.000 That is tpusa.com.

00:00:22.000 Buckle up, everybody.

00:00:23.000 Here we go.

00:00:24.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

00:00:25.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

00:00:27.000 I want you to know we are lucky.

00:00:29.000 To have Charlie Kirk.

00:00:31.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

00:00:34.000 I want to thank Charlie.

00:00:35.000 He's an incredible guy.

00:00:36.000 His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA. We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.

00:00:53.000 That's why we are here.

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00:01:22.000 Honored to be with you guys.

00:01:23.000 As always, you can email me freedom at charliekirk.com or subscribe to our podcast.

00:01:27.000 I want to dive right into our analysis about the tragedy that happened over the Potomac.

00:01:31.000 We have a very special guest here to help us understand what exactly happened.

00:01:37.000 Amber Smith, former helicopter pilot, author of Unfit to Fight, How Woke Policies Are Destroying the Military, and former senior Pentagon official to break down the breaking news.

00:01:47.000 Amber, thank you for joining the program.

00:01:49.000 Thanks for having me.

00:01:51.000 There's some recent news here, at least some new video footage, that shows if the helicopter was almost not pursuing but accelerating into the airplane.

00:02:00.000 What is the latest news here?

00:02:02.000 And break it down for the audience of what your theory is what happened that evening.

00:02:08.000 Sure.

00:02:09.000 So I was an Army helicopter pilot for almost eight years, well over 1,500.

00:02:15.000 And based off everything that I have seen in terms of the audio and the video, including the one you just mentioned that just came out, is that the Army helicopter air crew most likely confirmed visual confirmation of the incorrect aircraft.

00:02:32.000 So when Tower gave them the warning of traffic ahead, they were looking at the wrong plane, basically, and then likely never even saw the aircraft that they ended up And it's, you know, an incredibly tragic and horrific situation.

00:02:51.000 But in Army aviation, especially when it comes to helicopters, things are moving a million miles an hour.

00:02:57.000 You have a lot going on in the helicopter.

00:02:59.000 We are learning a lot about some mismanagement of the national capital region.

00:03:05.000 Airspace around Reagan, some of the helicopter corridors and the altitudes involved there and very minimal altitude separation requirements between these incoming landing planes to Reagan and the helicopter traffic around them.

00:03:21.000 A big red flag that I have seen in all of this is how common it has happened that The tower at Reagan is allowing these helicopters to fly underneath or behind incoming commercial planes as they're coming into short final to land at the runways.

00:03:41.000 That is extremely risky.

00:03:43.000 It sets up unsafe conditions, as we've seen, because altitude deviations in a helicopter can happen in the blink of an eye, a wind gust.

00:03:53.000 And what they have in terms of that separation right now is...

00:03:59.000 So, yeah, I mean, it's a very basic question.

00:04:01.000 Again, I'm just a civilian.

00:04:03.000 Whose idea was it to have the Army do military exercises even remotely close to the airspace of Reagan?

00:04:13.000 I mean, there's plenty of other places you could do Army training, theoretically, right?

00:04:17.000 I mean, it's a big country, a lot of rural areas, not near Reagan Airport.

00:04:22.000 Who made this decision and for what possible reason?

00:04:25.000 And why did no one ever think in the months or the years leading up to this, hey, these near misses are probably a good reason to suspend these training exercises?

00:04:34.000 Yeah, so my assessment off of this is that it is the AO, the area of operation for this helicopter unit.

00:04:43.000 So this helicopter unit's mission is to conduct operations down that corridor that I told you about that flies basically down the Potomac River.

00:04:51.000 And to my knowledge, it was a checkride.

00:04:54.000 So this was not technically training, although I'm sure the training goes on there as well.

00:04:59.000 This was a checkride.

00:05:00.000 So an annual checkride where they're doing all sorts of procedures and maneuvers.

00:05:05.000 And I'm assuming, this is me assuming, I do not know if it is like a requirement.

00:05:11.000 I'm assuming that they have to be checked out in this location because it is their mission.

00:05:20.000 That's something that I want to see, because if that is a requirement of theirs, doing these types of operations, maybe being familiar with the route should be a requirement, but actually going out and doing something like APART, which is an annual flight evaluation, should not be in this proximity to one of the biggest metropolitan airspaces when it comes to the combination of helicopter.

00:05:48.000 And commercial aviation.

00:05:50.000 So I want to broaden this.

00:05:53.000 You wrote the book that really addressed this, Unfit to Fight, How Woke Policies Are Destroying Our Military.

00:06:01.000 And so I don't want to blame any sort of particulars on this incident, but can you give us more examples on how these woke policies have weakened America's military preparedness?

00:06:14.000 Absolutely.

00:06:15.000 So the opposite of DEI, which we have heard the president talk about since inauguration, even before, is merit.

00:06:24.000 So what we've seen in the Biden administration, they pushed all of this diversity, equity, inclusion into all of the federal government, not just the military.

00:06:34.000 My book's focused on the military, but so the opposite of...

00:06:38.000 DEI is merit.

00:06:40.000 Merit means you are the best person for the job.

00:06:43.000 You have the best test scores.

00:06:46.000 You did the best interview.

00:06:48.000 You have the best experience, the best physical fitness.

00:06:51.000 Whatever the standard may be, you're there.

00:06:54.000 And that's how you get promoted.

00:06:56.000 That's how you get the job.

00:06:57.000 That's how you get selected for flight training.

00:06:59.000 So when you bring in this DEI, obviously...

00:07:02.000 In order to get people who are not qualified into those positions, you have to lower the standard.

00:07:09.000 You have to ensure that the people who are not qualified are able to somehow pass the bar.

00:07:17.000 And therefore, they do that by quotas or targets and lowering the standards.

00:07:22.000 When you lower the standards, someone else along the line is having to pick up the slack.

00:07:29.000 It weakens the chain.

00:07:30.000 It weakens the unit and the mission as a whole, and it sets it up for dangerous operations.

00:07:37.000 And so how would you recommend going about fixing it?

00:07:42.000 I know the president has issued some orders already to fix this problem in our military.

00:07:47.000 Give us some specifics, further action items that you'd like to see the president undertake.

00:07:53.000 Yeah, so this is a big challenge, the Department of Defense.

00:07:57.000 And this is not just a DOD issue.

00:07:59.000 This is government-wide, where I'm sure they're going to be looking into the FAA and what's going on with ATC, the air traffic controllers, and see why they're, you know, undermanned and still allowing full aviation operations to proceed.

00:08:12.000 So there's a couple things that need to happen.

00:08:16.000 One, you've already seen the executive orders going out that sort of...

00:08:19.000 Squash what can be squashed with an executive order, removing some of the policies that were put in place for the Biden administration.

00:08:26.000 The implementation of that is ongoing.

00:08:32.000 You need to change things immediately, culturally, to merit-based.

00:08:37.000 And that needs to be from the top down, from president we're seeing, sec def, and then through the commands all the way down.

00:08:45.000 That DEI will no longer be tolerated.

00:08:48.000 This is going to be a significant task.

00:08:53.000 The work is just getting started, so you can issue the executive order, but now you need to ensure that it's going to be implemented all the way through the ranks, all the way down to the rank and file, through all the commanders that chose to implement and enforce the vaccine mandates.

00:09:12.000 The ones who chose to kick out the 8,000 troops that were...

00:09:18.000 Combat proven and wanted to stay in the military and just didn't want to take an unproven vaccine.

00:09:24.000 So you're going to have to get through all of those people to ensure there's not sabotage going in along the ranks.

00:09:30.000 That's going to be that cultural aspect that I talked about.

00:09:33.000 That is what is going to be incredibly challenging.

00:09:36.000 The other part that needs to be done is accountability.

00:09:41.000 When there is no accountability in a culture that is running rampant with DEI and lawlessness, no one is going to change.

00:09:50.000 So when still there's some accountability for the leaders who have created the damage, have fostered this environment that has hurt the military and weakened the military and damaged our national security because of it, that accountability is essential to making the military hole again.

00:10:07.000 Great analysis, Amber.

00:10:09.000 Thank you so much.

00:10:09.000 Everyone should check out your book, Unfit to Fight.

00:10:11.000 Thank you so much.

00:10:12.000 Hey, everybody.

00:10:15.000 Charlie Kirk here.

00:10:16.000 Brand new year.

00:10:16.000 Brand new opportunities to change the world for the better.

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00:11:16.000 Yesterday was a huge day of hearings on Capitol Hill.

00:11:21.000 Yesterday is why we worked so hard to get President Donald Trump elected.

00:11:26.000 You might remember I said for a while that you are not voting for Trump or Kamala Harris.

00:11:31.000 That you are voting for 5,000 people that will staff your government.

00:11:35.000 You are voting for the people that will run your agencies.

00:11:37.000 You're voting for the people that will bring change throughout the cabinet.

00:11:41.000 You're voting for people that are going to go about and fulfill the mandate.

00:11:47.000 Yesterday, in real time, what we saw were three changemakers, three disruptors that are going to go into their respective agencies and not do business as usual.

00:12:01.000 We had Kash Patel, who's going to lead the FBI. Phenomenal selection.

00:12:07.000 Bobby Kennedy for HHS to make America healthy again.

00:12:12.000 Tulsi Gabbard to be the custodian of our nation's secrets.

00:12:16.000 One, two, three.

00:12:19.000 Now what do all three of those people have in common?

00:12:21.000 Tulsi, Bobby, Kash.

00:12:23.000 They are hated by the legacy media.

00:12:27.000 They are despised by entrenched and permanent Washington.

00:12:31.000 Tulsi Gabbard is going to bring reform and transparency to the distrusted intel agencies that have been running coups and nonsensical operations against the American people.

00:12:42.000 Bobby Kennedy will bring trust and integrity back to our public health authority.

00:12:47.000 Asking the question is, why is our childhood vaccination schedule 72 shots?

00:12:51.000 Why is it that our kids are so obese and overweight?

00:12:54.000 Why is it that we are a sloppy and slovenly country?

00:12:57.000 Should we really prescribe Ozembic to the entire country?

00:13:00.000 Why is that 50% of our kids are obese or overweight by the age of 15 and only 3% of Japanese kids are?

00:13:08.000 Why can't we even ask these fundamental questions?

00:13:12.000 And then Kash Patel.

00:13:14.000 Kash Patel will turn the Federal Bureau of Investigation into a bad guy catching operation.

00:13:20.000 Not a secret army or secret police of the regime.

00:13:23.000 To go after child sex traffickers.

00:13:25.000 To go after predators.

00:13:26.000 Go after gun smugglers. 0.74

00:13:28.000 To go after rapists. 0.99

00:13:29.000 Arsonists.

00:13:30.000 Not grandmas that went into the Capitol Rotunda with a pocket constitution to go pray. 0.97

00:13:35.000 Cash Patel, Bobby Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard is a 1-2-3 combo package to help us enter into the Great American Renaissance and the Golden Era.

00:13:49.000 Now they're receiving resistance from Republican Senators Tulsi Gabbard and Bobby Kennedy in particular.

00:13:55.000 And we're going to name those names.

00:13:57.000 of the people that are trying to get in the way.

00:13:58.000 But let's just summarize some of the highlights yesterday.

00:14:02.000 Bobby Kennedy had a second hearing articulating the grievous condition of America's health care.

00:14:12.000 Play cut 134. Today, Americans' overall health is in grievous condition.

00:14:17.000 Over 70% of adults and a third of children are overweight or obese.

00:14:24.000 Diabetes is ten times more prevalent than it was during the 1960s.

00:14:28.000 Cancer among young people is rising by one or two percent a year.

00:14:33.000 Autoimmune diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, Alzheimer's, asthma, ADHD, depression, addiction, and a host of other physical and mental health conditions are all on the rise, some of them exponentially.

00:14:49.000 The people who are against Bobby Kennedy are those that are purchased by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and Eli Lilly.

00:14:58.000 A healthy population is a threat to permanent Washington.

00:15:03.000 A healthy population questions social distancing.

00:15:07.000 A healthy population doesn't take an mRNA gene-altering vaccine just because they're told to take it.

00:15:12.000 A healthy population is one that challenges tyranny.

00:15:15.000 Think about it.

00:15:16.000 If you want to metamorphosize America...

00:15:20.000 Into a third world socialist dictatorship where there's a permanent ruling class oligarchy that rules over your life?

00:15:26.000 Would you rather have fat people that are medicated, that aren't the best version of themselves, that don't question authority?

00:15:32.000 Or do you want a population that is vital, full of life, spark, vigor?

00:15:43.000 Which one would you rather have if you're a tyrant?

00:15:47.000 If you're a tyrant, you want an unhappy population.

00:15:49.000 You want a medicated population. 0.99

00:15:51.000 You want a class of indentured servants, of fat, lazy people, because they're easier to control. 0.99

00:15:59.000 Couple that with a third world invasion, and you have a recipe towards world domination via the United States of America. 0.96

00:16:07.000 Bobby Kennedy is about making America happy again, healthy again, to get us back on a trajectory.

00:16:16.000 Where we have national readiness for our United States military to restore trust post-COVID. When I hear a doctor on TV, well, doctors say I inherently am distrustful of such statements.

00:16:30.000 Bobby Kennedy, Tulsi, and Cash must be confirmed by Republican senators.

00:16:36.000 They must be put into office.

00:16:42.000 They represent the citizens taking back their government.

00:16:48.000 Hey everybody, Charlie Kirk here with New Year's Resolutions.

00:16:50.000 Many of us will vow to eat healthier, and that's a good thing.

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00:17:47.000 Really excited for this guest, so...

00:17:52.000 Someone that I've wanted to have on for quite some time.

00:17:54.000 Someone I've known for a while.

00:17:56.000 I was actually the best man at his wedding almost exactly eight years ago, if I'm not mistaken.

00:18:01.000 He's an amazing entrepreneur, father of four.

00:18:04.000 He's young.

00:18:05.000 And I think he'd be a great replacement for Elise Stefanik up in New York 21. Possible candidate, just a rock star, founder and CEO of Parker Communications.

00:18:15.000 I hope you guys understand.

00:18:16.000 He's in his mid-20s, like 26, 27. And, by the way, he's being considered by...

00:18:22.000 All the very serious power brokers to potentially fill Elise's seat because she's going to the UN. And again, he's the father of four at 27, was on Shark Tank, had an amazing maple syrup business, really, really powerful Parker Communications Company with hundreds of employees.

00:18:39.000 And it's Josh Parker who joins us now.

00:18:42.000 Josh, welcome to the program.

00:18:43.000 Great to see you.

00:18:44.000 Thanks so much, Charlie.

00:18:45.000 Great to be with you.

00:18:46.000 Tell us, where are you?

00:18:47.000 I was going to introduce it to the audience.

00:18:49.000 You're here at the northern border, which doesn't get as much coverage.

00:18:51.000 Tell us about what you're seeing and hearing on the northern border and the need for border security up there.

00:18:56.000 Yeah, that's right, Charlie.

00:18:57.000 I'm here at the northern border in upstate New York.

00:18:59.000 And as you've said, Congresswoman Stefanik has been chosen by President Trump to be the ambassador to the United Nations.

00:19:06.000 She has been our congresswoman here in upstate New York for the last 10 years.

00:19:10.000 And the people of our district love her.

00:19:12.000 She's done an incredible job.

00:19:14.000 And, you know, so we're obviously sad to see her go, but we are proud of the fact that she is going to be one of the most important voices on the global stage.

00:19:22.000 I'm here at the north border, the U.S.-Canadian border.

00:19:27.000 Charlie, most people don't realize that the northern border is actually in crisis.

00:19:32.000 So this is known as the Swanton sector up in upstate New York.

00:19:36.000 And in 2024, there were more illegal immigrants who crossed the Swanton sector.

00:19:43.000 In the previous 17 years combined, that is a 550% increase.

00:19:49.000 And Charlie, these are not just friendly Canadians.

00:19:51.000 These people came from 97 different countries of origin.

00:19:55.000 And again, Charlie, it's not just people, but it's also drugs.

00:20:01.000 We have seen a 29% increase in the amount of drugs being smuggled across the northern border.

00:20:07.000 And this is a shocking statistic, but 75% Of the terrorists, the illegal immigrants on the terror watch list who cross into our country, cross the northern border, not the southern border.

00:20:20.000 So, as you know, this is the result of four years of Joe Biden's failed open border policies.

00:20:26.000 And Congresswoman Stefanik has done a great job of bringing light to this issue.

00:20:30.000 But we need to stand with President Trump to secure our northern border and our southern border.

00:20:35.000 And that's why I think you'd be a phenomenal congressman for that district.

00:20:38.000 I want to play this piece of tape here where you did a ride-along.

00:20:41.000 And again, I want everyone to understand, you might think, oh, you know, who's coming across the border?

00:20:44.000 There are some savage terrorists here.

00:20:46.000 This is cut 177. Get ready for this. 0.97

00:20:49.000 This is footage.

00:20:50.000 I want you guys to watch carefully here on Real America's Voice and on our streaming platforms of the people that are running across the northern border.

00:20:56.000 These are stone-cold killers, some of them.

00:20:58.000 Terrorists, ISIS, people that want us harm. 0.90

00:21:00.000 When you think of our border invasion, you think of Guadalajara.

00:21:04.000 You think of the southern border, where I live in Arizona.

00:21:08.000 But understand, we have been invaded.

00:21:10.000 From all fronts, the northern border gets almost no coverage whatsoever because I think it's just a bunch of, you know, very nice-talking Canadians that are trying to exchange, you know, dollars for maple syrup or whatever.

00:21:22.000 No, no, no.

00:21:22.000 Listen and watch carefully.

00:21:24.000 Stone Cold Killers.

00:21:25.000 Playcut 177. Where do they usually cross?

00:21:30.000 Do they cross through here?

00:21:31.000 They cross here. 0.53

00:21:32.000 A lot of the crossings are out back.

00:21:34.000 Then they walk right up this road because this is technically a town road.

00:21:39.000 Part way.

00:21:40.000 Do you guys ever feel unsafe up here?

00:21:42.000 Yeah, all the time.

00:21:43.000 A lot of times.

00:21:44.000 I mean, shouldn't have to.

00:21:45.000 We live in the middle of nowhere.

00:21:46.000 Right, exactly.

00:21:47.000 And here we are.

00:21:47.000 I've got to have a security camera on my house so I can try to, you know, have to work midnights.

00:21:54.000 And you've got a wife and three kids.

00:21:55.000 Yeah, and, you know, it's very unsettling.

00:21:58.000 it's a hopeless feeling when you're at work and there's illegals walking by your house and you have no idea what these people are going to do their intentions this has always been a problem you've always seen people growing up here and things like that you'd see maybe one or two every six months okay maybe yes not 10 a night yeah that's what we were we were up to like 10 12 a day yeah now now what country of origin are these josh i I think that's an important question. 0.89

00:22:26.000 And reiterate the point that...

00:22:28.000 The influx of terrorists is disproportionately from the northern border.

00:22:32.000 Please reiterate that very important point.

00:22:34.000 Yeah, Charlie, that's right.

00:22:35.000 It is critically important to understand that, again, 75% of illegal immigrants on the terror watch list cross the northern border, not the southern border.

00:22:46.000 So we don't know exactly where all of these people are coming from, but we do know that it's 97 different countries of origin.

00:22:53.000 And talking to the farmer who lives on the border in that video, He was telling me, and he showed me videos of young men, military-age men, crossing into the border.

00:23:03.000 And the point that he made is that what they'll often do is they'll send a group of five or six migrants who want to be caught.

00:23:10.000 So Border Patrol will catch them.

00:23:12.000 And while Border Patrol is with those migrants... 0.96

00:23:16.000 A group of others will cross into his property through the forest.

00:23:20.000 And the question is, why do they not want to be caught?

00:23:23.000 This is not a desert in the middle of Texas somewhere.

00:23:26.000 This is where this gentleman has kids, it's neighborhoods, and it's putting our communities at risk.

00:23:33.000 It's extremely dangerous.

00:23:36.000 And, you know, this is an issue that we face here.

00:23:40.000 Every day.

00:23:41.000 It's an issue that we didn't used to have to face.

00:23:43.000 And it's just terrible for upstate New York and for our whole country.

00:23:48.000 Because again, when I talk to Border Patrol agents here on the northern border, they say they are so scared every day that a terrorist is going to cross into our country and cause the nation harm.

00:24:01.000 And they're sure that if that happens, it's going to be through the northern border, not the southern border.

00:24:05.000 So talk about how that impacts your hometown.

00:24:09.000 I mean, New York 21, Elise Stefanik's been doing a great job.

00:24:12.000 She's going to represent everybody really well at the UN. But your hometown is very rural, and with it being very MAGA. But also, there's a lot of drug issues.

00:24:25.000 You have a lot of issues of depressed wages.

00:24:29.000 Your hometown...

00:24:31.000 In some ways, it's a picture of forgotten America.

00:24:33.000 I mean, it is the North-North country.

00:24:35.000 Talk about the depression that has been invited into your community and how an open border of people we don't even know, Pakistani, Indian, 97 countries, has contributed to the jeopardization of your hometown, the North country. 0.99

00:24:52.000 Yeah, that's right, Charlie.

00:24:53.000 So I'm standing here, again, at the northern border, about 20 minutes from where I was born and raised.

00:24:57.000 It's where I'm choosing to raise my four children with my beautiful wife, Allie.

00:25:01.000 And, you know, this is an area of the country where our jobs have been shipped overseas, our farms have emptied.

00:25:09.000 It's extremely rural.

00:25:10.000 And what comes behind that, behind losing economic opportunity, drugs and despair?

00:25:16.000 And so we have seen drugs come across our northern border, and we have a major opioid crisis here in New York 21. This is a beautiful part of the country.

00:25:26.000 We love swimming in the lakes.

00:25:27.000 We love skiing the mountains.

00:25:29.000 We love hiking the Adirondack Mountains.

00:25:31.000 But slowly, that way of life that we have known for a long time has been slipping away over these last four years.

00:25:38.000 And so it is so critically important that we deliver on President Trump's To put American businesses, American farmers first, to create jobs in economically depressed areas like New York 21, to continue to support our military.

00:25:55.000 You know, we're home of Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division, which is the most deployed division of the Army since 9-11.

00:26:02.000 And so continuing to build on the gains that Congresswoman Stefanik has had for these last 10 years, reverse some of the negative results of the Biden administration.

00:26:12.000 And stand with President Trump.

00:26:13.000 And that's what I would do if I'm honored to be able to serve my friends, my neighbors, my family here in New York 21. I'm going to go to Washington and fight for them and fight for the president.

00:26:24.000 This district voted overwhelmingly by over 20% for President Trump.

00:26:29.000 And so we need to go and deliver on the mandate, bring our jobs back, fight crime, get rid of drugs, and secure both our northern and southern borders.

00:26:38.000 So, Josh, I want you to just talk more about yourself for a second here.

00:26:41.000 I mean, you've actually built a business in the district.

00:26:44.000 You know what it takes.

00:26:45.000 Just kind of, again, you're 27, father of four.

00:26:48.000 That's, you know, you're ahead of me here, so I've got to catch up a little bit.

00:26:52.000 But you've decided to do this in your hometown.

00:26:55.000 And this is something that we talk about a lot on our show.

00:26:57.000 I wrote in the book, Right Wing Revolution, that there's something really...

00:27:01.000 I think disturbing about this.

00:27:03.000 Oh, just go move to New York City and forget your hometown.

00:27:05.000 No, no, no.

00:27:06.000 You've actually laid down your roots, where you were born, where your parents are, where your ancestors are from, even though it's more difficult.

00:27:16.000 Even you could have probably earned more money if you would have moved to Yonkers with your kids.

00:27:21.000 That is part of the MAGA. The MAGA creed in the best possible way.

00:27:26.000 Like, no, I want to live where my parents are.

00:27:29.000 I don't want to have to go through this kind of forced urbanization.

00:27:35.000 Talk about how you built the maple syrup business into a national brand, your family, and why your home is worth fighting for, not fleeing.

00:27:44.000 That's right.

00:27:45.000 Yeah, that's right, Charlie.

00:27:46.000 So my background, as you know, I was born and raised here in upstate New York, about 20 minutes from the Canadian border.

00:27:52.000 It's, again, where I'm choosing to raise my four beautiful children with my wife, Allie.

00:27:56.000 And when I was 15, I started a company making maple syrup.

00:28:00.000 I learned how on a school field trip when I was 11, I just thought it was cool that I could tap the trees in my front yard and make it into syrup.

00:28:07.000 And so I was able to turn that passion into a business, grow it from a couple of maple trees to ending up getting on Shark Tank, selling into about 8,000 stores across the country.

00:28:17.000 And it was an amazing thing.

00:28:19.000 It's the American dream that I could start with basically no money, no connections, and then be able to grow it into this national brand.

00:28:27.000 I was blessed to be able to sell that business in 2020. And then in 2021, I started another company, a construction company, a totally different industry.

00:28:36.000 And in four years, was able to build it to about 100 employees doing work all over the country.

00:28:41.000 And you're right, Charlie.

00:28:43.000 Here in what we call the North Country, it is my home.

00:28:45.000 It's where my parents were born.

00:28:47.000 It's where, again, I grew up.

00:28:49.000 It's where I played hockey.

00:28:50.000 It's where we go to church.

00:28:52.000 And I grew up with this mentality that the North Country was a place that if you wanted to succeed, you had to leave.

00:28:59.000 You had to go to Florida.

00:29:00.000 You had to go to New York City.

00:29:01.000 You had to move wherever throughout the country.

00:29:04.000 And that shouldn't be the case.

00:29:05.000 You know, we should be able to have the economic opportunity here in New York 21 to be able to build a good life as our parents did, as our grandparents did, to be able to build businesses, to be able to, you know, work at the factory for the 30 years and retire and be able to raise our family here in this beautiful place.

00:29:25.000 And again, swim in the lakes and hike the mountains, play sports.

00:29:28.000 Do all those things that we've done for generations here in upstate New York.

00:29:32.000 It is a tough place today.

00:29:34.000 It is approximately zero degrees, so it's cold.

00:29:38.000 But we love it.

00:29:39.000 We love the winters.

00:29:40.000 We love the spring.

00:29:40.000 We love the summer.

00:29:41.000 We love the fall.

00:29:42.000 And it's worth fighting for, as you said.

00:29:45.000 And that's why I put my hat forward.

00:29:48.000 I think that you and I both agree that good people with common sense and real-world experience need to go to Washington and actually stand up.

00:29:56.000 For what we believe in, or else we're not going to have a country anymore.

00:29:59.000 I couldn't be more behind Josh.

00:30:02.000 If you decide to run or whatever process is up there, and I've known Josh for quite some time, at the very core of what MAGA means, it should be this.

00:30:12.000 Love and defend your home.

00:30:15.000 Josh, you're welcome back anytime.

00:30:16.000 Thanks so much.

00:30:17.000 Talk to you soon.

00:30:20.000 Hey everybody, Charlie Kirk here.

00:30:22.000 You just saw it.

00:30:22.000 The privileged get tax pardons while hardworking Americans do not.

00:30:26.000 The IRS just stepped up enforcement.

00:30:28.000 If you owe back taxes or have unfilled returns, do not wait for the IRS letter to act.

00:30:34.000 Waiting to get caught makes you look like a tax evader and it will not end well.

00:30:38.000 Getting ahead of this is the smart move, but never, never contact the IRS alone.

00:30:42.000 Turn it over to Tax Network USA. Why?

00:30:44.000 Because not all tax resolution companies are the same.

00:30:47.000 First, Tax Network USA has a strong relationship with the IRS. And third, their genius strategies are designed to quickly settle your tax problems in your favor.

00:31:02.000 Whether you owe $10,000 or $10 million, their attorneys and negotiators have resolved $1 billion in tax debt.

00:31:08.000 I trust Tax Network USA. Call and talk with one of their strategists.

00:31:11.000 It's free.

00:31:12.000 Stop looking over your shoulder and put the IRS troubles behind you.

00:31:16.000 Call 800-780-8888 or go to tnusa.com.

00:31:22.000 Okay, so much to discuss here.

00:31:24.000 I want to finish the point that I was making earlier this hour.

00:31:28.000 Who is standing in the way of Tulsi Gabbard and Bobby Kennedy?

00:31:33.000 Right now, Tulsi Gabbard, it's a little unclear.

00:31:36.000 Looks like Todd Young is a little bit shaky from Indiana.

00:31:41.000 Looks like Cassidy is okay for Tulsi, but Cassidy is putting up a problem with Bobby Kennedy. 1.00

00:31:49.000 John Curtis from Utah.

00:31:50.000 And this will not be an I told you so segment.

00:31:53.000 But boy, did we fight so hard to try to get Trent Staggs in Utah.

00:31:57.000 If I could have just had another 20 million bucks to deploy to get Trent Staggs to defeat John Curtis, we now have a Romney 2.0 in Utah.

00:32:07.000 I went on the ground to help Trent Staggs.

00:32:09.000 We campaigned in Utah.

00:32:11.000 We saw this freight train coming.

00:32:13.000 And I certainly hope he ends up voting the right way.

00:32:16.000 We don't know yet.

00:32:17.000 We don't want to judge until the final votes are cast.

00:32:20.000 Susan Collins.

00:32:21.000 I've always defended Susan Collins on this program.

00:32:24.000 In fact, to the great anger of many of you in this audience when I defend Susan Collins, my Susan Collins contention is this.

00:32:31.000 She represents a very deep blue state.

00:32:34.000 Without her, we would not have a Republican senator from Maine. 1.00

00:32:37.000 And finally, she's almost always there when we need her.

00:32:41.000 She was there when we needed her on Kavanaugh.

00:32:43.000 We did not need her on Pete Hegseth.

00:32:45.000 We did not.

00:32:46.000 It was kind of a performative show vote.

00:32:48.000 So it'll be very interesting to see, will Susan Collins be there when we need her on Tulsi or on Bobby Kennedy?

00:32:56.000 I grade on a political curve.

00:32:58.000 If you're from a deep blue state, I grade it differently than if you're from Louisiana or from South Dakota or from Mississippi.

00:33:06.000 Now McConnell is just trying to do everything he possibly can to sabotage.

00:33:10.000 McConnell is such a dishonest politician because for years he would always talk about how the conference needs to stay together.

00:33:18.000 He would always talk about how the conference needs to vote together.

00:33:21.000 About you shouldn't try to resist the conference or resist leadership.

00:33:25.000 Now Mitch McConnell is resisting leadership.

00:33:28.000 Mitch McConnell is actually voting differently than John Thune.

00:33:32.000 I want you to think about that.

00:33:33.000 That just goes to show how a dishonest fraud that Mitch McConnell has become, has always been.

00:33:40.000 Showing his true stripes.

00:33:41.000 He is not going to be a senator beyond when he's up for election.

00:33:44.000 I think he's up this next cycle in 2026. We're going to get somebody really good in Kentucky and put this situation to rest.

00:33:52.000 He's already said he's not running.

00:33:54.000 That's good.

00:33:55.000 We got Bill Cassidy, which is a problem in Louisiana, with Bobby Kennedy.

00:34:00.000 And I hope Bill Cassidy comes around.

00:34:02.000 Again, we don't want to get too aggressive until we kind of know the parameters of how these people are voting, but this shouldn't even be a close call.

00:34:11.000 What exactly is your red flag?

00:34:12.000 He says, oh, well, he might encourage vaccine hesitancy.

00:34:17.000 No, no, no.

00:34:17.000 The CDC did that on his own.

00:34:19.000 In fact, you can make an argument that Bobby Kennedy will actually increase people's trust in our public health authorities.

00:34:25.000 I will honestly, if Bobby Kennedy comes out after lots of scientific trials and says these vaccines are legit, that would increase my trust to the public health institutions, not this current cartel of criminals in the cabal that's currently running our public health authority.

00:34:39.000 Look, we don't want to have to fight Bill Cassidy if we don't want to.

00:34:43.000 But if Bill Cassidy is truly running again, the man who voted to impeach and convict Donald Trump, if he wants to be a senator ever in his future, I certainly hope for his own sake he votes for Bobby Kennedy.

00:34:55.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.

00:34:57.000 Email us, as always, at freedom at charliekirk.com.

The Charlie Kirk Show - January 31, 2025

The Potomac Crash, The Northern Border, and The Confirmation Battles

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