The Charlie Kirk Show - March 30, 2023


The Vile, No Good, Rotten RESTRICT Act


Episode Stats


Length

33 minutes

Words per minute

167.14075

Word count

5,641

Sentence count

488

Harmful content

Misogyny

5

sentences flagged

Toxicity

22

sentences flagged

Hate speech

7

sentences flagged


Summary

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

The Restrict Act is a bill that would ban TikTok, the popular video game app, from being available on most of the U.S. internet. It was introduced in response to concerns that TikTok was being used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to spy on our children.

Transcript

Transcripts from "The Charlie Kirk Show" are sourced from the Knowledge Fight Interactive Search Tool. Explore them interactively here.
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Toxicity classifications generated with s-nlp/roberta_toxicity_classifier .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, it's a Charlie Kirk show, the Restrict Act.
00:00:02.000 We actually read the bill.
00:00:03.000 This is horrifying stuff.
00:00:04.000 We don't like TikTok, but what they are doing here is really scary.
00:00:08.000 Text this episode to your friends.
00:00:09.000 You need to learn about this and see what Republicans are behind it.
00:00:12.000 Email us, freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:00:14.000 Subscribe to the Charlie Kirk Show podcast.
00:00:16.000 Open up your podcast bill and type in Charlie Kirk Show.
00:00:19.000 Get involved with TurningPointUSA, tpusa.com.
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00:00:28.000 So get involved today at tpusa.com.
00:00:32.000 Buckle up, everybody.
00:00:33.000 Here we go.
00:00:34.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
00:00:36.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campuses.
00:00:38.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
00:00:41.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
00:00:44.000 I want to thank Charlie.
00:00:45.000 He's an incredible guy.
00:00:46.000 His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA.
00:00:55.000 We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
00:01:04.000 That's why we are here.
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00:01:15.000 Last week, we had Senator Josh Hawley on the program who laid out a very convincing and persuasive case about how damaging TikTok is to our country.
00:01:25.000 And boy, do I believe that.
00:01:26.000 It's digital fentanyl.
00:01:28.000 It's helping spread the trans social contagion. 1.00
00:01:31.000 It's addicting kids to screen time.
00:01:33.000 It is ruining their ability to engage in the real and natural world.
00:01:39.000 It spreads awful elements of social leftism while suppressing conservative speech.
00:01:44.000 The Chinese Communist Party is profiling our children and spying on our children.
00:01:49.000 The Chinese Communist Party is using TikTok as a way to try to remake the youth of America in a weaker direction. 0.94
00:01:58.000 TikTok is awful. 1.00
00:01:59.000 It's garbage. 1.00
00:02:00.000 It's terrible. 1.00
00:02:00.000 We're not ever going to defend TikTok, obviously. 1.00
00:02:03.000 And so Washington, D.C., being pushed, by the way, by the tech companies, this is the first thing that we must understand.
00:02:09.000 So out of nowhere, ex-Nihilo, Washington, D.C. started to have bipartisan hearings on TikTok.
00:02:16.000 All of a sudden, they start to care about the Chinese Communist Party.
00:02:20.000 No, no, no.
00:02:21.000 YouTube, who has well over a thousand lobbyists on payroll, Facebook, who has hundreds of lobbyists, and other tech companies, started to build a coalition together to try to get Washington, D.C. to ban TikTok and do more than ban TikTok, by the way.
00:02:36.000 It wasn't just about banning TikTok.
00:02:39.000 We'll get into that in a second.
00:02:40.000 But all of a sudden, you started to see Democrats and Republicans agree on something that should just make you take pause.
00:02:46.000 Wait a second.
00:02:46.000 Bipartisanship is not exactly something I trust.
00:02:50.000 That means that you have a lot of people that are going to get very powerful very quickly.
00:02:55.000 Red flag, if you will.
00:02:56.000 And the biggest winner, by the way, of a TikTok ban would be YouTube owned by Google.
00:03:00.000 And we called this nine or 12 months ago.
00:03:02.000 No one really took us seriously because we're on these platforms so often.
00:03:05.000 But YouTube about a year ago launched YouTube Shorts a little bit actually before that, but they've really been ramping it up.
00:03:10.000 And so YouTube would be a major market winner if they are able to ban TikTok because they already have a TikTok lookalike competitor.
00:03:18.000 So does Facebook on Instagram, something called Instagram Reels.
00:03:22.000 So it's in their own business interest to get this done.
00:03:24.000 So that's why Washington, D.C. just sprang into action, not because of any concern about the CCP or any problem with TikTok or any concern that TikTok is spreading this trans social contagion.
00:03:36.000 So TikTok is awful.
00:03:38.000 It's very clear.
00:03:39.000 Something that every grassroots American patriot should be able to agree on.
00:03:43.000 So we have something that is awful.
00:03:45.000 We have something that has many holes in it.
00:03:48.000 A data privacy issue, from the content issue to the censorship of conservative voices.
00:03:55.000 So they seize that and they put it on display.
00:03:59.000 They put this individual who actually is from Singapore representing the Chinese Communist Party, who I think very clumsily navigated the congressional oversight hearing, didn't really answer questions, was very sloppy, was very unpersuasive about who hosts the data and didn't answer questions directly.
00:04:20.000 And so then at that moment, it looked as if finally there was going to be a bipartisan breakthrough to do something significant and something good, something real, which is, hey, let's get TikTok out of our country.
00:04:34.000 And then last week, we kind of took pause and you, the audience, to your great credit, heard me out.
00:04:40.000 Now, some of you thought I was nuts after we listened to Senator Hawley, but a fair amount of you listened to my concern.
00:04:49.000 And in a kind of unscripted way, I just started to say, look, I haven't read the bill, but I know these people that if they're trying to tell you all of a sudden that they want the power to ban social media companies, they're just going to use it to ban social media companies they don't like even beyond TikTok.
00:05:04.000 And we were totally speculating, by the way.
00:05:06.000 This is before we actually had the opportunity to read the bill that would do this thing.
00:05:12.000 In fact, let's just play a piece of tape from our program last week.
00:05:17.000 This was completely just kind of off the cuff, just kind of going on our instinct, saying, wait a second, yes, TikTok awful.
00:05:26.000 However, are we going to act in the same pattern and behavior that we did post 9-11 with the Patriot Act?
00:05:32.000 PlayCut 88, please.
00:05:34.000 It's interesting because I definitely sympathize with this idea of CCP awful, evil, modern day Nazis, digital fentanyl.
00:05:45.000 But I'm a little bit hesitant in one regard because giving the government a lot of power post 9-11, because we were very concerned about radical Islamic fundamentalists, understandably concerned, ended up creating an infrastructure that then could be used against conservatives.
00:06:04.000 And I think we've learned our lesson.
00:06:06.000 I hope we've learned our lesson that sometimes a bipartisan prudent action against a foreign actor can set a precedent to then be used against a conservative company.
00:06:20.000 Are we opening up a potential opportunity for Democrats and the regime to say we can now ban free speech companies?
00:06:29.000 And that was before we ever read the piece of legislation.
00:06:32.000 Well, now there is a piece of legislation that confirms our concern.
00:06:37.000 Our concern is that Washington, D.C. was going to consolidate power in both political parties and trigger a move to be able to use the hatred and the concern of TikTok to establish a new censorship regime.
00:06:56.000 It's exactly what is occurring here.
00:06:58.000 And we have to continue to repeat ourselves.
00:07:00.000 This is not a defense of TikTok.
00:07:01.000 What this is, it's a reminder that after 9-11, we passed the Patriot Act, which has been a disaster.
00:07:11.000 The Patriot Act and elements of the Patriot Act were used against President Trump.
00:07:15.000 They've been used against moms and dads at school board meetings.
00:07:18.000 So you have these great intentions and you give the fourth branch of government all of this power.
00:07:25.000 And then they're never given congressional oversight.
00:07:28.000 And then in the years that follow, you have a new precedent that is set that gives the fourth branch of government, and in this case, the Secretary of Commerce, basically jury, judge, and execution ability to be able to restrict speech online.
00:07:44.000 This restrict act is horrifying.
00:07:47.000 And they're doing it all because people have a concern about TikTok.
00:07:52.000 They take advantage of our concern.
00:07:56.000 They take advantage of our opinion against TikTok.
00:08:04.000 They seize that thinking that we're not actually going to read the bill.
00:08:08.000 In fact, we're going to show you in a second.
00:08:10.000 The very people sponsoring the bill don't even know what's in the bill, very similar to Nancy Pelosi's healthcare bill.
00:08:16.000 They don't even know what it covers.
00:08:18.000 And when you actually dive into this piece of legislation called the Restrict Act, it would be, if put into law, one of the great attacks on speech in American history.
00:08:32.000 Period.
00:08:32.000 There is no other way to put it.
00:08:35.000 The Restrict Act gives sweeping powers to the Secretary of Commerce.
00:08:39.000 So let's just take a pause.
00:08:40.000 How many of you even know who the Secretary of Commerce is?
00:08:43.000 Did the Secretary of Commerce run for office?
00:08:46.000 Did they have to collect signatures to get on the ballot?
00:08:48.000 Do we know who this person is?
00:08:50.000 Yes, you can find out who this person is, and it's Senate confirmed.
00:08:53.000 Is it a good idea?
00:08:54.000 Is it within a constitutional framework to say that the Secretary of Commerce should be able to have this power?
00:09:00.000 Now, yes, we know who the Secretary of Commerce is, Gina Raimondo, but it's not exactly a household name.
00:09:06.000 So you should just give this unelected bureaucrat unlimited amounts of power to be able to say, you know what?
00:09:12.000 I don't like Rumble because they were founded in Canada.
00:09:18.000 Let's investigate them and use the Restrict Act to be able to prevent conservative speech from being spread online.
00:09:24.000 I don't like Real America's voice because I heard a rumor that they have foreign influence, even though they don't.
00:09:32.000 I don't like Salem Radio Network.
00:09:35.000 What the Restrict Act will do will pale in comparison.
00:09:40.000 And we'll make the Patriot Act pale in comparison.
00:09:42.000 This right here will give the fourth branch, the regime, the deep state, unprecedented ability to shut off all of our digital dissident distribution networks.
00:09:56.000 And that is exactly why all of a sudden the bipartisan regime is pushing this piece of legislation through.
00:10:02.000 I'm just getting started on this, but we got to wake up, everybody.
00:10:05.000 There is a move afoot to give power in an unprecedented fashion to censor our voice.
00:10:15.000 Hey, everybody, this is Charlie Kirk.
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00:11:17.000 So Congress is finally able to agree on something.
00:11:20.000 I get this question all the time from people that really don't understand the conflict that we're in.
00:11:24.000 Charlie, why can't we get along more?
00:11:27.000 Well, we can't get along.
00:11:28.000 We're not getting along because the other side is evil.
00:11:30.000 That's one of the main reasons.
00:11:31.000 But when we do get along, really bad things actually usually end up happening.
00:11:36.000 Like we can all agree on Ukraine.
00:11:39.000 It's a disaster.
00:11:41.000 Or we all can agree on restricting speech.
00:11:44.000 So this bill is literally called the Restrict Act.
00:11:47.000 And it is so vaguely written that it can be basically used to shut down any social media app that you don't like.
00:11:57.000 So, for example, Telegram.
00:11:59.000 Telegram is a communication application.
00:12:02.000 A lot of people get news and information from Telegram as well.
00:12:05.000 The government doesn't like Telegram because they can't control it.
00:12:09.000 The regime hates Telegram.
00:12:10.000 Telegram was founded by two Russians.
00:12:13.000 So you could imagine that the Commerce Secretary banning Telegram because they say, look, it's founded by Russians.
00:12:21.000 The Restrict Act would have total ability and freedom, not freedom, the capacity, capability for the government to be able to stamp them out.
00:12:33.000 But if you look even further ahead, there's basically zero limitations on who the Secretary of Commerce could declare a foreign adversary or what they could do and what they can end up banning it.
00:12:45.000 Now, you might say, well, Charlie, this bill has no chance of passing.
00:12:49.000 You are, no, no.
00:12:50.000 This is being pushed by Republicans and Democrats.
00:12:53.000 Jon Thune from South Dakota is one of the big chief sponsors of this.
00:12:58.000 There are more than 20 co-sponsors of this bill.
00:13:01.000 This thing looks like it's going to pass.
00:13:03.000 Democrats, of course, want to shut us up.
00:13:05.000 Why are Republicans so enthusiastic about shutting us up?
00:13:08.000 Well, they say, well, it's about stopping the Chinese Communist Party.
00:13:11.000 That is a fake camouflage veneer.
00:13:13.000 That is not what this is about.
00:13:16.000 And there is no program.
00:13:18.000 Bannon and our program are two of the most outspoken anti-CCP programs.
00:13:24.000 But now this bill has huge bipartisan support, including your Republicans that you elect, like John Thune, who just seem excited to be able to give the Secretary of Commerce complete ability to go ban Rumble and Twitter and Telegram at a snap of a finger.
00:13:42.000 If they just say, oh, we heard a rumor that there is foreign interference, they would never go after Facebook or Google and Facebook or Google.
00:13:48.000 They would love this piece of legislation because all Facebook and Google have to do then is whisper in the ear of a lawmaker that they have or whisper into the Secretary of Commerce and say, hey, go ban our enemies because they might be foreign. 0.99
00:14:01.000 And again, let's repeat it: TikTok is garbage. 0.99
00:14:05.000 But you know what's even more dangerous than garbage? 0.99
00:14:08.000 Having our own federal government be able to destroy every single social media application that we are currently able to get the truth out. 0.63
00:14:16.000 If it wasn't for Rumble, we would not be able to get the truth out on the vaccine.
00:14:20.000 If it wasn't for Salem, if it wasn't for now Twitter, if it wasn't for Telegram, what would the landscape look like?
00:14:25.000 And that is exactly why the Uniparty is licking their chops.
00:14:29.000 And so speaking of co-sponsors, one of the co-sponsors of this bill, one of the people that support this bill is Lady Graham.
00:14:38.000 Lady Graham, who endorsed Donald Trump, he's a big co-sponsor of the bill.
00:14:43.000 And this goes to show exactly how Washington, D.C. operates.
00:14:47.000 He was confronted about it on Jesse Waters' program.
00:14:50.000 God bless Jesse Waters.
00:14:52.000 This show is amazing, by the way.
00:14:53.000 He's doing a great job.
00:14:55.000 And Lady Graham doesn't even know that he sponsored the bill.
00:14:59.000 He doesn't even know it's in the bill.
00:15:00.000 So it's obvious what happened.
00:15:02.000 One of his pals called him up, said, Hey, lady, we need to put your bill, your name on the bill.
00:15:08.000 Just don't worry. 0.68
00:15:09.000 It's against the CCP.
00:15:10.000 And he probably asked, well, does that mean we can invade him?
00:15:13.000 Probably.
00:15:13.000 Yeah, that means that we could probably do a ground invasion soon.
00:15:16.000 Great.
00:15:16.000 I'm on board.
00:15:17.000 Put my name on the bill.
00:15:19.000 Whatever gets us closer to an amphibious ground invasion of mainland China, I will enthusiastically sign up for that. 1.00
00:15:26.000 So Lady Graham just kind of said, Sure, sure, John Thune, put my name on the bill.
00:15:30.000 Didn't even read it.
00:15:32.000 Play cut 79.
00:15:33.000 Yeah, I don't think I support the Restrict Act.
00:15:37.000 You don't support this? 0.99
00:15:38.000 Because you were named as one of the supporters because this is garbage. 0.99
00:15:42.000 You don't want the government looking into your private phone. 1.00
00:15:45.000 No, I don't.
00:15:46.000 If they have a hunch you're colluding with the Russians, we remember how that turned out.
00:15:50.000 Congress.gov, you're listed as one of the co-sponsors of this thing.
00:15:53.000 Maybe it's like Fetterman when your chief of staff does all your work for you.
00:15:58.000 So let me get back with you, but let me just.
00:16:00.000 Get back with me because you co-sponsored it two days ago.
00:16:02.000 Okay, all right.
00:16:03.000 Yep.
00:16:03.000 See, makes me look bad.
00:16:04.000 I don't know a better explanation.
00:16:06.000 All right.
00:16:06.000 My bad.
00:16:07.000 My bad.
00:16:11.000 Those are your leaders.
00:16:12.000 Those are the people that are about to put a piece of legislation into law that very well could give unprecedented tyrannical authority to the Secretary of Commerce to basically ban Telegram, Rumble, Real America's Voice, Salem at a moment's notice.
00:16:29.000 He doesn't even know what the bill consists of.
00:16:31.000 Oh, I don't, I don't support that.
00:16:33.000 Are you kidding me?
00:16:34.000 You're a sponsor.
00:16:35.000 We're just getting started on this.
00:16:37.000 The Restrict Act must be stopped by patriots. 0.98
00:16:42.000 Hey, everybody, Charlie Kirk here.
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00:17:40.000 Check it out.
00:17:43.000 So unlike Lady G, we actually have the bill here, the Restrict Act.
00:17:49.000 You guys can all check it out as a citizen.
00:17:52.000 S686 for the 118th Congress, Restrict Act.
00:17:57.000 The first sentence to authorize the Secretary of Commerce to review and prohibit certain transactions between persons in the United States and foreign adversaries for other purposes.
00:18:09.000 Now, mind you, they could pass a very clear and simple piece of legislation targeted at TikTok, but you're trying to tell me the regime is going to pass up this opportunity to create a new Patriot Act?
00:18:19.000 Of course not.
00:18:21.000 This is not about TikTok.
00:18:22.000 This is not about TikTok.
00:18:24.000 This is about being able to usher in a brand new censorship regime.
00:18:31.000 So who's behind this exactly? 0.89
00:18:34.000 Lindsey Graham has his name on the bill as a co-sponsor.
00:18:39.000 John Thun, Republican from South Dakota.
00:18:44.000 Fisher from Nebraska.
00:18:46.000 Joe Manchin, waste of time.
00:18:48.000 Jerry Moran from Kansas.
00:18:51.000 Sullivan from Alaska.
00:18:53.000 Susan Collins from Maine.
00:18:55.000 Of course, Mitt Romney.
00:18:57.000 Shelly Moore Capito from West Virginia introduced the bill.
00:19:01.000 Have they actually read the bill?
00:19:04.000 Or is this just read by, you know, is this composed and basically put together by lobbyists?
00:19:09.000 And if you know how legislation works, you know that K-Street lawyers, the DHS lawfare types, working for the Alliance of U.S. Tech and Deep State Interests probably wrote this Restrict Act.
00:19:20.000 This is written by Google and written by Facebook and written by congressional staffers.
00:19:24.000 And on this program, we're going to do the rare thing.
00:19:26.000 We're actually going to read the bill to you.
00:19:29.000 And Congress thinks they can just sneak this by because they say, oh, you know, people don't like TikTok.
00:19:33.000 Yeah, that's true, but I like Liberty a lot more than I hate TikTok.
00:19:37.000 Okay, so here's the piece of legislation.
00:19:39.000 Let's just talk, let's read it straight from there.
00:19:42.000 Section six, designation of foreign adversaries.
00:19:44.000 Listen to how broad this is written.
00:19:47.000 The secretary may, in consultation with the director of national intelligence, designate any foreign government or regime as a foreign adversary.
00:19:55.000 If the secretary finds that the foreign government or regime is engaged in a long-term pattern of serious instances of conduct significantly adverse to the national security of the United States or security or safety of U.S. persons.
00:20:10.000 So hold on, let's just slow down.
00:20:12.000 Let's pause.
00:20:13.000 They could get rid of Telegram tomorrow.
00:20:17.000 If they just say, oh, you know, Telegram was funded by a bunch of Russians, they could get rid of Twitter.
00:20:22.000 Why?
00:20:22.000 Saudi Arabia is an investor in Twitter.
00:20:26.000 And they could say, well, because of Jamal Khashoggi, the Commerce Secretary could now launch a cyber war.
00:20:33.000 Who owns Telegram?
00:20:34.000 Pavel Durov, founder and owner of the messaging app Telegram, billionaire, has been called the Mark Zuckerberg of Russia.
00:20:42.000 So Telegram, which has millions of active users, tends to be more on the right.
00:20:47.000 They could get rid of it instantaneously.
00:20:50.000 So Graham was asked about this on Jesse Waters' program, and Jesse confronts him.
00:20:55.000 I mean, the lawmaker, this is your job, right?
00:20:58.000 You're putting your name on the bill.
00:21:01.000 Play Cut 77.
00:21:03.000 The Banned TikTok Act, they call it the Restrict Act.
00:21:07.000 Cute.
00:21:08.000 Gives the government the power to, quote, review and prohibit certain transactions between persons in the United States and foreign adversaries.
00:21:16.000 So not only no more mail-ordered brides, that means the government has the power to, quote, enforce any mitigation measure to address any risk arising from any covered transaction by any person or with any respect to any property subject to the jurisdiction of the United States that the secretary determines.
00:21:38.000 Translation.
00:21:39.000 The federal government wants to watch anything you do on the internet.
00:21:43.000 Not just watch everything you do on the internet, but be able to use the power of the federal government to shut up any business, any company that might be remotely connected there.
00:21:55.000 And so basically their argument, if you go read this, John Thune from South Dakota, by the way, we have a lot of patriots in South Dakota.
00:22:01.000 Why do you put up with this guy?
00:22:03.000 I really don't understand it.
00:22:04.000 It's beyond me.
00:22:05.000 Well, actually, I do understand it because Senate races are really hard to win.
00:22:08.000 You raise a bunch of money and you pretend you're conservative and all that.
00:22:11.000 Anyway, that's, I mean that more rhetorically.
00:22:15.000 Why don't you do something about it is what I mean.
00:22:17.000 But anyway, so when challenged, these senators say, no, no, no, don't worry.
00:22:22.000 You just got to trust us.
00:22:23.000 It's actually what they say.
00:22:25.000 They say, this won't be abused.
00:22:27.000 They say, look, that they put out a statement where they said, no, this is not going to be used against ordinary Americans.
00:22:34.000 That's literally their argument.
00:22:36.000 Senator Mark Warner and John Thune are just saying, guys, you're overreacting.
00:22:40.000 I mean, you're a bunch of conspiracy people, paranoid.
00:22:43.000 I mean, come on.
00:22:44.000 Just give up the power and just whatever.
00:22:48.000 By the way, all of this ties into hearings being held currently by the House Weaponization of Government Subcommittee.
00:22:54.000 And we're learning more and more how the government created these informal agreements with Twitter and the rest of big tech to censor Americans.
00:23:01.000 The regime in Washington, D.C., views the American people as a population to be monitored and controlled.
00:23:07.000 This is a psyop that we're seeing happen right now.
00:23:10.000 The first step is to put on display how clumsy, how awful, how just corrupt, how terrible TikTok is.
00:23:20.000 So you put that on public display.
00:23:21.000 That's step one.
00:23:22.000 And everybody jumps on it.
00:23:24.000 And by the way, we're all for that.
00:23:25.000 I mean, that guy that testified was a disaster.
00:23:28.000 Then step two is to seize on that consensus, seize the moment with a piece of legislation that nobody actually reads that could change the First Amendment as we know it.
00:23:39.000 This is exactly how COVID happened.
00:23:41.000 This is like how Ukraine happened.
00:23:43.000 This is how the Patriot Act happened.
00:23:45.000 You have an emergency, you have a crisis, you have something, and all the cockroaches come out and they use the template, they use the blueprint to be able to restrict our freedom, restrict our liberty.
00:23:56.000 So, in the bill here, it says: here's just a couple examples: companies connected with the Russian Federation.
00:24:03.000 Now, again, Telegram is not connected to the Russian Federation, but the owner happens to be Russian.
00:24:09.000 So, Telegram could go away.
00:24:12.000 And by the way, it says, including, but not limited to the People's Republic of China, the Republic of Cuba, Venezuela.
00:24:23.000 And here's what it says: What is the definition?
00:24:27.000 If you have an equity interest in the company, if you have an equity interest in the company, including a foreign national connected to.
00:24:40.000 So, for example, if a dissident who has a Chinese passport, who might have formerly been part of the CCP, invests in a company, for example, Getter, this is all public information, they could ban Getter.
00:24:54.000 They could say that we're going to get rid of Getter because the investor in Getter is a Chinese Communist Party dissident, multi-billionaire guy.
00:25:03.000 So, let's just get rid of Getter.
00:25:04.000 They could use this right here, right here, could get rid of Getter.
00:25:07.000 It's all right there.
00:25:09.000 And yet, Republicans are the ones co-sponsoring this.
00:25:12.000 And you got to wonder, what's really going on here?
00:25:16.000 And the answer is so clear: establishment Uniparty Republicans like Lady Graham and the Turtle and many of these other people, their life would be easier without the Salem Radio Network, without Real America's Voice, without Rumble, without a robust open Twitter, and without Getter.
00:25:31.000 They would love this.
00:25:32.000 Their life would be easier.
00:25:34.000 The amount of nonsense that is challenged thanks to these platforms currently is significant.
00:25:40.000 And the bottom line, we keep on repeating this, is that the Restrict Act is a ruse to restrict our freedom.
00:25:47.000 And if this was just being passed by Democrats, like, okay, that's bad.
00:25:50.000 It is Republicans that are trying to get this through in both the House and the Senate.
00:25:55.000 I cannot emphasize enough how great of a threat this is.
00:26:01.000 And you could just see the Uniparty stooges on Wall Street. 0.88
00:26:04.000 They say something like, look, they lick their chops.
00:26:07.000 These people are on K-Street, not Wall Street.
00:26:09.000 K-Street is where all the lobbyists are in Washington, D.C.
00:26:12.000 They just lick their chops and they say, boy, what a great opportunity!
00:26:16.000 Great opportunity because people don't like TikTok. 1.00
00:26:19.000 TikTok is awful and it's garbage. 0.94
00:26:22.000 Let's make sure the bill allows us to crush conservatives and make our clients, Google and Facebook, richer and more powerful. 0.99
00:26:30.000 They're playing all of us.
00:26:34.000 They are playing us like a fiddle.
00:26:35.000 But I think we're starting to wake up to it.
00:26:37.000 Our instincts, our worst fears, last week that some of you said, oh, come on, Charlie, that's nonsense.
00:26:43.000 They're just going to ban TikTok.
00:26:44.000 Stop being paranoid.
00:26:46.000 They always overreach.
00:26:48.000 As soon as we give them an inch, they take a mile.
00:26:51.000 That is exactly how they operate.
00:26:53.000 And to Senator Josh Hawley's great credit, who last week came on this program and said we need to ban TikTok, he's now speaking out against this bill.
00:27:00.000 Let's play Cut 91, Josh Hawley.
00:27:03.000 We should act decisively to ban TikTok directly.
00:27:07.000 We shouldn't give new open-ended authority to federal bureaucrats.
00:27:11.000 We should target this threat specifically.
00:27:14.000 That's what this bill does that we have before us today.
00:27:18.000 It goes right at the problem.
00:27:20.000 It bans TikTok in this country.
00:27:22.000 It protects the American people.
00:27:25.000 And it sends the message to Communist China that you cannot buy us. 0.69
00:27:30.000 So, what Senator Hawley is doing there is he's introducing a separate, more targeted piece of legislation and is opposing the spirit of the Restrict Act.
00:27:38.000 That's good.
00:27:39.000 That's exactly what is necessary.
00:27:41.000 But guess what?
00:27:41.000 The regime is probably not going to agree with Josh Hawley because it's not actually about TikTok.
00:27:46.000 It's a ruse.
00:27:47.000 It's an excuse to then be able to build this mass leviathan.
00:27:54.000 Why is it that Dan Sullivan and Mitt Romney and Deb Fisher and Jerry Moran and well, Susan Collins, you shouldn't have to ask Mitt Romney, Shelly Moore Capito?
00:28:08.000 Why is John Thune?
00:28:11.000 What are they thinking here?
00:28:13.000 If you live in any one of their states, you should ask him, have you read the bill?
00:28:17.000 I hate to be cynical, everybody, but basically where I'm at is there will not be a way for the quote-unquote ban TikTok without empowering these cockroaches.
00:28:27.000 Maybe I'm wrong.
00:28:29.000 Email me, freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:28:33.000 Okay, so who are the co-sponsors of this bill, of this Restrict Act that we've actually read?
00:28:39.000 I'm not going to read the Democrats.
00:28:41.000 They're a waste of rations, as you well know. 0.90
00:28:42.000 I mean, they're just a waste of time.
00:28:46.000 John Thune, co-sponsored early March.
00:28:50.000 Deb Fisher, Republican from Nebraska.
00:28:54.000 Jerry Moran from Kansas.
00:28:56.000 Dan Sullivan from Alaska.
00:28:58.000 Susan Collins from Maine.
00:29:00.000 Willard Mitt Romney from Utah.
00:29:02.000 Shelly Moore Capito from West Virginia.
00:29:05.000 Kevin Kramer from North Dakota.
00:29:07.000 I'm super curious.
00:29:08.000 And Kevin Kramer can come on the show anytime and make the argument, make the case for the Restrict Act.
00:29:17.000 By the way, any of these people have an open invitation.
00:29:19.000 Chuck Grassley from Iowa.
00:29:24.000 I almost guarantee he didn't read the bill.
00:29:25.000 Just a staffer put his name on it. 0.89
00:29:27.000 It's ridiculous how DC works.
00:29:29.000 Tom Tillis from North Carolina.
00:29:32.000 Of course, Lady Graham didn't even know he was a co-sponsor of the bill.
00:29:34.000 They put my name on it.
00:29:36.000 What?
00:29:37.000 Mike Crapo from Idaho wants to be able to destroy the conservative movement online.
00:29:44.000 John Boozman from Arkansas.
00:29:48.000 By the way, any of these people are welcome on our program anytime.
00:29:50.000 We'll give you an opportunity.
00:29:52.000 By the way, when actually confronted, Lady Graham said, I don't support it.
00:29:56.000 That's what's so amazing that when he was on Jesse Waters' program, he says, no, I don't support that.
00:30:03.000 Yes, you do.
00:30:04.000 You co-sponsored the bill on Monday.
00:30:07.000 You're one of the leaders.
00:30:09.000 And he said, oh, well, my bad.
00:30:11.000 I suppose I can give him points for humility, but is that really the case here?
00:30:16.000 Is that just kind of a cop-out?
00:30:18.000 I mean, this guy's a legislature, legislator.
00:30:22.000 He's in the Senate.
00:30:23.000 It's his job. 0.85
00:30:25.000 So, but look at how red these states are.
00:30:27.000 Arkansas, Boozman, Crapo, Idaho.
00:30:31.000 Obviously, Graham.
00:30:32.000 Tom Tillis, North Carolina.
00:30:34.000 Chuck Grassley, Iowa.
00:30:36.000 Kevin Kramer from North Dakota.
00:30:39.000 Shelly Moore Capito from West Virginia.
00:30:41.000 Mitt Romney.
00:30:42.000 Susan Collins from Maine.
00:30:44.000 Dan Sullivan from Alaska.
00:30:46.000 Jerry Moran from Kansas.
00:30:48.000 Deb Fisher from Nebraska.
00:30:50.000 And John Thune from South Dakota.
00:30:53.000 If these people pass it, every one of them should be primaried.
00:30:56.000 Every single person should be primaried if they vote for this bill, period.
00:30:58.000 They need to back away completely.
00:31:00.000 Every Republican on this need to say, you know what?
00:31:04.000 Look, we were moving too fast.
00:31:05.000 Our staffer put a name on it.
00:31:06.000 We thought it was something that it wasn't.
00:31:08.000 We're done.
00:31:08.000 We're sorry.
00:31:09.000 We're putting it to bed.
00:31:10.000 Fine.
00:31:10.000 Done.
00:31:10.000 Appreciate it.
00:31:11.000 Move on.
00:31:12.000 Let's go to the next topic. 0.99
00:31:13.000 Kill the bill. 1.00
00:31:15.000 Every single Republican right now, just like Lindsey Graham did. 1.00
00:31:18.000 Lindsey Graham basically killed the bill on Jesse Waters because it's indefensible.
00:31:22.000 It is indefensible.
00:31:24.000 This activity does not stand up to the scrutiny.
00:31:27.000 And even, you know, Lindsey Graham, if we had the longer clip, he says, well, I don't want the Chinese Communist Party to be able to get the date of my children.
00:31:33.000 Yeah, we got that.
00:31:34.000 Okay.
00:31:34.000 We agree.
00:31:36.000 We're actually, you, if all of a sudden you're really worried about that, there's a much more bold legislative agenda that you could be embracing than just destroying conservative speech online and giving the Secretary of Commerce war authority to be able to choose what social media platforms they want to exist and which ones they don't.
00:31:57.000 Someone says here, Charlie, Restrict Act is terrible. 1.00
00:31:59.000 Why are so many Republicans stupid? 1.00
00:32:01.000 I don't know if they're stupid or if they are being probed by lobbyists or if they actually have a sinister intent because they would love nothing more than to be able to have Department of Homeland Security, Department of National Intelligence, Department of Commerce be able to have a button to restrict the speech of people they don't like. 1.00
00:32:25.000 We have to find out what staffers wrote this bill. 1.00
00:32:28.000 They need to be fired.
00:32:29.000 This is not a joke.
00:32:30.000 This thing, if it was not for Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon's war room, Jesse Waters, and this program, I'm afraid this thing would have passed.
00:32:38.000 I'm afraid this thing just would have glided through and, you know, a couple objections here and there.
00:32:43.000 And just people say, okay.
00:32:45.000 And by the way, do you know there's more Republicans than Democrats supporting this bill?
00:32:49.000 There are 20 co-sponsors.
00:32:51.000 I think 11 or 12 are Republicans.
00:32:56.000 So look, let me close with this.
00:32:58.000 Good intentions are taken advantage of by bureaucrats.
00:33:06.000 The good intention of wanting to stop the CCP from administering digital fentanyl is currently being totally perverted by these bad actors.
00:33:17.000 I'm at a current place right now where I don't see a world where we can meaningfully ban TikTok without also empowering the Leviathan machine.
00:33:26.000 You give up liberty, be careful what you get in return.
00:33:31.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.
00:33:33.000 Email us your thoughts as always freedom at charliekirk.com.
00:33:36.000 Thanks so much for listening and God bless.
00:33:41.000 For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to CharlieKirk. com.