The Charlie Kirk Show - Trump Leads Biden in Battleground States with Rep. Eli Craine

00:00:00.000 Hey everybody, today in the Charlie Kirk show, there's a new poll that shows Donald Trump beating Joe Biden in the Battleground States.

00:00:05.000 Doesn't matter if we do not make the early state investments.

00:00:09.000 Then we are joined by Congressman Eli Crane for an eye-opening interview.

00:00:12.000 Very entertaining, very important interview with Eli Crane.

00:00:15.000 He's doing a great job from the great state of Arizona.

00:00:18.000 Email me your thoughts, freedom at charliekirk.com.

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00:00:33.000 Attend our turning point action conference at tpaction.com.

00:00:38.000 That is tpaction.com.

00:00:41.000 We have President Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Lauren Boebert, Josh Hawley, Dan Bongino, Megan Kelly, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump Jr., and more.

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00:00:53.000 tpaction.com.

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00:01:03.000 Buckle up, everybody.

00:01:04.000 Here we go.

00:01:05.000 Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

00:01:07.000 Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

00:01:09.000 I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.

00:01:13.000 Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

00:01:16.000 I want to thank Charlie.

00:01:17.000 He's an incredible guy.

00:01:18.000 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.

00:01:26.000 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.

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00:01:47.000 There is a poll that is going viral right now.

00:01:49.000 It's going viral for a good reason.

00:01:51.000 It is giving people hope.

00:01:52.000 It is giving people a reason to believe things can improve.

00:01:56.000 As we've said before, we are living under a regime occupation of a uniparty cartel that hates you, hates your values, that participates in the desecration of the White House. 0.95

00:02:08.000 Two massive trans flags, only one American flag, allowing the trans strippers to come on the White House lawn. 1.00

00:02:13.000 Our border is wide open. 0.92

00:02:15.000 10,000 people waltzing in every single day.

00:02:18.000 The economy is not what it should be.

00:02:21.000 We're sending hundreds of billions in dollars to subsidize the Zelensky government in Ukraine.

00:02:26.000 There's 110,000 drug overdoses every single year.

00:02:29.000 I could go on and on and on.

00:02:32.000 American people want their country back.

00:02:35.000 They want a nation that is revitalized and strong.

00:02:38.000 And a new poll shows that Donald Trump may have a lead over Joe Biden in various battleground states.

00:02:43.000 In fact, it shows that Donald Trump is increasing his lead.

00:02:48.000 And this poll is giving people hope.

00:02:50.000 And I just have to press pause here and say, wait a second, why are we looking at polls right now?

00:02:55.000 This is a major distraction.

00:02:57.000 It should give you a little bit of hope.

00:02:58.000 Okay, you know, in a tracking poll, Donald Trump against Joe Biden.

00:03:01.000 You know who doesn't care about polls?

00:03:03.000 The Democrat activist operatives.

00:03:06.000 Battlegrounds are all you need to win.

00:03:08.000 Three states, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia.

00:03:10.000 That is it.

00:03:12.000 This primary is becoming more and more of kind of a performative waste of time.

00:03:18.000 It might be interesting to hear from candidates.

00:03:20.000 I certainly think so, like Vivek Ramaswamy.

00:03:22.000 It's interesting to hear what certain candidates have to say about certain issues.

00:03:26.000 But I am here to tell you today that the investments are currently not being made in the three states that matter.

00:03:35.000 The polls are irrelevant.

00:03:39.000 The polls do not matter.

00:03:40.000 It shows, okay, Donald Trump up five points in the certain Battleground states.

00:03:45.000 Who cares?

00:03:47.000 Do we have a ballot chasing operation yet in place in Arizona, Georgia, Wisconsin?

00:03:51.000 We're trying our best at turning point action, but pales in comparison to the hundreds of millions of dollars that the Democrats are spending.

00:03:58.000 And the Democrats just seem so confident.

00:04:00.000 Why are the Democrats willing to run again with Joe Biden, who can barely form sentences, who is under massive corruption allegations, whose son is literally going to be a self-admitted, acknowledged felon?

00:04:15.000 Why are they confident to run Joe Biden again with no charisma, no spark?

00:04:19.000 What is it about Joe Biden?

00:04:21.000 Well, because it doesn't matter.

00:04:22.000 They could run John Fetterman.

00:04:24.000 They could run Jimmy Carter for the presidency.

00:04:27.000 They are so confident in their multi-billion dollar machine that they call democracy.

00:04:34.000 Their machine is what they call democracy.

00:04:36.000 And if you ever dare criticize their machine, they say it's a threat to democracy.

00:04:40.000 No, it's not.

00:04:40.000 It's a threat to the supremacy of the Democrat Party.

00:04:43.000 But what is this machine?

00:04:45.000 This machine is supported by Lorene Powell Jobs, now Alexander Soros, Reid Hoffman, and many others.

00:04:57.000 It is supported by hundreds of millions and billions of dollars to chase ballots and sue via Mark Elias, who I don't think is in the mix anymore, but his kind of philosophy.

00:05:06.000 All-out lawfair, 501c4s, and super PACs.

00:05:10.000 Now, while we as Republicans are about to now participate in a $1.5 billion primary, the Democrats are saying, sure, you guys go spend all that money.

00:05:22.000 You go waste all that money.

00:05:24.000 You go bring Donald Trump's favorables down a little bit.

00:05:26.000 You guys go muddy yourself up and tar and feather your leading candidate.

00:05:31.000 We are going to invest in the key states.

00:05:34.000 I am here to caution, and I've said this before on the program, and I'm going to continue to say this: the consultant class does not care about winning the White House in 2024.

00:05:45.000 Chris Christie running for the presidency has said, I will not vote for Donald Trump if he's the nominee.

00:05:50.000 Okay, so he's acknowledging it's not about beating the Marxist Democrats.

00:05:55.000 It's not about beating this monarchy that is reigning terror over the American people.

00:06:00.000 It's about a personality contest.

00:06:01.000 It's about ego.

00:06:02.000 It's about pride.

00:06:03.000 Instead of checking your ego and saying, you know what, I don't like Donald Trump.

00:06:06.000 I don't like his style, but he would be far better from a policy perspective.

00:06:11.000 It's not even close versus what we are living through.

00:06:15.000 And so, yes, these polls might give you a little bit of promise, but have we secured our elections in these states?

00:06:20.000 No, we have not.

00:06:21.000 Have we invested in election integrity in Wisconsin and Georgia and specifically Arizona?

00:06:26.000 Wisconsin's actually looking a little bit better from that perspective.

00:06:29.000 And I'm not here to be doom and gloom because we still have time to fix this.

00:06:33.000 And it is so easy to just get distracted by the horse race.

00:06:37.000 Trump and up and Trump be Biden.

00:06:40.000 And the Democrats, they know this.

00:06:42.000 They invest in the plumbing infrastructure, in the clipboard and tennis shoes type work.

00:06:47.000 Right now, the Democrat machine, not necessarily the Democrat Party, but the machinery.

00:06:52.000 They have hundreds of full-time staff members in Wisconsin, Arizona, and Georgia doing boring work.

00:07:01.000 And what do Republicans have?

00:07:03.000 Well, Ron DeSantis has now announced that he has $150 million in his super PAC.

00:07:09.000 It's just been announced, and he'll probably raise upwards of $300 to $400 million.

00:07:15.000 For what?

00:07:16.000 Now, some of you are very enthusiastic about Ron DeSantis.

00:07:20.000 Some of you are not very enthusiastic about Ron DeSantis.

00:07:23.000 Is that the best expenditure of our money right now?

00:07:27.000 Donald Trump is up 50 points against the closest competitor in several of the consequential primary states.

00:07:35.000 Wouldn't it be smart to spend those hundreds of millions of dollars right now in just the three states you need to win?

00:07:41.000 Forget Pennsylvania.

00:07:42.000 Forget Michigan for a second.

00:07:43.000 Forget Nevada.

00:07:44.000 It is Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia, period.

00:07:48.000 Trump will win Florida.

00:07:49.000 Trump will win North Carolina.

00:07:50.000 Trump will win Ohio.

00:07:51.000 Trump will win Iowa.

00:07:53.000 And I hear from people all the time, and this is one little, I will say, one helpful part of this poll that we shouldn't totally ignore, is that yes, he can win.

00:08:02.000 Conversation over.

00:08:03.000 This election will be decided.

00:08:05.000 And yes, I am proclaiming this.

00:08:07.000 Boy, how many months out are we?

00:08:09.000 Like 16 months out?

00:08:11.000 So simply.

00:08:12.000 It will be decided by 5,000 votes here, 5,000 votes there.

00:08:16.000 10,000 votes here, 10,000 votes there.

00:08:18.000 In the billions of dollars that are about to be spent in this primary for Tim Scott, for Chris Christie, for Ron DeSantis, for Mike Pence.

00:08:28.000 By the way, Mike Pence has a new advertisement out.

00:08:29.000 Can you get that, Ryan?

00:08:31.000 This unnecessary civil war, we need to keep on saying, time out, guys.

00:08:36.000 Time out.

00:08:39.000 What is the ultimate objective here?

00:08:41.000 Is it about revenge and pettiness?

00:08:44.000 Is it about I hate Donald Trump because he said something mean to me?

00:08:47.000 I understand that Donald Trump is not everybody's fan favorite.

00:08:51.000 I don't care about your complaining.

00:08:53.000 I don't.

00:08:54.000 I care about who is going to fulfill the mandate to save the country.

00:08:58.000 And sometimes you have to check your ego, check your pride, and say, I love my grandkids enough that, yes, someone I don't like might be president, but he would be a good president.

00:09:08.000 Do you notice they don't attack him on his accomplishments? 0.98

00:09:10.000 Oh, you know, it's his indictments, which are nonsense and silly. 0.98

00:09:13.000 And that is another thing. 0.91

00:09:14.000 The fact that these polls are even close, despite all the indictments, again, goes to show that Trump can win.

00:09:24.000 And they know that.

00:09:25.000 The Democrats know that more than Republican consultants are willing to acknowledge it.

00:09:30.000 Hillary Clinton has come out and said this.

00:09:31.000 Liz Cheney has come out and said this.

00:09:33.000 Trump can win.

00:09:34.000 Trump can win.

00:09:35.000 Of course he can.

00:09:36.000 But I'm going to tell you right now, we are on pace to lose.

00:09:40.000 People don't like it when I say that because we are not building the infrastructure in the core early states.

00:09:46.000 We're doing our best at turning point action, but we don't have the RC type resources or money, but we're going to do our best to try to raise the capital to do a very simple thing, ballot chasing, in the three states that matter.

00:09:58.000 We've already committed $5 million in Wisconsin to help out Scott Pressler.

00:10:02.000 I'm going to figure out a way to raise that money, add that to the list of stuff we have to do.

00:10:06.000 But I don't want to lose anymore.

00:10:07.000 And guess what?

00:10:08.000 My motivation, my energy that I have right now as an activist, as a patriot that I know you have, is not shared by the Republican consultant class.

00:10:18.000 They're kind of like, meh, another four years of Biden.

00:10:22.000 At least it's not Trump.

00:10:23.000 I kid you not, that is an attitude that is widespread in the Republican consultant class.

00:10:31.000 Hey, everybody.

00:10:32.000 Look, if you're pro-life, listen carefully.

00:10:34.000 It's important to advocate for pro-life laws.

00:10:37.000 I'm all in favor of that.

00:10:38.000 Pro-life legislation, supporting pro-life candidates.

00:10:41.000 But you have to simultaneously do the other thing.

00:10:44.000 I believe you actually have an obligation, which is to support women in need and babies in need that are at risk of being aborted.

00:10:52.000 Look, when you introduce a girl to her baby by providing an ultrasound, you're giving her the truth at the most critical and important time in her life.

00:11:00.000 85% of the time when they actually see the baby, they choose life.

00:11:06.000 Now, mind you, pre-born provides resources.

00:11:09.000 They provide diapers, baby clothes.

00:11:12.000 And I encourage you, if you're pro-life, to pray about this.

00:11:15.000 Are you giving money to actually support the unborn if you are voting for pro-life?

00:11:18.000 Look, $140 gives five mothers a free ultrasound and saves babies.

00:11:22.000 $280 can save 10 babies, and just $28 a month can save a baby a month for less than a dollar a day.

00:11:27.000 I'm a donor to this organization, and you should be too.

00:11:30.000 A $15,000 gift will provide an ultrasound machine that will save lives for years to come.

00:11:34.000 Whether you want to save one baby or five or hundreds, this opportunity is just a phone call or click away.

00:11:41.000 I think the world of pre-born, I give money financially.

00:11:44.000 And every one of you that are pro-life, I believe you have a duty and an obligation to go to preborn.org slash Kirk and give as you can, give your best gift, or call 833-850-2229.

00:11:57.000 That is 833-850 baby.

00:11:59.000 Go to preborn.org slash Kirk.

00:12:02.000 That is preborn.org slash Kirk.

00:12:06.000 So I'm going to play an advertisement here.

00:12:08.000 It's a minute long by Mike Pence, who's running for the presidency.

00:12:11.000 And I'm going to ask the question, how does this advertisement make it more likely for us to defeat the Marxist monarchy?

00:12:20.000 Does it make it more likely or less likely?

00:12:22.000 Advertisements like this.

00:12:25.000 Instead of spending money on these TV ads and, okay, Mike Pence is great and Donald Trump is terrible, let's chase ballots now.

00:12:32.000 Because the most important thing for some of these people running for the presidency is not the restoration of America.

00:12:40.000 It's getting Trump.

00:12:42.000 It's personal politics.

00:12:43.000 It's revenge.

00:12:45.000 I hate to be that blunt, but isn't there a time to put your ego aside and your own ambitions aside and say, you know what?

00:12:55.000 Let's do this thing.

00:12:57.000 Three states, saddle up.

00:13:00.000 You know, somebody said, someone who didn't like Trump asked me the other day, a donor type, Charlie, what do we have to do to get rid of Trump?

00:13:08.000 I said, well, if he wins the presidency, he'll never run again.

00:13:11.000 They didn't like that answer.

00:13:13.000 This is Mike Pence's super PAC, new advertisement against Donald Trump.

00:13:18.000 Does this make it more likely for us to win the White House in 2024 to save the country?

00:13:22.000 Play cut 70.

00:13:24.000 A president begging him to ignore the Constitution. 0.99

00:13:28.000 A mob shouting for him to die.

00:13:33.000 And an anxious nation watching for one man to do what's right. 0.99

00:13:38.000 A weak man appeases a mob.

00:13:41.000 A man of courage.

00:13:43.000 And Carrick stands up to them.

00:13:45.000 That day, one man failed the test of leadership while another stood tall.

00:13:51.000 And since then, this so-called leader has continued to abandon our conservative principles.

00:13:58.000 Now, with a woke mob trying to take away our freedom, we need a president who won't flinch, who won't try to cut deals with our values.

00:14:07.000 A president with the courage and the faith to lead us through turbulent times and keep America the beacon of freedom for all mankind.

00:14:17.000 Mike Pence for president.

00:14:19.000 Committed to America PAC is responsible for the content of this advertising.

00:14:24.000 Does that make it more likely or less likely?

00:14:27.000 Who needs Democrats when you have advertisements cut like that?

00:14:30.000 That's Mike Pence's super PAC.

00:14:32.000 Does that make it closer towards victory?

00:14:35.000 And I get the email.

00:14:36.000 Some of you say, I hate Trump, he bloviates and all this.

00:14:39.000 Check your own heated opinions.

00:14:44.000 Put the love of the nation above your heated passions.

00:14:49.000 I'm not even telling you to stop having those heated passions.

00:14:53.000 You're welcome to debate me on that stuff anytime.

00:14:56.000 Prioritize the nation.

00:14:59.000 Okay, here's Mike Pence's from his campaign now, his official new advertisement against Trump.

00:15:04.000 While the Democrats are chasing ballots and hiring operatives in Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona, what are we doing?

00:15:12.000 We are having a bloody billion-dollar civil war.

00:15:16.000 Play cut 71.

00:15:18.000 America doesn't stand with thugs and dictators.

00:15:22.000 We confront them.

00:15:24.000 Or at least, we used to.

00:15:26.000 Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this war.

00:15:32.000 There can be no room in the leadership of the Republican Party for apologists for Putin.

00:15:38.000 There can only be room for champions of freedom.

00:15:44.000 Committed to America Pact is responsible for the content of this advertising.

00:15:49.000 I'm Mike Pence.

00:15:50.000 Elect me, and we'll invade Moscow in the first 24 hours. 0.63

00:15:54.000 I'm Mike Pence, and I will reinvade Afghanistan. 1.00

00:15:57.000 I'm Mike Pence, and there's not a country that I will not try to colonize.

00:16:01.000 You know that Mike Pence was campaigning in Ukraine.

00:16:04.000 Not a joke.

00:16:06.000 I asked Rich Barris yesterday, I didn't get an answer.

00:16:08.000 When is the Ukrainian primary exactly?

00:16:11.000 You know, swing voters in Kiev.

00:16:13.000 We should do a poll, by the way.

00:16:15.000 I am not joking.

00:16:16.000 I bet some lunatic for Reuters is going to do a poll of who they want to have as the Republican nominee.

00:16:23.000 Trump down 45 points in Kiev Battleground State poll. 0.63

00:16:28.000 Ukrainian voter.

00:16:30.000 I could see the story in the New York Times.

00:16:31.000 It won't be that blunt.

00:16:32.000 The New York Times story will be, Ukraine watches with angst as Trump gains steam in Republican primary. 0.99

00:16:40.000 So Mike Pence spending millions of dollars on that trash. 0.97

00:16:46.000 Who needs Democrats when you have this civil war that is just heating up, heating up, heating up? 0.98

00:16:51.000 And the Democrats, they don't, yeah, they have RFK, but they're going to try to keep them in a cage.

00:16:55.000 They're spending their money and their resources, not on invading Ukraine advertisements.

00:17:01.000 No, no, no, no.

00:17:02.000 They're spending their money on boring infrastructure, boring ballot chasing, boring lawfare.

00:17:11.000 And so therefore, unless we change it, if more advertisements like that and more money like that continues, we are going to fall short in November of 24.

00:17:20.000 I hope we change it.

00:17:23.000 Balance of Nature, changing the world one life at a time.

00:17:26.000 I try to take care of myself.

00:17:28.000 I try to eat right.

00:17:29.000 And I love fruits and vegetables.

00:17:31.000 I'd rather have them than anything else, but I know I don't get nearly enough.

00:17:35.000 So I thought, I'll try it for two months and no harm, no foul.

00:17:38.000 If it doesn't work after that, then let's try it.

00:17:40.000 And at least I know.

00:17:42.000 Within two weeks, I noticed a huge difference in my energy, sleeping better at night, and just energy.

00:17:48.000 I would get up in the morning and get up, not just sit around.

00:17:53.000 You guys have got to try this.

00:17:54.000 You have to try it.

00:17:55.000 You owe it to yourself to try it.

00:17:57.000 The wife and I both think it's done a lot of good.

00:17:59.000 We both think it's, you know, it's improved your overall day-to-day how you feel.

00:18:04.000 And we've turned everybody onto it.

00:18:07.000 Our kids are on it.

00:18:08.000 We've got brothers and sisters that are on it.

00:18:10.000 We've got some neighbors we've turned on to it.

00:18:13.000 So we're very pleased with the product and the results.

00:18:16.000 It's not like you're Superman, but you definitely know you're healthier.

00:18:20.000 You're going to lose weight.

00:18:21.000 And I've never heard that said in any of the commercials, but by golly, you do.

00:18:25.000 I work in a school, so I'm around like a thousand kids a day constantly.

00:18:29.000 And so I wash my hands and use alcohol on them probably 100 times a day or better.

00:18:35.000 And my hands are always cracking open and splitting.

00:18:38.000 And I did not have that this entire winter.

00:18:41.000 And I bet you anything, this is me.

00:18:43.000 I bet you anything it's balance of nature because it's the only thing I've done different.

00:18:46.000 Like the guy on your commercial says, I'm going to keep on taking it the rest of my life.

00:18:51.000 And I feel the same way.

00:18:52.000 It's going really good.

00:18:53.000 I mean, I feel better.

00:18:55.000 Got more energy and, you know, I can go through my day better.

00:18:59.000 Start your journey to better health with Balance of Nature.

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00:19:13.000 Go to balanceofnature.com or call 1-800-2468-751 and get this special offer by using discount code Charlie.

00:19:25.000 Joining us now is Congressman Eli Crane.

00:19:28.000 Eli, welcome.

00:19:28.000 Thanks for having me, Charlie.

00:19:30.000 So you've been a congressman for what, seven months now?

00:19:34.000 Seven months, yep.

00:19:35.000 How's that treating you?

00:19:37.000 You know, it's good, man.

00:19:40.000 It's frustrating, but I think expectation management is always so important no matter what you're going into.

00:19:46.000 And I did expect it to be frustrating.

00:19:49.000 I expected it to be extremely difficult to get things done.

00:19:52.000 And I expected to be disappointed a lot.

00:19:54.000 And so I try and keep that expectation management in place so that I can continue to slug it out and hopefully, you know, be a part of turning this aircraft carrier around.

00:20:04.000 Yeah, no, and then aircraft carriers tend to take a while to turn around, right?

00:20:08.000 Two degrees at a time.

00:20:09.000 That's right, man.

00:20:10.000 So you're doing a great job.

00:20:12.000 You're fighting the tough fights and you have a lot of courage.

00:20:15.000 On a day-to-day basis, having like a seven-month window here, were you more surprised by Democrats or Republicans in the halls of Congress as far as your expectations?

00:20:29.000 I think I'm more surprised.

00:20:31.000 And I don't think that really any of it surprises me because I did expect Democrats to have a totalitarian, socialistic bent to them.

00:20:42.000 And I also expected Republicans to be pretty weak.

00:20:45.000 And that's exactly what I've seen.

00:20:46.000 I can say that it's a lot harder to be in that room casting those votes and just watching, you know, it's Republicans frustrate me a lot more than Democrats.

00:20:56.000 What specifically?

00:20:57.000 Because I know what Democrats are trying to do.

00:21:00.000 They're trying to, you know, they're trying to destroy everything that's made this country great.

00:21:05.000 And that's clearly obvious.

00:21:07.000 But Republicans are supposed to be the ones that are holding the line and conserving and protecting that.

00:21:12.000 And we're not doing it.

00:21:14.000 Like, it's like we're in a fight.

00:21:15.000 We're in a dropdown, drag out fight where only one side is hitting.

00:21:19.000 That's a problem, Charlie.

00:21:21.000 So there are some good, obviously some good fighters, right?

00:21:23.000 Andy Biggs has been great and Ralph Norman.

00:21:26.000 And, you know, there's been a ton of fighters, but that's a minority of the Republican conference.

00:21:30.000 Absolutely.

00:21:30.000 So, but then help me understand or the audience understand the mentality.

00:21:35.000 Is it the Republicans?

00:21:36.000 They don't care.

00:21:36.000 Are they afraid?

00:21:37.000 Are they bought off?

00:21:38.000 Are there other interests involved?

00:21:40.000 Or is it just kind of a mixture of multiple?

00:21:42.000 I think it's multiple buckets.

00:21:43.000 I think it's very complex, just like human beings are.

00:21:46.000 I think there's a level of corruption.

00:21:48.000 I think there's individuals that get there because they're bought and paid for from the start.

00:21:55.000 I think that there are people that are scared because they know that they're not just going up against Democrats.

00:22:00.000 They're going up against the administrative state, the deep state, whatever it is, and intelligence agencies, all of it.

00:22:08.000 And I mean, the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Scott Perry, got a cell phone, you know, taken by the FBI.

00:22:13.000 Everybody knows that if you push back on the system hard enough, you're not going to get free shots on goal sooner or later.

00:22:22.000 You're going to have to deal with them and they're going to deal with you.

00:22:25.000 And so I don't think a lot of people have the courage to not only possibly tank their political career, but to possibly get in trouble by pushing too hard against the juggernaut.

00:22:37.000 So they would rather just stay in line, do what they're told.

00:22:40.000 Yeah, continue to push the status quo.

00:22:42.000 Absolutely.

00:22:43.000 And just kind of be performative in their opportunities.

00:22:46.000 But then you can come back because the American people, and this is frustrating too, Charlie, because the American people are checked out and complacent, they can come back to their district and they can be, oh, they can be the champion, man, when they talk to you at the town halls and the Lincoln Day dinners.

00:22:59.000 Oh, I'm doing this.

00:23:00.000 And they do show votes then.

00:23:02.000 Yeah, 100%.

00:23:03.000 And that's what, unfortunately, after this debt ceiling, you know.

00:23:06.000 Yeah, tell us about that.

00:23:08.000 It was so frustrating, Charlie, because, you know, you know that we cannot continue doing what we're doing.

00:23:14.000 And yet, when you look at that bill that Kevin McCarthy, Joe Biden came to that agreement together, you had more Democrats voting for it than Republicans.

00:23:24.000 And yet the Republicans will sit there and gaslight you and tell you what a great bill this was.

00:23:29.000 And, you know, it was hard.

00:23:31.000 I was sitting in a meeting with Kevin McCarthy and some of the other Freedom Caucus members.

00:23:36.000 And, you know, one of the things he said in that meeting, Charlie, was, oh, I couldn't believe when I came back, you guys were disappointed.

00:23:42.000 You know, and I was like, what?

00:23:44.000 You're disappointed.

00:23:45.000 You can't believe we're disappointed.

00:23:47.000 I mean, this is $4 trillion at the minimum.

00:23:50.000 And instead of the bill that we passed out of the house where we could have come back next year and gotten another bite at the apple and renegotiated.

00:23:57.000 That was a good bill.

00:23:58.000 Yeah.

00:23:59.000 Instead of doing that.

00:24:00.000 It wasn't great.

00:24:01.000 It was good.

00:24:01.000 Right.

00:24:02.000 Instead of doing that, we've got this, you know, this debt ceiling bill with no caps and all the good stuff that we had in our spending bill basically stripped out of it.

00:24:11.000 And it's just, it's tough to watch because you see, you see the consistent sellout and then you watch the gaslighting that goes on after it.

00:24:19.000 And it's just like, yeah, no wonder we're in such a bad spot.

00:24:22.000 Do you feel amongst just an ordinary Republican colleague a sense of urgency?

00:24:28.000 Not at all.

00:24:29.000 Not at all.

00:24:30.000 And it just like, you know, I've had conversations with, you know, friends and, you know, colleagues up there.

00:24:36.000 And, you know, it's like, hey, what's it going to take, man?

00:24:42.000 What line are they going to have to cross for you to like, for you to realize that we're in a war here and to start actually going to war with us?

00:24:49.000 Because they're, you know, at any given time, there's maybe 25, 30 people up there, I feel like, who are willing to wage war.

00:24:56.000 And actually, and it's funny when we do, Charlie, you'll, you'll notice, I know you've seen this a lot in your own career, but they'll start calling us legislative terrorists and all sorts.

00:25:05.000 Arsonists, all sorts of crazy stuff like that.

00:25:08.000 And it's all a part of the campaign to get you back in line and get you back on the team and get you back playing ball and pushing the status quo.

00:25:17.000 So are you in the House Freedom Caucus?

00:25:19.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:25:20.000 Are you at liberty to share anything about Marjorie Taylor Green and that whole thing?

00:25:24.000 You know, I don't want to put you on the spot here.

00:25:26.000 It's just, it's the news item of the day.

00:25:28.000 Yeah, you know, that whole situation is so frustrating to me.

00:25:33.000 It's so, it's so frustrating to me just because I know the force that Marjorie Taylor Greene is and that she can be.

00:25:42.000 But what I can tell your audience is there are things that she did, you know, multiple things that she did that kind of cross the line.

00:25:51.000 And, you know, there are there are basically contracts that we sign and agreements that we make, basically saying, this will be my conduct.

00:26:00.000 I will adhere to this, this, and this.

00:26:02.000 And did she want to stay?

00:26:04.000 I don't know.

00:26:06.000 I know that there were attempts.

00:26:08.000 I know there were attempts from the House Freedom Caucus leadership to reach out to Marjorie.

00:26:12.000 And I was told that that communication didn't come back the other way.

00:26:19.000 So the, and I didn't mean to put you on the spot there.

00:26:21.000 It's just our audience is asking, like, what's going on?

00:26:23.000 Because it's like one of the number one news stories out there right now.

00:26:25.000 But the House Freedom Caucus has standards and rules, right?

00:26:28.000 Not everyone is allowed in, right?

00:26:31.000 Because you have to vote in a certain way or there's all these procedures, if I'm not mistaken, right?

00:26:35.000 Well, yeah, I mean, obviously, you know, we, if we're going to have a group in a caucus, we want there to be a similar worldview and not just in, not just in voice and what you say.

00:26:46.000 But conduct as well.

00:26:47.000 And even when you put that voting card in and you actually, you know, vote, we want there to be some, you know, where it's not just performative, but it's actually functionally this individual is conservative and casting conservative votes.

00:26:47.000 But conduct.

00:27:00.000 And so, and anybody would want that.

00:27:02.000 Anybody in an organization would want that.

00:27:04.000 So you've been in here seven months.

00:27:06.000 What is something that can be done that is the biggest missing ingredient?

00:27:10.000 Is it constituent engagement?

00:27:12.000 Is it recruiting other candidates like yourself?

00:27:15.000 Like not pie in the sky stuff, right?

00:27:17.000 Because we could, you know, we could do the platitude stuff.

00:27:18.000 Okay, we need to balance budget all that.

00:27:20.000 What is something that is actionable that you say, boy, if this was happening, it'd make the mandate easier to fulfill?

00:27:26.000 Well, I think, and I love what you guys are doing here, Charlie.

00:27:30.000 Thank you.

00:27:31.000 Just the fact that you've gone into the lion's den.

00:27:33.000 And quite frankly, when I look at education, I think it's something that myself included, many Republicans abandoned a long time ago as if this is too far gone.

00:27:42.000 But you guys did something, are doing something that is extremely courage.

00:27:46.000 And one thing I can tell your audience is I used to get really pissed off at politicians, and I still do a little bit.

00:27:51.000 But now that I've seen it, I get more pissed off at constituents and the American people, the people that I love.

00:27:58.000 And here's why.

00:27:59.000 Hold on a second.

00:28:00.000 Listen to what I'm saying.

00:28:01.000 You guys can fire me every two years.

00:28:04.000 You guys can fire me in a year and a half if you don't like the job I'm doing.

00:28:07.000 Quit sending these people up.

00:28:09.000 Quit sending these people up to Washington, D.C. that are spineless.

00:28:13.000 Go look at their voting record.

00:28:14.000 Don't just listen to what they're saying.

00:28:16.000 Go look, do some research, do some homework, right?

00:28:19.000 Because I think we're in this spot, Charlie.

00:28:21.000 One, because we pushed God out of everything, which I think is, you know, I think that's the biggest reason we're in this spot.

00:28:27.000 But two, I think the American people have become complacent, checked out, and they're not paying attention.

00:28:33.000 And what happens is that they have these false choices that sometimes presented.

00:28:38.000 So I'll give you an example, right?

00:28:40.000 We get emails of people that are so fired up against Lindsey Graham.

00:28:43.000 Let's just take an example, right?

00:28:44.000 Which I think shouldn't be a senator.

00:28:47.000 But they say, because then they run these ads, though, but it's better than a Democrat, right?

00:28:51.000 It's better than a Democrat.

00:28:53.000 So what are you saying, Eli, is that we need a forceful agenda into primaries, into state central committee fights, the stuff before the general.

00:29:01.000 Because look, you're an Arizona second congressional.

00:29:03.000 You beat O'Halloran by seven points, right?

00:29:05.000 The real race for you was in the primary.

00:29:07.000 Yeah.

00:29:08.000 More or less, right?

00:29:08.000 Yeah.

00:29:09.000 Yeah, absolutely.

00:29:11.000 And that's what I am saying.

00:29:12.000 I think that the people need to get engaged.

00:29:14.000 And this is the number one attribute that I would look for if I were you and I was looking at candidates that are running in your primary.

00:29:22.000 Washington, D.C. doesn't have a problem with intelligence, Charlie.

00:29:26.000 Believe it or not, there's a lot of intelligent people up there.

00:29:29.000 It's moral courage that's needed.

00:29:31.000 And it's people that have a history and a lineage of, here's the key, doing the right thing, doing the right thing when they felt like it was going to cost them.

00:29:40.000 Because if you don't have that history, if you don't have that foundation, you're not going to find it up in Washington, D.C.

00:29:45.000 And the moment you get up there, Charlie, the machine, the apparatus tries to suck you in.

00:29:50.000 And if they can't suck you in, if they can't compromise you, influence you, they try and spit you out and destroy you.

00:29:56.000 And so you have to have that.

00:29:58.000 Look for people that have had it, done the right thing consistently when they felt like it was going to cost them.

00:30:04.000 And that really is a question of human.

00:30:06.000 I mean, how can you find enough people?

00:30:07.000 Because, I mean, you're going to have one out of, I mean, basically the composition, it's hard to find courageous people in anything you do.

00:30:14.000 Yeah.

00:30:15.000 I mean, and you served our country beautifully.

00:30:18.000 But gutless wonders is the norm.

00:30:21.000 No, it is.

00:30:22.000 And here's the thing with veterans, too.

00:30:24.000 I'm a veteran advocate, but veterans often have trouble up in Washington just because they think the Republican Party or the Democrat Party is their new chain of command.

00:30:24.000 I love veterans.

00:30:34.000 Well, I want to talk about that because I think I totally agree with you because I can't tell you how many veterans I've seen to go to D.C. that become neoliberals.

00:30:34.000 That's hard.

00:30:42.000 Yeah.

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00:31:22.000 I could go through other SEALs, and I don't want to name any names.

00:31:25.000 I mean, they're nice people, but they don't have the same spirit attitude you do.

00:31:28.000 You said it's because they are accustomed to following orders.

00:31:32.000 Explore that.

00:31:33.000 Yeah, you know, it was interesting, Charlie.

00:31:35.000 I, you know, during my primary race, I got the opportunity to go up and meet Mark Meadows.

00:31:40.000 And Mark was telling me, you know, he's like, Eli, you know, a lot of you veteran guys come up here and you really don't fight very hard.

00:31:48.000 And I was like, I know, Mark.

00:31:49.000 I'm, it's kind of, it's kind of embarrassing, man.

00:31:52.000 And thankfully, I got an opportunity to get in there and show, you know, that I wasn't like a lot of people.

00:31:59.000 But I think honestly, and it's not, it's not that they don't have courage.

00:32:02.000 Obviously, they have a ton of courage.

00:32:04.000 I think a lot of it has to do with you get so ingrained and indoctrinated into following a chain of command and a hierarchy.

00:32:12.000 Yeah, that you're just like, okay, the Republican Party, this is the chain of command.

00:32:15.000 I got to get on board.

00:32:16.000 I got to do what I.

00:32:17.000 And the thing is, Charlie, that's not your chain of command.

00:32:19.000 Your chain of command is your constituents.

00:32:21.000 It's your voter base.

00:32:22.000 It's the exact opposite.

00:32:23.000 Yeah.

00:32:23.000 And that's the way I see it.

00:32:25.000 So I think that, you know, if there was maybe a little bit of a mind shift, you know, I think maybe, you know, but I think that's the, I think that's a lot of the issue.

00:32:33.000 I also find, at least somewhat philosophically, some of the veterans they refuse to question anything with the defense budget, military spending, foreign wars, like there's no conversation at all.

00:32:47.000 Yeah.

00:32:48.000 And it's, it's disappointing to me, too, because, you know, it's just like when I look at what's going on, it's like there's, there's corruption everywhere in every institution up there.

00:32:58.000 And it's just like this sheep mentality, this, you know, it just, we're not going to save the country that way.

00:33:04.000 We're just not.

00:33:05.000 No.

00:33:05.000 And so, so, Eli, what we need is a new generation.

00:33:08.000 I mean, you're, you're a part of this and you're kind of unexpected.

00:33:11.000 I mean, again, I'm new to Arizona.

00:33:13.000 I grew up in Chicago.

00:33:14.000 And I, you know, when you were running, I asked somebody, oh, how is this guy?

00:33:16.000 They said, oh, he's going to win.

00:33:17.000 He'll beat O'Halloran, but he'll just kind of be your typical.

00:33:20.000 And you haven't been typical.

00:33:20.000 Yeah.

00:33:21.000 I mean, how is that response?

00:33:23.000 How did you get that?

00:33:24.000 You probably heard that before.

00:33:26.000 Oh, of course.

00:33:26.000 And I think it's warranted.

00:33:29.000 And I think that, you know, I think that voters out there and pundits and people that watch these elections, I think you should be very skeptical of every politician, every candidate, until they show you, you know, what they're made of.

00:33:42.000 And thankfully for me, Charlie, I got the opportunity right off the bat.

00:33:46.000 Right out of the gate.

00:33:46.000 When you were in the kind of like defector box, I was like, well, I didn't have that on my bingo card.

00:33:51.000 Yeah, no, you didn't.

00:33:52.000 You didn't, Charlie.

00:33:54.000 But, and you remember what I told you when you asked me what I was doing?

00:33:57.000 Yeah, I sent you a text and you said, I'm here listening to my voters.

00:34:00.000 That's exactly what I'm doing.

00:34:01.000 I was like, I've never, that's a strange response.

00:34:03.000 Well, that's exactly what I'm supposed to do, though, isn't it, Charlie?

00:34:06.000 Yes.

00:34:07.000 No, and I respect it.

00:34:08.000 And I look, I've never had a politician tell me.

00:34:10.000 I've heard it before, but no, it's not so much.

00:34:10.000 No, that's not true.

00:34:12.000 My voters for a year and a half told me, do not vote for Kevin McCarthy.

00:34:16.000 We don't want a continuation of the status quo.

00:34:18.000 And so I said, Roger, that's what we're doing.

00:34:21.000 If you go out to my office, Charlie, you look at the placard on the wall, it says Representative Eli Crane.

00:34:27.000 The root word in there is represent.

00:34:29.000 I am there to represent them.

00:34:30.000 And a matter of fact, Charlie, on that debt ceiling vote that we passed out of the house, which you just said was some good stuff in it.

00:34:38.000 I didn't want to vote for that.

00:34:40.000 But when we pulled my district, 79.6% of them that responded said they wanted me to take the deal.

00:34:46.000 And so, dude, I was the last guy to vote.

00:34:48.000 I was sweating bullets.

00:34:49.000 I had my instinct over here.

00:34:51.000 What, you know, a decent bill over here.

00:34:53.000 You're six out of 10.

00:34:54.000 And I was just like, I was the last guy to cast the vote.

00:34:54.000 Yeah.

00:34:57.000 The time had already run out.

00:34:58.000 And I was pretty much the swing vote because I wanted to represent my voters.

00:35:02.000 And whether I'm right or I was wrong, that's why.

00:35:05.000 Do you think like a normal Republican congressman, not you, if they got tons of pressure from their constituents, they would listen to that generally?

00:35:12.000 I don't, I don't think so.

00:35:14.000 That's my, that's my personal opinion.

00:35:16.000 I think that, you know, I don't think that's typically, you know, how most people, you know, play the game up there or how, you know, what they think.

00:35:24.000 I think I think they think that I'm here.

00:35:26.000 They put me here.

00:35:27.000 I'm just going to vote what I think.

00:35:29.000 But I want to take that part of what I think, my instinct, my gut, but I also want to merge that with what I'm hearing from my voters and then hopefully pray about it, ask God for wisdom.

00:35:39.000 And okay.

00:35:40.000 You're going to be fine in your race.

00:35:40.000 All right.

00:35:42.000 I mean, in a presidential year, you know, and now with your increased name ID, I think you'll win easily by 10 points.

00:35:47.000 Arizona's in play and you endorsed Donald Trump for the presidency.

00:35:49.000 Is that right?

00:35:50.000 Absolutely.

00:35:51.000 Absolutely.

00:35:52.000 The reason is because at a time like this, we're in so much trouble.

00:35:56.000 And I said, moral courage.

00:35:57.000 You need the biggest, baddest fighter possible.

00:36:00.000 There's nobody, there's nobody on that ticket.

00:36:02.000 There's not even many people in the country I don't think that can do what he does.

00:36:06.000 Keep fighting.

00:36:08.000 Thanks so much for listening, everybody.

00:36:10.000 Email us your thoughts as always, freedom at charliekirk.com.

00:36:14.000 Thank you so much for listening and God bless.

00:36:19.000 For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to CharlieKirk.com.

The Charlie Kirk Show - July 07, 2023

Trump Leads Biden in Battleground States with Rep. Eli Craine

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