The Megyn Kelly Show - Remembering Charlie Kirk Through His Memorable Appearances on The Megyn Kelly Show Through the Years

00:00:00.000 Hey everyone, I'm Megan Kelly. We were debating how to finish this week and we knew we wanted to do something on Charlie Kirk and it occurred to us he's been such a star on this show and for our listeners, this show may be the place you got to know and love Charlie.

00:00:18.720 Um, he's been on the show more than 15 times. Um, I've been on his show. We've done events together. As you know, in this month, he was scheduled to come on tour with me and I was scheduled to go to one of his college change my mind appearances with him.

00:00:36.960 Um, there's been a lot of talk about what he stands for, what he stood for, what he, what mattered to him, what kind of a person he was, what his messaging was. There's no better way of reminding ourselves than just hearing it directly from Charlie. So we cut some highlights from a few of his 15 plus appearances and we hope you enjoy listening to them and remember all that he was.

00:01:02.900 You are not even 30 years old. My God. Yeah. You started this when you were 18.

00:01:10.100 That's right. I feel as if I'm getting too old for this stuff though. I'll tell you a decade in politics. You, uh, you age considerably. I can't believe I'm not 30 either. Yeah. Started when I was 18. Um, in the suburbs of Chicago, I had plans to go to college and, uh, instead I took a gap year and it's been a gap decade and a year on top of about 11 years.

00:01:31.600 And it's been the most amazing journey, uh, just full of blessings and beyond my wildest imagination. So yeah, 29 years old, soon to be 30 and, um, but experienced a lot in the last decade. Very, very thankful. Very blessed.

00:01:44.780 You guys are every, everywhere. Turning points. USA. It's everywhere. You, you see like the Riley Gaines confrontation out in San Francisco. It's like there be a turning point. We had on, um, Ian Hayworth. I think it was for the confrontation at SUNY Albany, um, where he got shouted down turning points. It's like you've, you've had such an impact in ways.

00:02:04.660 Our audience probably doesn't even realize how much of the content in today's news has effectively been brought to them because of you guys making sure these voices are heard. And is it exclusively on college campuses, Charlie?

00:02:17.900 Well, it's, it's grown beyond that. Yeah. I mean, it's, it's been an amazing, uh, kind of thing to see the last couple of years. I mean, for example, we've, you know, a couple of years ago, we started with Candace Owens on campuses and now she's a huge force to be reckoned with.

00:02:31.500 And Brandon Tatum and Anna Paulina, who's now a member of Congress actually started with us. She got her start in kind of conservative world, uh, visiting college campuses. And now she's an incredibly dynamic Congresswoman of the youngest ever Hispanic Latina, um, to be elected. And yes, of course the Riley Gaines situation. And so you had all started with high school and college campuses, and now it's grown to churches and parents groups and homeschool associations and influencers.

00:02:59.040 And I mean, our big mission statement at turning point USA is pretty simple. Uh, we want to make sure that our grandkids live in America that we can recognize. Uh, we want our grandkids to love America. Um, we believe in a free society. We believe in the constitution rule of law, pretty standard stuff, stuff that shouldn't really be that controversial. I mean, I have personal views that sometimes can get people rather excited, but as an organization, our views are center, right.

00:03:24.820 It's about the American founding, the declaration, free markets, private property rights. And it's really kind of grown into this force beyond my, you know, wildest imaginations that have empowered hundreds of thousands of young people.

00:03:37.760 And certain people. And certain people. And certain people have you've mentioned such as Riley Gaines and Anna Paulina. And really the vision over the last couple of years has turned into this, this movement to try and recapture a generation that is increasingly going in a troubling and negative direction of anti-Americanism of anti-capitalism.

00:04:01.100 Uh, we call it woke ism. Uh, we call it woke ism. We can explore that, which really is just repurposed left-wing nonsense of the sixties and seventies and put through a different lens. And our vision is much more optimistic, much more positive, you know, talking about how you can live a flourishing and fulfilling life in this nation and go into these campuses, uh, has been illuminating, especially for the last couple of years.

00:04:24.320 I've personally spoken over 120 college campuses, uh, from all across the country, from Brown to Stanford. And you learn a lot about, uh, the issues and the challenges facing a generation when you do that. But, uh, Turning Point USA is now really the premier organization for all ages fighting for the ideas of freedom, liberty, and American exceptionalism.

00:04:44.260 Yeah, you guys, and you're in the belly of the beast because you're going where the indoctrination is at its peak. You know, these college campuses, that's, that's where they're getting them.

00:04:53.540 And a lot of these kids don't even realize there's an alternative. There are a lot of young people who don't feel this way. There's a conservative alternative point of view that's available to you. And I was thinking about you last week when that study came out showing that some huge amount of young liberals are depressed and, you know, in therapy and need help. And, and I was like, you know what? That's because that's what they're leaning into right now. That's what their messengers are telling them to lean into victimhood, upset, sadness.

00:05:22.640 And the conservative vision is so much more optimistic, hopeful, empowering. It didn't always used to be this way. You know, I had RFK Jr. on the show a few times now, but in his first long interview that we did back in March of 21, he was saying how grown up Kennedy, you know, the son of RFK, the grandfather, Joseph Kennedy, in that family was like, no whining in this house. Get out. Winers, get out. Right? Like that was a tough family that raised, you know, president.

00:05:50.640 That's right. You're not allowed to say that anymore.

00:05:52.760 But now it's like, this is sort of getting divided along party lines.

00:05:57.640 No, that's right. And to kind of piggyback on what you say on, on the depression, I mean, it makes sense in a certain extent. So you have an entire political movement that says your history sucks and it's awful. So you have nothing to be thankful for that came before you. Your actions really won't improve your life. Right?

00:06:12.500 So that if you try to lose weight or save money, none of it matters because meritocracy doesn't actually exist. And by the way, the world's going to end in 10 years because of climate change. Yeah. I mean, I'd be depressed too.

00:06:22.560 And to substitute for all that, just do as many substances as you want. Like there, no matter what you could do as much marijuana, as much psychedelic drugs and have as much free sex as possible. Do not restrain any of your impulses.

00:06:34.820 Well, just from the simplest reading of psychology, that's really dumb to tell a 19 year old to do, because then they all of a sudden ask the question of what is true? What is meaningful? Maybe I should, you know, engage self-control more than self-esteem. And so then, yes, you do create the most depressed, suicidal, alcohol addicted and drug addicted generation in history.

00:06:53.380 And there is a political component to it, which people don't always want to pinpoint, which is conservatives are just happier. And not every conservative is happy and not every liberal is mad or angry or depressed. But over time, people that tend to not argue with reality, people that tend to not wage war on the natural law, you're going to fit probably neater into the harmony of the cosmos than someone that is committed with evangelistic zeal and fervor that men can give birth.

00:07:23.380 Like that would drive me mad too, to try to make that work. You're never going to make that work. No matter how many pharmacological agents, no matter how many textbooks, no matter how much propaganda, you're going to end up in a state of madness. St. Augustine had a great quote where he said, if you argue with reality, welcome to hell. And a lot of young people are in hell and I feel for them. And so when we go to these campuses, Megan, the biggest problem that we have is we can't find rooms big enough to fit all the students that want to attend our speeches. And they don't all agree with what I have to say.

00:07:52.560 I mean, I have very strong opinions and they're considered to be triggering thought crimes. But what's amazing is, okay, a couple dozen will walk out because they're so triggered. But there's a lot of kids that stay there that might disagree. They think they disagree with what I'm saying. And they'll listen and they'll listen.

00:08:06.400 And very similar to Ben Shapiro, who deserves a lot of credit for being kind of a pioneer with this and same as Steven Crowder. We'll invite anybody who disagrees to the front of the line and they can say whatever they want to me. And we have question and answer for 40, 45 minutes.

00:08:19.860 And what is positive, what is heartwarming to me and what gives me encouragement is that over a period of time, just an hour and a half, we can make serious inroads to all of a sudden put forward a pro-reality, pro-American, rather moderate viewpoint, which is I'm not going to condemn you if we disagree.

00:08:42.140 I think disagreement is what makes life fun. I mean, you mentioned RFK Jr. He's a Democrat that I hope does very well because I agree with him on some things. I certainly disagree with him on others.

00:08:52.380 But he's interesting. He's provocative. He's willing to challenge the power structures. He's not just the same regime talking points repurposed by chat GPT to try to win over some sort of swing voter. He's an independent thinker. He's a free spirit.

00:09:08.060 And so I think that the conservative side has not just become the rebellious side, but it's honestly the more interesting side.

00:09:14.620 And I think you see that in the ascendance of independent media and the collapse of corporate media.

00:09:20.160 And that is the ethos we bring to our work every single day at Turning Point USA.

00:09:25.360 We had Charlie on the Friday after Donald Trump won in November 2024, and we spoke together about our enormous relief, but also about Charlie's role, his personal and professional role in truly helping Trump win. Watch.

00:09:42.140 Charlie. Charlie, congratulations.

00:09:45.580 Thank you. Well, as Kamala Harris would say, we did it, Joe, but we did it, Megan.

00:09:51.700 And your speech was awesome, by the way. Thank you for your support and how amazing that was.

00:09:58.880 I really believe that moved votes and not to mention just your podcast here.

00:10:03.520 I think it held the line with sane women in this country and gave them an understanding of the stakes and gave them an understanding of really what we are up against.

00:10:13.480 And so you deserve a lot of credit to Megan, because this was really a coalition.

00:10:18.040 There's so much to unpack from this election.

00:10:20.500 Part of it is also how alternative media was able to crush the major propagandist networks.

00:10:28.940 And you look at four years ago during COVID, all of our alternative media was largely censored.

00:10:33.900 But we won this time.

00:10:35.160 Podcasts and shows like this one, Joe Rogan, my show, the All In podcast.

00:10:40.960 The left couldn't keep up with it.

00:10:42.600 And President Trump, to his great credit, built a once-in-a-lifetime unity ticket, which I think the media completely underestimated, from Bobby Kennedy to Tulsi Gabbard.

00:10:54.920 And then finally, of course, it cannot be repeated enough.

00:10:58.560 God bless Elon Musk.

00:10:59.880 I mean, that guy put it all on the line.

00:11:02.240 I mean, it wasn't just like he wrote a check and hoped it would get better.

00:11:06.180 He lived in Pennsylvania the last 45 days of the election.

00:11:10.740 He personally would host town halls across the state of Pennsylvania.

00:11:16.000 He was giving away a million dollars a day to random citizens to help encourage citizen participation.

00:11:21.740 And so there's a lot of people that deserve credit.

00:11:24.280 We all kind of played a small role.

00:11:26.540 And that's why it feels so different than 2016.

00:11:29.600 2016 was just lightning in a bottle.

00:11:32.100 Took him by surprise.

00:11:33.220 It was a movement.

00:11:33.900 This was really 30 or 40 different people that went all in, that we just called the bluff of the Democrats, and we beat the most powerful thing ever to exist in the history of the world.

00:11:47.340 It's pretty awesome.

00:11:48.340 Praise God.

00:11:48.820 Oh, it's amazing.

00:11:49.900 And you are so generous and kind to be giving me any credit when you truly deserve actual credit for getting Donald Trump elected.

00:11:57.840 I mean, truly, you're one of a handful of five that really made the difference.

00:12:01.900 And we need look no further than the youth vote.

00:12:04.500 That wasn't the exclusive reign of your influence.

00:12:07.260 But, man, when have young people come out for the Republican?

00:12:14.500 I mean, like, never.

00:12:16.020 And especially in today's day and age where he's been totally demonized all over TikTok and the sources of information that they use.

00:12:24.420 But you reached billions.

00:12:27.460 I mean, obviously, there's not that many people voting in this election.

00:12:30.720 I mean, the number of views of your videos going out onto these college campuses, you know, challenging them, saying, go ahead.

00:12:38.860 Like, why are you voting for her?

00:12:40.320 Let's walk through it.

00:12:41.380 That would go viral every time.

00:12:42.940 We have to look at some of them because, like I said, it's just so fun right now.

00:12:47.580 Here's one woman who was very much determined to believe that Donald Trump is a racist.

00:12:52.700 And here's Charlie dismantling her.

00:12:54.820 Sought to.

00:12:55.900 You've got to give me a good reason, at least two, why you don't like Trump.

00:12:59.560 He's racist.

00:13:02.800 Yup, boomy. 0.95

00:13:05.320 Can you define what does it mean to be racist?

00:13:10.980 Do you want me to look up a definition?

00:13:13.060 No, no, I want you to.

00:13:13.880 You said he's a racist, so you must have a definition of racism in your mind.

00:13:18.420 Tell me what that definition is.

00:13:21.100 Okay, so.

00:13:22.840 I'm going to make you guys wait on this.

00:13:27.060 Oh, zero knowledge.

00:13:28.520 Guys, please don't heckle.

00:13:30.060 It's hatred towards another race, right? 0.99

00:13:33.080 So when has he ever exhibited that?

00:13:35.140 Give me clear and specific examples.

00:13:37.900 You got one?

00:13:38.420 Um, well, yeah, I heard someone say he told, uh, told.

00:13:50.800 Yes!

00:13:52.020 Okay, but let me just help you out here.

00:13:54.160 Uh-huh.

00:13:55.720 What, you think he's a racist because the media has told you he's a racist.

00:13:59.140 Because you can't give me an example off the top of your head, and even when you phone a friend of the audience.

00:14:03.980 I'm not criticizing you.

00:14:05.840 Maybe the media is lying to you.

00:14:07.560 Wow.

00:14:10.680 Truer words were never spoken.

00:14:12.040 How many exchanges do you think you had like that on college campuses, Charlie?

00:14:15.440 Oh, I mean, we had hundreds this semester.

00:14:18.200 That particular video, by the way, received over 60 million views on TikTok alone.

00:14:23.260 And that's just, and so we tallied it up.

00:14:25.960 It was, again, billions of views.

00:14:27.200 So that means that target young voters were watching our content six, seven, eight, nine, ten times.

00:14:33.300 And so, Megan, we do these tours.

00:14:34.940 I visited 25 college campuses this semester, which is the most I've ever done.

00:14:39.940 And over the summer, we said, how do we make a difference?

00:14:42.440 And we were doing these videos in the spring.

00:14:44.560 And I came up with the idea.

00:14:45.720 I said, man, I think the election is going to be as hot as a pistol.

00:14:48.660 I think there's going to be a lot of interest.

00:14:50.500 Why don't we do the most tours ever?

00:14:51.940 But instead of the traditional evening events, why don't we do these kind of dialogues and these exchanges?

00:14:57.600 To try to see if we can show the world the contrast of ideas and to see which ideas are better.

00:15:04.180 And to kind of create this digital movement of people that want to make up their mind.

00:15:11.900 And, Megan, it was way more successful than I could have ever imagined.

00:15:15.120 This is worth playing.

00:15:16.940 At the moment Trump announced, or that it was announced, that Trump won, sought three, and Charlie's reaction.

00:15:25.740 Let's go!

00:15:27.200 There it is.

00:15:32.580 Everybody should remember this moment.

00:15:34.640 Look, I'm going to echo Charlie from earlier.

00:15:37.200 Remember where you were when this happened.

00:15:39.860 Remember where you were when you realized that the Uniparty and all of these, you know, just the establishment, you said it's time to actually participate.

00:15:49.860 And look what you guys have done.

00:15:51.060 And if anyone deserves to get tears in his eyes, it's Charlie.

00:15:56.320 I think we all agree.

00:15:57.440 I think Erica was chopping some onions or something in the break room. 0.93

00:16:00.660 No one has worked harder than Charlie for this.

00:16:02.520 We got to hear some words here from you, Charlie.

00:16:05.320 You put all this together, my man.

00:16:06.700 Let's hear it.

00:16:07.280 I am just humbled by God.

00:16:10.440 It's all God.

00:16:12.440 It's all God.

00:16:13.180 Aw, that is emotional to watch.

00:16:18.000 I share your feeling, Charlie.

00:16:20.180 I felt it that night, too.

00:16:21.300 I just, I was humbled and blown away because I, throughout this entire thing, I'm getting emotional thinking about it.

00:16:31.300 And I'm sure you agree, Megan.

00:16:32.660 I said there's no way they're going to let us do this.

00:16:35.460 That something's going to happen, right?

00:16:37.280 And again, call it paranoia.

00:16:39.240 Call it just trying to be ahead of the curve.

00:16:42.680 And I'm sitting in the seat right here where I saw Trump got shot.

00:16:47.640 And, like, they tried to kill him and indict him.

00:16:51.320 And it's like at every turn, I'm like, here we go.

00:16:53.480 The regime is striking back, right?

00:16:55.760 And it's just, you don't think you're actually going to get there because we've been programmed to just say that, like, powerful people get what they want, right?

00:17:06.120 And it's, yeah, he was one millimeter from this whole country just going into bedlam.

00:17:11.920 And what if one of these trials would have went differently, right?

00:17:15.140 What if Jack Smith would have rushed his cases in the, I mean, like, a million different things, right?

00:17:21.160 And there you go and you hear the words that Donald Trump is president-elect.

00:17:25.760 I just, again, glory be to God is all I can say because I believe there's a divine element.

00:17:31.560 I asked the question, is God done with this land?

00:17:34.720 I don't think he is.

00:17:36.340 I think that the evil that it seems you've covered of this butchery of children is going to come to an end.

00:17:43.640 This evil of allowing men and female sports is going to come to an end. 1.00

00:17:47.400 And we were blessed to play a small role.

00:17:51.160 I, in that moment, I had two of those moments like you on election night where they called it for him and these boys from the high school were on the other side of the camera for me.

00:18:02.300 And even more than my own reaction was their reaction that really got me where they were all, they, some of them did what you did, like face into the hands.

00:18:11.900 Some of them did arms up.

00:18:14.500 You know, it was like, it was like this with the hands behind the head.

00:18:17.320 Like, they were so relieved.

00:18:20.040 They were, you could feel the palpable relief and just exaltation just that they, that they weren't going to have to go on in the way that they've been going.

00:18:29.780 And we, as you know, are at a non-woke school.

00:18:32.220 That is why we're there.

00:18:33.440 I mean, we left, we fled a woke school and found the right school for us. 0.99

00:18:37.080 So they're not getting it over the head, but they get it from society.

00:18:39.800 And even if you find a good school for your kids, they get it from society.

00:18:42.320 They get it from TV.

00:18:43.060 They get it from the movies they watch.

00:18:44.760 They now get it from sports.

00:18:45.840 You cannot avoid the negative messages that are coming down to especially young men, and they felt it acutely.

00:18:52.240 And the second moment, Charlie, was something you hit on in your answer, which was that night it hit that the DOJ was dropping its appeal in Mar-a-Lago case against Trump and dropping its J6 case against Trump because of their policy not to prosecute a sitting president.

00:19:09.440 And I was sitting on here with the National Review guys and with Maureen Callahan, all of whom I love.

00:19:12.820 And for me, you know, having done so much on the lawfare, I almost couldn't catch my breath.

00:19:17.960 It was like, I can't even talk.

00:19:19.180 I felt like you felt in that clip.

00:19:20.340 Like, I can't talk.

00:19:21.680 I need just a minute.

00:19:23.800 Like, who could put into perspective the Herculean task it was for Trump to just get through that, those four cases, not to mention the civil.

00:19:35.100 I mean, total and utter victory over very evil people.

00:19:42.720 And I just, I want to say, when I saw this firsthand, I hope your audience understands that every one of these charges, he had to have like a two-hour meeting with lawyers about details about it, right?

00:19:53.680 You know how it is, Megan, right?

00:19:55.140 The strain that it took on him physically and mentally, where lawyers would come in with binders of stuff, well, the government's accusing you of this, this, this.

00:20:04.640 And then after that, Megan, he has to go on a plane and go give three speeches in Iowa, right?

00:20:09.760 He's got to get on a plane and go give, you know, a town hall and a podcast.

00:20:13.260 And that, I think, was one of the reasons they did it, because they said, if nothing else, we'll be able to weigh this man down, right?

00:20:19.960 We'll be able to slow him down and mess him up.

00:20:23.900 And we might be, and he was in a courtroom back in May on a total Soviet show trial.

00:20:30.900 I want your audience to just appreciate that.

00:20:33.320 I know they locked up a candidate with the inability to campaign for weeks.

00:20:38.140 I know you saw this clip.

00:20:40.220 Her disgusting, gross elitism and her complete out-of-touch nature with respect to the rest of the world.

00:20:46.800 Sonny Hauston goes on The View and decides now would be a great time to dump all over the so-called uneducated, not non-college educated,

00:20:57.740 the uneducated, which is what you are in Sonny Hauston's view, including you, Charlie Kirk,

00:21:03.820 because she's conflating, right, people who didn't go to college with people who are uneducated.

00:21:09.220 We've got to look at the clip, and then I need your reaction.

00:21:12.160 What we did not have is white women who voted about 52%, right, for Donald Trump. 0.99

00:21:18.660 Uneducated white women is my understanding. 1.00

00:21:20.600 You have Latino men actually voting more for him, and you have—and black men were not the story here 0.99

00:21:28.400 because they voted almost 80% for the vice president.

00:21:31.540 So why do you think that uneducated white women voted against their reproductive health freedoms, 1.00

00:21:36.420 and why do you think Latino men voted in favor of someone that says he's going to deport the majority of his community?

00:21:44.460 I don't think white women like being called uneducated white women. 1.00

00:21:46.600 I think the economy matters, national security matters, but when you put people in these boxes,

00:21:51.120 I think that's a takeaway from this, right?

00:21:54.940 Okay, it's amazing.

00:21:57.140 She's specifically there referring to the women, but of course, it's the non-college educated men as well

00:22:01.520 who voted for Donald Trump, and the nerve of this woman to whom the country has given so much

00:22:05.820 to try to dump on people who didn't go to college.

00:22:09.280 Look at you.

00:22:10.000 Look at your achievements.

00:22:11.140 How do you like the so-called uneducated now, Sonny?

00:22:14.000 Yeah, and by the way, rarely do you get the answer to a question in the question,

00:22:22.260 and her whole question is exactly why there was a rebellion against them.

00:22:26.260 Listen, just because you didn't go to college doesn't mean you're stupid,

00:22:30.640 and it doesn't mean that you don't have wisdom.

00:22:32.560 I always differentiate between knowledge and wisdom.

00:22:35.500 You can go to college and get a bunch of irrelevant facts about how men can allegedly give birth,

00:22:41.420 or whatever they teach, or about North African lesbian poetry.

00:22:46.380 Okay, that stuff's fine, I guess.

00:22:47.840 Awesome.

00:22:49.120 But I said this to our team.

00:22:52.540 I said working people, the muscular class, including working women in the sense of waitresses 0.94

00:23:00.060 and women that work for Amazon, and there's a lot of women delivery drivers. 1.00

00:23:05.100 They are so in favor of Trump, and they don't want to be called stupid or uneducated.

00:23:10.680 And I've said this for so long, and it's finally manifested, which is that it is laced into how we do our public opinion polling.

00:23:19.600 And she played into it perfectly, because I've said this for a decade, and finally,

00:23:24.560 I have a piece of evidence to show this more than anything else,

00:23:27.200 that we look at how we elect our leaders in two buckets, stupid and smart.

00:23:32.900 And the stupid people are the people that don't have a certificate from Yale,

00:23:36.220 and the smart people are $200,000 in debt because they went to Drake.

00:23:42.140 And so the breakdown, though, is that Donald Trump, which, by the way, is just smart politics,

00:23:49.740 because there's more people that didn't go to college than did go to college.

00:23:53.440 And I know that's really hard for the Democrats to realize, because everyone in their circle went to college.

00:23:58.440 But the majority of the country actually does not have a four-year college diploma.

00:24:03.520 The majority of the country are people that have two-year technical degrees or community college,

00:24:07.620 or they just went into the workforce right out of high school.

00:24:09.720 And so Donald Trump gave these people a voice because they're tired of being told that they're stupid

00:24:15.920 just because they didn't go into debt to go study something that doesn't matter, to find jobs that don't exist.

00:24:22.860 And these people, by the way, Megan, both men and women, we call them, as I said, the muscular class,

00:24:28.920 they are the ones that kept the economy alive to great personal risk for themselves and their family during COVID.

00:24:35.480 They're the ones that delivered you your Uber Eats for three months on straight,

00:24:40.700 while you in the laptop class were able to keep on doing your job by opening your laptop in the comfort of your home,

00:24:47.540 while the Amazon trucks were still delivered.

00:24:49.640 And the supply chain went uninterrupted.

00:24:52.600 Those people have felt belittled.

00:24:55.740 They have felt talked down to.

00:24:57.600 And Donald Trump communicated with them better than any candidate since Ronald Reagan in 1988.

00:25:02.700 And the final point I'll say is this, is, Sonny,

00:25:06.920 do you guys thought that abortion was going to be this, like, quasi-zealot religious issue?

00:25:14.520 I'm pro-life.

00:25:15.420 If people in the audience aren't, that's fine.

00:25:17.460 What I'm saying, though, what gives me promise,

00:25:20.740 and I think we can all agree on this,

00:25:22.440 is that there are other issues that should animate and drive our politics

00:25:26.740 other than this very divisive one.

00:25:29.120 And I was really encouraged by that, Megan, very encouraged,

00:25:33.700 because the media was forcing this as an up-or-down vote on a referendum

00:25:37.900 on a highly complicated, very emotional, very personal issue.

00:25:43.600 And it turned out the American people were like,

00:25:45.340 yeah, actually, these other six things matter more, and good for them.

00:25:49.560 By the way, Sonny Hostin, I think, went to Notre Dame.

00:25:54.240 Her son's at Harvard.

00:25:55.680 Her daughter's at Cornell.

00:25:57.480 She's married to the Ivy League.

00:25:59.340 And that's why she looks down on everyone else as a bunch of stupid losers 1.00

00:26:05.420 who didn't vote the right way because they're not as smart as she is.

00:26:09.720 I spent many years across from Sonny Hostin on the set of Bill O'Reilly.

00:26:14.080 She is not as smart as she thinks she is.

00:26:16.480 In fact, I defy you to show me one debate we ever had that she won.

00:26:20.080 There isn't one.

00:26:22.020 So I'm not done with the Charlie Kirk homage.

00:26:26.260 Oh, boy.

00:26:26.460 We put together a little bit of you on your college tour

00:26:29.340 just so the audience can see some of the hard work you were doing.

00:26:32.660 Let's play SOT 1.

00:26:34.260 Can you tell me her greatest accomplishment?

00:26:36.300 No, I can't.

00:26:37.320 Can you tell me a single accomplishment?

00:26:40.140 I cannot.

00:26:41.040 I want to leave.

00:26:41.680 I.

00:26:41.940 What is Kamala Harris' greatest accomplishment?

00:26:53.660 Could you please explain why under a Trump presidency

00:26:57.720 it would be more beneficial to me than a Harris presidency?

00:27:00.580 I want to try to win you over as a liberal for Donald Trump.

00:27:03.120 Why should I vote for Trump?

00:27:05.560 There's no guesswork in this election.

00:27:06.940 We know the type of president that Trump was and that he will be.

00:27:09.660 There are three things I want you to think about when voting for Trump.

00:27:13.260 Homeownership, border, war.

00:27:15.200 Three objective things.

00:27:16.740 When I decide, just in case, can I have a hat?

00:27:19.600 You can have a hat.

00:27:20.580 So which way are you leaning?

00:27:22.040 Can I get a hat?

00:27:23.680 That's a good answer.

00:27:24.920 How are you leaning this election?

00:27:27.600 Well, after what you said, Trump.

00:27:29.460 Let's go.

00:27:33.800 All right.

00:27:34.320 And two points on that, Charlie.

00:27:35.380 So we had a bunch of kids from my son's high school here with me in studio on election

00:27:40.700 night and, you know, maybe like whatever, 15 of them.

00:27:43.920 And they were all Trump supporters where there was no screening.

00:27:47.560 Like we're only taking the Trump supporters.

00:27:49.600 But that just happened to be how it worked out.

00:27:51.520 And that third point, war, was a big one for all of them.

00:27:56.520 They're actually really worried about this neocon strain in the Democrat Party because

00:28:03.220 they're the ones who are going to have to go fight it.

00:28:06.440 And so you were tapping into exactly the right thing.

00:28:08.600 And then one other cue point.

00:28:10.200 My kids are in school all day and therefore do not listen to my show every day.

00:28:14.520 They listen to it here and there and they get clips on social media.

00:28:17.460 And we were talking this week about who I had coming on today and I told him, Charlie

00:28:22.020 Kirk and my my son and my daughter.

00:28:25.560 She's 13.

00:28:26.480 He's 15.

00:28:26.900 Go, you know, Charlie Kirk.

00:28:29.140 I'm like, yes, I know Charlie Kirk.

00:28:31.860 Yes.

00:28:32.540 Go.

00:28:32.860 Could we meet Charlie Kirk?

00:28:34.040 I think I could arrange it at some point.

00:28:35.480 But that's how young you're like a 13 year old girl.

00:28:38.940 She's seen your clip.

00:28:39.860 She's been influenced by you.

00:28:41.360 They watched you on that show.

00:28:42.760 Where do they surround you when you debate all you believe you believe they watched you

00:28:46.900 there?

00:28:47.100 That was something.

00:28:47.760 I mean, you you're making a huge difference, not just in today's voters, but in the next

00:28:52.380 up and coming ones who are going to be voting four years from now.

00:28:55.620 Charlie, it's huge.

00:28:57.100 I do feel there's something divine going on.

00:28:59.320 You were chosen for some reason.

00:29:01.140 Well, I'm humbled.

00:29:02.740 And I said this.

00:29:03.520 Well, thank you, Megan.

00:29:04.200 And I'd love to meet your kids.

00:29:05.480 Um, and I just, I said this on election night, um, God gave us grace as a nation.

00:29:11.820 I'm humbled by it.

00:29:13.300 Um, I, I say, praise God.

00:29:15.260 I'm just a small part.

00:29:16.640 And he used what we were doing.

00:29:18.420 I, I mean this.

00:29:19.700 I had zero expectation that what we were going to do was actually going to move the dial this

00:29:25.820 much.

00:29:26.160 We did it out of obedience.

00:29:27.580 We did it out of, Hey, let's play the role.

00:29:30.180 You know what it's like on a campaign, right, Megan?

00:29:32.320 Oh, we can move, you know, a couple hundred people and do your part.

00:29:36.180 And it all adds up.

00:29:37.500 I had no idea that this thing was going to set off the way it did.

00:29:42.820 We also had Charlie on the day after JD Vance was picked as the vice presidential candidate.

00:29:47.600 They were very close.

00:29:48.760 And Charlie talked about the JD Vance.

00:29:51.520 He had come to know my God, JD.

00:29:54.780 I'm thrilled that he's the pick.

00:29:56.840 How about you?

00:29:57.420 Yeah, I couldn't be happier.

00:29:59.400 And thanks, Megan, for having me.

00:30:01.020 I was pushing for this for quite some time.

00:30:03.320 You know, I was a early endorser of JD's Senate primary when he was at one or two percent in

00:30:08.120 the polls in Ohio.

00:30:09.560 And nobody thought he had a chance.

00:30:11.120 And he was up against the establishment and tens of millions of dollars.

00:30:15.100 And that's a story worth telling as well.

00:30:17.340 I was getting very emotional watching that video because JD is a dear friend.

00:30:22.040 And I hope your audience understands the more you get to know JD Vance, the more you're

00:30:27.660 going to like him.

00:30:28.220 His family is extraordinary.

00:30:29.840 He is a good, smart man.

00:30:32.440 And I put it in that order.

00:30:33.880 He is a decent person of high integrity, wonderful family.

00:30:38.000 He's in it for the right reasons.

00:30:39.800 There are some really important similarities that JD Vance has with President Trump, such

00:30:45.360 as being a class traitor.

00:30:47.080 It's important to remember, Megan, that when that book came out, he was so celebrated by

00:30:52.580 the left wing elite.

00:30:53.980 He was the keynote speaker at the Aspen Ideas Festival.

00:30:57.740 He was on every major left wing network of being celebrated as the guy who can explain

00:31:03.700 why Donald Trump has such a big following.

00:31:06.640 And JD Vance over a series of years made a decision to forsake that type of popularity

00:31:12.260 and to go in a career, not just a career in politics, but to get into a pattern of advocacy

00:31:19.420 that led him into politics.

00:31:21.180 And it is an extraordinary rise.

00:31:24.260 And you said it so perfectly, Megan, only in America and only in America is it possible

00:31:30.560 where a young man and he's older than me, but he's relatively young in the modern political

00:31:35.680 dynamic, can come from absolute poverty, be abused, raised by his grandmother, had all

00:31:41.620 the odds stacked against him to become the nominee for vice president of the United States

00:31:46.940 for the front runner and former president.

00:31:49.140 How did we get here?

00:31:50.000 Well, I mean, we got here first and foremost through divine providence, and I'm sure we're

00:31:54.040 going to talk about that over the last week, just the fact that this convention is still

00:31:58.080 going on in its current form or fashion.

00:32:00.600 But secondly, it's a testament to JD.

00:32:02.820 JD did not want this, Megan.

00:32:04.460 I hope everyone understands in the audience, you know, almost everyone who was going for

00:32:08.000 vice president had like war rooms and they had, you know, lobbying campaigns and they

00:32:12.940 were going after this to try to buddy up to Trump for the last nine months or 10 months.

00:32:17.760 When JD's his name was first floated to become Trump's vice president, potentially in February

00:32:23.040 and March, he's like, me?

00:32:24.540 Like, what?

00:32:25.320 It's like, yeah, I love Trump, but like, what?

00:32:27.520 And this is a guy who didn't ask for it.

00:32:29.760 He didn't plan for it.

00:32:30.820 He's not full of that kind of naked political ambition that I find to be so disgusting and

00:32:36.600 repulsive.

00:32:37.880 Things just kind of come to him and people see in him the best of the Trump movement, forgotten

00:32:44.000 America, someone who lived that story and who will fight for those voters in Washington,

00:32:48.380 D.C.

00:32:49.400 You know, I I said this before to our audience here, and I said this isn't like a said in

00:32:54.940 a romantic way, but my time with him and we were there for a few days led me to believe

00:33:00.280 that this is a beautiful man.

00:33:01.860 He's a beautiful man.

00:33:02.840 And I think that opening shows you what I mean.

00:33:06.960 He's thoughtful.

00:33:07.840 He's soulful.

00:33:08.520 He's reflective.

00:33:09.260 He's introspective.

00:33:10.440 And I happen to love the fact that his good character, his survival was shaped by women.

00:33:18.280 It was his mamaw who got him through this, this childhood and her strength.

00:33:23.780 His sister, with whom he has such a loving and dear relationship to this day, loved Lindsay.

00:33:29.040 And then I love the fact that it's Amy Chua at Yale Law School, who's like one of the

00:33:34.160 only non-woke, amazing, like normal professors at Yale Law School who would help him take

00:33:42.620 the next step.

00:33:43.740 You know, that she saw in him, this is not just the next generation of lawyer.

00:33:47.800 This is a special guy whose voice needs to be heard well beyond the Yale Law School

00:33:52.280 campus and the campuses of white shoe law firms in America.

00:33:57.200 She helped steer him and she helped Usha too, who had, you know, two federal clerkships,

00:34:01.900 including, as I said, for the Supreme Court.

00:34:04.120 So to me, that speaks so well of him like that.

00:34:08.100 The Republican Party, as you know, still gets demonized by the Democrats as like a bunch

00:34:12.380 of just moronic, burly men, you know, toxic men who want to take away the rights to abortion.

00:34:19.220 And like, yes, JD is pro-life, but that is a man who respects women and whose very character

00:34:25.000 was shaped by strong women.

00:34:28.320 Without a doubt.

00:34:29.420 And I mean, it's important to understand that the men in JD's life failed him.

00:34:34.680 And who's who filled the void as you went you went through the list beautifully.

00:34:39.840 And so, look, and JD has a huge heart.

00:34:41.640 He just he he radiates sincerity.

00:34:44.840 And you know that because I mean, I'm going to run.

00:34:47.120 Look, honestly, Megan, I'm going to have to go through some sort of detox.

00:34:49.980 I'm here at the RNC right now.

00:34:51.680 And there are so many political creatures crawling around here.

00:34:54.520 It's so disgusting.

00:34:55.860 You know, it's always about it.

00:34:57.240 No, I mean, honestly, it's like always about an angle.

00:34:59.020 And I want something from you.

00:35:00.380 And they just they just ooze that sort of stench of, you know, I'm trying to game the system.

00:35:06.960 With JD, it's completely different.

00:35:08.400 And it's not just me.

00:35:09.460 I'm going to tell you a true story.

00:35:10.540 So this is in the middle of the veep stakes.

00:35:12.880 We have our people's convention in Detroit, Michigan, and we have nearly 10,000 people

00:35:18.120 there.

00:35:18.800 And I was like, hey, JD, we're doing a straw poll for the vice presidency.

00:35:22.540 If you want to try to make it, you know, I think you'll do very well because the audience

00:35:26.100 likes you.

00:35:26.860 It's like, yeah, you know, it's my 10 year wedding anniversary.

00:35:29.500 He's like, that's a top priority for me.

00:35:31.640 He said, but let me see what I can do.

00:35:33.100 So he prioritizes the wedding anniversary and he texts like the day before.

00:35:36.800 He's like, OK, I think I can make it on Sunday.

00:35:38.740 I said, great.

00:35:39.260 So my team calls me and they said, hey, JD's coming, but he's driving himself from Columbus.

00:35:46.600 It's like, what do you mean he's driving himself?

00:35:48.680 This is a U.S. 0.83

00:35:49.580 Senator, Megan, with who might be the next vice president of the United States or the selection

00:35:54.160 for VP who literally got in a car early on a Sunday morning, drove three and a half hours

00:35:59.200 to Detroit by himself, staffed himself, was so warm to all of our staff, probably on almost

00:36:04.100 no sleep, you know, took every picture, signed every every book that was asked of him, gave

00:36:08.920 an amazing speech, got back in the car so he could be back at dinner in Columbus, Ohio.

00:36:14.320 I mean, like that's that's so unheard of.

00:36:17.140 Yes.

00:36:17.620 There are people that come and speak at our events that are running for dog catcher and

00:36:21.140 they come with an entourage and a posse that makes, you know, most rappers look as if they're

00:36:26.300 understaffed.

00:36:27.000 JD Vance is, you know, driving himself and it's just like he's like, yeah, it's just

00:36:30.940 like I'm a regular guy.

00:36:31.620 He doesn't think of himself as if he's, you know, better than you or that he's part of

00:36:36.080 some sort of, you know, high society class.

00:36:39.540 And I think that he adds a dynamic and an element to the Trump ticket that will grow as

00:36:45.600 time goes on.

00:36:46.860 People are going to deepen their understanding of what the MAGA agenda really is.

00:36:51.260 And also there is a youthful dynamic, which I am so pleased that the data is screaming

00:36:57.520 at us right now.

00:36:58.880 Please put somebody on the ticket under the age of 50. 0.71

00:37:01.720 Please put somebody on the ticket under the age of 50. 0.71

00:37:04.540 And now you have Biden, 81, Trump, 78, Kamala Harris, either 58 or 59, late 50s.

00:37:10.420 And now JD Vance, 39.

00:37:12.760 I mean, that is a serious contrast who can really be a communicator to 35 year old voters who are

00:37:19.460 struggling to buy a home and struggling to build a family.

00:37:22.560 And so I think this was the best pick that Donald Trump could make.

00:37:26.480 And more than anything else, he has a decent and a good person.

00:37:32.120 And that is so hard to find in American politics.

00:37:35.120 Charlie was on in February 2024 when he was in a serious battle with the RNC, the establishment

00:37:41.880 of the GOP leaking against Charlie and his turning point organization.

00:37:47.900 Now I've seen two separate hit pieces on you, one from RealClearPolitics and one from NBC.

00:37:56.860 The RealClearPolitics one wasn't really a hit piece, but it was sort of trying to say that

00:38:00.660 there's a lot of anger toward you because Ronna Romney-McDonald, whatever, McDaniel, has 0.99

00:38:07.660 been booted as the head of the RNC.

00:38:09.040 She was pushed out effectively by Trump is what we say, what we read.

00:38:12.280 And that the reporting is that she went down to Mar-a-Lago to try to stop it.

00:38:17.440 Instead, Trump said, you've got to go.

00:38:19.320 She did go.

00:38:20.060 But while there, she brought you up, tried to say he's my chief detractor.

00:38:25.160 I'm paraphrasing here.

00:38:26.820 But now we're seeing a couple of hit pieces after she's gone on you, suggesting you're

00:38:32.060 a problem, that you're causing trouble for Donald Trump.

00:38:35.720 We talked about your comments on black pilots the last time.

00:38:38.540 I encourage the audience to go back and look at that more fully because Charlie explains

00:38:41.260 exactly what he meant perfectly.

00:38:43.900 In any event, it appears, you know, it gets resurrected now in an effort to drive, I think,

00:38:48.780 a public wedge between you and the Trumps.

00:38:51.600 Donald Trump Jr. comes out and says, this is bullshit.

00:38:54.540 There's no wedge.

00:38:55.460 We all love Charlie.

00:38:56.600 Just stop it.

00:38:57.960 So what's the truth?

00:38:58.920 What's the story?

00:38:59.560 What's happening here?

00:39:01.220 Well, first, if I just got such a kick out of it, it's so coordinated because the two

00:39:04.920 articles both have knives in the title.

00:39:07.160 Do you see that?

00:39:07.820 Yeah.

00:39:08.240 It's like two separate, you know, real clear politics.

00:39:11.040 Sharp elbows, sharper knives.

00:39:12.520 NBC News, sharp knives out.

00:39:14.220 Like, okay, so the knives are out for me.

00:39:15.600 Got it.

00:39:15.940 Thanks.

00:39:16.180 Look, I mean, we made it a focus because we want to win to try to have regime change

00:39:24.000 at the RNC.

00:39:25.180 And I said this before, I'll say it again.

00:39:27.220 This was not a personal thing.

00:39:28.860 I used to get along really well with Rana.

00:39:30.800 Obviously, that relationship is no longer ongoing.

00:39:33.300 And we were underwhelmed and underwhelmed repeatedly with election results.

00:39:39.680 And the same way that I treat my college football coaches or my NFL football, which I love, if

00:39:45.900 you're not winning games, you should no longer be in charge of the team.

00:39:50.120 And so whether it be in 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023, and instead of kind of acknowledging that

00:40:00.220 things could be going better, we were met with defiance and we were met with doublespeak.

00:40:06.460 And so long story short, we made it a focus to try and change the leadership of the RNC.

00:40:11.500 And we did it by mentioning on our show a lot.

00:40:14.360 We did it by hosting alternative programs in Las Vegas for the Restoring National Confidence

00:40:20.340 Summit, where we brought in 75 state party chairs, national committeemen, and also county

00:40:26.220 chairs to receive training and to receive grassroots type data technology, not just training, but

00:40:34.940 also how to use the data technology in their local area.

00:40:38.200 And the response was overwhelming.

00:40:39.600 And we knew this was coming, Megan.

00:40:41.020 I mean, make no mistake, you don't focus and eventually end up being successful in getting

00:40:47.140 rid of an RNC chair without them running to NBC News to complain. 0.98

00:40:51.800 And so I'm unfazed by it.

00:40:53.920 Yeah, I'm unfazed by it.

00:40:55.760 You know, there's, it's all the typical, quite honestly, like left-wing attack vectors that

00:41:00.980 are repurposed by this disgruntled, outgoing RNC regime.

00:41:05.040 It should be illuminating for those in your audience that really want to see Joe Biden

00:41:10.800 defeated in November, that the RNC kind of henchmen and their media team were more focused

00:41:16.720 on trying to plant stories against me and trying to lobby NBC News and RealClearPolitics.

00:41:22.960 So two pieces in three days, like, okay, could you make it more obvious?

00:41:26.380 Instead of trying to unite forces and combine forces to defeat Joe Biden in November.

00:41:31.500 It is what it is.

00:41:32.700 I'm unfazed by it.

00:41:33.700 I mean, we played a win.

00:41:34.400 Well, what's amazing, Charlie, is that now one of the things in here is,

00:41:38.460 one of the knocks on you is that you're raising all this money.

00:41:41.820 Like, one of the knocks on you is that you've, that you want to raise $108 million on a get

00:41:46.900 out the vote campaign in Arizona, Georgia, and Wisconsin to swing the election.

00:41:51.820 These are Republicans ripping you.

00:41:53.460 I can see how why Democrats might not want that.

00:41:55.340 But they say, citing a, quote, Republican operative in close contact with the Trump campaign,

00:42:01.660 quote, I don't think Trump is fully aware of that plan.

00:42:04.540 When he finds out, he's not going to be happy at all.

00:42:07.520 Because why?

00:42:08.940 Because it has, quote, little guarantee of success.

00:42:12.640 And because it is, quote, funded by donors who would otherwise give directly to Trump's campaign.

00:42:18.780 Thus, they predict that the former president, quote, will be pissed out of his mind.

00:42:24.680 Now, I've talked to you about this many times.

00:42:26.960 As far as I understand, your effort is to get the people out to vote for Donald Trump,

00:42:31.620 which I'm not, I'm having trouble following why he would be angry.

00:42:37.140 He wouldn't be.

00:42:38.060 And that's why it's an unnamed Republican operative.

00:42:40.460 It's just someone who doesn't like me or they're upset that we are having success raising money.

00:42:44.840 And let the record be clear.

00:42:45.940 We have over 300,000 donors at Turning Point.

00:42:49.280 That's a big number.

00:42:50.420 That's presidential campaign style number to have 300,000 people contribute money to you.

00:42:55.760 The RNC wishes they had that many active donors and they wonder why they don't.

00:42:59.340 One of the reasons why is we're relentless and we put results forward and we're transparent with how we spend our money.

00:43:06.760 And so the other aspect, though, that you mentioned is, yes, we're going to have hundreds of full-time people in Arizona and Wisconsin chasing ballots for get out the vote.

00:43:15.120 The RNC, to the best of our knowledge, will have one or two full-time people, three or four full-time people.

00:43:20.860 And so we are the disruptors on the scene.

00:43:23.780 We're the new energy, Megan.

00:43:25.420 We are always thought of just being a youth organization, so they kind of ignored us.

00:43:29.320 And as I have grown and as the organization has grown, we realized that the RNC and the Republican Party was ossified and not innovative and not playing to win and to not have that kind of entrepreneurial approach.

00:43:44.260 Again, we wouldn't have these complaints if 2022 was a blowout year and we won record seats in the House and the Senate, but the results speak for themselves.

00:43:54.420 And we believe we've identified an issue, which is to try to help low-propensity Republican or center-right voters be able to vote in voting month and not just try to flood the polls on Election Day,

00:44:05.160 but have people vote early and to expand our ability to run up the score leading into Election Day, in addition to all the other programming that we do.

00:44:14.220 And so I remain close with the Trump family.

00:44:16.540 I'm an enthusiastic supporter, obviously, of President Trump.

00:44:19.320 I had the opportunity to know him and defend him for well over eight years now.

00:44:23.460 These stories happen every so often, Megan.

00:44:25.560 This is obviously the spiciest one that I've ever been through. 1.00

00:44:28.560 It's the most direct salvo from the Republican establishment.

00:44:32.780 But I say bring it on.

00:44:34.080 We're going to keep on building.

00:44:35.180 They're going to keep on complaining.

00:44:37.000 We're good at building at Turning Point.

00:44:38.980 It's what we do.

00:44:40.240 And God willing, we'll be successful coming into November.

00:44:43.720 I mean, I've seen it up close and personal and behind the scenes, and it's an amazing operation.

00:44:48.080 It's incredibly sophisticated, professional, well done.

00:44:51.600 And there's a reason.

00:44:52.300 I mean, you've earned every dollar and a bit of attention that you've gotten.

00:44:55.880 And just last month, Charlie and I had an incredible conversation about what it means to be a good man,

00:45:04.340 about the value of disagreement, and about listening and talking.

00:45:09.260 You and I are both supporters of Israel and have defended Israel since the beginning of this conflict

00:45:15.200 and spoken out about the anti-Semitism that has erupted on these college campuses many, many, many, many times.

00:45:21.260 And something's happening, though, with this whole debate that is really bothering me,

00:45:26.540 and I wonder if you're feeling it, too.

00:45:28.520 So, I mean, I genuinely believe you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody in the public eye

00:45:34.200 who's been as outspoken a defender of not every move Israel's taken in the war,

00:45:40.380 but of Israel's right to defend itself and of the just backward awfulness 1.00

00:45:46.580 that we've been seeing on college campuses and the backlash against American Jews than yours truly.

00:45:50.600 I mean, I have been at the pointy end of the spear on this.

00:45:53.700 I completely agree with that.

00:45:55.800 And it was all heartfelt, and it remains heartfelt.

00:45:58.440 Yes.

00:45:59.320 However, however, my contention here is that some in the pro-Israel camp

00:46:06.900 are so knee-jerk about calling you anti-Semitic

00:46:12.580 or getting deeply offended if you say anything that doesn't align with their narrative that it undermines their own cause.

00:46:21.000 And I have to tell you, I find it very irritating because I do feel like some of us have earned the right

00:46:27.520 to have some credibility on the subject of Israel and don't want to be called those names

00:46:33.680 when we have some mild pushback on some of the overreaches,

00:46:38.660 whether it's, you know, whether they're winning or losing the propaganda war right now.

00:46:43.660 And my contention is they've begun to lose it.

00:46:46.280 And I realize it's propaganda coming at us from Hamas,

00:46:48.680 but their numbers have turned.

00:46:51.040 Here in America, they've turned, not so much with Republicans, a little bit with Republicans,

00:46:55.480 but completely with the Democrat Party and with independents.

00:46:58.920 They have shifted mightily from at least double-digit highs to single-digit lows now when it comes to approval.

00:47:06.680 And also, with respect to you and I speculated about this at the turning point event,

00:47:12.220 whether the possibility of Jeffrey Epstein possibly being a Mossad agent or asset or affiliated with,

00:47:19.340 that's been turned around on me, too, to, you must be anti-Semitic.

00:47:23.600 What the hell? That's such bullshit.

00:47:26.380 The same people who say, you can criticize Israel, that's fine, 0.98

00:47:30.900 we won't call you anti-Semitic if you criticize Israel,

00:47:33.700 turn around immediately and say, you're anti-Semitic for even raising that.

00:47:37.860 I completely reject that.

00:47:39.420 And I raise this as a pushback against my friends on that particular strain of the aisle to watch it,

00:47:47.840 because you don't want to alienate people who are openly your friends

00:47:52.100 by going nuts in your crackdowns on mild pushback on anything related to Israel.

00:47:58.580 Now you take it.

00:47:59.020 I'm so glad you brought this up, and I would second that.

00:48:03.180 Megan, I think I have a bulletproof resume showing my defense of Israel,

00:48:08.200 both on campus, on social media, to great, you know, let's just say mockery and scorn at times,

00:48:15.280 because I believe it, right?

00:48:17.340 I believe in the scriptural land rights given to Israel.

00:48:22.220 I believe in fulfillment of prophecy.

00:48:24.800 And again, I'm not a theologian, but I'm a Christian.

00:48:27.500 My life was changed in Israel.

00:48:29.660 The spiritual energy is so amazing there.

00:48:31.920 I want them to win.

00:48:33.980 I've said that repeatedly.

00:48:36.060 And however, Megan, you're hitting on something very potent and important.

00:48:39.900 Now, let me first say, I don't want to judge an entire group,

00:48:42.340 because there's been many people in the per Israel world that have been very sweet,

00:48:45.620 very kind, very nuanced, very, Charlie, you know, you're with us.

00:48:49.560 You don't have to agree all the time.

00:48:51.220 However, and I will say this, the behavior by a lot, both privately and publicly,

00:48:57.840 are pushing people like you and me away, not like we're going to be pro-Hamas, 0.52

00:49:02.680 not like we're going to, but we're like, honestly, the way you are treating me is so repulsive.

00:49:08.160 I have text messages, Megan, calling me an anti-Semite.

00:49:11.640 I am learning biblical Hebrew and writing a book on the Shabbat.

00:49:15.360 I honor the Shabbat, literally the Jewish Sabbath.

00:49:18.620 I visit Israel and fight for it.

00:49:20.180 And there's another article out in the Times of Israel today.

00:49:22.600 I could read it on air.

00:49:23.500 I was just reading before I got on.

00:49:24.940 Charlie, what are you doing?

00:49:26.320 Like, why are you, what am I doing?

00:49:29.280 I'm sorry.

00:49:30.100 Like, let's just take a step back here.

00:49:31.820 Like, I'm an American citizen.

00:49:34.680 Yes, I want Israel to win.

00:49:37.520 Yes, I'm a Christian.

00:49:39.000 But like the, some of the mess, and you saw,

00:49:41.480 and you've seen how I've been treated, Megan, by some, not all, by some.

00:49:44.360 No, it's very irritating.

00:49:45.820 It's, it's almost as if you.

00:49:47.820 They were coming after you after a turning point for, among other things,

00:49:50.600 then you had Dave Smith there.

00:49:52.180 Dave Smith is allowed to criticize Israel.

00:49:54.460 You had both sides.

00:49:56.180 The Israeli side was overrepresented.

00:49:58.080 You're not allowed to, though.

00:49:58.800 No, you're not allowed to.

00:50:00.100 It's even worse than that.

00:50:01.020 Again, I just want to repeat for the fifth time, I love Israel.

00:50:03.980 I want Israel to win.

00:50:05.120 But my moral character is now being put into question, Megan.

00:50:09.320 Not my decisions, not like, hey, are you doing this?

00:50:12.940 Is it smart or is it dumb?

00:50:14.360 But no, I am a bad person if I do this.

00:50:18.700 And it's, I could go, I mean, you saw it, Megan.

00:50:20.760 It was trending on Twitter, thousands of tweets and text messages.

00:50:24.180 And if I were to be charitable and generous, I will say,

00:50:27.540 the people that are attacking me are in a hyper-paranoid state

00:50:30.720 because they're at war, and war tends to make things black and white,

00:50:35.500 and you're a hammer looking for a nail, so I'm trying to be charitable, Megan.

00:50:39.860 Literally, I'm trying to cut as much slack as I can, right?

00:50:43.040 Like, okay, what would it be like if all of a sudden

00:50:45.140 I'm starting to see a pattern of behavior

00:50:47.440 similar to what my grandparents saw in 1930s Germany online?

00:50:51.280 How would I behave?

00:50:52.140 So that's like my charitable kind of overcompensation spirit.

00:50:56.480 At the same time, I'm like, but it's not defensible to be dumb, right?

00:51:02.640 Yeah, and it's offensive to those of us who have been out there

00:51:07.060 defending them in many instances against critics on our own side.

00:51:12.440 And now you have a couple of comments like, well, what about this?

00:51:14.760 Well, has it gone on too long?

00:51:16.680 Like, is it time to wrap it up?

00:51:18.340 And the thing about Epstein is just so bizarre.

00:51:20.140 I don't know who he was an agent for.

00:51:21.540 It might have been Israel or an asset, or it might have been nobody.

00:51:24.160 But we're allowed to speculate about that.

00:51:26.260 It's like there's some rule.

00:51:27.600 You can't go there when it comes to Israel.

00:51:29.780 Well, you and I believe that we're Americans and Americans first, period.

00:51:34.540 End of story.

00:51:35.080 We are citizens of this nation, okay?

00:51:37.700 That's right.

00:51:38.100 And Israel, we have funded, we have supported,

00:51:41.860 and they're up against a sea of Islamic totalitarianism, 0.83

00:51:45.920 and we should be cheering for them, right?

00:51:47.840 Because they're up against barbarians and monsters,

00:51:51.520 and we want them to win.

00:51:52.740 However, here is Megyn Kelly and Charlie Kirk combined,

00:51:56.880 probably 30 million social media followers, like pretty, right?

00:52:00.620 And you and I have been holding this down,

00:52:02.360 and you probably get the negative, oh, you're just shilling for Israel.

00:52:05.780 I'm like, okay, I'm going to do what's right regardless of the feedback, right?

00:52:09.060 But then all of a sudden, like, I host a person that I moderate the debate of, mind you, right?

00:52:17.140 And I give equal time to Josh Hammer, equal time to a pro-Israel advocate,

00:52:23.880 and my moral character is being put into question.

00:52:27.060 And so I just, I think it's a hyper-paranoid, like,

00:52:31.180 we're just going to try to, we're going to just stamp out everything type of practice.

00:52:37.640 But it goes to the point where, if, for example, if I have less ability sometimes online

00:52:45.020 to criticize the Israeli government about backlash than actual Israelis do.

00:52:49.880 And that's really, really weird, isn't it, Megyn?

00:52:53.220 That's not right.

00:52:54.560 I saw a clip of you online.

00:52:56.040 I don't even know the podcast.

00:52:57.200 Forgive me.

00:52:57.600 You'll tell us what it is.

00:52:58.780 But I loved it so much.

00:53:01.040 I wanted you to say it here and expand on it.

00:53:04.020 Here it is.

00:53:04.580 Watch.

00:53:05.340 Women want to be able, they want to be taken care of. 1.00

00:53:07.700 I know this is, like, super provocative.

00:53:09.460 But, like, deep down, they want a man to be able to provide for them financially.

00:53:13.180 Should a man pay on the first date? 0.70

00:53:14.620 A hundred percent.

00:53:15.620 Like, what kind of a wuss beta male is splitting the check?

00:53:19.280 Like, who are you?

00:53:20.540 It's like, I'm just sorry.

00:53:21.540 It's so funny.

00:53:22.300 I would go into debt and, like, scrub dishes before a woman paid for it. 0.99

00:53:27.040 I split the check quite a lot.

00:53:30.040 Quite a lot.

00:53:30.660 I'm sorry.

00:53:31.060 I don't mean to offend you.

00:53:32.480 You guys are great.

00:53:33.120 That's incomprehensible to me.

00:53:34.740 To me, I thought it was a great financial decision.

00:53:37.720 Okay, so from your prism, I totally get that.

00:53:40.020 And, like, you have really good financial discipline.

00:53:42.560 I'm sorry.

00:53:43.340 Like, I would be so humiliated.

00:53:46.780 I did not care.

00:53:48.340 I find that to be, like, the greatest beta male, like, humiliation.

00:53:53.100 To save money?

00:53:54.060 No, no.

00:53:54.540 To, like, the idea that a woman that you're trying to court.

00:53:58.740 Now, if it's, like, a friend thing.

00:54:00.440 As a first date, you don't even know if she's, like, the qualities.

00:54:03.300 It does not matter.

00:54:04.240 I'm sorry.

00:54:05.300 By the way, that money you save is not worth the honor that you compromise.

00:54:09.580 It's such a big deal.

00:54:11.300 It's a massive deal.

00:54:14.900 I love everything you said.

00:54:17.880 Please explain what was happening there and who that was.

00:54:20.300 Well, so, first of all, those are two great guys.

00:54:23.420 I don't remember their names, unfortunately.

00:54:24.900 It's from the Iced Coffee Hour podcast, so at least I got their show right.

00:54:28.200 They were really sweet.

00:54:28.960 They came to Phoenix.

00:54:29.900 They brought their mobile studio.

00:54:32.320 They're up and coming in the podcast world, which I have a soft spot for, as I'm sure you do, Megan.

00:54:37.800 They were really great, right?

00:54:38.780 And so they asked this question, and he was just so terribly wrong on this.

00:54:44.040 And what was so interesting, I have multiple takes on this, the first of which is that the comments I got, the video went super viral, right?

00:54:51.160 It got tens of millions of views.

00:54:52.800 The comments from the women were so overwhelming.

00:54:57.720 Yes, thank you.

00:54:59.540 We need more of this.

00:55:00.880 Why don't men do this anymore?

00:55:02.200 And then from the men, it's like, Charlie is wrong.

00:55:05.680 Like, women aren't worth it. 1.00

00:55:07.040 Now, let me just say, hold on.

00:55:08.060 Let me just take a whole recalibration.

00:55:09.720 Now, there were some men that agreed, but overwhelmingly, the women were the ones that were driving this video, which is unique because that's not always the case for Charlie Kirk videos. 0.82

00:55:16.700 Usually, it's the opposite, but it's good.

00:55:18.960 Listen, a man needs to demonstrate leadership and the capacity to provide early on.

00:55:25.980 That doesn't mean that you end up have to have that role when you end up having a marriage.

00:55:29.720 But from the outset, what it means to be a man is to take directive, to be leadership, to have the protector of the family, and not to mention the young lady that is there, deep down, she wants to show that when all the crap hits the fan, the man can take care of her and that he will do the alpha move and that he's not going to split the check.

00:55:53.640 And there's also a, I didn't mention this in the video, so I'll say this here, Megan, it filters out ingratitude.

00:56:00.440 It filters out the character of the person you are courting.

00:56:05.220 I was shocked.

00:56:06.660 I learned this, that so many men came to me and said, Charlie, when I pay for a lot of the first dates, the women never say thank you.

00:56:13.720 I said, ah, yet another good reason to pay on the first date because you learn as much about her as she is learning about you.

00:56:23.580 And I asked a group of women, 100 women, I said, appealing or unappealing, attractive or unattractive, the man on the first date pays the check without you even knowing and goes to the maitre d' and hands their credit card while he goes to the bathroom. 0.72

00:56:36.960 And they said, it's a beyond a turnout.

00:56:40.360 I said, so for men, I mean, for men, you're talking about a way that you could advantage yourself.

00:56:46.660 Now, they say, well, what if the date didn't go well?

00:56:48.740 Still does not matter.

00:56:49.780 What if you think that it will never go anywhere?

00:56:51.540 Still does not matter.

00:56:53.040 You have to, you have a role to play.

00:56:55.920 And on a date, the woman is there to be courted by you. 0.97

00:57:00.000 That is the way this works, right?

00:57:01.680 You are the one that is hosting.

00:57:03.620 You are the one that is hospitable.

00:57:05.580 And I think a breakdown of that has been so destructive.

00:57:09.800 But to complete the point, so many of the men that pay for it, they find out a lot about the women.

00:57:16.340 So I could go endlessly about this, Megan.

00:57:18.400 But I think I learned about that this was happening, by the way, in this podcast.

00:57:22.960 Afterwards, I said, are you telling me that men aren't paying for everything on the first date?

00:57:26.820 They said, oh, yeah, all the time that we're splitting it.

00:57:29.140 I said, no wonder why male-female relations have fallen down so much. 1.00

00:57:32.700 We need men to be men again.

00:57:34.140 We need to raise our sons to be men of honor, of character, and leadership, to look after the women in their lives, to say that women are not just beautiful, but they're honorable, and they're sacred, and that we provide for our wives, and that we honor our mothers, and that we protect our sisters.

00:57:49.840 That's the men that we want to raise in our country, and we've gotten away from that.

00:57:54.040 I'm going to miss doing that listening and talking with Charlie.

00:57:59.880 It was, you know, just on a professional note, if you saw a show where Charlie Kirk was booked, you know, if he was the guest, you never had to do much as the anchor.

00:58:10.360 You know, you just kind of needed to know the general topics because you knew it was not going to be a heavy lift.

00:58:15.000 Charlie would make it easy on you.

00:58:16.160 He was such a dynamic, dazzling guest.

00:58:21.040 You know, he would always bring something new to the table, right?

00:58:23.940 Like, sometimes it's interesting just to hear somebody say what you already know but say it in their own way, but Charlie would bring more.

00:58:29.420 He'd always done his own homework and had different angles to the story or facts that you didn't know, and that's tough to do with me on my news stories because I do study and I have a great team.

00:58:39.200 But he always had something or just a different take on it that you weren't expecting, and that would surprise and enlighten you.

00:58:47.800 And that's one of the things I've been feeling all week, just so sad for me and my audience and all of the audiences that love Charlie that that's gone now.

00:58:57.760 God, I'm going to miss him so much professionally in that way.

00:59:01.980 I'm—he's not replaceable.

00:59:04.320 He is irreplaceable at Turning Point here on this show, on his show, and as a national figure, and obviously the most irreplaceable at home with Erica and his children.

00:59:15.640 I know you're all praying for his family.

00:59:17.040 I am, too.

00:59:18.080 God bless you, and we'll see you Monday.

00:59:19.840 God bless you, and we'll see you Monday.

The Megyn Kelly Show - September 14, 2025

Remembering Charlie Kirk Through His Memorable Appearances on The Megyn Kelly Show Through the Years

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