The Charlie Kirk Show - Replacing Lindsey Graham, The "Conspiracy Right," and TPUSA's Newest Event

Episode Date: July 14, 2026

Sen. Lindsey Graham leaves a major void in the Senate for the Republican Party. The critical question is — who will fill it, and what will their priorities be? Blake lays out how Graham's death ...represents a generational change for the Republican Party, and Mark Halperin explains the political fallout. John Doyle talks about how to engage with the so-called "conspiracy right." Two CLS attendees talk about their experience, and the show reveals a brand-new Turning Point event for young men. Watch every episode ad-free on members.charliekirk.com!    Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:03 My name is Charlie Kirk. I run the largest pro-American student organization in the country fighting for the future of our republic. My call is to fight evil and to proclaim truth. If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're going to end up miserable. But if the most important thing is doing good, you will end up purposeful. College is a scam, everybody. You've got to stop sending your kids to college. You should get married as young as possible and have as many kids as possible. Go start a turning point USA college chapter. Go start a turning point you would say high school chapter.
Starting point is 00:00:35 Go find out how your church can get involved. Sign up and become an activist. I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade. Most important decision I ever made in my life and I encourage you to do the same. Here I am. Lord, use me. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go.
Starting point is 00:00:56 Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of the Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals. Learn how you could protect your wealth with noble gold investments at nobelgoldinvestments.com. That is noblegoldinvestments.com. Hello, good afternoon to all of you on the East Coast here from the Y Refi studio. Andrew is out today, so I'll be flying solo. I have the Y Refi mic flag all to myself, and I'm very excited about that. We have a very fun show today. We'll be talking to John Doyle again. We'll be talking to Mark Halperin about the political ramifications of Senator Lindsay Graham's death and the struggle to replace him.
Starting point is 00:01:41 And we're going to talk to two students who are just at our chapter leadership summit about their experience, about the continued fight to further Charlie's mission to turn the tide with young people, to lead a revival, to win back America. And we're also going to show you all a preview, which the kids at CLS just saw, for the upcoming Turning Point Men's Leadership Retreat. It's a very interesting thing they're going for, and I think you guys are going to be excited to check it out. But first, we talked a little bit about this yesterday, but I wanted to take more time for us to reflect on the life and the legacy of Senator Lindsey Graham, because I don't think it's controversial to say that his death shakes up the Senate, shakes up the Republican Party more than almost any other
Starting point is 00:02:32 Senator's loss could because for Charlie talked about Senator Graham or Lady Graham, as he often called him, probably more than any other senator who wasn't a regular on the show as a guest. And we know that there's a reason for that. The reason for that is Senator Graham was a long-serving but often rather frustrating Republican. I don't think Senator Graham himself would object to the idea that he represented. an earlier era for the Republican Party. Lindsey Graham was first elected to the Senate in 2002, and in a lot of ways for Lindsey Graham, it was always 2002.
Starting point is 00:03:16 Senator Graham championed the Iraq War, the Afghan war, for the entire duration of it, and he opposed the pullout when it happened. He supported the Libya intervention to bring down Gaddafi. He supported strikes on Syria, regime change efforts there. He was calling for air strikes on. Iran all the way back in 2010. He would be very happy to see President Trump resuming strikes on Iran in these past two days. And we'll talk more about that later today. Unsurprisingly, Senator Graham backed Ukraine to the hilt. And that's exactly why we already see conspiracy theories. He was in
Starting point is 00:03:50 Ukraine just a few days ago. And there's theories maybe Russia was able to poison him, hurt him in some way, and cause his death. I don't think that was the case. But you can see why people would believe it. If you're a Russian and you're trying to make a list of your enemies in America, Senator Lindsay Graham might literally be number one. He's certainly in the top three. And it's unsurprising that in the days since Graham's death, Senator Chuck E. Schumer of the Democrats has said the best way we can honor Senator Graham is to impose new sanctions on Russia. Let's do clip two. Well, Mr. President, my prayers and those of my family are with Senator Graham's family, staff,
Starting point is 00:04:30 and friends after his sudden, sudden passing yesterday, I urge Senator Thune, in honor of Lindsay to put the sanctions, the Russian sanctions bill on the floor immediately, it will pass overwhelmingly and help our allies in Ukraine. Not seeing eye to eye is no reason to be blind to the way forward. Lindsay could understand that. Every senator ought to do the same. That's the work. that Lindsey Graham believed in. Lindsay Graham was a believer in the power of the American military and American force abroad to make the world a better place. And sometimes he was right, American force has made the world a better place sometimes. That's why we celebrate our victory in World War II, our intervention in Korea. Sometimes force abroad is necessary. But we've learned
Starting point is 00:05:23 a lot of hard lessons in the last 25 years. And Charlie talked about this at length. We've learned that America's wealth is not unlimited and that when we launch wars abroad, we can waste that wealth and squander it. We've learned that wars abroad can leave our country weaker and more divided. And often those wars won't achieve the initial missions that they set out on. They can leave the world worse. The world can become more chaotic. The intervention in Libya that Senator Graham supported is a perfect example of that. I don't think anyone would want to rerun the way that turned out where we have endless migrants pouring into Europe. through Libya, which has become a failed state.
Starting point is 00:06:01 Lindsay Graham also has a complicated legacy on immigration. He worked with Senator Ted Kennedy on comprehensive immigration reform. He worked with Schumer on comprehensive immigration reform. He more than once supported the Dream Act. He supported keeping the DACA program around. He did evolve in a better direction. One of Lindsey Graham's last public press releases was him disagreeing with the Supreme Court's birthright citizenship decision and promising to
Starting point is 00:06:27 help crack down on birth tourism. But nevertheless, he wasn't the ideal that we would have on immigration. And so he represented an early era of Republican, a Republican who hadn't quite gotten the memo that we shouldn't have as many wars and we need tougher immigration policies. But we should emphasize this. Graham was better than any Democrat, period. Lindsay Graham didn't believe in getting rid of America. Some of his policies we think made America weaker. Some of his policies were unpopular, so they made it easier for the left to win. But Graham did not believe in abolishing America. Graham did not believe in abolishing Western civilization. Graham did not believe in abolishing capitalism in the free market. He was not a left-wing
Starting point is 00:07:12 zealot. And so all of our criticisms of Graham have to be through that lens. Graham could have been better, but he was still on our side. And sometimes he showed that incredibly. Sometimes Graham was the exact person we needed. We saw that during the the Brett Kavanaugh hearings in 2018. If you don't remember that, you might not remember how bad it got. It looked like we were going to lose that seat, that Democrats were going to keep it open until 2020, and then they were going to let Joe Biden fill that seat with a radical Democrat. The person who brought a halt to that was Lindsey Graham on the Judiciary Committee. He stopped it cold, and it was tremendous, and we should honor him for that. Let's show the clip. Clip three. If you wanted an FBI investigation,
Starting point is 00:07:56 you could have come to us. What you want to do is destroy this guy's life, hold this seat open, and hope you went in 2020. You've said that, not me. You've got nothing to apologize for. When you see Sotomayor and Kagan, tell him that Lindsay said, oh, because I voted for them. I would never do to them what you've done to this guy.
Starting point is 00:08:20 This is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics. politics. And if you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn't have done what you've done to this guy. Are you a gang rapist? No. I cannot imagine what you and your family have gone through. Boy, y'all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham. To my Republican colleagues, if you vote no, you're legitimizing the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics. That was Graham at his best. He was a hard worker. He was a fighter. He absolutely cared about getting what he believed in. He was not this empty shell sitting on the Senate doing nothing. He was a guy who would go out there and fight and he could fight hard. So we're going to have a primary to replace Graham in the months to come in. And that's what we want. We want a senator who can fight like Graham, but we want a senator who represents the modern conservative movement better than Graham did at the time of his death. that's what we're going to fight for, and we should remember his best parts, and we should improve upon his worst parts.
Starting point is 00:09:31 That's what we're going to do in the weeks to come. We have breaking news that just happened. I'm waiting for it to get uploaded. They asked President Trump at the White House about the FBI investigation that is ongoing into Senator Graham's death, because some people have speculated. There could be some foul play, and he had something interesting to say about that. I don't want to spoil it until we get it uploaded. In the meantime, I just want to finish what we were reflecting on at the end there. So here's the details on what will be going on.
Starting point is 00:10:03 You may remember there was a primary in South Carolina just a few weeks ago, and I'll be frank, we were supporting a challenger, Mark Lynch, to Senator Graham, because we believe that it was possible for South Carolina voters to get a senator more aligned with their views on immigration, on military force abroad. and just more aligned with the MAGA President Trump agenda. Now, we fell short there, but that was understandable. Senator Lindsey Graham was a long-time incumbent. He had a lot of strength in the state, and that's how it was. Now there's going to be another primary. Yesterday, it was announced that the replacement for Senator Graham is actually going to be
Starting point is 00:10:47 his sister, who he helped raise after, I believe, their parents died, and she's going to be filling out the rest of his six-month. term. Let's play clip five. I want to thank the governor for selecting me to serve the remainder of Lindsay's term. It is such an honor. Lindsay has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him. My brother was the most amazing person, outstanding leader, and just a genuinely good man. So it looks like that his sister, that is Darlene Graham Norton, is her name, it looks like she's not planning to run in the primary that's going to be held on August 11th, less than one month from today.
Starting point is 00:11:33 She'll fill out that term and then depart. And that means that it's a wide open field for the primary. I don't know everyone who's planning to run. I imagine perhaps Mark Lynch will run again, but also Nancy Mesa talked about running. She ran in that governor's primary and was defeated. Others are stepping up. And I'm sure a turning point action will probably be making an endorsement in that race. I don't think they've reached one yet.
Starting point is 00:11:58 I know I've talked to Tyler about this. He's very excited about, let me make sure I get it right, he's very excited about Ralph Norman, who's currently a House representative if he runs. So if he does run, maybe we'll be hearing more from him. But this is an opportunity, as we said. This is an opportunity to get a lawmaker out of South Carolina who fights as hard as Lindsay, who will get as fiery as the Lindsay Graham that we saw in that Brett Kavanaugh clip, but who is more gung-ho on deportations, on securing the border,
Starting point is 00:12:29 and who's less gung-ho about projecting military force into every corner of planet Earth, because even if it's necessary, sometimes, it's not necessary nearly as often as Lindsay Graham wanted to. But I do see that we have the clip loaded now, and I want to play it. This is breaking news. Happened just a few minutes ago. President Trump was asked about, the FBI investigating his death, clip 12. Are you aware of why the FBI is looking into Senator Graham's death?
Starting point is 00:12:55 Have you got many updates on why they were at his own? Well, I don't know why because I think, you know, he had a problem. His father had a very similar problem, as you know. It's very unique. At first I heard it was clogged honorers because he did have clogged daughters. He had a problem with that. He was, I wish he took better care of himself. I say, you can, you know, you can,
Starting point is 00:13:18 solve that problem, but what happened is actually something that's very hard to detect it. I don't see a lot of evil there. I know there's all sorts of conspiracy theories going along, and I don't think the FBI, I think the FBI is wasting their time if they're doing that yet. So that was President Trump. I imagine that won't be enough to satisfy some people who are true believers on this, but I want to emphasize President Trump and Senator Graham were very close, despite their disagreement on some issues. They played golf a lot. I think President Trump valued his input. He endorsed him for re-election.
Starting point is 00:13:53 Despite our concerns and the concerns of others, that's how the president leaned. So if he says, I don't think there's any foul play here, I think the president has a sound read on that. I think he has a good understanding of the situation. So we turn also to how can we best honor Senator Graham? And I think the best way to unite the Republican Party, we talked about passing new sanctions on Russia. I don't know whether those are a good idea or not. We talked about the strikes on Iran. There are new ones being launched.
Starting point is 00:14:23 I'm sure Senator Lindsey Graham would be overjoyed to see those strikes happening. But probably the best way, the best way to unify the party around remembering Lindsey Graham, I think it's a very straightforward one. They can pass the Save Act. Graham, whatever is flaws, was a champion of passing that bill to improve election security, to make it harder for all the various shenanigans and edge cases that make it, easier for Democrats to eke out wins that they seemed unlikely to get. But you don't need to hear it from me.
Starting point is 00:14:55 You can hear it from Democrats themselves. There's a clip that the team just sent me, and it's from Democrat Alyssa Slotkin. And she says what's going to happen if the Save America Act passes? Clip 13. The other thing that we blocked yesterday was the Save Act, right? While this administration to rig our democracy so that it would be hard for any Democrat in any state to win any election and disenfranchise. all married women in the meantime, by the way.
Starting point is 00:15:20 You'd have to show your birth certificate at the polls if you have a married name. You hear the usual fearmongering. Oh, it's going... If they really thought it would disenfranchise married women, Democrats would support the Save Act because married women as a whole are a Republican-tilting demographic.
Starting point is 00:15:36 So they're making that up. But here's the true thing. Republicans, if you want to honor Lindsey Graham and improve our prospects in these coming midterms, here's an idea for the Senate. There's an August recess coming up. They're all excited to go home and meet their constituents and not be in Washington. Here's an idea. Delay that recess or if you feel like it, cancel it entirely.
Starting point is 00:15:57 Americans will thank you for that. They will thank you for being in Washington if you're able to tell them we stayed in Washington to confirm the president's appointees and pass the Save Act. So go get that done and you'll be honoring Lindsey Graham and you'll be improving something all conservatives want. We've all been told to eat fruits and vegetables forever, but nobody really explained why. What if I told you that plants have their own nutrition and that it might be better for you than a lot of processed stuff we've added? If nutrition feels overwhelming, it helps to take a step back and zoom out. When you eat whole foods, you're getting what's called phytonutrients.
Starting point is 00:16:39 Natural compounds your body uses to adjust repair and to respond every single day stresses. Balance of nature takes real produce and runs it through a tailored vacuum-cold process that stabilizes that phytonutrition. Their whole health system combines fruits and vegetables and fibers and spice, giving you 47 whole-fruit ingredients, and their phytonutrition is one simple routine. Their new freeze-dried snacks go through a similar process so your snacks can be whole-based, whole-food-based instead of just empty calories. Whole food, phytonutrition, plus balance of nature helps you fight the good fight. save over 30% when you subscribe at balance of nature.com, join hundreds of thousands of customers in one simple routine that's changing the world. You can get an additional 10% off your order just by using the discount code Charlie
Starting point is 00:17:28 when you purchase at balance of nature.com. That's discount code Charlie for 10% off your order. We're joined now by our friend John Doyle. He's the host of John Doyle show over at The Blaze TV. John, welcome to the program. Thank you. Glad to be back. We want to talk about a few different things here. I definitely want to have you help weigh in with various events going on with Iran.
Starting point is 00:17:54 But I know you like us were watching a lot of the events last week in Orem, Utah. We finally got to see all of the evidence laid out against Tyler Robinson. And certainly Andrew and I and all of us over here feel the evidence against Mr. Robinson is extremely strong. but as we also predicted, there's a lot of people, you know most of them, coming out to say, actually, all this evidence is fake, it's bogus, it's weak, this is an op job, they will never ever believe that Tyler Robinson did it, and they seem very committed to going down with the ship on this issue. And so since you've been monitoring it a lot, I wanted to take this big picture and ask, there seems to be a sort of conspiracy.
Starting point is 00:18:42 right subculture if you want to call them that. And we're trying to get out psychologically. What do you think is motivating this? I think this is the true long COVID, to be honest with you. I think the most devastating consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic has been that it's given people permission to indulge in like any conspiracy theory that they come across. And all of the people who, you know, have spent their entire lives, spent many decades just like broadcasting conspiracy theories, they've taken a very unearned victory lap or like they were right one time out of 10,000. and saying that, you know, the government's probably going to abuse the COVID lockdowns to take people's rights away and transfer wealth from the elites or from the middle class, rather,
Starting point is 00:19:20 to the elites. And that ended up being the case. But now there's like this kind of like perpetual indulgence in this where it's just like, yeah, we're going to believe every conspiracy theory must be true until proven otherwise. And then when you have something like objective evidence pertaining to a criminal proceeding, they will actually just like jump to other lily pad. So they'll say that this theory must be true. And then when you disprove it, they'll say, well, it's actually this other thing and this other thing. And so clearly this is not a person who's actually motivated by truth. They're more motivated by like the sport of participating in this kind of stuff. And perhaps they even find it entertaining. Like these are the same people who would watch,
Starting point is 00:19:52 you know, true crime documentaries or something on Netflix. And it just so happens that they've stumbled into a criminal proceeding that is actually like extremely important for the success of American patriots. And so I have very little patience for it. I think that a lot of it is quite curiously enabled and even actually promoted on social media. Whereas you remember, you know, we used to get banned for conspiracy theorizing on social media because the ultimate conclusion of the conspiracy theories were that I think the people in charge are trying to harm American citizens. That's probably bad. And so all of that would get you banned. My Twitter account was banned for years prior to Elon Musk's purchase of X because of this exact kind of, you know, question asking. Now, curiously,
Starting point is 00:20:30 not only are you allowed to ask questions, the most popular content on social media is asking these questions. And you notice it's because the vector of attack is different. Whereas the old conspiracy theorized and that used to get you banned was ultimately saying, hey, we should indict the global left who is clearly trying to work against the interests of the American public. Now the vector of attack when you just ask questions is specifically against the interests of the American public and their greatest advocates. You can conspiracy theorize all you want as long as the ultimate conclusion is, do not support Donald Trump, do not vote for Republicans, do not blame the left for assassinating Charlie Kirk. You do that. You can have your conspiracy theories
Starting point is 00:21:05 just so long as you don't actually blame the left. That's such an important point. That yes, it's that this is popular and that it specifically takes the form of people, at least nominally on the right, firing on other members of the right, really aggressively, constantly, nonstop. Do you think that it's a fluke that it happened this way? Or what do you think is driving that impulse to attack people mostly on their own side? I think, frankly, I mean, you know as well as I do. A lot of people who wash up into right-wing politics tried to make it in other aspects of energy. which you could argue is just a lifelong impulse to get attention for themselves. And maybe they try to go work in Hollywood and they're not talented enough. Maybe they try to be models and they're not pretty enough. They wash up into right-wing politics, which, you know, they already say politics is just Hollywood for ugly people. And that's certainly true where you've got this kind of like class of person who makes a living now talking about politics.
Starting point is 00:22:00 And they may even agree with the issues. But fundamentally, this is a person who was first driven by wanting attention, wanting fame, wanting fortune. And so then when opportunity comes knocking and it's like, hey, you can just kind of like sell out any moral principles that you may have had, but you'll get more attention and money than you've ever had before. This is a person who's going to be very quick, I think, to make that decision. And you notice now a lot of the people have been entertaining this kind of conspiracy theorizing, going against the legacy of their friend, encouraging or at least enabling, looking the other way during the harassment of his widow. All of this has made these people more money and more popular than they've ever had before. And so I think for that kind of person, it's like worth it ultimately. So as you mentioned, this used to get cracked down on Twitter. There was a lot of censorship of this sort of thing.
Starting point is 00:22:44 And I think you would agree with us. It's good that Elon Musk liberated Twitter and made it X. It's good that we have far less censorship, far more open free speech. It's almost unbelievable how much better things have become compared to 2020, 2021. So we don't want to go back. We don't want to go back to mass censorship. So then that's the challenge. How do we curb the influence of the conspiracy rights subculture?
Starting point is 00:23:12 How do we win people back from this without having to resort to the mechanism of actually that idea is just banned. We're going to censor it anytime it pops up online. To be honest with you, I literally have no idea. I have been asking this question to close friends for months now. This is sort of the thing. It's like, you know, because the democratization of anything is going to enable the assent of like the lower common denominations. whether it's entertainment, the political process, even the exchange of information. As you include more ideas, you know, the thinking is that the best ideas will rise to the top.
Starting point is 00:23:43 That's actually not true. And again, this is not an argument for censorship, because clearly we are in a better position to forward the truth and ideas than we were, you know, compared to five years ago. But the problem with that is now instead of the arrows being cast at the truth by, you know, the regime, the censorship apparatus, they're being cast at us by like just like stupid people who are not actually with us. that pursuit of truth, or rather just, you know, along for the ride because they find it entertaining and they're willing to derail the entire pursuit itself if it means it's going to be entertaining for them or tantalizing or something. So I don't actually know how you solve it. My strategy, I've just been trying to keep my head down, avoid the drama and just speak the truth. I've noticed a lot of people kind of mirroring that strategy, but still you've got this like incessant barrage of just like lies and just nonsense coming from those kinds of people. And once the
Starting point is 00:24:30 appetite develops in the audience for that kind of stuff. And other people who are maybe more on the fence, they're not necessarily trying to engage with it, but they're maybe not totally committed to just speaking the truth. There's like a critical mass that I think can be reached when those kinds of people see the rewards that are to be had when you engage in that kind of like bottom of the barrel slop. You get more money. You get more attention.
Starting point is 00:24:51 Those people who used to be respected, I've noticed, they're indulging in it a little bit themselves. And so I don't actually know how you solve that as the network model disappears, which used to hold people to some kind of like editorial standard. As that disappears, it's going to be very difficult to keep people on the right track. So I don't know, actually. It's a very, that's a million dollar question, I suppose. It definitely is a big challenge. But I do feel if, I hope I'm not just wishcasting here. We saw the events of the past week with the evidence laid out. I do feel like we maybe have, at least with Charlie and Tyler Robinson, reached and passed a peak that
Starting point is 00:25:28 now that there is more evidence on displayed and more people are speaking up, that at least some people are going to realize, okay, this isn't going to pan out. They're not going to suddenly find the secret trove of evidence that blows this wide open. Am I wishcasting there? Or are there signs that we might be reaching a turning point there? No, you're correct. I'm just a bit jaded, I think. It has been very heartening to see a lot of people who were indulging in this stuff, come out and say, look, I was fundamentally concerned about the direction of my country. I love Charlie Kirk. He was an arch patriot. I'm worried about what's going on here. And so they were viewing it from that, just asking questions, perhaps extending a bit of
Starting point is 00:26:08 undue charity to people like Candace Owens and going along this journey with them. And then ultimately they're saying, okay, wait a minute, this person was like clearly recklessly disregarding the truth and lying to me. And obviously we have this guy dead to rights. We have him at the place. You said we didn't. We've got his DNA. You said we didn't. We've got confessions. He said we didn't. Clearly, insofar as I'm concerned about like an objective pursuit of truth, the trial is going to be where I'm going to get that, not like the influencer class. So a lot of people have been seeing that. And even having the courage, frankly, to kind of like cast stones in the direction of these people and be like, okay, actually, no, you were lying to me. This is not about the
Starting point is 00:26:42 truth. This is you just trying to aggrandize yourself all standing on this guy's grave. That's wrong. And I don't like you anymore. I'm not going to continue to consume your content anymore. I've been very heartened to see that. I wasn't sure how much of that we were going to see. But it is good to see that people are speaking up about that because that kind of behavior is despicable to say the least. It sounds, I guess it sounds like a challenge for people like yourself, people, some of our lawmakers. It's something Charlie would talk about that sometimes you have a moral test of leadership and you can either pass that test by standing by the truth, even if it is temporarily unpopular, even if there are financial opportunities available if you
Starting point is 00:27:24 decide the truth matters less, or you can give into this and you can embrace that. And I think I'm very hopeful that we will see in the months and years to come that more people are going to be willing to follow Charlie's example, take that moral step up. So we want to talk a little bit about Iran. We've been in this on-off conflict with Iran for almost half a year at this point. And It looks like we're heading on a trajectory back towards conflict. There was a new wave of strikes on the country last night. As reported on Fox, let's show clip eight. Let's get started with what happened overnight as the president brings down his iron fist on Iran.
Starting point is 00:28:07 The U.S. pounded Iran for five hours last night. CENTCOM says they hit military targets across six different locations, but did not say if they struck pickax mountain, That's something the president said was a potential target for a nice big fat shot. Also seeing reports that the IRGC carried out drone and missile strikes on U.S. military targets in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. And a Dutch shipping firm says one of its vessels was struck off the coast of Oman. And so that's all unfolding. Meanwhile, President Trump, he announced he's reinstating the naval blockade. And he initially announced he was going to have a essentially a 20, essentially a 20.
Starting point is 00:28:49 20% fee on any ship transiting through the straight, not just actually blocking the ones to Iran, but anyone else paying a fee. And he explained his reasoning on this, clip six. Yeah, I want to be reimbursed because we're protecting a very rich portion of the world. We're spending money. And so what we've done is we are going to be reimbursed for protection. We're protecting by the countries that we're helping. But just a few minutes ago today, President Trump updated on that. There was a lot of furor over that announcement, but then he said, on truth, after highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% U.S. reimbursement fee with trade and investment deals that various Gulf states will be making in the United States.
Starting point is 00:29:35 Those investments will be massive, but at the same time extraordinarily good for them and their future. We have the largest dollar investment in the United States of any country in history. We will see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the United States. historic levels, which will create millions of high-paying American jobs. Most importantly, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. Thank you for your attention to this matter, President Donald J. Trump. So, John, you and I, we've talked a little bit about this war. We just had our chapter leadership summit, and we talked to the young people, and they said,
Starting point is 00:30:09 wars, there's not a lot of enthusiasm with it for young people. President Trump could probably improve his popularity by ending it, but it looks like we're continuing this this on and off path. So I want to ask you, you mentioned, we keep facing forward, we keep focusing on the priorities that matter. How should we be talking and thinking about this conflict? Yeah, you're absolutely right. You know, this is one of the things that sort of broken containment where obviously if you're online at all, you see that anytime anything remotely bad happens, people panic and flip out, but it doesn't usually get back to you in your real life. The Iran War has been something that people who I know personally who are usually apolitical,
Starting point is 00:30:46 maybe they have conservative instincts. They're very concerned about this. They're not happy about this. They're, of course, echoing what was repeated during Trump's 2024 campaign pertaining to no new wars. Now we are, in fact, in a new war. They're paying a lot more at the pump. This is going to cause a lot of problems, I think, going into midterm. So I would like to see this get wrapped up very quickly.
Starting point is 00:31:04 Just speaking about it, like, from a, I guess, right-wing perspective, Donald Trump has obviously always had maybe a hawkish position on Iran. He hasn't exactly updated that policy. And I think that the way things were going globally, this is probably going to happen regardless of who took office. Trump's approach toward Iran during 2024 was actually more diplomatic. I mean, he was saying he wanted to make a deal. This was much different than his rhetoric in 2015 when he said he wanted to blow their ships out of the water.
Starting point is 00:31:28 Kamala Harris's campaign was saying otherwise, you know, she was saying that Iran is our greatest enemy. They have American blood on their hands. And so it seemed to be the case that whoever got into office, there's probably going to be something going down with Iran. But I really hope that this wraps up quickly because we are far past our timeline. I was trusting the plan with the timeline. This is going to be over in a couple weeks. Now we are entering into about, like you said, a year of this kind of conflict.
Starting point is 00:31:53 We had the strikes last summer that was popping off. And so I hope that this gets wrapped up pretty quickly because I don't know how much longer I can justify this to my apolitical friends who I would like to see vote come November. Exactly. I think we remain hopeful. And maybe I'm seizing upon something here. But even in this recent Trump statement I just read, I like that he's saying we should be reimbursed by the Gulf. and specifically what the goal is, he's saying we're going to try to get factories, plants, and equipment pouring back into the United States. Because we've seen that these conflicts have been a way to expend American wealth abroad.
Starting point is 00:32:27 We've also seen prior administrations just deliberately ship American wealth, American expertise, American factories abroad. We've said we'll be richer and better off if these factories uproot from the U.S. and go abroad. So I find it reassuring that even when he's talking about conflict with Iran, President Trump is thinking, the goal here is make America stronger, make America build things again. Am I reading the right amount into this? We have about 60 seconds. Yeah, that's absolutely right. You know, his opposition to like the Iraq War was it was stupid because we didn't take the oil. You know, he is thinking in terms ultimately of what benefits the American public. And I trust him to handle this. What concerns me, though, is the sort of lingering trauma that like millennials and Gen Z have, having grown up in sort of the. era of the war on terror where we're used to spilling our blood and treasure in the Middle
Starting point is 00:33:13 East and getting nothing for it. And so I feel like that trauma response is so built in that anytime they hear there's another sand war, they're going to assume that it's for absolutely no reason or just getting sucked into something that doesn't benefit us. And so it's ultimately on the administration to communicate that more transparently to the public. This is actually in your interest. This is actually benefiting you much unlike what you may be used to in terms of ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. I think that's exactly right. There is a lot of trauma. and I think that's what's driven a lot of the response to this. That people, if you're a 20-year-old voter, we talk to them.
Starting point is 00:33:45 They're born in 2006, 2007, 2008. They have no memory of an America that wasn't mired in these wars, and it's made them very wary. But I think if he can guide this to a successful conclusion, I like to think that they'll recover. John Doyle, thank you for joining us. Great, as always. We'll see you soon.
Starting point is 00:34:03 Thank you. Gentlemen, let's get real for a second. Are you frustrated with today's woke dating scene, the apps, the games, the endless swiping? It's a waste of time. Finding a woman who shares your values, faith, family, patriotism, if it feels nearly impossible, it doesn't have to. Selective search, America's leading matchmaking firm is changing the game. They connect strong, successful men like you, men who love God, love America, want a family with women who share your values. These are intelligent, faith-driven women who put family first into people.
Starting point is 00:34:38 still believe in traditional values. Imagine that. If you're a single conservative man in his late 30s to early 50s in Southern California, listen up. Selective Search has an exclusive network of women ready for the real thing. Here's the best part. Their candidate program is 100% free and confidential. Some of our closest friends of the show have used Selective Search, and let me tell you, they're meeting great, great women, high quality women. This is your chance. This isn't an app. It's your answer. The perfect conservative woman. is out there waiting for you. Visit selectivesearch.com slash California today. Let the professionals introduce you to women already looking for someone like you in Southern California. Don't wait
Starting point is 00:35:21 for the perfect match. Take action now. Go to selectivesearch.com slash California and start building the future you deserve. We have the legendary Mark Halpern. He's editor-in-chief of Two-Way TV and host of next up on the Megan Kelly Network. Charlie loved hearing from him. I love hearing from him because we can trust him to give us a lot of insights on how Washington really works. So Mark, we're very glad to have you with us. And I might as well just dive right into it.
Starting point is 00:35:54 Lindsey Graham, he has been a fixture in Washington, basically my entire life. And I described him at this top of the show, his departure. It feels a bit like a, a generational changeover of the Republican Party. Am I correct in that statement or am I wildly off base? What do you think about that? No, I think that's right.
Starting point is 00:36:15 First of all, I like to think of myself as knowing about America rather than knowing about Washington. So I dabble in Washington, but I really, my concerns more of the country. You know, there's only one member left of the class of 94 in Congress, Roger Wicker, who's now a senator. And that class, of course, was a bridge between the Reagan Revolution and the Tea Party and then MAGA, which is, you know, the story of the conservative movement to a large extent since Watergate can be told, I think, in those four chapters, Reagan, the 94 Revolution in which Newt English led Republicans, their first-house majority in eons.
Starting point is 00:37:02 then the Tea Party and then MAGA and Trump. And Lindsey Graham spanned that by being a member of that class of 94. And part of why I think people are being so emotional about it in Washington and those who knew him is because he was, he does remind them of that history, of that bridge. And because he was relatively young and because he was kind of a kind of a sprang. guy and, you know, a jokester, I think people are sort of brought up a little bit short in thinking about if he's gone, just how much time has passed and that bygone era that's so resonant for so many. Yeah. And so, of course, I mentioned that he's well known for being a very hawkish Republican senator. He was well known for being one more sympathetic to immigration
Starting point is 00:37:56 reform, even amnesty. Yet, he held, he didn't change those views too much into the Trump. era. And yet at the same time, he was known as a senator who was very close with President Trump, who had a lot of ability to influence him. Can you describe to us? How was he able to achieve that? What were his political secrets to keeping his influence through changing times? So, you know, the left is criticizing him as kind of the ultimate Trump lap dog and mocking him and saying, you know, he sold his soul. And, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, And certainly to be really close friends with both John McCain and Donald Trump during this period is not something too many other people could pull off. He was fun to have around because he had a great sense of humor and because he had an active mind.
Starting point is 00:38:49 He loved to trade in gossip, which, by the way, for those of you don't know, the president loves to trade in gossip. Just fascinated by the real lives of real people, meaning the personal lives of people around him. in his court. And he was very media savvy, and of course, President Trump likes that. And then, although he differed with the president on some issues, he understood how to try to square the circle. He understood how to push the president towards where he wanted to go, but not push too hard to embarrass the president or to shame him.
Starting point is 00:39:25 And then I guess one more is he was great eyes and ears for the president on Capitol Hill. and the president loves gossip. He also loves political intelligence, and Senator Graham could provide that to him. Yeah, and he also, it just seemed he knew those little subtle ways, or maybe even not so subtle, I was reading just the other day after his death that he described his secret.
Starting point is 00:39:47 He says if you flatter President Trump too much, he's going to be suspicious. He's not going to go for it. He'll have contempt for you. But the best way to perhaps guy, his favorite secret was he would just tell President Trump, well, here's what President Obama would do in this situation, and he would just describe it. And President Trump had such this deep aversion to Obama.
Starting point is 00:40:08 He really disliked him. And that was a way to guide him in that direction. And was that just his special talent? He knew how to tell the story, tell the little, tell the anecdote that would make someone lean the way you want them to go. Like Trump himself, Lindsay Graham had high human intelligence. He understood how to read people. and part of why reporters loved him so much was because he knew he knew what reporters needed he knew what reporters wanted you read today in the new york times and and other lots of other places online on social media lots of you know liberal reporters love lindsay graham
Starting point is 00:40:43 and not because he was a liberal on some issues he was more moderate but in other issues like on national security stuff quite hawkish but he just understood how to give people what they wanted and you know not to play immature psychiatrist but if you look at someone who lost his parents when he was young who had to struggle and then search for father figures like Joe Lieberman and John McCain and Donald Trump. He's a people pleaser. And so he's a smart, funny people pleaser who could read people well. And I think that explains not just how he did what he did, but why it was so effective. So now he very abruptly is gone. And I suppose the natural question to ask is what does that mean? How is the Republican Party different? How is the dynamic in Washington different with Lindsey Graham for now, replaced by his non-politician sister,
Starting point is 00:41:32 and soon likely to be replaced by a different Republican. Is there any transformative effect, or am I overplaying this? No, I think there's minor transformative effects that need to play at on Capitol Hill. He was chair of the Budget Committee. He was the chair of a lot of subcommittees. He was a key vote and a key voice on a lot of issues. I think the Capitol Hill reporters, as they tend to do, are overriding that. Overriding that. emphasizing. I think all that will sort itself out. And I don't think the post-Gram world will be all that different in terms of the process of Capitol Hill. I think the biggest thing is his role on Ukraine and not, as some have said, because the hawks have lost their biggest voice. And perhaps this
Starting point is 00:42:13 will make President Trump less supportive of Zelensky. As I understood it before his death, the administration believed, realized that of all the people in Trump's orbit, the only one who could pressure President Zelensky to eventually make a deal when the time comes was Senator Graham because of his close relationship with Zelensky and his hawkish position. At some point, we hope, maybe this won't be the way it ends, but the most likely way the war ends is President Zelensky accepts a peace and security swap for giving up land that he doesn't want to give up and that the Ukrainian constitution suggests he can. So hold on. Am I hearing this right? I'm hearing this right that Lindsay Graham was the chief asset for achieving peace in Ukraine, a negotiated
Starting point is 00:43:01 peace in Ukraine. With a very specific task, which was to say to his friend Zelensky, trust me, this is the best deal you're going to get. I care about your security like you do. This is it. Take the deal. And it would require someone of his personal ties to Zelensky and credibility on security and anti-Pooten sentiment to sell that.
Starting point is 00:43:23 And I haven't talked to anybody about what their backup is, but he was the one who had the credibility to do that. And no one else does. So I think that could be the biggest change and loss from his passing. That's so interesting. That's why I love having you on you. You highlight those things that we don't necessarily think of otherwise. So, Mark, we're going to have a primary one month out from now. And it's something we very rarely see, an absolutely wide open primary for a seat in a relatively secure red seat.
Starting point is 00:44:01 What's happening right now? How are they maneuvering? What sort of stuff is happening behind the scenes or, frankly, in front of the cameras that our viewers should know about? Well, some people have taken themselves out who might have been picked. Others are burning up the phone lines. I was a little surprised that they chose a caretaker, Senator Graham's sister. but it does make a certain amount of sense because it's an anti-establishment time
Starting point is 00:44:25 and they wanted her for the symbolism, I think, to have the job. But my money and my eye are currently on Congressman Fry of South Carolina, someone who Donald Trump helped win, beaten incumbent who the president wanted to take out. He's currently on the ballot to run for his house seat, but South Carolina law actually allows you to run for both at the same time. So I suspect if he has the endorsement, about the president and the governor, and I suspect they'll endorse the same person. That's
Starting point is 00:44:54 where I'm looking. And in a primary like this, such a short turnaround, such a short time frame, I'd hard to imagine that the president's normal practice of endorsing the winner wouldn't sustain. And do you think it is just President Trump likely can, could he anoint the winner if he were to pick someone else? Would that person instantly become the favorite? I mean, if he picked me, if he picked me, no. Whoever he picks will be the favorite, without a doubt. And as you know, the president reverse engineers this a little bit. He endorses after folks tell him who's going to win.
Starting point is 00:45:29 He rarely takes a risk. In fact, in the gubernatorial primary in South Carolina a few weeks ago, the president had endorsed the lieutenant governor. When his aides told him the polling suggested she would lose, he did what he sometimes does. He endorsed a second candidate, Mr. Wilson, and he won the runoff. So the president, I, I, I, I think we'll probably pick one person who his team says if he adores this person, they're likely to win.
Starting point is 00:45:56 Yeah, I was just double-checking my message, and I said, we're going to talk about Graham. And as we know, Senator Lindsey Graham is not the only Graham. Since we last had you on, there's been a lot of drama with another Graham, Graham Platner out in Maine. Democrats, it seems like they basically, are we reading this correct from the right, that they looked at all of his scandals and thought, this is a loser. we need to pull something off to force him out and they just made it happen? Is that what unfolded? It's an interesting question why on mass, a critical mass of Democrats turned on him. As you know, some Democrats never supported him, even after he won the primary. Others opposed him until he won the
Starting point is 00:46:37 primary and then got on board. I talked to many Democrats, reasonable people who say the Nazi tattoo was enough for them. They would never support him. But he had the support of Senator Schumer and Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, et cetera. Why this one story, as horrible as the charges were, why that caused them all to drop? I don't know. I did write a piece for the free press yesterday. I'm not sure this increases their chances of winning.
Starting point is 00:47:05 I think Democrats assume that they couldn't win with Plattenor, but I'm not sure they can win with Adam as I look at the early jostling amongst the minor leaguers trying to replace him. Platner brought a lot of strengths to this. You know, he won the primary overwhelmingly. He was roughly even in the polling. He had an energy organization, a message, and that great voice, gravely voice.
Starting point is 00:47:26 And I look at these other folks, I'm not sure if they auditioned to be an extra and Pippin at Bayonne, New Jersey dinner theater that they would necessarily get cast. So we'll see. I think we'll know in a few weeks after they pick the person whether they've got what it takes to be an incumbent. Is there? So it does seem, yeah, they basically, as you said, he won the primary overwhelmingly. and the party establishment basically said, tough shakes, we're not going to let this happen. Do voters tend to feel burned by this?
Starting point is 00:47:56 Like, are there going to be Democrats who are just going to say, you took out our guy, I'm not voting? Or are they more likely to say, the most important thing is getting rid of a Republican? And, like, do they only have to worry about their candidate might be weaker? Or do they have to worry that they have alienated their base?
Starting point is 00:48:14 From everything I've seen, it's really more the former than the, the latter. I haven't seen much in talking to Democrats and listening to voters and reading other people's interviews with voters. I don't see much evidence that people are despondent because they recognize that Planner was a vehicle and I did a focus group a few weeks ago and all the people in it who were supportive of Planner, they didn't think he was some hero. They just thought he was the vehicle. Most of everybody who's running to replace him agrees with him on a preponderance of issues. They don't have his charisma. So I would imagine,
Starting point is 00:48:47 imagine the bigger problem than people saying, hey, you took out our guy, we're depressed, we're not going to vote for the Democrat. I think the bigger problem will be, I'm not that engaged with the race anymore because we don't have the excitement of Grand Platner. Mark, every time you're on, I just love to ask you. You are an expert on America, as you yourself said. So we are a few months out from the midterm election. What's your read on the overall state of things? If things stay as they are regarding the economy, how people feel about the direction of the country and the president. I think, excuse me, I think it'll be a very big day for the Democrats. Certainly take back the House, maybe take back the Senate, but that's still
Starting point is 00:49:27 subject to some individual races. Republicans have really helped themselves with redistricting. They really were benefited from a Supreme Court decision that allows them to coordinate how money is spent. And so the structural things benefit Republicans, the history and the current overview macro conditions benefit the Democrats. But let's see how people feel about the economy. Let's see where gas prices are. The inflation numbers today were better than expected. So let's see if the president can't, you know, nudges approval rating up, right track, wrong track up, even 5% would make a big difference for the party. Let's say, for example, if they were able to reach a deal in Iran, 30 seconds here,
Starting point is 00:50:08 could that do an overnight turn or is it getting to the point where it might be too late to fix that? Yeah, it would make a big difference, but so would have repelling a Martian invasion, which at this point seems just as likely as getting a deal with Iran. Brutally honest at times. That's why we appreciate you, Mark. That's why Charlie appreciated you. Check out Mark's work. He's editor-in chief of two-way TV, like we said. You can call in.
Starting point is 00:50:30 You can ask him questions. He's also next up on the Megan Kelly Network. Mark, always love hearing you tell it to us. So thank you for joining us again. Great to see you, man. Thank you for having me on my best, Andrew. Folks, let me tell you something straight up. I'm extremely picky about what I put in my body and what companies we support here. Blackout coffee checks every single box. This is a family-run American company roasting fresh coffee in the USA built by people who believe in hard work, freedom, and America. No global corporations, no fake activism, no lectures, just darn good coffee made by Americans for Americans. This is coffee that actually stands for something, and I drink it every. day right here on the show. From Morning Reaper and brutal awakening to 1776 dark roast and their
Starting point is 00:51:19 2A medium roast, they've got something for everyone. They even have instant coffee, real blackout coffee with no machine, no mess. Just add water, stir, and you're ready to roll. Go to blackoutcoffee.com slash Charlie and use code Charlie for 20% off your first order. That's blackout coffee.com slash Charlie. Blackout coffee.com slash Charlie. And for an even better deal, sign up for blackout coffee subscription. Save money, get free shipping, and earn free coffee through their rewards program just for drinking what you already love. Your coffee shows up fresh on schedule and you never run out. That's blackout coffee.com slash Charlie. Check it out. Promocode Charlie.
Starting point is 00:51:58 We just had our chapter leadership summit in D.C. I was there. Andrew was there. We had some panel discussions with kids. It was our biggest one ever. And I just wanted to talk more about it today because I think it's very important to highlight the work that Turning Point USA is continuing to do to reach the next generation. So we're joined by two people who just attended that event. We're joined by Preston Parsons. He's the Turning Point USA Chapter President at Texas Tech. And we're also joined by Sophia Hunt, who is a Club America chapter president at Westfield High School. Welcome to both of you. Thank you so much. Yes, thanks for having us on, Blake.
Starting point is 00:52:36 All righty. Well, Preston, I think I'll say, I'll say. start with you because I think you're a little bit older, so we'll go easy on our high schooler here. So just tell us what was it like being at this event, thousands of other young Turning Point Chapter representatives, meeting them, interacting with them, just give our audience the feeling of what it's like to be at one of these Turning Point youth events. Absolutely. First of all, I'd just like to say nobody puts on events like Turning Point USA does. It was a Turning Point USA event one year ago that completely changed the trajectory of my life and got me involved. And it was my first time in Washington, D.C., at the CLS, which was also an incredible experience, to be in
Starting point is 00:53:13 D.C. for the America 250 celebrations around thousands of other young patriotic Americans who share the same vision. It was an incredible experience, and the vibes were awesome, between the Club America kids getting to go check out Mount Vernon, the college kids getting to interact with each other and the various speakers, and, for instance, my group getting to run into you, Blake, you know, down there in the lobby of the hotel, getting to chit chat with you. But overall, it's phenomenal. And once again, no one puts on events like Turning Point USA. Oh, thank you so much. Sophia, was this your first turning point event of any kind, or what was it like for you? So my first turning point event was actually back in December of 2024. And ever since then, I've been
Starting point is 00:53:52 trying to attend every single Turning Point event. It's been a blast. I even had the opportunity of being one of the two high school students being selected to attend the Turning Point Gala in in Mara Lago back in December. But it was truly an amazing experience, one of the most encouraging events that I've personally ever attended. And it just brought together just student leaders from all across the country. And every single person is trying to make a difference in their schools and communities. And that always sticks out to me, especially with these events. The energy, it's just not only motivational. It's so uplifting. And we're given real advice about, like, leadership, like growing our chapters, standing firm in our values and just becoming better
Starting point is 00:54:33 representatives, like, of the movement. And I always feel so inspired. and just left feeling even more equipped to lead my chapter every time I go. And we were playing some highlights yesterday. Erica came to the event, delivered a speech just a few days after she was in Utah for the preliminary hearing. Either of you, maybe Sophia, first, what was it like to hear Erica's remarks? What sort of messages she have? And how is it compared to Charlie before her?
Starting point is 00:55:02 Wow. Well, Erica's speech, it was definitely, it was very powerful. and especially what stood out to me was what she said about marriage and just placing God always at the center of it. It reminded me of when I had the opportunity to have breakfast with Charlie Kirk just about one year ago from CLS. So last CLS, one of the very first things that Charlie Kirk had asked me was not about politics, not about my chapter and not about leadership. But it was he said, how is your dating life? And that really stood out to me. But it showed me how seriously Charlie and Erica viewed relationships and how.
Starting point is 00:55:36 in marriage and building your life on the right foundation, and that foundation is God. And their message was that a relationship cannot just be centered on two people or just the feelings. It always has to be centered on God. And we have to be willing to follow him and serve each other and recognize that marriage does have a greater purpose. And as a young woman that is thinking about her future, that was one of the most meaningful parts of the entire event. Preston, how about you? How did you feel from Erica's speech or any of the speeches that you heard while you were there? Well, as always, all of the speakers that are at the turning point events are incredible. They always had a really good message.
Starting point is 00:56:15 And, I mean, props to Erica. Before her speech, I got to visit with her a little bit at a private breakfast that morning, along with a bunch of other college students. And seeing the effect of the trial had had on her over the last week, the pretrial hearings, and still her willingness to show up in D.C., get up there and deliver a fantastic speech, was super motivating. You know, you heard the students cheering Erica, Erica, Erica, before she came on stage. She is the leader of this organization.
Starting point is 00:56:43 We all believe in her. We know that she is going to carry on Charlie's legacy, as we all are. And I thought that was really important with the theme of CLS. His legacy, your voice. And no one is doing it better than Ms. Erica Kirk. Yeah, exactly. And I want to actually, I want to shout that out that those breakfasts that some of you were able to attend with Erica in person. throw it out there to say any of you who are listening,
Starting point is 00:57:08 who are getting involved in Turning Point in your high school, in your college. If you get really involved, those are the opportunities that are out there. We love to identify promising leaders and get them close with leaders at Turning Point, get them opportunities to meet leaders of our country. Erica believes so strongly, Turning Point believes so strongly, in uplifting the next generation of leaders. Preston, a question for you, I imagine you were meeting a lot of
Starting point is 00:57:36 other college age young men who are highly motivated, highly driven. But what do you feel, and you can weigh in for yourself, what are the issues and ideas that are most motivating to conservatives who are in that age range under the age of 24 or so? Yeah, absolutely. Of course, the biggest thing is affordability. If I wasn't fortunate enough to be on scholarship, I wouldn't be attending college and I would have been in the military. And none of these experiences in Turning Point USA would have occurred.
Starting point is 00:58:06 And to see so many fellow Gen Z young men my age who are struggling with college debt, who are struggling with that issue, and not just college debt, but debt overall, we cannot afford homes. We cannot afford to get married. And we cannot afford to have kids. And that's one of the things I've enjoyed is seeing these clips resurface of Charlie one year ago at SAS talking about the three M's, right? He talked about maiden, marriage, and mating, right?
Starting point is 00:58:32 getting, you know, young people involved to be able to have affordable homes to be able to afford to have a family, to be able to have kids, that is by far the top issue. Because if we can't allow, if we can't, sorry, if we can't have those things happen, we really don't care about anything else that's going on politically until those core issues are met. So that mission is still going on. That message is still one that I hear to be the most prominent among young men in Gen Z. And Sophia, back to you. You're talking to young women. What's motivating high school-age women that are going to turning point events? Oh, wow. Well, for me, I definitely think that the value that is, like, heavily brought is that students realize that they're not alone, especially at these turning point events at school, especially when you hold conservative values, it can really, like people really realize that it can feel like you're the only person.
Starting point is 00:59:26 You feel alone sometimes. The only person willing to speak up is you. you. And then you come to CLS, you meet students like this from all over the country who are facing such similar challenges, but they always still choose to lead. In events like this, especially at CLS, and even talking with the girls my age, they always say that it gives them confidence. It gives them so many friendships and just practical tools and just such a strong sense of purpose just to take back home with them and to use. So that's wonderful. That's wonderful. I do, I think at such a point worth emphasizing that it can be, I think a lot of our viewers, you know, they maybe live in
Starting point is 01:00:04 rural areas. They're used to being around a lot of conservatives. If you're a young person on a college campus, we saw that shift a little bit in the 24 election where there were more young people open to it, but we know some of those have swung back. And we know some schools never swung at all. It can still be an isolating experience to be a conservative at your high school, at your college. And we love having that opportunity to gather you guys in one spot, realize there are thousands. Really millions of people like you out there. And a lot of them just need, they just need to be given the courage to stand up and speak up for themselves. Is there anything else that you really want to communicate to those who've never been to a turning point event?
Starting point is 01:00:46 What they should understand about it? Oh, wow. Absolutely. Well, I thought it was completely refreshing always. And you don't have to spend the entire time defending why you believe what you believe. leave at these events. And I feel like that's a big thing that we do within our school systems and within our communities. You can go deeper and talk about these things and those beliefs that you have and you can put them into action, especially with students at Turning Point. And I met students
Starting point is 01:01:10 with completely different backgrounds and experiences everywhere I walked. And we were all just so connected by our love for God, our love for our country and Charlie and just the desire to make a difference. So Turning Point events, you never want to miss them. Preston. How about you? Yeah, I'd just like to echo what Sophia said. And what you said, Blake, often when you're on your college campus, you're on your high school campus, you can feel like you're alone in this fight. But when you go to these events and you're around thousands of other patriotic young Americans,
Starting point is 01:01:39 you remember what this fight really is about, that you're not alone in this. And that despite what public belief is, we are actually the majority. And Gen Z is turning radically conservative in a very positive way. So it's super motivating to be around other people like that. And it's really encouraging. Like Sophia said, don't miss a turning point USA event. So after Erica's speech, we made an announcement for a brand new turning point event that we hope to add to our rotation of annual events. And I will say they played this one so close to the chest.
Starting point is 01:02:12 It was new for me when I saw the trailer as it went on. And so what this event is, it is Invictus the men's leadership summit. You women don't get your own exclusive leadership summit now. Now we have a women and a men's one, and we had this trailer for it. So let's play clip 14. Liberty is not man's idea. It is God's idea. We are in a spiritual war, everybody, that is beyond just the material that we are seeing.
Starting point is 01:02:45 Young boys and young men are looking for something to connect to that gives them purpose that says it's okay to be a man. Leave in strong, IT, high achieving, confident, well-onel. Armed and disruptive men are the Pope, not the problem in America. And at Turning Point USA, not only do we celebrate masculinity, we believe that masculinity is the answer to so many of our problems in this country. The stakes are high. We have only begun to fight.
Starting point is 01:03:32 I love everything about this. You can see how Charlie was so aware, You need different techniques to appeal to men. So, for example, we look at that October 9th through 11th this year, this fall, Southern California. Where's the location? I can't tell you. It's a secret. How do you go to this?
Starting point is 01:03:50 You can't just sign up. You actually, you've got to go. You can scan. Do we have that QR code? Throw that up if we have it. But if we don't, you can go to T.P.USA. Mensummit.com. That is T.P.USA.mensummit.com for more information.
Starting point is 01:04:05 This is for men aged 18 to 26, and you can register, you can apply, but that doesn't mean you get to go. They're going to be reviewing applications, interviewing the people who want to go, and the deadline is August 31st. So we want to be shouting this out now. This is not a thing you arrive at last minute. Another thing that's impressive about this, they announced there's going to be speakers and participants at this event. You will have heard of them, but we're not announcing them in advance because there are some people who want to be able to provide. advice and guidance with less publicity, maybe people in the business world. I don't know.
Starting point is 01:04:40 Like I said, they're playing this close to the chest. But this is going to be a new event for young men. We want to uplift young men. Preston, you're one of those young men. If you're applying, what kind of things are you hoping to see at a men's leadership summit? Blake, I am so excited for this event. I mean, you heard the cheers coming from the crowd. And this was announced after Erica came up.
Starting point is 01:05:01 And no offense, Sophia, you know, young women, you've had your summits, you've had your chance, but it's finally time for the young men to have this happen. And I think they're playing into it very well. They're playing into what we appreciate and what we need. You know, it's very hard for young men who are 18 to 26 to, you know, sit in a conference room for 10 hours and listen to some mundane speeches for hours on end. You know, we love being in the outdoors. We love going to the gun range. We love being mentored. He love having that discipleship. And we love being around whether it's business leaders or these, you know, influential men. in the conservative sphere, you know, that's what we strive for. And my generation of young men
Starting point is 01:05:40 specifically has been victimized so much from the COVID, you know, pandemic all the way through that. Young men have faced the most criticism backlash out of anybody. So to see some attention put on this and to see the opportunity for us to be around those people and get that mentorship is so exciting because we're going to be able to, you know, be around a lake. We're going to be able to go hike we're going to be able to be at a gun range and it's going to be an amazing experience. I'm very excited to see the direction of this. Awesome. And yeah, that's true.
Starting point is 01:06:13 They did mention there's going to be a more outdoor hands-on component stuff that appeals to young men because Charlie did. He cared so much about this. He cared about he knew young men. They get blamed for everything. They're told they're a problem if they're straight, if they're male, especially young white men that's always okay to discriminate against them. And these are the guys who have to assert themselves, reclaim America.
Starting point is 01:06:39 And I'm so glad that Turning Point is having an event to directly cultivate those young men who are going to change the future. Sophia, I don't want you feeling left out. So if you have a few seconds here, just what sort of men do we need to be raising these days? Ones that live biblically. And I truly believe that masculinity has been on a decline. but Turning Point is doing a great job of pouring in biblical values into young men now. I mean, I met so many at Chapter Leadership Summit just this past weekend, and it is not fading away, especially in the conservative realm. Exactly, exactly.
Starting point is 01:07:16 So like I said, deadline to apply August 31st, and there's selectivity for this event. So you can go there and apply, and then you'll get to find out where you'll be going in Southern California. I don't know where it's going to be. You'll get to encounter those speakers. I don't know yet who they're going to be. And I will say, we've always been rotating what our signs are. So I'm already nagging the team. We need to get that advertising sign up behind that chair
Starting point is 01:07:42 so that we can market it the same way we market. Women's Leadership Summit. I'm so excited for this. And I just want to say thank you to both of you, Preston and Sophia. Thank you for being a part of the Chapter Leadership Summit. Thank you for being part of Turning Points mission. And we look forward to everything that we're going to be able to build in the months and years to come. So thank you both of you guys for joining us.
Starting point is 01:08:08 Thank you so much. Absolutely. Thanks, Blake. All righty. So all of you young men, 18 to 26, or parents, if you have a son who's in that age range, nephew, a cousin, anyone. Tell them about Invictus, the men's leadership summit. Tell them to get their application in. They're not going to want to miss it.
Starting point is 01:08:24 For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to charliekirk.com.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.