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Christina Williams
This is an iHeart podcast.
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Mary Kathryn Hamm
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns? We got you.
Carol Markowitz
I'm Carol Markowitz.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
And I'm Mary Kathryn Ham. We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently.
Carol Markowitz
Normally is about real conversations, thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Carol Markowitz
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday Normally.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jack Armstrong
Broadcasting live from the Abraham Lincoln Radio Studio at the George Washington Broadcast Center.
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Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty.
Jack Armstrong
Armstrong and Getty. And now here's Armstrong and Getty. He did what was right for our nation. And so on that terrible day, September 10, 2025, our greatest evangelist for American liberty became immortal. He's a martyr now for American freedom. The Charlie Cook memorial yesterday, Charlie Kirk's memorial drew about 100 million people in viewership, according to ratings. I just saw. That's big. They had about 200,000 people show up in person. They got about 80,000 people into the building. It was five hours long and it was a combination of politics and tent revival. The next great awakening of Christianity in this country.
Joe Getty
Yeah, it was really interesting. I didn't watch the whole thing again. It was five hours long. But what I witnessed personally and the clips I've come across as well, the good, the bad, the ugly, the strange. It was a very American ceremony. And we'll play you some of the highlights and perhaps you might think, lowlights, I don't know, but that was Donald J. Trump, the president of The United States, who was the keynote speaker, the last fellow to speak. And he went on for about 45 minutes. What he just said there was beautiful, I think, and most can agree with it. Then he went on to say this.
Jack Armstrong
He was a missionary with a noble spirit and a great, great purpose. He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That's where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don't want the best for them. I'm sorry. I am sorry, Erica. But now Erica can talk to me and the whole group and maybe they convince me that that's not right, but I can't stand my opponent. That's interesting. As interesting take in it. It seems to have been, you know, ad libbed.
Joe Getty
Yeah. And you know what? It's. It's a lot more charming in the audio than it is in print.
Jack Armstrong
Sure.
Joe Getty
Because a lot of news outlets are going with that. And in the cold black and white of print, it seems very, well, cold. But I like the way he said, sorry, Erica, I'm trying. But, you know, it was. It was a very human. I didn't mind that a bit. Speaking of Erica Kirk, she wowed, as she seems to every time she opens her mouth. Charlie Kirk's widow and the new CEO for Turning Point USA said this.
Christina Williams
That man.
Joe Getty
That young man.
Christina Williams
I forgive him. Forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
Those who persecute us.
Jack Armstrong
And she's like, I'm looking up at the TV bank right now. She is on all three networks right now, the big networks, which don't mean anything, by the way, which is a part of the FCC discussion we'll get to later. But as Joe pointed out in hour one, tremendous amount of fair positive coverage from the mainstream media media about what she had to say yesterday, which was heartening. The lead up to her saying she forgives him was that the young man that killed her husband was the exact sort of guy, young man that Charlie Kirk was going around the country trying to reach with his message of the Gospels. Again, the emphasis from her was really more about spreading the word of Jesus. And then, you know, throughout the five hour speak a thon, there was stuff that leaned more toward, you know, the politics of it as opposed to spreading the gospel.
Joe Getty
Right. I think she's probably at least somewhat uncomfortable with the fact that Charlie is characterized over and over again as a proselytizer. For Donald J. Trump. Jesus Christ.
Jack Armstrong
So I think that's what I missed in the last week, because I was not. I'm not a young man, that's for certain. And I was not in the Charlie Kirk orbit. What I think I missed and most mainstream media is missing because how much of the mainstream media that covered his assassination, and since then, some of them didn't even know his name. And then some of them knew his name, but nothing beyond that. And then they all of a sudden are covering it. And it's just he was a surrogate for Donald Trump as opposed to he's a surrogate for Jesus. That's his main thing in life, is going around the country preaching the Gospels.
Joe Getty
And certainly part of the package of messages he brought to people went beyond that. Sure. But it was all about, you know, principles and holding them dear and which principles work for your life, which don't. Speaking of which, I think this is a perspective worth hearing. Clip 42. This is ABC News. Tens of thousands of mourners gathering at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona to honor slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
News Reporter
Attendees asked to dress in their, quote.
Joe Getty
Sunday best with red, white, and blue colors. Encouraged, the service was given the highest possible security risk assessment rating by the Department of Homeland Security. Local police telling our Jacqueline Lee that the stadium would be monitored by thousands of cameras and hundreds of law enforcement officers, some on horseback, others equipped with canine units and drone support. Lots of drone support, from what I understand, which was obviously missing on that dark, dark day.
Jack Armstrong
Right. Which, you know, we talked about this a little while you were gone. I was talking to a friend. In the world of security, it's unrealistic to have. Well, first of all, Donald Trump nearly got killed with presidential level security.
Joe Getty
Right.
Jack Armstrong
He came close enough to getting killed two different times with presidential level security, one of them after a previous assassination attempt. So you can't get better security than that. The idea that you're gonna have anything within, you know, miles of that for every controversial person that steps onto a college campus, it's just unrealistic.
Joe Getty
Wow. Wow. Yeah, true. So I think there was one more I definitely wanted to run. Well, here's a question for you, Jack. Do you want Marco Rubio being very sincere, speaking eloquently, or Tucker Carlson being weird?
Jack Armstrong
Man, I want actually have time for both. Yeah, I want to hear both of those.
Joe Getty
Yeah. Bring us Rubio first, Michael 47, please.
News Reporter
His deep belief that we were all created, every single one of us, before the beginning of time by the hands of the God of the Universe, an all powerful God who loved us and created us for the purpose of living with him in eternity. But then sin entered the world and separated us from our creator. And so God took on the form of a man, came down and lived among us. And he suffered like men and he died like a man. But on the third day, he rose unlike any mortal man.
Jack Armstrong
And then.
News Reporter
And to prove any doubters wrong, he ate with his disciples so they could see and they touched his wounds. He didn't rise as a ghost or as a spirit, but his flesh. And then he rose to the heaven. But he promised he would return. And he will. And when he returns, because he took on that death, because he carried that cross, we were freed from the sin that separated us from him. And when he returns, there will be a new heaven and a new earth and we will all be together. And we are going to have a great reunion there again with Charlie and all the people we love. Thank you and God bless you.
Joe Getty
That is not about Donald Trump.
Jack Armstrong
Yeah, that's not about Donald Trump. And that's what most of the crowd is there for, is that sort of thing. And I, and I do think that that has been missed the last week and a half.
Joe Getty
Yeah. And I meant to make the point after the clip from ABC News that they're now referring to. Charlie Kirk is a conservative activist which has evolved slightly from far right wing provocateur, which seemed to be the, the wording of choice. I believe this is, no pun intended, a turning point and a preference cascade, a term you've heard us throwing around lately. We'll talk about that a little bit more later in the hour. Let's see, is, is now the appropriate time, Michael, to speak to the good folks about our friends at Webroot. Yes, Webroot Transunion confirmed a breach recently. Over 4 million people affected. That's a wake up call, friends. Let's do this.
Jack Armstrong
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Joe Getty
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Jack Armstrong
Get 50 off Webroot total protection on Webroot essentials@webroot.com Armstrong webroot.com Armstrong again that is webroot.com Armstrong all right, ladies and.
Joe Getty
Gentlemen, I happen to be watching live when Tucker Carlson came on and he did his Tucker Carlson act. And it actually reminds me of my favorite story ever. So it's about 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem and Jesus shows up and he starts talking about the people in power and he starts doing the worst thing that you can do, which is telling the truth about people. And they hate it and they just go bonkers. They hate it and they become observed, obsessed with making him stop. This guy's got to stop talking. We've got to shut this guy up. And I can just sort of picture the scene in a lamp lit room with a bunch of guys sitting around eating hummus, thinking about what do we do about this guy telling the truth about us? We must make him stop talking. And there's always one guy with the bright idea. And I could just hear him say, I've got an idea. Why don't we just kill him? That'll shut him up. That'll fix the problem. It doesn't work that way.
Jack Armstrong
I get it. Yeah, I understand exactly what he's saying. They thought they would.
Joe Getty
It was unhinged visually.
Jack Armstrong
Oh really? I see. That's interesting that that's the way you describe it because I've only heard that and read about it and it sounds like a pretty good description of what happened. You got Jesus spreading the word and being disruptive to the powerful and they thought, well, we'll kill him. And that did not shut him up. He's making the point about Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk was got killed. And that is not going to shut him up or end his movement either.
Joe Getty
No, no, indeed. Quite the opposite, I believe. I think it's worth noting as a semi professional communicator that Trump's words were made much more human and, and endearing by hearing the actual audio as opposed to the print. Where Tucker's were made to seem much more reasonable and acceptable in print than the audiovisual, which again I found, I mean, he was like cracking himself up over the cleverness of his comparison. It's just weird.
Jack Armstrong
Tucker did say some strong things anti Pam Bondi following Trump's orders over the weekend. That I was happy to hear. The right and left seems to have joined hands. Normal right and left have joined hands in the no, we can't call hate speech. We can't start cracking down on something called hay speech hate speech. And we need to talk about that later because I think that's a good movement, maybe a turning point itself. Lots of stuff on the way. Stay here.
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Mary Kathryn Hamm
Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Ham.
Carol Markowitz
And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
Carol Markowitz
That's why we started Normalely, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
Carol Markowitz
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.
Carol Markowitz
And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
Christina Williams
Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously the goal is a championship. That's there's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Kristina Williams, host of the podcast in case you missed it with Christina Williams, the WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
It's really, really hard to be the champions. But we have to remember how it feels, feels and embrace the new challenge.
Christina Williams
That we have for all the biggest stories in women's basketball, plus exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way and we're hoping to, you know, make it run. So listen to In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, an iHeart woman sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
Jack Armstrong
You know, Tucker Carlson was clearly right in his comparison that, you know, in the attempt to shut down Jesus's message, they killed him. And it only amplified the message. I think that is almost certainly true of Charlie Kirk. I mean, his organization is going to be bigger than it's ever been. His wife is going to continue to lead it. So people who were, you know, doing touchdown dances about him dying, thinking that shut up that voice are just wrong, just factually wrong. But then, you know, the killer, he, he was just, he just had the whole trans thing, I think, is what drove him.
Joe Getty
Right, right. And a disaffected hyper online gamer, unplugged from reality. Troubled kid. Just terrible. The Babylon Bees headline, to your point, Jack, 12 million Charlie Kirk's created overnight, which I thought was a good one. And they retweeted or just showed a note from Matt, who's part of Turning Point USA. He writes, we have 18,000 new chapter requests since Erica spoke. We had 9000 college chapters and 1100 high school chapters prior to this. This is the turning point, which I thought was really interesting. And then I came across, with help of honorary producer Jeff. Thanks for sending along Jeff Glenn, Harlan Reynolds, who is the writer and thinker I've been quoting when talking about preference distortions and preference cascades. And he writes on this topic, preference cascades, where large portions of the public, often a majority, conceal their views for fear of punishment, which leads to everybody having a distorted view of who thinks what, what percentage of people think what anyway, only to reveal those views when some precipit event takes place. And his classic example includes the fall of some communist regimes like Romania, where the dictator Ceausescu himself thought everyone loved him until shortly before he was stood up in front of a wall and shot because everybody despised him, but everybody was afraid to say so. Anyway. He says usually those things happen in one direction. But in contemporary America, they're happening in two. The murder of Charlie Cook at the hands of a leftist gunman has revealed that many.
Jack Armstrong
I gotta jump in with a Kirk.
Joe Getty
Did I say Cook? Yeah, and I'm reading it.
Jack Armstrong
Isn't that weird?
Joe Getty
I know. It's so odd. The murder of Charlie Kirk at the hands of a leftist gunman has revealed that many, many more Americans and even people elsewhere around the world supported Charlie and his views and was commonly appreciated. And he goes into New Zealanders in London doing dancing the Hakka dance in his honor. People all over the US as well as Rome, London, Germany, Israel. Charlie's views, uniformly disparaged by the press's far right, are in fact mainstream, generally held by the majority of people. His assassination has caused people to step forward and realize that the normal American community is a huge majority. I like that. Normal Americans as. As. You know, as if Irish American, that sort of thing. As Jonathan Turley writes, Charlie was brave and he was brash. He refused to yield to the threats while encouraging others to speak out. On our campuses, he was particularly hated for holding a mirror to the face of higher education exposure. Exposing the hate and hypocrisy on our campuses. For decades, faculty have purged the ranks of conservatives and libertarians. Faced with the intolerance of most schools, polls show that a large percentage of students hide their values to avoid retaliation from faculty or their fellow students. Charlie chose to change all that. TP USA challenges people to engage and debate them. People are getting the courage not to hide their views, which is problematic for the left, whose strategy has consisted of using bullying and propaganda to convince 80% of Americans that the view and other people. We'll just say the population. They've used bullying and propaganda to convince 80% of the population that the views of the 20% of the population are in the majority. Not anymore.
Jack Armstrong
That could be a turning point. That's very interesting. Vice President Vance gave quite a emotional and emotional speech as he and Charlie Kirk got close over the last couple of years. He said, it's better to die a young man in this world than sell your soul for an easy life with no purpose, no risk, no love, and no truth. Which got a lot of cheers.
Joe Getty
Yeah, we ought to grab some quotes of JD Surprised we don't have them, but maybe for later in the show.
Jack Armstrong
Will this event actually break through and be looked back at as a point of inflection? I don't know. It's difficult to make a dent in the modern world. Everything comes and goes so fast.
Joe Getty
I don't think it'll be a sitcom or a rom com moment of inflection. It's going to take a long time and a lot of hard work.
Jack Armstrong
But yeah, I think it is. Kamala Harris's new book coming out got some fun highlights and I almost got.
Christina Williams
Attacked by a Bear Armstrong and Getty.
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Mary Kathryn Hamm
Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.
Carol Markowitz
And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
Carol Markowitz
That's why we started Normalely, a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
Carol Markowitz
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of normally every Tuesday.
Carol Markowitz
And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
Christina Williams
Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously the goal is a championship. That's there's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast. In case you missed it with Christina Williams, the WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments. You won't find anywhere else.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge.
Christina Williams
That we have for all the biggest stories in women's basketball, plus exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way and we're hoping to, you know, make it run. So listen to In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams, an iHeart woman sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.
Jack Armstrong
But it's true.
Joe Getty
Kamala admits Waltz was never her first choice.
Jack Armstrong
It's the fastest she's turned her back.
Joe Getty
On someone since Willie Brown asked her to roll over.
Jack Armstrong
Terrible. Terrible. That's the crowd reaction I like to that not particularly good joke. Okay, coming up, drama in real life, nearly eaten by a bear. Or anyway, it was enough that we ended up packing up our campsite at 4:30 in the morning and leaving in the dark because neither one of us could get back to slee sleep after the bear. So that coming up in a little bit, that joke about Kamala Harris. Kamala Harris's book, I assume is coming out eventually. It keeps being talked about. It's been going on for months with more. It's probably not even that long a book. Pretty soon all the excerpt, the entire book will be out in excerpts.
Joe Getty
And it's ironic is nobody wants to read it.
Jack Armstrong
No, not really. But Mark Halpern makes this point today in his newsletter. Before I get to some more bits of the book, a super anti Trump New York Times Kamalist Trashes Kamala Harris and her new tome to such a degree in the New York Times this weekend. That gives one a clear indication of how difficult it would be for her to gain enough support to compete for the Oval Office. As in, you know, if the anti Trump New York Times is going to trash Kamala Harris this bad, where's her support going to come from if she decides to run? I don't think she's going to run.
Joe Getty
But no, no, not if, not if she has any grasp of reality.
Jack Armstrong
I don't think she has any grasp of reality, but I just don't think the money's gonna come together in enough people that she won't be able to get any of the talent on board. Any who. Back to the book being reviewed in the New York Times. A couple of parts that I thought were interesting or funny, even bought before the disaster of a debate had ended. We all know what debate we're talking about. Kamala writes the campaign staff had sent her wildly unrealistic talking points to guide her in television appearances. You know, obviously she's got to go on TV after the debate, and her staff was figuring out what she was going to say that night.
Joe Getty
The president had a cold. He was slightly tired from, I don't know, flying around the world flapping his.
Jack Armstrong
Arms, including Joe Biden won. He fought through his cold as he was fighting for the American people.
Joe Getty
Oh, that's good. That's gold right there.
Jack Armstrong
Harris's reaction in the book is italicized as it points out here. There are a couple of sentences in italics that say, are you kidding me? No, don't feed me that bull. S. And as the reviewer writes, it's not clear if she actually said that to someone. She's describing what she thought or she's describing what she wished she had said. But it's not clear which she kind of gotta make clear. You don't get to many, many months later, you know, throw in a what. What should have happened.
Joe Getty
Well, right then, that's what I said. You said that? Well, I thought it.
Jack Armstrong
The. You remember the old camp Obama people took over a campaign there at the end to try to right the ship. And David Plouffe told Kamala Harris bluntly, people hate Joe Biden. Which is one of the reasons that those around her couldn't understand how she ended up on the View. And I was reading a segment about this the other day. She didn't realize at the time what a disaster her View appearance was. And then it just blew up.
Joe Getty
Her phone blew up.
Jack Armstrong
All of her campaign aides phones blew up. That's when she went on the View and was asked the question, what would you do differently than what Joe Biden did? And she said, nothing comes to mind. Which is one of the worst answers ever.
Joe Getty
I mean, because there are. There are like, forceful, energetic ways to say the same thing. I mean, saying the same thing's a bad idea. But she said the wrong thing poorly.
Jack Armstrong
Right? Because the way she said it indicated, probably accurately, that it never occurred to her to think about it. You've never thought for a second running for president and working under a president about any things you would do any differently. Nothing comes to mind. I mean, it's just a sor. Horrible, weak answer. If you. If she had said, absolutely not. I stand by every decision Joe Biden made. I was in the room when those decisions were made and I agreed with him, that'd be fine. You'd be way better off than nothing comes to mind or some load of.
Joe Getty
Crap like we didn't fight hard enough, we didn't push far enough for these policies. I believe in X, X, Y and Z. I mean, did somebody tell her you're actually a candidate right now? You need to have ideas or somebody else's ideas that you parrot.
Jack Armstrong
And I think it just shows to how she has no political skills, that she had zero idea that that was like the biggest disaster of the entire campaign.
Joe Getty
And you know what's so crazy about our political system is I, you others have been saying for a very long time she has no ideas, she has no principles and she has no skills. And every time she is thrown up against the electoral wall, the populace says, no thank you, we're not interested. But because she somehow made the grade, she's a person on tv, a name they keep looking to her. Again, stop.
Jack Armstrong
Well, the critique of this book from this reviewer is that even in her book she quotes others ripping Joe Biden or Joe Biden's staff apart. But she doesn't say anything strong at all, which is such classic Kamala Harris. I better not. I mean, she's just so cowardly and so risk averse. So she quotes her husband with a strong statement about they hide you away for four years, they give you impossible s jobs, they don't correct the record when those are mischaracterized, blah, blah, blah. But she doesn't herself say anything in the book because she doesn't want to have to defend it or something. I don't know, but I thought this was interesting. Democratic luminaries immediately after Biden left the race hoping to enlist their support. And her recollections of the exchanges nicely capture their personalities. Hillary Clinton said, I want to be part of your war council suiting up for battle. When contacted by Kamala Harris immediately, Barack Obama said, michelle and I are supportive but not going to put a finger on the scale right now. Which he came out and then, well, leaked out that he thought there should be some sort of primary. Bernie Sanders was on brand. Please focus on the working. Please focus on the working class, not just on abortion, which is a very Bernie thing to say. And Nancy Pelosi said we should have some kind of primary, not an anointment. Said that to Kamala Harris, which ended up not being what happened. Another call was to Pete Buttigieg. You're going to be a fantastic president, he said. And Harris admits in 170, 107 days that the transportation secretary and expert dismantler of Fox News interviewers was her top choice for running mate. I love Pete, she writes, but she felt that the American people were not ready for a gay vice president in addition to a black female president. He would have been an ideal partner if I were a straight white man. Again, just pointing to her risk averse, non daring weakness. I think Pete would have been a way better choice to be her running mate. I mean, he's like the Marco Rubio of the left. He's good in all of those situations. But no, he's gay. So maybe I'll just. I mean, it just shows what kind of person she is.
Joe Getty
Yeah, I mean, he's a phony. He's a complete phony. But he's politically skilled.
Jack Armstrong
Oh, he's really good at it.
Joe Getty
Yeah. It wasn't that we couldn't take a woman of color and a gay dude. It's that we didn't want to Dunder Payton a phony.
Jack Armstrong
Well, right. Instead she went for the I'm reading from the New York Times. Instead, she went for the rumpled everyman vibe of Governor Tim Walls of Minnesota, who later disappointed her.
Joe Getty
Yeah, I know a lot of men and not only is he not every.
Jack Armstrong
Man, he's not any of them. Well, that.
Joe Getty
He's a wuss and a liar and a putz and a phony.
Jack Armstrong
That's the thing. So you didn't think people could handle Pete Buddha Edge because he was great gay, but you thought, I'll get this guy who's going to represent the regular person on the black female ticket. He was about the least every man, as you point out, as you can imagine. And I'm a knucklehead at times.
Joe Getty
Somebody characterized him. I wish I had it in front of me because it was so clever. But essentially, Tim Waltz is the left's idea of what a regular guy is, right?
Jack Armstrong
Exactly, exactly. Also in the book, when Trump said in an interview that Harris had only recently embraced her black identity and a campaign advisor encouraged Kamala to respond with a major Obama style speech. Race. Kamala Harris shut him down instantly. Today he wants me to prove my race. What's next? He'll say I'm not a woman and I need to show him my vagina. I'm not going to say anything. So again, I'll pass. But.
Joe Getty
I see your point.
Jack Armstrong
How about we just agree you're a woman? Look, I don't have to look at it.
Joe Getty
Right.
Jack Armstrong
But again, classic Kamala Harris, I'm not gonna give some forceful remark just because they're demanding it. Okay, good luck with that. She is weak at every turn.
Joe Getty
Yeah, yeah. And again, the American people have. Have spoken that as loudly as possible, repeatedly. But the establishment still turns to her. And not any. I don't think.
Jack Armstrong
No, no, no, no, no, no. The New York Times is the establishment and they are shunning her. And then again, this similar. She resists her interview on the View where she said she couldn't think of even one thing she would have done differently from Joe Biden. And then she writes in the book, she does a period after every word. If you've seen this done or used it yourself to, like, be extra dramatic, why didn't I separate myself from Joe Biden? Harris wonders. In the book, her answer is that she didn't want to embrace the cruelty of her opponent and that she felt she owed Joe Biden her loyalty.
Joe Getty
Once again, suck at your job.
Jack Armstrong
Once again, just weak, not daring. Just the opposite of a Barack Obama or a Donald Trump or anybody who, like, really goes for it and ends up winning.
Joe Getty
Yeah, but explain then, dear. And again, keep your knees together.
Jack Armstrong
Explain, please, why you didn't say something.
Joe Getty
Like, I support everything he's done. We've got to keep fighting. We've got to push farther. We've got to ask for more. Blah, blah, blah. I mean, that's a dopey non answer. But nothing comes to mind.
Jack Armstrong
Well, again, and it was the. So she clearly had never considered one of the most obvious questions you're ever going to be asked. That makes you an idiot. And I don't. Your answer is good. Except for if David Plouffe is coming to you, one of the smartest political minds in America and saying people hate Joe Biden.
Joe Getty
Right.
Jack Armstrong
Then feel free to distance yourself. It's not gonna hurt you any. That's what people are wanting, right?
Joe Getty
100% true. I was just trying to illustrate the lowest bar. Like the bar is laying on the ground. You literally just have to step over the bar. They haven't even put it on the little brackets yet.
Jack Armstrong
What's next?
Joe Getty
You couldn't clear that I have to.
Jack Armstrong
Show him my vagina? No.
Joe Getty
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Jack Armstrong
So your transition was people don't want to see Kamala's vajayjay and people don't want their homes broken into.
Joe Getty
Why do you dwell?
Jack Armstrong
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Joe Getty
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Jack Armstrong
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Jack Armstrong
Probably should pay off the nearly eaten by a bear story at some point and expect to be disappointed. And of course you tuned into the show expecting to be disappointed. You're a longtime listener.
Joe Getty
That guy got it by a tiger just the other day. So obviously you know the animals are hungry. They got a plot going. We need, we need to take a.
Jack Armstrong
Look at free speech in America. As the Attorney General is talking about hate speech. That's not something conservatives are supposed to that that's a no go term for conservatives hate speech. But we got a lot on the way. I hope you can stay here Armstrong.
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Mary Kathryn Hamm
Hey there. I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.
Carol Markowitz
And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.
Carol Markowitz
That's why we started normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.
Carol Markowitz
We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
So if you're into common sense, sanity, and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.
Carol Markowitz
And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen.
Christina Williams
Would you guys consider anything less than a championship to be a failure from this year? I wouldn't say anything is a failure, especially because we all grow every day. Obviously the goal is a championship. That's there's no doubt in that. And that's the goal. We want to win a championship. I'm Christina Williams, host of the podcast, in case you missed it with Kristina Williams. The WNBA playoffs are here and I've got the inside scoop on everything from key matchups and standout players to the behind the scenes moments you won't find anywhere else.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
It's really, really hard to be the champions, but we have to remember how it feels and embrace the new challenge.
Christina Williams
That we have for all. All the biggest stories in women's basketball, plus exclusive interviews with the game's brightest stars. So to be here, I think it's one that we definitely don't take for granted. But we also know, you know, that's just one stop along the way and we're hoping to, you know, make it run. So listen to In Case youe Missed it with Christina Williams and iHeart women's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and entertainment on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.
Jack Armstrong
Talk show hosts are going down like blockbusters in the 90s. I mean, well, I guess you all heard Jimmy K. My friend, my compatriot, he's canned by ABC for comments he made about Charlie Kirk's assassin. The day right after the FCC guy came ahead of the FCC said he's going to revoke ABC's license. Let me just tell you something. I am not intimidated by the fcc. And if President Trump is watching, I have one thing to say to you. Have you lost weight?
Joe Getty
You look terrific.
Jack Armstrong
That's funny. Jon Stewart did a similar thing. He did a rare Thursday night appearance on the Daily show where he mockingly fawned over President Trump to try to keep the FCC away from Him. Of course the everyone should know the FCC's got nothing to do with cable or satellite or anything else. It's got to do with broadcast license for things coming over the air from TV and radio. And it's an anachronistic, antiquated way to look at the way information is distributed. We're going to talk about the whole Jimmy Kimmel First Amendment FCC thing to.
Joe Getty
Kick off our three hate Jimmy, love the first Amendment.
Jack Armstrong
What percentage of people who will ever watch Jimmy Kimmel watched it from airwaves coming to their home? 1%, maybe less.
Joe Getty
Oh, I don't know about that.
Jack Armstrong
But be very very low.
Joe Getty
I don't think I know anybody who watches him at all. So I'm the wrong guy to ask.
Jack Armstrong
Well, who's watching TV comes to to an antenna in your house.
Joe Getty
Yeah, I know, I know, very funny.
Jack Armstrong
Anywho, we'll talk about that later. So I, Joe has talked about bears and camping and stuff like that. And I hear people talking, I've heard people talking about it my whole life. Bears and cougars. I've never worried about bears or cougars. I just, I treat them like lightning strikes. It's like they're so incredibly rare. The reason they make the news is they almost never happen. So I just never think about it. I walk through the, you know, I got to get up and pee in the middle of the night and walk outside in a tent. It doesn't cross my mind for whatever.
Joe Getty
Reason maybe that makes me behind every leaf.
Jack Armstrong
Do you? So I never worried about it. So I went to this place to camp way up Northern California.
Joe Getty
Four and.
Jack Armstrong
A half hour drive north of where I am and I'm already in Northern California and beautiful right by the ocean and cold waves crashing on rocks and, and giant redwood trees and maybe you can picture it and it's, it's absolutely beautiful. And part of the advantage you get from driving far enough is there are no people around. Very, very low population of camping up there. And Henry and I did a seven mile hike on Saturday that was just freaking glorious. Fantastic. Although my legs are still sore from it as also while I was on that hike thinking about that ridiculous. Would you rather encounter a man you don't know or a bear when you're walking through the woods? And most women said bear which is just the craziest, dumbest thing I can possibly imagine having had my beer experience. But anyway, at this campground, more than usual because I've been there before. They had signs everywhere, bear activity. We've had bears in the campground a lot lately. So no food around, lock it in your car. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Watch out for bears. And again, because I just, I treat them like lightning strikes. I just didn't think about it much other than following those guidelines because I know that's just a smart thing to do. And I did. As I was going to bed on Saturday night, I remembered I had a bag of bacon in my backpack in the tent. I thought, oh, that's a horrible idea. Idea. As I was going to sleep. So like 10:30 at night, I get up and I grab my backpack with bacon in it and go put it inside my truck and close the door. Anywho, apparently there had been enough food in the cooler. I'd taken everything out of the cooler and it was full of ice and everything like that. This big, really big, like too long and heavy for one person to carry cooler. And it's sitting right next to the tent. Apparently it still smelled like meat or whatever. I'm sound asleep. Sleep. It's 4 o' clock in the morning. I'm sound asleep, Henry, sound asleep. And I was kind of having that thing where I think the noise I'm hearing is a dream. So I didn't really make any. Just bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, really loud. And then I realized, wait a second, that's right next to us and what is going on? And bang, bang. I really. Holy crap, that is like up against the tent. Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. And. And I just immediately thought, that's got to be a bear trying to get into the cooler. And that is what it was. I did not stick my head outside, but I woke up. Henry said, henry, there's a bear. What are we supposed to do? Because we had talked about bears and he's a boy Scout and it was. What is the saying? It's a black make a racket, brown lay down and white say goodnight. Those are the rules for bears.
Joe Getty
Wow. No need to bring race into this. That was problematic.
Jack Armstrong
But anyway, we start screaming and yelling and clapping our hands and everything like that. And then eventually it was quiet. I stick my head out and the bear had upended the campsite and everything like that and taken off. And neither one of us were going to go back to sleep. So we packed up everything and left at 4:30 in the morning. But I couldn't sleep after having a bear like two feet from my head.
Joe Getty
Were the bears who you thought they were?
Jack Armstrong
They were, I believe, yes. We got a lot more about free speech and whatnot in hour three. I hope you can stick around.
Joe Getty
Freedom Armstrong.
Christina Williams
And Gettysburg.
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Joe Getty
Ugh.
Jack Armstrong
Come on.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
Why is this taking so long?
Christina Williams
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Mary Kathryn Hamm
You want smart political talk without the meltdowns? We got you and I'm Carol Markowitz. And I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm. We've been around the block in media and we're doing things differently.
Carol Markowitz
Normally is about real conversations, thoughtful, try to be funny, grounded, and no panic.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
We'll keep you informed and entertained without ruining your day.
Carol Markowitz
Join us every Tuesday and Thursday Normally.
Mary Kathryn Hamm
On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Christina Williams
This is an iHeart podcast.
Date: September 22, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty
This episode tackles the assassination and memorial of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, delving into the political, cultural, and religious implications of his death and the national response to his memorial. Armstrong and Getty discuss the memorial service, reactions from figures like President Trump and Erica Kirk, media coverage, crowd sentiment, security concerns, and the ripple effects on conservative activism. They also transition into a critical, humorous discussion of Kamala Harris’s new book and campaign missteps, the state of free speech, and the current media environment.
Context & Scale:
Jack Armstrong: "It was five hours long and it was a combination of politics and tent revival. The next great awakening of Christianity in this country." (01:45)
President Trump's Eulogy:
Donald Trump (quoted): “He did not hate his opponents. He wanted the best for them. That's where I disagreed with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don't want the best for them. I’m sorry. I am sorry, Erica.” (03:29)
Erica Kirk’s Forgiveness:
Erica Kirk: "Forgive him because it was what Christ did and is what Charlie would do. The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us." (04:43-05:17)
Media and Security:
Mainstream vs. “Far-Right” Labels:
Senator Marco Rubio’s Speech:
Marco Rubio: "His deep belief that we were all created...by the hands of the God of the Universe, an all powerful God who loved us and created us for the purpose of living with him in eternity..." (09:00-10:13)
Tucker Carlson’s Appearance:
Tucker Carlson: “Why don’t we just kill him? That’ll shut him up. That’ll fix the problem. It doesn’t work that way.” (13:10)
Ripple Effect on Conservative Activism:
Joe Getty: Glenn Harlan Reynolds writes, “The murder of Charlie Kirk has revealed that many more Americans...supported Charlie and his views...which are in fact mainstream, generally held by the majority of people.” (19:52-21:37)
Bridging right and left against legal crackdowns on "hate speech"; both hosts see this as a potential "turning point" in resisting government overreach and defending free speech. (14:14)
Touch on recent firings in media (i.e., Jimmy Kimmel) and the FCC's relevance—questioning whether broadcast licenses even matter in the modern, internet-driven media landscape.
Jack Armstrong: “It's an anachronistic, antiquated way to look at the way information is distributed.” (42:08)
Book Insights & Campaign Woes:
Jack Armstrong: “If she had said, ‘Absolutely not. I stand by every decision Joe Biden made...’ you'd be way better off than ‘nothing comes to mind.’” (29:21)
Joe Getty: “She has no political skills, that she had zero idea that that was like the biggest disaster of the entire campaign.” (30:15)
Running Mate Choices:
Media and Elite Support:
Bear Encounter Story:
Jack Armstrong: “I couldn't sleep after having a bear like two feet from my head.” (46:58)
Ongoing Satire:
Joe Getty: “Once again, suck at your job.” (35:45) Jack Armstrong: “You're a longtime listener—expect to be disappointed.” (38:13)
Erica Kirk: "The answer to hate is not hate. The answer...is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us." (05:14)
Jack Armstrong: "That's not about Donald Trump. And that's what most of the crowd is there for, is that sort of thing. And I do think that that has been missed the last week and a half." (10:14)
Joe Getty: "...preference cascades, where large portions of the public, often a majority, conceal their views for fear of punishment...only to reveal those views when some precipitant event takes place." (19:52)
Joe Getty: "She has no political skills, that she had zero idea that that was like the biggest disaster of the entire campaign." (30:15)
The episode weaves together a detailed look at the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination—its cultural, religious, and political reverberations—and a scathing, humorous analysis of Democratic Party politics and media. Through personal stories, guest soundbites, and sharp banter, Armstrong & Getty provide listeners with both a sense of the seriousness of recent events and the absurdity of the political world’s ongoing dramas.