America's Economic Boom + Sydney Sweeney Sends Liberals Into a Rage Spiral

Summary

Podcast Title: The Charlie Kirk Show
Host: Charlie Kirk
Episode: America's Economic Boom + Sydney Sweeney Sends Liberals Into a Rage Spiral
Release Date: July 31, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, host Charlie Kirk delves into the recent economic developments in the United States, highlighting the impressive performance under former President Donald Trump. Additionally, Kirk explores the cultural backlash sparked by actress Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle advertisement, which has ignited accusations of Nazi propaganda from liberal critics. The episode features insightful discussions with Stephen Moore, author of Trump's Economic Miracle, and Douglas Mackey, who faced legal challenges for sharing a political meme.

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Trump's Economic Boom

Timestamp [00:00 - 03:13]

Charlie Kirk opens the discussion by emphasizing the remarkable economic growth experienced during Trump's administration. Inviting Stephen Moore to the conversation, Kirk highlights the skepticism Trump faced from leftists predicting an economic downturn.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Moore [01:40]: "Trump is hitting it out of the park... The news today of 3% economic growth for the second quarter. That's higher than any quarter, I believe, in the four years that Biden was president."

Moore underscores the contrast between leftist predictions of a recession and the actual economic data showing robust growth. He attributes this success to Trump's strategic trade deals and policies that fostered a fairer playing field for American industries.

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Trade Policies and Tariffs

Timestamp [03:13 - 07:16]

The conversation shifts to the role of tariffs in promoting free trade. Despite Moore's initial reservations about tariffs, he acknowledges Trump's adept use of them as negotiation tools to compel other nations to negotiate fairer trade agreements.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Moore [04:35]: "Trump was able to get all these countries to give America a freer and fairer level playing field... I can't keep up with the guy, frankly."

Moore praises Trump's negotiation tactics, noting how the threat of high tariffs led to successful agreements that benefited various American sectors, including agriculture and manufacturing. He also touches upon the surprising acknowledgment from traditionally left-leaning publications recognizing the effectiveness of Trump's trade strategies.

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Debt Crisis and Economic Growth

Timestamp [07:28 - 11:54]

Addressing concerns about the national debt, Kirk and Moore discuss the importance of sustained economic growth as a solution. They debate the challenges Congress faces in agreeing to spending cuts and emphasize the necessity of maintaining growth rates to manage the burgeoning debt.

Notable Quote:

Stephen Moore [10:26]: "If we get to 3% growth and we stay on that path... we start bending that curve down and over the next 30 years, we actually alleviate the debt crisis."

Moore advocates for a growth-centric approach, arguing that increasing GDP significantly can generate more revenue and reduce debt ratios over time. He expresses optimism about the current economic trajectory set by Trump's policies, despite ongoing concerns about government spending.

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Douglas Mackey's Legal Battle

Timestamp [16:44 - 25:53]

A poignant segment features Douglas Mackey, who was nearly imprisoned for posting a humorous meme during the 2016 election cycle. Mackey shares his harrowing experience of being arrested, facing federal charges, and the personal toll it took on him and his family.

Notable Quote:

Douglas Mackey [16:44]: "This has been the most difficult thing I've had to endure in my life... The stress on myself, my wife... it's been extremely costly."

James Burnham, Douglas's lawyer, explains the legal maneuvers that led to Mackey's exoneration, highlighting the government's overreach and misuse of power to suppress free speech.

Notable Quote:

James Burnham [19:37]: "This is maximum intimidation... just a horrible tragedy."

The discussion underscores the importance of defending constitutional rights and holding the government accountable for unjust prosecutions.

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Backlash Over American Eagle's Ad Featuring Sydney Sweeney

Timestamp [28:20 - 34:40]

Charlie Kirk critically examines the controversy surrounding Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle jeans advertisement, which has been labeled as Nazi propaganda by certain liberal factions. Kirk deconstructs the backlash, arguing that the ad's content is misinterpreted and blown out of proportion.

Notable Quote:

Charlie Kirk [29:03]: "Despite that backlash, American Eagle stock has been soaring... it's obviously you're jealous."

Kirk juxtaposes the reaction to Sweeney's ad with past advertisements featuring icons like Brooke Shields, suggesting a double standard in how similar content is received based on current cultural attitudes. He questions the sudden outrage and connects it to broader cultural shifts and frustrations among young men.

Notable Quote:

Charlie Kirk [30:10]: "They are calling young men fascists. So let's actually play the ad in question."

Through this segment, Kirk highlights the polarized nature of cultural discourse and the impact of media narratives on brand perception and societal divisions.

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Conclusion

In wrapping up the episode, Charlie Kirk reiterates the significance of economic growth in addressing national debt and lauds Trump's economic policies. He also emphasizes the ongoing struggle against governmental overreach, as exemplified by Douglas Mackey's case. The episode concludes with a call to action for listeners to support Mackey through memedefensefund.com and underscores the importance of defending free speech and economic prosperity.

Notable Quote:

Charlie Kirk [35:19]: "Thanks so much for listening, everybody. Email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com thanks so much for listening and God bless."

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Key Takeaways:

• Economic Performance: The U.S. economy showed robust growth under Trump's policies, defying leftist predictions of a recession.
• Trade Policies: Trump's strategic use of tariffs effectively negotiated fairer trade agreements, benefiting American industries.
• Debt Management: Sustained economic growth is essential to managing and reducing national debt over the long term.
• Free Speech and Government Overreach: Douglas Mackey's case highlights the dangers of governmental suppression of free expression through unfounded legal actions.
• Cultural Polarization: The backlash against Sydney Sweeney's ad illustrates the deepening cultural and ideological divides in American society.

This episode offers a comprehensive analysis of current economic trends, governmental policies, and cultural conflicts, providing listeners with a conservative perspective on pressing national issues.

Transcript

[Charlie Kirk]

Hey, everybody. Charlie Kirk here live from the Bitcoin.com studio. Trump's economic boom. Douglas Mackin nearly went to go to jail for making a meme. And then, what is this American Eagle ad all about? Nazi propaganda. We address that. Email US as always, freedomarliekirk.com and subscribe to our podcast. That is the Charlie Kirk show podcast page. That is the Charlie Kirk show podcast page. Get involved with Turning Point USA [e-mail] that is tpusa.com Buckle up, everybody. Here we go. Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

[Stephen Moore]

Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

[Charlie Kirk]

I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.

[Stephen Moore]

Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks. I want to thank Charlie. He's an incredible guy, his spirit, his love of this country. He's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point usa.

[Charlie Kirk]

We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country. That's why we are here. 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 [e-mail] that is noblegoldinvestments.com it's where I buy all of my gold. Go to noblegoldinvestments.com joining us now is Stephen Moore, talk all about Trump's economy, author of Trump's Economic Miracle and senior economic contributor and for FreedomWorks, let's go to Stephen Moore. Stephen, great to see you. Thank you so much for the time.

[Stephen Moore]

Oh, my gosh, what a day. I mean, I cannot believe these numbers that came out today. Charlie, Trump is hitting it out of the park. And do you remember five months ago when all the leftists said, oh, Trump is gonna cause a second great depression. He's gonna destroy the economy. The market's going to crash. We got the news today of 3% economic growth for the second quarter. That's higher than any quarter, I believe, in the four years that Biden was president. This economy is cooking right now.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yes. So let's take a step back. So the GDP comes in stronger than expected. Again, the media is not covering any of this. So let's go to cut 382 better than expected. Let's go to cut 382, please.

[Stephen Moore]

Up 3%. Up 3% better than expected. That would be the highest level since the third quarter. Of 24 when it was up 3.1% on the consumption side, up 1.4. Very close to estimates. Up 1.4 would be the best since the last quarter of 24.

[Charlie Kirk]

And Steve, this is without the enactment of some of the additional Trump tax cuts, like full depreciation. And so it conceivably could get even better. But, but, Steve, one of the things that I think is important here is how wrong the expert class was on this. Remember back in spring, in spring they said that, you know, we're barreling towards a recession. JP Morgan says odds of reception are increased. Recession are increasing the credential class. Your thought, Steve Moore?

[Stephen Moore]

No, that's exactly right. I mean, you know, we have something in our hotline today. And if people want to get that, just go to unleashprosperity.com and sign up. It's free. But we had this great piece that Paul Krugman, who won a Nobel Prize, probably the leading economic voice on the left, who's saying Trump is going to crash the economy, he's going to destroy the American economy. And here we are. I doubt he's going to issue an apology for that. By the way, I was wrong when I saw the economy in April. Remember, the stock market was down by 2,500 points and it just looked kind of glum. But Trump has pulled off all of these trade deals one after another. And you know me, Charlie. I'm not a big terrorist tariff guy. But he's been able to get all these countries to give America a freer and fairer level playing field, which is huge for America's farmers, our manufacturers, our car producers, our dairy farmers, our tech companies. I can't keep up with the guy, frankly.

[Charlie Kirk]

So I want to actually zero in on that. You're not a tariff guy. But do you now think differently about how Trump has used tariffs to get to a free trade aim, how tariffs can actually be a tool? Can you dive into that? Spend some time, Steve, because you're not against tariffs in implementation, but are you now open to tariffs as a tool towards a freer market?

[Stephen Moore]

So that's a great question. And so let me, I think we all know if anyone who's an economist knows that trade is what economics is all about. Charlie, if you and I trade voluntarily, by definition, we're better off. I give you something you want, you give me something I want. That's the essence of what economics is all about. And so, you know, Milton Friedman always taught us that free trade is critical. One of the most important things for an economy. But what was happening is we were charging fairly low tariffs and all these other countries, as Trump was saying, were ripping us off because they were charging these very high tariffs. And so what Trump was basically, remember, he said, oh, we're going to charge 50% tariffs on these companies, countries. That was, that was prototypical Donald Trump. He always opens with a big number. And that scared the, excuse my language, the crap out of the Europeans, the Japanese, the Chinese. I mean, they have to, they have to have access to America's markets because we're the alpha male economy. We're the, we're the $20 trillion consumer market. And he used these threats of tariffs in a very strategic way to force these countries. I mean, do you remember, Charlie, three months ago when the Europeans said, oh, to hell with Trump, we're never going to make a deal with him, Remember that?

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, I do, I do, yeah.

[Stephen Moore]

And then what happened, what happened two days ago? They came to the negotiating table and you. So it's a perfect example of, of how Trump uses America's. He, what he's doing, Charlie, is he is flexing America's economic muscle and putting the country first. And that has a lot of these Europeans and the Chinese very indignant because you know what it's like we took the kick me sign off of us.

[Charlie Kirk]

No, that's exactly right. And so, and so, Steve, the free trade dogma, though, they were so critical of Trump. Do you see amongst the intellectuals, the intelligentsia, at least an admission that Trump was right and that his way of proceeding here was correct. Are we going to see any, any contrition?

[Stephen Moore]

Good question. It's a little early to say, but I have, I have to say I've seen a couple of, I think it was the New York Times of all places, don't quote me on that. It was one of the more left leaning publications saying, hey, Trump's policies on trade seem to be working. And I thought, wow, that's an admission. But how can you conclude otherwise? We have high growth, we've got a record high stock market, we've got 8 million surplus jobs, we've got fairly low inflation. It's a little higher than we'd like it to be, but fairly low. You've got consumer confidence in an all time high. You got business confidence. Good. I mean, Charlie, point to me, one thing that's going wrong.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. And so that's actually the good segue to the question I want to ask. What, if any, is there an economic metric that has you concerned that could be a gateway to A recession. If, if not addressed, what would have.

[Stephen Moore]

You, you know, I don't want, I don't like trade wars. So I still worry about that. It keeps me up at night. But Trump is winning on these things, country after country. And incidentally, we. One of the things, again, this is so vintage Trump. I've learned a lot from him, just watching him and being around him. So what he's done is, you know, when he, remember when Liberation Day came out, I mean, America crashed, everybody, oh my God, the world's coming to an end. And then what happened is a few of these countries said, hey, we'll make a deal. And then a few more countries said, maybe we'll make a deal. And as more and more countries came to the negotiating table, what did that do? It put pressure on Japan, it put pressure on Korea, put pressure on China and the Europeans who as a, I said three, two months ago, they said, hell no, we're not going to make a deal with you. And there they were yesterday, signing on the dotted line. So Trump is truly a master negotiator. I do worry sometimes he might go too far on the terrorists, but so far it's been a home run. You and I both worry about out of control government spending. I think the thing that really worries the most is we have, you know, we have a $7 trillion budget. We, you know, I give Trump some credit. They, they cut 10 billion out of it. Oh my God, the left went crazy.

[Charlie Kirk]

Like everybody' to die is outrageous because I'm afraid that if there was any concern that I have, it's a debt crisis. I think that the economy is actually fundamental, is pretty good, employment's pretty good, growth is good, money velocity is good, consumer spending can get a little better. But we could potentially see a debt crisis. And I want to address that. Private student loan debt in America totals about $300 billion. Why refi refinances private student loan debt and they do not care what your credit score is. Many clients aren't even able to make minimum monthly payment on their private student loans when they first contact yrefi. Go to yrefi.com that is yrefy.com youm don't have to ignore that mountain of student loan statements on your kitchen table anymore. So go to yrefi.com do you have a co borrower? Well, why refi can get them released from the loan and you can give mom or dad a break. Go to yrefi.com can you imagine being debt free and not living under this burden anymore? So go to yrefi.com that is yrefy.com let's face it, if you have distress or defaulted private student loans, there's no better place to go than Yrefi. They provide you with a custom loan payment based on your ability to pay. They're not a debt settlement company. So check it out right [e-mail] may not be available in all 50 states. Go to yrefi.com that is yrefy.com Steve Moore is with us. Steve, I'm not overly concerned about this, but can you at least go from a macroeconomic view that when we have a debt burden like we have, the only solution we have is growth plus some cuts. We got some cuts in the one big beautiful bill. I wish we would have gotten even more. But President Trump did not get what he wanted. A lot of moderate Republicans blocked him. So therefore we have to go all in on growth. Is that, is that assessment one that you agree with?

[Stephen Moore]

I do, I do. And you know, the, I've been saying this for the last five years or so to any Republicans or, you know, politicians who will listen that, you know, you've got, we could get, if we can get to 3% growth. In other words, if you look at those scary charts that saw the debt going up and up and up and up and up into the stratosphere over the next 30 years, those are very, very frightening numbers. They show our debt going to 200% of GDP, which would be ruinous for our country, but they project 1.7% growth annual. Well, to that I say, hell no. The U.S. economy over the last hundred years has grown at 3 to 3.5% per year. And Trump gets this. You grow the economy, you get more revenues, you get less people collecting. We welfare, you get higher, you know, payroll taxes from people working. And we've, we saw that, by the way. You saw what happened in June, didn't you, with the, with the deficit actually fell in June because the economy is doing so well. So you are absolutely 100% correct, my friend. If we get to 3% growth and we stay on that path which Trump has now put us on, we start bending that curve down and over the next 30 years, we actually alleviate the debt crisis.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. And so let's also put 422 up on screen. That is the debt. The debt will nearly double. That's right. The debt will nearly double in 30 years. And so growth is the path forward.

[Stephen Moore]

Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

And yet getting, getting Congress to be able to agree to cuts is basically Impossible. And I'm sure you can agree with that, Steve. They seem so reluctant or recalcitrant to be. To engage with any spending cuts whatsoever. And so, Stephen, take Steve. Let's just kind of broaden this one final time here in the time we have remaining.

[Stephen Moore]

Yeah.

[Charlie Kirk]

That, that we. That the. The next 18 months to two years to have proper growth is essential. And if we don't, we could have a European sovereign debt crisis.

[Stephen Moore]

So I'm going to send you a chart, Charlie. I'm going to send it to you and your. Your manager who manages this show, and I want you to show it on the air tomorrow, because I'm going to show you that chart you just put. Can you put that chart back up for a minute?

[Charlie Kirk]

Yes.

[Stephen Moore]

Okay. Because I want people to see that chart.

[Charlie Kirk]

It's coming back up.

[Stephen Moore]

So here's the thing. I'm going to send you a chart that's a variation of that, that shows what happens if you have 3% growth. And you know what? That chart that's so alarming, it starts to bend down and it goes down. By the way, if we got 3.5% growth in 30 years, we start paying down the debt. So that's why growth is important. One other quick thing, because I know time is tight. It was Ronald Reagan, and I'm very proud to have worked for Ronald Reagan. I believe he belongs on Mount Rushmore for what he did for our country. He used to say that the closest thing to immortality on this earth is a federal government program. And I believe that for 30 years. But guess what? Did you see what happened last week with Trump's rescission package? He got rid of 20 programs. Mm.

[Charlie Kirk]

What. What else was. Is in that rescission package that we should know of?

[Stephen Moore]

Oh, we got rid of. For the corrupt foreign aid. You know, we've spent half a trillion dollars on foreign aid. I don't think it's helped any person except the globalists. We got rid of the. Remember the electric vehicle mandate that Biden said everybody has to buy an electric car? We got rid of that. We got rid of PBS funding. And by the way, I occasionally watch pbs. I'll watch, but. But you know what? Why can't people want to watch it? Why should they? Why can't they pay for it? I mean, Elmo is one of the richest guys on the planet, even richer than you are. Why do we have to be subsidizing? So we got rid of that. We got rid of all these programs. You never even heard of all these global. This Global that blah, blah, blah. Why are we spending, sending all this money abroad when we don't have, we can't pay our bills here at home.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. And by the way, NPR got a surge in private donations. Good. It shows that you guys could have been funding yourself without government money. That's the whole point. Go fund yourself through private donations like we have to do at Turning Point USA. At Turning Point USA, we raise over $100 million a year, 5, 500,000 donors. We don't get any money from the U.S. treasury. And you have to prove that you deserve to exist.

[Stephen Moore]

And by the way, you get money because you provided value added to the American economy and that's why people fund you. And that's fantastic. Love what you're doing.

[Charlie Kirk]

Well, thank you. Thank you means a lot. Steve and I agree we do have a value add, whereas npr, it's now going to have to justify its existence. Same with pbs. Thank you so much, Steve. Really appreciate it. Thank you. You too. I visit hundreds of campuses every year and I see it everywhere. Kids are struggling to deal with their emotions and it's taking a serious toll on their mental health. That's why I'm excited about Angel Studios newest family film, Sketch. It's a fun, creative story about a little girl who drops her sketchbook into a magical pond and suddenly all her wild, messy drawings come to life. It's beautiful, a little bit adventurous, and yes, even a little scary. But at its core, it helps kids learn how to face, process and cope with their feelings in a healthy way. This is something I've been telling you about for a few months now. So if you're already a Premium Guild member, you have your two free tickets and if not, then become a premium Angel Guild member today and get two free tickets to see Sketch in theaters August 6th, plus access to Angel's full streaming library of high quality shows and films that your family will almost certainly love. If you're ready to see more movies like Sketch, movies that are fun, hilarious and meaningful, go to angel.comcharlie and become a premium Angel Guild member today. If you're ready to see more movies like sketch, movies that are fun, hilarious and meaningful, go to angel.comcharlie and become a premium Angel Guild member today. Joining us now is a great man who was persecuted by our own government is Douglas Mackey. Remember memedefensefund.com and also his lawyer, James Burnham, managing partner at King Street Legal. Douglas, so glad to see you free and winning your case. Douglas, take some time right now to tell the story to Our audience, in your own words, what happened to you?

[Douglas Mackey]

Thank you, Charlie. I posted a joking meme in the 2016 election cycle saying that you could text your vote for Hillary Clinton, stay home, avoid the line, blah, blah, blah. And I found this meme on 4chan and just shared it, thought it was funny. Four years later, two days after Joe Biden was inaugurated, they got a warrant from irs. Seven days after Joe Biden was inaugurated, I got the knock on the door from the FBI. I got arrested. I was convicted in 2023 for a conspiracy against Rice for posting this meme. The judge said I should report to prison. On January 18th of 2024. We had to go to the appeals court just to get a bond saying that I should at least be able to wait for the appeal to go to prison for posting a funny meme. They, they claimed it was a conspiracy to steal people's votes against their rights. And we had a very strong appeal and a great legal team, including Jones Day attorneys. And we just got the news a few weeks back that we won the case. And the reason is because the government brought a case with insufficient evidence and no rational jury should have convicted me on these charges. That maybe that's why they brought it in. The, in Brooklyn, New York, which is one of the most diverse and liberal left leaning districts in the country, even though there was no connection to Brooklyn. So I'm extremely grateful to be vindicated and very grateful for all the support I've gotten from everybody, from my family, friends and the media, of course.

[Charlie Kirk]

So, I mean, this is important. I mean, telling jokes is a crime. It was in the Soviet Union. Telling political jokes under Stalin could land you in a Gulag for 10 years. In Nazi Germany, laughter was basically treason. Jokes about Hitler were considered acts of treason and defeatist humor. North Korea, comedy doesn't exist. Xi Jinping, they have a, they have a ban in China on the Winnie the Pooh meme. You cannot use the Winnie the Pooh meme in China. It's true. All Winnie the Pooh imagery of Xi Jinping has been banned from the Internet. Memes, jokes or cartoons using the likeness of Xi Jinping as Winnie the Pooh is banned in Iran. Humor is blasphemy. Jokes about religion in the Ayatollah or modesty can lead to imprisonment. Cuba, well, only one part of humor only. You can only have shows critical of America, but not of the regime. Venezuela comedians who mocked Chavez or Maduro were threatened, censored, or sometimes even forced into exile in East Germany. Stasian whisper jokes same Thing in Saudi Arabia or Turkey. This is a primary attribute of a totalitarian country. James, I want you to come in here. Your managing partner at King Street Legal. You represented Douglas. Douglas. James, what did you learn about the government, their case, and the overextension of government power during Douglas's story?

[James Burnham]

Yeah, so, I mean, there's like. There's, like, three things I think are worth highlighting. So the first is just. I want to emphasize the timeline, because the timeline in this case is really, really deeply offensive. Doug. Doug sent the meme in the 2016 election. That's the Hillary Clinton election. Okay? The Justice Department lawyers in Brooklyn did whatever they did for the entirety of the Trump administration. They investigated it. Whatever. They waited until the second day of the Biden administration to send a team of armed federal agents. Guns, the jackets, the works. Maximum intimidation. They don't normally arrest nonviolent offenders in real cases, let alone fake cases. They sent a team of armed people to arrest Doug on the second day of the Biden administration. You know, you talk about totalitarian regimes and totalitarian tactics. That is maximum intimidation. Biden won. Now you're screwed. We're coming after you. That meme is making fun of Hillary, and that's not acceptable. So I just think that timeline's so important on the substance. Look, the theory of the case is ludicrous. They charged Doug under a statute that was passed after the Civil War to deal with, you know, the Ku Klux Klan blockading polling places in Alabama or whatever. Lots of people conspire to forcibly deny the right to vote. Okay? They did not pass the statute about memes. Americans have a constitutional right to send memes. Our founding fathers and the revolutionary generation were powered by memes. The Gadsden flag is one of the most famous memes in American history. Such a point, process and substance. Just a horrible tragedy. And then the last thing I want to say, just because I think it's a fun fact, the lawyer who actually won Doug's appeal in the Second Circuit, my former partner at Jones Day, I used to work there, Yaakov Roth, is now the number two official in the civil division at the Justice Department. So the president has brought in the people who overturned this injustice, and now they're working for him to defend him against all the people who are trying to stop his administration from making America great again.

[Charlie Kirk]

So, Douglas, what did this do to you personally? I mean, again, you had the feds come raid you and come after you right after Biden wins. And James is exactly right. This is Moscow show trial stuff. It's all about intimidation, show of force, trying to make an example. If you dare criticize the regime, we will raid your home and we'll put you in jail. Douglas, what did this do to you personally? The demoralization campaign? All you did was share a funny meme and you were facing federal prison time. Douglas.

[Douglas Mackey]

Yeah, this has been the most difficult thing I've had to endure in my life. You can imagine the effect had on myself, but also my friends and family seeing me get arrested. And then it's on the news. They leaked it to Rachel Maddow. I wonder how that happened. So she led with it on her broadcast. So you can only imagine. And all the people, the fortunately, as they saw the facts of the case, they realized that I was innocent. But you can imagine federal criminal case, millions of dollars of legal fees. I didn't have any ability to pay. I said, how in the world am I going to pay for this? Very fortunate that the American people rallied around me and helped me find the case. But even then, I still owe a lot of money on this case. Those bills have not been paid in full. And it goes, the list goes on and on. The stress on myself, my wife, who we got married during the middle of the case because we said, look, we can't wait forever to get married. Who knows, this could take 10 years. So we got married. Then right after we got the marriage date, then we hear the trial is going to be like six weeks after the wedding. How's that for a honeymoon? I found out that my wife was pregnant at the very beginning of the trial. And I was sentenced later that year in October. And so my wife was hospitalized with a difficult pregnancy. I had to leave her at the hospital, jump on an airplane to go to my trial. Excuse me, my sentencing as soon as I touched down in Brooklyn, New York, because I live in Florida now, I get the news that she has to have an Emergency C Section, 8pm that night. Can't wait. So I had no choice but to just go to the sentencing in the morning and then go after to see my wife and new baby son. And it was extremely difficult. We were in the hospital for months in the nicu, all while dealing with a federal criminal case. We had no idea if this I was gonna have to report to prison. We had to, like I said, get a bond. And you can imagine how much money it costs just to appeal a bond. And to have this looping over my head for so long is extremely stressful. And the personal cost. Imagine all the people who think that I'M the kind of guy who would go steal people's votes. I mean, the defamation. So it's been extremely costly.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. And so, James, what now is the legal path forward? Is Douglas suing the federal government because this seems like malicious prosecution.

[James Burnham]

Yeah, absolutely. So justice for Doug has sort of two components. The first one is to try our the best we can to get the government to make Doug whole for what happened to him. You know, no amount of money can ever give him those years of his life back, but hopefully we can at least get him some justice by suing the government. Process wise. The way that works, the district court is going to issue a definitive dismissal of the case soon. He won the appeal. It comes back, the case goes away. And then we go to the Justice Department and we file a claim on Doug's behalf with the department. I have every confidence that the Attorney Attorney General Bondi, Deputy Attorney General Blanche, and the rest of the great Justice Department team are going to want to make this right and make things whole for Doug. So that's one part, but then the other part is making sure that there's accountability for the people that did this to him so that it never happens to anybody again. And so that means making sure that there's a proper investigation into what happened. You know, we don't know what happened here. The defendants in criminal cases have very few tools to get information from the government. So we need to work with the Justice Department to do a real internal investigation into what happened here. Was it all politics? Was it just malevolent prosecutors? What happened? And then we need to find ways to hold them accountable. And that could include suing them personally. It could include misconduct complaints with the department. And we're not going to stop at anything until we both made this right for Doug and done everything we can to make sure that this never happens again in the United States.

[Charlie Kirk]

Final thoughts. Douglas, how can the audience support you and help you give some final marching orders here? Douglas Mackey, who nearly went to federal prison for a meme.

[Douglas Mackey]

Thank you, Charlie. You can follow me at Doug Mackey case. And you know, like I said, there's still legal bills left over. We don't know what's going to happen with the settlement. So if anybody wants to chip in a few dollars. Memedefensefund.com memedefensefund.com thank you guys so much.

[Charlie Kirk]

Memedefensefund.Com God bless you both. Thank you so much. Douglas and James, thank you. Thank you. America's small businesses rely on TikTok to succeed, we go viral on TikTok, reaching billions of young people every year. It's one of the reasons why we were able to win the youth vote. Well, TikTok helps businesses attract more customers and drive growth. From small batch sellers to fast growing brands, 74% of businesses on TikTok say it's helped them scale by hiring more employees, boosting sales and expanding to new locations. Like Arizona Taco King, who grew from a mom and pop taco cart to two thriving restaurants in just a year. Or Coco Asante who upgraded to a larger facility and brought on more staff, letting their handcrafted chocolates reach more customers. Or Dan O Seasoning, who went from a one man show TO team of 45 now supporting dozens of hard working families. With TikTok, small businesses are thriving, finding their customers and expanding. Learn more about TikTok's contribution to the US economy at TikTok economicimpact.com tiktokeconomicimpact.com okay, so this story just seemed kind of goofy. To be honest with you, I kind of skimmed it. And the fact it's gone viral is just so stunning. So apparently an actress by the name of Sydney Sweeney did a advertisement for American Eagle jeans. And they did something kind of, you know, lighthearted. Oh, she has great jeans. And while she was wearing jeans, okay, and everyone lost their mind now calling this Nazi propaganda saying that this is fascism. If you like Sydney Sweeney wearing jeans. Now, first of all, the idea of like jeans mattering, isn't that the entire idea of 23andMe and Ancestry.com haven't we had this entire like mass proliferation of you spit into a thing and you come back and you find out all about your genes. But no, you can't talk about genes because that's eugenics. This is Good Morning America. They've made this. You want to know why young men are moving, right? Because young men like, oh wow, I like Sydney Sweeney or whatever, you know, some of these Gen Z men. You're a fascist. Oh, really? You're going to call young men a fascist? The best way I could put this. Let's play cut425 and I'll give you an example.425.

[Stephen Moore]

We begin with the backlash over a new ad campaign featuring actress Sydney Sweeney. Yeah, the ads are for American Eagle.

[James Burnham]

And the tagline is Sydney Sweeney has been great genes.

[Charlie Kirk]

Now, in one ad, the blonde hair, blue eyed actress talks about genes, as.

[Stephen Moore]

In DNA being passed down from her parents. The play on words is being compared to Nazi propaganda with Racial undertones.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

The pun good genes activates a troubling.

[Stephen Moore]

Historical associations for this country. The American eugenics movement in its prime.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

Between like 1900 and 1940 weaponized the idea of good genes just to justify white supremacism.

[Charlie Kirk]

Despite that backlash, American Eagle stock has been soaring. I mean, you want to know why young men are moving to the right. Here they are in ABC with some old crow saying that this is pushing forward eugenicism. I want to, just for those in the older audience, imagine if they would have done this with like Brooke Shields or Kathy Ireland 30 or 40 years ago. And the entire left is losing their mind. They're saying that Sydney Sweeney is Nazi propaganda. And honestly, the ad was like, okay, it wasn't like that unique. It's not nowhere close to offensive. They did the same ad with Brooke Shields, but we now have a bunch of what I call the Subaru gang. You know what I mean by the Subaru gang? Play cut 427. Chief leader. She is the grand marshal of the Subaru game. Play cut 427. Should we be surprised that a company whose name is literally American Eagle is making fascist propaganda like this? Probably not, but it's still really shocking. Like a blonde haired, blue eyed white woman is talking about her good genes.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

Like that is Nazi propaganda.

[Charlie Kirk]

Look, I don't want to insult people's looks, but it's obviously you're jealous. That's just. That's the undertone of all this. And what, what this 428. Why do these women disfigure themselves with like this? Play cut 428.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

You guys are complaining about that Sydney Sweeney jeans ad.

[Charlie Kirk]

So I went and saw it.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

That's Nazi propaganda.

[Stephen Moore]

Wow.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

I thought it was gonna be like kind of bad. That's gonna be in history book.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay, now the owner of American Needle is like super Jewish, gives a lot of money away. That doesn't even matter to these people. Of course not. And cut 426.

[Douglas Mackey]

Hey, you want to go to American Eagle?

[Unnamed News Anchor]

Oh, I can't go in there because I'm black.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, that's funny, I guess. Look, you want to know why young men are moving to the right? A bunch of these women, part of the Subaru gang, are screaming and yelling at them for being fascist. Brooke Shields literally did an ad about this in the 1980s. Brooke Shields kind of had a similar type of, let's just say, archetype as Sidney Sweeney does for young men. You want to know why young men are moving to the right? They look at a jeans Advertisement and they're called Nazis and fascists. And they say, forget it. I'm not associating with you guys calling me names all the time. So let's actually play the ad in question. This is the Sydney Sweeney ad again. I didn't find anything that interesting. Like, I saw, like, someone sent it to me early on, like, okay, whatever. I got better stuff to do. But apparently, this is the most important story for the American left. It's pure Nazi propaganda. One of my Jewish friends from Chicago said, I watched it, it reacted. No big deal. Like, what are you even talking about? This is. This is not, like, the rise of the Third Reich. And they say, oh, how dare you say that Genes matter. Like, G E N E. Look, some people have good genes. By the way, President Donald Trump has talked about genes forever. President Trump has great genes. He's able to stay up all night. You know who else has good genes? Kareem Abdul Jabbar has good genes. Kevin Garnett had good genes. Michael Jordan had good genes. Some people have high iq. Some people can run very fast. Some people are very agile. Some people don't require a lot of sleep. It's a play on words. This is a perfect example why I think the south park thing is so funny. Stop taking yourself so seriously. But now they are going all in. ABC News, American Left. It is a perfect. A premier example as to why the young men of the west have moved right so dramatically. Okay, so let's play the Sydney Sweeney. Then we'll play The Brooke Shields one. Play cut 430.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

I'm not here to tell you to buy American Eagle jeans. And I definitely won't say that they're the most comfortable jeans I've ever worn or that they make your butt look amazing. Why would I need to do that? But if you said that you want to buy the jeans, I'm not gonna stop you. But just so we're clear, this is not me telling you to buy American Eagle jeans.

[Stephen Moore]

Sydney Sweeney hasbrid jeans.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

You see what I did there, right?

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay. Yeah. I mean, obviously it's supposed to be a little bit, I guess, like, enticing. Okay, why is. Just for the record, how the Carl's Jr. Ad had, like, a woman, like, wearing almost no clothes. Remember that whole thing, like, you know, what was the woman is very if. The. If Alex Earl or something. Again, like, this is kind of the way the advertisements are done. Shouldn't, like, overly offend anybody. It's kind of a boring commercial. That's what fires up the American left. And there's actually a more controversial version of the ad campaign. But first, let's play Brooke Shields 429.

[Unnamed News Anchor]

The secret of life lies hidden in a genetic code. Genes are fundamental in determining the characteristics of an individual and passing on these characteristics to succeeding generations. Occasionally, certain conditions produce a structural change in the gene, which will bring about the process of evolution. This may occur in one or more of the following ways. Firstly, by selective mating, in which a single gene type proves superior in transmitting its genes to future generations.

[Charlie Kirk]

And by the way, all these people that are so angry about, oh, this is eugenics. They're probably almost all Planned Parenthood supporters, and that's actually how Planned Planned Parenthood started, which is eugenics. So they're mad at American Eagle for making a joke about genes, but they're fine with Planned Parenthood being an actual eugenics enterprise. This is where we are as a society and as a culture. But there's a lot of angry liberal women right now. Why do you think they're angry? I think we all know why they're angry. Thanks so much for listening, everybody. Email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com thanks so much much for listening and God bless.

[Stephen Moore]

For more on many of these stories.

[Douglas Mackey]

And news you can trust, go to charliekirk.

[Stephen Moore]

Com.