Can President Trump Win Back the Youth?

Summary

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The Charlie Kirk Show

Episode: Can President Trump Win Back the Youth?
Date: November 12, 2025
Host: Charlie Kirk
Featured Guests: Mark Halperin, Selena Zito, Mikey McCoy, Andrew Colvitt, Blake Neff

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Overview

This episode tackles the critical question looming over the conservative movement: Can President Trump and the GOP regain traction with young voters, or is America on the brink of a populist generational realignment? The discussion weaves through populist surges on both sides, emerging youth radicalization, the economic factors shaping Gen Z, data trends, and actionable strategies for conservatives to re-engage youth. Special guests Mark Halperin (political analyst), Selena Zito (Washington Examiner reporter/author), and Mikey McCoy (Gen Z commentator) bring diverse perspectives to the conversation.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Populist Upheaval in Both Parties (01:33–10:10)

• Democratic and Republican Civil Wars:
  Mark Halperin highlights that both major parties are embroiled in internal struggles between populist and establishment factions. He suggests using a "populist vs establishment" lens rather than "progressive vs moderate." (05:43)

  "My preferred prism currently is not progressive versus moderate. Right. It's populist versus establishment."
  — Mark Halperin (05:43)

• Hakeem Jeffries and the Pressure from the Left:
  Hakeem Jeffries tries to maintain credibility with both establishment figures and the party’s energized populist left, using rhetoric about Supreme Court corruption and supporting radical candidates like Zoran Mamdani. (04:03–05:43)

  "He knows the energy in the party is with the populists... To keep power as long as possible, you’ve got to talk the language of the populists."
  — Mark Halperin (05:43)

• The Meaning of Zoran Mamdani's Mayoral Win in NYC:
  Mamdani’s election is seen as a bellwether for how aggressive left-wing populism may play out nationally. The panel is unsure whether Mamdani’s radical policies will continue to drive the party leftward or if governance challenges will stall the movement.

  "His election night speech freaked me out as much as anything because it suggested a level of anger and determination to make this an us versus them governance."
  — Mark Halperin (07:20)

• Risks for NYC and National Populism:
  Concerns are raised regarding policing, social cohesion, and whether the energy and anger fueling Mamdani’s campaign translate into sustainable governance. (09:24)

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2. The Right’s Populism and Its Challenges (11:45–17:16)

• Trump’s America First Rhetoric:
  Recent Trump interviews reveal tension between maintaining "America First" populism and engaging globally. Some MAGA supporters see Trump drifting too much toward international focus versus solving domestic woes (12:43).

  "The world is the United States..."
  — Donald Trump (12:20)

  Panelists clarify his intent but note the perception of misplaced priorities, especially given the youth’s economic frustrations.

• Domestic Populist Discontent:
  Halperin emphasizes that, for both parties, the main issue that will drive political realignment—especially among youth and Hispanics—is the economy.

  "It really doesn't matter how you message it. Is the economy going to be better next year or not?...People aren't looking for messaging. They're looking for their lives to get better and more affordable."
  — Mark Halperin (15:10)

• Hispanic and Youth Vote Dynamics:
  Data shows that minority and young voters are not realigning with Republicans but instead are temporarily abandoning Democrats, largely due to economic hardship and cultural frustrations. (16:25)

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3. Youth Radicalization and Economic Despair (18:55–29:27)

Selena Zito’s Findings on Youth Movement (19:40–24:25)

• Surge of Faith-Based and Conservative Populism:
  Zito describes a grassroots awakening among young people in the heartland, driven by faith, community, and a hunger for authenticity—often inspired by figures like Charlie Kirk.

  "There's a real sort of awakening going on with young people that is getting largely missed by my profession. But it’s very real, it’s very profound."
  — Selena Zito (19:40)

• Importance of 'Place':
  She emphasizes young Americans' desire for rootedness, suggesting that successful political leaders speak directly to the sense of place and community.

  "The politician that captures the imagination in particular if you're young...shows up and says, I see you and I’m going to make everything better."
  — Selena Zito (24:25)

Economic Reality Driving Political Choices (22:07–29:27)

• Gen Z’s Economic Plight:
  Mikey McCoy outlines how unaffordable housing, crushing student debt, stagnant job prospects, and lack of economic stake drive Gen Z toward radicalism—right or left.

  "We're going to turn to radical solutions, even if it's Mamdani smiling and giving us a promise that won't happen. Eventually, this could destroy our country."
  — Mikey McCoy (27:42)

• Shift Toward Populist Candidates:
  The data shows a readiness among young people to embrace radical or outsider candidates (like AOC on the left), but also an openness to the right message from conservatives addressing their pain points.

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4. Data Trends & Volatility in Youth Support (29:27–31:45)

• Dramatic Swings in Support:
  Recent polling reveals President Trump’s under-30 approval rating dropping from 60% in March to 35%, while Zoran Mamdani enjoys high favorability (62%). Young female voters in the urban Northeast are voting overwhelmingly for left-populist candidates (80%+). (29:27)

• 2028 Candidate Preferences:
  Conservative youth are split: Trump Jr. (28%), JD Vance (25%), Ted Cruz (16%), and Ron DeSantis (6%).

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5. Strategies for Republicans to Win Back the Youth (31:45–35:35)

• Empathy and 'Meeting Voters Where They Are':
  Zito and McCoy stress that conservative leaders must directly and empathetically address youth economic anxiety and social alienation. Historic precedent shows that ignoring such disruptions (Industrial Revolution → Now: Tech/AI Revolution) leads to wild political swings and losses. (31:45)

  "Go where the voter is, go where the economic distress is. Tell that person, tell young people, I see you, I feel you, I hear you."
  — Selena Zito (31:45)

• Big Audacious Solutions Needed:
  Panelists call for bold, visual, actionable initiatives—a “moonshot for Gen Z”—such as home-building, addressing student debt, lowering housing costs, and job creation.

  "We need a big, audacious, bold, visual idea, like groundbreaking on like a million homes or something..."
  — Andrew Colvitt (33:55)

• Messaging Through Modern Channels:
  The Trump campaign’s and Charlie Kirk’s success on TikTok demonstrates the importance of reaching young voters where they are most active online, with consistent populist messaging.

  "The top three TikTok accounts were President Trump, Team Trump, and Charlie Kirk. They really knew how to message young people. I feel like that shouldn't stop."
  — Mikey McCoy (34:14)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Host’s Call to Action (00:03–00:48):
  "If the most important thing for you is just feeling good, you're gonna end up miserable. But if the most important thing is doing good, you will end up purposeful."
  — Charlie Kirk (00:03)

• Halperin on Democratic Civil War (02:15):
  "Almost everything that happens can be seen through the prism of the renegades. The populists versus the establishment."
  — Mark Halperin

• On Youth Radicalization (22:07):
  "We see dark political radicalization setting in for a lot of these youth ... political violence is acceptable from 18 to 36 year olds."
  — Mikey McCoy

• On Empathy (31:45):
  "What you need to do is talk to that person about that empathy."
  — Selena Zito

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Setting the Stage: 00:03–01:09
• Populist Civil Wars in Congress: 01:33–10:10
• Trump’s Rhetoric & Domestic Focus: 11:45–15:56
• Economic Anxiety and the Hispanic/Youth Vote: 15:56–17:16
• Selena Zito on Youth & Faith: 19:40–24:25
• Youth Economic Struggles & Radicalization: 22:07–29:27
• Data on Youth Political Swings: 29:27–31:45
• Strategies to Win Back the Youth: 31:45–35:35

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Conclusion

This episode highlights how the future of American politics hinges on addressing the profound economic, social, and cultural struggles of Gen Z. Both parties are roiled by populist insurgencies; whichever side best harnesses authenticity, empathy, and big solutions is most likely to capture the next generation. The panel warns against complacency, urging conservatives to meet youth where they are—online, in their communities, and in their pain—and to deliver tangible results rather than empty messaging.

For more insights, follow Selena Zito (@ZitoSelena) and check out her best-selling book Butler.

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Transcript

[A]

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 gonna end up miserable. But if the most important thing is doing good, you will end up purposeful. College is a scam, everybody. You gotta stop sending your kids to college. You should get married as young as possible and have as many kids as possible. Go start a Point USA College chapter. Go start a Turning Point USA High School chapter. 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.

[B]

Use me.

[A]

Buckle up, everybody.

[C]

Here we go.

[A]

The Charlie Kirk show is proudly sponsored by Preserve Gold, the leading gold and silver experts and the only precious metals company I recommend to my family, friends and viewers.

[B]

All right, hour two underway here at the Charlie Kirk Show. I'm Andrew Colvitt, executive producer with Blake Neff. And we are joined by Mark Halperin, editor in chief of two way and also host of Nextup on the Megyn Kelly Network, and one of the best political analysts that I know. And every time I bring up Mark's name around, everybody goes, he's real good at politics. He's real good.

[D]

Very smart guy.

[B]

Real smart guy. Mark Halpern, welcome to the show, my friend. Good to see you. We are real close to officially being done with this shutdown. It looks like it passed the Senate hurdle, which was the big one last evening, and now it's onto the House. There's probably some procedural delays. I'm sure that they're throwing up, and then they'll get to the business. Boil it all down for us. I mean, what are we? I mean, it's like last week, all I heard was about a Republican civil war, conservative civil war. And then in one fell swoop, you got enough Democrats to break ranks, and now we've got a Democrat civil war. Please make sense of what's happening.

[C]

Well, Republican civil war after the election, nine or ten months. Oh, no. A week ago. Rare to have two tentpole events like that roaring in. Opposite, opposite, Diametrically opposite points of view. I think right now. And I talked about this on Next Up Today, almost everything that happens can be seen through the prism of the renegades. The populace versus the establishment. You're seeing that in the Republican Party. You're seeing that in the Democratic Party. And I think the populist wing of the Democratic Party is super energized by Donald Trump. And the populist wing of the Democratic Party also has a political death wish because they wanted to continue to try to get Donald Trump to give up on the shutdown. And it was clear to eight Senate Democrats that he wouldn't. So the whole politics of both those stories revolve around Trump on the negative side. He energizes the Democrats on the negative side for the Republicans, he energizes the Democrats on the negative side for the Democrats, he causes Trump derangement syndrome. And Democrats on the left who are complaining now, some privately are glad the shutdown's over, but the ones on the left who wanted to continue the fight just they can't think straight when it comes to political combat with Donald Trump.

[B]

Yeah. And I'm fascinated about this dynamic that we see playing out right now. You've almost got kind of a Ro Khanna vs Hakeem Jeffries Dynamic happening with Ro Khanna saying Schumer's gotta go. You heard this from Sunny Hostin on the View and others that are saying it's time to go. There's a congressman out of Massachusetts, right, The one that was about to get primaried for not wanting his daughter to play trans athletes.

[C]

Seth Moulton.

[B]

Yeah, Seth Moulton, that's right. So he's getting. He's now on the Schumer's gotta go. I mean, this is a really fascinating dynamic because Hakeem Jeffries sort of at the last moment decided to endorse Mamdani. And you can just feel Hakeem Jeffries getting pulled in either direction. It's almost like it's excruciating to watch on some level. And he's trying. Now he's out attacking the Supreme Court as corrupt. It's a clip I just saw. It's almost like he's looking for avenues to advance positive lines and to solidify his bona fides as a progressive in this caucus that is increasingly getting controlled by the radical left. So actually, I have the clip here. Let's just go ahead and play it. Mark171 cleaning up the corruption that exists in Washington, D.C. in the Congress, at the Supreme Court, and of course, with the Trump administration, the most corrupt administration in American history. So we can actually deliver a country of the people, by the people and for the people. I just want to be precise. You say the Supreme Court has been corrupt. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, what I'm saying. Is that the outrageous behavior by individual justices like Clarence Thomas and Justice Alito and the failure to have an ethical code of conduct is corrupt. So what I translate this as, Mark, and you tell me if I'm wrong here, is that this is him saying, okay, yeah, I said that I endorse Schumer. Schumer still got my vote of confidence. But don't worry, progressive wing, I endorse Mamdani. And yes, if we get power back, we're going to nuke the filibuster and we're going to pack the court.

[C]

All correct. But I'll just say again, my preferred prism currently is not progressive versus moderate. Right. It's populist versus establishment. Hakeem Jeffries is establishment. And you know that based on his history. But you also know it because he's one of the few Democrats who's but backing Schumer. He's an establishment figure, but he knows the energy in the party is with the populace. So he says things like, you know, he talks about. Just like Ronna talks about Jeffrey Epstein talks about corruption in Washington, talks about special interests, because that's the language of the populace. And right now, he and Schumer are. Are discombobulated because privately, they're for the establishment. They're not populous. They're not fiery renegades trying to tear the House down. They. They run the House. And so the power structure recognizes that to try to keep power as long as possible, you got to talk the language of the populace. And that's what he's trying to do. But for Schumer, at least, it's not particularly convincing. And that's why he's taking so much heat right now, because nobody's buying it.

[D]

So about that ascendant populous thing. I'd say the biggest populous story on the left is, of course, Zoran Mamdani runs from for mayor of New York wins. So do you think we might. Do you see that basically this factional struggle is going to just be. Everyone stares at New York, sees what happens with Mamdani's government, and if it fails quickly, will that SAP its energy? Or do you think if he's able to do things that that will draw. It'll drive the party further to the left? Maybe even if it's not that successful, it still might drive the party to the left. How do you see that playing out?

[C]

You're asking the right question, and I've got no idea, because it will depend on how he performs, but also what his style is, how accommodation, how much he accommodates picking a police commissioner, what kinds of things he talks about how much, you know, does he arrest Netanyahu? So I think it's, I think it's hard to know exactly how this will play out. But there's no doubt that he. Well, I shouldn't say no doubt. He appears to want to have regular combat with the president, which will keep him in the news. News, I think, is how he governs, will keep him in the news. And then his relationship to the governor's race where Kathy Hochul was endorsed, endorsed Mamdani, but hasn't been cope, you know, reverse endorsed. So he, he will be, he will be a part of the storyline. How big and, and what the variables are, I just don't know. And I live here and I follow it closely, but I think there's so many different ways he can go. I will say that his election night speech freaked me out as much as anything because it suggested a level of anger and determination to make this an us versus them governance that I think could be quite troubling for a lot of people in this city.

[B]

Yeah. And Mark, what are you gonna be looking for when he assumes office? When he gets the keys to the city, as it were? I mean, I'll just tell you my first thing. You mentioned the police commissioner, he tried to moderate his tone when it came to the nypd. I think this guy has deep seated distrust within the nypd. He's going to tie their hands. I mean, if you're a police officer and you're forced to go arrest somebody in a street melee, good luck. If something goes wrong, this guy having your back, he's gonna villainize you. You're part of the established oppressive system that he's targeting, he's messaged towards. So those are the things I'm looking for. But again, New York is of most cities, one of the most resilient in the world. These people, I mean, if you love New York, you don't want to leave New York. There's too much culture, too many restaurants, too many like, just the style of life you can't emulate that easily in other American cities. What are you looking for? One minute. Mark Halperin.

[C]

How could you not mention the Knish? Look, he said he's gonna keep on the current police commissioner. Let's see if he does. There's some indication he's not really secured her pledge to do it. You mentioned arrests. I'm worried about some, you know, a cop killing somebody accidentally and then he shows up at the scene and does he defend the cop or does he attack the cop? This city has seen a huge ratcheting down of the kind of racial tensions we saw several decades ago when there was nonstop, these nonstop combustible events. I worry about a return to those depending on how he handles it. And again, his election night speech made it harder for me to tell people to have hope or calm down or let's wait and see. I'm certainly amongst those concerned about how handled those kind of high pressure situations.

[B]

Yeah, I think Blake's right to sort of look to the, you know, this, these first few tests that are coming out of the Mamdani era in New York to see what, what direction the, the, the whole city goes because, I mean, he is a bellwether for the future of the populous. Free stuff. Free stuff. Left wing populism that's bubbling up all across the country. This is Lane Schoenberger, chief investment officer and founding partner of Y Refi. It has been an honor and a privilege to partner with Turningpoint and for Charlie to endorse us. His endorsement means the world to us and we look forward to continuing our partnership with Turningpoint for years to come. Now hear Charlie in his own words tell you about why Refi.

[A]

I want to tell you guys about why refi.com that is yrefy.com why refi is incredible. Private student loan debt in America totals about $300 billion. Why refi is refinancing distress or defaulted private student loans. You can finally take control of your student loan situation with a plan that works for your monthly budget. Go to yrefi.com that is why refi.com do you have a co borrower? Why Refi can get them released from the loan. You're going to skip a payment up to 12 times without penalty. It may not be available in all 50 states. Go to why refi.com that is yrefy.com let's face it, if you have distress or default of student loans, it can be overwhelming because of privacy loan debt. So many people feel stuck. Go to yrefi.com that is yrefy.com Private student loan debt relief yrefi.com.

[B]

Mark so you know, we talked about this left wing populism. Charlie predicted its rise in ascendancy and obviously MAGA was the beginning of this populist wave in the United States. But there's growing consternation on the right that perhaps we're losing touch, maybe the administration is losing touch with the base. Trump has this interview with Laura Ingraham last night. We'll just give you a taste of it. I can't tell you how many people are texting me clips going like, did he really just say that? Play cut 122.

[E]

When somebody makes a statement about he's devoting time to the world, well, the world is the United States. Because if the world's in trouble or if the world is ripping us off, it's easy to say, oh, don't worry about the world, but the world is turning out to be our biggest customer. The world is. The world was on fire. And we could have been in that fire very easily if you didn't have a president that knew what he was doing.

[B]

So obviously, Blake, mark, the word there or the phrase there. The world is. The United States, I think keyed off the America first psyche to be diplomatic, though. And actually, I think what he was trying to say was that if the world's out of control, we're gonna have a real hard time finding peace and prosperity here at home. You have to put out the fires when they come up. I know what he was saying. I think people are making too much of it. But there is this note that we're focusing too much on foreign policy, not enough on domestic policy. Is that what you're seeing in the polling, the trends, the conversation that you're hearing in your circles?

[C]

Mark the populace of both parties, whether it's MAGA or Bernie Sanders supporters, they're like, come home, America. You know? You know, it sounds like Mitt Romney saying, corporations are people, too. And look, being commander in chief, you've got responsibilities. And the president's view of how to make America successful, as you said, is to be more engaged economically with the world in a way that's advantageous the United States and not turn the back on countries who we can help help themselves and have more allies. So I don't. I don't. I think the proof will be for so many of the answers to some of these questions, for both the establishment of the party and MAGA is what will the economy be like at the end of the next year?

[B]

This is the key. We have a clip here that I want to play.

[D]

Some people have the.

[F]

You know, it can.

[D]

Sometimes the framing is they're not focused on the domestic sphere enough, but it also is possible, maybe the domestic sphere is just not super popular right now. And let's set that up. Trump spoke with Laura Ingram. Yeah, let's play 176.

[E]

We're down on energy. We're down on interest rates. You know, interest rates are down despite The Fed. Now, if the Fed, if we had a normal person, that the Fed would have really low interest rates and we will soon have that. We'll have somebody.

[G]

Are people saying they're anxious about the economy? Why are they saying that?

[E]

I don't know that they are saying. I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we've ever had. We have, we will have over $20 trillion come into our economy. And it's largely because of my election, but it's also largely because of tariffs.

[B]

All right, so Mark, you are inside the Oval Office. You have the president's ear for 30 minutes and you're giving him messaging advice. Given this dynamic on the domestic front, what is your advice to President Trump on how to message this?

[C]

Well, I'm not in the business of giving messaging advice to any politicians, but just looking at the polling and talking to a lot of voters, it really doesn't matter how you message it. Is the economy going to be better next year or not? The economy's. There's a lot of strong signs, not just the stock market. There are other strong signs, but people are still really uneasy about the economy. And it's pretty simple. Not just for a president who puts affordability and the economy front and center, but for any president. Will people, before the midterms, will people at the end of his presidency say, yeah, that guy had a theory of the case about how to make our lives better, particularly on the economy. I don't think it matters how he messages it. I mean, obviously there's ways to do it that are worse than others, but that's not. People aren't looking for messaging. They're looking for their lives to get better and more affordable.

[B]

So, Mark, you're basically saying 2026 comes down to maybe some of these redistricting battles, but it's the economy, stupid. And the second follow up question, more than anything else. Yeah, yeah. Follow up question is the Hispanic vote. One of the things I'm looking at is we're engineering these maps in Texas based on Hispanic vote modeled off of 2024. I'm concerned, especially with the economy, that that's going to have a big outsized impact with the Hispanic community.

[C]

The data in polling and on Election Day last week makes it clear that President Trump did not create a realignment moving the Hispanic vote or particularly young Hispanic men, from the Democrat column to the Republican column. What happened was because of Biden Harris and somewhat because of the President's appeal, they shifted away from the Democrats and they parked temporarily on Trump. Will they realign towards Republicans like in that Texas district or around the country. Are they up for grabs? We don't know, because it may have simply been the combination of Trump on the ballot and Biden Harris policies that move them. And here's an irony. The more the president remakes our culture and makes it less politically correct, the harder it is for Republicans to win Hispanic votes because they no longer have that to play off of and rebel against.

[B]

Mark Halperin, see you soon. Thank you, my friend.

[C]

Bye.

[B]

A new Hillsdale College miniseries on colonial America offers a fresh way to think about Thanksgiving beyond the food and the political debates. It reminds us what we should be truly thankful for. Our freedom, our prosperity and our faith. In a brand new six part documentary series, Hillsdale College Professors will teach you the religious, the political, cultural and economic ideas that shaped a uniquely American culture during the colonial period. This Hillsdale course will focus on the forging of the American character that made the revolution possible and why it's more important than ever to remember and reclaim that character. Today, this Hillsdale College miniseries is completely free and it's easy to access. Plus, Hillsdale offers more than 40 other free online courses. Go right now to charlieforhillsdale.com to enroll. There's no cost and it's easy to get started. That's Charlie. For hillsdale.com to register. C H A R L I e f o r4hillsdale.com I am very excited about our next guest here on the Charlie Kirk show, and that is Selena Zito. She is a reporter for the Washington examiner and she was getting Trump truthed all over yesterday about some of her reporting on the youth vote. And so I thought it was only appropriate that we brought in Mikey McCoy, who's the youth whisperer these days. He's doing phenomenal work. So, Selena, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show. Mikey, also welcome. I'm excited to have this conversation. Selena, welcome.

[G]

Hey, thanks so much for having me.

[B]

Yeah, well, listen, you're somebody that I've wanted to have on the show for a while and I thought this would be a great opportunity. I also want to say we're going to get to it here in this segment that your book, New York Times bestseller, Butler number one. Yes, number one. And you went in depth on the assassination attempt on Trump and that was originally why I wanted to have you on. Just because obviously the tragedy with Charlie, it hits very close to home. You went in depth with the president, you interviewed him, you got a lot of behind the scenes details there. So please, everybody, check out Butler By Selena Zito. So let's get into the first topic up for bids. Here is the Is this youth Vote? Tell us about your article. What are you finding? What are you seeing?

[G]

So what's really interesting to me is throughout the book, Butler, because people think it's only about what happened in Butler, but it actually takes a look at the heartland and what was happening last year, but also what is continuing to happen, and that is this youth movement towards faith and towards conservative populism and. And how, you know, how I kept seeing it over and over again in Pennsylvania. I wrote about it and I said, guys, something's going on here, right? And a lot of these young people I talked to, and it's in the book, said, well, they were first inspired by listening to Charlie and having their. Their sort of conceived thoughts changed because of the way that he introduced faith into their lives. And ultimately it led to conservative voters and understanding the importance of voting. Now, however, since what happened to Charlie happened, what I have seen, you know, in particular in Western Pennsylvania, that's where I live. I know I'm a Washington Post, Washington examiner reporter, but I live in the middle of the country. And, you know, I see these young people showing up. You can see the pictures there that. Showing up for these. For these revivals. And there's a real sort of awakening going on with young people that is getting largely missed by my profession. But it's very real, it's very profound. And I even, you know, not only have I been covering these revivals in Western pa, but I also see it in my own parish. I'm Catholic, and I see my church going from, like, okay, almost filled to like, around the pews and out the door field. And these are young people that are attending. And so I think it's a very interesting thing that is happening in the country.

[B]

Yeah. And, Mikey, you went with Charlie to just about every single campus stop. I mean, maybe you missed a few over the last couple of years, but we saw this firsthand. You saw it firsthand. What was it about Charlie's message that you could tell was just connecting, you know, that. That moment where the eyes light up and there's just that. That aha. Moment with young people.

[F]

Yeah, there's this great clip of Charlie debating a leftist, and he's talking about how Wall street is purchasing a bunch of the homes. And Charlie agrees with him that that should not happen. And the leftist kind of goes, oh, I agree with you. And so Charlie was kind of the only one who was able to capture the energy of this youth populism that you referred to here, but this is also a warning sign for us that now with Charlie being gone, Turning Point Erica, under her leadership has done a great job with these events last night at Berkeley, you know, Auburn, Ole Miss, and just helping capture that energy. But also the future of the political movement and the economic reality of under 30s. And so you see dark political radicalization setting in for a lot of these youth. I mean, three of the biggest assassins in the past 12 months have been Gen Z. And so you saw the YouGov poll that says political violence is acceptable from 18 to 36 year olds. And so you kind of see this radicalization of the youth, but then you also see it with their economic reality. Rents are at an all time high. First time home buyers are at 40 years old. Median homebuyers are at 61 years old. Of the assets owned in the United States, I think we have a photo of this. I think it's 174 of the assets owned in the United States. Baby boomers own about 50% of it. Gen Z really doesn't even have any stake in the US Economy right now. And so they're turning to radicalization, which is kind of what you saw with Zoran Mamdani this last week with his massive win. And you saw actually moderate conservatives and conservatives voting for Zohran mom dani at a 7% rate and a 9% rate in new York City. And this is because they're seeing something that we're not. And so I just. What do you guys make of this? How do you see a solution for young people? Because I'm the resident Gen Zer in the studio, but I want to hear from you guys what you think.

[B]

And Selena, Mikey brings up a good point. You know, we, there's a temptation to think that we have this on lock now, but really a lot of these people are politically homeless. They're willing to park their vote with Trump if he could deliver the goods. And I think that the verdict is still out on that.

[G]

Yeah. And that's a constant in American politics, right. People tend to switch back and forth depending on who is speaking to them. And one of the most important aspects of in American politics is how do you speak to the voter about place? Right? Their rootedness, you know, that thing that, that connective tissue that makes them want to invest and stay where they are, right? To have that stability. You know, is it, it's 8 out of 10 young Americans live within, was it 20 miles of their home hometown, like where they grew up? So they want to be rooted. So who's speaking to that in the, in the 2024 election? That was what Trump spoke to and J.D. vance spoke to. They addressed people in their place and they told them your place matters, you matter. And I think that that is a concept that is not always apparent to, to people. I think Charlie was very good about speaking to place as well. But the Paul, the politician that speak, that sort of captures the imagination in particular if you're young. And that's what Zo Ron did. He showed up and he said, I see you and I'm going to make everything better. He is not going to get half of what he said. He's going to get free, free child care for all between six months, six weeks and, and six years old. That's not going to happen. I don't know who can pay for that, right? Rent control, free public transportation. But he showed up with a smile and he said I can do it. And, and that is what you have to pay attention to when you're leading a movement. And the conservatives have to say go, all right. New York City isn't really where we would probably win a battle anyways. However, how do we capture, how do we maintain that conversation about place? Because when it comes to place, it also comes to family, it comes to faith, it comes to community. All those social fabrics that people crave, that purpose people crave are part of place.

[B]

Yeah. And you know we had on the right this week a debate about 50 year mortgages erupt. Right. You know, so Trump kind of floats this. I'll be honest with you. The emails to this show freedomarliekirk.com they were more positive than I was anticipating. A lot of people saw it as a pragmatic step, that it was something that they could use if they needed and then refinanced down to a more traditional 30 year or something like that. I was surprised. There was still a lot of negative. I'm not convinced it's not the silver bullet, it's not the end all be all. But when you look at guys like in Mikey's position, a Gen Z er looking to get ahead, these kind of ideas we need to start talking about. I think we need an economic moonshot for Gen Z and frankly we need a better phrase than economic moonshot. Cuz Gen Z is probably not even sure what I'm talking about when I say an economic moonshot. So Mikey floors to you like the economics of it all I think is incredibly important here. What are people saying in your age.

[F]

Bracket yeah, you're right in that New York City isn't a place necessarily that Republicans can win, but it is a canary in the coal mine with what's happening as the, you know, this youth populism movement is happening. And this is a huge warning sign, not just in the midterms, but also for the 2028 presidential election. Young people are going to start turning to radical candidates. If there aren't solutions, and I'm talking total economic reality has to change for these people and they're going to start turning to AOC as a presidential candidate. I mean, I would, I think it's more likely that AOC is going to be a candidate for young people than Gavin Newsom when it comes to left. And I think a lot of young people on the right too would turn to a candidate like that. But we can't afford a home. We have student loans that are crushing us. We have 58% of college grads, graduate, college, and then for their first year they're unemployed. So there's no. The job market is shrinking, the labor market shrinking. There's no jobs for the degrees that they had. The student loans are at an all time high, credit card debt is at an all time high with crushing APYs. It's just, it's, it's totally killing young people. And we're going to turn to radical solutions, even if it is Mom Donnie smiling and giving us a promise that won't happen and eventually this could destroy our country. So the right needs to start asking themselves questions. You know, 50 year mortgages, maybe that's not the best idea for young people in this country and they need to start reaching out to young people. I thought it was amazing that J.D. vance, he comes to mind in particular in Ole Miss, he was talking about this stuff, but then he also wants to do more of these with young people. I feel like he's the only person right now, him and Erica Kirk, that are actually going out and engaging young.

[B]

People in the U.S. you know, it's funny is if you had a 50 year mortgage, the medium home buying age is 40, so. So you would be 90 by the time you paid off that mortgage. So it's a little bit disconcerting. Thanksgiving holds so many memories and I'm sure it's the same for you. Right now. There's a girl finding out she's pregnant. In the next couple of weeks she's going to make a decision and whatever decision she makes will become her memory of this Thanksgiving for the rest of her life. What will she be thankful for a year from now, you she'll be thankful that you introduced her to her baby by providing a free ultrasound. And she'll be thankful that she chose life. As she prepares for her baby's first Thanksgiving, take a stand for life by providing an ultrasound with preborn. When a young woman sees her baby on the ultrasound and hears her baby's heartbeat, she is twice as likely to choose life. Just $140 provides five ultrasounds that can save five babies. $280 saves 10 babies. A gift of 15,000 provides an ultrasound machine that can save thousands of babies for years to come. Call 833-850-2229 or click on the preborn banner at charliekirk.com today. I want to make sure that you see some of these Data points throw up 109. This is Mark Mitchell from Rasmussen. He said Trump's approval for voters under 30 was 60% in March. Now it's 35%. And Momdani favorability is 62% with a shrug emoji. All right, let's go 110. This is from Melissa Chan. Young women voted 81% for mom Donnie in New York City, 80% for Cheryl in New Jersey, 78% for Spanberger and VA pendulum shift from the podcast Bros just a year ago to the Longhouse. And then when you actually do dive into the conservative numbers, throw up 142. This is who's your ideal candidate in 2028, ages 18 to 29. Donald Trump Jr. Actually is at 28%. Vance is at 25%, Cruz 16, DeSantis at 6%. So we're seeing not only some, I would say noise in the data, but we're also seeing these wild fluctuations. So, Selena, what do we need to do to get this back on track?

[G]

So we are in. I always say history doesn't repeat itself, but it kind of rhymes. Lots of other people say that too. But you know, we are in the middle of a really turbulent economic time. Not very distant, different than industrial revolution. Only this is more like a technological revolution, right, with AI and how it's disrupting our economy. And so we have to look back at what happened then. There was great fluctuations between Democrats and Republican, wild swings, hundreds of seats each every two years between in Congress as well as presidents. We switch presidents every four years. And so what are the lessons learned? Well, a lot of these, these men and women that ran back there talked over the people that were feeling that that shift from an ag. An ag economy to an industrial economy. And they didn't address their needs. What the Republicans, what Trump needs to do, what Vance needs to do, and I think they're both very good at it, is go where the voter is, go where the people are, and show that empathy about what their concerns are. I think that goes a long way. I think that's what Mondavi did. Well, I always expected him to win New York. I also never expected the Republicans to win Virginia and New Jersey. So. So they were, you know, slightly flawed candidates as well. So I think going to where the voter is, going where the economic distress is, tell that person, tell young people, I see you, I feel you, I hear you. I mean, when I was 25, when I was under 30, terrible economic times in Pittsburgh, all the steel industry died. I bought my first home and it was 14% interest rate. And I lived, you know, like paycheck to paycheck, maybe not even that well. Right. So I completely understand that. What you need to do is talk to that person about that empathy.

[B]

Yeah, well said. And Mikey, I think we need a big, audacious, bold, visual idea, like groundbreaking on like a million homes or something, you know. But what are your thoughts? You were there on the ground when you saw this surge of momentum behind the. The Trump campaign in 2024.

[F]

Yeah, I mean, young people the best. And I want to praise President Trump here because he's done an excellent job with this already with the 2 million plus deportations and southern border being secured at 99.99%. But that is the best way that you can help young people economically with housing just all around economically. And that's the fastest and easiest way. But also, I just want to kind of point out that during the election trail, the top three TikTok accounts were President Trump, Team Trump and Charlie Kirk. And they really knew how to message young people. And I feel like that shouldn't stop. I feel like we need to continue that messaging to young people and try to aim to be the top 1, 2 and 3 accounts on TikTok for reaching young people and giving them their desired content.

[B]

That's what we're going to do with your TikTok. That's your job.

[F]

I don't know about that.

[A]

Yeah.

[F]

But I just think President Trump. Thank you. Keep deporting people, make more jobs, lower the, you know, make, build more homes in our country. He's been doing a fantastic job. We just need to continue it and continue the messaging for it. Young people need to know that this is happening, but this momentum is continuing under Erica Kirk's leadership. At Turning Point, usa, with all these campus stops, and it's really encouraging to see.

[B]

Selena, we've got, like, 15 seconds for you. Tell us about the book, where to get it. You know, how do we. How do we follow you? Tell us your coordinates.

[G]

You can follow me on Twitter. Zito Selena. Z I T O S A L E N A the book is Butler number one New York Times bestseller. It's not just about that day. I was only 4ft away from the president. But it is what's happening on the ground, in particular with young people.

[B]

Amen. Selena, you're amazing. Thank you for joining. Making the time. We'll see you guys tomorrow. For more on many of these stories.

[F]

And news you can Trust, go to charliekirk.com.