Do We Still Need a Wall? and Other Questions

Summary

The Charlie Kirk Show: "Do We Still Need a Wall? and Other Questions" – Detailed Summary

Release Date: March 12, 2025
Host: Charlie Kirk
Podcast Description: Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and a leading conservative voice, engages with audiences to discuss pressing political and cultural issues, mobilizing students across America’s educational institutions.

---

1. Conservative Principles in Higher Education

Timestamp: [01:26] – [04:04]

Audience Interaction:
Mackenzie, a student aspiring to become a social worker, questions the value of pursuing a degree amidst perceptions of higher education being a "scam." She seeks advice on navigating a supposedly biased academic environment while maintaining her conservative and pro-life values.

Key Discussions:

• Financial Prudence:
  Charlie Kirk advises opting for the least expensive educational options and completing degrees swiftly to minimize debt. He emphasizes the availability of numerous jobs that do not require a college degree, such as in trades and entrepreneurship.

  "If you have to go to college, you know, go to the least expensive option available and get through as quickly as possible."
  [01:43] – Charlie Kirk

• Maintaining Conservative Values:
  Kirk underscores the importance of upholding conservative principles in fields like social work, which he characterizes as predominantly left-leaning. He advocates for alternatives to big government, such as strengthening families and fostering community and religious values.

  "Instead of big government, we need big families. More dads in the home... more people to go to church and to believe in the divine."
  [02:10] – Charlie Kirk

• Critique of Social Work's Leftward Tilt:
  He points out that social work often promotes the idea of expanding government assistance, contrasting it with conservative views that prioritize individual dignity and moral responsibility over state intervention.

  "As Christians, we are called to help people... but we believe that permanent government assistance and programs is the wrong way to do that."
  [02:40] – Charlie Kirk

Conclusion:
Kirk encourages Mackenzie to remain steadfast in her conservative beliefs while pursuing a career in social work, advocating for personal integrity over institutional conformity.

---

2. Trump’s Donor Contributions and Perceived Authenticity

Timestamp: [04:04] – [10:13]

Audience Interaction:
An audience member challenges Charlie Kirk on former President Donald Trump's acceptance of substantial financial contributions from mega-donors, questioning whether this behavior aligns with Trump's 2015 anti-establishment stance.

Key Discussions:

• Campaign Financing Realities:
  Kirk acknowledges the necessity of campaign funding, stating that even self-funded candidates like Trump must eventually accept contributions to maintain electoral competitiveness.

  "You have to finance your campaign somehow, right?"
  [04:55] – Charlie Kirk

• Assessment of Trump’s Governance:
  He defends Trump’s administration by highlighting significant policy actions, such as firing employees, reducing border crossings by 95%, and ending involvement in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Kirk argues that these actions demonstrate Trump's commitment to his agenda, contrasting them with the previous administration.

  "We have border crossings are down 95%. I mean, house is not an outsider."
  [05:44] – Charlie Kirk

• Response to Wall Construction Criticism:
  Kirk clarifies that while the physical border wall has been a point of contention, the administration's broader goal of reducing illegal border crossings has been achieved through various executive actions, including deploying the military and designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

  "President Trump has now said from 11,000 to 124, 95% decrease, almost a 98% decrease."
  [06:51] – Charlie Kirk

• Defending Trump's Evolution:
  He asserts that the current Trump administration exceeds the accomplishments of his first term, emphasizing increased deportation efforts and improved border security measures.

  "This Trump 2.0 is 100 times better than the first Trump term."
  [07:09] – Charlie Kirk

Conclusion:
Kirk maintains that Trump's acceptance of donor funds does not undermine his effectiveness or commitment to his original agenda, positioning the current administration as more effective in fulfilling campaign promises than ever before.

---

3. Liberal Shift in Colleges and Solutions for Conservative Students

Timestamp: [10:13] – [26:22]

Audience Interaction:
Camden raises concerns about the increasing liberal bias on college campuses, alleging that conservative students face grading prejudices and questioning the integrity of higher education institutions.

Key Discussions:

• Shift in Student Demographics:
  Kirk counters Camden's claim by highlighting a significant conservative trend among Gen Z, noting their strong support for Trump and conservative values despite campuses' liberal reputations.

  "Gen Z was the biggest move towards Donald Trump of any demographic and generation this last November."
  [10:33] – Charlie Kirk

• Grading Bias Against Conservatives:
  Camden cites personal experiences of being the sole conservative voice in classes and facing negative grading repercussions for challenging prevailing narratives, such as disputing the existence of the gender pay gap.

  "I'm the only pretty much conservative in the class that believes that the gender pay gap is a myth."
  [11:14] – Camden

• Critique of Higher Education System:
  Kirk argues that the higher education system is fundamentally flawed, labeling it as a "college cartel" fueled by taxpayer money that perpetuates left-leaning ideologies. He advocates for school choice and reducing federal involvement to allow for more localized and diverse educational standards.

  "College is a scam. You should not be forced to go into debt to study things that are not true."
  [11:32] – Charlie Kirk

• Administrative Bloat in Education:
  He criticizes the Department of Education for its excessive administrative costs, suggesting that the focus should shift toward supporting teachers and practical education rather than bureaucratic oversight.

  "Our biggest problem is we have become an administrative heavy education model."
  [21:32] – Charlie Kirk

• School Choice Advocacy:
  Kirk promotes school choice as a solution, highlighting Florida's robust programs and the benefits of competition in education, which he believes leads to improved standards and accountability.

  "School choice allows parents to send their dollars... competition education is a good thing."
  [25:22] – Charlie Kirk

Conclusion:
Kirk emphasizes the necessity of reducing federal control over education, promoting school choice, and encouraging conservative values within the educational system to counteract perceived liberal biases and improve overall standards.

---

4. Pro-Life Stance and the Death Penalty Debate

Timestamp: [27:09] – [31:27]

Audience Interaction:
Anderson engages in a nuanced debate with Kirk, questioning the consistency of pro-life advocates who support the death penalty. He expresses concern over families compelled to raise children with severe disabilities without adequate postnatal support.

Key Discussions:

• Moral Consistency of Pro-Life and Death Penalty Stances:
  Kirk challenges Anderson to reconcile the belief in the sanctity of life with the acceptance of the death penalty, arguing that taking a life as punishment contradicts pro-life principles.

  "Why is it morally okay to eliminate a life if that life might make my life harder?"
  [29:59] – Charlie Kirk

• Defense of Pro-Life Advocacy:
  Despite the heated debate, Kirk defends the pro-life movement by highlighting comprehensive support systems beyond anti-abortion efforts, such as family support and adoption services, aiming to address the needs of children postnatally.

  "Pro-lifers do comprehensive work beyond just birth canal... family adoption ministries."
  [30:24] – Charlie Kirk

• Challenge to Pro-Life Critics:
  He pushes back against the notion that pro-life advocates neglect postnatal support, encouraging a broader understanding of the movement's efforts to uphold human dignity from conception through adulthood.

  "I would encourage you to immerse yourself more into the comprehensive work that pro-lifers do beyond just birth canal."
  [30:42] – Charlie Kirk

Conclusion:
Kirk maintains that true pro-life advocacy encompasses both opposition to abortion and active support for children and families, striving for moral consistency by valuing every stage of human life.

---

Final Thoughts

Throughout the episode, Charlie Kirk addresses critical questions from his audience, reinforcing his conservative viewpoints on education, political authenticity, immigration, and pro-life issues. By providing detailed responses and challenging opposing perspectives, Kirk offers clarity and guidance to listeners navigating complex societal debates.

---

For more insights and discussions, visit freedomarliekirk.com or charliekirk.com.

Transcript

[Charlie Kirk]

Hey, everybody. More from my conversations at University of South Florida. We talk all about Trump and Rubio. We talk about why college is more liberal. A kid from Arlington Heights, the Department of Education and pro life discussion. Become a member today. Members.charliekirk.com and get involved with Turning Point [e-mail] that is tpusa.com as always, you guys can become a member. Members.charliekink.com Buckle up, everybody.

Here we go.

[Camden]

Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

[Charlie Kirk]

Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus. I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

[Audience Member]

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. 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 and it's where I buy all of my gold.

Go to noblegoldinvestments.com how are you? Hi.

[Mackenzie]

I'm good. How are you doing?

[Charlie Kirk]

Great.

[Mackenzie]

Good. My name's Mackenzie. It's so awesome to meet you. I think you're awesome. I just wanted to ask, since college is a scam, what should us. What should we do if we have to go to school to get a degree? I want to be a social worker, so I need a degree. How can I make the best of my experience here if I'm getting scammed?

[Charlie Kirk]

Well, you're already doing it. I mean, look, just so everyone understands my perspective, if you have to go to college, you know, go to the least expensive option available and get through as quickly as possible. But my opinion is that they're not just my opinion. The data shows there's millions of jobs that are open that don't require a college degree. We need more plumbers, electricians, welders. I think we need more people that are entrepreneurs and less people just with college degrees. But look, you're all in college. You're all kind of part of this institution. Just understand that half of you guys, when you graduate college, if you get a job, will get a job that doesn't even require a college degree. So half of people that go to college end up not even using the college degree. But as a social worker, honestly, my biggest advice for you is that hold on to your conservative principles. Even when you go into social work. Social work is super, super left wing, as you well know, or you're probably learning it throughout. And the reason being is this is that when you're in social work, you are in engrossed and surrounded by very sad stories. People that need help, people that need compassion. And automatically you think, well, we need a bigger government to help those people. Well, we as conservatives have a completely different perspective that maybe instead of big government, we need big families. And maybe instead of the government being strengthened, we need more dads in the home. And instead of growing the size of the state, we need more people to go to church and to believe in the divine and respect of the individual and the dignity of every human being. So we. That's correct. Jesus is Lord, you're right. And so we share. We can share with a lot of social workers or in social work the need to help people that are, that have less. In fact, we as Christians are called to do that, but we believe that permanent government assistance and programs is the wrong way to do that. Are you finding in social work it's a little bit left leaning or you're.

[Mackenzie]

Well, I'm not there yet. Oh, you will be. Yeah. But I do, you know, I want to go to social work. I want to, like, help foster kids. Pro life movement is something that's really important to me. So I want to do, like, what I can to help the foster system and. Yeah, just, you know, make the future anti abortion.

[Charlie Kirk]

God bless you. Thank you. Thank you. Great first question. Thank you.

[Mackenzie]

Yeah. Can I, Can I?

[Charlie Kirk]

Yes. Would you like me to sign it?

[Mackenzie]

That would be awesome.

[Audience Member]

Yeah.

[Mackenzie]

Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[Charlie Kirk]

Thank you. God bless you. Yes.

[Audience Member]

Hey, Charlie. During the 2016 Republican primary, when Trump got booed on stage, he famously said, that's all his donors and special interests and the only reason that they're not loving him was because he doesn't want their money, but rather wanted to do what's best for the American people. He also Tweeted out in 2015, Sheldon Adelson is looking to give big dollars to Rubio because he feels he can mold him into his perfect little puppet. I agree. In 2024, not only has Trump appointed little Marco as his Secretary of State, but has also accepted $100 million in political contributions from the widow of the very same donor who he called out in 2015.

[Charlie Kirk]

Miriam Adelson.

[Audience Member]

Yeah, Miriam Adelson. If the foundation of MAGA was to be a raw, authentic movement in the face of overwhelming establishment corruption, why did Trump accept hundreds of millions of dollars from in political contributions from mega donors?

[Charlie Kirk]

Well, you have to finance your campaign somehow. Right?

[Audience Member]

And we won in 2015. He financed it himself. He was self funded.

[Charlie Kirk]

He ran in the primary. He did. You're right.

[Audience Member]

That's right. Yeah.

[Charlie Kirk]

But look, you have to accept money from different coalitions of people. Are you glad Trump won?

[Audience Member]

To some extent, yeah.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay, to what extent are you not happy he won?

[Audience Member]

I think he doesn't represent the same thing that he represented in 2015.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay, tell me why.

[Audience Member]

In 2015, he represented a political outsider. He was not the establishment. He was a stark contrast from the establishment. He was opposing Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, the Bushes.

[Charlie Kirk]

So let's. In practice, how is Trump not governing as an outsider? He literally just like fired 300,000 people in the last month. We have. He got rid of usaid. He's ending the Russian Ukrainian war. Of course, border crossings are down 95%. I mean, house is not an outsider.

[Audience Member]

Of course, he's an outsider from the previous. The previous administration, the Biden administration, but he's not really the same Trump that he was in 2015.

[Charlie Kirk]

I think he's better.

[Audience Member]

He's better.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah.

[Audience Member]

Really?

[Charlie Kirk]

I mean, but let's go through the list. Think about it. I mean, in every single element. The first term, he didn't get rid of usaid. First term, he didn't say he wanted to get rid of their private education. The first term, he did not say, we're gonna have the largest deportation effort ever, of which we are doing. I mean, we're actually seeing new and improved promises and fulfillment of the original Trump agenda.

[Audience Member]

What happened to the wall?

[Charlie Kirk]

Well, you mean the wall that Biden decided to deconstruct? I think what you're talking about is border crossings, which is more important. Right, Right.

[Audience Member]

So I'm talking about the border wall that Trump promised he would build in.

[Charlie Kirk]

2015, of which he largely did in his first term, disassembled under Biden. But the essence is border crossings. Right. Because we want a wall to stop border crossings. Right. So how many border crossings were there approximately last day of Biden's day in office?

[Audience Member]

Tell me.

[Charlie Kirk]

No, guess.

[Audience Member]

I don't know. You're putting on the spot.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, 11,000. Right. No, but you're criticizing Trump, so you got to know your stuff, right? Sure. 11,000. How many? As of yesterday. Tell me 124.

[Audience Member]

Wow.

[Charlie Kirk]

So we went from 11,000 to 124. So what President Trump has done. So obviously you care about stopping the flow of people coming into the country, right? So President Trump has now said from 11,000 to 124, 95% decrease, almost a 98% decrease. So he's doing, through executive action, the things that Biden refused to do. But yeah, I think it's new and improved. I think it's an exciting, amazing new administration. But I want you to be very clear and crisp. What are your objections to what he's doing versus 2015?

[Audience Member]

Again, I really gotta hone in on. He didn't really. He didn't promise during the campaign that he'd build the wall in 2024. His campaign never talked about building the wall.

[Charlie Kirk]

He said the largest deportation force in the history of America of which we're seeing right now, child rapists, child sex traffickers and predators are being deported on a daily basis. Okay. And yes, by the way the wall is being built, the biggest reason the wall was ever put into question is because of federal judges that were blocking the construction of the wall. So he had to get more creative. You know, what he's done in this term, they didn't do the first term. He's mobilized the military to actually run the southern border and he has designated the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations with use of lethal force actions against them. So it feels, if you're trying to find complaints against him, I'm trying to understand where you're coming from. Because the this Trump 2.0 is 100 times better than the first Trump term.

While we may have won this election, the fight to restore our great nation is only beginning. Now is the time to take a stand and Patriot Mobile is leading the charge. As America's only Christian conservative wireless provider, Patriot Mobile offers a way to vote with your wallet without compromising on quality or convenience. Patriot Mobile isn't just about providing exceptional cell phone service.

[Anderson]

It's about.

[Charlie Kirk]

It's a call to action to defend our rights and freedoms. With Patriot Mobile, you'll get outstanding nationwide coverage because they operate on all three major networks. If you have a cell phone service today, you can get a cell phone.

Service with Patriot Mobile with a coverage guarantee. But the difference is every dollar you.

Spend supports the first and second Amendments. Sanctity of life are veterans and first responders.

Switching is easy.

Keep your number, keep your phone or upgrade. Their 100% US based customer service team.

Will help you find the perfect plan.

Go to patriotmobile.com charlie or call 972 Patriot and get a free month of.

Service with promo code. Charlie, switch to Patriot Mobile today and.

Defend freedom with every call and text you make.

Visit patriotmobile.com charlie or call 972 Patriot.

[Audience Member]

Well, it just seems like he's a different Trump than the Trump in 2020.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay, so see, but. But use evidence, not emotions.

[Audience Member]

Right?

[Charlie Kirk]

So. So what evidence do you have? Not like it feels. It seems like. What. What evidence do you have?

[Audience Member]

My evidence is that my original question, he took hundreds of millions of dollars and he didn't build the wall.

[Charlie Kirk]

But no, we've already been through that. For example, like, the border crossings are coming at all time low. The wall, I'm not talking about border crossing, but you build a wall to rent border crossing. So if you can get border crossings low without a wall, then it's even.

[Audience Member]

And to establish sovereignty and.

[Charlie Kirk]

No, of course. Look, he will build those things. I just find it interesting. I'm just trying to get down. Will he build the wall if courts allow him to? Of course he will. I mean, obviously.

[Audience Member]

But he has the biggest mandate that he had that he will ever have.

[Charlie Kirk]

And he is fulfilling it every single day. So did you vote for Trump?

[Audience Member]

I abstained from voting.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay. Well. Well, I'll say one thing. I hope you enjoy a better America, because even though you didn't vote for the right candidate, you're going to enjoy a better country thanks to President Donald Trump. Thank you.

[Audience Member]

Thank you, Mr. Kirk.

[Charlie Kirk]

Thank you. Yes.

[Camden]

How's it going, Charlie?

[Charlie Kirk]

Good. How are you?

[Camden]

Good. My name is Camden. I've been a sport for you for a long time. And I have a quick question or two quick questions. The first one is, why are colleges getting so much more liberal in this generation, specifically? And what can we do about that?

[Charlie Kirk]

Well, I will say students are becoming more right wing. I mean, this is amazing. By the way, Gen Z was the biggest move towards Donald Trump of any demographic and generation this last November. So thank you guys for that. It was amazing. Major, major move. Would you say this campus is pretty liberal?

[Camden]

Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, very. Do you guys feel as if on campus that if you speak out as a conservative, you are graded differently?

[Camden]

Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. So you guys feel as if you say conservative view, you'll be graded negatively?

[Camden]

Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. So tell me more about that. I would just be curious.

[Camden]

I'm in an Economics of Women and Work class and I'm like, the only one.

[Charlie Kirk]

There's an Economics of woman. Yes.

[Camden]

And it was required. It was Required. And I'm the only pretty much conservative in the class that believes that the gender pay gap is a myth. That there's. Obviously it is, of course, but they're so stern on grading as if there is one. So if I say something that's against that, then I'm graded differently.

[Charlie Kirk]

This proves my point that college is a scam. You should not be forced to go into debt to study things that are not true.

[Camden]

Right.

[Charlie Kirk]

Again, I just reject whole premise. But yeah, look, part of the problem is that it's taxpayer funded. President Trump is waging a war against the college cartel, which is amazing. Saying that federal taxpayer money will not go to schools like this. If they teach garbage like critical race theory, DEI transgenderism, ideology, it's going to be a process actually unfolding that. But yeah, the other problem is this, is that these professors have never done anything in the real world. Many of them, they have lived in their kind of circles of abstractions for their entire life. And again, I truly believe that if you were to go and not. I'm not saying everyone should not go to college, but I think it's actually something you should consider. I think that doing a gap year instead of just growing right into college and spending the equivalent money, like if I could ask what is. Are you in state or out of state at this school?

[Camden]

In state.

[Charlie Kirk]

You're in state. What is the tuition? All in cost? Tuition, room and board here, way too much. Can I. 40,000, 50,000, 7,500 all in the person at the mic.

[Camden]

But yeah, I have bright future, so it's different for me.

[Charlie Kirk]

But okay, but you got to give me some like idea around 20 with tuition, room and board and everything all in. Okay, so it's subsidized by taxpayers though. But that, yeah, it's a separate issue. Okay, so. But for 20,000 bucks, I think you could better spend that money. Quite honestly, experiencing other cultures getting another job, like doing things outside of just the walls of this school. That's why, that's why I'm such a critic. And it's. I'll just be honest. I employ a thousand people at Turning Point. I don't care where you went to college. Employers do not care where you went to college. They care about can you do the job. And we are seeing a, we are seeing a change in the workplace. And college will be the last ones to adjust in this broken, outdated model is that it's much more like sports teams, which is like, what is your skill? What do you bring to the table? Not like, where did you go to college or how long you were there, we're seeing the kind of emergence of a free agent system, if you will, based on skill and merit. So anyway, hope that answers your question. Thanks.

[Camden]

I have one more question.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, really quick.

[Camden]

Okay, so I'm a Christian and I'm pro life, right? And there's, there's a lot of conservatives who also believe in the death penalty. But my question is, how can you believe in the death penalty and also be pro life?

[Charlie Kirk]

I mean, it's a great question, but let me just. It's. I think it's rather incre. Logically contradictory. So if, if I may use a young lady as a, as a. Let's pretend she was pregnant, okay? And there was an unborn human being in utero and let's pretend he is on death row for murdering five people. There's a difference. That baby did nothing wrong in utero. He used his agency to go kill other five other people. And as a Christian, the only law that is repeated in all five books of the Torah is that if you kill a life, if you take a life, your life will be taken.

[Camden]

Can I, can I counter?

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah.

[Camden]

So Paul killed Christians before he wrote 13 books of the Bible. So how do we.

[Charlie Kirk]

Well, yeah, I mean, he obviously repented and gave his life to Christ and became a super amazing disciple. I guess the question is, do we believe in the ultimate administration of justice? And I think of course you do. If you take a life, your life should be taken. But equivalent making a moral equivalency of an unborn baby that has done nothing wrong, which by the way, we have no problem slaughtering, right? I'm saying as a country, right, we over a million and a half a year and then we say, oh well, this guy who burned an entire house down and killed five people, you know, we need to feel sorry for them. Now, this is not you. But I could turn it on its head. That bleeding heart liberals will say they feel more sorry for the person on death row than for the baby in the womb that never had a chance to live. And so for me, I think the person that. Let's just. Again, I think the death penalty should only be used very rarely, very sparringly, and should be done quickly. In fact, I even think that we should bring back, you know, public executions on certain people. No, but think about it. I think that. And you guys should laugh, but it should be done. No, you guys should laugh, but think about it. Some of these crimes are so heinous against humanity that it must be done. As a statement and not say that, you know, we're going to make you a sympathy. So, for example, I think that Luigi Maggione guy, I think he should get the death penalty. I think that if you're gonna go kill someone in the back of the head in the streets of New York and act as if I should be sympathetic because you didn't get a health care premium, like I think you should get the death penalty for that. I think if you take a life, your life should be taken and it should be done, obviously through a jury that appears so. Anyway, that's how I would respond to that. It's the administration of justice and it's also more specifically the life in the womb has not hurt anybody else. The person on death penalty definitionally has hurt somebody else's death.

[Camden]

Thank you. And then appreciate it.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yes.

[Camden]

Since I don't have a lot of time, if I have more time to ask more questions, can I get you on my podcast in the future?

[Charlie Kirk]

Maybe.

[Camden]

All right.

[Charlie Kirk]

Here's my hat. Thanks, man.

Hey everybody, I want to tell you about prizepix. Prize Picks is the best place to get real money sports action. With over 10 million members and billions of dollars in awarded winnings, Prizepix has made daily fantasy sports accessible to all. You just pick more or less on at least two players for a shot to win 1000 times your cash. Run your game all season long on Prize Picks. March Madness is coming up, so this is a perfect way to get in on the action. It's available in more than 30 states including California, Texas and Georgia. The app is super easy to use to create a lineup. All you have to do is pick more or less on a few player stats for your shot to win up a thousand times on your money. On Prize Picks, you can mix and match player projections for from different sports. Combine your favorite basketball players with players from baseball, hockey, esports and so much more. Prizepix offers Venmo, Apple Pay, MasterCard and more for quick and easy deposits into your account this sports season. So check it out right now. Prize Picks Run your game. Download the app today and use promo code Kirk to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. That's again, download the app today and use promo code Kirk to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup. Prize picks Run your game. There's so many great right now as we are going closer and closer to March Madness. So take a look.

Get in the game.

[Audience Member]

Hey so my name is Anderson. I agree with you on most things But I disagree. I think I disagree with you. You can correct me if I'm wrong on kind of the Republican Party's current stance on the Department of Education. I think that I moved here from Illinois. In Chicago? Yeah.

[Charlie Kirk]

What part of Chicago are you from?

[Audience Member]

Arlington Heights.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. So what high school you go to?

[Audience Member]

I didn't go to high school there, but I was supposed to go to Hersey.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay. I went to Wheeling.

[Audience Member]

Oh, My dad lived there, so that's crazy.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. So I know the area quite well. Did you go to middle school there?

[Audience Member]

Yeah, I went to middle school there.

[Charlie Kirk]

I went to Thomas, I went to MacArthur.

[Audience Member]

Oh, that's cool.

[Charlie Kirk]

So I know your neighborhood very.

[Audience Member]

Yeah, yeah. And so how I've seen like kind of the changes from moving down here from the north, it seems like there's like this very like antagonistic view with education, which I didn't have in Illinois, at least in the part that I lived in, because it was a well off suburb. But I see the Republican Party moving far closer to like getting rid of it. And I think that having a tool to keep schools responsible based on the curriculum that they're teaching is far more valuable than getting rid of it just because there's so many problems with it.

[Charlie Kirk]

Fair argument. Thank you. So the Department Education was formed in 1979. Do you think it's done a good job of improving educational standards for kids in this country?

[Audience Member]

No. Mostly no. But I think the proper tool of a federal government saying, hey, you have to teach truths, even if that local community doesn't necessarily want to. Like the example that I kind of thought of, because I was talking to someone about this, I thought of like a coal mining town. In that town, it might be the most valuable thing to teach about mining, to teach about that type of trade, versus if you live in New York City, you're going to be learning a lot more of like markets and just overall higher education. And I think that's unfair to the people who are born into that area just because that area needs that economic development.

[Charlie Kirk]

So. Fair question. So what you're saying is from a more conservative slant, probably that a federal student, Department of education that actually mandates the right things from the top down.

[Audience Member]

Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

Sounds great. Let me tell you why A, that won't happen and why B, I think that's a bad idea. So even though it sounds conceptually right, A, anything that starts in D.C. with a good intention will be taken over by the cancer, the woke tumor. And the woke cancer, it metastasizes, envelops the entire thing Even if it has a really good intent. I'll give you a great example. We have this huge fight right now in the Department of Defense trying to get rid of all the WOKE stuff in the Marines and the Air Force. If we can't keep the Marines from becoming woke, we have no chance of the Department Education ever not becoming in that way. And just by the actual fiber of what education is, more people on the left gravitate into that space. Now let me agree with you before I kind of get into the second point. The biggest problem with education, which is why we should get rid of the Department of Education, is it's not the Department of Education, it's the Department of Administrators. And this is what's very important. This is not a war on teachers. There are 11 million people in America that are in government, that are in jobs in government, taxpayer funded in education. If you were to guess, how many would you say are teachers?

[Audience Member]

30%.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. So that, that's. Yeah, that's almost correct. You're right. So about 7 million, about 6.7 million of the 11 million. Our administrators and the people, like most of our education money goes towards paper pushers, career counselors, you know, people that fill in paperwork unnecessarily. We're not even supporting the teachers on the front lines. So that's the biggest problem is we have become an administrative heavy education model. And what has that meant for our kids?

Since the advent of Department of Education.

As you agree, standards have gone down, literacy has gone down, math and reading has gone down. In fact, most kids in public education. I want you guys to think about this in high school, have not read an entire book cover to cover.

[Audience Member]

Yeah.

[Charlie Kirk]

Do you guys agree with that? And I know that might look when parents hear that, it's so shocking. Most kids, when they are in by a junior or senior in school, have not read.

They'll read snippets.

You guys know that they have readers, right? You know a chapter of this. They have not read an entire book cover to cover. Let me go to my second argument why I think it's a bad idea. I don't think it's constitutional or in the role of government to get involved in the most intimate thing, which is education. And this is why I think our view of education is wrong. You guys look at education probably because you've been taught as just, hey, get here so you can get a job. In the ideal sense, education should be about the growth of the soul and should be about the nurturing of good citizens, which is completely different than Just career preparation. The view I have of education, which is what the founders had, which only very few people have, is that you guys should be here to read really old good books, to understand ancient philosophy, to become a well rounded citizen of what is good, true and beautiful. And then you could do any job once you graduate. The hyper specialization of our education system has been dreadful.

So do you have private student loan debt or do you know someone who does that? You really care about someone. You might have had dinner recently or breakfast. They say I just can't get out.

Of private student loan debt.

Now it's different than federal student loan debt, but a lot of people have private student loans, about $300 billion. And in fact, if you have private student loans, you're more likely to be older. The older you are, the more likely you are to have a private student loan. Because before the federal government took it all over. Why refi can get you out? It's not a debt settlement company and they work with each borrower individually tailoring each loan to each borrower's specific situation. Because of private student loan debt, so many Americans feel stuck and helpless and they've even lost hope. Yrefi gives you a light at the end of the tunnel. If your private student loan debt is keeping you up at night and ruining your life, it doesn't have to just call yrefi. Go to yrefi.com, call 8at8yrefi34 or log on to yrefi.com youm don't have to ignore that mountain of student loan statements on your kitchen table anymore. If you have a co borrower, Yrefi can get them released from the loan.

You can give mom or dad a break.

May not be available in all states. So go to yrefi.com that is why.

Refi.Com let me get to the Constitution and I'd love to get your response. Constitutionally, I think we have made too many exceptions of the government should do this, the government should do that. When if we look at Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution, it enumerates 17 things that government can do. Education federally is not one of them and it doesn't even do it well. And I think it's led to this bloat of federal agencies that shouldn't exist. And so finally, and let's go back to that coal miner example, that's a really good example in one way. But at the other way, we should not impose on certain communities what values they should learn or not learn. And usually what happens Is we know it's left wing ideology that then gets imposed on local Christian communities or conservative communities that might have a different view. So what is your opinion on, on all that?

[Audience Member]

I think that I feel like at this point there's so many different. I feel like there's so many different government programs that don't adhere to the Constitution, at least not in a literal sense. Like, I'm not saying they're constitutionally illegal.

[Charlie Kirk]

But I would say they almost start.

[Audience Member]

Yeah, that is definitely an argument. But I do think that there is certain educational standards that need to be upheld. I just don't know the proper way to do that.

[Charlie Kirk]

Great. So my suggestion is we don't have to think too deeply about it is we already know what that looks like, which is that the states should run the education as they see fit and the federal government should remove. Because we know back in the 50s, 60s or 70s we had much higher literacy rates, much better math scores. We've gone down. We're like 26 now in education, yet we're spending $250 billion a year on the federal department of Education, mostly on administrative paperwork. So I think we need to empower more families. And the final thing I'll say is school choice allowing parents be able to send their dollar. And by the way, Florida has one of the most robust school choice programs in the country. And it works because competition education is a good thing. Final point. Yes.

[Audience Member]

Yeah, I know my sister actually works at a Montessori school and so I'm very on board with like school choice. But I think the first party governmental schools in my opinion should have a certain level of standard. Just because I moved from illinois to here.

[Charlie Kirk]

District 214. Yeah, yeah.

[Audience Member]

And I, and I. It wasn't a perfect school district, so I had my fair share of this.

[Charlie Kirk]

Very, very well funded. It Thomas.

[Audience Member]

Very well funded. Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

And let me just kind of, you know, and then we'll go to the next question. It's well funded for a reason because of very, very high taxes. Not great. I know the area well. But last point is the type of top down, you know, involvement you want should happen on the state level. It should happen in Tallahassee, not in Washington D.C. let's get D.C. out of our education. Thank you so much. Appreciate. Want a hat? Yeah. Great. Thank you. Next question. Disagreements. If anyone's there, these are the meta Ray Bans from Mr. Zuckerberg. So enjoy. All right. Yes, sir.

[Anderson]

Hey, how you doing, Charlie? Big fan.

[Charlie Kirk]

Thank you.

[Anderson]

I was going to say in terms of the right to Abortion, I understand. I'm not going to argue against, you know, your clump of cells. Babies. Clump of cells. I wanted to say how I spent all day. These people are sitting outside the hospital, inside the hospital, arguing that these babies should be born. And then we have the technology today to determine if the baby's going to be born with a terrible condition with down syndrome or something, something else bad. And yet these people will spend so much time arguing for the baby not to be born, you know, when it is born. And these families are subject to these conditions. These people do nothing to help the baby postnatal at all. And it's like, what do they get out of making sure that these babies are born with such a terrible condition?

[Charlie Kirk]

So I want to make sure I'm understanding the question. Yeah. Are you criticizing pro lifers for making sure that the babies are born or just. Yeah, just, just be more specific, more.

[Anderson]

Anti abortion more than pro life to make a mom have a baby that is going to be born in such a terrible state. And then no one, you know, these people that the pro lifers that want the baby to be born do nothing postnatal to help to help the babies.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay, so there's. There's a couple things wrong with your statement, the first of which, let's talk about the moral issue, which is why should a baby with down syndrome have less human rights than you and I?

[Anderson]

I think down syndrome is a bad example. I'm talking more.

[Charlie Kirk]

But you did, you did use that. I did.

[Anderson]

I know I did say that.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's fine. So let's back up. Let me say. Then let's say a blood test says that a kid has a congenital heart failure. Okay, fair enough. Yeah. Now, according to the New York Times and many other studies, that's only about half true. Meaning like many people in this audience, I'm sure there's somebody here probably had a mom that got a test that said you were gonna have a congenital heart failure. It turned out not to be true. So those tests are not nearly as accurate as you might think. Let's even pretend that they are accurate. Okay, let me grant you that premise. Why should then that human not be given equal human rights even if they get a terminal diagnosis?

[Anderson]

No, no, they, they should. I'm not arguing they shouldn't have human rights. I'm saying that if they.

[Charlie Kirk]

What is the first human right?

[Anderson]

Right to live, right to freedom. I understand that. I'm saying when they are, when the tests are more conclusive, then these families suffer. They suffer with these children that they have that only get to live to 15 and they're in pain their entire life.

[Charlie Kirk]

So that's an interesting moral argument that I want to try to flush out. By what standard it is okay to do something wrong that involves another suffering of another, to alleviate suffering for yourself, to basically outsource your suffering to somebody else, saying, I'm going to eliminate you because I might have a tough time. Why is that morally okay?

[Anderson]

I'm not saying it's morally okay. It's, you know, it's your life too. It's your child.

[Charlie Kirk]

And no, it is a moral question. So I just want you to help me understand that.

[Anderson]

Okay, so what do you want me to answer?

[Charlie Kirk]

I want you help me understand why it would be morally defensible and okay to eliminate a life if that life might make my life harder.

[Anderson]

What it'd be hard on the life itself. Like, obviously it's their decision, but you know, they might not be in a state to make that decision. And, you know, everyone deserves to live. I'm not saying they shouldn't, but, you know, I agree.

[Charlie Kirk]

Every human life deserves right to be born.

[Anderson]

No, I agree with you.

[Charlie Kirk]

Let me get to the second part of your argument, which is a criticism of the pro life movement. I do. I would encourage you to immerse yourself more into the comprehensive work that pro lifers do beyond just birth canal. It is a common talking point of a lot of people, not you, but on the left that will say, oh, you're just pro birth, not pro life. If you just go to a local church and you'll ask, hey, it's not just a pro life ministry. There's family adoption ministries. They will give diaper care, daycare, the whole top, the whole nuts and bolts of actually helping a baby develop into a full human being. And so I would just kind of challenge that premise a little bit because it sounds cruel. Oh, you just want the baby born. You're not going to assist it for the rest of the life. But I think we agree. I think we both agree in human dignity, right? Yeah.

[Anderson]

Yeah. Yes. All right, well, thank you. I know about that. Thank you so much.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay, have a great day. Thank you.

Thanks so much for listening, everybody. Email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com thanks so much for listening and God bless.

[Audience Member]

For more on many of these stories.

[Anderson]

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