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Charlie Kirk
Hey, everybody. Charlie Kirk here live from the Bitcoin.com studio. What is the chain of command? Oh, this is a shocking story out of Washington, D.C. where the person who's in charge of chain of command in D.C. doesn't know what chain of command is. You cannot make this up. Senator Mike Lee joins us and we recap my appearance on CNBC. Email us, as always, freedom charliekirk.com and subscribe to our podcast. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go.
Andrew Sorkin
Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
Senator Mike Lee
Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
Pamela Smith
I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
Jack Posobiec
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. We've had quite an event festival, beautiful morning. It is 12pm Eastern Standard Time, and I was up quite early. So yesterday we were in Washington, D.C. i was able to stop by the White House and see the President, which was amazing. He's at the Kennedy center right now in phenomenal spirits. And he was just in a great spot. He's like, you know, we're building the ballroom. They're redoing the Rose Garden. He is in his element. And then just shuffled on up to New York City, got a couple hours of sleep, and I was up early at, I think, like 5:15 and to go join Squawkbox. I've known about the show for a while. It just. You understand, Squawk Box might not be a program a lot of you in this audience watch, but it is. And this was confirmed based on a lot of messages I got. It certainly is a drumbeat of a lot of the C Suite. You could call it the ruling class. I'm not even. I don't even mean that pejoratively. It certainly sets the tone for the markets and the economic mood of the day. It is a mood center for markets. And based on the incoming, I was getting a lot of people that are controlling serious capital allocations watch the program. So we had an opportunity to go on Squawk Box, and they treated me great. It was. It was really amazing. I got to give CNBC credit. They showed up, obviously did makeup, and they said, here, just go right on the set. There was no kind of like, producer that Says, you can't say this, can't say that. It was straight, unfiltered free speech. Boom. I thought it was going to be like a three minute segment or a five minute segment. It was a 17 minute segment. And went on and talked about everything. We talked about economics, we talked about worldview, we talked about trade, we talked about one big beautiful bill. And most importantly, we talked about the ruling class. Let's play cut 365. And it was with one of the guys, Andrew Sorkin, who I actually had a chance to meet a couple months ago. And we're on different planets on certain issues. But he's fun and I think was actually a really good host. And he asked challenging questions. I actually love the challenging questions because it provokes you and challenges you toward a better conclusion. And what was really important about this is that CNBC is certainly, I don't want to say cnbc, but part of the opinions that are expressed on that program, again, great experience is more in that ruling class technocratic elite. We come from the workers class, populist class. I didn't go to college. We represent the muscular class. What I loved, I mean, this was probably one of the most poetic moments there at cnbc. You know, shake the hand. And Joe Kernan was a total stud. He was awesome to work with and he was just great. And you know, who wants the selfies, the. All the camera operators. It was, it was, it was just like this amazing contrast. It was the guys behind the scenes that make it all happen and understand the people that watch this program. It's just, it's CEOs, analysts that control trillions of dollars. So kind of going into that boxing, ufc, Octagon and holding down the populist nationalist vibe is not something they're used to play. Cut 365.
Joe Kernan
To the extent that you're like a mind reader of the president, what, what people like the business community. How should the business community think about what he says versus what he's going to do?
Charlie Kirk
This is not complicated.
Andrew Sorkin
He wants what's best for America. It's not ideological. And he wants what's best both for capital and labor. And he wants the market to succeed. He wants wages to go up. Tariffs have largely been used as two things, national security components or as revenue generators. He has now created a third category, which is we're going to use it as a negotiation tactic. And he has the whole world spinning and they're coming to the Oval Office wanting to get a deal done, wanting to come into the US Markets Remember.
Charlie Kirk
In April when Trump first announced Liberation Day, Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's analytics, predicted we would have an immediate reception extending into 2026. Donald Rhys Miller, chief economist at Strategist Science, said that there was a 45% chance of recession by year end. So how did it turn out? Turns out that once again, as we've seen many times of President Trump, there was a lot of panic followed by nothing. By May, the market was back where it was before the tariff panic and now the S and P is at record highs. And understand this, that President Donald Trump has used tariffs as a negotiating tool, a negotiating tactic to bring people in and to broker better deals for the United States of America as leverage. And all of the experts, they seem to be so lost on this, they lose the forest from the trees and they focus on the minute details. And that is why I said we need to rework the ruling class. If you want to understand President Trump, you have to update your mental model on Trump for 2025. This is not 2018 anymore. These excuses, oh, I don't know what Trump's doing. You know exactly what he's doing. Donald Trump is primarily doing one thing. He is restoring the United States of America for hemispheric hegemony, making us the geopolitical center of the planet. He wants capital to flow in, he wants goods that we make to go out. He wants the border secure and he wants a strong nation he can hand down. The one thing the expert class has proven they're experts on is being wrong about Donald Trump. Play Cut365 look, the question from an.
Joe Kernan
Economic perspective on tariffs is you may get collect the tariff on one end and the question is what happens to the real economy on the other end?
Andrew Sorkin
And so far we have not seen.
Joe Kernan
And so far we haven't seen it.
Andrew Sorkin
It was a major like catastrophic prediction, right? The panic ins the whole world's going to fall apart and we just haven't seen that. And I think there does need to be a little contrition by economic ruling class. Like hey, back when when we were saying this was going to be the worst thing for the global markets ever, it turns out what it has done is it recentered America as the, as the center point of the world economy.
Charlie Kirk
Did we ever get an apology? And why are those people still being taken seriously on television? Why are we still taking seriously all the prognostications, the predictions and the calculations of the very same economic elite that got all of this wrong? Similar to Covid, similar to Ukraine and in fact, I mentioned Covid later in it. That was probably my favorite moment where I go, boom, boom, boom, boom. Of all the things that this technocratic class has gotten wrong, let's go to. I don't know if 385 is the best one. Let's play 385. Bill.
Bill
Anybody that is even a quasi supporter of President Trump, and maybe I put myself in that category. There are plenty of times where you're uncomfortable trying to defend some of the things that are. Have you ever felt uncomfortable with anything?
Andrew Sorkin
I'm uncomfortable defending some of the things.
Charlie Kirk
I've said a couple years ago. But look, I just look at results.
Andrew Sorkin
And I look at.
Charlie Kirk
This is a guy that goes to.
Andrew Sorkin
Work every single day and produces wins for the American people. And look, real wages are up this year for working people, $1,100. We just saw the report that we're starting to see crude go down a little bit. And we need that definitely to have energy prices go down, capital expenditures are going up, which is a leading prerequisite for economic growth.
Charlie Kirk
And I get all the objections. I just want to say one final.
Andrew Sorkin
Thing though, is that I think that we need to rework our mental model when it comes to Donald Trump, especially in people that are running companies because they're looking too much on the flow on X and they're not looking at the macroeconomic geopolitical victory that President Trump is driving every single day, which is recentering America as the forefront leader of the world.
Charlie Kirk
President Donald Trump has been underestimated by the managerial class, the power elite, the dominant class, the entire saga. And honestly, it felt kind of good to be able to go on CNBC and tell that story and, and credit to them, credit to Andrew Sorkin and to Joe for allowing me to say that on a big program that wasn't some sort of like 11pm thing that is prime time. Joe's a great guy, by the way. Phenomenal, straight shooter, really good. And they want to have me back. They both said, hey, come back anytime. So they want to have me back next time I'm in New York. And I think that we as maga, populist. And there was another part of this. I think we'll play it after the break. I said, look, you're going to get Magione or Mamdani or you can get maga. It's the three M's they have Manjoni Mamdaniism. If you are in charge of a company, you're an entrepreneur. You don't want that. But Maga we're going to come to a new settlement between capital and labor and it's going to be good for everyone. It's going to be victories. But it's not just going to be a corporate oligarchy that's going to run the country. That is not the economic model. That is a disordered economy that is bad for working people and bad for young people. But it will be at its core capitalistic. It will be market driven, it will be private property adhering, it will be risk taking, it will be value creating. It will be about wealth creation. It will not be confiscation wealth tax nonsense instead. But there will be a reordering and a recentering that we might have to stomach some otherwise third rails of American politics. Do you ever want to turn off the news and just ignore politics?
Pamela Smith
Don't.
Charlie Kirk
That's understandable. It's overwhelming. But here's the thing. We're citizens of a republic. The decisions made by our government affect our everyday lives, meaning each of us ought to read and understand the United States Constitution. That's why I'm so excited that Hillsdale College is offering a brand new free online course called the Federalist. The Federalist Papers are written primarily by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison. Together they explain how the United States Constitution established a government strong enough to secure the rights of citizens and safe enough to wield that power. Now it's our responsibility to be vigilant in order to preserve and protect Republican self government. Hillsdale's online course on The Federalist includes 10 lectures, each about 30 minutes long. You can take the course at your own pace. There's no cost to sign up. Go right now to charlieforhillsdale.com to enroll. There's no cost and it's easy to get started. That's C H-A-R L I E for hillsdale.com charlieforhillsdale.com America's greatest college charlieforhillsdale.Com look, you have two options. You can go MAGA or Magionism. You can go MAGA or you can go Mamdaniism. You can go MAGA or you can go Mohammadism. It's very funny how all the M's MAGA is the only option on the right. Neo conservatives are not coming back. The corporate oligarchs. We're not gonna let him. So MAGA has cemented the worldview of the American right, but the left, we don't know. It could go Magione, which is the most extreme. You could go Mamdani, which is very, very Extreme. Or you go Mohammedism, which is just, you know, Muslim. Islamic takeover. Mom, Dominique. Mom, Dominicks. Jack Posobic sent. That doesn't. I don't know. I don't know how you pronounce that. He sent that to me like three times. Mamdani Omics. It doesn't really roll off the tongue. I don't know. Jack. I'm gonna have to talk about that one. On thought crime, Mom, Donnie Nomics. Mamdani Nomics. I don't know. He's gonna have to win me over on that one. Jack says, shaking my head. You're the greatest. Jack Posobic. Mom, Donnie Nomics. How's that? You get reform or you get revolution. We at MAGA want to reform stuff again. This is my one piece of feedback for conservatives, guys. We have to be less ideological on economic stuff. If it means we have to raise taxes on the rich at some point, then that means we might have to do that. All of those are going to be moderate, prudent and very slight changes versus a radical restructuring that we do not want. You do not want that play. Cut 388.
Joe Kernan
My worry about populism is, and this is true on both sides of the populist situation, that effectively voters get lied to. They get lied to about what the politicians can actually do for them. That's what populism actually is.
Andrew Sorkin
But the technocrats have been lying to us. It's not like this idea that populists are like, President Trump's the one that's actually kept his promises. He said he's going to secure the border, and he did. He said he was going to appoint the people the Supreme Court. But I would just say beyond Mamdani is the thing I want to caution your audience is you're going to get maggionism. You're going to get one off. Violent targeting of people with money if we do not rebuild the American middle class. I think President Trump is doing that. The numbers show that.
Charlie Kirk
Oh, you got to let it. You got to let it flow. I'd be cut it off. Let me tell you why that's important. You know who is watching that? CEOs of all the biggest companies around the country. And they know about the mangione thing in the back of their head. They're like, boy, am I next. It's a dark, dark thing. Everybody. I don't want to let that country. You don't live that country. Political undercurrent underneath maggione that cannot be ignored, that should not be dismissed. And that political reality Is that is on the American left. Here we are, and we're talking about changing trade policy, maybe some tax adjustments. We need to put labor back into the equation. And again, we're not saying that labor should be the only factor, but the balance between capital and labor is what Teddy Roosevelt was able to do to transition us from the farms to the factories. The balance between capital and labor is what Dwight D. Eisenhower did post World War II with higher tax rates. You cannot be ideological about this, because that's why I started. Donald Trump wants America to win. That is our guiding principle. We want wages to go up. We want home purchases to go up. We want church attendance to go up. We want fertility rates to go up. We want border crossings to go to zero. We want deportations to go up. We want more people to treat their fellow countrymen as neighbors and not strangers. We don't want men and female sports. This is not ideological stuff. And it gets portrayed by some people, the media, as being ideological. If your primary guiding principle is American victory, American victory overall, then all of a sudden you can proceed and you can navigate from there. You can then move forward. Okay, then that's how we're going to treat things economically. Let me play another piece of tape here. My appearance on squawk box play cup 387.
Bill
I have seen. See, he's 31, so he hasn't been around to see a lot of these things. I can show you five former Republican presidents. Each one in the media has the little Hitler stash. I can show you it on the current guy. I can show it to you on W. I can show it to you on Reagan. This has been the way it's been for years. You know this.
Andrew Sorkin
Do you realize, I mean, look, I grew up, I was like 10 years old during the worst of the Bush stuff. But yes, I mean, I think it's gone.
Charlie Kirk
I think you would agree it's gone.
Andrew Sorkin
To a fever pitch that we have not seen with Trump.
Bill
But people that are Yourites think, oh, my God, this guy's the worst ever in final. But I saw the same stuff with.
Charlie Kirk
W. Let me ask you.
Bill
And with Ray.
Joe Kernan
Let me ask you a different question.
Bill
And with the wimp.
Charlie Kirk
It's one of Joe's insertions there. You could listen to the entire thing. We're going to post an annotated version on our YouTube channel. Email us freedom charliekirk.com Jack says Mamdani nomics is gold. Okay. It's growing on me now that I know how to phonetically say it. Mamdani nomics say that three. I'm still not quite there, but it is the M's. You have maga, which is reform, or you have three pronged revolution. You can go Marxism, you can go Mohammadism, you can go Mamdaniism, or you go magionism. Hey, that's four M's. It all works. And MAGA is about American victory. I used to think I knew what I was getting at the grocery store until I found out that over 4 billion pounds of meat were imported into the United States just last year. And it can still be labeled like it's from here. And that had me questioning everything, like, what am I even eating? And if the labels can say product of the USA when the meat's not even raised here, what other labels are tricking me? That's when I started looking for something I could trust. And I found good ranchers. All their meat is 100% American, raised on local farms and delivered right to my door. And the quality, truly incredible. I myself am a subscriber and the benefits are amazing. I get $25 off every box, free shipping, and a free gift in every order for life. I've gotten bacon, they're seed oil, free chicken nuggets, and even wagyu burgers. And I love that I can swap the gift each month to try something new. If you're worried about committing to a subscription, don't be. I can pause, delay or cancel if I'm busy traveling or something else. It's super simple and doesn't lock you in. Thousands of my listeners have already made the switch to good ranchers and left nothing but great reviews. Their food is so good. I literally have wagyu burgers waiting for me when I go back home tonight. Go to goodranchers.com to see all what the fuss is about. If you use my code Kirk today, you'll get $40 off plus free meat for life. That is promo code, Kirk. For $40 off plus free meat for life. When you start a new subscription, go to goodranchers.com, welcome to the table. Joining us now is Senator Mike Lee. Lots to talk about from the great state of Utah. Senator Lee, thank you so much for taking the time. Senator, before we talk about Maryland and Washington D.C. what is your comment on the contrast between a MAGA movement and a maggione momdani movement? The choice. It is a time for choosing in the philosophical sense that will of course, then materialize politically.
Pamela Smith
Senator MIKE LEE yeah, look, MAGA is the natural outgrowth of the American dream. It's the natural outgrowth of the English common law as its seeds were planted in the fabric of the United States at a very early stage. MAGA ultimately is about allowing the American people to realize who they are, to achieve what they want to achieve in this lifetime without undue interference for government. That's why it's lasting just as the American Republic has been. And that's why it's going to work just as the United States of America has become the greatest civilization the world has ever known. And it is that way because we've got a Constitution that recognizes that people have certain things that are inalienably theirs that cannot, must not ever be taken away by government. So the promise of MAGA is the promise of the Constitution and the American dream.
Charlie Kirk
And that is one that transcends racial demographics, that transcends any sort of generational demographics. It's one that is critically important. Senator Lee, you've been making some headlines here and I love this. So the Democrats are pushing, pushing, pushing for statehood, but you have a way to kind of work around it, which is why don't we just give Washington D.C. to Maryland? It's a brilliant idea. So smart, because it takes this off the table completely. And then of course, the national parks could still be controlled, no different than Acadia national park or Yellowstone national park or Grand Teton, by the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior. So there would still be federal government control over the US over the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, over the White House, but the city itself would then enter Maryland, hence then cutting off all the objections that their tax thought representation. Senator Mike Lee, please walk us through this in great detail.
Pamela Smith
Yeah. Okay, so first of all, remember that the District of Columbia was created for the specific purpose of making sure that our nation's capital wasn't set in a place where it would be subject to one state's or one locality's viewpoints, where it could truly be a national capital, where the national interests would govern and where the seat of government wouldn't be subject to whatever whim the host state happened to have at that moment. So now that we've evolved a couple, you know, nearly 250 years down the road and we've got a group of people who now want to make Washington D.C. a state. And I say, first of all, you do want a federal corridor, no matter what I would think, so that you can protect the US Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court, the critical government buildings, many of which fit within a fairly narrow Corridor of Washington D.C. but most of the residential parts of it could go back to Maryland. Just as the residential areas in what was previously the District of Columbia, the part that was given by the state of Virginia, was retroceded back to the state of Virginia in the 1840s. So if the people in the residential areas of Washington, D.C. if what they really want is congressional representation, if they really want the ability to vote for US Senators, they let those residential areas go back to Maryland. We could maintain a narrow corridor in D.C. for the buildings that I mentioned. It would be important, Charlie. If we were to take that approach, we would, as a practical matter, need to undo the 23rd Amendment, which sets aside three electoral votes for DC. You wouldn't want those three electoral votes being cast by what could be just a few hundred people in that narrow corridor. But this would work, and it doesn't require us to make D.C. a state. D.C. remember, doesn't have any of the diverse array of economic and cultural resources that we have traditionally required of a territory before bringing it in as a state. And it was never put in federal hands with the expectation that it would become a state on its own. So we've got to decide one way or another if we're going to keep DC as is. DC needs to be governed under laws passed by Congress because Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17 of the Constitution makes this a federal thing. It specifically says that Congress will have exclusive legislative jurisdiction over what we now call the District of Columbia. If we want to go that route, it does need to be refederalized. If they want votes in the United States Senate, they should do so through Maryland. Through retrocession. We've got to pick one of those two, because statehood. That's not happening.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah, statehood is not going to happen. So what is the process? Remind us again, Senator, is there a vote? Does Congress do it? And the Democrats inability to then absorb the state, the D.C. would show their fraud. And interestingly, if we retrocede it, what would happen to DC's electoral votes? Right now they get three electoral votes, I believe. Yeah, that's right, three. I'm just right, three.
Pamela Smith
That's why I'm saying.
Charlie Kirk
So what would happen there?
Pamela Smith
Yeah, that's why I'm saying if we went this route, the route of Maryland retrocession, it would be imperative as a practical matter that we simultaneously repeal the 23rd Amendment because it would make no sense to give three electoral votes to a narrow corridor in which there might only be a few dozen or a few hundred people living at the time that was created as a compromise to figure out what to do with DC to allow DC's residents to vote in presidential elections. That doesn't make DC a state. And that's why we would need to undo the 23rd amendment if we went with retrocession. Unless of course, in theory you could retrocede the entire thing such that there is no more District of Columbia. If you did that, then I suppose you wouldn't have to get rid of the 23rd Amendment because there'd be nothing there to provide those electoral votes.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah. And so what would the process of that be? I mean, that's a big reach. And so again, I suppose then would the narrow part only with the monuments be the population? What would the process of getting rid of constitutional amendment be? It have to be a big vote of Congress. Democrats, I don't think are going to willingly get rid of electoral votes for themselves. We're not doing this for electoral votes, actually. We're simply trying to meet them off at the pass of their scam to try to make Washington D.C. a state senator.
Pamela Smith
Mike Lee no, that's exactly right. Now here's what the process looks like. If you want to amend the Constitution to get rid of the 23rd amendment, it would take a 2/3 super majority vote in both houses of Congress to propose the amendment absent Constitutional Convention, which is a different process. And then any amendments proposed that way have to be ratified by three fourths of the states. You can alternatively propose them by state legislatures calling for Congress to convene a convention for that purpose. Congress then convenes the convention. The convention proposes amendments. Those amendments become effective only after being ratified by three fourths of the states. By contrast, the part about retro seating that can be done statutorily doesn't require a constitutional amendment in and of itself. And because it would be changing the boundaries of an existing state, the Constitution would also require the consent of the Maryland state legislature in order to do that. These things would work and they would give people those votes. And, and I think it's something that we ought to consider. But in the meantime, I also think it's important for us to focus on the here and now, on what the law is and what it says right now. Since 1973, Congress has abdicated its authority, its responsibility, its duty, I believe under Article 1, Section 8, Clause 17, by enacting in 1973 something called the D.C. home Rule Act. And that act has delegated Congress's power over D.C. to the D.C. city government, to the mayor and city council. The problem with that is they have not handled it well, they have allowed lawlessness to prevail to the point where we've got this massive crime wave that's been sweeping through our nation's capital for many years now. It's not safe. And as we've seen before, as we've seen this week, as we saw certainly in 2020 when we had to have National Guard troops brought in in the George Floyd summertime riots of 2020, D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser evicted them from D.C. she didn't want them there. What that shows, Charlie, is that the people of D.C. apparently have very different priorities for our nation's capital than the country as a whole. Now that's fine. I don't expect the entire country necessarily to agree with the governing strategy of any city in Utah. But D.C. is different than any other city. D.C. is made specifically subject to Congress's exclusive legislative jurisdiction. It is anathema to that concept. It is repugnant to the constitutional text and structure to take a non delegable duty to make exclusive law, to make the law as the exclusive lawmaking body over a certain area and delegate that out to someone else. Going all the way back to the writings of Montesquieu. We know this is a duty that cannot be delegated and we made a huge mistake by delegating it.
Charlie Kirk
That's right.
Pamela Smith
Exactly.
Charlie Kirk
Spirit of the laws by the French judge Montesquieu, who actually informed the worldview, the Founding Fathers, even more than John Locke, some would argue. Senator Lee, thank you for your leadership on this. You and I can geek out about Montesquieu, Burke, Locke sometimes and the beauty of the natural law, something I've been spending my summer studying. And once you understand the natural law, the laws of nature and nature is God and that it's self evident, you start to realize the entire structure of the US government, which in itself I believe is scriptural and biblical. Senator Lee, wonderful job. Thank you so much.
Pamela Smith
Thank you, Chiller.
Charlie Kirk
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Kamala Harris
That's what the chain of command is.
Charlie Kirk
Now.
Senator Mike Lee
What does that mean?
Kamala Harris
Well, is it Pam Bondi speaking to the mayor?
Charlie Kirk
How does this work?
Senator Mike Lee
So the executive order is clear. The president has requested impact services and our home rule charter outlines the process.
Charlie Kirk
Did you see that she had. What does that mean? She is the chief of police, the number one cop in Washington D.C. and I know people are going to attack me relentlessly, but it needs to be said, this is DEI on display. This woman is a moron and people are dying in Washington D.C. and she does not know what a chain of command is. But let's kind of go through the greatest hits. You have a Supreme Court justice is a DEI pick, a black woman who doesn't know what a woman is. She says, I don't know what a woman is. You have a police chief in Washington D.C. who's a black woman who doesn't know what a chain of command is. You have a fire chief in Austin, Texas who is a DEI pick who's only there because of an Obama investigation through the doj, who doesn't know what a reimbursement is. Do you see a little bit of a pattern here that when you put people in positions again, this is not like an anti black thing. Everyone writes it up. Charlie goes on racist enough. This is a the death of meritocracy on full display. You want. And to put this even further, this is why Black Death is increasing in Washington D.C. you don't know what chain of command is? Well, do you know what a dead black kid is? Do you know what that is? She like, deadpan eyes. What's the chain of command? And then her answer. I want to play this again. It's kind of that, like. What do you mean, kind of like that attitude, like I'm smarter than you or what do you mean, racist? Listen carefully in slow motion. Let's watch the replay here. Play cut 358. This is the number one cop in Washington D.C. it's a legitimate question. Just so we are clear. DEI incompetence led to dead black kids. This is more than a legitimate question. What is that dei? Let me be clear so Media Matters can write this crisply. So the other stenographers of the show that work for the Independent and work for all of those rags that nobody reads can get my words perfectly. The Charlie Kirk show. Stenographers need to get this. DEI is contributing to Black Death in Washington D.C. and and major cities across the country. It's not the only reason, but DEI is indisputably making it worse. Watch again of the head cop in Washington D.C. not know what a chain of command is. Play cut 358.
Kamala Harris
That's what the chain of command is.
Charlie Kirk
Now.
Senator Mike Lee
What does that mean?
Kamala Harris
Well, is it Pam Bondi speaking to the mayor?
Charlie Kirk
How does this work?
Senator Mike Lee
So the executive order is clear. The president has requested NPD services and our home rule charter outlines the process.
Charlie Kirk
Muriel Bowser to the rescue. She has to go. Get her out of the way. When you hire people based on diversity quotas and explicit or implicit dei, you get incompetence, corruption, and lower standards. So you've got. You got Katanji, Brown Jackson, who is inarguably like the worst of the 9 of people on the Supreme Court. People are laughing at her. They look at her legal briefs. They're like, this stuff is a joke. Michelle Obama only got into Princeton because of affirmative action and dei. Christopher Hitchens famously said that her senior thesis or equivalent at Princeton University was like, barely. Like, you can't even understand it. So all that to say again. People died in Texas because of dei. He didn't understand reimbursements. And here she is again. Play cut 391.
Senator Mike Lee
I'm just a branch off of an old tree. And I'm just that branch that's still standing. And as the leaves fall off, that's all I am. I'm just a tree. And you know what I like about being a tree. I'm glad God has chosen to use this tree.
Charlie Kirk
I don't even know what that means. Is that the full Kamala coconut tree? She's like the embodiment of the Kamala coconut tree. We can make fun of it. The reason I'm being righteously indignant, though, is that our nation's capital is dirty, it is dangerous, and it is murderous. And the number one cop does not know what chain of command is. That's like asking a surgeon what a scalpel is. She's in the chain of command business. DEI kills. You see it on full display in dc. Thanks so much for listening everybody. Email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com thanks so much for listening and God bless. For more on many of these stories.
Pamela Smith
And news you can trust, go to charliekirk.
Charlie Kirk
Com.
Podcast Summary: The Charlie Kirk Show – "Dumb And Dumber, DC Edition" (August 13, 2025)
In the "Dumb And Dumber, DC Edition" episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, host Charlie Kirk delves into critical issues surrounding governance, economic policies, and the impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in Washington D.C. Joined by Senator Mike Lee, the episode offers a robust critique of the current political landscape, emphasizing the divide between the populist movement represented by MAGA and the technocratic elite.
Charlie Kirk recounts his recent appearance on CNBC's Squawk Box, highlighting the opportunity to present a populist perspective to the economic and business elite.
Economic Policies and Tariffs: Kirk discusses President Trump's use of tariffs as a strategic negotiating tool rather than mere economic instruments. He challenges the prevailing narrative that tariffs are harmful, citing improved market conditions post-implementation.
"President Donald Trump has used tariffs as a negotiating tactic to broker better deals for the United States, turning what experts predicted as economic downturns into periods of growth. [04:46]" – Charlie Kirk
Ruling Class vs. Populist Class: Kirk contrasts the "ruling class" of CEOs and analysts with the "muscular, populist class" that he and his organization represent. He emphasizes the need to rework the ruling class's mental models to better understand Trump's objectives.
"We come from the workers' class, the populist class... We represent the muscular class. [04:09]" – Charlie Kirk
The discussion shifts to contrasting the MAGA movement with other proposed ideologies, underscoring MAGA's role in championing American victory and economic reform.
Defining MAGA: Kirk portrays MAGA as the sole viable option on the conservative right, positioning it against less effective or extreme alternatives.
"You have two options. You can go MAGA or Magionism... MAGA has cemented the worldview of the American right." [09:58]" – Charlie Kirk
Critique of Alternatives: He dismisses potential rival movements as either extreme or ineffective, reinforcing MAGA's centrality to American conservatism.
"Neo-conservatives are not coming back. The corporate oligarchs. We're not gonna let him [Trump]. [09:58]" – Charlie Kirk
Senator Mike Lee presents a strategic solution to the contentious issue of D.C. statehood by proposing the retrocession of Washington D.C. to Maryland, thereby negating the need for statehood while addressing representation.
Senator Lee's Proposal: Lee argues that retroceding D.C. preserves federal control over national monuments while granting residents representation through Maryland.
"If the people in the residential areas of Washington, D.C.... let those residential areas go back to Maryland." [20:00]" – Senator Mike Lee
Constitutional Implications: The conversation touches on the necessity to repeal the 23rd Amendment to prevent disproportionate Electoral College votes from the retroceded area.
"It would be imperative as a practical matter that we simultaneously repeal the 23rd Amendment." [23:21]" – Senator Mike Lee
A significant portion of the episode criticizes DEI initiatives, asserting that they lead to incompetence and inefficiency within governmental institutions.
Case Study: D.C. Police Department: Kirk cites the appointment of Pamela Smith as Chief Equity Officer and subsequently as Chief of Police in D.C., accusing her of lacking fundamental leadership skills, such as understanding the "chain of command."
"This is DEI on display... DEI is contributing to Black Death in Washington D.C." [30:15]" – Charlie Kirk
Broader Implications: He extends the critique to other government roles, including Supreme Court nominations and local law enforcement, suggesting a systemic decline in meritocracy due to DEI policies.
"People died in Texas because of DEI. She does not know what a chain of command is." [32:48]" – Charlie Kirk
Kirk underscores the importance of balancing capital and labor to foster economic growth, drawing historical parallels to policies implemented by Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Economic Balance: He advocates for policies that promote wage increases, secure borders, and wealth creation without resorting to radical economic restructuring.
"Donald Trump wants America to win. That is our guiding principle... It will be at its core capitalistic. It will be market driven." [13:03]" – Charlie Kirk
Call for Moderate Reforms: Emphasizing pragmatism over ideology, Kirk suggests that conservatives should be open to moderate economic changes, such as slight tax adjustments, to achieve broader goals without destabilizing the economy.
"We have to be less ideological on economic stuff... All of those are going to be moderate, prudent and very slight changes versus a radical restructuring." [12:36]" – Charlie Kirk
In wrapping up the episode, Charlie Kirk reinforces the central themes of populist resurgence, economic pragmatism, and the urgent need to address governance failures in D.C. through Senator Lee's proposed solutions. The episode serves as a call to action for listeners to support policies that prioritize American sovereignty, economic growth, and merit-based governance.
Notable Quotes:
"Donald Trump is primarily doing one thing. He is restoring the United States of America for hemispheric hegemony, making us the geopolitical center of the planet." – Charlie Kirk [04:28]
"MAGA is the promise of the Constitution and the American dream." – Senator Mike Lee [18:07]
"DEI is indisputably making it worse [in Washington D.C.]." – Charlie Kirk [33:06]
This episode of The Charlie Kirk Show effectively articulates the tension between populist movements and established elites, advocating for strategic governance reforms and economic policies aimed at revitalizing American strength and integrity.