The Charlie Kirk Show

Episode: Food Stamp Stoppage + Trump’s Polling Vulnerability?
Date: October 28, 2025
Guests: Andrew Colvett (Executive Producer), Alex Marlowe (Editor in Chief, Breitbart), Blake Neff, Rich Barris (Big Data Poll/People’s Pundit)

Overview of Main Theme

This episode of The Charlie Kirk Show zeroes in on two major political flashpoints: the looming stoppage of food stamp (SNAP/EBT) payments amid a government shutdown, and Donald Trump’s precarious polling in the 2024 election, especially regarding voter priorities between foreign and domestic issues. Through sharp banter and analysis, the host and guests dissect how Democrats are handling government shutdown blame, the evolving demographics in key races (like New York’s Mamdani campaign), and crucial polling insights about Trump’s vulnerabilities with “MAGA independents.” Special guest Rich Barris provides data-driven context about the electorate’s primary concern: domestic economic pain—and why Trump’s messaging may be missing the mark.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mamdani, Demographics, and the Power of Domestic Focus

• The New York race featuring Zohran Mamdani (backed by explicitly socialist, grievance-populist rhetoric) is evidence that talking about bread-and-butter issues—rent control, free groceries—resonates even if the proposals are impractical (04:20).
• Insight: Mamdani’s success comes not from the quality of proposals but from “talking about affordability and domestic issues while everyone else is focused on foreign policy or international grandstanding” (05:34).
• Demographic shift: NY’s 40% foreign-born population is now a pivotal bloc, favoring Mamdani 65-70%.
  • “You could now make the argument at 40% foreign born that New York is no longer a truly American city” – Andrew Colvett (06:57).

2. Inflection Point: Grievance Populism vs. MAGA Nationalism

• The panel describes American politics at a crossroads between grievance-driven socialism (à la Mamdani and AOC) and MAGA-style national populism.
  • “There is an inflection point in our country where we’re either going to go this way or we’re going to go this way. There’s only two options. The MAGA way is the American way.” – Andrew Colvett (07:44).

3. Government Shutdown & EBT/Food Stamp Crisis

• The government shutdown threatens EBT/SNAP distributions, and social media is abuzz with videos of people promising to shoplift if benefits don’t resume.
  • “They are threatening a national shoplifting day, I guess, to make up for this coming apocalypse.” – Alex Marlowe (12:53).
  • Panel lampoons the narrative that shutdowns are GOP’s fault and emphasizes that “it’s really the Democrats that are doing this… They won’t fund a clean CR” (12:53).
• SNAP (food stamp) discussion highlights overuse on “sugary drinks, cereals, frozen foods, salty snacks, candy” versus intended nutritious support (12:53).
  • “…the government money is being taken, confiscated from the taxpayers at gunpoint, is being given out so that you could buy candy and salty snacks. And it’s important to know that that's not a great thing.” – Blake Neff (13:56).

4. Viral TikTok Discourse: Shoplifting as Protest

• Multiple viral posts: Recipients threaten to steal from stores as benefits might run out.
  • “When we snapping? Because don’t have me going in the grocery store and y’all loading up your carts with groceries running out. And I’m at the register. I’m running too.” – Social media audio, cited by Andrew Colvett (15:28).
  • “…for being fat lumps of crap, we’re going to go and steal a bunch from stores which we already essentially don’t punish.” – Blake Neff (16:01).

5. Polling Deep-Dive with Rich Barris: Trump’s Vulnerabilities

a. Foreign Policy Focus Backfiring?

• Voters (especially “MAGA independents”) believe Trump is too focused on foreign policy at the expense of “kitchen table” issues.
  • “52%... say the Trump administration is focusing too much on foreign affairs and wants them to recommit to the domestic agenda.” – Rich Barris (18:32)
• Even staunch Trump supporters give him unique leeway, but “they are screaming at this point that Trump was not elected to focus all over the world like this” (18:32).

b. Top Voter Concerns: Economy, Cost of Living, Healthcare, Crime, Immigration

• Graphs from Barris’s polling:

  1. Cost of living/inflation/economy/jobs
  2. Healthcare/Obamacare
  3. Crime & safety
  4. Immigration/border security

• “This graph is so…critically important. Top five issues, cost of living, inflation, economy, jobs…” – Andrew Colvett (22:51).

• Immigration/border security only tops list when chaos is visible; as soon as Trump “fixes” issues, salience fades.

  • “Our attention spans are so short that it goes away. It’s like it didn’t even happen.” – Andrew Colvett (23:36).

c. Approval Ratings: Bad on Inflation, Good on Immigration

• Trump’s approval on inflation and cost of living: “Biden level bad – it doesn’t give me any pleasure to say it, but it’s true… The numbers are horrible.” – Rich Barris (24:21).
• The “Trump or bust” electorate: if Trump doesn’t refocus on domestic priorities, he could lose the crucial margin needed for 2024 (24:02–26:35).

6. Messaging, Media, and the Need for a Bold Domestic Agenda

• Trump can “pivot quickly” but needs to be seen as focused on big, concrete domestic achievements (27:49).
  • “He could pivot quickly if this got through his head…you start commissioning…some big, huge domestic, you know, big audacious ideas that only Trump could inspire people to believe was possible.” – Andrew Colvett (27:49).
• Media narrative: Conservative media “fighting amongst ourselves” while establishment media never tells Trump’s economic story (31:21).
  • “It’s incumbent on them to tell that story. Well, on several days…they’ve stepped on their own good news.” – Rich Barris (31:59).
• “Abortion” barely registers as a voting motivator—Democrats expected to pivot to healthcare instead (30:48).

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Demographic Shifts and Voting Blocs
  “You could now make the argument at 40% foreign born that New York is no longer a truly American city.”
  — Andrew Colvett (06:57)

• On Food Stamp Policy
  “The government money is being taken, confiscated from the taxpayers at gunpoint, is being given out so that you could buy candy and salty snacks.”
  — Blake Neff (13:56)

• On MAGA Crossroads
  “There is an inflection point in our country… There’s only two options. The MAGA way is the American way… The other way is a hellhole that we probably would not be able to come back from.”
  — Andrew Colvett (07:44)

• Polling Wakeup Call
  “52%...say the Trump administration is focusing too much on foreign affairs and wants them to recommit to the domestic agenda.”
  — Rich Barris (18:32)

  “It doesn’t give me any pleasure to say it, but it’s true… It’s Biden-level bad. He is now at Biden-level approval when it comes to…inflation and cost of living.”
  — Rich Barris (24:21)

• On the Need for Domestic Vision
  “Next time he steps to the microphone, more about domestic, less about foreign policy. That’s all they hear from him.”
  — Rich Barris (36:03)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:03 – Opening banter; Charlie Kirk’s signature worldview on college, youth activism, and faith
• 04:20–07:44 – The Mamdani campaign, foreign-born demographic influence on NY politics, and the framing of democracy’s crossroads
• 12:53–16:31 – Government shutdown, food stamp stoppage, viral shoplifting threats, and SNAP’s usage breakdown
• 18:32–27:02 – Rich Barris interview: Polling deep-dive on Trump’s vulnerabilities, voters’ domestic vs. foreign policy priorities, and data on ranked voter issues
• 27:49–36:04 – Solutions and strategy: Need for bold domestic achievements, conservative media messaging failures, and the stubbornness of economic perceptions

Conclusion — Actionable Takeaways

• Trump and Republicans risk losing if they don’t realign energy toward the economic pain and cost-of-living concerns topping voter priorities; foreign policy may be a distraction for now.
• Democrats’ hold on urban, foreign-born voters is strong if they stick to domestic, “what’s in it for me” messaging—even if their policy proposals are unworkable.
• The food stamp stoppage exposes divisions—not just between parties, but within the Democrat coalition and among those dependent on government support.

For more polling insights and political commentary, visit charliekirk.com and follow Rich Barris (@Peoples_Pundit).