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Charlie Kirk
Hey, everybody.
Gavin Newsom
We have Lomaz here as we go deeper into my conversation with Gavin Newsom, and I think you'll really enjoy it. Lomaz talks about Passage Press, his publishing company, and we go into so much more. Email me, as always, freedomarliekirk.com subscribe to our podcast, that is the Charlie Kirk show podcast page. And as always, email me freedomarliekirk.com Buckle up, everybody. Here we go.
Lomaz
Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
Jonathan Keeperman
Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
Buck Sexton
I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
Unknown
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.
Gavin Newsom
Have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we.
Charlie Kirk
Are going to fight for freedom on.
Gavin Newsom
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.
Charlie Kirk
Physical delivery of precious metals.
Gavin Newsom
Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble gold investments@noblegoldinvestments.com that is noblegoldinvestments.com it's where I buy all of my gold. Go to noblegoldinvestments.com joining us now is Lomaz, otherwise known as Jonathan Keeperman. A great guy. Welcome, man.
Jonathan Keeperman
Thanks, Charlie.
Lomaz
How are you?
Jonathan Keeperman
This is wonderful to be here.
Gavin Newsom
Thank you.
Jonathan Keeperman
Yeah.
Gavin Newsom
You publish books.
Lomaz
Amongst other things, right?
Gavin Newsom
So tell us about some of these great gifts you just given.
Jonathan Keeperman
Okay, so I got you three books. These were on my shelf. This is Gray Mirror from Curtis Yarvin Fascicles. Curtis Yarvin, as you know, as people are finding out, is a kind of intellectual, you know, forebearer to some of these new trends in right wing thought. You know, J.D. vance has cited Curtis Yarvin as, you know, a reference point. Curtis is closely tied into this new sort of tech right coalition that's joining up with.
Gavin Newsom
We've had Curtis on our program, so.
Jonathan Keeperman
Yeah, we're doing four Curtis books over the next four years. This is the first. I also have for you H.P. lovecraft short stories with some great new art. And then one of my favorites is Always With Honor comic book. Always with Honor is the memoir of the great White army general from the Russian Civil War, Peter Rangel.
Lomaz
What side was he on? The Bolsheviks?
Jonathan Keeperman
No, no, no. Peter was our general. Rangel was our great White army hero who despite the odds and despite everything coming against him, was one of the few people in that conflict who maintained his sense of integrity and fought valiantly. And despite the fact that, of course, as we all know, the Bolsheviks won, he managed to save hundreds of thousands of lives in getting, you know, his fellow countrymen to safety.
Gavin Newsom
So he was on the czar's side, is that right?
Jonathan Keeperman
Yeah, that's right.
Gavin Newsom
Not as familiar with the Russian.
Jonathan Keeperman
Yeah, well, you know, it's a really fascinating story that is becoming, unfortunately, increasingly relevant to our own time now. I think, you know, this election, we probably forestalled the worst outcomes. Okay. And replaying the devastating and sort of catastrophic events of the Russian Civil War. But I think the takeaway lesson is not so much the historical analog, but how as a man, as a. As an honorable person with some influence, you are required to behave during times of great stress and when people are looking to you in periods of chaos to restore some order to the polity.
Gavin Newsom
And it is always with honor.
Jonathan Keeperman
Always with honor.
Gavin Newsom
So I sat down with Gavin Newsom yesterday.
Lomaz
Now, do you live in California?
Jonathan Keeperman
I don't anymore. So I fled along with hundreds of thousands of other Californians around 2020. Covid was the catalyst for a lot of people to leave California, but it was gonna happen one way or the other. The trends were already in motion. California had become a place that was hostile to middle class families. Families. And my wife and I, we had started our family, Our oldest son was starting school, and we had to get out because this is not a place where you can raise a family on a middle class income. And a lot of that, frankly, is because of some of the policies that either Gavin Newsom was responsible for authoring or enabling. And so this is something that I think, as Gavin Newsom very clearly seems to be making a play for 2020. Little slippery pivot a little bit. We have to remember what he did to the state of California. And despite everything he might say to try to pivot to the center and make peace with some of the radicals on his side, he ruined California in a lot of ways. And I think it's important.
Gavin Newsom
How would you say he did that? I completely agree.
Jonathan Keeperman
Well, so firstly, the proof is in the pudding. Okay. As I was saying, net out migration from California really started to accelerate the moment Gavin Newsom came into office in 2019. You started to see hundreds of thousands of people flee the state, especially again, middle class families. And it's some combination of crime, homelessness. You have this kind of radical leftist cultural agenda that's infecting the schools. And that was enabled by Gavin Newsom. And, you know, I don't know if it was brought up in your interview, but I would encourage people, for example, to look up AB101. AB101 was an education bill that got put before Newsom in 2020, which he signed, which mandates DEI education for all California high schoolers. Okay. A semester of DEI education for high schoolers. So all he might say about his sort of animosity or, you know, certain hesitation he might have about pursuing some of this DEI agenda, well, he didn't really act on that. Okay? And he signed this bill into law. And now starting in 2024, 25 this year, all high school kids have to take DEI classes. Okay? So you have homelessness, crime. You have the cultural degradation. You also have a state that doesn't work financially. Housing is incredibly expensive. Part of that is the demand for housing.
Buck Sexton
Part of.
Jonathan Keeperman
But part of that are these onerous regulations that are imposed not just on business owners, but on anybody who wants to build anything. It's just a state that is hostile to people, to ordinary people. It's very friendly to criminals and homeless. Okay, but it's hostile to ordinary people. It's also very nice if you're very wealthy, so you can find a nice strip along the beach all the way down the coast. It's very comfortable if you can afford that. But for ordinary people, it's just not a good place to live.
Gavin Newsom
I think you'll get a kick out of this piece of tape here. This is about the University of California higher education system, the UC system, and Gavin Newsom. I say something, he doesn't even know what they're teaching. It's a little bit of a fun moment. Play cut 190.
Lomaz
Also, half the kids that graduate college will not even end up using their degree when it comes to the affiliated jobs. So the numbers are true at the highest income. So about 10% of kids that go to college stretch out the averages to be really, really high.
Buck Sexton
Got it.
Lomaz
And so, for example, you go to Caltech to study computer engineering and applied AI.
Buck Sexton
Next.
Lomaz
Man, you're crushing it. Right? You go to Cal to go study North African lesbian poetry.
Buck Sexton
Like, is that an actual degree there?
Lomaz
You tell me.
Buck Sexton
I don't know. I mean, we fucked in front of that.
Lomaz
That's one of the facts. You don't know.
Buck Sexton
Well, I don't know every single damn.
Gavin Newsom
But it's a.
Lomaz
If the fact it's a maybe we got some problems.
Buck Sexton
Well, the fact that a lot of people have explored different disciplines, that's fine.
Lomaz
It's just the taxpayer shouldn't have to fund it.
Gavin Newsom
Your reaction to that?
Jonathan Keeperman
You know, I think Gavin Newsom, first of all, what that reflects is he has no idea what's going on in his state. Okay.
Gavin Newsom
I almost fell for it, like, yeah.
Lomaz
You know, I wouldn't be surprised.
Jonathan Keeperman
It was a thing. So, you know, I have some experience with this. I taught in the UC system for 10 years. I was a lecturer in the English department at UC Irvine. I, I spent a lot of time with undergrads. And so I want to say a couple things here because I have some insight onto this as someone who was inside of it for a long time. You're right, there's a dichotomy. The 10% of the institution of higher ed in California, really anywhere across the country, is still doing really great stuff. They're producing knowledge. They are teaching kids how to work with technology that they're going to need for know successful and useful lives, useful careers. But the 90% of it is just a waste of time and money. These kids don't know anything, they don't learn anything. The professors don't care to teach them anything. The university has failed at its two basic functions, which is either to produce knowledge or to preserve knowledge. It no longer does either. And it's especially the latter that is a real problem.
Gavin Newsom
I love that. I've never heard anyone say it that crisp.
Jonathan Keeperman
So, yeah, preserving knowledge, preserving our intellectual and cultural heritage. Not only have they neglected to do that, there has been an active effort to erase that intellectual and cultural heritage. And so I think, you know, if you really get into sort of granular details of it, there's all sorts of room for plausible deniability. Someone like Gavin Newsom can say, well, that's just some one off crazy thing. It's not reflective of the entire institution. But I will tell you as someone who spent a lot of time with these kids, they are not coming out any better than they came in and in fact are coming out a lot worse and of course then in tons of debt too. So they're saddled with this tremendous debt and they haven't improved what we call their human capital, their ability to actually perform in the workplace and make good use of their lives and skills and talents.
Charlie Kirk
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Gavin Newsom
So Lomas, before we play more tape here, I want to just reiterate. You believe that probably 90% of the academy is rotten to the core.
Jonathan Keeperman
Yeah, more or less. I mean, and this the fault. There's plenty of fault to go around. Part of it starts with high school and K through 12. And so these kids come into school, they come into their undergrad class. You know, I used to teach a number of different classes. One I used to teach was on conspiracy theories. Okay. I would, we would talk about conspiracy theories and sort of the rhetoric and arguments involved in conspiracy theories. And, and I would start with 9 11. And from 911 we'd go to, you know, JFK. And over time, you know, I started teaching about 2010. Over time, what I started to find was they didn't know what these things were. They didn't. I mean, now part of this was a huge percentage of my students at UC Irvine were international students, over 20% at one point. So they had no real connection to our cultural history. But even the American kids, they didn't know who JFK was. They didn't know these basic facts about.
Gavin Newsom
Hold on, this is at UC Irvine.
Jonathan Keeperman
This is a UC Irvine.
Gavin Newsom
They don't. So you'd say that kids would come to UC Irvine and not know who JFK was.
Jonathan Keeperman
They'd have some vague idea, they might have heard the name. But tying that to a specific period in history or tying it to a specific assassination and the context around that and things like Vietnam and the Cold War was totally absent from their mental framework. And so what I ended up doing for, you know, a large part of my classes, especially for first year students, was basically teaching them Wikipedia level history, basic American history. And so, you know, and it's not their fault by the way. This is not something these kids did to themselves. This is because of neglect from our educational institutions. And a lot of this comes out of the educational graduate programs that determine curriculums for state wide schools. There's also again, just this sense that over time our powers that be have decided that it's better for us to sort of start from scratch again, to sever our connection from our intellectual and cultural history and replace it with something else. This has been going on basically since, you know, the political correctness period of the 90s, probably even before that, but it really accelerated in the 2000s and in the Obama years. And this has a drastic effect on the students when they come in. So by the time they get to college, they're not ready to absorb and get anything out of the material that perhaps you and I got in college and certainly from generations before got out of college. They're playing catch up all the way through. And then you add that to the fact that their instructors and the people who now run the colleges are almost exclusively one dimensional ideologues. I mean, across the board you, it is very rare. And someone like me, I just kind of sit in the back and keep my mouth shut. I don't say anything. There are, there's nobody to the right of Barack Obama circa 2008. That's about as far right as you're going to get. And so this one dimensional ideological trajectory doesn't produce any kind of education per se. What it is is ideological instruction. They are trying to impose their beliefs and political agenda on these students. And anybody who deviates from that even a little bit learns very early on there's consequences for it. So, you know, if I want to get a good grade, I just repeat back to my teacher what they want. That's exactly right.
Gavin Newsom
And so what should a college be in the ideal? College means partnership in. Yeah, original Greek.
Jonathan Keeperman
So, you know, I have my own view of what college should be. It may not match up with everyone else's. I don't think that college needs to be a place where it becomes the default next step for every kid who graduates from high school. I think it's great if people want to pursue a higher education, they absolutely should. But we should construct a system where kids are given an opportunity that doesn't reflect on their value or moral worth, where they can be funneled into vocational training or even like very high end career paths. You don't need college. You can get the training you need just going by, you know, being an apprentice at a law firm even.
Gavin Newsom
And I think AI is going to change a lot of this, by the way.
Jonathan Keeperman
I hope so.
Gavin Newsom
Yeah. So I want to play that tape actually. Let's play cut 176.
Buck Sexton
Are you arguing for the disestablishment the end of higher education.
Lomaz
I think it's going to happen no matter what. I mean, in 10 years, artificial intelligence is going to change everything.
Jonathan Keeperman
Yeah.
Lomaz
And I don't know what these four year degrees are actually doing to prepare these kids for that. But now as far as, like, I'm not, I mean, my advocating for the end of the pursuit of learning. Of course not. That's one of my big critiques, is that at a lot of these schools, they're not pursuing what is good, true and beautiful. It's become the oppression Olympics and a weaponized complaint seminar of people sitting in the circle and finding out who's the, who's been offended the most that day. That's not doing anybody any good.
Buck Sexton
No.
Jonathan Keeperman
Yeah. So I think that's right. And you know, I think the promise, the ideal of colleges, we all get together with fellow smart people who are intellectually curious and we sort of work through difficult and old ideas and try to make better sense of the world. That's simply not happening. I think you're right, AI Social media is going to give us alternatives.
Charlie Kirk
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Gavin Newsom
Visit pharmawindfall.com Email us freedom charliekirk.com we want to hear from you guys in real time. Okay, I am searching for this piece of tape here. I think I have it right here. Yeah, here it is. So I want to. We talked about how Democrats struggle to survive in longer form podcasting, where there is not scripting or teleprompters. Let's play cut 180.
Lomaz
Democrats cannot survive in long form podcasting environments. It's too unscripted. It's too masculine. Honestly. The Democrat parties become.
Buck Sexton
What is masculine about a podcast, honestly? Because I get the whole manosphere that's.
Lomaz
Pro pocket to go into the wilderness with no rules and duel it out and see who's better or who's strong. No, seriously. I mean, like, what Democrats? What? No, I mean, like, we don't do it.
Buck Sexton
You're right. We, for whatever reason, don't do it.
Lomaz
You can laugh, but like, who in the Democrat party or not, you're right, will go. I mean, maybe Bernie Sanders, but he.
Buck Sexton
Only rk when he was a Democrat.
Lomaz
Bobby, who's now hhs. But like, there's something to be said that if you want to earn the respect of freedom forgotten America, you have to show them that you can intellectually joust with no script, no hard breaks, no producers in the ears, no teleprompters. That's where new media is going now. I will, I will only challenge one thing. You say I am reaching new audiences. I'm not talking to my, my bubble because our content is so appealing. It goes in a decentralized way.
Buck Sexton
And it's not just political.
Lomaz
No, it's not culture. But like, again, our conversation here is going to go far and wide, Right? A lot of people are going to see it, A lot of people are going to consume it because it's also politics. Entertainment have begun to overlap.
Buck Sexton
Right?
Lomaz
Right. And the old adage is, well, politics is downstream from culture. I think politics and culture are indecipherable from one another. Now. Donald Trump became a cultural phenomenon, right? You go, you go in to, you know, inner city Compton. You'll see guys with Trump shirts with, you know, the hand up, you know, fight, fight, fight. So what Democrats are doing is you're still playing in a very old hypersanitized media environment. And my advice is you got to go where it's unpredictable, where it's treacherous, where it's dangerous.
Gavin Newsom
What do you think about the masculine element of that? Basically, Gavin was like, well, what is masculinity? Is what he was asking.
Jonathan Keeperman
Well, I'm sure Gavin would ask that question. I'm sure it's very difficult for him to come up with a coherent definition of masculinity. It's not something probably that is often modeled in the kind of places that he hangs out and among the kind of people he hangs out with. I think the general point is a really important one. And this idea of having conversations that are totally unscripted, that are removed from familiar talking points, is something that the right has come to dominate. And what this reflects to me is a willingness to go after the truth. There isn't some target that we're aiming at. We don't know necessarily where we're aiming at. Our only lodestar is what is true, what is good, and being willing to follow that wherever it may lead. Perhaps this is something that just comes about when you're in a position of sort of cultural subordination. So the right was kind of on the outside for a long time, and we had to sort of explore the wilderness. The left used to be able to do this. They became culturally dominant. No longer can do it. And why can't the left do it? Because there are certain true things that are in direct contradiction with what the left needs to believe in order to sustain its ideological agenda. And so the moment they let themselves off the leash and start exploring some of these ideas, they're going to run into, you know, these, what we call thought terminating cliches. They're just going to have to stop themselves and retreat back into their talking points. And look, if I didn't believe that just following the truth would lead to the political preferences that I have, then I wouldn't be on the right, I'd be on the left. It's because I believe that just following the truth naturally will lead to the kinds of things I believe in and the kinds of things I want to see happen that I'm willing to do it. And I don't think the left is.
Gavin Newsom
And the. To the masculine, feminine issue, they. There is one of the more masculine things that one can do is to go where there is uncertainty and to go up against opposition in some ways. And I was getting at. Is a intellectual, nonviolent way to do a UFC fight, right? I mean, it is like we're gonna see who wins, we're gonna see who's better, we're gonna see who's tougher where. I don't know, the feminine ways. You both submit op EDS or something.
Jonathan Keeperman
No. Yeah. So this is something I've actually written about. I wrote a essay for First Things called what Is the Longhouse? And the premise of this essay was to suggest that our current arrangement, at least in to negotiate over ideas, took on a kind of feminine nature. And what that means is the goal is to reach consensus.
Gavin Newsom
Yes.
Jonathan Keeperman
The goal is to prevent anyone from getting their feelings hurt. The goal is to prevent offense. More masculine way of arguing is to pursue truth. Oftentimes, if the pursuit, if our aim is to find out what is true, we are going to come into conflict, conflict with each other. It is going to be necessarily combative. It is entirely anathema to the notion of consensus. And so where these two paths diverge, where the masculine and feminine diverge, is either you're aimed at truth or you're aimed at consensus.
Gavin Newsom
Let's play another tape here. I could not agree more. I want to play an element that we discussed with Gavin Newsom about how the race politics are in our schools. Race hate in our schools, if you will. And I know you could talk at length about this. Let's play cut 178.
Buck Sexton
To make an 8 year old feel like they're racist is absurd.
Lomaz
But Governor, with all the respect that's happening right now in California politics.
Buck Sexton
Well, we'll.
Lomaz
And I'm not trying to drill you on, I'm just being honest. Like you could say that, but like, maybe you should like convene a special session and say like, no more, you know, race based teaching against white people in the schools of California or Asians. I'm just saying though that, like, this is not a conjecture, it's not a hypothetical. It is embedded into the DNA of the Democrat Party.
Gavin Newsom
Is that correct?
Jonathan Keeperman
Okay. Now this is where Gavin Newsom is at his slipperiest, in my view. He knows exactly what's going on.
Gavin Newsom
And he was kind of playing like, oh, I don't know what's going on. Oh, how dare you that AB101. I wish I would have had.
Jonathan Keeperman
AB101 is, you know, a skeleton key, one among many that kind of unlocks precisely what's going on in California. And at Gavin Newsom's lead, he signed this bill. It's not like he's ignorant of what's going on. AB 101 mandates. Mandates that all high school kids take a DEI semester, okay, in their classes. Just as they would take econ or civics, they now have to take a DEI class. He signed this in 2020. This goes into effect in 2024. 25, at the risk of repeating myself, this is all you need to see and read about to know where Gavin Newsom's heart is at or where his lack of spine is at. He may actually want to not have these things in place.
Gavin Newsom
I don't think he has any core beliefs, exactly. I think it's the most transactional. That was my impression. I mean, which in some ways is the most dangerous of all.
Jonathan Keeperman
It's very dangerous because he can kind of shape shift according to whatever's most expedient in the moment. But, you know, he has a track record. And so all we got to do is point to that track record and say, wait a minute, you're saying X. But clearly what you actually believe or are willing to do is the exact opposite of X. And he'll have no way to really reconcile that except to just kind of dissemble and, you know, smile on camera, which, you know, may be appealing to a certain amount of people, but I think most voters and most people on our side who, you know, might be looking at Gavin Newsom as someone they could convert to. I really hope not. Please. That is not gonna make anybody's life better, but they'll see through that. I really think the American voters are smarter than that. And they see through that kind of transparent sort of political actor type behavior.
Gavin Newsom
I hope so. This was another interesting piece of tape here about how Democrats have a purification process to constantly be kicking people out of their party that don't agree with them or in their intellectual circles. You see this at the academy. Let's play cut 177.
Buck Sexton
Any Democrats you admire out there right now?
Lomaz
Democrats, I respect Bobby Kennedy. I respect Tulsi Gabbard.
Buck Sexton
Why are you laughing? Why are you smiling?
Lomaz
Because, like, they're on our team now. Because you guys kicked out, like, your best people. It's like the people that were into. This is a great point, though, Governor, is that Bobby Kennedy was a heterodox opinion on a thing that a lot of people were concerned about.
Gavin Newsom
Get him out.
Lomaz
He's an anti vaxxer. Tulsi Gabbard, who is anti war. Get her out. She's a Russian agent. You guys see how you have an unhealthy purification process where eventually you're left with just a 31% approval rating and a bunch of people that are talking to each other. And meanwhile, we're the ones that have Democrats in our cabinet winning the electoral majority vote. Because there needs to be said where, if Democrats are serious about being a majority party ever again. Look at that ideological diversity. We have people that, you know, geez, they want to go to war with every country that says something bad against us. And then we have people that are far more dovish, like Rand Paul. But that is a better, more, dare I say, diverse picture. You could say diversity is our strength. I'll look at you, Lomas.
Gavin Newsom
Your thoughts?
Jonathan Keeperman
Okay, yeah. I mean, look, this is part of the natural, what I'd call sort of liberal leftist life cycle. These things go in circles. And so, you know, you had the sort of paroxysms of the 60s in this first big wave. Not the first big wave, but in modern times, post war era, this first big wave of sort of leftist excess, it peters out. And that leads into, you know, the malaise of the 70s and then into Reagan. You have the political correctness craze of the 90s. And now we have this 2010s thing happening, and it's coming to an end. And anytime this cycle comes to an end, leftism kind of exhausts its revolutionary spirit. It becomes ossified. And this gets back to our point about podcasting. It's unable to take in new ideas, novel ideas, ideas that might actually deviate from the hard party line. This wave of liberal excess is at the end, and I think Gavin Newsom is sort of just clinging to it by a thread, hoping he might be able to revive, you know, the hope and change spirit of Obama. But frankly, it's dead. It's a dead cycle, and they're going to have to find something new, and they don't know how to do that. And you can see with Newsom here, his only ideas are to just take what's working from us. Okay, so now he's just going to be anti dei. You saw this, by the way, in the election, too. All of Kamala Harris's most popular ideas are just stuff she stole from Trump. Okay? Like no taxes on tipping, for example. So they're completely out of ideas. I think they need to now go into the wilderness and rediscover what it means to be on the left. And in the meantime, and I think this is where we have a real opportunity. Conservatism has had this bad habit of kind of letting this cycle sort of restart every 10 years or so. Totally letting these people back in, tolerating really bad ideas, not standing up for themselves, not asserting their right to rule.
Gavin Newsom
No, we want them to remain in the wilderness.
Jonathan Keeperman
That's right. And it's time for the right to assert its right to rule. It is okay to be in Charge of the culture. The right has a hard time doing this. They feel maybe like it's, you know, imposter syndrome. Like we can't be in charge of what happens in Hollywood. We can't be in charge of, you know, the kind of shows our kids watch. But no, you can actually. You just have to have the courage of your convictions. And so, you know, if there's anything I could encourage the right to do in this moment is don't shy away from this moment of potentiality in front of us. Seize it with two hands and assert your right to rule.
Gavin Newsom
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Lomaz
Listen carefully.
Gavin Newsom
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Lomaz
You for the books.
Jonathan Keeperman
Absolutely, man. Yeah, please go to Passage Press. That's our publishing house. We have a number of titles on there that I think would be really interesting to your readership. You know, I want to say something too about these young people we've been talking about and how their sort of mental landscape has just kind of been bombed out and, you know, scraped away and they need to fill it with new good ideas, old stuff as well as new stuff. And so what we're trying to do with Passage is sort of reaccumulate, re aggregate a kind of canon for young, intellectually curious people to make better sense of their world. And so you know, this is a long collection of look new philosophers, intellectuals on our scene. We have great books coming out from, you know, Charles Cornishdale, writing about masculinity, writing about what's happened with masculinity. We have Paul Godfrey, the great writer who was a longtime prominent right wing intellectual. Curtis Yarvin, Steve Saylor.
Gavin Newsom
Steve's my favorite.
Jonathan Keeperman
Steve.
Gavin Newsom
You guys did noticing, didn't you? Oh yes, I have that on my, on my bed stand.
Jonathan Keeperman
Oh, that's beautiful to hear. Steve's in a remarkable guy. We have his audiobook coming out soon. So anybody who reads audiobooks that'll be available.
Gavin Newsom
So here's an interesting little moment here where Gavin Newsom is trying to maybe be a little economically populist. I don't think he's doing a very good job of it considering he basically oversees the oligarchy. But let's play cut 184.
Lomaz
Listen carefully, look the number one thing which I know you're gonna agree with and I'm sure you'll have a super slick response. Right? That's about half true, but which is about three quarters the cost of housing. Average home in California, 850,000 bucks.
Buck Sexton
I like what you said about Blackrock.
Lomaz
So yeah, I mean I, but that.
Buck Sexton
Was interesting to me.
Lomaz
I think that is. But again that's not a majority of house purchasing. About one in four houses are bought by private equity. Would you agree to say that BlackRock should not be able to own homes in California?
Buck Sexton
I think. And then turning around and renting.
Lomaz
It's insane, right?
Buck Sexton
This is a huge problem.
Lomaz
You just propose a bill in the California state.
Buck Sexton
We've had one. It didn't get very far last year. And there's more conversations.
Lomaz
A 10 trillion dollar fund shouldn't be able to come.
Buck Sexton
It's not just BlackRock specifically.
Lomaz
I mean what's happening? Mass, mass asset managers that have a billion dollars, $50 billion asset under management are now competing against our college grad from by the way, Cal State Fullerton.
Gavin Newsom
So with a couple minutes I could.
Charlie Kirk
See your facial rec.
Gavin Newsom
There's a lot there. Please.
Jonathan Keeperman
Okay. So you know, again, this is just betrays what's actually happening in California. Listen, if you're a young guy, you know, you're starting out a family and you want to live in California, which by the way is a beautiful place. And California is filled with a lot of conservatives and red leaning people and I really don't want people to abandon California. It really should be the crown jewel of the American empire. And it will be again. Okay? But for the time being, Gavin Newsom is ruining it. And one way he's ruining it is by eliminating the possibility for a middle class to thrive there. You either can afford to live in a rundown neighborhood full of homeless people and criminals with schools that are going to destroy the minds of your children. Okay, I know that sounds like hyperbole, but it's the truth. Or you're a millionaire and you can live in a comfortable beachside, you're an oligarch and be completely insulated from the rest of the problems of the state and kind of merrily go along your way pretending as if everything is fine. It's not fine. The middle class are getting devastated in California. And again, the proof is in the pudding. People are fleeing the state. Middle class Californians are leaving. They are in some number being replaced by foreigners coming in. But the middle class domestic out migration from California is as big now as it has ever been in the history of the state.
Gavin Newsom
And what can. If you were to give advice to the American right, more broadly, because you said something, we need to have the intestinal fortitude in spine, that it's okay to rule. Yeah, it's okay to govern. What does that look like?
Lomaz
One minute remain. Okay.
Jonathan Keeperman
You know, governors of states take back control of your education system.
Gavin Newsom
This is the biggest one.
Jonathan Keeperman
Take control.
Gavin Newsom
We're so afraid to do this.
Jonathan Keeperman
And it's not hard. You can do this. You can put your own university presidents in place who are going to return these institutions to the function they were built for. And why they don't do this is kind of beyond me. And I think they're nervous. I think also they're unfamiliar with things like public education. With things like education, they're very good with business. They're very good with tax rates. And that's great. They shouldn't, you know, deviate from that, but they can, you know, walk and chew gum at the same time. And it's simply finding the right people, finding people who are from those institutions who are aligned, who can help facilitate retaking control of them.
Gavin Newsom
Lomas, you're great. You're welcome anytime. And it's too. They tried to dox you, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. That's right.
Jonathan Keeperman
That's right.
Gavin Newsom
Did you see Steak n Shake was quoting Nietzsche the other day?
Jonathan Keeperman
No.
Gavin Newsom
Did you see that?
Jonathan Keeperman
We're in the new timeline, man. Anything's possible now.
Gavin Newsom
Actually, I got to pull this up here. I know you'd appreciate it because you're, you're smart. Yeah, Steak and Shake tweets quote he.
Lomaz
Who has a why to live can bear almost.
Gavin Newsom
Anyhow, Steakshake tweeted that out. What means exactly? Thank you so much man. Excellent as always. Thank you for the books. Passage Press is the call to action. Passage Out Press.
Jonathan Keeperman
Yep, that's the one. Thanks Charlie.
Gavin Newsom
Come back anytime. And if you guys want to hear the entirety of the Gavin Newsom interview.
Charlie Kirk
That'S why you should subscribe to the.
Gavin Newsom
Charlie Kirk show podcast. Thanks so much for listening everybody. Email us. As always, freedom charliekirk.com thanks so much for listening and God bless.
Unknown
For more on many of these stories and news you can Trust, go to charliekirk.com.
Podcast Summary: The Charlie Kirk Show - "How Gavin Newsom Ruined California ft. Lomez"
Release Date: March 6, 2025
In this compelling episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, host Charlie Kirk delves deep into the governance of California under Governor Gavin Newsom, featuring insightful commentary from guest Jonathan Keeperman, also known as Lomez. The conversation traverses a range of critical issues, from economic policies and education reforms to the cultural shifts impacting the Golden State. Below is a detailed summary capturing the key discussions, insights, and conclusions drawn during the episode.
[00:00 - 01:30]
The episode kicks off with Charlie Kirk introducing Jonathan Keeperman (Lomez), highlighting his role as the founder of Passage Press, a publishing company focused on conservative and intellectual literature. Kirk emphasizes Keeperman's commitment to combating the "radical leftist culture" permeating California.
Notable Quote:
Charlie Kirk (00:25): "We are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks."
[01:26 - 06:20]
Keeperman outlines the significant net out-migration from California since Newsom assumed office in 2019. He attributes this trend to policies fostering crime, homelessness, and a hostile environment for middle-class families. The affordability crisis is exacerbated by stringent regulations hindering housing development, making it nearly impossible for average families to thrive.
Notable Quote:
Jonathan Keeperman (04:46): "We have to remember what he did to the state of California. And despite everything he might say to try to pivot to the center and make peace with some of the radicals on his side, he ruined California in a lot of ways."
The discussion shifts to Assembly Bill 101 (AB101), which mandates Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) education for all California high school students starting in 2024. Keeperman criticizes the bill for enforcing a radical leftist agenda within the education system, arguing it detracts from essential academic learning and cultural preservation.
Notable Quote:
Jonathan Keeperman (05:15): "He signed this bill into law. And now starting in 2024, 25 this year, all high school kids have to take DEI classes."
[07:06 - 09:59]
Keeperman, drawing from his decade-long experience as a lecturer at UC Irvine, argues that the majority of California’s higher education institutions have failed in their fundamental missions. While a small percentage excel in producing valuable knowledge, the rest are mired in inefficiency and ideological indoctrination, leaving students with significant debt and inadequate preparation for the workforce.
Notable Quote:
Jonathan Keeperman (09:04): "The university has failed at its two basic functions, which is either to produce knowledge or to preserve knowledge. It no longer does either."
The episode explores why the Democratic Party struggles to maintain coherence and effectiveness in long-form media platforms like podcasting. Keeperman argues that the left's inability to engage authentically without scripts or teleprompters hampers their ability to connect with audiences, unlike the right's more spontaneous and truth-centric approach.
Notable Quote:
Jonathan Keeperman (18:22): "You have to go where it's unpredictable, where it's treacherous, where it's dangerous."
Keeperman criticizes the Democratic Party’s practice of purging members who deviate from the party line, leading to a lack of ideological diversity. This, he contends, weakens the party’s appeal and effectiveness, contrasting with the right’s more resilient and truth-seeking discourse.
Notable Quote:
Jonathan Keeperman (25:01): "It's very dangerous because he can kind of shape shift according to whatever's most expedient in the moment."
[21:38 - 23:51]
A significant portion of the conversation addresses the differing approaches to debate and discourse, framed as "masculine" versus "feminine" methodologies. Keeperman posits that the right embraces a masculine approach by pursuing truth through combative and unscripted dialogue, whereas the left opts for a feminine approach focused on consensus and avoiding offense.
Notable Quotes:
Jonathan Keeperman (22:29): "More masculine way of arguing is to pursue truth. ... it's entirely anathema to the notion of consensus."
Governor Newsom (21:38): "There is one of the more masculine things that one can do is to go where there is uncertainty and to go up against opposition in some ways."
Keeperman urges Republican governors to reclaim control of their states' education systems, appointing university presidents committed to restoring the institutions’ original missions of knowledge production and preservation.
Notable Quote:
Jonathan Keeperman (34:49): "Take control. ... return these institutions to the function they were built for."
He encourages the conservative movement to embrace leadership roles in cultural and educational arenas, asserting that the right must actively engage and champion truth to regain cultural dominance.
Notable Quote:
Jonathan Keeperman (29:02): "It's time for the right to assert its right to rule."
In closing, Keeperman reiterates the urgent need for California—and by extension, the country—to address the destructive policies implemented under Governor Newsom. He emphasizes the importance of reclaiming educational integrity and fostering a middle-class-friendly environment to restore prosperity and stability.
Notable Quote:
Jonathan Keeperman (35:38): "But for the time being, Gavin Newsom is ruining it. And one way he's ruining it is by eliminating the possibility for a middle class to thrive there."
Charlie Kirk wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to engage with Passage Press's publications and to take action against the policies undermining California’s future.
Economic and Population Decline: California's middle class is fleeing due to policies under Gavin Newsom that exacerbate crime, homelessness, and housing affordability issues.
Educational Failures: Both K-12 and higher education systems are criticized for ideological indoctrination and failing to preserve essential cultural and historical knowledge.
Political Messaging: The Democratic Party's approach in media and internal purging of dissenting voices weaken its political effectiveness, contrasting with the right’s truth-driven and authentic discourse.
Cultural Leadership: There is a call for the conservative movement to take proactive leadership roles in cultural and educational spheres to reclaim societal influence.
Call to Action: Listeners are encouraged to support Passage Press, engage with conservative literature, and advocate for policies that support the middle class and educational integrity.
This episode serves as a fervent critique of Gavin Newsom's governance in California, intertwining economic, educational, and cultural arguments to present a case for significant political and social reforms. Through detailed analysis and passionate discourse, Charlie Kirk and Jonathan Keeperman aim to inform and mobilize listeners to recognize and address the challenges facing California today.