Steve Bannon Holds Nothing Back — Exclusive Interview at AmFest2024

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Steve Bannon Holds Nothing Back — Exclusive Interview at AmFest2024"

The Charlie Kirk Show hosts an exclusive and in-depth interview with political strategist Steve Bannon at AmFest2024. This episode delves into the current state of American politics, the resurgence of populist nationalism, the enduring influence of Donald Trump, and the challenges posed by the bipartisan political class. Through a candid conversation and a series of audience questions, Kirk and Bannon provide listeners with a comprehensive analysis of the cultural and political landscape shaping the United States today.

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1. The Ascendancy of Populist Nationalism

Steve Bannon begins by framing the present moment in American politics as a pivotal stage for the populist nationalist movement. He emphasizes the resilience and grassroots strength that organizations like Turning Point USA have cultivated over recent years.

Steve Bannon [00:15]: "Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus. I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks... he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA."

Bannon underscores the importance of grassroots activism, asserting that true populism emanates from the people themselves rather than relying on elite leadership or substantial financial backing.

Bannon [01:32]: "It comes from the people itself. It's a sovereign will of the people."

He credits the collective efforts of individuals and organizations in turning the tide during the 2022 elections, highlighting the significant role played by Turning Point USA in pivotal states like Arizona and Pennsylvania.

2. Confronting the Bipartisan 'Malignant Cancer'

The conversation shifts to the challenges posed by bipartisan politics, which Bannon and Kirk describe as a corrosive force undermining American values and governance.

Steve Bannon [01:32]: "The bipartisan kind of old Republican Party thinking... it's a malignant cancer inside our body politic that has to be cut out."

Bannon criticizes the traditional political establishment in Washington D.C., arguing that it consistently opposes populist initiatives and seeks to maintain the status quo at the expense of genuine democratic engagement.

3. Media Ecosystem and Information Control

Addressing the modern media landscape, Bannon highlights the shift from mainstream media’s dominance to a more fragmented information ecosystem, where alternative platforms like podcasts and social media play a crucial role in shaping public opinion.

Steve Bannon [08:24]: "The mainstream media is meaningless now because... all the information, the force multiplier."

He contrasts this with traditional media outlets, which he views as failing to capture or reflect the true sentiments of the American populace, thereby rendering them irrelevant in the current age of information.

4. The 2020 Election and Trump's Enduring Influence

Bannon reflects on the 2020 presidential election, asserting that Donald Trump legitimately won despite claims of a stolen election. He discusses the strategic moves that galvanized Trump's base and the pivotal role of grassroots organizations in achieving electoral victories.

Bannon [13:11]: "I saw 16 when I got to the... conversation with President Trump... 12 or 14 points down... I said, '100% metaphysical certitude. You will win.'"

He emphasizes the importance of targeting key battleground states and leveraging the lived experiences of American voters who feel marginalized by current economic and political policies.

5. Reflections on Political Strategy and Movement Building

Bannon draws parallels between contemporary movements and historical revolutionary efforts, suggesting that modern populism is a transformative force akin to the American Revolution.

Steve Bannon [09:14]: "This is what populism is... you are the vanguard of a revolutionary movement, just like in 1775 and 70."

He praises the grassroots strategies employed by Turning Point USA, citing successful voter registration and mobilization efforts that have reshaped the political landscape in crucial regions.

6. Audience Q&A Highlights

a. Steve Bannon’s Imprisonment Experience

An audience member inquires about Bannon's time in prison, prompting a discussion on his perception of the justice system and its treatment of political figures.

Audience Member [17:48]: "Some people in the room may or may not know that you were in prison. Could you tell us a little bit about your experience there?"

Bannon [17:48]: "I was a political prisoner. Nancy Pelosi thought she was going to break me. I came out empowered, and she's broken."

b. Pardons for January 6 Participants

A question is raised regarding the legal implications of pardoning individuals involved in the January 6 Capitol incident before any conviction.

Audience Member [19:06]: "...pardon only takes effect when there's been an offense... How do you see that?"

Charlie Kirk [21:02]: "Gerald Ford pardoning Nixon... It prevents prosecution from moving forward."

Bannon [21:53]: "It's worse... preemptive blanket pardons... We owe it to this republic to hunt it down and bring them to justice."

c. Justin Trudeau and International Politics

Discussion moves to international figures, with specific focus on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and critiques of his policies.

Audience Member [24:42]: "What do you both think is going to happen with Justin Trudeau in Canada?"

Bannon [24:52]: "He's going to get tossed out. The populace is going to win... She's very cunning... the deficits are too big."

d. The Legacy of Ross Perot and Businessmen in Politics

Exploration of the influence of businessmen-turned-politicians, referencing Ross Perot’s 1990s presidential campaigns as precursors to Trump’s political strategy.

Audience Member [26:30]: "...businessmen and that kind of movement and running the country."

Charlie Kirk [26:30]: "Ross Perot was Trump before Trump... he said the same stuff... a populist nationalist."

Bannon [27:30]: "A hand grenade with a bad haircut... first really on the national stage fire breathing... since Huey Long."

e. Protecting Religious Minorities in Bangladesh

An audience member from "Hindus for America First" raises concerns about the persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh and seeks Bannon’s perspective on how the administration should respond.

Audience Member [28:53]: "Persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh... what will you do to protect religious freedoms?"

Bannon [28:53]: "President Trump will look into it... Modi is the best nationalist in the world... what's happening over there is horrible."

f. Election Integrity and Investigations Post-2020

Final questions address the integrity of the 2020 election and the necessity for transparent investigations to prevent future electoral fraud.

Audience Member [29:30]: "What do you think would happen to Hobbs and Mays after January 20th?"

Bannon [29:54]: "Full and deep investigation... completely transparent... Turning Point did historic work in Arizona."

Charlie Kirk [30:10]: "Best performing swing state... best performance Trump ever had in this state."

7. Conclusion and Final Remarks

As the interview wraps up, Kirk and Bannon reiterate their commitment to the populist movement and the overarching goal of safeguarding American democracy against entrenched political interests.

Charlie Kirk [31:29]: "Give it up for Steve Bannon, everybody. Thanks so much for listening... God bless."

Steve Bannon [31:41]: "For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to charliekirk.com."

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Key Takeaways

• Populist Nationalism's Momentum: The grassroots efforts led by organizations like Turning Point USA are pivotal in driving the populist nationalist movement forward, challenging the established bipartisan political class.

• Critique of Bipartisan Politics: Bannon and Kirk view bipartisan efforts as detrimental to American progress, advocating for a more aggressive, people-driven political strategy.

• Media Transformation: The decline of mainstream media's influence is acknowledged, with alternative platforms becoming essential in disseminating populist narratives.

• Trump's Enduring Impact: Donald Trump's leadership and legacy continue to shape the movement, with his strategies and policies remaining central to its success.

• Election Integrity Concerns: There is a strong emphasis on the necessity for transparent and thorough investigations into the 2020 election and related events to ensure future electoral integrity.

• International Stances: The discussion touches on international politics, highlighting critiques of foreign leaders like Justin Trudeau and support for strong nationalist figures such as Narendra Modi.

This episode provides listeners with a fervent perspective on the current political climate, emphasizing the importance of grassroots activism, unwavering support for Trump’s legacy, and the relentless pursuit of populist ideals to reshape American governance.

Transcript

[Charlie Kirk]

Hey, everybody. Enjoy this episode. Become a member members.charliekirk.com that is members.charliekirk. com email us. As always, freedomarliekirk.com and become a member to support this program. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go. Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

[Steve Bannon]

Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus. I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks. 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. Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of the Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals. Learn how you could protect your wealth with Noble gold [e-mail] that is noblegoldinvestments.com it's where I buy all of my gold. Go to noblegoldinvestments.com Steve, welcome.

[Steve Bannon]

Thanks. Thanks for having me.

[Charlie Kirk]

So, Steve, we're in a very interesting moment right now. You have been kind of, some would say in the media, the architect of the populist nationalist movement. Walk us through kind of the last year. And what stage are we in in this populist, national nationalist chapter in American history?

[Steve Bannon]

Well, we're in the ascended stage. I mean, but you're going to hit speed bumps like today. I mean, this is absolutely humiliating, not for us, but for the standard way that try to talk right into it. Yeah, that Washington D.C. thinks. Right. I mean, today we saw conventional thinking. We saw this, you know, this bipartisanship that this. It's a malignant cancer inside our body politic that has to be cut out. And look over the last. It's not just the last year. It's the last four years. President Trump leaves after having the 2020 election stolen. Pretty obvious. Goes to Mar? A Lago. The political class totally abandons him. You know, there's a handful of people that have his back. He starts coming back. He makes a decision, the most courageous decision in the history of American politics because he knew what was going to be in front of him. He knew that they were going to, you know, try to bankrupt his company and destroy his family and eventually indict him. And so it was this courageous moral courage to come back. And that was in 2021 the precinct strategies. Scott Pressler Trying to, going out and changing the architecture of these states of the electorate, whether it was Arizona or Pennsylvania, and, you know, people going door to door. This is what populism is. It doesn't need. You don't need tons of money. You don't need, you know, any, you know, one or two leaders. It comes from the people itself. It's a sovereign will of the people. And you saw your energy and your focus and your determination took the 2022 election. President Trump then announced right afterwards. Look at what happened a year ago. Look at where we were a year ago at this conference. Remember, all the primaries had not come, the general election had not come. And look at the energy and enthusiasm that Turning Point had, and look at the work that Turning Point did in, particularly in Arizona and in Pennsylvania. You guys deserve. You are the vanguard, the vanguard of a revolutionary movement, just like in 1775 and 70 and victory begets victory. You just supported an individual that's had the greatest political comeback in the history of the world. That was you. If you guys had faltered, if you guys had quit, if you guys had just said, I don't know if we can do this. It was your agency in a collective, the sovereign will of the people. That's why Trump's back. And what you saw here in the last 72 hours is just more of the DC same. It's the same bipartisanship kind of old Republican Party thinking.

[Charlie Kirk]

So is that clear? No, it's very clear. And I'm only interrupting just because, as I said on your program this morning, I'm too busy running an event. Educate me. As if I'm just passively watching the news. What is going on here with the CR up until the moment of this broadcast right now?

[Steve Bannon]

Think about this thing, you know, with, with, with Johnson, you know, having turfed out McCarthy because of the spending. He, you know, and he's hanging with Vivek, he's hanging with Elon Musk, he's hanging with the President. Every time I look, whether it's a UFC fight or the box at the Army Navy game, or every time he's hanging around, right? And he, out of nowhere. This supposed to be a cr. It's supposed to be two lines, because remember, always remember, the CR itself is just continual spending from the old budget. It's about 500, which we don't support. We don't support in principle.

[Charlie Kirk]

In practice, it might be necessary.

[Steve Bannon]

The only reason this is necessary, we hate them all. The only reason this is necessary is because this kicks it into President Trump's administration. This is where he's got Russ voted omb. This is where he has the House, the Senate, the executive branch. His teams back Scott Besson, Russ vote Peter Navarro. He gives President Trump a chance to craft the current fiscal year we're in and what happens. This should be a two line, two line thing. And if the farmers bills late, you need a couple of billion. $10 billion for the farmers or 20 billion, the FEMA. There should be offsets. It's simple to do the offsets. There's offsets in there. You can do offsets for the FEMA money and quite frankly, find out what FEMA hasn't given the cash they have. Right. You have to drill down. What does he give us? 1500 pages. That's negotiated from weeks and weeks and weeks. And it's Akeem Jeffries. There's so many, It's a, it's a Democrat bill, two thirds and it lays another, I don't know, $300 billion of spending. So then you have a trillion dollars, essentially 800 billion to a trillion dollars for this one quarter. It's just, it's this madness. And they insult your intelligence by not telling anybody, just dropping it on people. It's so complicated. And you just read the, from the bio labs to the pandemic to the.

[Charlie Kirk]

Global engagement, we're funding Ukrainian biolabs and.

[Steve Bannon]

The global engagement center that went out of their way to shut us all down. They're funny that if you go through this and they, they have provisions there. You can't do investigations. It's a mess. And it was highly negotiated in the head.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's the point.

[Steve Bannon]

And it has a pay raise. That has a pay raise. We just won, we just won by bringing African Americans, Hispanics, white working class in this built in this coalition that's like 1932. And these people, the lived experience, they, they're not buying the happy talk of mainstream media that the economy is doing great because it's doing great for the top 1%, for the oligarchs because of federal spending. And here you give a pay raise from 173,000 bucks, 74%. And not just that. If they had put it up front on the COVID and said, look, people, you know, have been, haven't had a pay raise in 10 years, they can't support their families. And by the way, we know the guy got shot in the back and they're seething anger among people about this insurance, but we want to opt out of Obamacare. Although we voted it for you guys, right? If they had put that up front, if they put it up front and not hit it on page 900 of the bill, it'd be different. You'd say no, but at least you wouldn't try to hide things. This shows you it's not just Johnson. Clearly he must be removed, but it's not him. It's deeper than that. This is the mindset of the political class. This is how they think. And they think you always have to compromise. You're obviously going supplicants. You weren't supplicants when you walked these, when you canvass these neighborhoods. You weren't supplicants when Pressler went out and changed the architecture of the, of the voting population of Pennsylvania. You weren't supplicants when you had Trump's back in, in Georgia, in New York City, in Florida, when you were standing outside protesting when he was hauled before these fake judges. We haven't been supplicants in four years. Why would we do it when we win? We don't have to. We just have to be on offense.

[Charlie Kirk]

And the fact this was negotiated is there is no other description than treacherous.

[Steve Bannon]

Yes.

[Charlie Kirk]

Am I correct in that?

[Steve Bannon]

100%. That's what I'm saying. It's a malignant cancer. It's this mindset. And then they also don't understand the new ecosystem of media. First off, you people thrive for information. That's why you're doing so. This is why you're doing Charlie Kirk. Look, the War Room is not an easy watch. We don't do a crack a lot of jokes or have. It's not. We're not chasing, you know, we don't chase the shiny toys that people want to. Want to know.

[Charlie Kirk]

It's tough stuff.

[Steve Bannon]

It's tough. And Charlie Kirk. Not a lot of laughs. No, but why do you listen? You're a cadre. These shows are not for a mass audience. We will never be the biggest show. Charlie will never be the biggest show. You're a. You're. I want to do sponsorships for Charlie. So knock down. No, if you look.

[Charlie Kirk]

It's a great point.

[Steve Bannon]

If you look at any revolutionary movement, if you look at the revolution, our American Revolution, you have cadres, small groups of people that form together that get information. This was the Committees of Correspondence. This was. This was the subtext of the revolution. This is what led to the Continental. This is what led the Continental Congress to say, hey, look, we've got to. We've actually got to declare independence. We can't work with the House of Commons anymore. That is what you are. Please remember your place in history. When the, when the, when the history of this age is written, they will not remember Elon Musk, they will not remember Tucker Carlson. They're not going to remember Charlie Kirk or Steve Bannon. It's going to be the age of Trump and they're going to remember the MAGA movement. Okay? They're going to say a movement came up from the 2008 financial crisis. It took decades to build, but eventually it took over the politics of the country, of the American republic and saved the American republic. That's what you guys are so. And you just had a historic win. You don't need to sit there when Johnson sends you 1500 pages. Go. No, we're not going to do this. We're not going to play these games. We're not going to do this anymore. The country's heading towards bankruptcy. We have to have Trump's back getting him here. So right now I say shut it down.

[Charlie Kirk]

Steve, I have so many thoughts on this. Let's focus on one that's immediate. And you and I always connect on this. I do a two hour show, a three hour show, two hours on Rav. You do like five hours a day, right?

[Steve Bannon]

Four hours.

[Charlie Kirk]

It's unbelievable.

[Steve Bannon]

It just feels like five hours.

[Charlie Kirk]

But the hardest part of my job and Steve, you'll appreciate this is keeping up with the audience 100% is that, is that the audience is one step ahead of me. Always fact checking. Not just fact checking, but there. Can you add some.

[Steve Bannon]

No. Because color to this. Okay with the Internet and this is the reason the mainstream media is. Is meaningless now because if you watch, if you watch the 6 o'clock broadcast news, it's so stupid, right? Quite frankly, if you watch. Even if you watch MSNBC and cnn, it's so ridiculous. Not just buy a stupid Fox is Fox right? If you look at, if you look at the podcast, if you look at the, the Twitter, these different social media platforms, all the information, the force multiplier. The hardest job I have every day in, in the producers of my show is to keep ahead of you.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's exactly.

[Steve Bannon]

To keep. Make sure that hey, they've heard this, they know this, right? We. What are we going to tell them? Driving. What are we going to. What are we. What. What information. We're going to have this new to them. How do we make sure that we're always at the cutting edge? And that is the compliment to you. This is what populism Is your agency is driving this? Not any. Let's think about it for a sec. Let's go back to 2021. Look at all. Go to Fox, go to MSNBC, go to CNN. Just read the papers, Washington Post, every pundit, Trump is finished. Trump is dead. Mag is finished. Mag is dead. Over and over and over again. It was their mantra. You just won the biggest election at comeback in American history. The pundits were wrong and you were right. I want you to understand that you were right politically right. You were right as political scientists. You don't have to have a PhD from the University of Chicago. That is you and you and you. You did this. There's nothing that can stop what you want to accomplish for this country. And that's why they got to still try to destroy Trump. And that's quite frankly, why they still have to destroy this movement.

[Charlie Kirk]

So, Steve, what is it? I mean, you were so. In the 2021, 2022 cycle. We were just getting started on RAV. We were still getting to know each other, and we've gotten to know each other really well the last couple years. But you were so early on, we're all in for Trump. And we were, too. But you were forcefully early that this thing is going to be a decisive 2024 victory. You saw it years ahead of time. It was. The clairvoyance was remarkable. I mean, your skeptics would say it's just luck. You know, Steve just kind of rolled snake eyes. But it's not like you saw. What did you see?

[Steve Bannon]

I saw 16 when I got to the. When they was 14 points down. They called me in August 13th because I was running Breitbart, and I had a conversation with President Trump. He's like 12 or 14 points down with the Muslim family with the Constitution.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's right. A con.

[Steve Bannon]

And the thing spinning out of control. And I said, Hey, 100. Because he says, how are we going to turn this around? Because Ryan's about to cut us loose, Mitch McConnell's about to cut us loose. I said, 100% metaphysical certitude. You will win. Right. We just got to focus on these couple of issues, and we have to go to the blue wall. And he said, what? I said, we got to go to Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. We're going to pierce the blue wall. Because the lived experience of the American people is terrible right now.

[Charlie Kirk]

Steve, I never asked, how did you see that? I mean, that was so contrarian. It was so unorthodox. Was it instinct, gut? Was there something in your Life that made you see it?

[Steve Bannon]

Well, I come from a blue collar family, right? I come from a working class Democrat family. Quite frankly, we were all Democrats until the Vietnam War and then President Reagan. But it's simple to say, you just see the lived experience of how people live. You just see that. You can understand the math of the economics, the American people. We've hollowed out the greatest country in the world. The manufacturer. We were a manufacturing superpower with high value added jobs. That an individual like my dad could be a foreman for the phone company and have a stay at home mom that raised the kids and have five kids that all went to Catholic school and then all went to college, right? That's not. You can't do that today. It's impossible. Why can't you do that? Well, they tell you, they give you all this stuff. And I said, this is not the second law of thermodynamics. This is not some inevitable law. It's not the physical property of the universe. It's because people make conscious decisions to ship the jobs overseas because they made money with, with having the Lao, Beijing, the Chinese slave labor do the jobs. It can all be reversed. You just have to have policies to reverse it. And President Trump, that's why, look, President Trump is not a particularly churchy individual, okay? He's not. He's not. But he is an instrument of divine providence. Okay? I've seen it up close. No, I saw it in 16. In 16, we had no money. We had a plane, we had a man, we had a message. And about 10 of us, right? And he defeated Hillary Clinton. The Clinton mafia, particularly in Michigan, Wisconsin. And here's why. The first thing we did on the campaign, I took it over. I said, we're going to go to Flint, Michigan. And he goes, that's a Democratic city. I go exactly where we're going to go. You can go to Flint, she can't. Then he went to Mexico and met the President. Because you can go to Mexico, she can't. You could go to places that people all of a sudden see and remember they hated him so much, they tried to destroy him right from the beginning, from the very first second that we won in 2020. It is obvious from the mathematics that he won the 2020 election. It was stolen, right? But, but that was providential in this arc of this story, in the arc of this story. They had to steal it because we had to see, and more Americans had to see how radical they are, how they are neo Marxists, how they would destroy this country. They let 15. Now they're all coming out with the stories about the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal in the last 48 hours, how Biden was never really present. They had to cover up in the National Security Council. Everything we've been saying for the last four years, they now admit is true. Right. And they never invoked the 25th Amendment. They allowed 15 million invaders into our country. They got us involved in all these forever wars all over. They shipped a quarter of a trillion dollars to Ukraine that we still don't understand why We've got a million dead are wounded Ukrainians, and 700,000 dead are wounded Russians. Everything they have done is try to destroy this country. And that is the power of Trump stories. This is what I would tell people. It's not going to be Ron DeSantis, not going to be Nikki Haley. This country has a narrative. This is the new Jerusalem, and we have a path in front of us. Trump is Trump, and he's a very imperfect guy. His imperfection makes it a more powerful story that he is imbued by divine providence to lead a movement to save this country. And that's it.

[Charlie Kirk]

That is a great segue. Let's take some questions. Is that cool? Steve, Daisy, let's start taking some questions for those of you that are new to members. Welcome, guys. Just a reminder, we'll be doing this the next couple of days, and thank you guys for being a member. It allows us to continue to grow and flourish. Daisy, let's get some questions here. And emphasis on questions, not speeches, no commercials. Yeah.

[Steve Bannon]

Steve, some people in the room may or may not know that you were in prison. Could you tell us a little bit about your experience there? No, I don't want to. Thank you. It's a great question. You know, I am. I'm very proud. I was a political prisoner. Nancy Pelosi thought she was going to break me. I came out empowered, and she's broken. It was a very dangerous place. But there are many, many good people. And I tell you, I saw Trump's victory there. That's the only time I put something out was on. I think August 26th had victories at hand. The politics of joy was a lie. The prisoners in there, the Hispanics and African Americans, hate the Democratic Party, and they hated Kamala Harris and they hated Joe Biden. And about 60% voted or their families voted for Trump. But the other 40% wouldn't vote. Right there, the Hispanics and African Americans. Right. That is the basis of our 1932 realignment. And I saw it, and I Don't. It's not about me. It's not about what happened in prison, but I got to tell you, they empowered me in no way. And she's broken, right? Not. Not the hip. That's unfortunate. I mean, no, no, politically. Politically, she's been shattered, and we're stronger than ever. But thanks for the question.

[Charlie Kirk]

Daisy, who are you next?

[C]

Hey, Charlie.

[Charlie Kirk]

Hi.

[C]

Hi. Right after the election, something you said was, okay, my number one job is to get the list of all the J6ers.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yep. So I have the list.

[Steve Bannon]

Do you? Okay.

[C]

So. Well, my close friend's son was the youngest. J6OR. They put him in solitary for 40 days at 18 years old, and he just got out at 22 years old. He's only six months in, but just got married. It's ended up being an amazing redemption story, but I just wanted to make sure that man's name is on the list.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. So every single one's on the list. Look, I'm not going to tell anything. Private conversations. But Steve will reiterate, there is a force of energy to get pardons for J6 president.

[Steve Bannon]

Amen. Amen. Day one. Day one.

[Charlie Kirk]

I'm not. I'm not speaking on behalf of the President. It. It will end up being the president's decision to sign on the dotted line. What I can say is that people closest to him brought up daily. It is brought up daily. Right, Steve? That this is a. This is not just some sort of forgotten thing. It is a top priority. And so the president has made some promises on that. It is his decision.

[Steve Bannon]

We got to work it.

[Charlie Kirk]

And we got. We just got to keep working it, keep pushing it. But the good news is that this is not like a forgotten thing where people just say one thing and not so.

[Steve Bannon]

I was not in a camp. I was in a federal prison. Okay. And we had a lot of J6 folks there that. What they did to those people in D.C. and this is why the investigations have to take place. The people that tormented and tortured them in D.C. prison, war crimes, they have. They have to be tried. They have to be investigated, and they're going to go to prison all the way up to Matthew Gray's. We're never going to stop on that. What happened to those individuals is unacceptable. We can never let it happen again.

[Charlie Kirk]

We're talking about pretrial detention for a year and a half, two years for some of these people. Right. It's just unbelievable. So. Yes. Okay, Daisy, who do we get?

[D]

Hi, Steve. My name is Mark Klugman. I was one of President Reagan's speechwriters, what you went through was where they're changing the rules on executive privilege. Now, on the question of the Biden pardons, there is a legal argument that a pardon only takes effect when there's been an offense. That's what it says in the Constitution. There is no offense until there's a conviction. Therefore, there's the argument that a pardon will prevent you from being punished, but it doesn't prevent you from being indicted. It doesn't prevent you from standing trial. How do you see that?

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, the most high profile preemptive pardon, of course, was Gerald Ford pardoning Nixon. And what it does is that a prosecution will not have the gusto to go through the process of writing indictment and going to trial if there's even a slight chance that the conviction will not be held up in court. Steve, is that a fair summary? Yes, yes. So look, I, anyone that has been preemptively pardoned, they have the right to do that. But I just, I, I laugh and I scoff. These are the people that were constantly telling us that we're the criminals. And they're even, they are legitimately probing preemptive pardons.

[Steve Bannon]

It's worse. Now, first off, executive privileges were just one, depending on my lawyer for advice, who told me, I followed everything he told me that. But the most important was the illegitimacy of the committee.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, that's.

[Steve Bannon]

Remember the committee, it was illegally, Banks and Jordan were let go. And so for the first time, a major select committee did not have a ranking member and did not have minority counsel. Remember, you didn't get the evidence and you couldn't cross examine the witnesses. This is about Cassie Hutchinson and all of it. It was a total sham. And now Bennie Thompson on national TV is saying he would take a pardon if give it to him. Cheney, Loudermilk, and this is my problem with both McCarthy and Johnson. They've had years to sit there and get rid of all the. Jason, just take the committee and throw it out and start over again. And we have to have a real investigation of the 2020. And by the way, the more we're transparent, the better we know we have the facts. Make it totally transparent. On the 2020 election, on J6 the day and what they didn't do in the Fed direction, July 13, July 13, all of it, all the events on day one, President Trump should declassify about 5 million pages of classified information. They use the classified information. Look, I had, I had above a top secret clearance when I was 20 some years old, coming back as a naval officer in my destroyer and then coming back to the Pentagon, and then I had a high security clearance as saying 99 of it is to keep the information from you. Trust me, okay? They don't want the people actually be part of the decision making process. And I can tell you, in the last, you know, eight years with President Trump and this populist movement, you guys make pretty, pretty good decisions. If you gave me the choice to be governed by the top hundred partners at Goldman Sachs or Cravath or Sullivan and Cromwell McKinsey, Bruce Allen and the first hundred people that walked in this room, I take you 100 every day, right? No. More humanity, more empathy, more understanding, life, more common sense, more knowledge, more drive. It's obvious. This is what the country's so successful. It's not them, it's you. And they want to hold that back, that committee. And we can never allow this to happen again. But I got to tell you, you see now they're not just talking preemptive blanket pardons. Think about that. Preemptive blanket pardons. Norm Ison is on TV last night talking about blanket amnesty. They are scared to death. And we owe it to this republic, to every patriot's grave, all the way back to the founding of this, of this republic, the new Jerusalem, to hunt it down to the ends of the earth and bring them to justice.

[Charlie Kirk]

We have time for a couple more, maybe one or two. And then I got to get Steve prepped for on stage. I don't want to just throw him up on stage, so that wouldn't be fair for the great Steve Bannon.

[Steve Bannon]

I got to get lower key.

[Charlie Kirk]

No, I know you got.

[Steve Bannon]

I need another Red Bull. One more Red Bull.

[Charlie Kirk]

All right, Dais, who's in charge? We have somebody for question. Yeah, great. What do you both think is going to happen with Justin Trudeau in Canada?

[Steve Bannon]

To what?

[Charlie Kirk]

Justin Trudeau, what do you think is going to happen?

[Steve Bannon]

Oh, he's going to get tossed with the governor. He's going to get tossed out. The populace is going to win. First off, the letter from Freeland was brutal. And she's no day at the beach, right? She's very cunning. But her letter, she said, you're not taking seriously President Trump's aggressive economic nationalism and you're not keeping our powder dry. The deficits are too big. This current budget, she said, I'm out. I mean, she's trying to take his job. I think he's cooked. He shows you what Hillary Clinton would have done to this country. Right. That's the type of globalist, you know, Party of Davos he is.

[Charlie Kirk]

Okay, we have time for one, maybe two more. That was quick. I agree, Steve. Anybody? Do we have a mic runner? Yes.

[C]

Hi, Steve. Hi, Charlie. I just want to thank you for what you guys have done for the grassroots movement, what you're doing for just the people of America, that we're tired of all of this crap. Sorry, Jesus is listening. I'm wearing my dad's Trump 20 hat. 2020 hat. And it means a lot to me. My dad, I think, was kind of an original troller. And so my question, I would say is my dad said one time that he was going to the pro Trump rally, meaning that it was January 4, 2020. So he was a big believer in the grassroots effort and Trump and the businessman and he highly believed in Ross Perot. And I just wondered what you guys thought about businessmen and that kind of that movement and running the country.

[Charlie Kirk]

I will say that the underappreciated through line of what Ross Perot pinpointed in the early 90s direct connected to Trump. Ross Perot was Trump before Trump. He just wasn't Trump in the sense where he sent. He said the same stuff. That sucking noise you hear is Mexico taking our jobs from us. He was a populist nationalist that, remember he was poised to win the presidency. And then all of a sudden he like stopped his campaign and suspended it because there was like someone following him in his front yard. Do you remember this whole story? It was really goofy. And then he reentered the race and by time he did, all of his support went down and. But Ross Perot was very clairvoyant and saw ahead, saw the harbinger, the canary in the coal mine of the deindustrialization of the American body. Politicians. How many anyone here vote for Ross Perot? Look at that. I do this at every event and it's like, it's like 20% in both. 92. In 92, not 96. Both. You were both 92 and 96. 96. He didn't have the same sort of spark, but again, I think he got.

[Steve Bannon]

23% of the vote. I think.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah, no, that's right.

[Steve Bannon]

A hand grenade with a bad haircut that he was. He was the first really on the national stage, fire breathing, popular, I guess, since Huey Long or William Jennings Bryan or Andrew Jackson.

[C]

His motto is Make America grow again.

[Charlie Kirk]

Not as good as great again.

[Steve Bannon]

Almost. He got that close.

[Charlie Kirk]

One more final question here. Yes, final one. Hi, Wendy.

[D]

Hi, Steve. My mom is Your biggest fan, she watches you every single day. And so, Marcia, hi. I represent an organization called Hindus for America First. We mobilized over a million Hindu American voters to support the Republican Party and America first candidates, including Donald Trump. And one of the concerns that we wanted to bring to the president, and he actually tweeted about it or posted about it on X at the end of October, was the persecution of religious minorities in Bangladesh following the fall of Sheikh Hasina. There are Christians, Jews and Hindus being persecuted by the Clinton Foundation. Darling Muhammad Yunus and I would love to know what you think. I know you said Donald Trump is not a churchy man, but what will he do to protect religious freedoms and religious minorities?

[Steve Bannon]

Well, saying he's not church, you know, he's, he's, I think he's, he has a very spiritual side to him. I mean, Donald Trump's got a big heart. He's a very kind individual.

[Charlie Kirk]

He really is.

[Steve Bannon]

Right. A lot of what you see is kind of, you know, kind of the negotiation bravado. He's, he's a very, he's actually spirit. And I think he's gotten more spiritual since the assassination attempt. You've seen a very different time. Look, I'm a huge fan of Modi's, right? So I think we've got to, we've got a, you know, President Trump will look into it, but it's horrible what's going on over there. But, you know, Modi is the best. He's the best nationalist in the world. What he's done in India is second to none.

[Charlie Kirk]

We actually have time for one more of. Steve is game four. All right, Wendy, yell it out.

[Steve Bannon]

What do you think would happen to.

[D]

Hobbs and Mays after January 20th?

[Steve Bannon]

Well, I think all of these, in particularly Arizona, the whole situation in 2020, you have to have a full and deep investigation. And also with the voting, you just have to. But it has to be completely transparent and has to be completely transparent. If a commission set up or if it's in the House or whatever, you have to make sure that the American people can see this. It has. Must be fully transparent. I happen to believe there's so much there because, listen, what Turning Point did in Arizona is historic. I mean, we turned it around. It's a five and a half point win.

[Charlie Kirk]

The best performing swing state of any swing state. Despite being outspent three to one, it was a five and a half point win. No state comes even close. In fact, it was the best performance Trump ever had in this state. State. Whereas you can't say that for North Carolina, Georgia, he actually underperformed his previous totals from 16.

[Steve Bannon]

Those. It's three parts to how you get there. Number one is the Scott Presser or the mentality to go change the composition, the composition of the electorate by doing voter registration, sitting in those parking lots and 105 degrees and doing it. That's grinding. That's grinding it out. The other part is the canvassing and getting out and getting out the vote and making sure, you know, you have the phone banks, you have all of it, that huge logistics ground and volunteers that do it over and over and over again. And the last part is training up the election integrity. Right. So they get you so you're sitting at the table and they can't steal it big like they tried to steal it before those three elements came together. I will tell you that 2020, Donald John Trump won Arizona. It's absolutely no doubt. And, and Carrie Lake is the legitimate governor of Arizona. No doubt. So, so, Colonel, I think, but I think we have to be methodical about this. I think we have to go about it so it's, it's purely transparent and everybody, the community buys in. So we say it can never, ever happen again.

[Charlie Kirk]

I got to get Steve on stage. Give it up for Steve Bannon, everybody. Thanks so much for listening, everybody. Email us. As always, freedom. Charliekirk.com thanks so much for listening and God bless.

[Steve Bannon]

For more on many of these stories and news you can Trust, go to charliekirk.com.