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Charlie Kirk
Hey, everybody. On this episode of the Charlie Kirk show, an exclusive conversation with Congressman Mike Garcia from California, who won his race by 333 votes. A good American who is fighting to take back the House and is representing us wonderfully. We talk about California and so much more. Email us your questions freedomarliekirk.com and if you'd like to support this program, go to charliekirk.com support Congressman Mike Garcia is here. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go. Charlie, what you've done is incredible here. Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
Congressman Mike Garcia
I want you to know we are
Charlie Kirk
lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
I want to thank Charlie. He's an incredible guy.
Congressman Mike Garcia
His spirit, his love of this country.
Charlie Kirk
He's done an amazing job building one
Congressman Mike Garcia
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. Look, cancel culture is a very big problem. And the fact is, the Internet never forgets. There's never been a more important time. To protect your Internet activity, which is why I urge you to get ExpressVPN. Everything you search for, watch or click online can be tracked by big tech companies. They then match your activity to your true identity using your device's unique IP address. When I switch on ExpressVPN with my computer or phone, my IP address is masked by a secure VPN server, which makes it harder for websites to identify me. The ExpressVPN app also encrypts my network data to protect my sensitive information from being compromised. Plus, you can use ExpressVPN on up to five devices simultaneously so multiple users on your network can stay safe with a single subscription. What I like the best is how easy it is to use. It just takes one click to protect all your devices. That's why they're rated the number one VPN by CNET and Wired. So stop handing over your data to big tech companies. Go to the VPN I trust for online protection. Visit expressvpn.com Charlie go expressvpn.com Charlie to get three months free on a one year package. That's exp r e s s vpn.com Charlie to get three extra months free. Go to expressvpn.com Charlie right now to learn more.
Hey, everybody. Welcome to this special episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. I'm super thrilled to have with us today Congressman Mike Garcia, who I think is the only Congressman, who can say? He won two hotly contested races in the year of the pandemic.
Congressman Mike Garcia
I think that's true.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah.
Congressman Mike Garcia
And we were the first to have to go through the special election during COVID and it's been a wild ride. So thanks for having me, Charlie.
Charlie Kirk
Well, congratulations. I have been celebrating your victory many times. The first victory you won rather convincingly to fill Katie Hill's seat. The second victory was like 361 votes.
Congressman Mike Garcia
333 votes total.
Charlie Kirk
333. So you just get that number framed in your office.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Exactly. We had pens made, army knives made with 333.
Charlie Kirk
It's awesome. And so tell us about that race, but also tell us why you got into politics. And I'm super interested in that.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Yeah. So, you know, I grew up in Southern California, and I didn't grow up with an interest in politics. I was observing politics. I was a poli sci major. But I dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot. And I had the opportunity to go to the Naval Academy and become a fighter pilot for the US Navy, flying F18s off of aircraft carriers and went on to serve in combat operations over Iraq in 2003. And that was my goal. That was my dream in life. That was what I focused on, and it was my mission. I came off of active duty in 09 and rotated into the business sector, working for an aerospace company at the time, and had a great career, great job, great family, wife, beautiful boys, and was really living the dream life. And I started to see things happen in California that were obviously discouraging, but also became friction points for myself personally, as a businessman, as an investor, someone who's wanting to stay in California, became harder and harder. And then along came Katie Hill, and she ran for office in our district, California's 25th district, which had been historically conservative for 20, 30 years. You know, Buck McKeon was in the seat for roughly 22 years, Steve Knight for four years. And then this phenomenon in this wave called Katie Hill came to town. And she won an election that I just couldn't believe. And as a private citizen, as a businessman, someone with no aspirations of getting into politics, I saw that election. And I just realized the day after she won her election that I needed to do something. I needed to come off the sidelines. We all needed to pay attention a little bit more. And for me, it was making sure that our nation didn't become what California has become.
Charlie Kirk
Seriously.
Congressman Mike Garcia
And as broken as California is and as bad as it is, it can be a lot worse. If our nation started adopting some of those policies. So when we upload someone like Katie Hill to the national scene and put her in Congress to represent us, and now with AOC and the gang, that was just a bridge too far for me. So I decided to quit my job, run for Congress, and never held a political office in my life. And we just outworked everyone and we worked harder than anyone out there.
Charlie Kirk
So she resigned because of whatever.
Congressman Mike Garcia
She had some unforced errors.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah, there you go. That's a good way to put it. And then you won the special election,
which really kind of shocked the world
a little bit, especially the margin during the virus. And you served really short term and ran again. And so 333 votes. Kind of walk us through how you were able to win.
This is one.
This was a top 10 race across the country.
Congressman Mike Garcia
It was.
Charlie Kirk
Pelosi was spending a lot of money on this race. She wanted it back. And you won by 333 votes, which is one of the reasons why the margins for Pelosi for her speakership are so thin.
Congressman Mike Garcia
That's right.
Charlie Kirk
And I actually think the Cook Political Report had your seat as like a lean Democrat, if not at best, toss up.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Right. They changed three times in the course of four months. It started with likely Dem, then it went to lean Dem, and then to toss up. And we won by nine points. And it's like, hey, guys, we saw this coming. We knew the sentiment on the ground. I don't get in any fights that I don't think I can win. And I knew we would be able to beat Katie Hill with her resignation and everything that lined up with the special election. That's how we ended up with a nine point win. That margin of victory was even bigger than I had imagined. But we knew going into November with the presidential race on the ticket and the passion and the energy on both sides coming out in November, that it was going to tighten up. And on election night, we were down 15%. And over the course of 30 days, while they had the counters counting for literally 30 days, we ended up up 333 votes. And it was just. It was literally hard work. We had the best grassroots campaign in the Nation. We had 500 volunteers who. These weren't necessarily political activists. These were. These were folks in the community who were just tired of the. Of the nonsense and got behind the mission. And we just made it rain longer than anyone could tread water around us. And we made it so that our opponents wanted the election to be over. I held them accountable in Debates, Extremely aggressive in debates. Did it with class, did it with dignity and honor and respect. But it was, it was a ruthless aggression towards our opponents. And that is why we won. And hopefully it'll be a little easier in the 2022.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah. I know a lot of activists that got involved for the first time in your race. Some of them go to Rob McCoy's church in Calvary Chapel, Thousand Oaks, and they were involved knocking on doors, making phone calls, and all of that helped make a difference, obviously in your margin. So you talk about not letting the rest of the country become California. California. I love visiting for the scenery, the weather, some of the people, not all the people, not all the people like me. And that's fine. But it really is a test case of how to mess up a once great state. You probably remember when California was the gem of the country, where it was a place of opportunity. You cannot get a U Haul going east.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Nope.
Charlie Kirk
And that's not a metaphor or a joke.
Congressman Mike Garcia
There's a mass exodus right now, right? Yeah.
Charlie Kirk
If you're in Phoenix, they will pay you to bring U Haul back to la. They'll give you a U Haul gift card.
Congressman Mike Garcia
That's right.
Charlie Kirk
Talk about how California went wrong.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Well, it starts with people not paying attention. Right. It starts with good conservatives like us not paying attention, not only not being active in the current political scene, but not raising our kids to appreciate what's in the Constitution, to appreciate what conservative values mean in the real world. And when we fall asleep at the wheel like that for 20, 30 years, what happens is you end up with a single party system in one of the largest states, with one of the largest GDPs in the world being run by people who don't understand business, they don't understand fiscal conservative policy, social conservative values. And we end up with a state like ours where despite being the fifth largest GDP in the world, as a state, we have the highest taxes, the highest homeless rates, some of the worst infrastructure. We have a community. We have a bunch of communities that are now bashing our own law enforcement. We have neighborhoods in my district right now where when the winds get above 30 miles an hour, the power turns off. And in many of those neighborhoods, the water turns off as well because they're on electrical wells. Right. So in the suburbs of la, it's starting to look like a suburb of Venezuela right now in many cases. And it is a testimony of how bad things can go. And what scares the heck out of me is when a new president like Biden comes in and says, I'M going to use California as the blueprint for my policies. And obviously with Kamala there right next to him, she knows exactly what that means and Pelosi in the house knows exactly what that means and it's a recipe for disaster for our country. So my mission right now is to help save California. We will get more seats back. I hope we can get the governor's seat back. The recall we need to get Newsom out of there. So if you haven't already signed the petition in California for recall, Newsom, but we'll get more seats back. But my bigger mission right now is literally to make sure that the United States does not become what California has become.
Charlie Kirk
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It's a tragedy what's happened in California. I know so many good people that have left. I know so many people that don't want to leave. The quality of life is nice still. They built their businesses, they have their family there, but the numbers just don't make sense. And they are starting to see the quality of life slip, starting to see a lot more homelessness, you know, increases in crime, just a different set of agenda. And California used to be a deep red state, as you well know and it's changed dramatically throughout the years. And so Gavin Newsom is trying is being recalled right now. It looks like the signatures are trending.
Congressman Mike Garcia
I think they'll get there. Yeah, it's looking it's looking favorable for me. The whole point of supporting the recall was just to get him to allow our businesses to get turned back totally. He's one of these guys where you've got to hit him with a stick before he starts paying attention. And this recall is the proverbial stick over the head right now. And he's realizing it is real and he may be recalled. And amazingly, now he's allowing our restaurants to open.
Charlie Kirk
He scoffed that at first. He did, and he didn't realize how much anger there actually was. And I mean, California has a history of recalling governors not successful, but at least going through the recall, it's very, very hard to do, but it's going to put him through a tough fight, I think. And he's up again in 2022, is that right? So he might have to survive a recall and run for resurrection.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Right. And that's what I'm trying to make sure that our. Our Republican Party in California needs to focus on, on both races. We need to focus on being successful in 2022. The recall efforts need to continue in earnest, and we need to get behind that. But we really have to position ourselves better for 2022 and make sure that he can't win if that doesn't happen.
Charlie Kirk
So I think priority number one has to be taking back the House of Representatives. You totally agree? Obviously, being in the minority is no fun. Only by seven seats, but it feels like it might as well be 70 seats.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Right. The way this House is playing right now. Yeah. Pelosi is, you know, in reality, with such a close ratio and close to equilibrium, a rational speaker would actually make more compromises and we would actually get to a rational legislative agenda. That's just not happening right now. And in some ways, that's good for us. The left will overplay their hands.
Charlie Kirk
Totally.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Pelosi is now beholden to aoc, and AOC is effectively the speaker of the House right now, running the agenda.
Charlie Kirk
And the country.
Congressman Mike Garcia
And the country. So I think the average American is going to look at this and go, hey, we're done with this. This doesn't make any sense. And I was one of the few that actually thought we were going to get the House back. In this last cycle, McCarthy and I were probably the only two that actually thought it was doable. So I wasn't surprised by how many seats we got back. What I was surprised of, frankly, is that we didn't get the House back. And we will get it in 2022, no doubt, if not before that.
Charlie Kirk
And there were A couple races. You know, Sean Parnell, you know that I think he might run again and they might have had some good. And we got to get back that Highland Park, Texas seat right near North Dallas. We got to get that one back. But there were some huge victories. Michelle Steele. Yong Kim, Beth Van Dyne, Marionette Miller Meeks by six votes. Madison Cawthorn, Maria. Elvira Salazar. Burgess Owens, Nancy. Yeah, Talk about this new freshman class I still consider to be part of it because it's still the same calendar year. Yeah, but you're obviously, you're not a freshman. Technically.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Yeah, I'm kind of in a no man's land.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah, exactly. You're kind of a special election, which is great.
Congressman Mike Garcia
I love the sophomore class. And this is high energy, so.
Charlie Kirk
But it's. It's a high energy class.
Congressman Mike Garcia
A high energy class with a lot of personality. And frankly, it's what our party needs right now. Right. I think our party needs an offset to the AOCs and the. And the Omars of the world. And that's what some of these.
Charlie Kirk
I totally agree.
Congressman Mike Garcia
And we've got to be able to fight fire with fire. And you know, I'm not a dye in the wool kind of Republican guy. Right. I didn't grow up with this allegiance to any political party. The only allegiance I had was to the flag and the Constitution. So I don't ascribe to this theory that we have to play by Queensbury rules. When your opposition is playing MMA style rules against you, you have to play in that. In that arena with.
Charlie Kirk
That's right.
Congressman Mike Garcia
And we've got to be able to roll up our sleeves, be a little more aggressive than perhaps the. The establishment GOP wants to be. And we've got to win. That doesn't. That doesn't mean we compromise our integrity or our moral values, but we've got to be aggressive and we've got to be willing to get a little dirty to do it.
Charlie Kirk
So what do you think the blueprint is to win in 2022. And let me tell you, some people are getting a little apathetic. Oh, you know, my vote doesn't matter and all this, but let's go. Your race is really interesting. You won by 333 votes and you were down 15%. And so it shows you could still win. And so what's the blueprint to victory? We're only 16 months out until voting's gonna start.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Yeah. We have to highlight every success that we have, and we have to put a shiny, bright light on every failure that the left is bringing to the table. And really what you are doing and Turning Point USA does is helps us breed the next generation so that they understand that what they've been told about conservative values is a fallacy. And here's what the reality of conservative values does. Here's why it's good for the nation. We can't survive as a nation unless we start paying attention to things like national security, partnerships with Israel, investing in our military and our law enforcement. So we need to not only educate folks, but put a bright light on our opposition and go, this is why this is bad for our nation. And just have a battle rhythm and a cadence that they can't keep up with.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah. And it seems as if the Democrats controlling everything, they are more concerned about resurrecting the bad feelings of the last election, continuing on these bitter narratives. And so for folks out there that want to get engaged and get involved, what's your piece of advice for them specifically of how to do that?
Congressman Mike Garcia
Well, I'd say support the local races and support the congressional races, for sure. You know, reach out to the local campaigns. We won because of our grassroots campaign. We were, we were named Campaign of the Year.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah, that's right. The Washington Post, I think even. Go figure.
Congressman Mike Garcia
That was a. But that wasn't because necessarily of our, of our professional team. That was because of our 500 volunteers on the ground. And, and, and while it may feel uncomfortable at first, what we figured out was people were enjoying it there, were going out, they became part of the movement. They took pride in it. So I would, I would encourage folks to actually get involved and help the campaigns directly. If you can't help with your time, then donate as well. And the left spends money. Pelosi spent $15 million against me in the last race.
Charlie Kirk
15 million.
Congressman Mike Garcia
So, yeah, it's a real problem. And in California, it's not cheap. So we got to keep, we got to keep the race.
Charlie Kirk
Yeah, it's a, it's an expensive media market, no doubt. And, but taking back the House has got to be, you know, mission number one.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Absolutely.
Charlie Kirk
And Senate, whatever will happen, will happen there. It's a little bit tougher, but the House is really good. I. Can you talk about how these new maps, we're adding seats in some Republican states. We have the energy. They look like they're going to have some retirements. It feels like 2018 for them and it feels like 2010 for us.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Correct. So lot of reasons to have hope. And I think you said this in one of your talks at the churches down in SoCal last a couple of weeks ago. As doom and gloom as the last couple of months has seemed to have presented us, there's a lot of reasons for hope, and there's a lot of trends right now that are favorable to the Republican Party. California will lose a seat. It will likely be a Dem seat that gets cut. So that. That is, again, a harbinger of how things are trending right. The shift from left to right is happening, and we have so much momentum right now. If we just stay together as a party, if we stay on message, if we. If we stay positive, but still be aggressive against our opposition, we will get these seats back. And I think, you know, folks like me going to other districts to help some of these challengers win seats back is critical, and I'm committed.
Charlie Kirk
We can win back a couple of the Orange county seats, too.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Absolutely.
Charlie Kirk
We can win back all of them. I think we can win back five out of five in Orange County.
Congressman Mike Garcia
A lot of these folks are fakers. A lot of the incumbents, Dems are fakers. Right. People like Katie Porter, fake model. They don't understand what they're doing. These Dems have no idea of what it means to run a business or what it means to even run a family in California. And so we just got to pull the veil back a little bit and highlight the fact that they are, in fact, fakers.
Charlie Kirk
Well, I want to thank you for what you're doing for our country and holding the line every single day in D.C. i know it's not always easy, but, you know, the. The more that we see Republicans stand up and fight, you know, makes a difference.
Congressman Mike Garcia
It's. It's. It's definitely not easy. It's a sacrifice across the board, but it's honestly the biggest honor that someone like me can have. And I'm. I'm glad I'm there to represent the 25th district of California and hopefully make a difference for the nation.
Charlie Kirk
Here's my prediction. You're gonna win by more than 333 votes in 2020.
Congressman Mike Garcia
I hope so. I don't have enough hair left to
Charlie Kirk
go through whatever map they end up, right? Yeah, that's right, Congressman. Thank you. How can people support your campaign if they want to?
Congressman Mike Garcia
Yeah. If you go to elect mike garcia.com you can sign up as a volunteer, you can sign up for our newsletters, and you can donate through the website as well.
Charlie Kirk
Awesome.
Congressman Mike Garcia
Thank you, Charlie. Appreciate you having. Thank you.
Charlie Kirk
Thanks so much for listening, everybody. If you'd like to get involved with Turning Point USA. Go to tpusa.com if you'd like to email us your questions, do so@freedom charliekirk.com thanks so much for listening everybody. God bless. Speak to you soon.
The Charlie Kirk Show
Guest: Congressman Mike Garcia
Date: February 1, 2021
On this episode, Charlie Kirk sits down with Congressman Mike Garcia of California’s 25th District to discuss how California has devolved from a “gem of the country” into a warning for America. They delve into Garcia’s razor-thin electoral victories, the grassroots activism that propelled him, California’s policy failures, and the broader stakes for the Republican Party in the House of Representatives. The episode centers on preventing the "Californication" of America: stopping national adoption of California-style policies and regaining conservative momentum at both state and national levels.
“I dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot… I had the opportunity to go to the Naval Academy and become a fighter pilot for the US Navy… went on to serve in combat operations over Iraq in 2003…” — Mike Garcia (03:07)
"As a private citizen, as a businessman... I saw that election and just realized... I needed to do something. I needed to come off the sidelines. For me, it was making sure our nation didn't become what California has become." — Mike Garcia (04:25)
“On election night, we were down 15%. And over the course of 30 days... we ended up up 333 votes… We made it rain longer than anyone could tread water around us.” — Mike Garcia (06:34 - 06:54)
"You cannot get a U-Haul going east." — Charlie Kirk (08:06)
“In the suburbs of LA, it’s starting to look like a suburb of Venezuela right now in many cases.” — Mike Garcia (09:04)
“You end up with a single party system... being run by people who don't understand business… and we end up with a state like ours...” — Mike Garcia (08:28)
“What scares the heck out of me is when a new president like Biden comes in and says, I’m going to use California as the blueprint for my policies… it's a recipe for disaster for our country.” — Mike Garcia (09:49)
“He’s one of these guys where you’ve got to hit him with a stick before he starts paying attention. And this recall is the proverbial stick over the head.” — Mike Garcia (11:56)
“We really have to position ourselves better for 2022 and make sure that he can't win if that doesn't happen.” — Mike Garcia (12:49)
"Pelosi is now beholden to AOC, and AOC is effectively the Speaker of the House right now." — Mike Garcia (13:31)
“A high energy class with a lot of personality. And frankly, it's what our party needs right now.” — Mike Garcia (14:42)
“We won because of our grassroots campaign. We were named Campaign of the Year… That was because of our 500 volunteers on the ground…” — Mike Garcia (17:06)
“I would encourage folks to actually get involved and help the campaigns directly. If you can't help with your time, then donate as well.” — Mike Garcia (17:36)
"The only allegiance I had was to the flag and the Constitution... we have to be willing to get a little dirty to do it." — Mike Garcia (14:53 - 15:22)
“As doom and gloom as the last couple of months has seemed... there’s a lot of reasons for hope, and there’s a lot of trends right now that are favorable to the Republican Party.” — Mike Garcia (18:16)
“We can win back five out of five in Orange County.” — Charlie Kirk (19:06)
This episode offers a clear-eyed, urgent call for conservative activism to prevent what the hosts see as California’s policy failures from spreading nationwide—framing 2022 as a pivotal moment for both California and the country.