The Charlie Kirk Show — “Trump 2024?”

Host: Charlie Kirk
Date: July 13, 2021
Episode Theme:
A probing analysis of Donald Trump’s prospects for running in the 2024 presidential election, perspectives on the American culture war, criticisms of the left and media, and strong opinions on vaccines, mandates, and pandemic policy.

Main Theme & Purpose

Charlie Kirk explores whether Donald Trump will run for president again in 2024 and if he has the support to win. The discussion pivots to broader conservative concerns—“culture war” issues like critical race theory, school curriculum, and vaccine mandates—contrasting Trump’s leadership with the current trajectory of the American left. Kirk also dives deeply into vaccine skepticism, government overreach, and the perceived moral dynamics driving political conflict.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Trump’s 2024 Prospects & Impact

• CPAC Signals: Kirk observed Trump’s recent CPAC appearance and believes Trump is signaling serious intent to run.
  • [03:10]: “It sure looks like a man who is ready to run for office.”
• Trump as Culture Warrior: Emphasis on Trump’s unique willingness to engage in “the tough fights” and be the “bodyguard of Western civilization.”
  • [15:51]: “President Trump is the bodyguard of Western civilization, that we hired him to protect our way of life…”
• Kingmaker or Candidate?: Kirk weighs the pros and cons of Trump running vs. being a kingmaker for the GOP.
  • [13:10]: “Him as a kingmaker would be very, very powerful. But I have concerns...I don't know if this coalition can be easily rebuilt now.”

2. Culture War & Critical Race Theory

• Defunding CRT: President Trump advocates defunding critical race theory and rooting curriculums in “1776, not 1619.”
  • [15:27] Trump Quote: “We will completely defund and bar critical race theory. 1776, not 1619, if you don't mind. And if government run schools are going to teach children to hate their country, we will demand school choice.”
• Reframing Populist Morality: Kirk applauds Trump for a “moral argument” against leftist ideologies, a new position among GOP leaders.
  • [05:22] Kirk on Trump’s CTA: “This is the first time in my lifetime that I have heard a former Republican president...make a moral argument…”

3. Marxist Morality & Machiavelli

• Ends Justify the Means: Kirk likens the current leftist approach to Machiavellian tactics—pursuing power at any cost.
  • [05:22]: Detailed analogy to Machiavelli’s The Prince and the thesis that “the ends justify the means” drives Democratic Party morality.
• Demonization and Scorched Earth: Kirk contends that leftist activists view conservatives as evil, justifying extreme measures.
  • [09:39]: “Some of the ground troops of the Democrat Party, they are willing to do whatever it is necessary because they truly believe that the opposition party is legitimately evil.”
  • Compares this attitude to historical authoritarian regimes.

4. Vaccines, Mandates, and Personal Liberty

• Government and Corporate Mandates: Kirk is highly critical of vaccine mandates, drawing analogies between restrictions on vaccination and hypothetical limits on abortion, arguing both are medical choices.
  • [18:41]: "Can a company or university say that women working for them are not allowed to get abortions? Is that legal?...But when it comes to mandating an experimental vaccine...”
• Skepticism of mRNA Vaccines: Citing VAERS data and adverse event stories, he questions the safety and transparency about COVID vaccines.
  • [21:57]: “The vaccine adverse Event reporting system theirs has received 5,718 reports of death following the vaccine.”
• Authoritarianism Accusation: Kirk predicts “all liberalism ends in authoritarianism.” He claims the left now embraces tactics they once accused the right of.
  • [23:27]: “Everything that the left is doing are all the slogans of what these people are afraid the Republican Party will do if we get into power. Maybe it's because they're actually authoritarians at heart.”

5. Media and Public Narrative Control

• Censorship & Deplatforming: Kirk draws attention to censorship of dissenting views (e.g., Dr. Malone, Bret Weinstein) and media bias about treatments like Ivermectin or vaccine side effects.
  • [33:19]: “Why is Dr. Malone kicked off YouTube? Why is Brett Weinstein, an evolutionary biologist, kicked off YouTube? Maybe this whole thing is about control.”
• Highlighting Hypocrisy: Points to political leaders not following their own mandates (e.g., Gavin Newsom dining out during lockdowns) as evidence of hypocrisy and lack of integrity.
  • [36:01]: “Compare people's actions with their statements. And we're starting to see that this, this lie of liberalism...”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Trump on the Left’s Motivations
  [05:01] Trump: “Like socialists and communist movements throughout history, today’s leftists do not believe in freedom. They do not believe in fairness and they do not believe in democracy. They believe in Marxist morality. Anything is justified as long as it hurts their political opponents and advances the radical agenda.”

• Charlie’s Analogy to Machiavelli
  [07:30] Kirk: “The Prince, which is the best book to understand the motivations and the morality of the American Democrat party...”
  [09:39] Kirk: “Anything is justified as long as it hurts their political opponents… They are literally the brown shirts.”

• On Mandates and Personal Liberty
  [27:46] Kirk: “It needs to be hard for people to remain unvaccinated... They want to make it hard for you to live that life.”
  [31:15] Kirk: “Abortion is infinitely more harmful than Covid. And yet we're perfectly fine. We fund the manufacturing of abortion in our country.”

• Vaccine Skepticism and CDC/NIH
  [38:54] Kirk: “We still, we do not know the current and up to date vaccination numbers for CDC or NIH employees. I'd be very interested to hear that.”

• FDA Linking J&J Vaccine to Guillain-Barré Syndrome
  [40:10] Kirk: “The FDA is expected to announce that the Johnson and Johnson vaccine has been linked to a serious but rare side effect called Julian Barré syndrome, in which your body's immune system attacks your nerves... Wait, that's what we've been saying on this program literally for months.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:00-05:45] – Kirk’s analysis of Trump’s readiness to run and his CPAC speech
• [05:00-09:17] – President Trump audio clip; Marxist morality; Kirk’s Machiavelli analogy
• [13:00-16:00] – Trump as kingmaker vs. candidate; CRT and school choice positions
• [18:40-27:00] – Vaccine mandates, abortion analogy, and personal liberty
• [27:40-30:45] – Government outreach and mandates for COVID vaccines
• [33:15-35:50] – Media censorship, deplatforming, and the “culture war”
• [40:10-42:15] – New FDA findings on J&J, vaccine side effects

Tone & Style

The episode is unapologetically combative, populist, and skeptical of mainstream narratives. Kirk’s tone is urgent and polemical, positioning conservative activism as a necessary response to left-wing “authoritarianism.” He intersperses personal anecdotes and historical analogies to frame the American political moment as existential and transformative.

Conclusion

If you missed this episode, you’d learn:

• Trump is likely considering a 2024 run, with significant conservative energy behind him.
• Kirk frames the left as morally unmoored and dangerously authoritarian, citing Machiavellian tactics and accusing them of radicalizing American life.
• Vaccine mandates and the COVID response are critiqued as overreaching and rooted in control, not health, tying into broader culture war themes.
• The conversation is undergirded by skepticism of medical and media authorities, bolstered by anecdotes, VAERS data, and a repeated call to question established narratives.