The Charlie Kirk Show

Episode: "We Need More Young People in the Trades — Charlie’s Last Message to the Working Class"

Date: October 19, 2025
Host: Charlie Kirk

Episode Overview

In this dynamic town hall-style episode, Charlie Kirk addresses a room full of blue-collar professionals—predominantly roofing and trades business owners. He delivers a passionate plea for America to value the trades, laments the overemphasis on four-year college degrees, and challenges the economic and cultural underpinnings that have led to a shortage of skilled laborers. The second half features a lively, often candid Q&A where industry professionals, immigrants, and business owners discuss immigration, entrepreneurship, generational values, and policy solutions.

Kirk’s tone is unapologetically conservative, direct, and often humorous, but he remains open to heated disagreement during dialogue. He repeatedly stresses gratitude and respect for the working class, arguing for a “middle class renaissance” and a renewed appreciation for hard work, entrepreneurship, and family values.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Value of Trades vs. the Four-Year College Path

[04:40–13:25]

• Kirk decries “college as a scam” and details America’s overemphasis on four-year degrees at the expense of the trades.
• He outlines the societal stigma placed on trades workers, such as roofers, plumbers, electricians, and mechanics, advocating for celebrating muscular, “lunch-pail” jobs.
• Kirk warns that shipping jobs overseas and over-credentialing youth “hollowed out” the middle class and eroded the nation’s industrial base.

Notable Quotes:

• “What you guys are involved in is what I call a muscular class job. It’s a job where the people that you employ, they shower before work and they shower after work.” [05:30]
• “I will trust the wisdom of a roofer well above that of a PhD from Harvard any day in this country. Any day.” [10:31]

2. Resetting Cultural Expectations: Summer Jobs, Hard Work, and Raising Kids

[13:26–21:25]

• Describes the decline of summer jobs among teens and blames upper-middle-class parents for insulating kids from hard, formative work.
• Advocates bringing back summer jobs for teens to teach discipline and self-discovery and “reset” expectations around work and success.

Notable Quotes:

• “We need to culturally bring back an expectation of, if you are young, we want you to try out a lot of different stuff.” [13:35]
• “Back in the 60s and 70s, it was an expectation when you hit 14, 15, or 16, you would go get some sort of a summer job.” [15:14]

3. Entrepreneurship, Personal Finance, and Risk-Taking

[21:26–27:48]

• Kirk slams the notion of learning entrepreneurship in college, instead emphasizing learning by doing and the necessity of pressure and risk.
• Urges young people to take risks and start businesses young, before obligations make them more risk-averse.
• Links the decline in entrepreneurship to societal risk-aversion fostered by college.

Notable Quotes:

• “The best thing that creates an entrepreneur is not a class, it’s not a seminar. What creates the best entrepreneur? One word: pressure.” [25:20]
• “You don’t study entrepreneurship. You do entrepreneurship.” [22:22]

4. Middle Class Renaissance and Policy Aspirations

[27:49–31:02]

• Kirk predicts a coming economic “golden era” for America and expresses optimism.
• Calls for deregulation and empowering entrepreneurs, highlighting the need to build more homes and promote homeownership for young people.
• Emphasizes family, higher birth rates, and marriage as foundational American values to revitalize the nation.

Notable Quotes:

• “America… we are the hottest country in the world… we’re going to start to see a middle class renaissance.” [28:20]
• “We should celebrate marriage. We need to have more children in this country. We need to have more babies.” [29:17]

Audience Q&A Highlights

Immigration, Labor Shortages, and Policy Realities

[31:03–1:32:20]

The Reality of Illegal Labor in the Trades

[34:22–45:37]

• Multiple business owners admit hiring undocumented workers, noting industry reliance and questioning whether “mass deportations” are viable.
• Kirk holds firm on the importance of enforcing the law, insisting America has not tried true enforcement but recognizes the industry’s existential concerns.
• Dialogue explores the impossibility of sudden mass deportations, need for reform, and the disconnect between law and economic reality.

Notable Quotes:

• “Are you telling me everyone in this room is hiring illegal labor?... Is everyone here in this room committing a felony?” [36:55]
• “At some point… I guess this is like apocalypse, like on steroids.” [42:09]
• “We are reliant, addicted, and okay with illegal labor in this country. It’s just the way it is.” [43:50]

Paths Forward: Temporary Solutions, Automation, and Vocational Training

[1:24:50–1:32:20]

• Kirk encourages trades business owners to advocate for vocational training in high schools and embrace automation where possible.
• Acknowledges the president’s pragmatic interest in balancing business needs with border enforcement and national security.

Notable Quotes:

• “Get really involved in your local high school and push and lobby them for a roofing trade to be offered in high school. I think it’s very, very important.” [1:27:40]

Welfare, Assimilation, and Social Fabric

[1:40:32–1:44:55]

• An immigrant business owner expresses frustration with “lazy behavior” enabled by welfare, criticizing the lack of work ethic in parts of the population.
• Kirk doubles down on means-testing government benefits and requiring assimilation from immigrants.

Notable Quotes:

• “Immigration without assimilation is an invasion.” [1:44:25]
• “We should cut it off.” [1:45:00]

Mental Health & Trades: Addressing Industry-Wide Struggles

[1:45:01–1:50:10]

• Discussion of sky-high suicide rates and depression in the construction industry.
• Kirk directs business owners to Dr. Daniel Amen’s work reframing mental health as brain health, emphasizing non-pharmaceutical approaches and the need for open discussion.

Notable Quotes:

• “We need to look at it as much as a damaged organ more than anything else.” [1:49:10]

Raising Daughters & Female Empowerment in the Trades

[1:37:25–1:39:44]

• A father asks how to empower his daughters to value work beyond traditional roles.
• Kirk strongly recommends exposing girls to female role models in business and bringing kids to work.

Notable Quotes:

• “Bring your daughter to work with you. Very, very good piece of advice…Give her a task, give her a job.” [1:39:03]

Building Organizations, Leadership, and Culture

[1:33:05–1:36:55]

• Kirk shares advice on scaling an organization, the importance of hiring up, defining culture and mission, and leading by example in hard work.

Notable Quotes:

• “You need to work harder than your employees, especially when you are in that one to $10 million revenue.” [1:36:20]

Faith, Compassion, and the Complexity of Immigration

[1:53:30–end]

• One attendee expresses a Christian’s dilemma between compassion for illegal immigrants and respect for law and national cohesion.
• Kirk grounds his response in Biblical arguments for assimilation and strong borders, acknowledging the emotional and ethical contradiction and the lack of national will for mass deportations.

Notable Quotes:

• “The Bible is very clear on immigration that you must assimilate when you come to the land of which you are in.” [1:54:51]
• “We are not a nation that wants to have immigration policy…” [1:56:55]

Final Memorable Note:
Kirk closes by praising the trades as the backbone of America, reiterating the need for fewer college degrees and a rejuvenation of the trades.

• “We need less kids going to college. We need more kids that are going into the trades so that you do not have a labor shortage. God bless you guys for the great work you’re doing.” [End]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:40] — Trades vs. College Credentials
• [13:35] — Decline of Summer Jobs & Work Ethic Culture
• [21:26] — Entrepreneurship by Doing, Not Studying
• [27:50] — Economic Optimism & Calls for Policy Change
• [34:22] — Immigration, Labor Shortages, and Reality Check
• [1:27:40] — Vocational Training Solutions
• [1:39:03] — Empowering Daughters in the Trades
• [1:44:25] — Assimilation & Welfare Critique
• [1:49:10] — Mental Health as Brain Health in the Trades
• [1:54:51] — Christianity and Immigration

Episode Takeaways

• Kirk passionately advocates for repairing America’s attitude toward trades, discouraging overreliance on four-year college degrees.
• He embraces a traditional, conservative perspective grounded in entrepreneurship, strong families, and meritocratic, hard work.
• The Q&A candidly surfaces complex tensions within the working class—most notably around immigration policy, economic practicality, and generational values.
• Above all, Kirk calls for dialogue, mutual respect, and the uplift of the working class—“One nation under God, not one nation under government.” [End]

For those who missed the episode: This was a substantive, sometimes confrontational, but always engaging conversation with America’s working class. If you care about the future of trades, middle-class renewal, or the real dilemmas facing small business owners and industry professionals, this episode delivers insight, candor, and a challenge to the status quo.