When the Mob Comes Knocking at Your Door with Mark McCloskey

Summary

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The Charlie Kirk Show

Episode: "When the Mob Comes Knocking at Your Door"

Guest: Mark McCloskey
Date: June 1, 2021

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Episode Overview

This episode features Mark McCloskey, the St. Louis attorney who, alongside his wife, Patty, gained national attention in summer 2020 after confronting a Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest that entered their private neighborhood. With his Senate candidacy underway, McCloskey joins Charlie Kirk (and guest host Raymond) to recount the events of that day, discuss the subsequent legal fallout, the political and personal implications, and what drove him to seek public office. The conversation centers on themes of self-defense, property rights, political persecution, and the current state of law and order in America.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Night of the Incident — Context and Lead-up

[03:31-11:23]

• Background (St. Louis 2020 unrest):
  • Mark provides context by recalling the riots and destruction in downtown St. Louis after George Floyd’s death, culminating in the killing of retired police captain David Dorn.
  • He describes the lack of police and fire response as they watched businesses burn on live TV.

    "We looked at each other and said, you know, when the foot hits the sham, you’re out there in your wild lonesome, all right?" — Mark McCloskey (05:05)

• Self-reliance becomes necessary:
  • Mark notes how business owners abandoned their shops during looting, and police response was often hours late.
• The Day of the McCloskey Incident:
  • June 28, 2020, was a Sunday; Mark’s daughter was visiting. He details how the family was preparing dinner when noise from an approaching protest started on Kings Highway.
  • The entire area inside the private neighborhood’s gates is owned by the residents.
  • Mark recounts how the crowd broke the gate, ignoring multiple no-trespassing signs, and began pouring into private property.

    "I stood up on the porch and I said the two most racist white supremacist words known the English language. I said 'private property.'" — Mark McCloskey (07:06)

• Confrontation with Armed Protesters:
  • Mark describes explicit death threats from protestors, and how one individual flashed magazines of ammunition at him.

    "'You are next, geisha.'" — Mark quoting a protester (09:16)

• Family Response and De-escalation:
  • Mark credits his wife as the "voice of reason" when tensions peaked.

    "If that guy comes any closer, I’m going to have to kill him. ... Patty says to me, 'You’re not killing anybody today.'" — Mark McCloskey (09:40)

  • The main video circulated was from the tail end of a much longer ordeal.

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2. Escalation and Police Inaction

[10:15-11:23]

• Second Threat:
  • The McCloskeys received a credible warning that protestors planned to return on July 3rd to "kill us and burn down the house."
• Seeking Protection:
  • Mark describes how, unable to secure private security, he reached out via state and national political contacts—including a call to the White House—which eventually resulted in off-duty police and Navy SEALs offering protection.

    "It shouldn’t take having the president’s chief of staff on your speed dial to be safe from a mob in Missouri." — Mark McCloskey (11:09)

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3. Legal Fallout & Prosecution

[12:18-17:54]

• Selective Enforcement:
  • Only nine protesters were charged, and charges were dropped within hours, while the McCloskeys faced felony charges.
• Explanation of Charges:
  • The couple was charged with "flourishing a weapon" — i.e., brandishing firearms — despite being on their own property, never firing, and possessing weapons legally.
  • Mark contrasts their treatment with other, more severe, cases elsewhere.
• Missouri Law & Pardons:
  • Under the Missouri "castle doctrine," Mark asserts his actions were legal, but a pardon can only be granted after conviction.

    "Unfortunately, under the Missouri law, we have to get convicted before we can be pardoned." — Mark McCloskey (15:20)

• Judicial Irony and Persecution:
  • He suggests the true legal transgression was "standing up to BLM," not any violation of criminal law.

    "We got charged for violating the most profound law in the city of St. Louis, and that's standing up to BLM." — Mark McCloskey (13:24)

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4. Motivations for Senate Run

[17:54-22:14]

• Personal and Family Legacy:
  • Mark describes himself as a lifelong Republican from a politically active family.
  • Previously had no interest in running for office, preferring to be left alone.

    "If you'd asked me June 27th of last year what I wanted most in the world, I would have said, for the world, leave me the heck alone. Let me live out the rest of my life in comfort and peace. But the world chose not to." — Mark McCloskey (19:13)

• Catalyst for Political Involvement:
  • The attacks, and what he perceived as Marxist threats to liberty, changed his outlook.

    "If fighting Marxism in the United States is divisive, there's something seriously wrong with our country." — Mark McCloskey (20:32)

• Defending Property & Freedom:
  • Mark expresses frustration that those defending homes face prosecution, while trespassers go free.

    "The oldest law in English jurisprudence is ... the right to use deadly force to ... stop somebody from entering into your property. And yet they did it, and I’m the one getting prosecuted." — Mark McCloskey (17:40)

• Broader Significance:
  • Raymond summarizes: "The fight literally came to your door, and you were just trying to live the American promise." (20:54)

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5. Campaign Platform and Vision

[22:14-27:14]

• Joining Trump Campaign:
  • The McCloskeys campaigned extensively for President Trump after the incident, connecting with grassroots frustration.
• Critique of Political Establishment:
  • Mark criticizes both parties—Democrats for driving the country left, Republicans for inaction.
  • He highlights issues like cancel culture, critical race theory, mob violence, and perceived erosion of constitutional rights under the Biden administration.

    "... if HR1 ... or the gun control bill passes ... there’ll never be a free election again." — Mark McCloskey (24:02)

• Commitment to Principle:
  • Emphasizes willingness to tell the truth and act without concern for political or economic cost.

    "If you step out of line ... you get destroyed, your career gets ended, you get prosecuted. And that’s ... not the United States of America." — Mark McCloskey (24:51)

• Return to Founding Principles:
  • Quotes the Declaration of Independence, aiming to remind officials they "serve at our leisure, not vice versa."
• Campaign Information:
  • Mark asks supporters to visit McCloskey4Senate.com to donate and learn more.

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6. Closing Concerns and Cultural Reflections

[26:48-27:14]

• Lawlessness and Public Order:
  • Mark laments seeing video of people dancing atop a police car in St. Louis, lamenting the loss of public safety and the rise of "chaos" leading to tyranny.

    "How can anybody feel safe in their homes if the population of the most dangerous city in the country, St. Louis, feel free to dance on top of a police car?" — Mark McCloskey (26:49)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• "Private property." (07:06) — The phrase Mark contends triggered the protesters’ rage, reflecting the broader debate over property rights and self-defense.

• "It shouldn't take having the president's chief of staff on your speed dial to be safe from a mob in Missouri." (11:09) — Mark’s view of the system’s failure.

• "We got charged for violating the most profound law in the city of St. Louis, and that's standing up to BLM." (13:24) — Mark’s perspective on the root of his prosecution.

• "What I wanted most in the world [was] for the world [to] leave me the heck alone." (19:13) — Mark’s assertion that he never sought the spotlight.

• "If fighting Marxism in the United States is divisive, there’s something seriously wrong with our country." (20:32)

• "If you step out of line ... you get destroyed, your career gets ended, you get prosecuted. And that’s ... not the United States of America." (24:51)

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Key Timestamps

• [03:31] – Mark details the events leading up to and during the incident.
• [11:23] – Mark discusses aftermath, legal charges, and the lack of prosecution for protesters.
• [15:20] – Discussion on Missouri’s pardon law and role of the governor.
• [17:54] – Mark shares personal background and why he’s running for Senate.
• [22:14] – Campaign themes, critiques of both parties, and connecting with grassroots voters.
• [25:58] – Website and call for support.
• [26:49] – Reflection on culture, lawlessness, and what’s at stake.

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Episode Tone & Final Thoughts

The episode is passionate and unapologetic, with Mark McCloskey’s experience portrayed as emblematic of broader cultural and legal battles in America. The tone is one of frustration with elite institutions and established politics, a call to action for defense of property, and a push for a return to foundational American values. Listeners are left with a vivid retelling of the events, a critique of the justice system, and a campaign pitch rooted in what the speaker sees as a fight for freedom against creeping tyranny.

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Transcript

[Charlie Kirk]

Hey everybody. This episode is brought to you by my friends at ExpressVPN. ExpressVPN.com Charlie Secure your device. Anonymize your online activity. Protect your action online. Expressvpn.com Charlie help our show out by also helping yourself. Protect yourself. ExpressVPN.com Charlie hey everybody. Today on my show, you remember the McCloskeys from Missouri that went to go out and defend their property? Never fired a bullet. They're being criminalized for simply waving their weapon. This is unacceptable, inexcusable. But he's running for Senate to do something about it. Mark McCloskey from St. Louis. Email us your questions freedomarliekirk.com if you want to get involved with Turning Point USA, go to tpusa.com and if you want to support our show, go to charliekirk.com Support Mark McCluskey running for Senate. Buckle up, here we go. Charlie, what you've done is incredible here. Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

[Mark McCloskey]

I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.

[Unknown Supporter of Charlie Kirk]

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. Ever wondered how free to access social media companies make all their money? Well, by tracking your searches, video history and everything you click on. And then by selling your valuable data. But you don't have to give big tech website access to your data. That's why I choose to protect my online activity by using ExpressVPN. When I use ExpressVPN, I'm anonymized anytime I go online. And your presence will be hidden, including your IP address. That makes your activity more difficult to trace and sell to advertisers. What's Even more is ExpressVPN encrypts 100% of your data to protect you from eavesdroppers on your network. And the ExpressVPN app couldn't be easier to use. You just tap one button on your phone and computer and you're protected. Take back your online Privacy with the VPN that I trust at ExpressVPN.com Kirk by visiting my link, you'll get an extra three months of ExpressVPN service for free on a one year package. Again, that's E X P R-E-S-S VPN.com Kirk ExpressVPN.com Kirk hey, everybody.

[Raymond]

Welcome to this episode of the Charlie Kirk Show. Honored to have with us today a brave man and a courageous man running for the Senate in Missouri, Mark McCloskey. Mark, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.

[Mark McCloskey]

Thanks for having me on.

[Raymond]

So, Mark, I don't know if you ever planned to get into politics. I don't know if you ever planned to run for office, but something happened to you and your wife last summer. I have a lot of questions about this. And it was probably the number one news story in the country for probably a week and a half where an angry BLM Incorporated mob stormed your house, at least your yard. They tore down a gate and then you came out with your firearm, never discharged the firearm, and then faced criminal charges because of that. I know that saga is still unfolding. Walk us through what happened that day from your perspective.

[Mark McCloskey]

Okay. And it takes a little background too, because particularly since yesterday was the anniversary of George Floyd's death in St. Louis on the evening and morning of June 1st and 2nd of last year, the folks that have the high ground, the moral superiority over us decided the best way to show their love and compassion was to burn down downtown St. Louis. And they set fire to lots of buildings that did millions of dollars worth of damage. They shot four police officers and killed retired police captain David Doran, who about a half a mile from where I'm sitting right here in his secondary employment. And the most impressive thing that Patty, my wife and I were when we were watching from a live helicopter feed while the 711 in downtown St. Louis, two blocks from the police headquarters, from the first time a rock comes through and breaks out the window, looters come in, looted, empty, throw fire in. The building becomes fully engulfed in flames. 10, 20, 30, 40 minutes, we watch this. How many fleas showed up? Zero. How many firemen showed up? Zero. We looked at each other and said, you know, when the foot hits the sham, you're out there in your wild lonesome, all right? And then in the ensuing nearly a month, more and more businesses in our neighborhood got boarded up. Little pharmacy around the street for me. I went over there and the roll up steel doors had been torn off, the windows are all boarded up. So I asked the owner what happened. He said when the alarms went off, I said, did you come down to see what's going on? I didn't want to get killed. Make long story short, the guys were in there for six hours stealing everything that could be Stolen, breaking, everything that could be broken. And the cop showed up 10 hours after the alarm went. So once again, self reliance is your only resort at that time. So now it's, now it's June 28th, it's a Sunday afternoon. Our daughter, who's 31, was coming in from Chicago to have dinner with us. We were setting up on the, on the porch. I put a pork loin on barbecue and my daughter shows up. All of a sudden we start hearing noise coming down Kings Highway. Now we know that there was going to be an event that day because in the city of St. Louis, where there's no police enforcement, where the police have been told to stand down, there's no prosecution, you get to advertise your rights. And so this organization called expect us St. Louis put out a fire saying they're going to have a riot when and where. So we put fire extinguishers and weapons around the house. And then the, this, this mob comes down Kings Highway. Now we're right on Kings highway at the end of a private neighborhood, gated, private neighborhood. Everything inside the gates, private property. There's no the streets, the sidewalks, the street lights, everything owned by the members. All right? All of a sudden, Kings highway, six lanes wide, fills with people as far as you can see, screaming, shouting, beating on drums, hammering the street with sticks. The police have closed down King's highway to let the mob use it, but then abandoned the street. No police anywhere to be seen. We're looking over at the gate and we say, God, I hope they don't come in here. Right then the gate bursts open and the one half opens like a bat wing door. The other half is staked to the ground, does not open. They just folded it to the ground and started coming in, falling over each other like lemmings getting in. I stood up on the porch and I said the two most racist white supremacist words known the English language. I said private property. And as soon as I said private property, since they're communists, that inflamed them and they started pouring in ever so much more stuff. Well, Patty and my daughter went in to call 91 1. I reached in, I grabbed my AR15 and went back out to porch, started saying some really unpleasant things to them like get out, private property. And I actually probably swore at him once. I said, get the hell out of my neighborhood. You would think they might do that, right? You know, seeing kind of a grumpy looking 64 year old man carrying a semi automatic rifle, barefoot rumple. But no, they just Kept pouring in, screaming death threats at us. Gonna rape your wife and burn down your house. You got a business, your business is gone. We're gonna kill you. That's where I'm going to take my bath. That's where I'm going to go to bed. That's where I'm going to have my breakfast after we kill you and take over the house. And the best part was a couple of these peaceful protesters were standing right in front of me on the porch. And one of the guys had had ammo pockets and his body army. He pulled out two loaded magazines, pointed them at me so I could see they're loaded with shells, clicks them together and says, you are next, Geisha. In the next room, wearing light colored body armor, wearing a sidearm. He turns around so I can see on the back it says human shield. And then he comes, he turns around, back towards us and starts inching closer and closer and closer. And if you've seen that one still from that day where I'm leaning over and talking to Patty and I've got the AR in my hand, what I'm saying to her is, if that guy comes any closer, I'm going to have to kill him. And because you're very threatening and armed, at which point Patty says to me, you're not killing anybody today. The voice of reason. But we held them off and the crowd eventually dissipated. That 32 second clip that plays endlessly on the news was the last 32 seconds of about a 15, 18 minute event. But that was the easier of the two times. That's what made the news. Then we got a tip that they were coming back that Friday, July 3rd, and they were coming back specifically to kill us and burn down the house. And we'd gotten that from a black client of ours who was in the organization and brainwashed by lady that we'd represented for years. Nice young lady. We knew her family real well, went to her graduation, went to her husband's funeral. We were felt like family with them. But she called up to tell us that what we did was inexcusable. We were going to have to die for it. And they came back that Friday now with twice the manpower. Now, the FBI estimate was up to a thousand people with the intent to kill us and burn us out. And we had a hard time getting security. But earlier in the week, making a short story out of this, a long version of about 40 minutes, but I'd gotten a call from the White House saying the President supported us and if there's ever anything that he could do to help, let us know. Well, when that Friday, when that Thursday evening happened and we still were facing death, could not hire any private security. I called that guy back and I said, it's a pretty gosh darn good time now, right? And so he gave me Mark Meadows cell phone number and I called up Mark Meadows and pull him a longer version of the story. I just called you. And when that Friday happened, a miracle happened. The riot was supposed to start at about 6:30 or 7. We started getting Navy Seals showing up. One 1x Navy Seal, 4th generation cattle farmer from Kansas, threw his gear in the back of his pickup truck and drove on in. One of the things I did was right after I talked to Mark Meadows was I called up Tucker pearls and Tucker. I'm talking and I'm sitting on the bench in the kitchen. You can hear Patty crying in the background. And he says, you know, longer version of what I just said here, that McCloskeys are going to die on Friday, that they can't get any private security to help them. I hear Mrs. McCloskey sobbing in the background. The police have been ordered to stand down. And thanks to that, we got about 10 secondary employment cops in rural jurisdiction who weren't afraid to get dirty if the job required we had on that Friday afternoon. By the time the mob showed up, what we used to call the Reagan administration, peace through superior firepower. And it kept the crowded baying once again. Second time, nobody got shot, nobody got hurt except our psyche and that 130-year-old gate that got smashed on Sunday night on the 28th. But it shouldn't take having the president's chief of staff on your speed dial. Be safe from a mob in Missouri. You know, we ought to have something called a government that we pay taxes to that protects us from the mob, not supporting it and encouraging the mob.

[Charlie Kirk]

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[Raymond]

He's a patriot.

[Charlie Kirk]

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[Raymond]

I'm just stunned by the whole story. So did any of the people that stormed the gates or harassed you, have any of them been charged for anything?

[Mark McCloskey]

Well, a few months later, nine of them got charged with trespass, and then about an hour later, those charges were dropped.

[Raymond]

This is who charges them then.

[Mark McCloskey]

This was. We have two levels of prosecution in the city of St. Louis. One is a circuit attorney's office, which is who's charged us. That's like the regular DA in another city. And then there's the city councilor's office, which is a lower level of prosecution for misdemeanors and that sort of thing. And that was. The city councilor's office charged these nine people and then dismissed them immediately, as opposed to the, what, 36 people still sitting in solitary confinement for trespassing on a capital ground.

[Raymond]

That's a good point. So then. But you guys have been charged for. You didn't fire a weapon. So what exactly is. Is the law that was broken? It was your own private property. You didn't discharge it.

[Charlie Kirk]

You're allowed to go out and waive

[Raymond]

a weapon if you want to.

[Mark McCloskey]

Right? Well, and here's the. Here's the irony that I find, you know, on the 3rd of July, that next Friday when they came back. Now, I had a small army here, and they were heavily armed, right. Nobody got arrested for that. Nobody checked anybody's ID to see, hey, are you really an abc, or do you really have a right to have that M4 on you? Right. But we got charged for violating the most profound law in the city of St. Louis, and that's standing up to BLM. And the technical charge was flourishing a weapon. But I was on my own property with my own legally owned weapons, and I never hurt anybody. And yet we got a charge that could land us four years in prison.

[Raymond]

Has a judge heard this from the state yet?

[Mark McCloskey]

No, no, We. We just got set for trial about a week ago. We. We got the Soros funded. Prosecutor tossed off case.

[Raymond]

No. When you were indicted a Judge usually has to hear the preliminary. I can't imagine a judge doesn't throw this out.

[Mark McCloskey]

Well, you know, and, and we've got a hearing coming up and we've got a new prosecutor, We've got an independent prosecutor now. He's taking a fresh look at it. But, you know, the, it went up in front of a grand jury. But, you know, grand juries, as my wife always says, they'll, they'll indict. Prosecutor says. So, so that's, that's our current situation. We're still facing felony charges and we still are facing four years in prison and the loss of our law licenses and everything else. So. But, you know, I'm encouraged. Free of sorrows.

[Raymond]

Yeah. And so I'm still trying to understand what the law that was broken. And I just, maybe I'm, I think you're going to win this. And I want to talk about your candidacy, but I refuse to believe that there's not a check and balance. And if there isn't, then I'm just, I'm living in a different country, truly.

[Mark McCloskey]

Well, we, we have a very good castle doctrine in Missouri, which was promoted by, amongst other things, our current governor, Mike Person. And Mike Person has promised to, to, Gosh, I can't believe I'm glitching. I'm a lawyer. If, if we get convicted. But unfortunately, under the Missouri law, we have to get convicted before we can be pardoned.

[Raymond]

Well, that, that's what I was going to ask. Why does he just not do it? Why does he just do it now

[Mark McCloskey]

and get this over?

[Raymond]

I guess he can't.

[Mark McCloskey]

Well, it's kind of, it's actually kind of humorous. We were talking to President Trump during the convention. He called up to thank us for appearing at the convention. And one of the first things he says is, well, why can't, why can't the governor pardon you right now? Why don't we get the governor parson on the phone, see what we can do. And so I got a call back the next day from the general counsel for the governor's office saying, unfortunately, the law in Missouri has been changed and we can't do it until after you're convicted. So,

[Charlie Kirk]

and he has said he'll do it.

[Raymond]

So I want to give him credit for that. But here's what I find so fascinating about your, this story is that in a world of fame seekers and sociopaths running our politics, you guys didn't ask for any of this. You were living your life, you were pursuing happiness, you were building a family, you were about to have a meal with your daughter and you own firearms, for obvious reasons, for moments like this. And the trouble came to you. You didn't go looking for the trouble. You were not prowling the streets trying to do something. They came into your private property, which is a fundamental belief in the Western society that you're allowed to control something, whether it be land or a home or an apartment, whatever, and that. And you can do whatever you wish with it. Right? So that's what I find so fascinating about this, is that this happened to you, and then somehow you're the villain for daring to not. You didn't kill anyone. You didn't discharge a weapon. By the way, you have every right. I. I would believe that as soon as they come on your property, you could kill them all. Like, I don't quite understand how this is even a problem. But anyway, that's. I don't. I just. I don't quite understand it. Like, you're not allowed to trespass private property.

[Mark McCloskey]

3. Three different no trespassing signs they had to pass by, plus breaking down the gate, and I'm the one that gets charged with a felony. Go figure. You know, so the old law.

[Raymond]

Yeah, sorry, go ahead.

[Mark McCloskey]

The oldest law in English jurisprudence is. Is breaking the codes, the right to use deadly force to. To. To stop somebody from entering into your property. And yet they did it, and I'm the one getting prosecuted.

[Raymond]

It's just we need to go back to Blackstone just to realize where our laws came from because all these maniacs running our country to understand any of that. So now you're running for Senate, which I find to be really interesting. And again, we have all these professional politicians that always just try to climb the ladder. Tell us about what you were doing before the mob, professionally, your worldview. Did you have any ambitions to politics? Let's talk about why you're running. I could guess why you're running because you're your story. But tell us just a little bit about yourself.

[Mark McCloskey]

I've been a lifelong Republican. My folks were lifelong Republicans. My father was a very active anti communist from when he got back from the Philippines after World War II until the day he died. My mother was ahead of what was for a while, the largest Republican club in the country. Got a Republican elected in the 2nd district of Missouri, the first time since Reconstruction, I think. And I've always been an outspoken opponent of the left, but I've never had any interest in running for political office. I was speaking against, well, the. The Sandinistas in Nicaragua, back when I was in college, we. We put on fundraisers for Colonel north when he was going through his problems. And then when he was running for Senate and Ali's endorsed our campaign. We did a video with him a couple of weeks ago. So. And I've got the biggest slur, the most insulting slur I've gotten in this since the last. You know, since June 28th, the last year, was that I used to be a Democrat, okay? So I've been sending out pictures to different people and accuse me of that on the media, of pictures of me with Senator Blunt when I looked like I was about 18 years old, and me and Colonel north, and we both looked like we were too young to have positions in the world, and with Jim Talent and Newt Gingrich when he was speaker and everybody else. So my Republican roots go back to about halfway down the birth canal, I think, and. But I'd never had any reason or any interest in running for politics. But then the mob came knocking on the door. And if you'd asked me June 27th of last year what I wanted most in the world, I would have said, for the world, leave me the heck alone. Let me live out the rest of my life in comfort and peace. But the world chose not to. And that Friday night when we had the second assault, that was the night that president gave his Mount Rushborne address, and he talked about combating Marxist extremism in the United States. I didn't get a chance to see that speech that night because I was a little busy saving my behind. But I listened to it the next day, and I heard all the pundits in the mass media saying that that was the most divisive speech they'd ever heard. I said to myself, if fighting Marxism in the United States is divisive, there's something seriously wrong with our country. If we're expected to live in harmony with the people at which destroy us and our lifestyle and our culture, then there's something seriously wrong. And Patty and I just made a commitment that day that we're going to just put our lives on hold and contribute what we could for the rest of our lives to save this country.

[Raymond]

I absolutely love it, because, again, I just want to reiterate this point, which is so deaf people say, like, some people, like, okay, I can't take it anymore. I got to get involved. The fight literally came to your door, and you were just trying to live the American promise, and you very well could have just kind of sued for peace and run to the hills and wrote an apology and said, you know what, maybe we shouldn't have, you know, had the weapons and maybe we should have invited them in for some sort of a, you know, milk and cookie type session or, you know, they're really angry. They didn't really realize what they were doing. No, you handled this perfectly, which is, you know what, there's some things that are worth going all in for and I don't know, busting down a gate to go terrorize private people in a gated neighborhood because you're upset that something happened in Minneapolis that we even know the facts and circumstances about. That's, that's Nicaragua. That's not us. Right. That's just. And so tell us about your race. You're running for the United States Senate. It's an open seat. It's a very competitive primary. You obviously have kind of an upper hand in the sense that you're very well known. So I don't think you're going to have a name ID problem. Tell us what you hope to achieve and kind of the why you're running outside of just obviously what happened.

[Mark McCloskey]

Well, why we're running is that immediately after these events we joined the Trump campaign and we were on the Team Trump bus and giving, when we're actively campaigning for the President, we were doing seven rallies a day plus stopping at the business owners and supporters properties and giving the same kind of a speech that I'd given the full blown rally. So some days I'd be doing 12, 14 presentations a day and meeting people all over the country. What I learned was that people are just sick and tired of what's going on in the country. They're sick of cancel culture and the poison of critical race theory and the lie of systemic racism and the threat of mob violence. You know, do what we want or we'll burn your cities down and we'll kill you. And they want real change, but all they see in DC are the same old same old. The Republicans have just talk and never affect any change. The Democrats have been pushing to the left for as long as I've been alive. And we used to talk about the erosion of our civil liberties and that's been going on for decades and decades. But then we've got the Biden administration that comes in regardless of the legitimacy of it. They're in power now. And then there's been a wholesale slaughter of our civil liberties. Every day some new offense against the Constitution, against our God given rights and things like HR1 now S1 never passes. There'll never be A free election again if HR127, the gun control bill passes. You know, registration of weapons and ammunition. My favorite part is having a psychological examination of, of people that want to purchase guns and not just the person, but their family members and even their ex spouses. Can you imagine all the people out there that went through bad divorces where their ex wife or their ex husband will be able to tell some psychologist whether or not they think their ex ought to own a gun? It's just so ridiculous. Anyway, so we got to a point where something had to happen and I have no strings attached. I could have lived the rest of my life comfortably and peacefully, but I wanted to do something where people would believe that they would have a politician who would go to D.C. tell the truth, regardless of what it would cost them politically or economically or socially. And what she said a minute ago is so true. What everybody else does when they make the mistake of standing up for their rights is they go through the apology tour and then they get fired anyway. If I had been the managing partner of the biggest law firm in St. Louis instead of being self employed, I'd have had to apologize until I was blue in the face and I would have been fired anyway. And that's the problem. The media and the swamp has such control that if you step out of line and you say anything impolite, if you go more than two points off the beat, off the middle of what's currently accepted as appropriate discourse, you get destroyed, your career gets ended, you get prosecuted. And that's, you know, that's not the United States of America. That is not a free democracy. That's the Soviet Union or the CCP or Cuba, but it's not the United States. I knew. And it's the reason we're running, to try to pull that power back. The Declaration of Independence A after reciting our God given rights says that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the government. And my goal in this campaign is to remind everybody in D.C. that they serve at our leisure, not vice versa, that we have rights and we've given them the government, some privileges, not vice versa.

[Raymond]

I love that. What is the website where people can support you and learn more about your candidacy?

[Mark McCloskey]

It's McCloskey4senate.com and with no braces, all one word, McCloskey4f O R senate.com and if people think we've got a good idea, if they want to support us, donate five, ten bucks, whatever you can, whatever you feel comfortable in. Obviously, the left is going to come down on us like on a brick, and I suspect some of my fellow Republicans will, too. I've already heard some impolite things being said about me by others. We're not going to do that. We're going to run a positive campaign and just do what I can to represent the genuine wishes of the people of Missouri, not the interest of lobbyists or contributors, and just go back to making the country what it was when we grew up, where people were free, people felt safe to walk the streets. I don't know if you saw this video over the weekend of people dancing on top of the St. Louis police car.

[Raymond]

I saw that.

[Mark McCloskey]

But how can that happen in this country? How can anybody feel safe in their homes if the population of the most dangerous city in the country, St. Louis, feel free to dance on top of a police car? And the crowd is dancing and singing and having a great time, absolutely unafraid of any consequence. And that, you know, out of chaos comes tyranny, and that's the game plan.

[Raymond]

Well, I love it. Well, thank you so much, Mark, for what you're doing. And stay strong. We have your back. We deeply appreciate it.

[Mark McCloskey]

Thank you very much, Raymond.

[Charlie Kirk]

Thanks so much for listening, everybody. Email us your thoughts Freedom at charliekirk.

[Raymond]

Com.

[Charlie Kirk]

And if you want to support our show, go to charliekirk. Com Support. God bless you guys. Speak to you soon.