Why Are Gen Z And Gen X So Rightwing?

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Charlie Kirk Show – Why Are Gen Z And Gen X So Rightwing?

Episode Information

• Title: Why Are Gen Z And Gen X So Rightwing?
• Release Date: February 18, 2025
• Host: Charlie Kirk
• Guests:
  • Mark Mitchell, Head Pollster at Rasmussen Reports
  • Christopher Piotta, Author of The FBI I Once Knew

---

Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, host Charlie Kirk explores the intriguing shift in political alignments among younger generations—specifically Generation Z and Generation X—and their growing support for right-wing politics, particularly President Donald Trump. Joined by Mark Mitchell, head pollster at Rasmussen Reports, and Christopher Piotta, author of The FBI I Once Knew, Kirk delves into the underlying factors driving this generational trend, examines the state of the FBI, and critiques the left's approach to race relations in America.

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Generational Shift in Political Support

Mark Mitchell provides an insightful analysis of the evolving political landscape, highlighting a significant increase in Trump’s approval among younger voters. He states:

“The 18 to 39 year olds are the highest improving age bracket of Donald Trump right now. 56% as of yesterday. And that's astounding because in our numbers, those people went for Hillary Clinton by almost 30 points and they have a net +14 approval rating for Trump right now.”
(03:05)

Mitchell attributes this shift to the perception that Trump is actively working to "save the future of the republic," resonating with younger voters who feel disenfranchised and skeptical of existing institutions. This marks a near 50-point swing in opinions within this demographic, underscoring a dramatic transformation in political allegiance.

Charlie Kirk probes deeper into this phenomenon by asking:

“Has a Republican president enjoyed that kind of approval from this demographic in the last 20 years?”
(04:40)

Mitchell responds by emphasizing the unprecedented nature of Trump's support among young voters, noting that previous Republican figures did not achieve similar approval ratings within this age group.

---

Media Consumption and Trust Across Generations

A pivotal aspect discussed is the divergence in media consumption and trust between generations. Mark Mitchell explains:

“18 to 39 year olds said major news channels on cable, 18%, but it's 43% of those 65 and older. And independent online sources was 36 and 65 and older was only 19.”
(12:48)

This data indicates that younger generations are increasingly turning to independent online sources for political news, resulting in a more objective and less polarized understanding of current events. In contrast, older generations remain reliant on major cable news channels, which tend to present more partisan viewpoints.

Mitchell further elaborates on the differences in topic prioritization between viewers of different news outlets:

“We looked at the top two issues of MSNBC viewers and 75% of them, it was threats to democracy and abortion this cycle. And of people that watch Fox News or Newsmax, it was 80% prices and the border, just two completely different Americas.”
(12:48)

This segmentation highlights how media consumption habits contribute to the starkly different political perceptions across age groups.

---

Cultural Shifts and Institutional Trust

The discussion transitions to broader cultural shifts and declining trust in government institutions. Mark Mitchell references the Fourth Turning theory to contextualize the current political realignment:

“We are here... where we're at is a super high demand for order and absolutely none to be found. All of our institutions are completely corrupt. And so what history tells us is that new leaders will step in and fill that vacuum.”
(16:46)

He emphasizes that younger generations are leading a movement to restore trust and effectiveness in institutions, viewing Trump as a catalyst for necessary change amidst widespread institutional decay.

Mitchell also touches on the pervasive distrust in governmental agencies, citing poll results where only a minority of young voters trust the federal government or believe America is safer than it was four years ago. This erosion of trust fuels the desire for leadership that prioritizes national integrity and transparency.

---

Reforming the FBI

In a notable segment, Christopher Piotta discusses his book The FBI I Once Knew, offering a critique of the FBI's transformation post-9/11. He explains:

“The FBI largely changed its premise from being a law enforcement agency to an intelligence gathering agency... What happened was mission creep, you have mission creep... And then those tools were started starting to be used in more domestic surveillance activities.”
(19:21)

Piotta argues that the FBI's shift towards intelligence gathering has led to overreach and the erosion of civil liberties. He outlines key reforms needed to restore the agency’s integrity:

1. Cultural Renewal: Re-establishing a culture of integrity and service.
2. Leadership Overhaul: Addressing poor leadership and decision-making.
3. Operational Practices: Reinstating high standards and accountability within operations.

When queried about potential firings under new FBI Director Kash Patel, Piotta emphasizes the necessity of removing politically or ideologically biased personnel to restore the agency's apolitical stance.

---

The Left’s Race Obsession

Charlie Kirk takes a critical stance on the left's approach to race relations, asserting that the left is obsessive about race and promotes resegregation rather than true equality. He references a conversation between Trevor Noah and Professor Ruha Benjamin, critiquing their views on integration. Kirk argues that such perspectives are reminiscent of segregationist ideologies, asserting:

“They are race obsessed. They want to put us all in pre described buckets based on the color of their skin. This is a losing political mentality.”
(30:39)

He further contends that the left's policies inadvertently foster division and resentment among different racial groups, undermining the principles of unity and meritocracy. Kirk contrasts this with his movement's focus on individual character and the rejection of race-based classifications.

---

Conclusion

In this episode, Charlie Kirk effectively navigates through complex discussions on generational political shifts, media trust disparities, institutional reforms, and race relations in America. Through the expert insights of Mark Mitchell and Christopher Piotta, Kirk underscores the pressing need for political realignment and institutional integrity to address the concerns of younger generations. The episode serves as a clarion call for renewed leadership and a rejection of divisive ideologies, advocating for a unified, merit-based society.

Notable Quotes:

• Mark Mitchell:

  “The 18 to 39 year olds are the highest improving age bracket of Donald Trump right now. 56% as of yesterday.”
  (03:05)

• Christopher Piotta:

  “The FBI has to be part of our protective infrastructure. It's a primary part of what keeps our country safe and looks out for the interests of the American people.”
  (23:47)

• Mark Mitchell:

  “You weaponize the government, you weaponize the judicial system, you try to throw people in internment camps because of COVID. You literally destroyed the First Amendment.”
  (06:17)

These quotes encapsulate the core themes of the episode, highlighting the dramatic shifts in political support among young voters, the critical need for FBI reform, and the contentious debate over race and integration in modern America.

---

For More Information:

• Visit freedomarliekirk.com to learn more about the topics discussed.
• Explore Christopher Piotta's book, The FBI I Once Knew, available on Amazon and major bookstores.

Transcript

[Charlie Kirk]

Hey, everybody. Why is it that baby boomers are not as supportive of President Trump as Gen X or millennials or Gen Z? We dive into that with Mark Mitchell and then what do we have to do to reform the FBI? And then finally, the left's race obsession. Email us, as always, freedomarliekirk.com subscribe to our podcast. Open up your podcast application and type in Charlie Kirk show and become a member. Today, it's members.charliekirk.commembers.charliekirk. com Buckle up, everybody. Here we go.

[Mark Mitchell]

Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.

[Trevor Noah]

Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.

[Mark Mitchell]

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

[Ruha Benjamin]

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 joining us now is Mark Mitchell. A great follow on X. Very smart. Runs all the polling for Rasmussen Reports, the head pollster. Mark, welcome to the program.

[Mark Mitchell]

Yeah, happy to be here. Thanks for the kind words. We try really hard. It's basically just a handful of us and we put out more polling than Morning Consult and they have like hundreds of employees.

[Charlie Kirk]

So it's amazing. It's a tough job. It's a great thing you guys are doing. So I just have to give a trigger warning. It's a disclaimer here. The core of our show here are patriotic, wonderful people that happen to be baby boomers. So I always have to disclaim this, what we're about to talk about. The people in this audience are exempt from this. However, there is a generational truth that must be told here about who is approving of Trump and who is not. I'm gonna give. I'm about to get the angriest emails imaginable, Mark. So this is you, not me. And for the record, everyone in the audience, really touchy. Oh, no, no. You have no idea. It's like, I need personal security. And so, Mark, what is going on here?

[Mark Mitchell]

Well, I think what's happening is that we're entering the end of the fourth turning and we're seeing what they talked about in that theory is rapid, rapid political realignments changes, massive changes in public opinion. And I'm here for it because I'm a public opinion professional and I don't think we've even begun to see the way in which people's opinions are going to change. And 18 to 39 year olds perennially, you know, they approved of a Biden Obama a couple months into his first term. It's 68%. Well, guess what? They are the highest improving age bracket of Donald Trump right now. 56% as of, as of yesterday. And that's astounding because in our numbers, those people went for Hillary Clinton by almost 30 points and they have a net +14 approval rating for Trump right now. So that's like, you know, we're Talking almost a 50 point swing in opinions. And so it's because Donald Trump came in and in my opinion is saving the future of the republic in a way that nobody believed. And the 18 to 39 year olds are plugged in, I think, more than anybody else to independent online media. And they like what they see. And it's not just Trump approval rating. We also have right direction, wrong track. At the highest numbers we've ever had in our polling, 47 right or right direction, 47% wrong track. Right now those numbers are at parity. They've only been above zero twice in our history and one of them was last week. And so people are seeing this and the mainstream media is just banging this constitutional crisis drum. They're banging this Napoleon quote. Nobody cares, Nobody cares. They're like, yeah, I voted for somebody to come in and uncover all this stuff. And even the 18 to 29 year olds, they are a little lefter than the 30 to 39 year olds. You know, those people are working, you know, peak career professionals and they're also building families. But 18 to 29 year olds based on all of my February data. And so this is more data than any other pollster is going to have on this right now. 18, 29 year olds, 49% approve of Trump, 48% disapprove.

[Charlie Kirk]

That's incredible. I mean, Mark, I gotta interrupt. I mean, so that's net plus one. Has a Republican president enjoyed that kind of approval from this demographic in the last 20 years?

[Mark Mitchell]

Well, I mean, it's been Trump for a decade. Right. And back then, no, like 30 points, 18 to 39 year olds went to Hillary Clinton in our polls. So again, this is a very recent thing and we have charts that show Trump picked up a lot of their support during the 2020 cycle. It wasn't enough and they didn't go for him and he didn't win them this time out either. But now it's the fact that he came in and is doing what he promised and we have other polling that backs it up. We also asked, during his inauguration speech, President Donald Trump said, the golden age of America begins right now. Agree or disagree. And 52% of U.S. likely voters agreed with that statement. But 56% of 18 to 39 year olds. And so this is what happens when you steal these kids future. That's what, that's what's happened. Basically what we have here, you know, the fourth turning crisis isn't war with China or Russia, it's war with our own government.

[Charlie Kirk]

Exactly.

[Mark Mitchell]

That's basically used the intel operations to conduct the biggest gaslighting warfare, information warfare in history for decades, faking this Republican Democrat paradigm of politics that everybody sees through. Now we don't know what the Democrat and Republican parties are going to look like. Can you even imagine the Democrats coming up with some kind of coherent platform to address what Trump's doing? Like, I really can't. Even if they could figure out one that would make sense, nobody's going to.

[Charlie Kirk]

Believe them and they're just so uncool and just so slow moving. But help me understand, why is it that that younger voters, just to reiterate, 18 to 24, approve of Trump, whereas baby boomers do not? I mean, just that's the generational divide. You have more young voters that like Trump than older voters. What is going on here?

[Mark Mitchell]

Well, I think, you know, some of it's brand, some of it's news consumption. But to put a really sharp point on exactly what's going on with age brackets is that older voters above 65 are more opinionated. So they're more likely to strongly approve of Trump and strongly disapprove, but they only get to a 50% approval and a 49 disapproval. So they're net plus one. Whereas, you know, the 18 to 39 year olds are, what do we say? Net plus 14. It's huge, right? Only 28% of 18 to 39 year olds strongly disapprove of Trump. So what that tells me is that everybody who said that this man is orange Hitler, they don't care. They do not believe it. And I think it's because they're on the leading edge of understanding the collapse in trust in our institutions. And I have other numbers to back this up. Everybody says Kamala Harris was a bad candidate. Well, she did convince 49% of the country to vote for her. But we asked the question, do you trust the federal government? Only 30% say yes. The 18 to 39 year olds were very close to that number. I forget off the top of my head, but is America safer than it was four years ago? And this is the kind of question where you'd see like a really low yes response for the 65 and older, maybe 10 years ago. Now only 27% of 18 to 29 year olds say America is safer than it was four years ago. Only 24% of 30 to 39 year olds. And will today's children be better off than their parents? The number of people who say yes, 18 to 29 year olds, only 34%. These are people that just got out of college, they're in the dating pool, they're like getting their first corporate jobs. And only 34% of them think that today's children will be better off than their parents. That's horrifying. And so everybody says, oh, like economics, the economy is the number one issue. It's like, well, yeah, it has been for the last 40 years, but it's. We're looking at something very different here. And the number two issue is the border security. But we all know that that's an economic signal as well. And so really what it comes down to is people despise authority figures. Overwhelmingly, they said that Biden was represented more of the same and that Trump was the change candidate, like major numbers more than what Trump got. I think over 60% said that Donald Trump was the, the candidate of change. And that's it. It's like you weaponize the government, you weaponize the judicial system, you try to throw people in internment camps because of COVID You literally destroyed the First Amendment. You know, everything. They pushed the final vestiges of trust in the mainstream media off a cliff. They literally burned every asset to try and stay in power. And it failed. And now they're scrambling and they don't look cool. That's for sure. You're right. I mean, they have a whole lot of septuagenarians and a whole lot of former Republican neocons out there, just histrionically, like whinging is the word, I think. I don't know what else to say about it. And then you have it Looks like a race to the bottom. Insanity where AOC is like, oh, you want populism? I'll give you populism. We're gonna shoot CEOs. That's what they have. It's absolutely insane.

[Charlie Kirk]

I think it's remarkable where you have the next generation that is largely carrying this presidency. And by the way, it's cause they say, stop stealing my future. I wanna live in America. I wanna be able to own a home. I don't care about Trump's tone or style or decorum. In fact, I support it because I don't have a future. I want someone to blow it up. I want someone to fight for me. I want someone to go in there and break stuff like Elon. And for a lot of baby boomers, at least from my experience, is they want politeness, they want decorum. And a lot of them have done quite well financially. They own homes. Younger people do not. Hey everybody. Charlie Kirk.

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[Charlie Kirk]

Mark. How popular is Doge?

[Mark Mitchell]

Oh, well, more popular than Trump is right now. He had net plus 10 just last week. And so this is after people are watching USA ID go in and get gutted. And that's really incredible because, you know, everybody's complaining about Trump's new president, Elon, you know, Hitler, oath, swearing Elon, and it didn't work. Elon Musk had a 52% favorability rating too. And that might not sound great. But Trump's the only person besides Elon that polls above 50% of everybody we test right now. That's, you know, that's where we're at. We're never going to see a president unless the economy gets fixed or we go to war with a 60, 70% approval rating. We're just past that. Everything is too dire. You know, the tensions have ratcheted up too high. But I also think that Trump's 50% is probably going to be pretty sticky. I really don't think that he's going to get into the 40s unless they're going to have to throw something major at them like they did before. And I don't even know if they can do that anymore. I don't even know if they have the trust left. The mainstream media really just like absolutely screwed themselves over. And we were talking about the boomers. I think that the idiot box is really to blame there.

[Charlie Kirk]

I totally agree. I think the white noise machine talk about that. How do people that are boomers get their information?

[Mark Mitchell]

So we asked as part of our September swing state set with American Thinker. And you can go check the cross tabs out. It's not behind a payment while people can download them. Really rich set of cross tabs. Who do you trust more for your political news? Major cable news channels, network TV news, independent online sources or other. And 18 to 39 year olds said major news channels on, on cable, 37. No, sorry, 18%, but it's 43% of those 65 and older. And independent online sources was 36 and 65 and older was only 19. And so I don't think what we're seeing here is like politicization. I think it's objectivity. I think that younger voters are being more objective about what they see around them and unwilling to just trust somebody because it's a human on a TV telling them stuff. And I can tell you what channel you watch, what channel you trust on cable news says a hell of a lot about what you think. We looked at the top two issues of MSNBC viewers and 75% of them, it was threats to democracy and abortion this cycle. And of people that watch Fox News or newsmax, it was 80% prices and the border, just two completely different Americas. And so I think that like, hopefully that's dying out. I don't think it's, you know, I don't think that's how younger people are getting their news now. And on issue after issue, what we would see is, is younger voters just a little bit more astute or aware about things around them. Like for instance, we asked a question, how likely is it that Obama is influencing the Biden administration and the 18 to 39 year olds had something like a 5 or 10 point edge there over everybody else. And it's just time after time you'd see that kind of pattern. And so I think what we're seeing maybe is like I called it Revolution X. Right. This is no longer I want to fascist.

[Charlie Kirk]

Well this is, this is where I want to end our conversation here. Gen X is becoming so right wing that the future looks red. I mean if gen, if Gen Z goes the way it's going, it's, it's funny, it goes boomers that are tepidly moderate and then we have Gen X that is super right wing. Millennials that are center left. Gen Z increasingly right wing is that. But what is going on with Gen X?

[Mark Mitchell]

Well, I don't think all the chips have settled yet. When I said Revolution X I'm talking like XD the app. I think that the mainstream media like can't even control the narrative anymore because they try and float. Like listen, you could look at on Google Trends for the search term constitutional crisis and nobody was searching that. And all of a sudden 8 to 10x like any prior year's search volume in Google history in just two or three days. So they're still trying to jumpstart this rebellion, this resistance to Trump and they're using all their old tricks and everybody just goes to X and just ruthlessly dunks on these people. And I think all ages are kind of getting involved. And so I think what we're seeing is kind of a flattening across the age spectrum from a, like how do I measure them from a political perspective? But I do think there is something about, you know, younger Gen X millennials and older zoomers are going to step into the hero generation archetype of the fourth turning. And we got a crisis coming because we talked about on our channel about this. The fourth turning can be delineated by periods of high demand and supply of order. And then as the crisis passed, you have less demand for order then less supply for order. And you are here. Where we're at is a super high demand for order and absolutely none to be found. All of our institutions are completely corrupt. And so what history tells us is that new leaders will step in and fill that vacuum.

[Charlie Kirk]

Mark, thank you. Early Gen X is the most right wing cohort by far. But the really amazing thing is millennials are moving right as well. Mark, thanks so much. With President Trump making massive strides in his first month in office alone to deliver on campaign promises to make America great again, it's clear his administration is committed to driving down costs and unleashing prosperity across our country. But Big Pharma is standing in the way. They've raised prices on over 575 brand name drugs in January alone, blocked competition and spent millions pushing overpriced meds on hard working Americans. Now they're pressuring Congress to implement mandates that will undermine the US$1 check against drug companies and ban the very market based incentives that help employers and families save on prescriptions and health care costs. Even worse, Big Pharma wants to strip American employers of the freedom to choose health benefits that work best for them. Their proposals could hand big pharma a $32 billion money grab at the expense of American employers and families. Conservatives for Lower Health Care Costs warns that Big Pharma isn't on our side. They fought against solutions to lower drug prices during Trump's first term, opposed Bobby Kennedy's nomination to the HHS to make America healthy again. And now they want even more government control over the private health care market, interfering with President Trump's promise to cut prescription drug costs. Big Pharma is no friend to the American people. Go to pharmawinfall.com to demand fair health care practices, protect the private market and fight Big Pharma's greed. Congress can put a stop to this. You can make a difference. Let's fight back. Visit pharmawinfall.com okay, a very important guest here to discuss his new book the FBI I Once Knew by Christopher Piotta. Christopher, welcome to the program and thank you for taking the time. Tell us about your book.

[Christopher Piotta]

Hey Charlie, thank you and appreciate your time today. As far as the book goes, I wrote the book so that people could understand how the FBI changed, how the FBI went off track and how I feel the FBI can be put back on the right track to being that trusted and respected organization it once was. For in service of the American people. I wanted to give folks a bird's eye view of my time with the FBI. Spent nearly 25 years at the organization and watched it evolve and change from pre 911 post 911 to present time.

[Charlie Kirk]

Is it fair to say that after 911 the FBI largely changed its premise from being a law enforcement agency to an intelligence gathering agency?

[Christopher Piotta]

That's correct. And it was a very violent shift after 911 because there were seen to be many failures based upon the previous model of The FBI being a more reactive law enforcement organization and not a predictive and preventative intelligence driven organization.

[Charlie Kirk]

So yeah, so tell us more specifically because who the FBI director who did this was Bob Mueller. Correct. He was the FBI director that helped orchestrate the details of turning the FBI against the American people. So when they are gathering so much information, you almost then create job justification where you spy for the sake of spying. Walk us through the details there.

[Christopher Piotta]

Well, I think like all government decisions, it started out with good intentions with ended up with bad outcomes. I think one, one thing that people have to remember in the government is the rule of if some is good, more is better and then too much is just right. And it happened that way with the surveillance activities after 9 11. We were operating in a position of fear and anxiety of looking for the possible next attack. And those fears and that anxiety led to things such as the Patriot act and other legal frameworks that gave us additional tools to, you know, combat the threat of terrorism. But then ultimately, as what happens in the government, you have mission creep, you have that incrementalism of more. Some is good, more is better, too much is just right. And then those tools were started starting to be used in more domestic surveillance activities. And then we lacked the principal leadership over the past several years to keep that under control and to analyze what we were doing to the privacy and civil liberties of our own people.

[Charlie Kirk]

So Kash Patel looks like today at 5:30pm There is a cash procedural vote that will allow thune to file cloture and confirmation vote is likely on Thursday. So very excited about that. What should Kash Patel do on day one? He gets sworn in. He goes in the motorcade, he enters the J. Edgar Hoover building, goes to, what is it? The seventh floor, gets the big desk. What is it that cash Patel should do? What are his action items?

[Christopher Piotta]

First day he's got to walk in and establish himself as the leader of the FBI. He's not there as a political operator or any other, I would say less operational role. He's there as the leader of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He's got to look at three particular areas as he is the strategic, strategic leader of the organization. First, he's got to look at the culture of the organization, the FBI's organ. The culture has declined and eroded over time and he's got to fix that and set new cultural norms and expectations. Second thing he has to do is look at the leadership environment that exists. I'd say 80 to 90% of all FBI challenges, especially over the past four years are due to bad leadership, bad decisions, and just weak leadership culture. The third thing he's going to have to do is look at the operational practices that are prevailing in the FBI right now. I've heard discussions, people say we haven't changed our standards in the FBI. Maybe not on paper, but what you've done and what they've done is change the way those standards are enforced, the way those standards are upheld and maintained and interpreted. I watched it happen when I was still there. Standards started sliding and it happened under Jim Comey up through Director Ray. And the FBI no longer holds some of the same high standards it used to. So those are the three areas that I would say he has to do on day one. One more thing is that he has to form a senior leadership team around him that is going to help him execute the wishes of the Chief Executive, the Attorney General, as well as his own vision as the FBI director. He can't do it by himself. He's got to have that senior leadership team that is aligned with him to execute his wishes.

[Charlie Kirk]

So. Chris. So I know this might be an unusual question, but there are real talks about the FBI just being eliminated and folded into other agencies. Why should the FBI exist?

[Christopher Piotta]

The FBI has to be part of our protective infrastructure. It's a primary part of what keeps our country safe and looks out for the interests of the American people in the US Government. The moving off track that we saw over the last several years, it's not indicative of the work that the FBI does day to day on behalf of the American people. What we saw mostly was the result of bad leadership, bad management, and the inability of FBI leaders to properly navigate the political and social operating environments and to maintain their apolitical and objective stance. I think the people of the FBI provide an essential service to the American people. And once given a proper leadership and operating environment, they will snap back into place quickly and do that again. The FBI can't just be discarded because of what's happened in the past several years. There's a lot of good still that exists with the FBI and it has to be reforged, reset, and then refocused on serving the American people. The FBI provides national security protection as well as combating crime problems, complex crime problems in our communities. So it provides that essential service. It just has to be re. Calibrated.

[Charlie Kirk]

Yeah. So. So remind our audience about some of the good things that they, that they.

[Christopher Piotta]

That the FBI does well on a national security side. The FBI is your primary domestic counter espionage, counterterrorism operation, protects our communities from harm and compromise from our international adversaries. On the criminal or crime problem side, the FBI is our public. They do our public corruption investigations. They're the only ones that do that. They also provide a lot of white collar crime investigative work. They support our state, local and other federal partners in those endeavors. And they also provide what we used to call, you know, the gang task forces. We're looking at community safety. And one of the one time I was, when I was in charge of a field office, we talked to the community leaders and we explained to them that when the state arrests gang members, they can be back on the streets and months, if not weeks, when you let me do it. From the enterprise gang theory. We take them, they go away for years and they're doing federal time, they don't come back. And we were able to pull together resources. The FBI has a lot of authority and statutory power to do things that other organizations cannot. And again, marshaling those people, resources and authorities is what makes the FBI very powerful and effective when again provided with proper leadership and proper mission focus.

[Charlie Kirk]

And so with Kash Patel taking over, how many firings would you recommend that he does?

[Christopher Piotta]

I don't know of an exact number, Charlie, but I will tell you, when he arrives on scene and he takes inventory and he starts identifying areas in the organization that could still be subject to political or ideological decision making, he's going to have to dismiss those people. They should be excused from FBI service. There is no place in our FBI for political or ideological driven decision making when enforcing the federal laws of our nation. So the FBI in its previous iterations was seen as an apolitical, objective, trustworthy organization. And, you know, the organization has squandered that goodwill with the American people over time. And we have to regain that goodwill.

[Charlie Kirk]

Chris, please plug your book one more time. How people can find it. Any other elements or details about the book you want our audience to be aware of?

[Christopher Piotta]

Certainly again, my book Wanted the FBI I Once Knew. It is a bird's eye view of my 25 years with the FBI. It's available on Amazon and anywhere books are sold. And I wrote the book as a way to chronicle my time and how I learned how to be an FBI agent from the old breed of FBI special agents who built the reputation of the FBI. So I appreciate if anyone would read it and they could see where the FBI ran off track and how to get back on track. And, you know, I look forward to any feedback people would have. And you know, I look forward to having the next iteration of the FBI delivered by Cash Patel and his team, and to give us back that trustworthy, principled organization that we trusted and depended on for years.

[Charlie Kirk]

Chris, thank you so much. Excellent. Really appreciate it. Thank you.

[Christopher Piotta]

Thank you, Charlie. Have a great day.

[Charlie Kirk]

Thank you. History, economics, the great works of literature. Did you study these things in school? Probably not. Or even if you did, maybe it's time for an enjoyable refresher. Hillsdale College is offering more than 40 free online courses, including the their newest course on totalitarian novels. In this free eight lecture course, you'll learn from Hillsdale College president Larry Arne as he goes in depth on 4 1984, Brave New World, Darkness at Noon, and that Hideous Strength. I love all four. Even though these novels, written in the 1930s and 40s, they're highly relevant today as they show what a tyrannical government does to human nature. More importantly, they can show us that faith, family and friends are worth fighting for. Maybe you read these books a long time ago in school. Maybe you've heard others talk about them and they seem a little intimidating. Let Hillsdale College, America's greatest college, help you make the most of them. Go right now to charlieforhillsdale.com to enroll. There's no cost and it's easy to get started. That is charlieforhillsdale.com C-A R L I E for hillsdale.com so we've been saying for quite a while how the left is race obsessed. So Trevor Noah recently had a guest, a Princeton professor by the name of Ruha Benjamin, who suggests that desegregating our schools was not the right solution. Now understand that the left has always been about against integration. They have always been pro segregation and they are today. Do you know we have black only dormitories on campuses across the country? That we have black only graduation ceremonies. The left has fiercely wants resegregation. They want whites only and blacks only. They have. It's part of the DNA in the fiber because they are race obsessed. The biggest lie is that the left wants equality. It's not true. So let's listen to this together. This is the first time I'm hearing this. Let's play cut 107.

[Unknown Guest]

Do you think that integration was the right move? Like, and now I'm separating two things. Cause I know in America people are.

[Charlie Kirk]

Like, well of course.

[Unknown Guest]

I mean people were. There was racism and there was segregation. And I go, yeah, no, no, no, I'm separating them. Let's separate someone being oppressed and someone not being able to get a job. And Someone not being able to get a bank loan. Let's take all of those, the negative things away because I'll put myself out personally and say so if I'm in a room with black people already, there's like an implicit trust because we know what certain actions, words and vibes mean. And then you're in a room with another African. Ah, already. Now even if you shout at me, I know what your shout means. The same way an Italian knows what an Italian shout means. Yeah, right.

[Charlie Kirk]

Continues. In cut 108, Prince Professor Ruha Benjamin responds to Trevor Noah. Plique cut 108.

[Trevor Noah]

No, I don't. And I don't think it's actually that controversial when if you understand that segregation and integration weren't the only options, like those are within those two options, it may seem like integration is the more progressive, like of course we don't want segregation. But again, when you're being integrated into institutions, into a culture that's a supremacist culture, that's a culture that feeds off of hierarchy, that feeds off of insecurity, anxiety, why are we being integrated into that?

[Charlie Kirk]

From the beginning you could tell they believe there are good races and bad races. They believe in sorting people by race. It has always been America's view to treat people as individuals. Our movement is focused on character and meritocracy. In the end you could tell they just don't like white people. They don't like western culture, they don't like any of it. They want whatever path lets them not like white people more. They in this clip, Trevor Noah and Ruha Benjamin are pushing forward a ideology that is no different than the Ku Klux Klan. It's the modern day manifestation of the Ku Klux Klan. It is black. KKK is what they're saying, let's resegregate. We don't want to be around white people. We don't want to be around all their anxiety and their customs and having to show up on time and all, all the white supremacist practices. This is what's so different about what our movement is about. Our movement is about unity. We don't care about the color of your skin. We care about your character. We don't care about how you look, we care about how you act. We don't care about melanin content. That is the way that we want to base the entire society. They are race obsessed. They want to put us all in pre described buckets based on the color of their skin. This is a losing political mentality. By the way, this is why blacks and Hispanics who seek freedom and empowerment are flocking to the Trump Republican Party. Meanwhile, Trevor Noah and his professor friend, they're trying to rebuild the modern day plantation. They want to try to keep people off to the side. Blacks over here, whites over there. That's basically the ideas that they are entertaining here. We reject that. We look at every human being as made in the image of God with infinite potential. That's what liberty is all about. Thanks so much for listening everybody. Email us. As always, freedom at charliekirk. Com. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.

[Ruha Benjamin]

For more on many of these stories.

[Mark Mitchell]

And news you can trust, go to charliekirk. Com.