Why "Disparate Impact" Must Die - The Charlie Kirk Show

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Charlie Kirk Show – "Why 'Disparate Impact' Must Die"

Release Date: April 24, 2025

Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Charlie Kirk Show, host Charlie Kirk delves into the recent executive order signed by former President Donald Trump, titled "Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy." Central to the discussion is the concept of "disparate impact," a legal doctrine that Kirk vehemently opposes, arguing that it undermines meritocracy and fuels the culture wars in America. Joining him is Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, who provides insights into the economic implications of the Trump administration's policies.

Understanding Disparate Impact

Charlie Kirk begins by introducing the concept of "disparate impact," describing it as a pivotal element in the "three horsemen of the race obsession" that he believes have been detrimental to American society. He emphasizes the significance of President Trump's executive order in repealing longstanding regulations related to disparate impact, which, according to Kirk, have been in place since the administrations of Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.

"Disparate impact is the original sin of the DEI monstrosity. The government will eliminate the use of enforcement of so-called disparate impact liability." – Charlie Kirk [06:45]

Kirk explains that disparate impact allows any policy or standard that disproportionately affects a particular group to be deemed discriminatory, regardless of the policy's intent. He argues that this doctrine has been exploited over the past three decades to undermine merit-based systems in education and employment.

Impact on Meritocracy and DEI Initiatives

The discussion transitions to how disparate impact has infiltrated various sectors, leading to what Kirk describes as the "death of merit" and the rise of mediocrity. He criticizes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, asserting that they create a regulatory burden that stifles innovation and excellence.

"DEI, Affirmative Action, and Disparate Impact. That is the evil trinity. That is the sinister triad, the three horsemen of the death of merit." – Charlie Kirk [16:20]

Using the NBA as an example, Kirk illustrates his point by questioning whether the league would impose racial quotas or bench players based on skin color to achieve equity, thereby ignoring merit and skill.

Economic Policies Under the Trump Administration

Shifting focus, Kevin Hassett elaborates on the Trump administration's trade policies and their positive impact on American workers. He highlights the significance of renegotiating unfair trade deals and implementing tariffs to protect American industries.

"When you make better trade deals, then it helps blue-collar wages skyrocket. In the first three years of the Trump administration, real wages went up for the typical family by $6,500." – Kevin Hassett [18:33]

Hassett discusses ongoing negotiations aimed at securing more favorable trade agreements and reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil, particularly in light of geopolitical tensions involving Iran and Russia. He underscores the administration's commitment to putting "America first" and the tangible benefits these policies have yielded.

The "Big, Beautiful" Tax Bill

The conversation progresses to the anticipated "big, beautiful bill," a comprehensive tax reform package designed to bolster the U.S. economy. Hassett provides an update on the bill's progress, noting that it is nearing legislative approval with expectations of passage within weeks.

"The language is already being finalized next week. The House expects that it's going to have a bill passed, maybe the next three or four weeks." – Kevin Hassett [26:53]

He outlines the bill's focus on reducing taxes for ordinary Americans and incentivizing corporate investment in domestic manufacturing. Hassett also addresses rumors about potential tax increases for the wealthy, clarifying that the primary objective is to alleviate the tax burden on the middle class and boost economic growth.

Addressing Tax Concerns and Future Projections

Kirk raises concerns about possible tax increases for higher-income individuals within the context of balancing the federal budget. Hassett responds by reinforcing the administration's commitment to fiscal responsibility through spending cuts and rescission packages aimed at eliminating wasteful expenditures.

"There are a lot of people who think that balancing the budget is important, and it really, really is. And one of the interesting things is that I know a lot of people are disappointed in the spending cuts that Congress is talking about. They wish that they would be larger." – Kevin Hassett [32:34]

He assures listeners that measures are in place to ensure that any necessary tax adjustments will be accompanied by corresponding spending reductions, maintaining the administration's overarching goal of economic prudence.

Conclusion

The episode concludes with commendations for Hassett's realistic and optimistic outlook on economic policies, emphasizing the importance of a positive mindset in fostering national prosperity. Charlie Kirk reiterates the significance of dismantling the disparate impact doctrine to restore meritocracy and excellence in American institutions.

"We have a small increase by 2 or 3%, and we get massive spending cuts. Like, I don't want to pay more in taxes. I'm already, you know, taxed enough already. I get it. But if it helps all of a sudden us get closer to a balanced budget, I'd rather have a dollar for my grandkids than two extra percent of my income." – Charlie Kirk [31:05]

The episode serves as a robust critique of DEI policies and disparate impact, advocating for a return to merit-based systems and highlighting the economic strides made under Trump's leadership.

Notable Quotes

"Disparate impact is the original sin of the DEI monstrosity." – Charlie Kirk [06:45]
"DEI, Affirmative Action, and Disparate Impact. That is the evil trinity." – Charlie Kirk [16:20]
"When you make better trade deals, then it helps blue-collar wages skyrocket." – Kevin Hassett [18:33]
"The language is already being finalized next week." – Kevin Hassett [26:53]
"We have a small increase by 2 or 3%, and we get massive spending cuts." – Charlie Kirk [31:05]

Final Thoughts

The Charlie Kirk Show episode "Why 'Disparate Impact' Must Die" offers a fervent defense of meritocracy and a critical examination of DEI initiatives through the lens of recent legislative changes. Kevin Hassett's participation provides a nuanced understanding of the administration's economic strategies, reinforcing the podcast's overarching theme of advocating for freedom and excellence in American society.

Transcript

Charlie Kirk (0:00)

Hey, everybody. Charlie Kirk here live from the Bitcoin.com studio. Donald Trump just signed one of the most significant executive orders in 50 years. It's two words that aren't talked about a lot. It's called disparate impact. It's part of the three horsemen of the race obsession that has been strangling this country. We dive deep into it. I'm excited to share with you President Trump's amazing executive order around disparate impact. You're gonna learn something. I encourage you to listen to it once or twice. Text it to your friends. Some good news on this podcast, so make sure you enjoy. Email us, as always, freedom charliekirk.com, and then we have more news. Good news on top of it. Kevin Hassett joins us, director of the Economic Council, about some very good news coming out of the Trump White House when it comes to economic news and financial markets. Email US as always, freedomarliekirk.com subscribe to our podcast. That is the Charlie Kirk show podcast page. Buckle up, everybody. Here we go.

Kevin Hassett (0:51)

Charlie, what you've done is incredible here. Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus. I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk. Kirk's running the White House, folks.

Unknown Speaker (1:02)

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 (1:12)

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 investments@noblegoldinvestments.com that is noblegoldinvestments.com it's where I buy all of my gold. Go to noblegoldinvestments.com the media onslaught against the Trump administration is intensifying. And on campus, there are some people that are getting a little impatient. They say, I want more wins from President Trump. I want more wins. I'm not that sympathetic to that, to be perfectly honest, because what President Trump did in even the first week is more than what some presidents have done in four years, and it's not even yet been 100 days. The kind of impatient, let's just say attitude, it doesn't resonate with me. And it's also not rooted at all in. If you are watching the Daily News cycle. We talked about how yesterday, President Trump is trying to do the largest deportation effort in American history. He's being enjoined. We're working through how to solve that. He's trying to solve the Russian, Ukrainian war, but we are drill, baby, drill. The southern border is completely secured. We're getting a massive tax bill. We have the executive order on no men and female sports. We have the executive order on no chemical castration of children. 11% more voters are saying the United States is on the right track. Since January, it's big. And just wait until the economy stabilizes, we get our tax bill passed. And there's something that happened yesterday in the Oval Office that received almost zero media coverage. And to be honest, very few people in the conservative movement have been covering this. Not enough people in conservative media have been taking the time to say timeout and pause. This is a massive victory. It's an act of courage by President Trump, who's now going at the very core. He's going at the life source of dei. President Trump is going right at the, at the baseline. He's going at step one of how we started to see the slipping of excellence, the death of meritocracy, and the elevation of mediocrity. President Trump is addressing root causes. This, of course, is something called disparate impact. President Trump signed an executive order called restoring equality of opportunity and meritocracy. If you do not know about disparate impact, you should take out your pen. You should listen carefully. If you're in the car right now, you're going to learn something. You're going to learn that there was something that was embedded, encoded into the fibers, almost every single one of our laws and our hiring practices that you might not know about. President Trump signed an executive order yesterday repealing two regulations that have existed since LBJ and Nixon. That means Ronald Reagan didn't touch this. George H.W. bush didn't touch this. George W. Bush didn't touch this. And even in the first Trump administration, we didn't get to this. But that's why exile was good to us. That's why those four years of us not having power, we were able to study, go deeper and say, what is the root cause here? What was the first mistake? What was the original sin? And disparate impact is the original sin of the DEI monstrosity. The government will eliminate the use of enforcement of so called disparate impact liability. But what is that disparate impact? What's the big deal, Charlie? Come on, show me the real wins. No, no, no, no. You should be thanking the Lord about the significance of the profundity here. It's the sort of thing that few people have heard of but has completely remade American life over the last 50 years. Disparate impact is a legal doctrine that holds that any rule, any policy or requirement can be held to be illegal discrimination if it has a disparate impact on two different groups. So for example, in 1971, there was a Supreme Court case, Griggs v. Duke Power Company. Duke Power was sued because for people to get certain jobs at the company, they required them to either have a high school diploma or pass an aptitude test. Black applicants were less likely to have a diploma, and they do. They didn't do as well on the aptitude test. The Supreme Court ruled that Duke's job requirements were, quote, justified, were not justified by business necessity. And so they were illegally discriminatory. And thus the doctrine of disparate impact was born. You could probably guess why this doctrine is so incredibly pernicious. Literally every standard imaginable has created has some sort of disparate impact against a group. Nobody on this planet has ever designed a test or a standard that men, women, blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics, Catholic Jews, gays, straights do so equally well. The very idea is an absurd fantasy. You're going to have different outcomes. But what disparate impact does is it says the test itself is wrong. It is a loophole that you could drive a semi truck through. It's a little sliver. You say, oh, disparate impact. What's the big deal here? No, no, no, no. This has been exploited by DEI actors for the last 30 years. So we have is a world where the federal government can go after any company, any school, or any state or any local government that they want to for discrimination using the Civil Rights act by deciding that whatever their hiring standards are, they don't meet a business necessity. So who decides the necessity? Well, not business owners, not entrepreneurs, not the people that actually own the property. No, instead, federal bureaucrats and judges decided since the feds can go after anyone for anything, everyone now lives in fear. People have tried to come after Turning Point USA unsuccessfully for disparate impact. Oh, we don't like your criteria for this. And they try to do some EEOC complaint. Thankfully we won all those complaints. And this is where so much of DEI comes in. So because you're so afraid of big government coming in, the leviathan of the anti racist state, they try to impress companies, impress the government, show how committed we are. To diversity. Companies know that they could be attacked at any time on the grounds of disparate impact. So they try to look good by having a massive DEI department. Don't come after us, go after some of the other companies. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. The system has imposed a massive regulatory and efficiency burden on the American economy. Dei, in my opinion, is the greatest silent regulation on American prosperity. Dei, Affirmative action and disparate impact. That is the evil trinity. That is the sinister triad, the three horsemen of the death of merit. Dei Affirmative action and disparate impact. Most people don't even know what those words would mean. Maybe affirmative action five or ten years ago, but it's been enveloping businesses, entrepreneurs for quite some time. Companies are terrified of a disparate impact complaint. The system has imposed a massive regulatory and efficiency burden. It's turned into a war against merit and against freedom. We've basically made it illegal for companies to simply try to hire the most talented people for a given job. And don't be surprised our companies are not as innovative as they used to be. This needed to change, and now the Trump administration is finally changing it to go deeper. We've actually seen a decline in standards and performance. In 2022, the Los Angeles Unified School District removed requirements for algebra proficiency. Why? Because they said black students don't do as well in algebra. So after they removed the algebra proficiency, black students got even worse at algebra, showing that lowering standards didn't actually improve outcomes. Disparate impact penalizes neutral and effective criteria. The use of standardized testing in New York City schools was curtailed due to racial disparities. Yet these schools produced more National Merit Scholars per capita than other state, highlighting that merit based selection correlates with excellence. This is how they're getting rid of the sat. They're getting rid of the actual. Here is the best way that I can summarize it effectively. You end up Disparate impact means punishing the test when students fail, not punishing the students when they fail the test. Instead, they're trying to rework the test, not try to improve the excellence or the merit of the applicant or the future student or worker at your company. If you're tuning into this podcast, it's because you care deeply about the future of our country. So do I. And so does amac. That's why I'm proud to partner with amac, the association of Mature American Citizens, because they are the voice of Americans who believe in faith, family, freedom, and the values that made this nation so great. While other Senior organizations push a woke left wing agenda. AMAC is doing the real work holding Washington accountable. They're fighting to make the Trump tax cuts permanent, protect Social Security, defend election integrity, and push back against radical policies that threaten our way of life. And here's the thing. AMAC also delivers real value. Members get exclusive discounts on travel, insurance, healthcare and more. Plus the award winning AMAC magazine packed with truth and conservative insight. Membership is just $16 a year, but right now you can get a five year membership for only 31 bucks. That's 47% off, but only through April 30th. So join me go to amac us kirk that is amec uskirk I'm intentionally not watching the NBA playoffs. The NBA is not what it used to be. But let's think about this. If disparate impact were applied to the NBA, the league would be even in further crisis. Not because of poor performance, but because you think about it like who would actually end up having to be represented? Black men only make up 13% of the US population, but they account for over 70% of NBA players. Well, that's disparate impact. Why is it that black Americans are able to do so well to go into the NBA? You see, because the NBA is an excellence driven organization. Should the NBA institute racial quotas on the court? Should they have to bench players based on the color of their skin to achieve equity? Should they replace merit with a lottery? You can start to see how destructive disparate impact is just in that singular example. Imagine a judge saying that height isn't a job necessity in the NBA. Phenomenal example, Blake. That's exactly right. The lunacy of disparate impact that almost every single company lived in fear of being criticized and potentially indicted for was that, well, is that a job necessity? Imagine a judge saying, well, height is not a job necessity because Muggsy Bogues wasn't tall. Oh really? So is height a job necessity to the NBA? I would say so. I would say that being tall is a job necessity. One reason the college cartel is so strong is that generally the government doesn't like the idea of simply giving job applicants an IQ test because those have disparate impact. You know, I should wear a shirt in this fall. The next fall tour. Blake is going to love this. Bring back IQ tests. What could be more fair than an IQ test? It's not even about where you went to school. Now, schooling can moderately improve your IQ test your IQ output moderately. They're fine with requiring an expensive college diploma, even though those also have disparate impact. Why? Honestly, the only reason is that federal bureaucrats like colleges. If we bring back IQ tests, it's much more fair, it's much more equitable. Someone that might not have gone to as good of a school, for example, they might not have gone to Stevenson High School in the suburbs of Chicago. They might have gone on the south side of Chicago. But an IQ test would be able to pluck out that individual that might not have had the same schooling because they might have the raw intellectual firepower and potential. Who could possibly be against IQ tests? Oh, they're against IQ tests because they want to have a credentialing lobby, which actually creates more disparate impact, which is what's hilarious. Requiring an expensive college degree is one of the few requirements companies are allowed to have, even though that definitionally is a disparate impact. So President Trump signing this executive order is one of the great step forwards to get back to a merit based system. When merit dies, mediocrity inherits the throne. Do you notice? And again, this is a little bit more anecdotal, a little bit subjective, but I think you'd all agree. Do you guys think the country works better, the same or worse as it did 20 years ago? I mean, basic stuff. The ability to go to a bank and get good service, the ability to have a flight on time, to not have your luggage lost, the ability to get a good driver if you want to get in a taxi cab. Do you think the basic necessities that keep a society going are getting better, worse, or they've stayed the same? Power outages are more common today. I think our quality of how we actually treat people in hospitals has declined rapidly. I'm afraid we're slowly slipping into a culture of mediocrity. And that is what happens when, when you no longer have a culture of meritocracy. And here is the sad but brutal truth. When you have a culture of meritocracy, sometimes the room is not going to look like Angelina Jolie's Christmas card. As Bill Maher would say. It's not going to look where everyone is different in pigmentation. It might be or it might not be. You see, when you have the merit, you don't know what the end result is going to be. It could be a bunch of Asians, it could be a bunch of Nicaraguans, it could be a bunch of Scots. And it's irrelevant because we actually don't care. And that is the point. We don't care about the melanin complexion of the end result. We care. Can that team, can that unit? Are they able to do awesome stuff? And forced diversity via disparate impact has been slowly suffocating. Excellence we are standing against and President Trump going against desperate impact is being ignored by all the legacy media. Honestly, that's okay. And all of you should be applauding and celebrating because it's a massive leap to get us back to our birthright of being an excellent country. The battle between good and evil seems to be escalating. It is easy to blame politicians, government or poor leadership, but behind all of that is a spiritual battle. Pastor Alan Jackson's new book Angels, Demons and you talk about the reality of this battle and the spiritual realm that exists around us. It has a real impact on us every day. As you read you will discover that that angels and demons are not imaginary, they actually exist. You can find them playing a variety of roles throughout the Bible and they're still influencing the world today. We don't need to be afraid, but we do need to be aware and prepared. Angels, Demons and you provides valuable insight, practical tools and biblical truth to help you recognize the spiritual battle around us and become a difference maker in our generation. Get your copy today@Alan Jackson.com Angels hear from people whose faith directly impacts our culture on Pastor Allen's Culture and Christianity podcast. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. Joining us now is Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council. So much to discuss here. So, so Kevin, let me begin by this I'm traveling the country, I'm on tour and even some Trump faithful are just a little bit confused about the direction of the tariff strategy and all this. They are very well intentioned, but they want a little bit of clarity. What would you say is the update in the message of the grand strategy to someone that loves President Trump, loves the agenda, but they are seeking clarity on what is happening with all of the announcements, tariffs and etc. Kevin, the floor is yours and thanks for making the time.