← The Dan Bongino Show
The Dan Bongino Show
A Turning Point In The Culture | Episode 125
00:59:40
The world has mourned Charlie's horrific death, but his death may have also become the turning point.
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- [00:00]
A
Hey, everybody. Welcome to Vince on a Monday, man. We've got a big show for you coming up. We're gonna get the latest out of the FBI. Both Dan Bongino and Cash Patel have some new updates on the investigation into Charlie Kirk's assassin. We will also look at some of the weekend's commemorations for Charlie Kirk, as so many great Americans have come out to say goodbye to a very great American, a great Christian, called Charlie Kirk. Will. We'll dive into that. We have a lot to get to today. Also, we'll be joined by the wonderful Rachel Bovard, who's just phenomenal. A lot to get to in this show. We're glad you're here. You're the best audience anywhere. I wanna thank the sponsors who keep this program running each and every day. That includes Express vpn. You know, everything that you do online is recorded and then sold to the big tech companies. How about that? Advertisers get it, our government gets it. Who's doing this? Well, data brokers do it. And vultures. 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All right, we've got updates today from the director of the FBI and the deputy director of the FBI, that would be Cash Patel and Dan Bongino, respectively, into the investigation into the man who stands now accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk last week. Wednesday. Lots of new information coming out over the weekend about the shooter, to include the fact that he was living with his transgender boyfriend who was pretending to be a girlfriend. We'll get into that ahead. But to be really clear, think about the storyline. The left was advancing from the middle of last week until now. Right after Charlie's death. You saw lefties on the Internet celebrating his death. Disgusting, demonic. What is wrong with you celebrating it? Justifying Charlie Kirk's death or saying things like violence is not the answer. But Charlie was a pretty bad guy. No, he wasn't. Screw you for saying it. That's awful. Why would you say something like that? So the left moved from that position to trying to claim going into the weekend that actually Charlie's assassin was some sort of hardcore right winger. He was so right wing, he was to the right of Charlie and he killed Charlie because he's super right wing. And by the time we get to the weekend, the thing you knew was true all along was demonstrated with all of the available facts and information, which is this guy was a radical lefty. He wrote radical left wing phrases all over the bullets that he. One of which he destined for Charlie Kirk that killed Charlie. And clearly in his personal life, there's mountains of evidence to demonstrate that he was expressing left wing, dark, deranged, extremist animus towards Charlie Kirk and plotted Charlie's death that we saw in horror last week. That brings us to this morning, and that's where I want to start with you. The breaking news this morning. The director of the FBI, Cash Patel, there is, in case you missed it, there's a deeply concerted effort going on right now to try and hurt Cash. No kidding. I'm seeing news report after news report, including in places like Fox News this weekend, suggesting that somehow Cash is on the rocks right now, that there's turmoil going on in the administration, that the president or somebody is losing confidence in Cash Patel. There is no question an effort right now to try and both diminish and decapitate the FBI to try and get rid of people like Cash and Dan. Now, I'll be clear, as clear as I've ever been about this subject. I like that Cash Patel and Dan Bongino are leading that agency right now. That is an agency that none of us trust, that we do not have faith in. That has destroyed our faith in terms of federal law enforcement. And it only would take guys like Cash and Dan to be at the top of it for us to begin to be convinced that we can get some modicum of truth to out of that agency from the highest ranks. So the people who are trying to take out Cash right now, I am instantly doubting your motives. I don't Think that's because you're trying to make the place more efficient. I think you're trying to return it to the elitist, disgraceful, corrupt, abusive status quo. And that's the last thing any of us are gonna allow. They caught this guy in 33 hours. And people say things like, it was the father who turned the kid in. So it was not even a kid, a man. The father turned the guy in. So why does the FBI deserve any credit? Because the FBI waged this campaign in public. They needed to convince people who knew the shooter to identify that person and hand him over to authorities. And that is exactly what occurred. This was a good decision on the part of the FBI to release this information, despite the fact there were people internally reportedly who were fighting back against Kash Patel, trying to prevent him from. From releasing this information. So here we go. Here's cash this morning. Cut one, cash one. Here he is talking about some of the new evidence that the FBI has of this shooter, Tyler Robinson. The suspect and his DNA is all over the crime scene. Look at this.
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B
We flexed all resources the FBI had and surged multiple air assets. As soon as this shooting occurred. We were cycling in agents, evidence response technicians, hostage rescue technicians, and special operators in and out of Utah, cycling evidence back and forth on these FBI planes as soon as we could so that there was no delay. And what we did once I got there, along with the deputy on the ground on the around 5pm local on September 11, was walk the entire crime scene, including the foots the suspect himself took. And what we learned was there was evidence, DNA evidence that could be collected and had been collected, including a screwdriver that was found on the rooftop. Also, we went over to the scene in the wooded area where the firearm was discarded, and the firearm had a towel wrapped around it. It's important. I'll get back to that later. I even walked into the wooded area in the ravine. So I knew from my investigative experience what I could bring to the table and what decisions I needed to make. And having the support of President Trump and the full support of the White House was what we needed for these resources to happen. And I can report today that the DNA hits from the towel that was wrapped around the firearm and the DNA on the screwdriver are positively processed for the suspect in custody.
- [07:39]
A
The DNA hits are positively processed for the suspect in custody. That's fantastic news. Which means that the case against this guy is pretty open and shut at this point. If you've got his DNA on the screwdriver on the roof, You've got the prints on the roof as he descended. You've got the DNA on the towel that was wrapped around the gun. The gun itself is in the custody of ATF right now as they're breaking that evidence down, assessing all of it. You also have the father saying, yes, that's my boy who committed this crime. I recognize him from that footage. And you have the father already saying that the suspect confessed to, to the father that he had committed the murder. And so the evidence is stacking up. We've got a lot of evidence against this guy, despite the fact that now that he's in custody, he's not cooperating. That's according to Governor Spencer Cox. That's according to FBI Director Kash Patel. He's not cooperating anymore. But look, the evidence is entirely stacked against him here, which means that we are gonna be able to bring this guy to justice. And if the rest of us get our way, we could see him put to death by firing squad in the state of Utah and hopefully a very speedy way. He's, you know, he gets a trial, but at his conclusion, he should face a firing squad. Here's more from Cash Patel talking about the motivations of the shooter. Cash said there's no question this guy was a deranged lefty. Here's Cash too.
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B
Look at this one more point on forensics. We were able to obtain in record time the text message chain between the suspect and his live in partner as well as other critical cellular information from our cast team that analyzes cell phone data towers in the area to pinpoint the locations of the suspect and other individuals he was speaking with. This is critical information that the FBI processed and got to prosecutors so they can lawfully use it in a court of law. And our investigation, our interviews continue, but we've learned some shocking things. When we spoke to his family and friends as well.
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C
Well, you want to share them, those shocking things?
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B
Sure. And my job, my, my job as FBI director is not to speak to motive, is to speak to the facts. And that's what I'm going to do. His family has collectively told investigators that he subscribed to left wing ideology and even more so in these last couple of years. And he had a text message exchange he the suspect with another individual in which he claimed that he had an opportun opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and he was going to do it because of his hatred for what Charlie stood for. That are those are factually accurate investigatory findings by the FBI that we've handed over to the local authorities and the federal authorities to make their prosecutorial decisions. But I believe in this instance of such public importance, the public has a right to know. And I've told you I'm committed to transparency and that's what I'm doing here.
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A
Why didn't, why didn't that. Okay, so his family collectively told investigators he subscribed to left wing ideology, even more so in the last couple of years. So he's not some right winger. The whole thing is crazy that anybody even suggested that this weekend. And he had a text message exchange. You heard from the director just now saying that the suspect with another individual in which he claimed he had an opportunity to take out Charlie Kirk and he was going to do it because of his hatred for what Charlie stood for. Now, if you're like me, you hear something like that and you go, well, wait a second, that means he told another individual that he intended to kill Charlie Kirk. What did that individual do with that information? How long before the actual assassination was that information conveyed to a third party? And what sort of legal jeopardy could that person be in? Is it possible to bring charges against that person for having received this information and not done anything with it? We have to wait. We have to wait on this. But Dan Bongino does weigh in this morning a little bit on the multiple warning signs that have existed ahead of the assassination. Here is the deputy director of the FBI. Take a listen.
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C
There appear to have been multiple warning signs. You just laid out some of them. There were people in his network, friends and family who had stated that he had become more political, that he had become at some parts. I believe some of his coworkers had stated that he had kind of detached himself when the topic of politics came up and walked away from them. Family members said he'd become more political, leading us to believe that this ideology had infected him and had taken over and he was just intent, it appears to, from the data we've accumulated and the channel and that, that, that note which we have some evidence may have existed before, based on the communications in that channel, that his target was obviously going to be Charlie and that people knew in advance. The question is, again, I just want to go back to what you had asked before. Did they know? Were they sure this. Or did they hear this and just write it off? That's what we're going to have to find, find out. And that's what we're investigating, Bill. This, this investigation is just begun. This isn't even the beginning of the, of the beginning, you know. Yes, we have a subject in custody. You know, everybody's innocent till proven guilty in our constitutional republic. However, this is not done by any stretch. Our men and women out there in the Bureau have worked tirelessly all weekend. I just got back to D.C. last night, and, you know, Cash and I were out there on the scene. We walked the scene.
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A
We.
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C
We went through every single component of it. We saw the evidence up close and personal, and we went out there to be able to make command decisions with our team on the ground. And I think the process, although not perfect, of course, I think the process went pretty well, considering we got him in 33 hours. Okay.
- [13:46]
A
Yeah. Yeah. So look, that's Dan. You can even hear it in his voice. He's saying, look, it wasn't perfect. It's never gonna be perfect. But we did something pretty quickly. And this is unusual in a case like this. We were able to get this guy into custody very, very quickly based on historical standards. 33 hours. And that was due to the decision making at the top of the FBI to release this imagery to the public in order to induce the manhunt that led to the capture there of the killer, of the assassin. So that's good news. And the other piece here is, remember, it is only Monday following the Wednesday assassination, Wednesday afternoon, assassination of Charlie Kirk. We're not at a full week yet, so this is an investigation that's gonna turn a lot of rocks over, and we'll get more information, including about just how many people knew about this. And here's the other thing. If you're like me, you don't wanna stop at this thought that while he's the only guy who was in on it, what if this was induced by some sort of larger network? What if this was induced by some other force that wasn't present that day in Utah? And Dan says the FBI is definitely digging into whether there was a bigger network behind the assassination. Now, what's key, as you listen to this clip, is it doesn't sound like they're saying that there definitely is one, but it is. What he is saying is that no stone will be left unturned. And we're definitely looking into that. Listen to this.
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C
Kash Patel said earlier today that he expressed to someone that he had an opportunity to take out the killer and was going to do it. Did that person do anything with that information? Yeah, that's what we're really disturbed about. It appears that this was communicated. You see this a lot, Bill, in targeted violence cases, assassinations, school shootings, where the individual expresses in advance in a good swath of these cases, his desire or her desire to do these specific things. That appears to be the case here as well, where the, the intent component was there in advance and the target was, was the target was announced in advance prior. Now that's the part we want to know. Were they, did they know and not say did they? Now, Bill, you have to keep in mind, and I don't want anyone to jump to conclusions on this, there's did they say it, hear it and think it was some kind of a joke? That's what we're trying to find out now. But I promise you, if there's a larger network here, we're going to get that out to the public as soon as we can.
- [16:24]
A
We really, if there's a larger network here, we're going to get that out to the public as soon as we can. So that's really key. Now this gets us into some of the bigger questions about the radical left and the forces that it has animated across the country. There's some sort of effort right now to suggest that, oh, there's a problem on both sides and like, you know, the left and the right has all this political violence. We need to stop all of that. It's all nonsense. It's just so, it's so crazy. I mean, for instance, here's Senator James Langford, he's a Republican from Oklahoma this weekend, cut 11, saying this is some sort of both sides problem. Listen to Senator Lankford.
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D
Well, I would say if there's someone preparing to be able to take out an aggressive act against someone or to be able to violate the law that is the role of law enforcement to be able to protect Americans. We need to be careful. Now we talk about this, whether it is talking about white nationalists in preparing to be able to attack and to be able to carry an attack, or does somebody like a Timothy McVeigh that hated the government intensely and in my state 30 years ago murdered 168 people in Oklahoma City, or whether it is a leftist group that is interested in actually attacking a pro life center that we saw several years ago, or whether it's carrying out some other act of terrorism or trying to be able to intimidate people, we should have equal, equal application of the law to saying if you're choosing to be able to carry out an aggressive violent act, that should be something that we actually try to interdict anytime that we possibly can.
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A
What is he doing? Why are you sucking up to CNN in this way? You had to go back to Timothy McVeigh, you're like, this is. Oh, we're seeing it happen all the time. What are you talking about? Go back the last few shows we've done. We've done it on the left's assassination culture. I don't have to repeat all the data to you, but this is an asymmetric problem. The left has an immense assassination culture right now. And this is just. I'm not even looking at a list in front of me, but just off the top of my head. I mean, you think about the assassination attempt on Steve Scalise and all of those Republican congressmen on a baseball field back in 2017 by a Bernie Sanders campaign volunteer. You think about the assassination attempt on justice Brett Kavanaugh, head of the Dobbs Decision. You think of all of the attacks on pro life crisis pregnancy centers, firebombings. You think about the attacks on government buildings and small businesses by lefties who are rioting in our streets. The attacks on ICE agents, the attacks on border patrol, the attacks on law enforcement, the assassination attempts against President Trump, multiple. One of which he was shot in the head. How many times was Rand Paul assaulted by deranged lefties? That guy keeps getting attacked. He was even on that baseball field back in 2017. This is an asymmetric problem. And when you mention this, if there's anybody trying to draw up some sort of excuse here, be like, actually, no, it's a both sides problem. Well, then what are you referring to exactly? Are you referring to the Minnesota attacks on Democrats there? That was done by a guy who had no Kings flyers in his car and he was appointed to a board in the state by Tim Walls. Is that what you're saying? Are you pointing to the hammer attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband that was done by an illegal alien from Canada? Is that what you're talking about? Are you talking about the attempted fednapping of Gretchen Whitmer? That is a federally concocted operation to pretend like right wingers were trying to kidnap the sitting governor of Michigan. Is that what you're talking about? Because all of that is bullshit. None of that conforms to some sort of both sides description. This is deeply asymmetric. The left has a culture of violence, a by any means necessary move towards power. The right has a culture of love, has a culture of peace, has a culture of prayer. What is the last week demonstrated to us? We're not even there yet. Just in the days that followed Charlie Kirk's assassination, the right hasn't rioted, destroyed, burned down, assaulted murdered. The right has had prayer vigils. The right has gathered together all across the country to celebrate Charlie Kirk. The right lowered our flags to half staff. The right has a positive vision of the country. The right is not going to be tricked by the demons into being sucked into a pattern of violence that destroys this country. The right is going to appeal to our better angels and make this country better and hold wrongdoers accountable. We are not the same. We're not the same at all. And any senator who goes on television who pretends that we're the same, well, they shouldn't be a senator because they're completely wrong. All right, more ahead, including the president's reaction to all of this. He's got some thoughts here. And what it means to crack open the left wing organization behind so much of the chaos that we've been seeing in our country. That's ahead here on Vince. Hey, if there's something that all of us can believe in, it's hard work, self reliance and showing up for the people who count on us. But a while back, I hit a wall. I was getting terrible sleep and then I would drag myself through the next day on fumes. And I knew I had to find something to break me out of that cycle. That's when I found Beam's Dream Powder. 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B-E-A-M.com Vincehow Shopbeam.com Vincehow use the code Vinceau for up to 40% off. Thank you to Beam for sponsoring the program. Yeah, Melissa McGroyne says Beam has worked for me. I mixed two flavors. Brownie batch and chocolate chip cookie. Great blend. Whoa. That sounds amazing. Actually, I'm gonna have to try that. That appeals to me. Okay, let's. One more thing. Oh. In terms of other, like, fake, you know, claims that the right is committing all these acts of violence. You remember when the governor's mansion in Pennsylvania was attacked? Josh Shapiro, the Democrat governor of Pennsylvania, his mansion was attacked. Firebombed. Awful. Do you know who firebombed it? A guy who thought that. Who wanted to attack so quick. Obvious he wanted to attack Josh Shapiro for being Jewish. It was some pro Palestinian, anti Israel, anti Jewish lunatic. In other words, a left winger. The whole thing is so stupid, it's unreal. But this is the kind of stuff that they kick up into the air and hope that you don't know the difference. And we've got the President of the United States reacting to all of this. Look at. Here's the president. He's not buying any of this crap. Here he is, cut 12. Here's the president.
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C
The problem is on the left.
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A
If you look at the problem, the.
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C
Problem is on the left. It's not on the right like some people like to say.
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A
On the left. Right.
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C
The problem we have is on the left. And when you look at the agitators, you look at the scum that speaks.
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A
So badly of our country. The American flag burnings all over the place.
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E
That's the left.
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C
That's not the right.
- [24:24]
A
That's the left. That's not the right. Now, a couple days ago, the President went on Fox and Friends. This was on Friday morning that he did this. On Friday morning, he appeared on Fox and Friends for an hour. And while he was there, he raised this point. He said, you know, it's time for a RICO case. That would be an organized criminal conspiracy case, the kind of thing that was used to go after the mob in the past. And I agree, we've talked a lot about this, that if you're gonna go after the left for all of its violations of the law, all of its abuses of power, all of the chaos that they've induced across the country, then you need to expose the guts of the operation, and that's gonna take a RICO case. And here's the president On Friday, cut 14, talking about how he wants a RICO case to expose the truth.
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E
I had one the other night. I went into a restaurant and this woman stood up. I looked at her immediately. She had money. She wasn't. She wasn't serious. They get paid for it, their profession from Soros and other people. And we're gonna look into Soros because I think it's a RICO case against him and other people, because this is more than, like, protests. This is real agitation. This is riots on the street. And we're gonna look into that.
- [25:38]
A
Yeah. Think about the rioting we saw in Los Angeles earlier this year. Remember that? The multiple days of absolute chaotic rioting, protesting against the enforcement of our immigration laws. How did that start? Well, remember that started with left wing money operation in California that said it was staging protests. They were staging rallies against President Trump for enforcing immigration law. And when they did that, it led to violence. It led to violence. And the reason that you didn't see any sort of reaction to it by the governor and the mayor of Los Angeles is because both of them were on the take from the organization that started all of the chaos. And so there are left wing operations who. Who are agents of chaos, who are receiving money from some of the biggest billionaires on the left. And it is long past time we put a stop to this. Our country needs order. What did Charlie Kirk fight for? He fought for order. He fought for order. Our God is a God of order. And the left represents disorder, unfortunately, and they're constantly infusing it. I joke all the time that Alexandria Ocasio Cortez's initials are perfect aoc, Agent of chaos. Because in the end, that's all she produces. She's never once produced some sort of positive outcome for the people who live in her district or anybody else in the country. It's always been another opportunity to create chaos. She's an agent of chaos, and far too many people on the left are. So the President says we have to uncrack this. We have to unpack this. We have to get to the bottom of the way that this money is being spent and how it's causing chaos in the United States of America. So you heard today from the deputy director of the FBI saying, hey, we're looking into not just the shooter, but the larger network that might be behind him. Absolutely. That needs to be done. And then, of course, you get the President of the United States, no bigger, saying, we need RICO cases and we need them now. Please, with haste, Mr. President. With haste. All right, more ahead in just a moment, we'll be joined by the great Rachel Bovard. We'll get her reaction to everything that's going on right now in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination, as well as how Congress is responding to all of this and what's on their agenda this week. Before we get there, though, I want to thank our sponsors. Doctors call it weight Cycling. Have you heard of weight cycling? It's not good actually. Half of Americans do it and if you do it, you're at risk of diabetes, liver damage, heart attack and stroke. Weight cycling is when you lose 10 or so pounds, but then you gain it back and it can lead to serious health issues. The bottom line is most people need help to stop weight cycling. And here's a great non Prescription Lean by Brickhouse Nutrition Created by doctors, Lean is an oral supplement. It's not a GLP1 injectable. Its studied ingredients target weight loss in three powerful ways. 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It's America first coffee, roasted fresh right here in the United States, not grocery store junk. Blackout coffee delivers rich, high quality roasts that actually taste like freedom. And now you can set it and you can forget it with the auto refill and recurring delivery. So no more running out, no more watered down backups. Just your favorite cup of coffee delivered fresh on your schedule. And I drink my coffee black. Yeah babe. Oh river leaves. Drinking my blackout coffee now. Pitch black says river leaves. Yeah, pitch black. I love that pitch black espresso. It's so good. Get it. You should do it. And if you get all that set up, you'll get your discount. You also get double the rewards, free shipping to your doorstep. Here's what you need to do. Go to blackoutcoffee.com Vince use the code Vince. That's V I N C E. And get 20% off your first order. Whether you're into bold dark roasts Flavored coffee or even instant. Blackout has got your back. Real coffee, no compromise. Blackoutcoffee.com Vince, get yours now. Blackout coffee. Terry Macy is already subscribed for Blackout. Thank you. Yeah. Bongino army, baby. Yeah, I just got a big. A big shipment of Blackout to the house. I got the beans and opened up the package. That's my favorite thing when you first open the package. Mmm. Those beans, they smell so good. Can't wait to drink them. They're great. Thank you to Blackout for being awesome. All right, let's talk a little bit more about what is happening in our country right now and whether or not we are detecting some causes for optimism in the years ahead. Rachel Bovard joins us now. She's the vice President of programs at the Conservative Partnership Institute. Rachel, great to have you with us.
- [31:07]
F
Good morning. Thanks for having me.
- [31:10]
A
There's been a lot of sadness, of course, in the wake of Charlie's assassination last week. It has been encouraging and uplifting to see the way the right has reacted to all of this with unity, resolve, conviction, and intensity. How do you see things going right now, Rachel?
- [31:31]
F
Well, I think we're in this collective moment of grief, and I talk to people on the left who I really do not think understand the magnitude of Charlie Kirk's impact. You know, he was personal friends to hundreds of us across the political right, and, you know, I think a personal friend to millions more on college campuses, people who listen to his podcast. I mean, when. When he died, millions of Americans lost a friend. Right. You know, he wasn't an elected politician. You know, he was a private citizen speaking his views into the public square that millions of us hold, by the way.
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A
Yes.
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F
And he was shot for doing so. And so I think the shock and grief and anger, I think, to some extent. Right. You don't know the right as ang. Angry because we're not burning cities down. But I do think there is this collective sense of enough, enough. And this resolve to change our politics in a way that doesn't. That it can't get to this point anymore. And so how do we, as a movement move forward, honoring Charlie's legacy, respecting the views of people who oppose us, but doing so with firmness and resolve in a way that we haven't done before. And what I mean by that is really just from where I sit, pushing back against this narrative and refusing to accept that Charlie Kirk was somehow provocative. Right. This pretext that the left and the mainstream media are setting up that somehow. Well, people who hold these views are controversial. Controversial and Somehow they deserve poor treatment. I refuse to accept that.
- [32:59]
A
So. So one of the many evils that I'm witnessing in the wake of his assassination is the left is lying about Charlie's views and then attacking the, the fake version of his views. They'll say things like, oh, he was a racist, he was a bigot, he was protecting white nationalism. He was none of those things. But what they do is they frame it that way and then they attack the fake version of him that never existed.
- [33:24]
F
Yeah, that's exactly right. And you know, I have to. I want every conservative and Republican politician that goes on media to challenge that right when they say, oh, well, Charlie Kirk was controversial. Oh, really? What was it that he said was controversial? Because I want to read the full quote. Usually what they do is they'll take one snippet out of context and forget the rest of it. And it make him sound. To your point, they create this straw man of Charlie Kerr, who wasn't actually what he believed. I was just in this engagement about this this morning. Oh, well, he said, you know, Haitians are going to take over the city and become your masters. I'm like, yes. What he's talking about is unfettered immigration, changing the way that we live and people who aren't citizens of this country controlling its outcome over and above the people who do. This is a mainstream Republican belief. It is why we believe in borders and controlled immigration. This is the conversation I want us to have. And this is what I mean about the right being fierce in, in response. Right. So many times the right cowers and you see that, well, we still want to be liked by the people in the New York Times. We still want to be liked by the Financial Times and the Washington Post. No, enough. We are done with this. And I'm glad to see people in Congress like Chip Roy saying more than that, we need a select committee to start investigating all of these institutions. Because in my belief, the left in many ways is a taxpayer funded subsidy. Right. It doesn't exist. It's a taxpayer funded conspiracy. It doesn't exist without a lot of the taxpayer funding that flows to it from grants, you know, from our tax dollars, harboring people who cheer assassinations and terrorism at universities. All of this needs to be cut off because without it, I don't think the institutional left can survive. And then they're forced to actually debate in the arena of ideas and they will lose.
- [35:06]
A
This is why you saw so many Democrat congressmen freaking out in front of USAID as President Trump started cutting the funding is because we found their piggy bank and we were stopping it. And as a result, they were going ballistic over an issue that most Americans weren't even aware of. I mean, how many people knew what USAID even did? And the Democrats were freaking out. It wasn't commensurate with our knowledge of that institution. Now, getting back to the left and violence, I just played a clip, an unfortunate clip of Senator James Lankford on one of the Sunday shows this weekend suggesting that somehow this is a both sides problem. Political violence, it's happening on both sides all the time. I happen to think that that's completely false, that this is a deeply asymmetric problem where the left has an assassination culture. And any attempt to dress this up as a both sides problem is really an effort to excuse away the amount of immense violence we're seeing coming from the left right now. Right.
- [36:03]
F
Yeah, this is the exact problem. Right. Like the both sides thing here is just unacceptable because we live in a culture now where for over a decade the mainstream media in a, in just with the acceptance of our politicians has allowed the right to be smeared. And, and they go as, you know, racist, fascist, Nazi, end of democracy, constitutional crisis. When you allow this, this belief to take hold, when you call half the country hate filled, what do you think is going to happen, right? You normalize this, this other rising of your political opponent and that is what the left refuses to own right now. They refuse to see the part they have played and the corporate media has played in creating this climate where you have so demonized one half of the country that you think it's acceptable, right? You create, it creates this mind virus that is of course spun into oblivion by social media, by, you know, twitch and discord and all these place this assassin hung out and they believe that they, they, they have justification because every, the media narrative and the echo chamber around them is saying, yes, these people hate you.
- [37:11]
A
Do you?
- [37:12]
F
And it's not. Sorry, go ahead.
- [37:14]
A
No, no, finish your point and then I have another question.
- [37:17]
F
Well, you know, I've also encountered this narrative that somehow it's. So it's just fringe leftists supporting this assassination. No, it is not. It is not just fringe leftist. George Conway, who is platformed by cnn, msnbc, the Bulwark, posted a, an image of a Nazi and said, oh, this is Charlie Kirk's death is a Nazi conspiracy. This is a person who was very mainstream on the left. And more than that, it's not just talking heads, right? It is institutions. We are seeing people in universities, we are Seeing teachers, We are seeing people, you know, across the country who have just been festering in this stew, believing that their opponents are hate filled.
- [37:56]
A
Well, we saw some local communities led by Democrats, refuse to lower their flags to half staff because they were angry that Charlie Kirk was receiving honors of any kind. We've seen lefties freaking out that the White House is conferring on Charlie Kirk a Presidential Medal of Freedom, or that the flags were ordered at half staff, or that he was. That his body was escorted home on Air Force Two. They're furious about this. Where does that anger come from? Why would you be angry that someone who did so many good things for this country is being treated in a dignified way in his death?
- [38:29]
F
They are, you know, so sensitive that they cannot allow anyone who disagrees with them to. Somehow. They cannot. They reject the posture of civil disagreement. Right. Because that was what Charlie Kirk was after, was this idea that we can actually engage our disagreement in a productive way. We may not walk away agreeing with each other, but the point is to have the conversation, to see the humanity on the other side. That is what is so tragic about the loss of Charlie, is that he understood that very fundamental and foundational American principle. There are people on the left that have, for decades, they have rejected it. Right. And it goes all the way back generations ago. I mean, you know, 30, 40 years ago, to the 60s and 70s. Mark Hemingway wrote an actually very good piece on this in the Federalist, that the left for decades has taken people from the violent eras of the 60s and 70s. Right. And they haven't disowned them. They've actually put them in positions of prominence. The Weather Underground, the people who bombed the Senate in 1983. Susan Rosenberg, her sentence was. Was commuted by President Bill Clinton. She now raises money for Black Lives Matter and lectures at universities. They have housed and and, you know, regarded these people with honor who took a violent approach to politics. They have made it part of their, you know, their worldview. And I think you're starting to see the consequences of that. You cannot harbor and house people like that in your movement and not expect something like this.
- [39:58]
A
Yeah, we're going through a genuine civil rights moment, I think, for the country, and I do see some positive developments. So in the wake of Charlie's assassination, it does seem like the fever started to break a little bit, especially among institutions that had previously just been silent on all of these issues. We saw sports teams dedicating moments of silence to Charlie Kirk. Professional sports teams, the New York Yankees, NFL teams all across the League this weekend, we saw celebrities coming out, people like Chris Pratt, of course, expressing his horror and sympathies for what had happened. And now you're seeing people being fired inside of the very institutions that you're talking about, Rachel Bovard at the universities inside of corporate America, inside of hospitals who were cheering the death of Charlie Kirk. And now they're being fired, they're being terminated for there's righteous indignation that's leading to this. There's consequences for that kind of vile behavior. Are you. Are you hopeful based on what you're seeing right now?
- [41:02]
F
I am. You know, because I think, you know, when you are confronted with this behavior, normal people recoil. Right. Normal people recoil from the idea that you could cheer the death of another human being, much less the death of a young father who was, you know, brutally murdered in front of his daughter. Because that is what you were cheering for. Let's be very explicit about it.
- [41:24]
A
It.
- [41:24]
F
And so I. I am hopeful that this is a moment where we can sort of reclaim our humanity to each other. But what concerns me is that the people who, again, have been celebrating and learning from and housing the domestic terrorists from the 1960s and 70s are still the people controlling a lot of these institutions. And I do think that's why the right has to be very forceful in our response to this. No, no more are we funding through taxpayer dollars, you know, through anything else, the subsidization of these centers that harbor these people.
- [41:57]
A
So, as you know, Republicans in Congress are typically a lagging indicator of the sentiment of the country, meaning, like, it'll take years for them to finally get where the rest of us are. What do you. How do you assess Congress right now? Do you think that enough Republican lawmakers are opening their eyes to the challenge that we are facing as a country right now?
- [42:18]
F
You know, I'm a little pessimistic about it, and I'm going to be honest about why, before this even happened, right? Going back to this USAID conversation where Trump went in and said, by the way, you know, USAID has been funding our demise to some extent, right. We've been funding these leftist organizations to come at us in all these different areas of culture and politics. And, you know, civil society republics in Congress responded by refunding those organizations in their appropriations bill. The House, in particular, House Republicans put out a bill that refunded all of the things Donald Trump cut. And it's like, you have to ask yourself, what is it going to take for you to understand this isn't a popularity contest. This is not about you being invited to the right fundraisers or you be invited to the right cocktail parties and being labeled a, oh, one of the good Republicans. This is actually an existential fight for people that believe like we do. And it obviously within the bounds of the Constitution, obviously within the parameters of the law. But all of that goes back to the funding. Congress controls that, right? President Trump can only do so much Republican in Congress haven't yet shown to me that they are willing and able partners of the president in addressing these issues. And so I hope, you know, I hate that it's brought us to this moment, but I hope this moment is eye opening for a lot of people. You know, James Langford, respectfully, that both sideism isn't going to cut it. And if that's the belief that you hold, you're not representing your voters anymore, it's awful.
- [43:49]
A
It's so completely pathetic. And it's cowardice at the moment that we require courage from the people who purport to lead the right. And so I really do think that this needs to be a wake up call. If Charlie Kirk's assassination can't be a wake up call for you, then you need to leave. I'm sorry, you shouldn't be a part of the Congress at all. And yet too many of these guys are. What is on there, Rachel, you follow what they're up to right now very closely. What is on their agenda right now in Congress? Is it all just budget fights right now? And is there anything serious we need to be on the guard for?
- [44:24]
F
It is budget fights. And you know, these are always serious because of what we just talked about, right? This idea that these, you know, government, government funding controls a lot of the policy that goes on in Washington at the end of the day. So the government funding expires on September 30, right? It's always this. Congress knows they have a deadline and they never do anything about it till the very last minute. But the debate really is, are you going to have a continuing resolution, a straight extension of funds, or are you going to give deference to these appropriators who want to undo everything Donald Trump has done? And it's kind of a weird moment for conservatives because for a long time, you know, we've hated CRS, right? We've said, no, no, we need to pass 12 appropriations bills and do it the right way. But in this instance, I do think conservatives need to understand a CR to protect the gains that President Trump has made is the best outcome possible. And people will say well, why? Because we're just ext. Biden's budget. Well, we don't have Biden's government anymore. Right. So President Trump is going to take those funds and he is going to do the things he's been doing, and he's not going to have to be subject to the discretion of the appropriators. Because what will happen if you don't do a CR is you will get these House Republicans who think Trump's cut should be undone. They will have the say. Right. They will be the ones pushing their agenda on the president and not the president being able to do what he wants. So that's going to be the debate. And, you know, you've seen Democrats already say they understand this, by the way. They absolutely understand the significance of a cr. They want to have their. Their paws all over an appropriations process. So you're seeing Democrats already say, no, no, no, no, cr. And Republicans need to be firm in this and actually, you know, be strong negotiators for a change.
- [46:03]
A
So, to be clear, the CR would preserve the discretionary cuts and the rescission cuts that the President made.
- [46:12]
F
That's right. And all of those cuts right now, the appropriators want to undo. Susan Collins is the chair of the Appropriations Committee in the Senate. She wants to undo all of them. And also, there's a ton of earmarks in these appropriations bills.
- [46:24]
A
Yeah.
- [46:24]
F
Again, going back to Susan Collins, millions and millions of dollars are going to Maine, specifically to hospitals that fund transgender surgeries. You know, all of these things that are in these appropriations bills that if you do not pass a criminal, that is what you get.
- [46:40]
A
Yeah, okay. Yeah. CR means continuing resolution. There's some people asking in the chat. A continuing resolution means you just keep spending with the same authorizations that Congress passed before. But actually, haven't we been doing CRS since, like, the 90s? We just continually do CRS. I don't think we've passed, like, an authentic budget in a very long time, have we, Rachel?
- [46:58]
F
No, I mean, they'll pass a budget, but to your point, the regular appropriations process. Right. The 12 individual bills, rarely happens anymore in D.C. and this is why I say it's a weird moment for conservatives, because for a long time, we were like, no, do the responsible thing. But we're now in a climate where the best way to make sure Trump keeps to keep on doing what he's been doing is the cr.
- [47:21]
A
Well, I just want to do the best thing for the country. That's all I want. I'm tired of all These stupid debates on what is the principle. And no, the left doesn't play that way. So let's just make it really clear what is good for us. So one more thing for you, and then we'll let you go. Rachel, thank you for your time Today. The President's got a backlog of hundreds of nominees that have not been confirmed by the Senate yet. And yet this past week, the Senate seemed to be indicating that they were about to go nuclear so that we could get everybody through by mid October. Where are we on the progress of all of that?
- [47:50]
F
So the Senate has gone nuclear. They did that late last week, and I expect they'll confirm the first block of nominations tonight, this evening. And so to unpack a little bit about what just happened, up until this point, the Senate could only confirm nominations one at a time. Now, you used to be able to get a lot of these nominations done in a block by consent, meaning all 100 senators agree. And traditionally, both parties have given that kind of deference. Democrats, you know, and. And it's not unprecedented. Everyone says, oh, it's unprecedented Democratic obstruction. It's been leaning this way, you know, for the last ten years or so. Democrats have been saying, no, we're not giving consent. You must confirm every single nomination one at a time. One at a time. One at a time.
- [48:38]
A
Right.
- [48:38]
F
Now, remember, the filibuster doesn't exist on nominations anymore, so these are only majority threshold votes. But it does take a lot of time to do that. So, you know, Republicans only work two and a half days a week. That's true for both. The Senate only works 2 1/2 days a week. Right. They did not want to do them one at a time. So what they did was they said, we're going to break our rules to change our rules. We're going to break our rules to allow us to confirm by vote, under the regular order, a block of nominations. And so that's what we're about to see. The current list that they're going to confirm, I think, I believe has 49 nominations on it. And so they'll be confirmed by one vote as opposed to 49 individual votes.
- [49:17]
A
Yeah, it's a big deal. It's a big deal. And I'm reminded of you remember last year when Tommy Tuberville was saying, hey, we're not going to let all of these promotions go through for general officers until the military stops funding abortion operations. And everybody freaked out at Tommy Tuberville. How dare you. You have brought the Senate to a screeching halt. You are evil for what you're doing. Of course, he was on the side of decency, and now the Democrats are doing that at a much larger scale to every single nominee that the Trump administration puts forward.
- [49:47]
F
Yeah, there will. Now that they have gone nuclear, there will be no more Tommy Tuberville on the right or the left. The ability to block these nominations. The Senate has been effectively whittling that power away for the last decade, and it's almost completely gone. You know, so the future of this potentially is, you know, future President Gavin Newsom appoints that, you know, CDC monkeypox director to run the entire agency, and now he's going to just be lost in a group of nominees. You know, the ability to run, you know, actively oppose and campaign against one particular nominee is effectively gone. They're all just going to be confirmed in a blog.
- [50:24]
A
Well, the Senate did this to itself. They attacked their own institution, and this is the result of that. Okay, thank you, Rachel Bovard. Great to talk to you as always, and thank you for all your wisdom. Thank you.
- [50:33]
F
Thanks, Vince.
- [50:34]
A
There's Rachel Bovard from the Conservative Partnership Institute with a good projection forward as to what the heck is going on in the United States Senate and in our country right now. Hey, somebody in the chat did point out, and thank you for this, that not every NFL team recognized the Charlie Kirk's passing. Most did. But among the teams that did not, these would be the home stadiums. The Bengals, the Lions, the Colts, the Vikings, and Ravens. Nothing. Nothing. Couldn't, Couldn't. Couldn't spare a word on the fact that this national tragedy is gripping the nation. No moment of silence there for those of you keeping score at home. That's what happened this weekend. But it was encouraging to go from. The NFL has written all sorts of stupid things on helmets and fields and pretended that there were all sorts of imaginary issues that everybody needed to go crazy over or post on Instagram. Meanwhile, a real issue happens. Charlie Kirk gets assassinated, the country pauses in mourning, and decent people want to reflect on it. And that's what so many of these NFL teams did this weekend. To their great credit, the jets, the Cardinals, the Dolphins, the Saints, the Steelers, the Titans, the Chiefs, the Cowboys, they all held moments of silence for Charlie Kirk this weekend just before opening kickoff. So God bless them for that. Thank you for doing that. Thank you very much. In terms of that assassination, one of the biggest news items of the weekend is the fact that the shooter was living with his transgender boyfriend who wanted to pretend to be a girlfriend. That's right. Of a guy who claimed that he was a female living with the shooter. So in case you were looking for even more evidence of the left wing motivations here and the role that this transgender delusion keeps playing in all of these horrific shootings, all of the evidence is all over this event. Yet again, the assassin. Here I've got the Daily Callers iteration of this story. The Charlie Kirk assassin reportedly lived with a transgender, quote, partner. The Daily Caller reports the man accused of assassinating Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk reportedly lives with a transgender identifying partner. That's according to Fox News reporter Brooke Singman. Everybody else has confirmed this to include Spencer Cox who was on TV this weekend confirming that detail. And this is like, this is, you know, I mean, how many more of these things do we need to see? How many trans shooters do we need? How many non binary shooters do we need? How often does mental illness need to play such an outsized role in these events before we try and stop that, put a stop to that awful ideology? It is poisonous and it is driving people to the worst possible outcomes from suicide to. Yes, Homicide. Authorities arrested Tyler Robinson, 22. They've accused him of gunning down Kirk last week at Utah Valley University. Authorities say the communications between Robinson and the biological male, who identified as a transgender female, confirm Robinson as the person responsible for the assassination of Kirk. So there you go. The partner was previously described as a roommate during the Friday press conference, but it is his transgender boyfriend. Now, as I mentioned, this came up this weekend on CNN with Utah Governor Spencer Cox, who has said plenty of things that. Some of the things that Spencer Cox said this last week were important and good. Other things he said, I was like, what exactly are you talking about? This sounds strange to me. It was almost like he was trying to absolve the left broadly from its responsibility in citing lunatics like this. And I'm not here to absolve the left for that. I wanna hold the left accountable for that. Here is CNN host Dana Bash.
- [54:43]
G
That the roommate was a romantic partner, a male transitioning to female.
- [54:50]
F
And how is that relevant to the investigation when it comes to the motive? Are you learning that?
- [54:57]
A
Sure.
- [54:57]
G
Well, yeah, that's what we're, that's what we're trying to figure out right now. Again, it's. I mean, it's easy to draw conclusions from that. And so, you know, we've got the shell casings, other forensic evidence that is coming in and trying to piece all of those things together.
- [55:15]
A
Yeah, we're taking a look at that. So Dana Bash is angry that this is Even being discussed that this has come up at all. What is wrong with her? So they went from cheering the assassination. The left did so too many on the left, not all the same people, but lots of lefties went from cheering the assassination of Charlie Kirk to then claiming going into the weekend, actually he's kind of a right winger, the guy who shot Charlie. So it's the right's fault. Not true at all. No evidence for that to now. Like what does it matter that the shooter was living with his tranny boyfriend? What relevance does that play at all? Well, it's a part of a never ending pattern of chaos that comes from that perverse ideology that you can be born in the wrong body, that you're a mistake, and that animates people to do insane things when they believe insane things about themselves. So yeah, that matters a great deal. What is this? And so yes, Trantifa strikes again here. And then Spencer Cox, I mentioned like the things that he says that drive me crazy. Take a look at cut six here. Spencer Cox had the audacity to say, like, to try and like pay lip service to the idea that Charlie Kirk said things that were, quote, inflammatory. What is wrong with this? Republican governor? Cut six. Listen to this.
- [56:38]
G
I'm not saying we have to just sing Kumbaya and hold hands. What I'm saying is we actually should disagree. I think Charlie represented that better than anyone. Charlie said some very inflammatory things in some corners of the web, that's all people have heard. But he also said some other things about forgiveness. He said some amazing things about when things get dark, putting down our phones, reading scripture, going to church, talking to our neighbors. He said that we have to engage. And that's what I appreciate most about Charlie Kirk said if we don't, if we don't keep talking, that's when the violence starts.
- [57:13]
A
Stop sucking up to cnn. Stop sucking up to cnn. Why are you even bothering to do that? That's what we call. You ever see this where somebody's like, you know, they offer some preamble to their statement in order to suck up to the interviewer or to suck up to their audience or to suck up to the, to their social media people or whatever, like, you know, lefties. He'll say things like, I don't agree with anything that Charlie said, but he shouldn't be assassinated. Why do you need to tell people you didn't agree with anything he said? Who cares about that? Just say that it is horrific to see something like that happen and it should not happen in this country. Just say it. What you're doing, we call throat clearing. Throat clearing. Stop the throat clearing. And Spencer Cox, if you're gonna get on national television, don't pay lip service to this left wing garbage. Oh, Charlie Kirk said inflammatory things. Oh, really? Name one. Name something inflammatory. Unless you want to mount a defense in this way. How about this? Yes, the truth can be provocative, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't tell it. Tell the truth? Charlie was killed for telling the truth. Charlie Kirk is a Christian martyr. He's a man who was animated by God, by the Holy Spirit, to carry out the works that he did on this earth. He used his skills, his blessings, to their maximum for the benefit of the rest of us. And I only pray that the rest of us can derive that lesson, which is that we have blessings. We should use them to glorify God and help the rest of us get to heaven. It's as straightforward as that. So don't go on television anymore and say things like, oh, yeah, Charlie had his faults. He was inflammatory. I could see why people didn't like him. No, garbage. Stop it. Find your balls and then go on tv and then tell the truth. Why is this so hard? Why is this so hard? Republicans, we're watching. Now's your moment. Rise to the occasion, please, please. We got a lot to get to. We have a big national radio show today, 12 to 3 Eastern Time. We'll be doing that rumble. Com. Vince, Find your local radio listings at the Vincehow. Com. We've got the local listings there also. We'll be back with you tomorrow, as always, right here on Vince. Great to have you with us today. The best audience anywhere.