2,387 videos 1,376,944,188 views US Joined Aug 30, 2018
Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of Turning Point USA, the largest and fastest growing conservative youth activist organization in the country with over 250,000 student members, over 150 full-time staff, and a presence on over 2,000 high school and college campuses nationwide. Charlie is also the Chairman of Students for Trump, which aims to activate one million new college voters on campuses in battleground states in the lead up to the 2020 presidential election. His social media reaches over 100 million people per month and according to Axios, he is one of the "top 10 most engaged" Twitter handles in the world. He is also the host of “The Charlie Kirk Show,” which regularly ranks among the top news shows on Apple podcast charts.
Andrew Kolvet on Karoline Leavitt's First White House Briefing and Credentials for New Media Voices
Andrew Kolvet sits in for Charlie Kirk as the Trump White House prepares for its first press briefing with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. With Charlie traveling alongside Vice President JD Vance, Andrew connects with Real America's Voice White House correspondent Brian Glenn to discuss the changes coming to White House press access. Leavitt announced the restoration of 440 press passes revoked by the previous administration and opened credentials to independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators. Andrew argues that Legacy media outlets have climbed through a pecking order while toeing party lines with editorial constraints that force them to use specific language about events like January 6 and the 2020 election. He sees this as a fundamental reset that rebalances coverage, truth, and access for outlets that better represent the Americans who elected Donald Trump as the 47th president.
Breaking News: Charlie Kirk Travels with Vice President JD Vance
Andrew Kolvet opens the show with breaking news: Charlie Kirk is traveling with Vice President JD Vance. Andrew describes Vance as an American hero and expresses excitement about what the Vice President will accomplish during his time serving the country. With Charlie on the road, Andrew takes the helm to cover one of the most anticipated events of the new administration.
First White House Press Briefing Under Karoline Leavitt
The entire political class and much of the country are tuning in for the first official White House press briefing with new Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Andrew brings on Brian Glenn, White House correspondent for Real America's Voice, to get a firsthand account of the atmosphere and expectations inside the briefing room.
Brian reports that the crowd is growing throughout the morning with an elevated buzz in the air. New media outlets that have never been seen around the White House before are showing up. He notes an interesting addition to the briefing room: two video screens positioned on either side of where Leavitt will stand, potentially for slideshows or video playback to support statements and recap what has happened during the first days of the administration.
Questions About Seating Arrangements and Media Access
Andrew raises the issue of seating arrangements in the White House briefing room. In years past, outlets like The New York Times and other Legacy media organizations occupied the front rows, while new and conservative outlets were relegated to the back or excluded entirely. Under former Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, there were clear patterns about who would be called on and who would be ignored.
Brian indicates that for this initial briefing, seating appears to be business as usual. However, he expects the seating chart to be scrambled going forward, with more conservative-based media or outlets that are fair and unbalanced moved toward the front. This represents a significant departure from the previous administration, which Brian describes as having protected Joe Biden from scrutiny.
Expected Topics and Questions
Brian anticipates that mainstream media will use this briefing to unleash scrutiny on President Trump, particularly on immigration policy, which has been heavily criticized across most mainstream outlets. However, he expects the Trump administration to use the visual tools at their disposal, including the new video screens, to document accomplishments, executive orders, changes within government and military, Senate confirmation hearings, and other initiatives from the first weeks.
Rather than turning to binders full of prepared answers, the administration can show videos and PowerPoint presentations that provide visual documentation of what has been accomplished. Brian sees this as a creative approach that breaks from how things have always been done.
Karoline Leavitt Announces Credentials for New Media
In a clip from Karoline Leavitt, the new Press Secretary announces that the White House believes strongly in the First Amendment and will work diligently to restore press passes for 440 journalists whose credentials were wrongly revoked by the previous administration. She also announces that the briefing room is being opened up to new media voices who produce news-related content and whose outlets are not already represented in the room.
Leavitt welcomes independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover the White House. This represents a fundamental shift in who has access to the administration and who can ask questions on behalf of the American people.
Andrew Kolvet on the Legacy Media Problem
Andrew responds to this announcement by sharing his perspective as someone who regularly interacts with mainstream and Legacy news media in his role as spokesman for Turning Point USA. He describes a huge number of journalists in these organizations as wildly unimpressive, holding their positions simply because they climbed through a pecking order and towed the party line.
He points out that there are editorial constraints at many Legacy outlets that require journalists to call January 6 an insurrection or describe the 2020 election as the most secure in history. These mandated talking points are wildly out of step with the Americans who just elected Donald Trump as the 47th president. Andrew sees a fundamental disconnect between the people and the news agencies that have historically been allowed into the briefing room.
A Reset That Needed to Happen
Andrew argues that Karoline Leavitt is blowing up an old paradigm that desperately needed to be reset and reformulated. He believes voices like Joe Rogan, Russell Brand, and Charlie Kirk should be in that room. Turning Point USA already has a White House correspondent, and Andrew describes her as a true journalist with integrity who, while having a point of view, is committed to truth and honesty.
He pushes back against the notion that mainstream journalists are objective, arguing that they are water carriers for the regime media and have been an enemy of the people because they have been an enemy of truth. While he stops short of saying they should be arrested, he insists it is time for the scales of coverage, justice, and truth to be rebalanced. The opening of White House credentials to new media is a fundamental step in the right direction.
