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.
Charlie Kirk and Benny Johnson Expose Socialist Reality in Cuba and AOC's Fraudulent Background
Charlie Kirk sits down with Benny Johnson to revisit his eye-opening documentary footage from Cuba, where government-run grocery stores reveal the dark reality of socialism. Johnson describes Havana as a "post-apocalyptic" world with crumbling infrastructure and desperate citizens rushing into stores for basic necessities. The conversation then shifts to Johnson's investigation into AOC's background, exposing that the self-proclaimed "girl from the Bronx" actually grew up in the affluent suburb of Yorktown Heights. With parallels drawn between Cuba's decline and New York's direction under leaders like Mandani, Kirk and Johnson discuss what happens when socialist policies take root in American cities.
The Reality of Government-Run Grocery Stores in Cuba
Charlie Kirk welcomed Benny Johnson, host of the Benny Show, to discuss several important investigations, starting with Johnson's documentary work in Cuba. The conversation began with footage showing Cuban citizens rushing into a government-run grocery store, a scene that reveals the stark reality of socialist economic systems.
Johnson described the scene: "All of a sudden, the guards come to the gate and they open the gate. And that's when I've never seen this before, but everyone swarmed. People started running. Even people that weren't in line that were just like in the area just start sprinting in there because this is their only chance to get their essentials and the necessities to feed their families."
When asked what he learned about government-run grocery stores, Johnson painted a grim picture: "I understand why people would flee Cuba and risk being interned in alligator Alcatraz because it is truly hell on earth. It's like a bizarro world video game. It's like when you see a post-apocalyptic scene inside of a Hollywood movie where there was once a thriving society. There was once a functional people, a functional architecture of the city, but it's all been rotted and it's all been crumbled down to its lowest common criminal denominator."
The Decay of Socialist Infrastructure
Johnson described the physical deterioration of Havana in detail: "It's very sad to go through Havana. It's very sad to see these old beautiful Spanish castles that have just decayed and are now truly just crumbling directly into the street. And the people there in the nation of Cuba are also eternally depressed."
Inside the grocery stores, Johnson found uniformity and scarcity: "Inside of that grocery store, every single item there was just government-owned stamps on everything. So, like a can of beans, a piece of frozen chicken. There was mainly empty shelves, but everything just comes from the same process."
The documentary footage showed Johnson walking through a Cuban grocery store, highlighting the absurdity: "I really hope that you like konita mango marmalade because we have a whole aisle. Here in Cuba, you can get an individually wrapped hamburger. And that's as fresh as the meat actually gets. But my god, can you get a lot of the exact same brand of garbanzo beans here. And then after you're done buying all these incredible products, you can stand in line for literally an hour, which is as long as we've been standing in line."
Johnson summarized the shopping experience: "There was literally no fresh fruit, no fresh meat, no fresh vegetables, nothing. There was one brand of the things they did have, and the things they didn't have, well, screw you."
Filming Under Communist Surveillance
Getting the footage wasn't easy. Johnson explained the challenges: "They confiscated our drones when we got into Cuba. We had to sit there for 6 hours while they went through all of our bags. And then they eventually raided the Airbnb that we were staying at. Federal agents from the communist regime raided the Airbnb and tried to take our SD cards, tried to take the footage that we were filming there. So, we had to actually flee the country."
Johnson credited the Trump administration for his safe return: "Thank God that President Trump was president. If Joe Biden were president, I assume that we would be potentially incarcerated to this day."
The footage shown was five years old, and Johnson noted conditions have only worsened: "I want to go back to Cuba. I want to head back there and show because it's just gotten worse. It hasn't gotten any better."
Drawing Parallels to American Cities
Kirk mentioned that the mayor of Miami, himself a son of Cuban dissidents who fled Castro's regime, drew direct comparisons between Cuban socialism and current American political figures: "He said this is American Castro. Mandani is American Castro and he will do to New York what he's done to Havana."
Johnson emphasized the warning this documentary provides: "The effects of socialism are everywhere. Crumbling infrastructure and disgusting living conditions. That is what socialism has brought to Cuba. Maybe the socialists in America should take a short trip, a short 90-mile trip, and come here and say they want this in America."
In the documentary, Johnson interviewed Cubans about socialism. When asked if socialism was good for Cuban people, they responded emphatically: "Not good. No, my friend. No."
Exposing AOC's Fraudulent Background
The conversation shifted to Johnson's investigation into AOC's background. Johnson revealed: "She's a total fraud. Ever since she was an infant, before she could walk or talk, AOC has been raised in a leafy, clean, and beautiful suburb that is pristine and low on crime. That is one of those places that gets painted in American history by people like Norman Rockwell. It's a place called Yorktown Heights, the hamlet of Yorktown Heights. It's 120 minutes from downtown Manhattan."
This contradicts AOC's carefully crafted image as a working-class girl from the Bronx. Johnson explained the extent of her time there: "It's not that she was just like lived there for a little bit. She went to preschool there, then she went to elementary school, middle school, high school there, and then she graduated and went to Boston University. So, she's a total and complete fraud."
Johnson's investigation even found political opposition in her hometown: "There's a lot of people in MAGA hats and there's actually a Trump sign right across from AOC's home that she was raised in."
The video investigation, which has been viewed by over 40 million people, showed the stark contrast between AOC's persona and reality. Johnson noted: "This is working class stolen valor. It's exactly what Kamala Harris tried to do when she said that she worked at McDonald's."
What Classmates Revealed About AOC
Johnson shared what he learned from people who attended school with AOC: "We learned that she was a big bully and that she was unhappy and that she was one of the people in high school that you just didn't want to be around. And so maybe she just took all that angst and that lack of fulfillment and that self-deprecation into politics, that self-loathing that you kind of see on the left so often and she just channeled it into communism like they always do."
Johnson questioned why Democrats can't embrace American prosperity: "I don't understand why Democrats can't just accept that America is a beautiful and wonderful country and to be from a place like Yorktown Heights is a major privilege and you should be thankful for it and not vengefully hate your country."
The Mandani Threat to New York
Kirk asked Johnson about the driving force behind Mandani and how to defeat him. Johnson revealed recent conversations with President Trump: "Well, Trump told me yesterday he's just going to put him in jail. So, there's that. But that's because Mandani is proposing multiple policies that are patently illegal."
Johnson detailed the illegal policies: "Mandani wants to tax people based on their skin color. He says so and he doubled down on that this weekend saying that white people in New York need to pay more taxes. That's something that obviously drew a rebuke from the Trump Justice Department."
Johnson explained the federal response: "President Trump told me yesterday when I asked him about Mandani that he's going to be facing serious federal threats for stopping ICE enforcement in the city of New York. This is what he promised to do when he won in his nomination speech last week."
Johnson posed a philosophical question about intervention: "Do we let our great American cities fail? Do we give them what they want? Democracy, of course, is the people know what they want, and they deserve to get it good and hard. So, do we give New Yorkers the communism that they wish to live under? Is that the only way to learn? I don't know the answer to that question."
Alligator Alcatraz and Border Security
The conversation touched on Johnson's recent visit to what's been dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," a detention facility in Florida. Johnson asked Trump about his 2018 suggestion of putting alligators in the Rio Grande. Trump responded: "I was thinking about that. I must say it was meant more as a joke, but the more I thought of it, the more I liked it if you want to know the truth. And they were seriously they were actually crocodiles. They were crocodiles from Africa. They are a step beyond. But no, that was really meant as a joke, but a lot of people liked it and a lot of people think we should do it, frankly."
Johnson described the facility: "It's the cleanest and most secure and most sanitary conditions I've seen in any prison. That is a higher standard than our federal prison system actually has for inmates. And that it's right there on an airport. As soon as you arrive, as soon as a detainee arrives at Alligator Alcatraz, which is the most dangerous prison in America, not because of the conditions inside, but because of the conditions outside because it is surrounded by a million alligators and is surrounded by hundreds of millions of mosquitoes about the size of hummingbirds and also pythons and other venomous snakes. You just can't escape from it."
Johnson was impressed by the construction efficiency: "The people who built Alligator Alcatraz here in the state of Florida, they were able to build it in 72 hours. This is the It was nothing. It was a slab of concrete and they have a fully functional federal prison in 72 hours. So, it can happen with the right leadership. Government can actually work for the people."
The New Media Landscape
Johnson reflected on the changing media environment: "We are the media now and that shows like Charlie's and shows like mine, you can find me at Benny Johnson on all social media and the Benny Show, that we are able to ask the questions that people actually care about. We were able to ask President Trump four questions. All four of them trended globally and worldwide and got major attention, and we were able to run circles around what is the corporate media and that's because we answer to you the American people and it's our great honor to do that."
He praised the White House's approach: "It's a huge compliment to the team at the White House that allows for independent voices to have access to the president and that's how you actually get the truth."
Student Action Summit 2025
Kirk reminded the audience about the upcoming Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, where Johnson will be speaking. The event features an impressive lineup including Greg Gutfeld, Tucker Carlson, Kristi Noem, Donald Trump Jr., Laura Ingraham, and Stephen Bannon. Kirk, Johnson, and Bannon will all be broadcasting their shows live from the event.
Johnson praised Turning Point USA events: "It just makes you believe in your country and you can see the core of the energy where the nation is heading and this moment that we're in right now wouldn't surprise you if you were going to these conferences four years ago and you could see that this was a movement that was durable that was going to last and you can't kill an idea and this is an idea that this country isn't over yet and that we have God's providence here and it's really wonderful to see it on display and in full motion."
