Charlie Kirk and Kane from Citizen Free Press Discuss Trump's Flood the Zone Strategy and Historic Cabinet Victories

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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 Kane from Citizen Free Press Discuss Trump's Flood the Zone Strategy and Historic Cabinet Victories

Charlie Kirk sits down with Kane from Citizen Free Press to analyze President Trump's unprecedented "flood the zone" approach during his first weeks back in office. Kane, who monitors news around the clock, shares his perspective on the maximalist strategy that has left the opposition struggling to respond. The conversation covers Trump's meteoric rise from 12% betting odds during multiple indictments to becoming the most powerful person on the planet, the significance of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s endorsement bringing independent voters, and the all-star cabinet roster including Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, JD Vance, and Tulsi Gabbard. Kirk and Kane reflect on their years working together through the darkest moments and celebrate the populist movement's expansion across all working-class demographics.

February 14, 2025

The Flood the Zone Strategy Exceeds All Expectations

Kane from Citizen Free Press joined Charlie Kirk to discuss what he calls a breathtaking opening to President Trump's administration. Kane, who operates one of the most active news aggregation sites monitoring political developments 18 hours a day, admitted he never anticipated the success of the "flood the zone" strategy. While he and Kirk had discussed that Trump would come out aggressive and fast, the reality exceeded their expectations.

"I don't think anyone had any idea what flood the zone would really mean," Kane explained. "The philosophy behind giving them too many things to chase, too many ideas—I didn't anticipate that it was going to work this well. The resistance hasn't really been able to get started. We're starting to see some lawfare judges stepping in, but for the most part it's just been a trail of tears of Democrat tears and media tears."

Kirk emphasized the preparedness and precision of the administration, noting the executive orders, the pace, and the rapidity of action. He credited Trump's time in exile as beneficial, pointing out that when he and Kane first started talking, Trump was at 12% in the betting odds to become president, facing multiple indictments and lawfare.

Trump 2.0 Vastly Superior to First Term

Kane highlighted a critical observation: this administration is dramatically better than Trump 1.0. While he acknowledged that no one wants to say the nation's suffering under Biden was a good thing, he guaranteed that without those four years, nothing like this current performance would be possible.

"Trump had four years to sit and think and ponder every department, every agency, and how to attack this," Kane said. "We all love Javier Milei and the chainsaw, and I remember cautioning people leading up to the inauguration like, look, it's not going to be like that. We aren't going to be able to cut agencies like they did in Argentina. But I'll tell you, the DOGE stuff and the Elon Musk stuff, it reminds me of Javier Milei, it reminds me of Argentina, it reminds me of winning."

Kirk traced one of the inflection points back to East Palestine, Ohio, when Trump visited while Biden ignored the crisis. "That was the beginning," Kirk recalled. "He's like, I'm going to go to forgotten America. Biden is forgetting them. Full court press."

Polling Shows Historic Support Across Demographics

The conversation turned to polling data, with both Kirk and Kane describing themselves as "poll junkies." Kane noted the phenomenal CBS News poll that Margaret Brennan was not pleased to report. The numbers showed strong approval for Trump's early actions.

"There's something I've got in the stack this morning—42% of black men approve," Kane reported. "It's the expansion of the populist base from white working class to black working class, Hispanic working class, and Asian working class. We're thinking bigger. Where is this going to go in 2028? Can we maintain the hold on the House, Senate, and the presidency? It's looking good for populism, for nationalist populism."

Kane expressed surprise that Trump's poll numbers remained this strong given the aggressive executive order pace. "If you had said to me a month ago, okay, Trump's going to go shock and awe, Days of Thunder, he's not going to stop, executive orders day after day, I wouldn't have thought that his poll numbers would be this good."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Game-Changing Endorsement

Kirk asked Kane about the significance of Bobby Kennedy's role in the election and what his appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services means for the Republican Party moving forward.

"I think it's five points. It's four or five points, Charlie," Kane responded. "He brought independents. We were looking at the independent numbers before Kennedy came aboard and they were not that strong. They were more or less closely split between Trump and the Democrat, between Trump and Kamala. That may have made the difference in Pennsylvania."

Kane credited the success to multiple factors—Turning Point USA, Scott Pressler, massive grassroots efforts—but identified Kennedy's endorsement as bringing four points of independents, which showed up immediately in the numbers within the next week.

Kane even admitted that when Kennedy first entered the race, long before JD Vance was selected, he was ready for Trump to take Kennedy as vice president. "I knew how many independent, left-leaning independents, normally voting Democrat, these people loved Kennedy. Getting him on our team was huge, and getting him through the Senate was huge."

Strategic Resistance Against Senate Opposition

Kane connected the smoother confirmations of Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard to the fierce battle over Pete Hegseth's nomination. "There was less resistance to Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard. Why? Because of what happened with Pete Hegseth, and a lot of that is you and TPUSA. We put our hair up on the back of our necks and we said, look guys, if you're not going to go along with the MAGA agenda, this is what we're going to do to you. We don't know who it's going to be, but it's going to be powerful and we're going to primary you guys. And they got in line, Charlie. They got in line and they did what the American people wanted."

The All-Star Cabinet Roster in Action

Kirk emphasized the incredible tempo and urged everyone to get used to it, noting this is the pace without a full cabinet—imagine when everyone is confirmed and operational. He singled out three people for special praise: Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth, and JD Vance, calling each of them "a 10."

"Donald Trump is calling shots. He's the offensive coordinator, he is the air traffic controller," Kirk said. "We got Marco Rubio solving all the Nicaraguan and Guatemala and Venezuelan, Colombian problems, which is immense because all the migration stuff starts there. He's speaking Spanish to them and speaking truth to them."

Kirk continued: "We got Pete Hegseth doing PT with our troops at 0500 where Lloyd Austin couldn't walk up a flight of stairs. And then the other side, we got JD Vance. He was in Paris, he's going to Davos, and now he's doing Munich tomorrow, giving one of the most important speeches for a sitting vice president in all of modern American history."

Kane agreed enthusiastically, highlighting Rubio's Spanish language skills as a game-changer with Latin American leaders who are loving and accepting him. He noted that Javier Milei and Nayib Bukele paved the way. He praised Hegseth for working out and doing PT while Lloyd Austin would have been "wearing two masks and a visor," and commended JD Vance for making history in Europe as populism follows him.

Elon Musk and the National Debt Battle

Kirk brought up Elon Musk going around with a metaphorical hammer breaking every piece of government waste he can get in contact with. Kane connected this to his personal political origin story.

"You're young, but I know a lot of why you got into politics and started TPUSA is the debt, right? The national debt is that overall issue that young people pay attention to," Kane said. "To watch this stuff happen—you've seen my headlines, Charlie. I've been waiting for this stuff for 25 years. The whole reason I'm interested in politics is the national debt. When I was working at CNN at age 21, that's where I got scooped in on the national debt, and Charlie, it was $2 trillion and I was freaking out about $2 trillion. It's $37 trillion now, as you know."

Kane concluded with genuine enthusiasm: "I've never seen anything like it. I agree the action will not stop. I'm the guy covering it 18 hours a day and there's no break, there's no slowdown. I love it, Charlie. I love it."

From Darkness to Dominance

Kirk reflected on the journey he and his audience took together, from the darkest days when Trump faced multiple indictments and single-digit betting odds, to the current moment of unprecedented strength and popularity.

"Everybody in this audience deserves incredible credit for how you had the resolve and you stayed focused," Kirk said. "We had you on every week, sometimes multiple times a week."

Kane remembered those days clearly: "When I started coming on, it was all Dan DeSantis. That was the talk. Trump's betting odds were low, below 15%. DeSantis looked like he was ascendant."

The conversation came full circle, from those conversations late at night wondering if Trump could overcome impossible odds, to watching him become what Kirk called "the most popular person on the planet, most powerful person on the planet." The journey from 12% betting odds during indictments to complete dominance represents not just Trump's personal comeback, but the triumph of the populist movement that Kirk and Kane have championed throughout.

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