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2,252 videos 1,362,132,946 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

February 14, 2025

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.

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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Video Transcript

[00:00] joining us now is a great friend of the

[00:01] program we've been wanting to have him

[00:02] on for quite some time and his website

[00:05] is popping off lately and his Mr Kane

[00:09] from citizenfreepress tocom Mr Kane

[00:11] great to see

[00:12] you yeah great to be here Charlie what a

[00:15] morning what a morning what a victory

[00:17] Charlie what a victory praise the Lord I

[00:19] mean I want to just take a step back

[00:21] here Kane I mean you are kind of the

[00:23] news Svengali you see it all you monitor

[00:26] it I mean you and I have had not not a

[00:28] chance to catch up for quite some time

[00:31] Kane give us your take of the the

[00:33] maximalist approach the flood the zone

[00:37] that we are seeing from president Trump

[00:40] and his

[00:42] team yeah it's it's breathtaking Charlie

[00:45] I never expected it you and I had these

[00:47] discussions we knew it was going to be

[00:49] aggressive we knew he was going to come

[00:51] hard and fast but I don't think anyone

[00:53] had it had any idea what flood the Zone

[00:56] would really mean and I don't think you

[00:58] know we anticipated the success of it

[01:00] and the idea the philosophy behind

[01:03] giving them too many things to chase too

[01:05] many ideas and and yet I didn't

[01:08] anticipate that it was going to work

[01:09] this well you know all you know the

[01:11] resistance it hasn't really been able to

[01:13] get started yeah we're starting to see

[01:15] some laware judges are stepping in the

[01:18] way uh but for the most part it's just

[01:20] been tears it's just been a Trail of

[01:22] Tears of democrat tears and media tears

[01:25] and it it's this you know it has to go

[01:28] back to the strategy and I'm sure you

[01:30] know I don't since I'm working all the

[01:32] time I don't get an opportunity to

[01:34] listen to all of your sort of opening

[01:36] monologues but one of the things that's

[01:38] been sticking out to me these last three

[01:40] weeks is this is so much better than

[01:42] Trump 1.0 you know we don't want to say

[01:45] that that that it was a good thing that

[01:47] the nation suffered for for four years

[01:49] under Biden but I guarantee you that we

[01:52] wouldn't have anything like this had

[01:55] Trump you know been able to assume

[01:57] office in in 2021

[02:00] he had four years to sit and think and

[02:03] Ponder every Department every agency and

[02:06] how to attack this and and the last

[02:08] thing I'll say as I throw back to you

[02:09] you know the we all love the Javier

[02:11] milai and and the chainsaw and I

[02:14] remember sort of cautioning people in

[02:16] you know leading up to it to the

[02:18] inauguration like look it's not going to

[02:20] be like that we aren't going to be able

[02:22] to cut agencies like like they did in

[02:24] Argentina but I'll tell you this the

[02:26] Doge stuff and and and the Elon mus

[02:29] stuff it reminds me of Javier Malay it

[02:31] reminds me of Argentina it reminds me of

[02:34] winning of winning and and you know Kane

[02:38] what what do you make of the

[02:41] administration coming with such

[02:43] preparedness such Precision the

[02:45] executive orders the pace the rapidity I

[02:49] I agree the the time in Exile I think

[02:52] was very good in a lot of different ways

[02:53] for us I mean Kan that's where you and I

[02:55] got to know each other where we were the

[02:57] furthest away from the presidency

[02:59] imaginable when you and I started

[03:00] talking when you started to come on this

[03:02] program I mean Kane it was like Trump

[03:04] was like 12% in the betting odds to

[03:06] become president remember I mean he was

[03:08] indicted and there was lawfare and you

[03:10] would you and I would talk late at night

[03:12] and say man I don't know about this and

[03:13] I mean he just crawled himself out of

[03:17] the impossible hole to a place where now

[03:20] he's the most popular person on the

[03:22] planet most powerful person on the

[03:23] planet I think one of the inflection

[03:25] points was East Palestine Ohio when he

[03:27] went there and that was the beginning

[03:29] he's like I'm going to go to forgotten

[03:30] America Biden is forgetting them full

[03:32] court press and it's only going to get

[03:35] deeper and better so we have some

[03:37] amazing Stories here on citizenfreepress

[03:39] decom and it seems as if the American

[03:42] people Kane are largely supporting

[03:47] this yeah they are and it's nice you

[03:49] know you and I are pole junkies we look

[03:51] at all of this stuff even though we know

[03:53] to Discount certain things and and and

[03:56] um but but it's been phenomenal that CBS

[03:59] News poll they came out incredible great

[04:01] news Margaret Brennan was not pleased

[04:04] you're right about how you know when I

[04:06] started coming on your show you know it

[04:08] was Dan SAS it was all Dan SAS that was

[04:10] the talk as you as you said Trump's

[04:13] betting odds were low they were below 15

[04:16] 15% do SAS look like he was ascendant

[04:20] and um yeah you know i' sort of

[04:22] forgotten about East Palestine kicking

[04:24] that off but that created so much sort

[04:27] of angst and and unrest and and anger at

[04:30] the Biden Administration and Trump came

[04:32] in and he sort of showed what a real

[04:35] president does I mean he replaced Biden

[04:37] Biden never made it to EAS Palestine at

[04:39] least in not in those not in those first

[04:41] eight months so you know it obviously

[04:44] gave him time but in terms of you know

[04:47] where we are now three weeks later if

[04:49] you had said to me a month ago okay

[04:51] Trump's gonna go shock and awe Days of

[04:53] Thunder he's not going to stop executive

[04:55] orders you know day after day I wouldn't

[04:58] have thought that his that his poll

[04:59] numbers would be this good um there's

[05:02] something I've got in in the stack this

[05:04] morning 42% of black men approve

[05:07] unbelievable yeah it it really is and

[05:10] Trump's you know it's the expansion of

[05:12] the populist base from White working

[05:14] class to Black working class Hispanic

[05:16] working class and Asian working class

[05:19] that's sort of you know what we're

[05:20] looking at we're thinking bigger you

[05:22] know where is this going to go in 20128

[05:24] can we can we maintain the hold on the

[05:26] house senate and the presidency and it's

[05:29] looking good for populist you know for

[05:32] populism for nationalist populism

[05:35] everything is sort of falling in order

[05:36] the media is even being you know though

[05:39] he's still being attacked the media

[05:40] isn't being as aggressive as they used

[05:42] to be because they're seeing these

[05:44] approval ratings and it's just sort of

[05:46] all coming together 500 executive orders

[05:49] I think we've had 500 in three weeks

[05:52] these are big numbers and uh and we

[05:55] didn't see it coming and you and I you

[05:57] know we started in the darkness of of

[06:00] future indictments I mean that's when

[06:01] when I started coming on was how is

[06:04] Trump going to handle these indictments

[06:05] so we come we had you on every week

[06:07] sometimes multiple times a week and

[06:09] everybody in this audience deserves

[06:11] incredible credit for how you had the

[06:14] resolve and you stayed focused let's

[06:17] talk about Bobby Kennedy King what do

[06:19] you think was the significance of Bobby

[06:21] Kennedy's role in this last election and

[06:24] what does this mean for the Republican

[06:26] Party moving forward him as secretary of

[06:30] Health and Human Services boy that feels

[06:31] good to say yeah it does I think it's

[06:34] Five Points it's four or five points

[06:36] Charlie we he brought Independence we

[06:38] were looking at the independent numbers

[06:40] before Kennedy came aboard and they were

[06:42] not that strong they were more or less

[06:44] closely split between Trump and the

[06:46] Democrat and Trump and Kamala so I think

[06:49] it was know that may have made the

[06:51] difference in Pennsylvania there's so

[06:53] many things it's very difficult to

[06:54] pinpoint everyone worked tpusa worked

[06:57] Scott Pressler worked we had we had sort

[06:59] of massive graphs Roots but in the

[07:01] bigger picture the bigger above board

[07:03] picture the Kennedy Kennedy coming on to

[07:06] team Trump endorsing Trump um that's

[07:10] four points of Independence and we saw

[07:12] it in the numbers we saw it immediately

[07:14] within the next week so it was a

[07:15] beautiful decision and I'll even admit I

[07:17] was you know when Kennedy First stuck

[07:19] his head in the ring going back you know

[07:21] long before he endorsed Trump I was

[07:23] ready for Trump to to take him as vice

[07:25] president this is long before JD Vance

[07:27] and that'll show people sort of how wide

[07:30] my birth can be but but y I knew how

[07:33] important I know how many independent

[07:36] sort of left leaning Independents

[07:38] normally voting Democrat these people

[07:40] loved Kennedy and getting him on our

[07:42] team was huge and getting him through

[07:44] the Senate was huge and the last thing

[07:46] I'll say as I as I'll follow through you

[07:48] know Charlie there was less there there

[07:51] was less resistance to Kennedy and Tulsi

[07:54] gabard why because of what happened with

[07:56] Pete heg and a lot of that is you and

[07:58] TPU USA you you know we sort of put our

[08:01] we put our hair up on the back of our

[08:03] necks and we said look guys if you're

[08:05] not going to go along with the Maga

[08:06] agenda this is what we're going to do to

[08:08] you we don't know who it's GNA be but

[08:10] it's going to be powerful and we're

[08:11] gonna primary you guys and and they got

[08:14] in line Charlie they got in line and and

[08:16] and they did what the American people

[08:18] wanted so so Kane we also now have Tulsi

[08:21] gabard as Director of National

[08:23] Intelligence we have this incredible

[08:25] team of superstars filling this admin

[08:29] ministration and the pace is only going

[08:31] to increase I hope everyone understands

[08:33] get used to this Tempo people say oh

[08:35] it's not sustainable no no no no no this

[08:37] is the tempo without the cabinet imagine

[08:39] the tempo by the way can we just brag on

[08:41] how great Marco Rubio has been I mean

[08:43] can we just say how great Pete Heth has

[08:45] been I mean this is the big three I hope

[08:47] you guys understand I got three people

[08:48] that I just can't say enough good stuff

[08:50] about Marco's been a 10 Pete heg has

[08:52] been a 10 and JD Vance has been a 10 as

[08:55] we do this program right now Donald

[08:56] Trump is calling shots he's the

[08:57] offensive coordinator he is the air

[08:59] traffic controller we got Marco Rubio

[09:01] soling all the Nicaraguan and Guatemala

[09:03] and Venezuelan Colombian problems which

[09:05] is immense because all the migration

[09:06] stuff starts there he's speaking Spanish

[09:08] to them and speaking true to them we got

[09:10] Pete Heth doing PT with our troops at

[09:13] 0500 where Lloyd Austin couldn't walk up

[09:15] a flight of stairs and then the other

[09:17] side we got JD Vance he was in Paris

[09:19] he's going to dcau and now he's doing

[09:21] Munich tomorrow given one of the most

[09:23] important speeches for a sitting vice

[09:25] president in uh all in modern American

[09:28] history I mean Kane and a half remaining

[09:30] have we ever seen a rockar roster of

[09:33] Allstar simultaneously fighting for the

[09:36] Republic meanwhile you got Elon Musk

[09:37] going around with a metaphorical Hammer

[09:39] breaking every piece of government ways

[09:41] he can get in contact with

[09:42] Kane I know it's a beautiful thing man

[09:45] you made all my points for me with Rubio

[09:47] it's the Spanish that's what stuck out

[09:49] to me is he's going to these countries

[09:51] he's speaking their language they're

[09:52] loving him they're accepting him and uh

[09:55] you know and and Malai sort of sort of

[09:57] paved the way and and bu so that's

[09:59] beautiful Heth as you said working out

[10:02] PT you know Lloyd Austin would have been

[10:04] wearing two masks and and a visor you

[10:07] got JD Vance making history in Europe

[10:10] sort of the populism is following him

[10:13] you've got musk as you said with the

[10:15] hammer and Russ vote these guys are

[10:17] making you know Charlie you're young but

[10:20] I know a lot of why you got into

[10:21] politics and started tpusa is the debt

[10:24] right the national debt is that overall

[10:26] issue that young people pay attention to

[10:27] and so to watch this stuff happened

[10:29] you've seen my headlines Charlie I've

[10:31] been waiting for this stuff for 25 years

[10:33] the whole reason I'm interested in

[10:34] politics the national debt when I was

[10:36] working at CNN at age 21 that's where I

[10:39] got sort of scooped in on the national

[10:41] debt and Charlie it was $2 trillion do

[10:43] and I was freaking out about two

[10:45] trillion it's 37 trillion now as you

[10:47] know so I've never seen anything like it

[10:50] I agree the action will not stop you

[10:53] know I'm the guy covering it 18 hours a

[10:55] day and there's no break there's no

[10:57] slowdown I'm I I love it Charlie I love

[11:00] it Kane excellent work citizenfreepress

[11:02] dcom that is citizenfreepress do.com

[11:05] excellent thank you so much

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