Charlie Kirk Opens Up About His Girlfriend Erika Frantzve, China Concerns, and High School Days on Popitics

[00:00] If you were paying attention yesterday,

[00:01] then you know today is a special

[00:02] episode.

[00:04] Today we have president and founder of

[00:06] Turning Point USA, author of New York

[00:09] Times bestseller and I would say the

[00:10] president's new favorite book, The MAGA

[00:12] Doctrine, and host of the Charlie Kirk

[00:14] show, Charlie Kirk, to answer questions

[00:18] he's never been asked before. Is that

[00:20] right?

[00:20] Yeah. I I don't know how prepared I am

[00:21] for this. This is probably the most

[00:22] nervous I've been for an interview in a

[00:24] very long time. So

[00:25] that is a badge of honor. I'm very

[00:27] excited. Yeah. Like if you're nervous

[00:29] for me to ask you questions, that says a

[00:31] lot cuz you're going on Mark Levin and

[00:33] Lauren.

[00:33] Well, they don't ask me about pop

[00:35] culture. So that's the big difference.

[00:37] That's okay. I'll go easy on you. It's

[00:39] your first time. Okay. So, a lot of

[00:40] people when they find out that I work

[00:41] here,

[00:42] they ask me if you're really as

[00:44] mysterious as you seem because you kind

[00:46] of are private about your personal life.

[00:48] What's the number one question you get?

[00:50] Well, the number one question I get is

[00:52] who are you dating?

[00:53] M I think we're going to cover that in

[00:54] the material today.

[00:55] This is going to be so good. This is

[00:57] spicy Charlie Kirk stuff today.

[00:59] This might actually break news.

[01:01] This might break the internet. Kim

[01:02] Kardashian broke it first. Charlie Kirk

[01:04] is breaking.

[01:04] She broke it for different reasons.

[01:05] Yeah, very different reasons. I'm Alex

[01:08] Clark.

[01:09] And I'm Charlie Kirk.

[01:10] And this is Popitics.

[01:17] [Music]

[01:21] So, I thought that we could start at the

[01:22] very beginning

[01:24] back where it all began because one

[01:26] thing too I get asked about is what was

[01:28] he really like in high school which I'm

[01:30] like I don't know. I just met you a few

[01:31] months ago.

[01:32] Like you have some special insight into

[01:33] that.

[01:33] Yeah. So, what were you really like in

[01:36] high school and what kind of car were

[01:37] you driving?

[01:38] Not much has changed. Um but I I did

[01:41] drive a 2003 Silver Ford Explorer. Uh

[01:43] went to Wheeling High School. Always

[01:45] loved politics. Uh and here we are.

[01:47] And that was in Illinois.

[01:49] Yeah. Wheeling, Illinois.

[01:50] How far away outside of Chicago did you

[01:52] grow up?

[01:53] Uh, about 20 miles northwest, uh, kind

[01:55] of right near Arlington Heights,

[01:57] Shamberg area.

[01:58] Okay. So, you were driving a silver

[02:00] 2003 silver Ford Explorer. It was

[02:03] incredibly fuel inefficient. It got 7 m

[02:06] per gallon. Uh, the windows did not

[02:08] work.

[02:09] Oh.

[02:09] So, you know, you had to have those

[02:10] rotation.

[02:11] Yes. Okay. So, I drove a 2005 silver

[02:14] Jetta.

[02:15] So, we both had silver.

[02:16] Volkswagen. Do you know what Volkswagen

[02:18] means? Um, wait. I think I've heard this

[02:21] before. What is it?

[02:22] The people's car.

[02:23] Okay. I actually I haven't heard that,

[02:25] but everyone talks about

[02:26] You learn something new every day on

[02:27] Papitus.

[02:28] Well, everyone I don't think I've heard

[02:29] that one, but everyone talks about how

[02:30] Jetta smell like crayons.

[02:33] Have you ever been inside a Jetta?

[02:34] Crayons.

[02:35] No, it's crayons. Like C R A N.

[02:37] Why? Why would the Y be there then?

[02:39] It's just it's like lasagna. The is

[02:41] silent.

[02:42] It's not crayons. If it was crayons, it

[02:44] would be like trans and there's only two

[02:46] genders. It's crayons. Okay, so this is

[02:49] actually Charlie Kirk's most important

[02:50] debate. Is it crayon crown? Cuz people

[02:53] say that too, which is garbage, or

[02:55] crayon?

[02:56] Only people south of a Mason Dixon line

[02:58] would say that. It's crayon.

[03:00] Destroyed. Destroyed.

[03:01] So if I went to If I went to a grocery

[03:03] store and I tried to get a discount and

[03:05] I had something in my hands to get me a

[03:06] discount, what would you call that?

[03:07] A coupon.

[03:08] A coupon.

[03:09] Get out. Leave.

[03:11] If I If I ordered a beverage at a

[03:13] restaurant,

[03:13] pop.

[03:15] Correct.

[03:15] You are Midwest. That's actually true.

[03:16] Oh, okay. Okay. No, we're both Yes.

[03:18] Good. We're both

[03:19] You're Indiana, right?

[03:20] Yes. So, I grew up in Indiana.

[03:22] It's the stepchild of our home state,

[03:24] but that's okay.

[03:24] Might be the most controversial thing

[03:26] about you is that you say pop cuz that's

[03:27] people really rap.

[03:28] It's 100% pop.

[03:29] Yeah.

[03:30] You know what soda is? It's sparkling

[03:31] water.

[03:32] Well, and in the South everything is

[03:34] Coke.

[03:34] Yes. It's Sprite Coke,

[03:36] which is so confusing. Okay. So, we see

[03:37] you all the time on Fox News,

[03:39] but would you ever do reality TV? Cuz

[03:42] that's different.

[03:42] Probably no. I feel like my whole life

[03:44] is a reality TV show.

[03:46] You do? Why do you feel that? Like what

[03:47] part about your life do you think is

[03:48] very

[03:49] constantly being filmed in public

[03:50] places?

[03:51] Are you really?

[03:53] Whether I know it or not.

[03:54] Well, the water when you got water

[03:56] dumped on you in that restaurant, that's

[03:57] very um Real Housewives thing.

[04:00] Yeah.

[04:00] I was thinking it was more like Breaking

[04:01] Bad.

[04:03] Why do you say that?

[04:04] Violence.

[04:06] Okay. I was thinking cuz I was thinking

[04:08] about different reality shows cuz I

[04:10] don't think that you would like The

[04:11] Bachelor.

[04:12] No,

[04:13] I don't think you would like that.

[04:14] Which one's The Bachelor again? dating

[04:16] multiple women at at once.

[04:18] Oh, it's the polygamous show.

[04:19] Yes, it's the polygamous show. I think

[04:21] that you would actually be really good

[04:23] at Big Brother, though.

[04:24] Is that the one where they snoop in on

[04:25] you?

[04:25] Yes. So, you're living in a house for

[04:27] months at a time. No contact to the

[04:29] outside world and it's really just a

[04:30] mind game.

[04:30] So, no Twitter, no Facebook, no

[04:32] Instagram, no Fox News,

[04:34] right?

[04:34] I'd be good at this. Well, I think you

[04:36] would be good at it because it's really

[04:37] about playing people's personalities and

[04:40] just being smarter than they are to

[04:42] advance forward and la outlast everybody

[04:44] else, which I think you would be good

[04:45] at.

[04:45] Is there something you know about me

[04:46] that I don't know about myself? It's

[04:47] awfully mchy. I'll take it as a

[04:49] compliment. Weren't you on a reality TV

[04:51] show?

[04:52] I was, but we don't talk about it.

[04:54] Oh,

[04:55] it's I mean, not like that. Like, I

[04:57] don't You can edit that out.

[04:58] No, no. I don't really talk about it

[04:59] only because um I mean there was so I

[05:03] cried in every episode but I'm

[05:05] which show was I honestly don't know.

[05:06] It was called Coupled on Fox and it was

[05:08] canceled after the first season. It

[05:09] didn't do well but it was Mark Bernett's

[05:11] first reality TV show.

[05:12] So it's either going to be Survivor or

[05:15] Coupled.

[05:15] They let me get away with being openly

[05:17] conservative on the show. So um there

[05:20] was a guy on there that really liked me

[05:21] but he asked me if I was pro-life. And

[05:23] when I said I was, he said, "Well, how

[05:24] can you be pro-life if you're a woman?"

[05:26] And then he said, "Well, at the time I

[05:28] was 23, so he said, "You're 23. You

[05:30] don't know what you believe yet. When

[05:31] you get older, you'll manplaining."

[05:35] Exactly.

[05:35] Yes. And it was your truth. How dare he

[05:37] tell you anything different.

[05:38] That was my truth. So, I know that fans

[05:41] of yours, they have things that they

[05:42] would rattle off right off the bat that

[05:44] they know that you're really good at.

[05:45] You're good at debating. You're a good

[05:46] writer. You're a good leader. You

[05:48] founded Turning Point USA. Thank you.

[05:50] Now I am employed. Um, what would you

[05:54] say is your greatest talent? I'm an

[05:56] above average driver.

[05:57] Are you really? No tickets.

[06:00] Few tickets here and there. I end up

[06:01] getting in an intellectual debate with a

[06:03] police officer over Miranda rights,

[06:04] constitutional authority, federal

[06:06] governance. It doesn't end well.

[06:07] So on brand. So on brand for you. So if

[06:10] that's what you think is your greatest

[06:11] talent,

[06:12] I don't know if it's my greatest talent,

[06:13] but I am an above average driver. People

[06:15] don't give me credit for that.

[06:16] Something that you think you're pretty

[06:17] good at. What do you think is something

[06:19] that you could be better at?

[06:20] H better at probably cooking.

[06:23] You're not a cook. You know what? You

[06:25] probably don't have to be because which

[06:27] we were going to get into later but I'll

[06:28] just ask it now because you're traveling

[06:29] so much all the time.

[06:31] So you don't have a kitchen to cook in

[06:33] probably

[06:33] correct.

[06:34] So what do you do? You're door dashing

[06:36] postmating.

[06:37] Well before the virus I went to a thing

[06:39] called restaurants.

[06:41] Oh yeah. I remember restaurants.

[06:43] Do you remember what it used to be like

[06:44] to have a menu?

[06:45] I barely remember.

[06:47] It was a thing of the royals where they

[06:48] brought food to you and you didn't have

[06:50] to do the dishes.

[06:51] Those were the days.

[06:54] What do I wish I was better at? Um, I I

[06:56] guess a couple things, but not anything

[06:58] that I actually spend time on. Growing

[07:00] up, I was always very envious and upset

[07:04] with people that science came easy to

[07:06] them like science experiments, physics

[07:09] equations. Always just wasn't my best

[07:11] class.

[07:12] Did you do any electives at all?

[07:13] You mean in college or in high school?

[07:14] No, in high school like the fun classes.

[07:16] So, you didn't do any type of like home

[07:18] cooking, I guess.

[07:19] No, that was seventh grade first and

[07:21] last time. Ended in the fire drill. It

[07:23] wasn't good.

[07:23] Did you do sports?

[07:24] Oh, yeah. Lots of sports.

[07:25] Okay. So, what were you playing?

[07:26] Football, basketball. I was in the

[07:28] marching band, too. That's a fun uh what

[07:31] instrument

[07:31] fact uh fact. Well, I played the

[07:33] saxophone in the marching band only

[07:35] because it was the only instrument I

[07:36] could translate. But I actually played

[07:38] bass clarinet in the upper band in high

[07:41] school. Well, I guess there's a lot of

[07:42] things I wish I was better at, but I

[07:44] mean, I wish I was better organized at

[07:45] times, and I wish I was more patient.

[07:47] Okay, this is the really fun part.

[07:48] Is that right?

[07:49] Yes. Okay. So,

[07:51] breaking news on politics, everybody.

[07:53] This is actually breaking news because

[07:54] you've never, to my knowledge, ever

[07:57] talked about your dating life.

[07:59] I try not to.

[08:00] You try not to. Just is does it feel

[08:02] uncomfortable or you just like keeping

[08:04] it private?

[08:05] Most people don't have good intentions

[08:06] in the world.

[08:07] Yeah.

[08:08] So, you protect what you care about?

[08:10] Um, wow. Chills. When I posted, so I

[08:13] posted on the politics story asking

[08:15] cuteer

[08:17] all of the things that they could ask

[08:18] you. We had hundreds of responses.

[08:22] 99%

[08:24] were about who you were dating. They

[08:26] wanted to know who you were dating. They

[08:27] wanted to know what you look for when

[08:30] dating, what you look for in a girl. So,

[08:32] what are three things that you would say

[08:34] that you look for in someone that you're

[08:35] dating?

[08:36] I really don't look for anything cuz

[08:37] I've already found who I'm looking for.

[08:39] Well, I have an amazing girlfriend.

[08:41] She's spectacular.

[08:42] Is she in politics?

[08:44] Uh, not really. No.

[08:45] What can you tell us about her? What

[08:47] would she be? She's reverent.

[08:49] She's a reverent. I didn't know this

[08:51] about her.

[08:52] She's reverent.

[08:53] Oh,

[08:56] I was like, wait, this is new. I don't

[08:59] know if we'll want to keep that or not.

[09:00] Oh, you better keep it. You better keep

[09:02] it.

[09:03] Okay. She's reverent. So, what's an

[09:05] example? What do you mean?

[09:07] Uh, she's prayerful. She believes in

[09:09] God. Uh, she's she's a great person. Um,

[09:14] she believes in other people. She always

[09:16] thinks of other people before herself.

[09:18] Um, she's very fun and uh, honestly just

[09:21] I'm so blessed to be able to have her in

[09:23] my life.

[09:23] That is so sweet of you to say. I will

[09:25] say this, Charlie's girlfriend is

[09:27] totally gorgeous. She's so gorgeous.

[09:29] Way way I'm I'm way overpromoted.

[09:32] The first time that I met your

[09:35] girlfriend,

[09:37] I didn't know she was your girlfriend.

[09:38] So, my first interaction was um you

[09:42] hadn't come over yet and she was digging

[09:44] through your salad and removing all the

[09:46] croutons

[09:48] and I was confused because I didn't

[09:50] understand

[09:50] where was this

[09:51] YWS last year.

[09:53] So, this girl there, they were just

[09:56] like, "Here's Charlie's salad. Hand it

[09:57] to this girl. She's sifting through it."

[09:59] And I was like, "Oh my gosh, he has his

[10:01] assistants dig through his his salads

[10:03] with their bare hands." I was so weirded

[10:05] out. And then you came over and sat down

[10:07] and she hugged you from behind like gave

[10:08] you a kiss on the cheek. And I was

[10:09] shook. I was like, "That's inappropriate

[10:11] for his assistant."

[10:14] And then and then they told me later

[10:16] like, "Oh, that's Charlie's girlfriend."

[10:17] I was like, "Oh, it all makes sense."

[10:19] Yes.

[10:19] She is so sweet, too. Everyone at

[10:21] Turning Point USA loves her and we love

[10:23] having her around. People are freaking

[10:25] out right now. Like, can you hear that?

[10:26] That is you discussing that you even

[10:30] have a girlfriend at all. People are

[10:31] freaking out.

[10:32] He's taken. So, on those nights that

[10:35] you're laying awake,

[10:37] you can't sleep. What is it that's

[10:39] keeping you awake? What are you thinking

[10:41] about right now?

[10:42] China.

[10:43] I knew you were going to say this when I

[10:45] was going over with producer Abigail the

[10:47] questions I want to ask you. I was like,

[10:48] I want to ask him what keeps him up at

[10:49] night. And I was like, I guarantee it's

[10:50] going to be China or something like

[10:52] that. So, what is it about China and the

[10:55] threat of China? Because President Trump

[10:57] has been talking about this for years,

[10:59] but I feel like until now in these

[11:01] Corona times, it's been falling on deaf

[11:03] ears.

[11:04] Yes. Mostly the lies and the death.

[11:07] What's an introductory for China sex for

[11:09] dummies? What is the the top three basic

[11:11] things that someone needs to know that

[11:13] has no idea why China is bad for?

[11:15] I'm going to try to keep this as

[11:16] light-hearted as I can. Um, but that's

[11:18] not possible. Uh, China has a million

[11:21] Muslims in concentration camps. Yep.

[11:23] Probably not a good thing. Um, China

[11:25] lied to the entire world about the

[11:26] spread of the virus that's killing

[11:28] Americans. Not a great thing.

[11:30] True.

[11:30] And uh, China has stolen our jobs,

[11:32] millions of jobs over the last couple

[11:34] decades through textiles,

[11:35] pharmaceuticals, you name it. So, what's

[11:37] keep It's what keeps me up at night,

[11:38] Alex. China.

[11:39] We're informed. Would you rather be

[11:41] married to Hillary Clinton or have to

[11:43] live in China for 10 years?

[11:45] You would. Even after all that stuff,

[11:47] still China.

[11:48] China.

[11:49] But I feel like if you're married to

[11:50] Hillary, she'd put you out of your

[11:52] misery pretty quick.

[11:53] North Korea.

[11:55] Besides President Trump, who is another

[11:58] conservative that you really look up to?

[11:59] Rush Limba. Mark Leavvin. The great of

[12:01] the conservative movement for sure.

[12:03] Did you grow up listening to Rush in the

[12:04] Car with your parents?

[12:05] I did. Well, not with my parents, but in

[12:06] that very old Ford Explorer when I first

[12:08] heard the voice of Rush Limba.

[12:10] Really? Like on your way to school?

[12:11] Yep.

[12:11] I love that.

[12:12] And in my lunch break, I used to go into

[12:14] my car in the lunch break and listen to

[12:15] everything that Rush Limbaugh used to

[12:16] say.

[12:16] We made it through. Is it as bad as you

[12:17] thought?

[12:18] Do you have any other questions?

[12:19] Your new book, The Magra. Where can they

[12:21] buy it?

[12:21] They can go to Amazon. They can just

[12:23] type in MAGA doctrine, pick up a copy.

[12:25] And what is that about?

[12:26] Uh, it's about the philosophy behind the

[12:28] Trump presidency. I make it pretty easy

[12:30] to understand of what President Trump

[12:32] believes and why he's doing what he's

[12:33] doing. And

[12:34] do you think it'll be a good book for

[12:35] people to read that have trouble

[12:37] defending

[12:38] without Yes. Yes. It gives people the

[12:41] intellectual ammunition to be able to

[12:42] make the the arguments in support of the

[12:44] Trump presidency. And uh we've gotten

[12:46] great feedback from it from people that

[12:48] had no idea anything about politics

[12:50] before. It's done really really well.

[12:51] Your podcast, The Charlie Kirk Show,

[12:53] is doing quite well.

[12:54] Yes.

[12:54] And your podcast is doing well,

[12:56] Politics. You guys can type in politics

[12:58] to Apple Podcast and hit subscribe.

[12:59] Yep. We just um launched Politics, the

[13:02] audio version of the show. So, if you

[13:04] can't actually watch it, you can listen

[13:05] to it now and give us five stars.

[13:08] Subscribe to both of us.

[13:09] You guys have a lot of reviews coming

[13:10] in.

[13:10] Yeah, we do. We've actually been doing

[13:12] really well with that.

[13:13] Yes, you have.

[13:13] So, don't forget to like this episode,

[13:16] leave a comment, share this to your

[13:17] stories. We're back Monday at 400 p.m.

[13:20] Eastern, 1:00 p.m. Pacific. Okay,

[13:21] Charlie, do you want to do the honors?

[13:23] It's pop culture without the propaganda

[13:25] every single day.

[13:27] I'm Alex Clark and this is Popitics. And

[13:30] that's Charlie Kirk.