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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.
Matt Gaetz Exposes How Congress Really Works: Lobbyists Write Scripts While Members Just Play Actors
Matt Gaetz pulled back the curtain on Washington's most guarded secret during a candid conversation at a Turning Point USA conference. Fresh from resigning from Congress, Gaetz revealed how lobbyists control the entire legislative process while elected representatives merely perform as actors reading pre-written scripts. From the mechanics of the December omnibus spending bills to the corruption of the campaign finance system, Gaetz explained why breaking free from special interests proved impossible for eight years, until Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and grassroots conservatives finally defeated the establishment's 1,500-page spending boondoggle. The former Florida congressman also discussed his failed attorney general nomination, revealing which powerful lobby groups orchestrated opposition against him and why he believes the MAGA movement has become the entire Republican Party, not just a wing of it.
The Game Being Played Is Not the Game You're Watching
Matt Gaetz opened with a striking observation about Congress: the game Americans watch is not even the game being played. Most members of Congress, he explained, are merely actors reading scripts written, produced, and directed by others. Those who hand their vote cards to leadership and their calendars to the lobby corps enjoy comfortable careers with 97% reelection rates. The cost? Their souls—and America's birthright as the greatest country on Earth.
Gaetz revealed he was the only Republican in Congress who refused every donation from lobbyists and political action committees during his tenure. This decision didn't win him friends in Washington, but it allowed him to maintain independence from the special interests that control the legislative process.
Breaking the Omnibus Spending Bill Cycle
For eight years in Congress, Gaetz tried to break a system where December omnibus spending bills rhythmically appeared—usually thousands of pages long, spending money the country doesn't have, borrowing from one country to send to another. The bills never individually scrutinized anything in the budget, instead presenting members with a false choice: vote against troops, veterans, and vulnerable Americans, or vote to continue America's demise.
Gaetz dutifully voted against these bills repeatedly, trying various strategies to break the cycle—extracting promises from speakers, even helping to fire a speaker. Yet the pattern continued. Until this year.
For the very first time, they won. The full power of the lobby corps in Washington DC proved weaker than the movement led by Donald Trump, animated by Turning Point USA, encouraged by Elon Musk, and motivated by millions of patriotic Americans on X and throughout the country.
The 1,500-Page Boondoggle and Its Defeat
Gaetz warned against celebrating too early. The swamp creatures didn't self-evict just because Trump won the election. They believe they're more resilient and dig in deeper. In the last minute, a 1,500-page bill emerged as it always does, with the same old line: we have to vote for this for our troops and border patrol.
The bill literally funded the very censorship industrial complex that organizations like Turning Point exist to combat. Every single lobbyist firm in Washington wanted that bill to pass because they all had something in it.
But they lost. And while Gaetz acknowledged the lobbyists will be back, conservatives have now tasted victory and grown hungry for more.
A Day in the Life of a Washington Lobbyist
When asked to describe how lobbyists operate daily, Gaetz painted a vivid picture. A lobbyist wakes up and goes to a breakfast where they hand members of Congress checks—$1,000, $2,000, up to $5,000. Right as they deliver the money, they make specific asks: sign on to this amendment, file this bill.
Before Gaetz swore off lobbyist money, he found the morning fundraisers hilarious. Lockheed Martin would ask him to support a weapon system, then immediately after, the Cannabis Association of America would make their pitch—bringing together the weirdest collection of people imaginable.
Throughout the day, lobbyists work the halls with staff members who hope to one day become lobbyists themselves. They reference the morning fundraiser and extract the promised support for their letters or amendments.
Lobbying firms have also figured out they don't even need the campaign finance system if they hire members' otherwise unemployable family members. The number of spouses and children of members of Congress who become lobbyists is astonishing.
Why the Attorney General Nomination Failed
Gaetz shared what he learned from Donald Trump's nomination of him as attorney general to his withdrawal from consideration. There are many Republicans in the United States Senate who may wear the red hat and articulate support for Trump, but at the end of the day, they don't want Trump to succeed. They want to revert the Republican party to the old ways of endless immigration, forever wars, and any trade deal even if it hollowed out the middle class.
Working with Charlie Kirk at Mar-a-Lago, Gaetz made phone calls to senators with whom he had no relationship. Many calls began awkwardly: "What tweet was that? Oh no, that was a staff member and he was fired the next day."
When a group of big tech lobbyists approached him poolside at Mar-a-Lago, Gaetz could see in their eyes they would organize everything possible to oppose his confirmation. When it became clear there were calcified votes against him, tracing those votes back to specific interest groups proved easy.
Big defense contractors opposed him because he doesn't think the country should spend hundreds of millions of dollars building stuff that doesn't work while failing to take care of 8,600 warfighters unfairly driven out because of an unconstitutional vaccine mandate.
Big tech opposed him because he believes market power can be used against the American people, and there's nothing virtuous about embracing a neolibertarian theory that lets big business crush people and make terms of service more important than constitutional values.
Big pharma worried he would take an aggressive approach at their practices keeping America unhealthy and sick. Gaetz celebrated that the country finally has someone leading HHS who wants health care policy to make America healthier—a novel concept when all previous discussion focused on who would pay for how sick Americans become.
MAGA Is No Longer a Wing—It's the Whole Body
Gaetz observed that some in Washington challenged his nomination because letting him become attorney general would reinforce the Donald Trump, JD Vance, Matt Gaetz, Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk wing of the Republican party. But as Gaetz declared to applause, "we're not a wing anymore—we're the whole damn body."
He pointed out that people in Mississippi aren't for sending billions more to Ukraine, yet they have a senator who votes that way. Elsewhere in the country, politicians go to Washington—a city surrounded on all sides by reality—and get infected irrevocably with "Potomac fever."
Strong primary contests are essential. While acknowledging the establishment won't be easy to defeat—they're established for a reason with talented operatives and sophisticated data—winning a few contests and sending a message to others that the 97% reelection rate isn't guaranteed will have a positive impact on the entire body.
Lessons from Prior Congresses for Trump's Second Term
When asked what mistakes Donald Trump must avoid in the 2025 legislative session, Gaetz emphasized starting with the core mandate: save the economy, secure the border, and create peace and prosperity in the world with strong leadership.
If the administration deviates too far from this core mandate early, he found it becomes hard to get back. Sometimes issues function as shiny lures, and chasing after every one while getting off the core mission increases the risk of midterms going a different direction.
The Reconciliation Process Explained
Gaetz explained that the first major priority will be the reconciliation bill. While almost anything now requires 60 votes in the Senate, there's a special provision in budgeting rules: if you're making budget policy and reconciling the budget, you only need a simple majority.
Many priorities are being shoehorned into budget reconciliation so the threshold becomes 50 votes plus JD Vance as tiebreaker, rather than having to convince Democrats that the largest deportation operation and cutting $2 trillion from bureaucracy is a good idea.
If reconciliation succeeds, tax cuts will be extended, important immigration priorities funded, and agencies without constitutional basis will face real cuts. Gaetz's approach is simple: use the Constitution and cleave away things not in it. Those responsibilities must go to states, which will sometimes succeed and sometimes fail—but that is the system, and people have enough sense to see what best practices work and copy them.
Big Business, Big Government, and the Threat to Liberty
In response to a question from an Austrian libertarian perspective, Gaetz articulated his view on big business versus big government. The nation has seen the greatest fusion of big business and government at any time in its history, with business getting government to wrap itself around particular business models.
Big tech built immunities supposedly to protect a free marketplace of ideas, which became the function of censorship. Gaetz identified the biggest threat to liberty as big government, the second biggest as big business, and jokingly the third as homeowners associations.
He gave specific examples of where he breaks with pure free market theory. BlackRock should not be allowed to buy single family homes and make young people compete against them. The Chinese Communist Party should not be able to own farmland in this country, period—especially not next to military bases where they can use it against America.
"We love free markets because markets serve people. When markets fail to serve people, then we should be prudent about how we intervene," Gaetz explained. "We're a country that has an economy in it, not an economy that happens to be in a country."
Solutions to the Housing Crisis
When asked about solving the affordable housing shortage, Gaetz and Charlie Kirk offered several solutions. First, it's a supply and demand issue. When 12 million people come into the country, they need to live somewhere. Deporting 12 million people would definitionally decrease demand for housing.
The government also subsidizes housing for many illegals, which is insane. Everything has become more expensive because of approximately $8 trillion in unnecessary federal spending post-COVID. That money had to go somewhere and went into hardware—making it more expensive to ship windows, buy hammers and nails, and pay for labor. Hyperinflation directly correlates to rising housing prices.
Gaetz shared that Florida created more housing opportunity by decentralizing authorities. They abolished a state entity that had to approve every subdivision, getting more shovel-ready projects underway. At the end of the day, it can't cost as much as it does to build a house and secure land, or that price becomes unattainable for many Americans, particularly Gen Z.
The Power of Grassroots Accountability
Turning Point USA pledged that if senators get in the way of Donald Trump's agenda, they will primary and remove them from office. Gaetz enthusiastically agreed this sends a necessary message.
He pointed out that people in various states have representatives who don't reflect their values, yet those representatives feel protected by the establishment system. The way the Republican conference works, the speaker has a constituency of 222 members and serves that constituency. When there's a weak one in the herd politically, the others follow the strong one that protects the weakest—because one day they might be the weak one.
In several races, establishment resources became their cudgel against insurgent candidates. Tony Gonzales in Texas faced Brandon Herrera, who raised $1 million—impressive against an incumbent. But Speaker Johnson and others raised over $10 million for Gonzales, and Herrera lost by under 400 votes.
Getting Turning Point more interconnected and having Elon Musk involved in resourcing more efforts will build conservatives into a more comparable fighting force. Maybe they'll never match establishment dollar-for-dollar in key campaigns, but if they only get outspent one-and-a-half to one or two to one, outcomes will start changing.
Hope for California and Blue States
A California resident asked if there's any hope for their state. Gaetz pointed to the trajectory shift in the last election—everything moved right. He wondered when Californians will wake up to how they went from the most temperate climate in the hemisphere with boundless natural resources and incredibly intelligent creative people to letting it all become like a homeless encampment.
California treats homeless people the way Florida treats bald eagle nests—can't get too close, can't make loud noises, can't disrupt them. In Florida, if people set up camp on a street corner, they turn on irrigation until they leave. California does it the opposite way.
"Nobody's going to invest the hope and energy if you've surrendered to people urinating in mailboxes," Gaetz said. "Those people can't win. We have to beat those people."
Campaign Finance Reform Across the Aisle
When a 73-year-old Reagan voter asked why corporations, unions, and PACs are allowed to influence elections instead of just "We the People" financing elections, Gaetz expressed complete agreement. The core philosophy of the current campaign finance infrastructure is really just money laundering—getting money that otherwise wouldn't be appropriate into the electioneering sphere.
Everybody knows it, and both sides participate. Gaetz asked whether people would be willing to cross the aisle and work with Democrats they otherwise strongly disagree with to accomplish campaign finance reform. He has been willing, working with AOC, Rashida Tlaib, and Ilhan Omar because while they disagree on a wide scope of issues, they agree money shouldn't dominate politics.
Progressive Democrats tend to hold this view because they think they can beat Republicans at that game. But Gaetz believes if it's truly a contest of ideas and who can ignite actual people to engage politically, conservatives win every time. He'd rather join in concert to get rid of entities in control no matter which side wins elections.
It's Not Enough to Just Win—Accountability Matters
Charlie Kirk emphasized that Turning Point's long-term project isn't just about winning majorities but keeping majorities accountable to actually do what they said when they campaigned. It's not enough to say "we're going to cut spending"—did you actually cut spending? Did you actually build the border wall?
The most naked example is money to Ukraine. Not a single Republican primary voter wants more money sent to Ukraine. It's an indefensible position. Every Republican voter wants a secure border. Yet Congress doesn't care because that's not where the money is.
Gaetz had a model where 200,000 people around the country gave him $5, $10, or $25. They didn't need anything from him other than for him to be himself. While acknowledging this would require a $2 billion per year project to truly compete with establishment money, Gaetz pointed out they just beat the entire lobby corps when they defeated the 1,500-page bill. Now everyone has to wonder what the lobbyists will do next.
Advice for Future Candidates
When a woman from the border asked for advice about running for Congress without falling into the lobbyist trap, Gaetz offered wisdom for anyone considering office. You have to have a path to victory. See where your skills will be deployed with the right partnerships and team members to achieve victory. Candidates who run and come in fifth out of seven do less for the movement than finding a place where they can run and win.
Gaetz didn't start by running for Congress. He cut his teeth in the state legislature and became a better congressman because of that experience. You also have to show people you're willing to fight for them. At the end of the day, when people enter the voting booth, they don't always vote for the most attractive candidate or the one who sent the most fliers. They vote for the one who will actually care about them and try to do something for them when their tail is on the line.
The best way to showcase that is through action. Before Gaetz was elected to anything, his local county tried to institute a pet tax. He got together all the pet owners—a very eclectic group—and prevailed on local leaders to repeal the pet tax. When a State House position opened, people thought the guy who cared enough to stop the pet tax might be a good lawmaker.
Find a fight where people need a champion. Do what you can to lead and showcase those capabilities.
Video Transcript
Matt welcome I wish they were all members of the United States Senate I really really do you would have sailed through confirmation I would be happy with the results of any election held at Turning Point uh well I could I could be elected pope from and I'm I'm a Baptist we talked about the pope yesterday um we're not doing that again so um so Matt you had the pleasure of not being involved in this latest CR you are now totally detached so I just want to get your analysis and explain what happened this last week something that's never happened before for eight years in Congress I tried to break a system where there is rhythmically a December Omnibus spending Bill usually thousands of pages spending money we don't have borrowing money from one country to go send it to another country as if somehow that makes us more powerful and never individually scrutinizing anything in the budget and if your elected member of Congress has concern over the effic uh the efficacy of a program or the level of spending in an agency or the Constitutional authority of one here's your choice vote against the troops and the veterans and the vulnerable or vote to continue America's demise and so I would dutifully vote against these things and time and again I thought what can we do to break that system do we have to extract promises from a speaker of the house do we have to fire a speaker of the house and yet again rhythmically this would occur over and over again and for the very first time we beat them and the reason we beat them is because the full power of the lobby Corps in Washington DC is not as strong as the movement led by President Trump animated by turning point encouraged by Elon Musk and motivated by millions of patriotic Americans on X and throughout the country now now Matt before we celebrate too much there was an attempt to do a 1500 page boond doggle so what was that where did that come from do you think that after the election the entire Lobby Corps of Washington DC just gave up do you think that the swamp creatures self- evicted just because Trump was in or McCarthy was gone or whatever change no no no no they believe they are more resilient than that and they dig in and they burrow in and then in the last minute you saw this 1500 page Bill emerge as it always does and then you heard the same old line oh we have to vote for this for for our troops and for our border patrol and then it had literally the funding of the very censorship industrial complex that we organize conferences like this to combat and so so you every single lobbyist firm in Washington wanted that bill to pass every single one of them because they all had something in it and you know what they will be back but the good news is we've had the taste of victory in our mouths a little bit now and I think we're hungry for more and we're going to stay on the case so Matt speaking more broadly about how Congress operates what what were some of your big takeaways I mean you you resigned and you said it was like the greatest day of your life right something like the besides yeah my beautiful wife Ginger's here obviously marrying her was the best thing I ever did [Applause] for her I'm not so sure but for me definitely the best what what was it about how Congress operates that was so disappointing for you and something that you want every American to internalize and know the game you are watching is not even the game that is being played most of the members of Congress are merely actors that are reading scripts that are written produced and directed by others and if you read the scripts that they give you if you hand your vote card to the leadership and your calendar to the lobby Corps then life's pretty good they're able to bring you data that says 97% of you get reelected those are pretty good odds professionally most people would want to be in the 97% and would follow the path that most did to achieve that status and all it costs you is your soul and then it's cost us our Birthright As Americans to live in the greatest country on Earth and we are not extending that because we tolerate this system when they go down into Bay Charlie no one's even watching it's phony it is fake and the real work is being done by powerful special interests who fund the campaigns and when I was in Congress I was the only Republican who refused every donation from the lobbyists and the political action committees and more ought to take up that cause now that didn't win me any you remember when we were at maral Lago and Charlie I tell you a lot of people don't know this but Charlie did so much to help me communicate with Senators who I really had no relationship with i a lot of the phone calls would be like hello Senator so and so what tweet was that that that I sent oh no that was a staff member and he was fired the next day but but Charlie was working so hard for me we were at maral laga we're around the pool and this group of big Tech lobbyists come up oh well Matt it's so nice to see you and I could just see in their eyes when we met them that they were going to organize everything they could to to oppose my confirmation and so when it became clear that there were calcified votes against me serving as attorney general it was not hard to trace those back to the very interest groups that I have been pushing back against and who I would have fairly and justly pursued if given the opportunity to do so the big defense contractors didn't want me because I don't think we should spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build stuff that doesn't work while we haven't taken care of War fighters 8,600 of them that were unfairly driven out because of a unconstitutional vaccine mandate and big Tech big Tech didn't want to see me there because I actually believe I I'm I'm a bit of a bull moose Republican I think there are times where Market power can be used against the American people and there is nothing virtuous about embracing this neol libertarian theory that you ought to let big business Crush people and make the terms of service on some tech platform more important than the values that underg the Constitution of the United States of America and there were big Pharma lobbyists who were real concerned that we were going to take an an aggressive approach at some of the things they've been doing to keep America unhealthy and sick I am so encouraged that we finally have somebody to lead HHS that wants a health care policy to make America healthier what a novel concept all we've been talking about is who's going to pay for how sick we become and then keeping you sick creates a economic Pipeline and an economic incentive system for interest groups to continue to get paid so maybe maybe their stock prices won't go up as much but your life expectancy will go up the life expectancy of your family members and I think that is the role of government we are we don't live in a place with no rules there there is order there is National interest and we are going to pursue that interest without apology love that so Matt before we open it up for questions from from Donald Trump saying I want Matt gates to be attorney general to go through that process what did you learn what would walk us through that whole process well I learned that there are a lot of Republicans in the United States Senate who may articulate tacid support for Trump they may even take a photo in the red hat but at the end of the day they don't want Trump to succeed because they want to revert the Republican party to the old ways where we were for Endless immigration and forever Wars and any trade deal even if it hollowed out the middle class in this country that's not this party anymore Donald Trump has shown us how to win by being a multi-generational multi-racial party who are unapologetically patriotic who are faithful and who believe that there is a responsible role for government and that currently government has far exceeded that constitutional architecture and so uh there are folks who I I think you know needled me or were challenging for me because they thought if we let this guy in there it really it really reinforces this whole Donald Trump JD Vance Matt Gates Tucker Carlson Charlie Kirk wing of the Republican party but we're not a wing anymore we're the whole damn [Applause] body so Matt talk about the power of the Grassroots and there are some Senators that are still giving Donald Trump's nominees a hard time we have pledged at Turning Point action and turning point pack if you get in the way of President Trump's agenda we will primary you and remove you from office will that help send a message yeah I mean everybody acts like we're the ones that are against democracy well guess what this is what democracy looks like the people holding their elected leaders to account when those leaders start deviating from your interests like you know the people in Mississippi aren't for sending billions more to Ukraine but yet they have a senator who votes that way and elsewhere in the country people have gotten pic fever they they go to Washington and it's like a city surrounded on all sides by reality and they are infected irrevocably and you know the sometimes you got to dip them back into a little dose of reality and having strong primary contests is important now we won't win all of them look The Establishment is established for a reason they're good at it they have very talented operatives they have very exquisite data they know they know the skills of deception on how to get to the type of of Voters who might not come to conferences like this so let us not act as though they are a defeated Force but you know what we get a few of them and we send a message to a few more that that 97% is not something they should rely on that they will be held to account and you you you get a few of them in uh in the right type of contest and you defeat a few of them I think it will have a very positive impct imp on the entire body so Matt learning from prior congresses what what mistakes happened previously that Donald Trump has to try to avoid coming into this 2025 legislative session uh it you know it's a great question um I think that that you have to start with what is your core mandate right now and if you if you deviate too far off the core mandate early it's we found it was hard to get back to it you know here the core mandate is to save this economy to secure this border and to create peace and prosperity in the world with strong leadership where we don't see all all this conflict erupting everywhere and if we do those basic things well I think that will invite people in I think that that sometimes there are issues before us that that function as a as a shiny lure and I think uh that if we if we chase after every shiny lure and get off of that core mission of of peace abroad Prosperity at home security of the Border um then then we run a greater risk of the midterms going a different direction Daisy let's start to do some questions here uh Matt tell us about your plans what are what are you doing now that you're not in Congress I'm speaking at 9:30 tomorrow morning well hold on you laugh that's right before the president so that's that's a good slot that's a good slot you always take very good care of me no I mean oh you think I'm throwing you know mat on the 9:30 Sunday usually you'd think that's a throwaway no no no no that that'll be the most packed the room has ever been yeah I got a lot on my chest I still want to share so I hope you'll come and listen to it it there'll be some new jokes it'll be some of the same jokes but you laughed at them so um but look I I think that I was elected when I was 26 years old to the state legislature and I'm 42 right now and so there is an important part of someone's life where you need to live under the laws that you have helped right and if you do this for 20 years or 30 years in elective service even someone who I I think you know I do everything I can to stay connected to my voters and my bosses but it's just not something you're supposed to do forever in life and you know I got the itch to go and be a part of reforming the corrupt institution at at the Department of Justice and I'm excited for Pam Bondi I'm going to be an advisor and an encourager of hers all the way in her Mission and I'll be ready when God or president Trump or Charlie Kirk call with the next mission oh we'll be calling all right yes sir hii my name is Owen Shelly I'm from the great state of Texas my question is there's a lot of races especially in my home state where it's a pretty close race especially for uh house congressional seats is it worth it uh with these incumbent Republicans that have been in there for 20 years or so that are kind of more rhinos than conservative Republicans getting them out of office and trying to put someone else in when it also comes with the possibility of losing the race yes it's a smart question yeah it's a really smart question and Texas is one of the states where Maga is overtaking what was a very strong establishment that establishment in Texas goes back to the bushes it's very ingrained it's very well financed and so it took a lot of magga energy to to get some of the victories we have you have an outstanding attorney general in Texas uh in Ken Paxton he might primary corn in uh he might he might there are a few Ronnie Jackson's another good member and excited for him Jody arrington's the budget chairman and really actually believes we should have a budget which is nice for the budget chairman um to believe in but I do think it's important and here's why that 97% number doesn't fully account for the retirements that you get when it starts to look like someone's in Jeopardy you got a few of them in Texas where I mean if they're if they haven't already seen the light they can see it flickering okay and if you get energetic candidates with strong capabilities and a compelling message some of those folks might find something else to do in their in their waning moments I think I see a gigum shirt so I'll say gigum I might be are my eyes deceiving me I'm right howdy yep what's next thanks for taking Jimbo Fisher off our hands yeah exactly where am I at Daisy if you want Mike nervell he's we could work something out he'll soon be available no what Daisy where are we hi Charlie Kirk I'm Sophia I'm 16 years old and I've been in involved in politics for like this whole election and trying I did my best to get Trump elected but I do [Music] [Applause] have so the one question I have for you is that so my friend Quinn he's also been involved and he wants to know if uh if Trump is will be inaugurated even when California has a state of emergency that is threatening to keep the current president to remain in office so if there's uh going to be a chance to stop that and make sure that Trump gets in office Sophia if that's an issue we're going to call you to resolve the entire matter so I'm going to need to make yourself available but but uh no the uh the National Emergency in that case is not going to stop the transfer of power uh you did enough we all did enough and it's going to be you don't have to worry about that we got plenty you know start worrying about the midterms right now Sophia but you don't have to worry about this last election you got that W already uh already secured and congratulations on it thank you and thank you for being [Applause] involved hi my name is Fred Theo and I'm 73 years old and I voted for Reagan twice but uh one of the things that I've noticed is We the People why are we allowing non-p people like corporations and unions and packs to give money to influence the election when we the people are the ones that should be getting the votes and financing the elections yeah I would love if you replaced me in Congress that's exactly my view of the subject and you know a lot of groups have to do it because it is what is required by the the federal campaign Finance laws but the core philosophy of that infrastructure is really just money laundering it's getting money that otherwise wouldn't be appropriate for elections into the electioneering sphere and everybody knows it and both sides participate in it and the question I want you to ask yourself is would you be willing to cross the aisle and work with Democrats who you might otherwise really really have negative views of to accomplish those objectives because I have been willing I've worked with AOC and Rana and ilhan Omar because while they disagree with me on a on a wide scope of issues they actually agree that you shouldn't have this money in politics now they tend to hold that view because they think they can beat us at that game but I think if this is truly a contest of ideas and who can ignite the actual people of this country to engage politically will win every time we smoke them and so I I'd rather I'd rather join in concert to ultimately get rid of the entities that are often in control no matter which side wins elections that's what's so frustrating to me when the power Chang es and it feels like the agenda doesn't even change because both sides are working for the same special interest the only way we break that is to totally change our campaign Finance system and I will work with anyone to do it who is next great great great question you guys thank you so much for everything you're doing for our country we love you um I am from California I live in Dana Point I go to a church called Calvary Chapel South OC and Pastor John Randall always say says thank you for John Rand is one of the best in California you go to a great church and he says great thank you for not leaving California Jack Hib says it too it's getting harder and harder my question is is there any hope for us okay you all are just you you're all just BL us is there any hope for California well didn't you see how the trajectory moved this last election were you watching that Charlie are you a California resident now I'm a Florida man I will live and die as a Florida man there's no other identity I will hold okay but did you watch that that the move everything mov to the right everything did you know I I wonder when the people of California will kind of wake up to this because how do you go from the most temperate climate in the hemisphere boundless natural resources some of the most intelligent creative class people in the world assembling there and then you let it all become like a homeless encampment where you treat the homeless the way we treat a bald eagle's nest like in Florida you can't get too close to the bald eagle's nest can't make any loud noises around it can't really disrupt it but like if the hobos just set up on the street corner we would turn on the irrigation until they left but in California you do it the other way and so you got to fix that nobody's there's not going to be the investment and the hope and the energy that you see in the rising places in our country and throughout the world if you have surrendered to the people that are urinating in the mailboxes those people can't win we have to beat those people I think what do you think Char Mt Gates is really special everybody I got to tell you very he's a special talent could you imagine him as attorney general with the onliners like that for the record I did more than most to try to make that happen Charlie was like my Sherpa my communications director my nightly therapist IST but there was the one time that Charlie did not allow me to get my protein shake on the way to maral Lago cuz Charlie's like we have to go because Elon is there we cannot miss our moment with Elon and Erica are like but we really want a protein shake Charlie we ultimately acquiesced and then Elon became an even bigger sponsor and supporter of turning points there you go pry good job Charlie great what do we have next Daisy where are we at oh thank you so I have two question questions really quick um one for Matt Gates one for Charlie Kirk uh Matt Gates first what are the top three things you expect to get to do get get done between 2025 after the new um new Congress has settled in in midterms top three things well the first will be the reconciliation bill and when I start talking about the federal budget Logistics people's eyes start to glaze over explain what reconciliation yes this is almost anything A Mother's Day resolution in the United State Senate now requires 60 votes but there's a special provision of the budgeting rules that say if you're making budget policy and reconciling the budget you only need the simple majority so a lot of the things that we want to do we're trying to shoehorn into the budget reconciliation process so that the threshold is 50 votes plus JD Vance not having to go convince a bunch of Democrats that the largest deportation and cutting $2 trillion out of the bureaucracy is a good idea I don't know that they'll go along with that and so so that reconciliation process begins immediately in January folks have got to be on the ball and if we get that successfully achieved we'll get the tax cuts extended we'll get some of our important immigration priorities funded and we will really cut away at some of these agencies that do not have a constitutional basis when people ask how are you going to cut the budget you just have to use the Constitution and you got to start cleaving away the things things that are not in the Constitution have to go to the states and sometimes the states will succeed and sometimes they'll fail but that is the system in this country and then we hope that people have enough sense to see what best practices are working and then to copy those through the decisions of the states and the people that has been the path to prosperity and it's only when we've surrendered to the boohemoth bureaucracy and the Omnibus spending bills and the continuing resolutions that we've seen our nation decline that's great fantastic answer thank you so much I actually came here from New Hampshire my dad had a heart attack on Friday that's why I was not here for most of the day he's doing better thank you so much I personally would love to get an opportunity to be on your podcast Charlie and talk about abortion and how we can actually defeat it because it's destroying this country it's destroying marriages it's destroying future children it's destroying how we actually are going to be a righteous people and under God and under faith and not be opposed by God I'd love to do that I'd love to get I think you just were sir you are think you are on my podcast I think that was a self actual izing moment for you you are on the podcast and I I will tell you um being a member once a week you guys can call in and you are on the show you're you're you're live on hundreds of radio stations millions of people online and also it posts as a podcast that is one of the perks of being a member so sometimes in my sleep I hear Freedom at Charlie kirk.com see it works the repetition you guys know how to email me I love that thank you my name's Paul kitsy I'm from Eastern Washington um this question is our current Congressman I think Congressman gate knows um Dan NE house was reelected and you can Boo this one what state just tell East Washington State notice the people from Washington they want you to know if they're from East Washington yes absolutely that was his way of saying we didn't have the Chaz in East Washington but but my question is the the candidate that ran against him was endorsed by Donald J Trump a week before it happened I want people to know this speaker Johnson and Steve scalise came in for private fundraisers for Dan new house how do we this and I have constant I'm an LD chair constantly I've been challenging Congressman new house because of his policies nothing's changed how do we do that when you have leadership that's going against the current the the Donald Trump well the the the way the Republican conference works is the speaker has a constituent y of 222 members and the speaker is there to serve that constituency and when there's a weak one in the herd as Mr new house was politically for a time because of that impeachment vote a bunch of the other ones that one day think they might be the weak one in the herd are only going to follow the one that's the strong one that protects the weakest in the herd right does that make sense to you and so you may not like that but that's the incentive structure where the way the speaker stays the speaker is to always make sure that the weakest in the herd are protected we had we had Tony Gonzalez on the run in Texas we had a great candidate Brandon Herrera running against him Herrera raised a million dollars which is pretty good to do against an incumbent and you know speaker Johnson and others raised over 10 million dollar for Tony Gonzalez and Mr Herrera lost that race by under 400 votes and so there are times when the resource advantage that the establishment has becomes their cudgel against us and that's why stuff like Turning Point getting interconnected you know having Elon involved in resourcing more efforts like this that's what's going to build us into a more comparable fighting force and maybe we'll never have them one to one on the dollar spend on some of these key campaigns but I think on some if we only get out spent maybe one and a half to one or two to one or two and a half to one you're going to start to see those outcomes change that's great next question hey Mr Gates uh Mr Kirk I'm really big fans my name's Caleb I'm uh 17 from upstate New York and I lean very uh austr libertarian I my question would be on big business is Big Business what's hurting Americans or is it big government support of big business and the force of government allowing business to hurt Americans I think that it is I think that we have seen the greatest Fusion of big business and government at any other time in our nation's history and the way business is able to get government to wrap itself around a particular business business model we saw this in big Tech where they built in all these immunities right that were supposed to supposed to protect a free Marketplace of ideas and now that became the function of the censorship that so many of us have have endured and so I I shared on timcast last night I think the biggest threat to your government to your Liberty is big government the second biggest threat to your Liberty is Big Business and the third homeowners associations and some know actually Al-Qaeda started as a homeowners association um it's both it's a fusion of both but what I mean I I've read all the Austrian economics literature it's fine it's just wrong about a lot but I mean it's look the idea is this is that there's a lot of corporations that hate us and parts of government that hate us I'll give you one example that has nothing to do with the government Black Rock should not be allowed to buy single family homes and make our young people have to compete against them but the Austrian I'm not picking on you I'm just saying the Austrian economics say all free market I'm sorry that's insane that our young people have to compete against a 10 trillion dollar company to be able to buy a home another idea is that the Chinese Communist Party should not be able to own Farmland in this country period and they say oh free market nope that's where I draw the line our enemies should not be able to own Farmland next to military bases and be able to use it against us so look we we we love free markets because Market Market serve people when markets fail to serve people then we should be prudent about how we intervene and look we're we're a country that has an economy in it not an economy that happens to be in a country and I think that's an important distinction but look I I've read all the stuff I've read misus rothbard Hayek Henry Haslett it's good stuff it's really interesting philosophical um Doctrine and then you have to ask yourselves am I just going to live in an abstraction or do I actually want to live in a nation thank you next question hello guys Zack Kern over here from Kansas City uh as a segue and follow up to that you mentioned in the other room uh that uh it's not a constitutional right to housing and you keep it up private Equity out of it so then what was your proposal to solve the millions of affordable housing shortage crisis that we have in America I mean better zoning loss yeah better zoning loss but also I mean I I can go first or you can go like first thing is that it's a supply and demand issue when you have 12 million people come into the country they need to live somewhere and so maybe if we Deport 12 million people all of a sudden the demand for housing will go down and when the demand for housing goes down definitionally the supply I mean when when when you artificially allow 12 million people into the the market they have to live somewhere and then we subsidize the housing for a lot of these illegals which makes which is insane then also just everything has been more expensive because we decided to artificially create about $8 trillion of unnecessary federal spending postco and that money has to go somewhere and that money has gone into Hardware everything is more expensive it's more expensive to be able to you know ship your windows to a new home it's more expensive to buy a hammer to buy nails for labor and so hyperinflation is a direct Cory to the rising price of housing so Matt yeah I would agree we we were able to create more opportunity in housing in Florida by decentralizing some of the authorities where you did we had a state entity that had to approve every subdivision and we abolished that state entity and we uh we were able to get more more shovel ready product projects underway at the end of the day it can't cost as much as it does to build a house and to secure land and if it does that uh that price will be unattainable for for many many Americans particularly jenzy next question thank you Matt Charlie Tim Miller from Chicago uh first one for Matt uh second one is really more Charlie I think uh what is it these lobbyists what are they doing on a daily basis like a day in the life of a lobbyist specifically you know in a brief way and then Charlie can we replace them with the people like just get let's just grow this thing to the point where we could just get the people over there in their faces all the time yeah what the lob now you're now you're thinking yeah what the lobbyists do like a lobbyist would wake up and then go to a breakfast where they would hand members of Congress you know a th000 bucks 2,000 bucks up to 5,000 bucks and they uh and they for their campaign and right as they're delivering the money they make a specific ask a congressman we really need you to sign on to this amendment we really need this bill filed and they go around and do it and it was just for me like when I first got there before I sore off the money it was hilarious because' be like this we are locked Martin we'd like you to support this weapon system and like the next group be like we're the Cannabis Association of America and I I just brought together the weirdest of people um but but they so that's what they they'll do in the morning and then they work the Halls throughout the day with staff members who hope to One Day become lobbyists saying you know we were there for the for the breakfast fundraiser and you know your member really said they'd sign on to this letter for us or in Institute this amendment and then they would extract those demands uh the other thing that lobbying firms have figured out is you don't even need to use the campaign Finance system if you hire people's otherwise unemployable family members the number of spouses and children of members of Congress who become lobbyists is astonishing like Senator Richard bur of nor former senator from North Carolina his wife and son both became lobbyists and he was the chairman of the intelligence committee so like how would you feel if your interests were adverse to the people who were paying the chairman of the intelligence committee's wife and kid do you think that they had special persuasion skills or was it their familial relationship that they were monetizing as far as how we replace it that's where Turning Point comes in hopefully long term and we're getting there where we need to demand that more members of Congress and very if you do do what Matt did no PS we're not going to take any money from PS special interest of Corporations very very few members do what Matt did it's because it's hard to finance it's hard to finance your campaign if you don't go for the easy money and so but yes there there needs to be a long-term accountability project in charge of the Republican party and that's always been my whole thing it's not just about winning majorities it's about keeping majorities accountable to actually do the things they said they were going to do when they campaigned it's not enough to say oh we're going to cut spending did you actually cut spending did you actually build the border wall and like the most naked example of this and frustrating is the money in Ukraine like no one here wants more money to sent to Ukraine like not a single Republican primary voter wants more money sent to Ukraine it's an indefensible position and yet every single one of you wants a secure border and yet they don't care because that's not where the money is well well we could and you know we could take money and we could start a pack that's what I I mean that was my model sir what you're describ I had 200,000 people around this country who'd give me five bucks 10 bucks 25 bucks and they didn't need anything from me other than for me to go be me and I mean yeah no you're talking you're talking about $2 billion a year project yes yeah you're not going to beat but but guess what guess what we just beat them all this last week they wanted that 1500 page Bill and they lost so now you got to start wondering what are they going to do next last question Daisy hi my name is Michelle Cortez I'm from Mallen Texas uh so right there on the border literally seven miles away and I would like to run for Congress in District 34 to take this seat away from viente Gonzalez who I don't know how many of you know has actually been Nancy Pelosi's attorney for many years and he has done nothing for a district but I do not want to fall into the Trap of lobbyists how would you recommend or is there any advice that you can give me staying true to the party and accountable to my con constituents is assuming that I win here's the advice I would give to anyone considering running for office you have to have a path to Victory you have to see where are where are my skills going to be deployed with the right Partnerships and the right team members to achieve Victory because if because if candidates run and come in fifth out of seven they've they've done less for our movement it's better to find a place where you can run and win I didn't start by running for congress I cut my teeth in the state legislature I'm a better Congressman because I had other experience before serving in that role but what I've also found is you have to show people you're willing to fight for them I think at the end of the day when people go into the voting booth they're not voting for the one that's the most attractive sometimes they're not voting for the one that sent the most flyers I think most people go in and say if my Tail's on the line which one of these people will actually care about me and try to do something for me and the best way to do that is to Showcase it and you don't have to be elected before I was elected to anything my local County tried to Institute a pet tax and so I got together all the pet owners very eclectic group of people and and we went in and we prevailed on the local leaders to repeal the pet tax and then people were like oh well when a position in the State House came open people thought well that guy actually cared enough to stop me from paying the pet tax maybe he'd be a good lawmaker for us so find a find a fight where people need a champion and do what you can to lead and showcase those capabilities Matt Gates everybody thank you what
