Charlie Kirk calls on Republican-led states to “defy the federal government”
Kirk: “Peaceful and constitutional defiance of the federal government will actually strengthen the nation”
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From the July 15, 2022, edition of The Charlie Kirk Show, streamed on YouTube
CHARLIE KIRK (HOST): What – If I were to give one contribution in the year 2022, just a single one, to the Republican Party and the conservative movement, it would to be embrace one sliver of Machiavellian political theory.
Now, when you think of Machiavellianism, you're like, Oh, Charlie, the ends justify the means. That's an oversimplification of just one of the writings of Machiavelli. Machiavelli had an amazing canon of work. We obviously just think of him for the writing The Prince.
But there's another part, where he challenged behavioral patterns. He challenged what we have grown accustomed to. And he said, If we know what we want, why don't we go do it? Now, I know that sounds so simply like Charlie, of course.
Why don't we go do it? Why don't we go make red states energy independent? Why do we need Saudi Arabia? Why do you need the federal government? Why do you need the EPA? Why do you need the Department of Energy? No, no. What's the reason? Oh, because it's against their rules. They break the rules every day. How are they going to enforce them exactly? Who created the federal government? Who's in charge?
You can do anything you want as long as it's in the pursuit of goodness and virtue and truth if you have the political will to do it.
Now, you might say, Well, Charlie, who's truth? Thanks for asking the question, subjective person who graduated from college. There's only one truth. You might have one experience. You might have different experiences, I should say.
But it's not going to solve itself by shuffling around cards. And this is something that's so interesting, is that the Republicans in DC are so afraid of what they're actually creating. The Republicans were like, well, this is going to tear the country apart. No, no, no. You doing nothing will tear the country apart. You want to reinvigorate the country? Action, boldness.
And yes, I know this sounds controversial, but peaceful and constitutional defiance of the federal government will actually strengthen the nation. If the federal government does not faithfully execute the laws, if the federal government is starving its citizens, what do you do? Oh, you wait for the next election? No, this is an important thought exercise for the weak-kneed Republicans.
All across the heartland of the country. I want to hear from I want – like, for example, Asa Hutchinson, complete waste of time.
If the federal government starts to – say what? You can't have farmland! We're confiscating food! Do you wait for the next election? Do you write a letter? Do you issue a press release? Where's your line exactly? Or are you just going to say, oh, we don't have a solution, so do it. Sorry. We don't have the political will. We're not able to do it. Cowards, all of them, run him out of the party.
There is a new moment and I understand a lot of leaders don't have the stomach for this. So I didn't sign up for this. I wanted to be a governor. I wanted to be a paper pusher. I wanted to try and get tax rates down in my state. Great, terrific, wonderful. Taxes are too high. Get in line. We have a whole chamber of commerce that wants to do that. How about you go feed your people? How do you make sure you can get gas in the tank? Or secure the southern border.
You see, when things start to fall apart, it's tempting and isn't easy to look to the capital, look to Washington, D.C. and say, what – we are – we have our hands tied. Actually, no, you don't. You tied your own hands because you don't think creatively and you're afraid of The New York Times.
We the people are sovereign. And we the people give our power first to the local government, then the state government. And so, I don't want to hear excuses anymore for Repub – if I have to get another one of these emails from the establishment Republicans, I'm going to lose it. Triple match! urgent! alert! How about you go do something. Anything. I need more money. Actually, no you really don't. How about you govern and then I'll give you some money.
Drill, build the Keystone XL pipeline, deport illegals, build the wall, create the future you want to live in. I'm done with the excuses. I don't want to hear about the EPA or the Department of Energy. I don't want to hear about Biden's overreach. Ignore him.
He's had his turn. We played the game. We gave him a couple months. We said, OK, maybe he's going to come to the middle. But it's a moral question. And the question is very clear. What do you do when something good and beautiful is being destroyed in front of you? Do you wait until the next election? Do you write a press release? Do you sit on your hands? Do you go donate and urgent rush triple max alert to some Republican senator who does nothing? Or do you act? Do you storm the classroom or do you wait for your captain to tell you to do that 77 minutes later?
I'm telling you right now, Republicans better get their act together right now; they have no idea the game that's happening all around them. And you play a role in that. You got to keep the pressure on. And you know what? Stop all of a sudden saying, well, I guess we have a good governor. Defy the federal government. Build the future we want to live in. Because they betrayed us. It's time to build something meaningful.