October 15, 2025 • 13 mins
The Political Science Professor from Winthrop University joins Bo and Beth to discuss President Trump's negotiated peace agreement between Israel and Hamas. Charlie Kirk's impact on the youth vote and Erika Kirk's potential future in politics.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is Good Morning, BT.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
News Talk eleven ten, nine to nine, three dou WBT
eight thirty eight on your Wednesday Morning, Bo and Beth
and on the DOUBDBT Hotline. Right now, he joins us
once a week talk about political headlines. Longtime political science
professor at Winthrop University, Scott Huffman is back with us.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Good morning, sir, Good morning, hope y'all are well.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
We are doing well, and I think the natural place
to start with anybody that we talk about anything political
this week has to go back to the historic agreement
President Trump brokering this and with the Middle East peace
that we believe is it's in place. The question is
is will it hold? But the twenty hostages we're released,
(00:47):
and that is a monumental achievement in of itself. It's
an interesting thing to watch sort of play out because
you know, politics is politics, and we know that it's
not often that you get former presidents of different parties
saying complimentary things about current ones and that kind of thing.
But you know, this is one of those moments where
people like Bill Clinton are saying positive things and former
(01:10):
President Biden about the agreement that President Trump was able
to secure. And when you look back on the history
of this presidency, I don't think it's hyperbole to say,
even though he's only you know, months into his second term,
this could be the defining moment of his presidency. Maybe not,
but it's not an out there thought to think that.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
And and this is an accomplishment. You know, it's a
very difficult region. Obviously, you know, this has been happening
for a few thousand years, but you know, we see
it a defined part of Jimmy Carter's presidency. And of
course that the piece of cords then didn't hold, and
we're hoping that these will. This really was an agreement
(01:57):
that a president like Biden couldn't have gotten because Biden
was pushing Benjamin NT Yahoo to have a ceasefire first
before they sat down to agreement. That is something that
not Yahoo would not agree to under any circumstances. And
so this is sort of something that only a president
(02:18):
going into it like Trump was could get this. Now
it allowed you know, Yahoo to you know, continue to
bombard in Gazzo, which you know was it was kind
of the main thing people were upset about. But that
was really the only path as long as bbe as
long as Benjamin nut Yahoo, uh, you know, was in charge,
(02:38):
and so really only Trump could have could have gotten
this done in this way right now, and it may
be again, like you said, we're not even a year
into the presidency.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
What did you think, as a political science professor of
the speech that President Trump made at the Kanesset after
the ceasefire and the peace agreement deal was was was finalized.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Well, you know, he again he focuses a lot on Israeli,
doesn't you know, say a whole lot about you know,
what's happening in Gaza. He has, you know, come out
and said again in social media this time that Hamas
you know, better step up and do what it's promised.
There's some logistic difficulties going on there. He he has
(03:26):
traditionally tried to take credit for bringing peace and situations
where he really wasn't the main operator. This time he
kind of was.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yesterday President Trump, I mean, you talk about his itinerary
in the last several days with everything that happened in
the Middle East, and then you're hearing stories about how
fast he had to move to get back to the
White House yesterday and yesterday afternoon awarding the Congressional Medal
of Freedom to the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie
(03:58):
Kirk posthumous postum and Bernie, I did not tell you
any Number three. Here this is President Trump talking about
Charlie Kirk yesterday. The wisdom that he noticed in Charlie Kirk.
And this was a guy that was barely thirty years old.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
He was so wise beyond his years. You know, I
talked to him sometimes and said, this guy is like
a young guy. He was really a wise man. From
the time Charlie worked on my presidential campaign in twenty sixteen,
and he was there right from the beginning. He liked me,
I don't know, I have no idea. Why what the
hell was he thinking? He said, you're gonna win, sir.
(04:34):
I said, you know, I'm running against seventeen senators and
a lot of tough people and governors. We have all
these people. And he said, no, you're going to win, sir.
He said, not going to be close. And he made
it happen. He helped make it happen. I'll tell you that.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
The more we learn about Charlie Kirk, doctor Huffman, the
more you realize how much, especially from the standpoint of
attracting younger voters to the fray. How much Charlie Kirk
apparently did have an effect on President Trump Trump's election.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, he definitely reinvigorated young conservatives and young people across
the spectrum were becoming more and more disengaged in politics.
They saw, you know, I'm sorry, I don't mean to
hurt anybody species. They saw the baby boomers being in charge,
not giving up power, and not speaking to the issues
(05:28):
that they felt were important. People like Charlie Kirk came
in and sort of reignited the passions on the conservative
side and especially among conservative young men, who were probably
the most disengaged, because you know, women on both sides
tend to be more politically engaged. You know, here in
South Carolina, in a lot of states, obviously we see
(05:51):
higher turnouts among women. But you know, conservative men had
been becoming more and more alienated, and people like Charlie
got him engaged and got him to the polls, most
of them for the first time in their lives, even
though they were in their late twenties early thirties.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
So, speaking of women, I want to ask a follow
up question about this meeting yesterday, and obviously his Charlie
Kirk's widow spoke yesterday Erica Kirk accepting the Presidential Medal
of Freedom on Charlie's behalf. But she said something, and
I've wondered about something that I want to ask you,
because a political science professor is like the perfect person
(06:29):
to ask about this. Hypothetically, You'll see where I'm going.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
This is good morning, Beati.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
There was no limit to what he would have sacrificed
to defend freedom for all, And if the moment had come,
he probably would have run for president, but not out
of ambition. He would only have done it if that
was something that he believed that his country needed. From
a servant's heart standpoint, and Charlie lived only thirty one
(06:56):
short years.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
That's Erica Kirk yesterday at the White House, says President
Trump awarded obviously a post death, the Presidential Medal of
Freedom to Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated several weeks back.
And I thought that was an interesting moment because I
want to ask our guest right now, who is a
political science professor, doctor Scott Huffman at Winthrop University. So
(07:20):
the notion of Charlie Kirk running for president had he lived,
I'm curious as to how much of a formidable candidate
you think he would have been. But I have one
further on that one once you answer this that I
want to add there too. But the idea that Charlie
Kirk would have been one of those who competed to
be or to take the baton, so to speak from
(07:42):
President Trump, because we still don't know who that person
it's going to be. What are your thoughts on that notion?
Speaker 3 (07:48):
He would not have been the person to kind of
be in line to take the baton in twenty twenty eight,
he very much could have been a little further on
the thing he might have run for in twenty twenty
eight is there'll be an Arizona Senate race in twenty
twenty eight, And the last Arizona Senate race was stunningly close.
(08:10):
Of course, most Senate races are at least outside of
you know, the South, but it was incredibly close, and
it looks, you know, like twenty twenty eight could be
a replace. So that actually would have been something he
could have done. Now, the congressional district, I'm not sure
which district he was in in Arizona. You know, there
(08:31):
are several red ones, but he was there near Phoenix,
so I'm not sure, but he definitely could have been
somebody who could have sort of stepped past the state
legislature towards a run like governor or senator, which then
would have catapulted him to a position where, you know,
(08:52):
certainly within a decade or so, absolutely running for president.
And certainly if he ran for anything at presidential level
or anywhere else, he would pull the field further to
the right and kind of force them to be on
topic on key conservative issues. So he really would have
impacted any race that he got in.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Now, are you saying that because because I'm thinking here,
at thirty one years old, you got to be thirty
five to run for president. You're saying that, So you're
saying that at a base level because of his age limit.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
No, No, actually, at a base level because there are
people ahead of him with more experience.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Okay, he would sort of be.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
The voice that pulled them, that sort of drove much
what they were saying. In the same flip side as
Bernie Sanders, the exact opposite, extremely old, but his rhetoric
when he was running for the Democratic nomination completely changed
how every other Democratic candidate had to run, and then
when Charlie Kirk was fully of age and a little
(09:53):
more experience, oh, he'd have been formidable.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Then.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Okay, so here's my follow up. And I've not heard
this talked about yet. It's something I've been thinking though.
Erica Kirk is thirty six years old. Could you see
Erica Kirk being either a candidate or I was thinking
more of a vice presidential like a running mate for
a candidate. Do you think she has because she's taken
over a turning point? Do you think she has any
kind of political future after all of this?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Absolutely, she probably has a political future, either as a
candidate or as a not spokesperson but somebody who is
a surrogate going around. I think even if she is
not selected, you know, as a VP candidate, which is
is actually pretty unlikely, but not impossible. I mean, this
is the twenty twenties, she will be a major surrogate
(10:44):
because if she continues to take the helm of turning
Point and make it grow the same way her husband was,
then it'll be vital for her to be a surrogate
for whatever Republican presidential candidate is running in eight Could
she be tapped at some point. Absolutely, could she be
(11:05):
on her own a viable candidate for a statewide national
office in twenty twenty eight, you bet.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
From Since we're talking about Charlie and Erica Kirk, they certainly,
as you mentioned earlier, had a profound impact on young voters,
particularly young conservative voters. Politico broke a story yesterday really quickly.
I'd be remiss if we didn't ask you about this.
Thousands of private messages from young GOP leaders who were
(11:33):
making jokes about things from and this is directly from
the political article, jokes about gas chambers, slavery, and even rape.
And I think that as people saw this story come
across the wires yesterday, I think people were shocked by
some of the messages that have been released from these
young GOP leaders.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, and these are filed. There's no context in which
they're not vile. Also, people need they were called the
young Republicans, so people kind of focus on the young.
That means age forty and under. These are not thirteen
year old kids on their Xbox talking into a headset trying.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
To be edge lords.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
The people who were involved in this that I could
find their ages were thirty years older. They're abouts, and
they were not just saying vaguely racist things trying to
be funny, which is bad enough. They were doubling down
with white supremacist code, like fourteen eighty eight. Fourteen is
for the fourteen white supremacist words quote we must secure
(12:37):
the existence of our people and a future for our
white children, you know, which was the founder of the
terrorist group. The order said in eighty eight. Of course
the eighth letter of the alphabet H H. Kyle Hitler.
So fourteen eighty eight is white supremacist code. You can't
pass that off as somebody just trying to be super edgy.
(12:58):
These the things they said were vile, and they are
not teenagers. They were fully formed. Well I don't know
about fully formed, but they were fully adults in their
late twenties early thirties.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Scott Huffman, we got to stop it there. We appreciate
your time as always a professor of political science at
Winthrop University. Real quick, just for housekeeping purposes here, I
was asking you about Charlie Kirk and his age. He
would have turned thirty two yesterday, and so you have
to be thirty five by inauguration day to be president.
(13:31):
So that would have put him at thirty five in
October of twenty twenty eight, so he would have been
old enough. I have to be inaugurate, I asked the question.
Then I started thinking, well, that's not even where I
was going. But I at least wanted to get the
math back in the right place doing math. Hey, you know,
college was a long time ago, but that's why we
talked to professors.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Now.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
It's good to talk to you, SIRVI. We'll talk to
you next week
Speaker 1 (13:50):
All right, great, look forward to it.
This is Good Morning, BT.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
News Talk eleven ten, nine to nine, three dou WBT
eight thirty eight on your Wednesday Morning, Bo and Beth
and on the DOUBDBT Hotline. Right now, he joins us
once a week talk about political headlines. Longtime political science
professor at Winthrop University, Scott Huffman is back with us.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Good morning, sir, Good morning, hope y'all are well.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
We are doing well, and I think the natural place
to start with anybody that we talk about anything political
this week has to go back to the historic agreement
President Trump brokering this and with the Middle East peace
that we believe is it's in place. The question is
is will it hold? But the twenty hostages we're released,
(00:47):
and that is a monumental achievement in of itself. It's
an interesting thing to watch sort of play out because
you know, politics is politics, and we know that it's
not often that you get former presidents of different parties
saying complimentary things about current ones and that kind of thing.
But you know, this is one of those moments where
people like Bill Clinton are saying positive things and former
(01:10):
President Biden about the agreement that President Trump was able
to secure. And when you look back on the history
of this presidency, I don't think it's hyperbole to say,
even though he's only you know, months into his second term,
this could be the defining moment of his presidency. Maybe not,
but it's not an out there thought to think that.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
And and this is an accomplishment. You know, it's a
very difficult region. Obviously, you know, this has been happening
for a few thousand years, but you know, we see
it a defined part of Jimmy Carter's presidency. And of
course that the piece of cords then didn't hold, and
we're hoping that these will. This really was an agreement
(01:57):
that a president like Biden couldn't have gotten because Biden
was pushing Benjamin NT Yahoo to have a ceasefire first
before they sat down to agreement. That is something that
not Yahoo would not agree to under any circumstances. And
so this is sort of something that only a president
(02:18):
going into it like Trump was could get this. Now
it allowed you know, Yahoo to you know, continue to
bombard in Gazzo, which you know was it was kind
of the main thing people were upset about. But that
was really the only path as long as bbe as
long as Benjamin nut Yahoo, uh, you know, was in charge,
(02:38):
and so really only Trump could have could have gotten
this done in this way right now, and it may
be again, like you said, we're not even a year
into the presidency.
Speaker 4 (02:48):
What did you think, as a political science professor of
the speech that President Trump made at the Kanesset after
the ceasefire and the peace agreement deal was was was finalized.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Well, you know, he again he focuses a lot on Israeli,
doesn't you know, say a whole lot about you know,
what's happening in Gaza. He has, you know, come out
and said again in social media this time that Hamas
you know, better step up and do what it's promised.
There's some logistic difficulties going on there. He he has
(03:26):
traditionally tried to take credit for bringing peace and situations
where he really wasn't the main operator. This time he
kind of was.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yesterday President Trump, I mean, you talk about his itinerary
in the last several days with everything that happened in
the Middle East, and then you're hearing stories about how
fast he had to move to get back to the
White House yesterday and yesterday afternoon awarding the Congressional Medal
of Freedom to the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Charlie
(03:58):
Kirk posthumous postum and Bernie, I did not tell you
any Number three. Here this is President Trump talking about
Charlie Kirk yesterday. The wisdom that he noticed in Charlie Kirk.
And this was a guy that was barely thirty years old.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
He was so wise beyond his years. You know, I
talked to him sometimes and said, this guy is like
a young guy. He was really a wise man. From
the time Charlie worked on my presidential campaign in twenty sixteen,
and he was there right from the beginning. He liked me,
I don't know, I have no idea. Why what the
hell was he thinking? He said, you're gonna win, sir.
(04:34):
I said, you know, I'm running against seventeen senators and
a lot of tough people and governors. We have all
these people. And he said, no, you're going to win, sir.
He said, not going to be close. And he made
it happen. He helped make it happen. I'll tell you that.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
The more we learn about Charlie Kirk, doctor Huffman, the
more you realize how much, especially from the standpoint of
attracting younger voters to the fray. How much Charlie Kirk
apparently did have an effect on President Trump Trump's election.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Well, he definitely reinvigorated young conservatives and young people across
the spectrum were becoming more and more disengaged in politics.
They saw, you know, I'm sorry, I don't mean to
hurt anybody species. They saw the baby boomers being in charge,
not giving up power, and not speaking to the issues
(05:28):
that they felt were important. People like Charlie Kirk came
in and sort of reignited the passions on the conservative
side and especially among conservative young men, who were probably
the most disengaged, because you know, women on both sides
tend to be more politically engaged. You know, here in
South Carolina, in a lot of states, obviously we see
(05:51):
higher turnouts among women. But you know, conservative men had
been becoming more and more alienated, and people like Charlie
got him engaged and got him to the polls, most
of them for the first time in their lives, even
though they were in their late twenties early thirties.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
So, speaking of women, I want to ask a follow
up question about this meeting yesterday, and obviously his Charlie
Kirk's widow spoke yesterday Erica Kirk accepting the Presidential Medal
of Freedom on Charlie's behalf. But she said something, and
I've wondered about something that I want to ask you,
because a political science professor is like the perfect person
(06:29):
to ask about this. Hypothetically, You'll see where I'm going.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
This is good morning, Beati.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
There was no limit to what he would have sacrificed
to defend freedom for all, And if the moment had come,
he probably would have run for president, but not out
of ambition. He would only have done it if that
was something that he believed that his country needed. From
a servant's heart standpoint, and Charlie lived only thirty one
(06:56):
short years.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
That's Erica Kirk yesterday at the White House, says President
Trump awarded obviously a post death, the Presidential Medal of
Freedom to Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated several weeks back.
And I thought that was an interesting moment because I
want to ask our guest right now, who is a
political science professor, doctor Scott Huffman at Winthrop University. So
(07:20):
the notion of Charlie Kirk running for president had he lived,
I'm curious as to how much of a formidable candidate
you think he would have been. But I have one
further on that one once you answer this that I
want to add there too. But the idea that Charlie
Kirk would have been one of those who competed to
be or to take the baton, so to speak from
(07:42):
President Trump, because we still don't know who that person
it's going to be. What are your thoughts on that notion?
Speaker 3 (07:48):
He would not have been the person to kind of
be in line to take the baton in twenty twenty eight,
he very much could have been a little further on
the thing he might have run for in twenty twenty
eight is there'll be an Arizona Senate race in twenty
twenty eight, And the last Arizona Senate race was stunningly close.
(08:10):
Of course, most Senate races are at least outside of
you know, the South, but it was incredibly close, and
it looks, you know, like twenty twenty eight could be
a replace. So that actually would have been something he
could have done. Now, the congressional district, I'm not sure
which district he was in in Arizona. You know, there
(08:31):
are several red ones, but he was there near Phoenix,
so I'm not sure, but he definitely could have been
somebody who could have sort of stepped past the state
legislature towards a run like governor or senator, which then
would have catapulted him to a position where, you know,
(08:52):
certainly within a decade or so, absolutely running for president.
And certainly if he ran for anything at presidential level
or anywhere else, he would pull the field further to
the right and kind of force them to be on
topic on key conservative issues. So he really would have
impacted any race that he got in.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Now, are you saying that because because I'm thinking here,
at thirty one years old, you got to be thirty
five to run for president. You're saying that, So you're
saying that at a base level because of his age limit.
Speaker 3 (09:23):
No, No, actually, at a base level because there are
people ahead of him with more experience.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Okay, he would sort of be.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
The voice that pulled them, that sort of drove much
what they were saying. In the same flip side as
Bernie Sanders, the exact opposite, extremely old, but his rhetoric
when he was running for the Democratic nomination completely changed
how every other Democratic candidate had to run, and then
when Charlie Kirk was fully of age and a little
(09:53):
more experience, oh, he'd have been formidable.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Then.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Okay, so here's my follow up. And I've not heard
this talked about yet. It's something I've been thinking though.
Erica Kirk is thirty six years old. Could you see
Erica Kirk being either a candidate or I was thinking
more of a vice presidential like a running mate for
a candidate. Do you think she has because she's taken
over a turning point? Do you think she has any
kind of political future after all of this?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
Absolutely, she probably has a political future, either as a
candidate or as a not spokesperson but somebody who is
a surrogate going around. I think even if she is
not selected, you know, as a VP candidate, which is
is actually pretty unlikely, but not impossible. I mean, this
is the twenty twenties, she will be a major surrogate
(10:44):
because if she continues to take the helm of turning
Point and make it grow the same way her husband was,
then it'll be vital for her to be a surrogate
for whatever Republican presidential candidate is running in eight Could
she be tapped at some point. Absolutely, could she be
(11:05):
on her own a viable candidate for a statewide national
office in twenty twenty eight, you bet.
Speaker 4 (11:13):
From Since we're talking about Charlie and Erica Kirk, they certainly,
as you mentioned earlier, had a profound impact on young voters,
particularly young conservative voters. Politico broke a story yesterday really quickly.
I'd be remiss if we didn't ask you about this.
Thousands of private messages from young GOP leaders who were
(11:33):
making jokes about things from and this is directly from
the political article, jokes about gas chambers, slavery, and even rape.
And I think that as people saw this story come
across the wires yesterday, I think people were shocked by
some of the messages that have been released from these
young GOP leaders.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, and these are filed. There's no context in which
they're not vile. Also, people need they were called the
young Republicans, so people kind of focus on the young.
That means age forty and under. These are not thirteen
year old kids on their Xbox talking into a headset trying.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
To be edge lords.
Speaker 3 (12:15):
The people who were involved in this that I could
find their ages were thirty years older. They're abouts, and
they were not just saying vaguely racist things trying to
be funny, which is bad enough. They were doubling down
with white supremacist code, like fourteen eighty eight. Fourteen is
for the fourteen white supremacist words quote we must secure
(12:37):
the existence of our people and a future for our
white children, you know, which was the founder of the
terrorist group. The order said in eighty eight. Of course
the eighth letter of the alphabet H H. Kyle Hitler.
So fourteen eighty eight is white supremacist code. You can't
pass that off as somebody just trying to be super edgy.
(12:58):
These the things they said were vile, and they are
not teenagers. They were fully formed. Well I don't know
about fully formed, but they were fully adults in their
late twenties early thirties.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Scott Huffman, we got to stop it there. We appreciate
your time as always a professor of political science at
Winthrop University. Real quick, just for housekeeping purposes here, I
was asking you about Charlie Kirk and his age. He
would have turned thirty two yesterday, and so you have
to be thirty five by inauguration day to be president.
(13:31):
So that would have put him at thirty five in
October of twenty twenty eight, so he would have been
old enough. I have to be inaugurate, I asked the question.
Then I started thinking, well, that's not even where I
was going. But I at least wanted to get the
math back in the right place doing math. Hey, you know,
college was a long time ago, but that's why we
talked to professors.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Now.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
It's good to talk to you, SIRVI. We'll talk to
you next week
Speaker 1 (13:50):
All right, great, look forward to it.
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