September 10, 2026 • 29 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's that time. Lock and load.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
The Michael Varey Show is.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
On the air.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Swing low.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Swing low.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Sweet sherry on.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Coming for to carry me home.
Speaker 5 (00:26):
Swing.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
He built Turning Point USA from a two-man startup into
an $ 85 million youth political machine. Became one of the
most listened to voices in America. A kid from Prospect Heights, Illinois.
Eagle Scout. Turned down by West Point. One semester of
community college and no degree. And he'd tell you so himself,
(01:06):
standing at a folding table in the middle of a
hostile campus, handing the microphone to the loudest 19-year-old.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
In the crowd.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
2,000 chapters. Three hours of live radio a day. Three
quarters of a million downloads a day. by 2021 he
wasn't only building campus chapters he was building turning point
faith taking the whole operation into the churches because he
decided the country's trouble was never really political he said
(01:36):
we were in a constitutional crisis for one reason we
were no longer a christian nation and every friday night
the phone went off until sundown saturday the rest of
the week belonged to the country that day belonged to
his wife and his two babies. 100,000 people came to
his memorial. It looked less like a funeral than a
(01:57):
worship service. In the week after his death, 32,000 young
people asked to start a chapter. Today, his college chapters
have nearly tripled. His high school clubs are up almost 600%.
And this Sunday, the movement he left behind is asking
Christians across America to do one thing, bring somebody to church.
(02:19):
Charlie Kirk was assassinated one year ago today.
Speaker 6 (02:24):
I would like on the show today to talk about
Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 7 (02:29):
It was a year ago that he was assassinated.
Speaker 8 (02:48):
And I would like to talk about the midterm convention
and the incredible success that yesterday was on so many levels.
I think you know me well enough to know that
I'm not going to say that unless I believe it
to be true. It was an incredible success. And then
(03:12):
I want to take some calls. whether that be about
Charlie Kirk or a convention or the race, tomorrow will
be the 25th anniversary of September 11th. And we will
commemorate that moment, and we will also talk about what
happens today at the midterm convention. But since there will
(03:35):
be so much focus on those two things, and it
won't be our traditional open line Friday with– With the
wide open discussions, I wanted to make that opportunity available today.
But to put this into perspective, this was Rush Limbaugh
several years ago talking about Charlie Kirk. Obviously, this is
(03:57):
before Charlie Kirk passed because Rush died before Charlie passed.
But he's talking about a very young Charlie Kirk here.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I don't want to jinx him, but I'm just going
to tell you.
Speaker 7 (04:11):
They brought Charlie Kirk to the golf course to meet
me about a month ago. He was in town to
set up this Turning Point thing, and I spoke with
him for about a half hour.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
This is the kind of guy.
Speaker 7 (04:27):
That you can see really becoming big in politics as
he gets older. He just has the courage, the personality,
the charisma, You may think this sounds weird, but I
remember when Bill Clinton became president, people were saying that
they just knew Bill Clinton was going to be president someday.
(04:47):
In college, he just had that kind of ambition, and
he impressed people in a way that he couldn't.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
I'm telling you that people are saying the same things
about Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 8 (05:01):
This is President Trump talking about Charlie Kirk last night.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Number 14, number 14.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
One year ago tomorrow, a far left extremist assassinated my
great friend and conservative voice, Charlie Kirk, because Charlie Kirk
spoke the truth. What shocked millions of American was not
only the fact that Charlie was murdered as bad as
it was, but also how many People made an excuse
(05:36):
for it or cheered for it.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
They were cheering. Some people, sick people.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
For a brief moment, the mask came off the radical
left and you saw what they were really all about.
And now those same people are trying to get power
over you in this election.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And they are all voting Democrat.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
OK, they're all voting, every one of them.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
And you can't let it happen. We will not let
them win.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
And in Charlie's honor, I just want to Say we
love you, Charlie, and Erica is here someplace.
Speaker 9 (06:08):
Erica, where is Erica?
Speaker 1 (06:15):
It's an amazing life.
Speaker 8 (06:18):
You know, we spent a lot of time thinking about
the show this week, and this evening we'll focus, in fact,
the entirety of the second hour, we will focus on
Charlie Kirk and his legacy, so I won't spend as
much time on.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It this morning.
Speaker 8 (06:32):
But I spoke to a Turning Point USA event at
the request of Ken Paxton, whose daughter works for, she's
an organizer for Turning Point. And this was after Charlie
had been assassinated, and there was a lot of excitement
for Turning Point. And I turn down speeches almost always now,
(06:55):
but I did that speech, and I don't know why.
And I'm there, and I'm looking out over the crowd,
And it's a bunch of high schoolers.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And their parents are back in the back. And they are.
Speaker 8 (07:05):
Excited about patriotism and goodness and our country and our
values and how great we can be and how wonderful
we can be. And I thought, you know, one man
did this. He was 31 years old. I had done
nothing by the age of 31. In comparison, I've done
(07:28):
nothing at all.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
And who has?
Speaker 8 (07:31):
At 31 years old, he had already accomplished all of this,
and it lives on and will live on in so
many people whose lives are changed. That's not political. That's evangelical.
That's incredible. That is amazing. Living about not quite as
many years as Christ.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I don't think he's Jesus Christ. Don't worry.
Speaker 8 (07:56):
But he did set off a movement. And it didn't
change the left. I think that's what a lot of
folks hoped. The left would change their ways after this.
It didn't change the left. It did change our people.
A lot of people got engaged. A lot of people
got involved. And not just politically, but personally. In their
(08:17):
Christian faith. Wow, what a legacy.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
The Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 8 (08:29):
I do believe God has a plan, and I do think,
I do understand that it is not for me to understand.
I remember it was 12-23-30 Mountain Time last year, a
year ago today that Charlie Kirk passed, so 1-23 Central.
(08:50):
I was in Houston, and I got the message, and
oddly enough, I wasn't surprised.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
It bothered me. I always felt that.
Speaker 8 (09:10):
Charlie Kirk was too exposed to be out and do that.
I've been invited to do these sorts of things, and
I've always said no. I have no interest in it.
I do my show. I spend time with my family.
I've always felt that is just for someone else to do.
That's not to say it shouldn't be done. I just
(09:32):
didn't feel that that was my calling. It doesn't terribly
interest me. And what made it wonderful for Charlie is
that it did.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
He believed in it. He understood.
Speaker 8 (09:44):
And the crazy thing is so much of what he
did was not filmed, was not broadcast, was not on
a mass scale. He was evangelizing in his way, one-on-one
and with a crowd on college campuses, day in and
day out. And we'd love to think that he walked
(10:08):
in and turned them around. But in many cases, they
practically spit in his face. They accuse him of the
worst things. It's not a competition. It's not trying to
outwit them. He was truly trying to teach. And that's
the highest calling, a teacher. And, you know, reading over
(10:29):
the last few days, the reviews and how his death
is described, he is always described as right wing.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Right wing.
Speaker 8 (10:39):
I don't know a single view he held that I don't.
But more importantly, I don't know a single view he
held that most people I know don't hold. Right-wing suggests
a point on a continuum outside the mainstream, and that's
just it. His values, his ministry, his faith, his ideas
(11:04):
were absolutely mainstream.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
And he had a zeal, a man in a hurry,
almost as if he knew. It's crazy.
Speaker 8 (11:16):
If I were to put into perspective my thoughts, there
are people I have a grudging respect for. There are
people I will give their due. There are very few
people that I have deep, abiding admiration for.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
And he is one of them.
Speaker 8 (11:37):
Because of his fearlessness, not how smart he was, boy
was he ever. Not his willingness to work long hours,
boy did he ever. Not how much he continued to read,
and I've intended to talk about.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
This this evening.
Speaker 8 (11:55):
The thing about Charlie, if you follow bands, it's a
common phenomenon that their first, a band that has a
breakout album, the Beastie Boys, they hit it. And for
a year they went on tour. And then that was it.
I mean, they hung around, but you see this with
a lot of bands. that their body of work brings
(12:16):
them to their first album, and then they launch that
first album.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
It's birthed into the world, and the world.
Speaker 8 (12:21):
Reacts, and they're the hot new thing, and they're on
Good Morning America, and they're on David Letterman at night,
and everything in between, and they're touring, and they're partying,
and they're living it up, and you wake up a year,
year and a half later, and you say, what have
you done since then?
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Nothing. Nothing.
Speaker 8 (12:40):
The thing about Charlie is he continued to read. He
continued to pray. He continued to study the Bible. But
he also, a failed quote-unquote college student, he also continued
to steep himself in classical political theory, in history, in
addition to the word. And to do that late at
(13:02):
night when you're tired, to do that.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
On a plane on the way to give a speech,
it's really incredible.
Speaker 8 (13:08):
It's to have that level of discipline on his own
while building an organization. And employees can be like children,
not ours, of course, but employees can be like children.
They all have their own issue, and that's a drain
on your time. You've got to fill positions. You've got
to raise money. You've got to call the big donors.
(13:29):
And there were a lot of big donors who understood
how important this young man was, how much bigger he
was than anything else going on. They weren't trying to
sell product. They were trying to save the country and
they were willing to donate to him in large numbers,
large amounts of money in order to do that.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It really is incredible.
Speaker 8 (13:50):
I don't want him to be clumped in with anything
else because there's nothing.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Else like it. It is an incredible, incredible anomaly. Everything
he did. We'll spend a lot of time on that
this evening. All right.
Speaker 8 (14:03):
I want to talk about the midterm convention.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
What a raging success it has been.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Coming up.
Speaker 9 (14:11):
And so I just put that on the Michael Berry show.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Michael Berry show. Ten years ago today. That hateful Hillary Clinton.
Speaker 8 (14:27):
Declared that 52% of Americans, those who voted for Donald
Trump and kept her from having her lifelong dream of
being the authoritarian, that we were deplorable.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I
call the basket of deplorables. The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic,
you name it.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Hmm.
Speaker 8 (14:59):
I mean, I have my opinions based in experience and facts,
good public policy, a sense of community.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
But they're Christian-based and well-meaning, that's for sure.
Speaker 8 (15:15):
If that makes me a deplorable in the mind of
someone else, I don't think it really does. I think
they just say that. I think they say that to
excite their base in an attempt to alienate mine.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
That's okay. I'm good with that.
Speaker 8 (15:31):
It's an interesting state of affairs that it was exactly
a week ago. This is your I told you so moment.
Clay and Buck had asked me a couple days before.
They said, hey, you are really, really, seriously, you really
believe Paxton's going to win.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I said, I do. I'm going to do everything I
can to make that happen. Why?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Why?
Speaker 8 (15:58):
Because the election does, the campaign doesn't begin until Labor Day.
That's hard for talk radio listeners to understand because talk
radio listeners are like hardcore sports fans. A hardcore sports
fan is following who's the team going to draft? What's
our draft pick? Our first round draft pick is number eight.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Who are we going to get? Oh, we got a
right guard. We needed a quarterback because fans want a
quarterback every year. Oh my goodness, what are we going
to do? What's our salary?
Speaker 8 (16:26):
The average fan is not paying attention at that time.
They're not paying attention until the season starts. But the insider,
they're already convinced that the season is lost because we
got a.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Bad pick, and it's not going to be any good.
Speaker 8 (16:43):
Well, people who listen to talk radio are very engaged.
And when some people that are friends of theirs that
are Republicans go, I know, I'm not voting for Paxton.
I'm not voting for him. I'm voting for that other guy.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And they go, oh, no, no, no.
Speaker 8 (16:57):
I've been around this process for a while. People have
opinions that change. When you have a brutal primary, which
we just did, you make people mad. When $ 200 million
plus is spent telling people that your guy is awful,
(17:17):
then people who don't know any better go, well, he
said he's awful. I've come to the unique conclusion of
my own that he's awful.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
Really?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
How'd you learn that? What things did you, oh, you
think he stole a pen?
Speaker 8 (17:29):
You really, so we're, so two years from now, there's
going to be a vote to impeach Trump. It's going
to pass the house if they win the house, and
then it's going to go to the Senate and it's
going to come down to one vote. And that's going
to be from Texas where Trump is very popular, where
he won a record number of votes, 6 million votes,
(17:50):
if I recall in 2024.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And it's going to be.
Speaker 8 (17:53):
Time for the senator from Texas to cast the deciding vote.
And you're going to go, oh, oh, I voted on
that lie about a pen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because you
don't make good decisions. You're not ready for executive decisions.
You're not capable of understanding the assignment. We're sending somebody
(18:17):
to D.C. to make votes, right? Not to give speeches
on transgenderism, which is what six-gender Jimmy would do. Not
to give speeches about taking away our guns, which six-gender
Jimmy would do. Not to tell us that God is
non-binary on every television show, on every podcast. You give
(18:41):
him that platform. He won't just cast votes that would
drive you crazy. You will see him all across the country.
And it's amazing to me how many, I'm done with
Looney Lena. Good God, how fast can we get her out?
You're done because she was quoted all the damn time.
She had no business being there, right? It was the
same blue wave in 2018 that brought her to power.
(19:05):
It's the same act blue crowd that was trying to
get Beto in the Senate seat that is behind her.
Talafrico now. And what's happened is now people are paying attention.
Talafrico made a huge tactical error.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
He did an interview with Fox.
Speaker 8 (19:25):
A lot of you were mad because Fox has not
been as pro-Ken Paxton as they should. And that's all
coming from Karl Rove, by the way. That's where that's
coming from. But he did an interview and he should
not have. Because what that interview did, you're going to
hate his answers because He's changed his identity, which is
something he believes in. He's transitioned to a moderate. He
(19:47):
identifies as a moderate now.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
He's walked. back everything he said. They asked him about
six genders.
Speaker 8 (19:53):
And he said, well, there are only two, but then
there's a bunch of, okay, so there's two plus, but
there's not six. He got confused, but he told us
there was. You said that God is non-binary. I mean,
you know, I was being provocative.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
That's his line.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
So was Hitler.
Speaker 8 (20:08):
What of what you said do you believe, and what
of what you said do you believe but now claim
you don't? What about, oh, there's a Trump moment about
Talafrico and his meat-eating? that Trump went off the script
and had a moment, and it's good, and we'll play
that for.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
You in a little bit.
Speaker 8 (20:27):
What about, he was asked, what about saying that you
want to dismantle capitalism?
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Well, that was a long time ago. It was a
matter of days.
Speaker 8 (20:37):
I know.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
It's crazy. I keep changing. I keep changing.
Speaker 8 (20:42):
What about when you said you're a Christian who hates Christianity? Well,
you know, sometimes, you know, if... Once a month for
a few days, you know, I'm not at myself. You know,
I sync up and I get down. You know, I
get the mums. You know, it's that time. You know,
(21:04):
and my views are spotty. And you can't hold me
to that, okay?
Speaker 6 (21:09):
You can't.
Speaker 8 (21:10):
So how about his ad that was airing around the
clock seven days ago of him and his papa in
his borrowed boots saying, sitting out in the rocking chair
on the front porch. How about Papaw now hearing that
his grandson is out there saying God's non-binary, transition to kids,
he hates Christianity, dismantle capitalism, take our guns, beat your meat,
(21:33):
and six genders. I bet Papaw's real proud about now.
I was asked to have Brandon Gill on the show.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Months ago. And I got a text one day.
Speaker 8 (21:53):
And one thing that sets me off, my wife will
tell you, Ramon will tell you, there's a lot.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I got rules. This is how the world works for me.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
I got to have rules so that I can make
it all work with my schedule, my energy level. And
I can't have people out there, you know, trying to
do their own thing. Don't ever give out my cell
phone number. Just don't do it or we're done. And
so I get a text from Brandon Gill. And it says, Azar,
(22:26):
love to be on your show. Talking about this. I
did what I normally do. How did you get my
phone number?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (22:37):
And so I'd like to. Who gave you my number?
And he said, well, my father in law did. And
then it clicked, I remembered, Dinesh D'Souza is his father-in-law.
So I sent a message to Dinesh, with all due respect,
don't give out my phone number again. But he was
talking about something I wanted to talk about. And I
(22:57):
have toward him the same thing I sensed when I
was coming up as a young man entering the scene.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I had a sort of, slow down here, bud. Pay
your dues. Who are you? And I read a great
book years ago called Habits.
Speaker 8 (23:17):
And it talks about how the human brain, and this
goes back to hunter-gatherer days, the human brain processes things
by once it overcomes a new stimulus, it wants to
put it away and not think about it anew. So
it went through your routine. And for most people, when
they wake up in the morning, you don't realize this,
(23:37):
but you have an incredible routine, even if you think
you're a person who is the least routine person.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
When you wake up, you roll over a certain way.
You grab for your watch. You grab for your wallet.
You grab for your, not your wallet, you grab for
your glass of water. You stumble.
Speaker 8 (23:52):
Even if your eyes are closed and you're hungover, even
if you're up too early, you stumble in the same way.
You turn the corner by rubbing your left shoulder on that,
because that's where you know to stabilize yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
You lean against the counter.
Speaker 8 (24:06):
You could grab for your toothpaste and your toothbrush without
ever looking because your brain has already put that away.
Now you're looking for is there a lion or a tiger,
because you're still hunter-gatherer. So once we get things boxed away,
this is who we talk to, this is who we don't,
this is who we like, this is who we don't.
So to enter something new is a bit of a hassle.
I got to get up and do the, ah, okay.
(24:28):
But I must say, I've been very impressed. I've been
very impressed with Brandon Gill. And I think this was
Jim Mudd who said, I've never heard another politician describe
it this way. I have heard this reference but not
from politicians. And I think being young gives him a
greater sense of being able to use phrases that older
(24:49):
people recognize, because they're more TikTok-y, but they come naturally
to him. Ramon, this is 505 from Jim this morning.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Go ahead.
Speaker 9 (24:56):
And here in Texas, we have James. God is non-binary.
There are six genders. We need to dismantle capitalism, Tallarico.
It's somebody who will hollow out your most deeply held
Christian faith and wear it like a skin suit.
Speaker 8 (25:14):
Wearing things like a skin suit, other than Hannibal Lecter
and Jamie Gum, it puts the lotion on his skin.
I don't know that I'd ever really heard that phrase much,
but it is something that the young people use often.
And for him to say that probably appealed to a
lot of the turning point youth. That phrase has a
(25:36):
lot of punch to people my age, and Jim is
my age, because you don't hear a politician do that.
One of the things Trump did so astutely, so adroitly
in 2016 was he didn't talk the way Mike Pence
and Mitt Romney and George W. Bush and the boring
old politician John Cornyn, he didn't talk the way they did.
He talked in a manner about things that the everyday
(26:01):
American cared about. He didn't stick to the same script
of these are the five issues we've been battling about
playing tug of war and never doing anything about. Here
he is making fun of, this is a younger person,
Trump does this, but this is a younger person pointing
out when the Democrats have their convention, which they did,
and they come out and say we apologize on this land.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Listen to this, this is 501, Ramon.
Speaker 9 (26:23):
Now I think it's only appropriate that we kick this convention.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Off properly.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
With a land acknowledgment.
Speaker 9 (26:37):
I'd like to acknowledge that we stand here today in
the great state of Texas in the United States of America,
the ancestral homeland of great American patriots, pioneers, and explorers
who put down roots, fought for freedom all over the globe,
(26:57):
and bled and died to build the greatest civilization ever
known to man. My friends, we live in the finest
country in the history of the world. And we're no
longer going to apologize for that.
Speaker 8 (27:19):
He's making fun of what happened at the Democrat convention
a few months ago. But the most famous, remember this
in Arizona?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Listen to this.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
Let us not forget our fellow creatures. Those that stand,
those that blow in the wind, those that are tall
and stately. Those that crawl on the earth. those that
slither on the earth, those that live under the earth.
Let us remember and bless the winged ones, those that
(27:46):
swim in the waters, the four-legged, and also our brothers
the two-legged that walk throughout this world.
Speaker 8 (27:57):
The Democrat convention a few months ago was not widely
broadcast and the reason was it had a two-fold goal.
Number one, was to mobilize the base. Number two was
to tell the fringe elements who've now taken it over,
(28:18):
we're here for you. We're not ashamed of you. We're
gonna put you up on stage. And so they did.
Some dude in a Dolly Parton wig made up like
Tammy Faye Baker They came out and acknowledged that we're
(28:40):
on stolen land. When Texans see these things, this is
why the campaign doesn't start until Labor Day. It has
begun in earnest. And wait until you see these first
polls that are coming out. The Tallarico campaign internally is
in absolute turmoil, chaos, mayhem. The Californians and the National
DNC has put a kibosh on Talafrico talking to any
(29:04):
of the fringe elements anymore.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Everything he said, he's now saying he didn't say. Well,
here's the record. Here's what I meant. You can't possibly.
That's not misconstrued. You were clear. Phone lines are open. 713-999-1000.
It's that time. Lock and load.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
The Michael Varey Show is.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
On the air.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Swing low.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Swing low.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Sweet sherry on.
Speaker 4 (00:23):
Coming for to carry me home.
Speaker 5 (00:26):
Swing.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
He built Turning Point USA from a two-man startup into
an $ 85 million youth political machine. Became one of the
most listened to voices in America. A kid from Prospect Heights, Illinois.
Eagle Scout. Turned down by West Point. One semester of
community college and no degree. And he'd tell you so himself,
(01:06):
standing at a folding table in the middle of a
hostile campus, handing the microphone to the loudest 19-year-old.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
In the crowd.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
2,000 chapters. Three hours of live radio a day. Three
quarters of a million downloads a day. by 2021 he
wasn't only building campus chapters he was building turning point
faith taking the whole operation into the churches because he
decided the country's trouble was never really political he said
(01:36):
we were in a constitutional crisis for one reason we
were no longer a christian nation and every friday night
the phone went off until sundown saturday the rest of
the week belonged to the country that day belonged to
his wife and his two babies. 100,000 people came to
his memorial. It looked less like a funeral than a
(01:57):
worship service. In the week after his death, 32,000 young
people asked to start a chapter. Today, his college chapters
have nearly tripled. His high school clubs are up almost 600%.
And this Sunday, the movement he left behind is asking
Christians across America to do one thing, bring somebody to church.
(02:19):
Charlie Kirk was assassinated one year ago today.
Speaker 6 (02:24):
I would like on the show today to talk about
Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 7 (02:29):
It was a year ago that he was assassinated.
Speaker 8 (02:48):
And I would like to talk about the midterm convention
and the incredible success that yesterday was on so many levels.
I think you know me well enough to know that
I'm not going to say that unless I believe it
to be true. It was an incredible success. And then
(03:12):
I want to take some calls. whether that be about
Charlie Kirk or a convention or the race, tomorrow will
be the 25th anniversary of September 11th. And we will
commemorate that moment, and we will also talk about what
happens today at the midterm convention. But since there will
(03:35):
be so much focus on those two things, and it
won't be our traditional open line Friday with– With the
wide open discussions, I wanted to make that opportunity available today.
But to put this into perspective, this was Rush Limbaugh
several years ago talking about Charlie Kirk. Obviously, this is
(03:57):
before Charlie Kirk passed because Rush died before Charlie passed.
But he's talking about a very young Charlie Kirk here.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
I don't want to jinx him, but I'm just going
to tell you.
Speaker 7 (04:11):
They brought Charlie Kirk to the golf course to meet
me about a month ago. He was in town to
set up this Turning Point thing, and I spoke with
him for about a half hour.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
This is the kind of guy.
Speaker 7 (04:27):
That you can see really becoming big in politics as
he gets older. He just has the courage, the personality,
the charisma, You may think this sounds weird, but I
remember when Bill Clinton became president, people were saying that
they just knew Bill Clinton was going to be president someday.
(04:47):
In college, he just had that kind of ambition, and
he impressed people in a way that he couldn't.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
I'm telling you that people are saying the same things
about Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 8 (05:01):
This is President Trump talking about Charlie Kirk last night.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Number 14, number 14.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
One year ago tomorrow, a far left extremist assassinated my
great friend and conservative voice, Charlie Kirk, because Charlie Kirk
spoke the truth. What shocked millions of American was not
only the fact that Charlie was murdered as bad as
it was, but also how many People made an excuse
(05:36):
for it or cheered for it.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
They were cheering. Some people, sick people.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
For a brief moment, the mask came off the radical
left and you saw what they were really all about.
And now those same people are trying to get power
over you in this election.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
And they are all voting Democrat.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
OK, they're all voting, every one of them.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
And you can't let it happen. We will not let
them win.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
And in Charlie's honor, I just want to Say we
love you, Charlie, and Erica is here someplace.
Speaker 9 (06:08):
Erica, where is Erica?
Speaker 1 (06:15):
It's an amazing life.
Speaker 8 (06:18):
You know, we spent a lot of time thinking about
the show this week, and this evening we'll focus, in fact,
the entirety of the second hour, we will focus on
Charlie Kirk and his legacy, so I won't spend as
much time on.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
It this morning.
Speaker 8 (06:32):
But I spoke to a Turning Point USA event at
the request of Ken Paxton, whose daughter works for, she's
an organizer for Turning Point. And this was after Charlie
had been assassinated, and there was a lot of excitement
for Turning Point. And I turn down speeches almost always now,
(06:55):
but I did that speech, and I don't know why.
And I'm there, and I'm looking out over the crowd,
And it's a bunch of high schoolers.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And their parents are back in the back. And they are.
Speaker 8 (07:05):
Excited about patriotism and goodness and our country and our
values and how great we can be and how wonderful
we can be. And I thought, you know, one man
did this. He was 31 years old. I had done
nothing by the age of 31. In comparison, I've done
(07:28):
nothing at all.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
And who has?
Speaker 8 (07:31):
At 31 years old, he had already accomplished all of this,
and it lives on and will live on in so
many people whose lives are changed. That's not political. That's evangelical.
That's incredible. That is amazing. Living about not quite as
many years as Christ.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I don't think he's Jesus Christ. Don't worry.
Speaker 8 (07:56):
But he did set off a movement. And it didn't
change the left. I think that's what a lot of
folks hoped. The left would change their ways after this.
It didn't change the left. It did change our people.
A lot of people got engaged. A lot of people
got involved. And not just politically, but personally. In their
(08:17):
Christian faith. Wow, what a legacy.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
The Michael Berry Show.
Speaker 8 (08:29):
I do believe God has a plan, and I do think,
I do understand that it is not for me to understand.
I remember it was 12-23-30 Mountain Time last year, a
year ago today that Charlie Kirk passed, so 1-23 Central.
(08:50):
I was in Houston, and I got the message, and
oddly enough, I wasn't surprised.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
It bothered me. I always felt that.
Speaker 8 (09:10):
Charlie Kirk was too exposed to be out and do that.
I've been invited to do these sorts of things, and
I've always said no. I have no interest in it.
I do my show. I spend time with my family.
I've always felt that is just for someone else to do.
That's not to say it shouldn't be done. I just
(09:32):
didn't feel that that was my calling. It doesn't terribly
interest me. And what made it wonderful for Charlie is
that it did.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
He believed in it. He understood.
Speaker 8 (09:44):
And the crazy thing is so much of what he
did was not filmed, was not broadcast, was not on
a mass scale. He was evangelizing in his way, one-on-one
and with a crowd on college campuses, day in and
day out. And we'd love to think that he walked
(10:08):
in and turned them around. But in many cases, they
practically spit in his face. They accuse him of the
worst things. It's not a competition. It's not trying to
outwit them. He was truly trying to teach. And that's
the highest calling, a teacher. And, you know, reading over
(10:29):
the last few days, the reviews and how his death
is described, he is always described as right wing.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
Right wing.
Speaker 8 (10:39):
I don't know a single view he held that I don't.
But more importantly, I don't know a single view he
held that most people I know don't hold. Right-wing suggests
a point on a continuum outside the mainstream, and that's
just it. His values, his ministry, his faith, his ideas
(11:04):
were absolutely mainstream.
Speaker 1 (11:08):
And he had a zeal, a man in a hurry,
almost as if he knew. It's crazy.
Speaker 8 (11:16):
If I were to put into perspective my thoughts, there
are people I have a grudging respect for. There are
people I will give their due. There are very few
people that I have deep, abiding admiration for.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
And he is one of them.
Speaker 8 (11:37):
Because of his fearlessness, not how smart he was, boy
was he ever. Not his willingness to work long hours,
boy did he ever. Not how much he continued to read,
and I've intended to talk about.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
This this evening.
Speaker 8 (11:55):
The thing about Charlie, if you follow bands, it's a
common phenomenon that their first, a band that has a
breakout album, the Beastie Boys, they hit it. And for
a year they went on tour. And then that was it.
I mean, they hung around, but you see this with
a lot of bands. that their body of work brings
(12:16):
them to their first album, and then they launch that
first album.
Speaker 1 (12:19):
It's birthed into the world, and the world.
Speaker 8 (12:21):
Reacts, and they're the hot new thing, and they're on
Good Morning America, and they're on David Letterman at night,
and everything in between, and they're touring, and they're partying,
and they're living it up, and you wake up a year,
year and a half later, and you say, what have
you done since then?
Speaker 1 (12:37):
Nothing. Nothing.
Speaker 8 (12:40):
The thing about Charlie is he continued to read. He
continued to pray. He continued to study the Bible. But
he also, a failed quote-unquote college student, he also continued
to steep himself in classical political theory, in history, in
addition to the word. And to do that late at
(13:02):
night when you're tired, to do that.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
On a plane on the way to give a speech,
it's really incredible.
Speaker 8 (13:08):
It's to have that level of discipline on his own
while building an organization. And employees can be like children,
not ours, of course, but employees can be like children.
They all have their own issue, and that's a drain
on your time. You've got to fill positions. You've got
to raise money. You've got to call the big donors.
(13:29):
And there were a lot of big donors who understood
how important this young man was, how much bigger he
was than anything else going on. They weren't trying to
sell product. They were trying to save the country and
they were willing to donate to him in large numbers,
large amounts of money in order to do that.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
It really is incredible.
Speaker 8 (13:50):
I don't want him to be clumped in with anything
else because there's nothing.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
Else like it. It is an incredible, incredible anomaly. Everything
he did. We'll spend a lot of time on that
this evening. All right.
Speaker 8 (14:03):
I want to talk about the midterm convention.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
What a raging success it has been.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Coming up.
Speaker 9 (14:11):
And so I just put that on the Michael Berry show.
Speaker 1 (14:15):
Michael Berry show. Ten years ago today. That hateful Hillary Clinton.
Speaker 8 (14:27):
Declared that 52% of Americans, those who voted for Donald
Trump and kept her from having her lifelong dream of
being the authoritarian, that we were deplorable.
Speaker 5 (14:42):
You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I
call the basket of deplorables. The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic,
you name it.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
Hmm.
Speaker 8 (14:59):
I mean, I have my opinions based in experience and facts,
good public policy, a sense of community.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
But they're Christian-based and well-meaning, that's for sure.
Speaker 8 (15:15):
If that makes me a deplorable in the mind of
someone else, I don't think it really does. I think
they just say that. I think they say that to
excite their base in an attempt to alienate mine.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
That's okay. I'm good with that.
Speaker 8 (15:31):
It's an interesting state of affairs that it was exactly
a week ago. This is your I told you so moment.
Clay and Buck had asked me a couple days before.
They said, hey, you are really, really, seriously, you really
believe Paxton's going to win.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
I said, I do. I'm going to do everything I
can to make that happen. Why?
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Why?
Speaker 8 (15:58):
Because the election does, the campaign doesn't begin until Labor Day.
That's hard for talk radio listeners to understand because talk
radio listeners are like hardcore sports fans. A hardcore sports
fan is following who's the team going to draft? What's
our draft pick? Our first round draft pick is number eight.
Speaker 1 (16:16):
Who are we going to get? Oh, we got a
right guard. We needed a quarterback because fans want a
quarterback every year. Oh my goodness, what are we going
to do? What's our salary?
Speaker 8 (16:26):
The average fan is not paying attention at that time.
They're not paying attention until the season starts. But the insider,
they're already convinced that the season is lost because we
got a.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Bad pick, and it's not going to be any good.
Speaker 8 (16:43):
Well, people who listen to talk radio are very engaged.
And when some people that are friends of theirs that
are Republicans go, I know, I'm not voting for Paxton.
I'm not voting for him. I'm voting for that other guy.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
And they go, oh, no, no, no.
Speaker 8 (16:57):
I've been around this process for a while. People have
opinions that change. When you have a brutal primary, which
we just did, you make people mad. When $ 200 million
plus is spent telling people that your guy is awful,
(17:17):
then people who don't know any better go, well, he
said he's awful. I've come to the unique conclusion of
my own that he's awful.
Speaker 6 (17:25):
Really?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
How'd you learn that? What things did you, oh, you
think he stole a pen?
Speaker 8 (17:29):
You really, so we're, so two years from now, there's
going to be a vote to impeach Trump. It's going
to pass the house if they win the house, and
then it's going to go to the Senate and it's
going to come down to one vote. And that's going
to be from Texas where Trump is very popular, where
he won a record number of votes, 6 million votes,
(17:50):
if I recall in 2024.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
And it's going to be.
Speaker 8 (17:53):
Time for the senator from Texas to cast the deciding vote.
And you're going to go, oh, oh, I voted on
that lie about a pen. Yeah, yeah, yeah, because you
don't make good decisions. You're not ready for executive decisions.
You're not capable of understanding the assignment. We're sending somebody
(18:17):
to D.C. to make votes, right? Not to give speeches
on transgenderism, which is what six-gender Jimmy would do. Not
to give speeches about taking away our guns, which six-gender
Jimmy would do. Not to tell us that God is
non-binary on every television show, on every podcast. You give
(18:41):
him that platform. He won't just cast votes that would
drive you crazy. You will see him all across the country.
And it's amazing to me how many, I'm done with
Looney Lena. Good God, how fast can we get her out?
You're done because she was quoted all the damn time.
She had no business being there, right? It was the
same blue wave in 2018 that brought her to power.
(19:05):
It's the same act blue crowd that was trying to
get Beto in the Senate seat that is behind her.
Talafrico now. And what's happened is now people are paying attention.
Talafrico made a huge tactical error.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
He did an interview with Fox.
Speaker 8 (19:25):
A lot of you were mad because Fox has not
been as pro-Ken Paxton as they should. And that's all
coming from Karl Rove, by the way. That's where that's
coming from. But he did an interview and he should
not have. Because what that interview did, you're going to
hate his answers because He's changed his identity, which is
something he believes in. He's transitioned to a moderate. He
(19:47):
identifies as a moderate now.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
He's walked. back everything he said. They asked him about
six genders.
Speaker 8 (19:53):
And he said, well, there are only two, but then
there's a bunch of, okay, so there's two plus, but
there's not six. He got confused, but he told us
there was. You said that God is non-binary. I mean,
you know, I was being provocative.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
That's his line.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
So was Hitler.
Speaker 8 (20:08):
What of what you said do you believe, and what
of what you said do you believe but now claim
you don't? What about, oh, there's a Trump moment about
Talafrico and his meat-eating? that Trump went off the script
and had a moment, and it's good, and we'll play
that for.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
You in a little bit.
Speaker 8 (20:27):
What about, he was asked, what about saying that you
want to dismantle capitalism?
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Well, that was a long time ago. It was a
matter of days.
Speaker 8 (20:37):
I know.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
It's crazy. I keep changing. I keep changing.
Speaker 8 (20:42):
What about when you said you're a Christian who hates Christianity? Well,
you know, sometimes, you know, if... Once a month for
a few days, you know, I'm not at myself. You know,
I sync up and I get down. You know, I
get the mums. You know, it's that time. You know,
(21:04):
and my views are spotty. And you can't hold me
to that, okay?
Speaker 6 (21:09):
You can't.
Speaker 8 (21:10):
So how about his ad that was airing around the
clock seven days ago of him and his papa in
his borrowed boots saying, sitting out in the rocking chair
on the front porch. How about Papaw now hearing that
his grandson is out there saying God's non-binary, transition to kids,
he hates Christianity, dismantle capitalism, take our guns, beat your meat,
(21:33):
and six genders. I bet Papaw's real proud about now.
I was asked to have Brandon Gill on the show.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Months ago. And I got a text one day.
Speaker 8 (21:53):
And one thing that sets me off, my wife will
tell you, Ramon will tell you, there's a lot.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I got rules. This is how the world works for me.
Speaker 8 (22:02):
I got to have rules so that I can make
it all work with my schedule, my energy level. And
I can't have people out there, you know, trying to
do their own thing. Don't ever give out my cell
phone number. Just don't do it or we're done. And
so I get a text from Brandon Gill. And it says, Azar,
(22:26):
love to be on your show. Talking about this. I
did what I normally do. How did you get my
phone number?
Speaker 2 (22:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 8 (22:37):
And so I'd like to. Who gave you my number?
And he said, well, my father in law did. And
then it clicked, I remembered, Dinesh D'Souza is his father-in-law.
So I sent a message to Dinesh, with all due respect,
don't give out my phone number again. But he was
talking about something I wanted to talk about. And I
(22:57):
have toward him the same thing I sensed when I
was coming up as a young man entering the scene.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
I had a sort of, slow down here, bud. Pay
your dues. Who are you? And I read a great
book years ago called Habits.
Speaker 8 (23:17):
And it talks about how the human brain, and this
goes back to hunter-gatherer days, the human brain processes things
by once it overcomes a new stimulus, it wants to
put it away and not think about it anew. So
it went through your routine. And for most people, when
they wake up in the morning, you don't realize this,
(23:37):
but you have an incredible routine, even if you think
you're a person who is the least routine person.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
When you wake up, you roll over a certain way.
You grab for your watch. You grab for your wallet.
You grab for your, not your wallet, you grab for
your glass of water. You stumble.
Speaker 8 (23:52):
Even if your eyes are closed and you're hungover, even
if you're up too early, you stumble in the same way.
You turn the corner by rubbing your left shoulder on that,
because that's where you know to stabilize yourself.
Speaker 1 (24:03):
You lean against the counter.
Speaker 8 (24:06):
You could grab for your toothpaste and your toothbrush without
ever looking because your brain has already put that away.
Now you're looking for is there a lion or a tiger,
because you're still hunter-gatherer. So once we get things boxed away,
this is who we talk to, this is who we don't,
this is who we like, this is who we don't.
So to enter something new is a bit of a hassle.
I got to get up and do the, ah, okay.
(24:28):
But I must say, I've been very impressed. I've been
very impressed with Brandon Gill. And I think this was
Jim Mudd who said, I've never heard another politician describe
it this way. I have heard this reference but not
from politicians. And I think being young gives him a
greater sense of being able to use phrases that older
(24:49):
people recognize, because they're more TikTok-y, but they come naturally
to him. Ramon, this is 505 from Jim this morning.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
Go ahead.
Speaker 9 (24:56):
And here in Texas, we have James. God is non-binary.
There are six genders. We need to dismantle capitalism, Tallarico.
It's somebody who will hollow out your most deeply held
Christian faith and wear it like a skin suit.
Speaker 8 (25:14):
Wearing things like a skin suit, other than Hannibal Lecter
and Jamie Gum, it puts the lotion on his skin.
I don't know that I'd ever really heard that phrase much,
but it is something that the young people use often.
And for him to say that probably appealed to a
lot of the turning point youth. That phrase has a
(25:36):
lot of punch to people my age, and Jim is
my age, because you don't hear a politician do that.
One of the things Trump did so astutely, so adroitly
in 2016 was he didn't talk the way Mike Pence
and Mitt Romney and George W. Bush and the boring
old politician John Cornyn, he didn't talk the way they did.
He talked in a manner about things that the everyday
(26:01):
American cared about. He didn't stick to the same script
of these are the five issues we've been battling about
playing tug of war and never doing anything about. Here
he is making fun of, this is a younger person,
Trump does this, but this is a younger person pointing
out when the Democrats have their convention, which they did,
and they come out and say we apologize on this land.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Listen to this, this is 501, Ramon.
Speaker 9 (26:23):
Now I think it's only appropriate that we kick this convention.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Off properly.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
With a land acknowledgment.
Speaker 9 (26:37):
I'd like to acknowledge that we stand here today in
the great state of Texas in the United States of America,
the ancestral homeland of great American patriots, pioneers, and explorers
who put down roots, fought for freedom all over the globe,
(26:57):
and bled and died to build the greatest civilization ever
known to man. My friends, we live in the finest
country in the history of the world. And we're no
longer going to apologize for that.
Speaker 8 (27:19):
He's making fun of what happened at the Democrat convention
a few months ago. But the most famous, remember this
in Arizona?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
Listen to this.
Speaker 6 (27:26):
Let us not forget our fellow creatures. Those that stand,
those that blow in the wind, those that are tall
and stately. Those that crawl on the earth. those that
slither on the earth, those that live under the earth.
Let us remember and bless the winged ones, those that
(27:46):
swim in the waters, the four-legged, and also our brothers
the two-legged that walk throughout this world.
Speaker 8 (27:57):
The Democrat convention a few months ago was not widely
broadcast and the reason was it had a two-fold goal.
Number one, was to mobilize the base. Number two was
to tell the fringe elements who've now taken it over,
(28:18):
we're here for you. We're not ashamed of you. We're
gonna put you up on stage. And so they did.
Some dude in a Dolly Parton wig made up like
Tammy Faye Baker They came out and acknowledged that we're
(28:40):
on stolen land. When Texans see these things, this is
why the campaign doesn't start until Labor Day. It has
begun in earnest. And wait until you see these first
polls that are coming out. The Tallarico campaign internally is
in absolute turmoil, chaos, mayhem. The Californians and the National
DNC has put a kibosh on Talafrico talking to any
(29:04):
of the fringe elements anymore.
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Everything he said, he's now saying he didn't say. Well,
here's the record. Here's what I meant. You can't possibly.
That's not misconstrued. You were clear. Phone lines are open. 713-999-1000.
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