The Charlie Kirk Show - Two States' Battle Against Biden—Nevada and Florida
Aired: 2022-03-09
Duration: 38:22


=== Nevada's Rising Freedom Movement (01:42) ===

[00:00:00]  Hey, everybody, today on the Charlie Kirk Show, two states that are rising up for freedom.
[00:00:04]  First, we talk to Adam Laxalt from Nevada and talk about his race for Senate.
[00:00:09]  And then we talk to Fiona McFarland from Sarasota, Florida, who has an amazing data privacy bill as states start to rise up against big tech.
[00:00:17]  About time states start to wield their power to restrict the power of big tech.
[00:00:23]  Very promising movement.
[00:00:25]  I like what I am seeing.
[00:00:26]  Get involved with Turning PointUSA today at tpusa.com.
[00:00:30]  That's tpusa.com.
[00:00:31]  At Turning Point USA, we're playing offense with a sense of urgency to win the American Culture War, starting high school and college chapters all across the country at tpusa.com.
[00:00:40]  That's tpusa.com.
[00:00:41]  You can email me directly, freedom at charliekirk.com.
[00:00:44]  Buckle up, here we go.
[00:00:46]  Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
[00:00:48]  Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
[00:00:50]  I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
[00:00:53]  Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
[00:00:57]  I want to thank Charlie.
[00:00:58]  He's an incredible guy.
[00:00:59]  His spirit, his love of this country, he's done an amazing job building one of the most powerful youth organizations ever created, Turning Point USA.
[00:01:07]  We will not embrace the ideas that have destroyed countries, destroyed lives, and we are going to fight for freedom on campuses across the country.
[00:01:16]  That's why we are here.
[00:01:19]  Brought to you by the Loan Experts I Trust, Andrew and Todd at Sierra Pacific Mortgage at andrewandTodd.com.
[00:01:28]  Hey, everybody, welcome to this episode of the Charlie Kirk Show.
[00:01:30]  With us is a friend of mine who will be the next U.S. Senator for the great state of Nevada, Adam Laxalt.
[00:01:36]  Adam, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show.
[00:01:38]  Thanks for having me.
[00:01:39]  Adam, tell us about your race.
[00:01:41]  Well, first, thanks for having me.

=== Flipping Nevada Red (08:44) ===

[00:01:43]  Look, it's important for everybody to understand that, yes, we're living in a red wave environment, which likely means we can win the House and some governor seats, but the Senate map is incredibly small.
[00:01:54]  We cannot win the Senate without winning Georgia and Nevada.
[00:01:59]  And I can tell you, our backup is as good as we can ask for.
[00:02:02]  I'm running against Harry Reid's hand-picked successor.
[00:02:06]  Her name is Catherine Cortez-Masto.
[00:02:08]  A lot of your listeners haven't heard of her because she has not had a major impact for our state or for our country.
[00:02:16]  And look, you know, we have an ability to continue to highlight all the things that are going wrong in America.
[00:02:23]  It seems like within every single hour, we get more bad news out of our failed leadership in Washington.
[00:02:30]  And, you know, we look forward to prosecuting the case.
[00:02:34]  We've been doing that for the last many months, of course, without the help of local media, but we continue to get our message out in every other medium we possibly can.
[00:02:44]  So, Adam, some people have their doubts about a Republican winning statewide in Nevada, something you've done before.
[00:02:51]  But tell us about how you think this year it can actually be done.
[00:02:54]  I mean, Clark County, it's a beast.
[00:02:56]  There's a lot of fraud, a lot of corruption, a lot of dead voters that are still on the rolls.
[00:03:00]  Why do you feel this year you're going to be able to conquer that giant?
[00:03:04]  Yeah, first, I have one statewide.
[00:03:07]  I'm the former attorney general of the state.
[00:03:09]  We won in 2014 when we had a red environment.
[00:03:13]  And I think that people need to understand that even in these slightly blue-tilting years, this race has been, this state has been razor thin.
[00:03:23]  Trump lost Nevada by two points.
[00:03:26]  It's been well documented.
[00:03:27]  That's with them changing our election, giving us mail-in ballot, ballot harvesting, all that kind of stuff.
[00:03:32]  Senator Masto only won by two points in 2016.
[00:03:37]  Harry Reid was the majority leader in 16.
[00:03:40]  You can't imagine how much, how many chips he called in to get her into office.
[00:03:44]  And so we have the perfect opportunity in a state that has been ever so slightly blue to flip this seat.
[00:03:52]  And one last thing: the vaunted Harry Reid machine has slowly but surely been crumbling.
[00:03:59]  And the Democrat socialists, and I don't mean that as just a tagline.
[00:04:03]  They're actually self-described and self-named socialists took over the Democrat Party here in Nevada.
[00:04:12]  They invite the likes of Elon Omar to be guest speakers in our state.
[00:04:18]  All these things make it prime for us to take the message to the voters and flip Nevada in 2022.
[00:04:25]  Yeah, Harry Reid is a total crook, or he was a total crook, and he established this criminal enterprise all throughout Vegas and Clark County.
[00:04:34]  And it's too bad because Nevada is such a great state.
[00:04:36]  Tell us a little bit more about how the state of Nevada is broken up.
[00:04:42]  You have Vegas and Henderson and Clark County, but the rest of the state is ruby red.
[00:04:47]  It really is a matter of kind of not losing by as much in Summerlin, West Vegas, North Vegas, and then running up the score in the rules.
[00:04:56]  Yeah, look, I think it's important for people to understand that Trump contributed to the largest turnout in the history of our state in 2020.
[00:05:05]  And we need to make sure our people turn out.
[00:05:08]  2018, he was not on the ballot.
[00:05:10]  And we had a lot of never Trump Republicans.
[00:05:13]  Our former governor was never Trump, a lot of other Republican leaders.
[00:05:17]  And as a result, we saw what Nevada looks like without Trump voters showing up.
[00:05:23]  You know, I was the chair of the Trump campaign in 2020, endorsed me the first week I announced.
[00:05:30]  And so we have an opportunity to make sure we get our people out.
[00:05:34]  And that's for rural Nevada.
[00:05:36]  Yes, we need to maximize that.
[00:05:37]  We need to get people motivated.
[00:05:39]  But there's another great piece to this equation, and that is what President Trump did in Las Vegas.
[00:05:45]  He got Hispanics to almost 40%.
[00:05:49]  Mitt Romney back in 2012 was in the 20s.
[00:05:52]  So that's the kind of movement we got out of that community.
[00:05:55]  And of course, why wouldn't Hispanics have come over to our party in droves?
[00:06:00]  President Trump's America First policies proved that it gives them a better chance at the American dream.
[00:06:06]  Wages were increasing.
[00:06:08]  Unemployment was all-time lows.
[00:06:10]  Hispanic small businesses were booming.
[00:06:13]  And now they have this huge contrast.
[00:06:15]  They could see that law and order is an issue.
[00:06:18]  The border is an issue.
[00:06:20]  Our economy is an issue.
[00:06:22]  Everywhere you look, they know that President Biden and our Democrats, Captain Cortez-Masto, are presiding over a completely failed set of policies that they know are not working.
[00:06:35]  And so we think we have an absolute unique opportunity to speak to the Latino community, make them understand that the values that I represent are the values of the American dream.
[00:06:47]  Give them the opportunity to be successful, to prosper, to raise their children here in Nevada.
[00:06:54]  And I don't think we can have a better opportunity to do that.
[00:06:57]  We did a Latinos for Laxalt launch on Friday, and we had Steve Cortez and others come in to help crystallize.
[00:07:05]  This set of policies are what can make our valley successful.
[00:07:09]  It was a great, massive turnout.
[00:07:12]  And look, we have an opportunity to not only flip for this cycle, but to make sure we're moving towards 50-50 with Hispanics in Nevada in the long haul, which would make this a red state, not a slightly blue state.
[00:07:27]  So tell us about Senator Cortez-Masto, who took thousands of dollars from a Russian pipeline lobbyist.
[00:07:35]  The idea, the topic of energy is a huge topic.
[00:07:38]  I'd love to hear kind of what the price per gallon is in Nevada.
[00:07:43]  I'm sure it's gone up significantly, and we're just entering driving season right now.
[00:07:48]  It seems as if that Senator Cortez-Masto tries to put herself as sort of like a moderate senator, but she's anything but that.
[00:07:56]  Yeah, look, the AAA guidelines just came out.
[00:07:59]  Nevada is third behind only California and Hawaii.
[00:08:03]  And we've been fighting this Californization of Nevada for a very long time.
[00:08:08]  But guess what?
[00:08:09]  A lot of our stats look very similar to California, thanks to a Democrat governor, two Democrat legislatures, Democrat president, two Democrat houses.
[00:08:20]  And so unlike 2020, where the media helped.
[00:08:24]  to try to point the finger at any problems at President Trump.
[00:08:27]  There's nowhere to blame to shift blame now.
[00:08:31]  It lies squarely with Democrats.
[00:08:33]  Voters have to know that by now.
[00:08:36]  And yes, not only gas prices are soaring, but energy prices are soaring.
[00:08:41]  Of course, all of the inflation is hitting pocketbooks.
[00:08:44]  And Senator Masto is along with the left.
[00:08:48]  She refuses to stand for our state against President Biden, against the left.
[00:08:54]  She will look to voters and she will tell them she's a moderate.
[00:08:58]  But for example, today, she finally comes out about three hours after President Biden says she supports banning Russian oil.
[00:09:08]  Dead silent for the last many weeks.
[00:09:10]  We've been talking about this for now many weeks, but she leads from the back.
[00:09:16]  And I might add that, you know, just calling for the banning of Russian oil is not the solution.
[00:09:22]  It must come with energy independence, which she's still dead silent on because she's beholden to her super green base that wants to trade livelihood pocketbooks for this radical agenda.
[00:09:38]  I think voters aren't going to be tricked this time around.
[00:09:42]  I think that they're seeing it in real life.
[00:09:44]  And again, this issue, along with many other issues, we have a perfect opportunity to contrast with the Democrats.
[00:09:52]  And if I could go a little further on the contrast between Masto and myself, she was a former attorney general eight years.
[00:09:59]  I was a former attorney general as well.
[00:10:02]  Well, she campaigned on being the queen of anti-human trafficking.
[00:10:06]  In fact, an ad yesterday trying to tout her credentials on it.
[00:10:11]  Guess what she's not standing up for right now?
[00:10:14]  A secure border.
[00:10:15]  The border is leading to an all-time spike in human trafficking, child trafficking, drug trafficking in our state.
[00:10:22]  She knows better, but she can't speak out against your open borders base.

=== Protecting Parents and Education (10:39) ===

[00:10:28]  And we do not plan on letting her get away with it.
[00:10:30]  The same goes with BLM and a lot of these defund the police, the no bail movement.
[00:10:37]  She's been dead silent on these issues.
[00:10:40]  She's been waiting for permission from Biden to be able to start flipping as we saw in the State of the Union last week.
[00:10:47]  But voters will not be tricked.
[00:10:49]  They know that she has not stood with them for the last many years when we needed her.
[00:10:56]  Look, everybody, I know you love freedom and you want to defend it.
[00:10:59]  And I know you love the Constitution.
[00:11:01]  It's a beautiful document, and so do I.
[00:11:03]  And it's the same with Hillsdale College, the best liberal arts college in America.
[00:11:07]  Hillsdale's mission is pursuing truth and defending liberty.
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[00:12:18]  Yeah, and so let's talk about the border.
[00:12:20]  Nevada is not a border state, but it might as well be because, I mean, you're only maybe 150 miles from the border at the southern tip of Nevada, and you feel the damage of illegal immigration.
[00:12:32]  I was just in Yuma, not too far from Nevada at all, and they were experiencing 50 people crossing across the border under Trump, while over a thousand people a day coming across the border.
[00:12:43]  An unprecedented invasion of our country.
[00:12:46]  If elected senator, what will you do to push for border security and really kind of make your perspective of in leadership of Nevada of Nevada as a border state?
[00:12:57]  Well, first and foremost, we must return to the policies of the Trump administration, remain in Mexico, finishing the wall.
[00:13:04]  These are quite obviously solutions that made a difference heading into the Biden administration.
[00:13:11]  But I like to zoom back a little bit when I talk to voters.
[00:13:14]  Someone that put a uniform on and served both in the Navy and in Iraq, you serve your country because nationhood means something.
[00:13:22]  You're willing to put on a uniform and fight and die for a nation that we're willing to protect and an idea that actually is worth preserving.
[00:13:32]  And the Democrats have become the party that does not like America.
[00:13:37]  They attack our sovereignty.
[00:13:39]  This is dangerous for the future of our country.
[00:13:42]  And now you see the tangible results of an open border with over a million people coming in.
[00:13:47]  It's something that our country simply can't sustain.
[00:13:50]  Our state can't sustain it.
[00:13:53]  And again, where is Senator Masto?
[00:13:56]  She likes to pitch herself as a moderate, but guess what?
[00:13:58]  She didn't join Manchin or Kristen Cinema on any of these issues where we needed her.
[00:14:06]  She stuck with her party.
[00:14:08]  She sticks with open borders.
[00:14:10]  And that's why I think that Nevadans are going to be ready for a change here in November.
[00:14:14]  So, yeah, I mean, she's nowhere to be found on the border at all.
[00:14:18]  Let's talk about some other issues as well.
[00:14:20]  The issue of education.
[00:14:22]  This issue of parents getting more and more involved in their kids' education has been something that really has created the parents' party.
[00:14:30]  I know that in Nevada, there have been a lot of, there's been a lot of commotion in the local school boards and getting people to challenge what's happening on a local and state level.
[00:14:42]  Talk about the perspective you're going to have as a U.S. Senator supporting this ever-growing and exciting movement of parents fighting for their kids' education.
[00:14:51]  Well, I've spoken at school board meetings, joining massive numbers of parents that are willing to stand up for our kids.
[00:14:59]  It's something that I'll continue to advocate for, including school choice, which I sued on.
[00:15:04]  And we were able to get an education savings account made constitutional in the state of Nevada.
[00:15:10]  But let's not forget just how radical the Democrat Party is right now.
[00:15:15]  The Department of Justice that called our parents terrorists is the same Department of Justice that just lifted the Chinese espionage program quietly a few weeks ago.
[00:15:27]  This is what we're dealing with with this administration and their priorities.
[00:15:32]  Thankfully, parents ignored it.
[00:15:35]  They continue to show up in droves.
[00:15:37]  And it's not just the fact that they're attacking parents.
[00:15:41]  It's the policies of the last few years, which kept schools closed, which kept kids in masks until just a few weeks ago.
[00:15:51]  And there was an editorial for our largest paper that talked about how there are hundreds of thousands of kids, especially in Las Vegas, that will never get this time back.
[00:16:03]  We all believe that education is your chance for opportunity.
[00:16:06]  It's a chance at a better life.
[00:16:08]  Democrats stole those two years from those kids.
[00:16:12]  They'll never get them back.
[00:16:14]  And I think parents are ready to really give the Democrats a message.
[00:16:19]  They know who's responsible now.
[00:16:21]  They can't blame Trump like they did in 2020.
[00:16:24]  It was the Democrats' policies that never needed to be.
[00:16:27]  Florida kept their schools open the last few years.
[00:16:30]  Other states kept their schools open.
[00:16:33]  Nevada went a different direction, and our parents and our students suffered because of it.
[00:16:39]  Yeah, so let's talk about some of those lockdowns.
[00:16:41]  Nevada went further than almost any other state.
[00:16:43]  You know, I visit Vegas every so often.
[00:16:46]  Outside of Vegas, great people.
[00:16:48]  I can't stand Vegas.
[00:16:49]  It's an awful place.
[00:16:50]  But, you know, I have to go there for conventions and I have to go there for all sorts of different things.
[00:16:55]  And the restrictions of the mask mandates and the enforcement of it, the lockdowns that accompanied it, Governor Sisilak really went further than almost any other state for quite some time, especially in a state that is so focused on hospitality.
[00:17:11]  Talk about that.
[00:17:12]  Look, he stood lockstep with Governor Newsom and Nevadans know it.
[00:17:19]  They know he didn't lead.
[00:17:20]  They didn't go a different direction.
[00:17:22]  He waited for Newsome.
[00:17:23]  And a few days later, whatever he did, we would get here in Nevada further evidence that the Nevada Democrats want to make us like California.
[00:17:32]  And I'll tell you, the media was absolutely terrible during COVID because they wouldn't ask the hard questions.
[00:17:39]  They wouldn't ask why casinos could be open and churches would be closed.
[00:17:45]  There is no explanation for that, but they would not ask where was the science beyond that.
[00:17:50]  And about two weeks ago, there was this big tide.
[00:17:53]  All of a sudden, Democrat governors are having a change of heart.
[00:17:57]  And Sisilak out of nowhere said, dear God, we're going to be the last state to lift these mandates.
[00:18:03]  And he quickly goes into a press conference.
[00:18:06]  And we went on Tucker Carlson to call this out.
[00:18:09]  That day when he lifted these mandates, the entire state was still in the red based on their criteria.
[00:18:17]  And the infection rate was higher that day than when he put masks back on last summer.
[00:18:23]  So there was no science to support this.
[00:18:26]  He, of course, was not called out by the media, just the political science.
[00:18:30]  But the good news is that the people are onto it.
[00:18:33]  They demanded the change.
[00:18:35]  And he had to respond to real voters, which includes independents, Democrats, the Hispanic community.
[00:18:42]  We were all fed up with it.
[00:18:44]  And it's about time.
[00:18:45]  And look, don't lose faith in Las Vegas.
[00:18:48]  It's one of the greatest cities in the country.
[00:18:51]  And we're going to get back to what it was just a few years ago as soon as we get these Democrats out of office.
[00:18:57]  Yeah, I'm not so sure about that, but I'm not going to create a political liability for you.
[00:19:01]  So yeah, tell us more about the things that you're going to be fighting for in D.C. and some other things that you're really talking about for your plan to become a senator.
[00:19:12]  Look, first and foremost, our voters across the country in Nevada, they still wake up every single day in grave fear that the left is radically transforming our nation.
[00:19:25]  And as long as they have the ability with the president, the house, and the senate to materialize that leftist worldview, we are all in danger.
[00:19:34]  The Senate could still go in tomorrow if they had the votes.
[00:19:38]  They could expand the Supreme Court.
[00:19:40]  They could give DC and Puerto Rico statehood, all the things they want to do.
[00:19:44]  They could try to federalize our election and make every single state look like California.
[00:19:50]  They could pass billback better, all these things that would radically transform our nation.
[00:19:55]  So, first and foremost, we must take back a majority.
[00:19:58]  We must stop the Biden radical agenda in its tracks.
[00:20:03]  But then, once we're in office, you know, I hope to join the group that figures out how to be on offense in the United States and how to use committees to go after the Russia collusion, find answers once and for all of what happened here.
[00:20:18]  We know we've got the Durham probe going on, but in the end of the day, voters deserve to know what happened with these terrible things.
[00:20:25]  They deserve to know what Fauci knew, what science did he really ignore as he continued to push the false COVID narratives that we dealt with over the last few years.
[00:20:36]  And so, I hope we've learned from President Trump, as well as from Governor DeSantis in Florida, how to be a fighting party, how to fight against the leftist agenda.
[00:20:47]  I know we got a long way to go there, Charlie, but I believe that I can be part of that young generation.
[00:20:53]  I'm 43 to join some of our younger leaders that understand that the left must be defeated.
[00:21:00]  We must destroy their radical ideology.
[00:21:03]  Until we do that, we don't have a chance of saving this country.

=== Holding Agencies Accountable (03:19) ===

[00:21:07]  Yeah, and so that's a really important point, which is what we're going to do for investigations and to issue subpoenas and to really push forward the cause of transparency.
[00:21:20]  And I know that there is going to be a massive fight that to hold people accountable and to actually get to the bottom of so many of these crimes that have been committed, you know, from the people in power.
[00:21:33]  Fauci being totally unchecked, you know, an unelected, largely unchecked bureaucrat, and restoring constitutional governance and rights back to the states.
[00:21:43]  And so, what you're saying basically is that if you're elected senator, one of the things you're going to be given a mandate to is going to be able to use the oversight ability of the U.S. Senate to get answers that the people sorely need.
[00:21:57]  Yeah, look, I am a prosecutor.
[00:21:59]  I'm a former attorney general, and I think being able to be on judiciary and some of these committees where we can go on offense.
[00:22:07]  How about what they're doing to our military right now?
[00:22:09]  I mean, have we really scratched the surface of what they're doing to wokeify our military, what they're doing to drive out service members through those mask mandates?
[00:22:21]  This is some really, really dangerous stuff.
[00:22:23]  And with the threats we face in the world, if we can't hold our military accountable, then I don't know who's one.
[00:22:30]  I don't know who's going to sign up to be part of a military that people don't feel like they can trust the leadership.
[00:22:36]  They don't feel like they can trust the commander-in-chief.
[00:22:39]  And so, oversight is essential to get major change.
[00:22:44]  We know in the last few months that by giving voice to our side, by exposing the left, we've forced them in retreat on a number of major issues.
[00:22:57]  And so, that's what I hope to be able to do to be a loud voice.
[00:23:00]  And the United States Senate's a unique place where you can be a loud voice.
[00:23:04]  But, you know, I wouldn't stop there.
[00:23:06]  Oversight is important for a lot of the bad things that Washington are doing, but we can't lose sight of the fact that the delegation problem in Washington is still a real and present danger to our constitutional government.
[00:23:21]  And as long as our elected representatives keep giving these blank checks to these bureaucrats and these large agencies, we are going to continue to lose power.
[00:23:34]  And it's something as an AG.
[00:23:36]  I sued the Obama administration every week at trying to peel back their executive orders and their unilateral direction.
[00:23:46]  And they're using whether it was the Department of Interior or the EPA, these are their enforcement arms to try to do something beyond what they were democratically allowed to do.
[00:23:57]  And we need to get in there and hold these agencies accountable.
[00:24:01]  And hopefully, we can actually come up with an agenda that passes bills that will rein in some of these out-of-control bureaucrats.
[00:24:09]  Because my state has over 80% of our land is owned by the federal government.
[00:24:15]  And so, your listeners, when they hear that, people can't believe it.
[00:24:18]  So, you can imagine how important it is that we have oversight of these federal agencies.
[00:24:23]  And, you know, the Democrats, their policies cripple this state.

=== States vs Big Tech (13:55) ===

[00:24:27]  They do not allow us to grow.
[00:24:29]  And it's something I intend to fight for.
[00:24:31]  That's for sure.
[00:24:33]  So, Adam, how can people support you in closing here your website?
[00:24:36]  And how can people get behind your campaign?
[00:24:38]  Adamlaxell.com.
[00:24:41]  And I'll tell you, you know, my opponent, she likes a lot of the Democrats, they got unlimited left-wing money.
[00:24:47]  They're able to hit Act Blue and raise millions of dollars.
[00:24:51]  I need a grassroots army across my state and across America to help get us across the line.
[00:24:58]  And so I do ask for your support.
[00:24:59]  We're endorsed by President Trump, DeSantis, the great one, Mark Levin, all of our great conservatives are behind this campaign.
[00:25:08]  And I really ask your support.
[00:25:10]  Again, adamlaxall.com.
[00:25:12]  Great.
[00:25:12]  Thank you so much, Adam.
[00:25:13]  I've known you for years and we're 100% behind you, man.
[00:25:15]  So congratulations and best of luck.
[00:25:17]  And I think you're going to do really well.
[00:25:18]  Thanks so much.
[00:25:19]  Thanks, Charlie.
[00:25:23]  Hey, everybody.
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[00:26:29]  With us is Fiona McFarland from the great state of Florida.
[00:26:32]  I'm actually in Florida right now in Sarasota, so I don't know what part of Florida you represent, but we're both in the same state here.
[00:26:39]  And Fiona is the sponsor of a very important bill that I want everyone across the country to keep their eyes on.
[00:26:44]  We love Florida.
[00:26:45]  We love Governor DeSantis.
[00:26:47]  And I love the fact that states are rising up to start to protect their voters and their citizens, especially when it comes to the issue of big tech.
[00:26:55]  So Fiona, welcome to the Charlie Kirk Show and walk us through your bill.
[00:26:58]  I represent Sarasota.
[00:27:00]  So I love that you're caring about this bill.
[00:27:03]  It's an awesome bill.
[00:27:05]  Here's what the bill does.
[00:27:07]  It creates some right to privacy for consumers when they interact with businesses online.
[00:27:14]  So I'll list out the rights that we're creating with this bill.
[00:27:17]  We create the right to request what information a company has about you, the right to ask them to delete it, and then the right to opt out of your data being sold or shared without your permission.
[00:27:29]  And companies, you know, companies know us better than our friends and our family do.
[00:27:34]  And the fact that they can sell and resell our data or profit off of us, it's just gone too far.
[00:27:42]  And we're going to take a stand in the state of Florida.
[00:27:45]  I love to hear that.
[00:27:46]  And I think it's really important to protect consumers.
[00:27:49]  So I just want to kind of ask this question, which I find to be fascinating, which is, why is the Senate trying to shut down this bill in the state of Florida?
[00:27:59]  It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
[00:28:01]  And it seems as if they're pushing back against it.
[00:28:03]  There's over 330 lobbyists registered against your data privacy bill.
[00:28:09]  And I'm getting a lot of emails from our listeners that support this bill.
[00:28:14]  What's going on with this?
[00:28:16]  I think this bill is a classic example of the opposition exists in a bubble, right?
[00:28:23]  We are here in Tallahassee, in Florida's capital, and we have all of these business interests that are lobbying against the bill because every company out there uses data in some way or another.
[00:28:36]  It's ubiquitous at this point.
[00:28:38]  And the reason why there's so much opposition just in the Tallahassee political bubble is because these lobbyists have a very, very loud voice up here.
[00:28:45]  And there are companies that are willing to put up big lobbying dollars to try to defeat this bill.
[00:28:50]  As soon as I step outside the Tallahassee bubble, as soon as I go back to Sarasota, every single person wants control over their data online.
[00:29:01]  We pull this, it pulls it 96%.
[00:29:04]  Nothing pulls that high.
[00:29:05]  Not even like, you know, is the sky blue?
[00:29:08]  When we repeat the opposition's talking points of, you know, this will be burdensome for business.
[00:29:15]  It'll create a cottage industry for lawsuits, potentially passing on higher costs for goods and services.
[00:29:24]  People still want it.
[00:29:26]  People still want to have control over their private information online.
[00:29:29]  I think everyone at some point or another has felt like the way that they are spied upon is a little bit creepy.
[00:29:37]  And I want to say this, you know, like Charlie, I'm a strong Republican.
[00:29:43]  I'm a conservative.
[00:29:44]  I don't believe in telling business how to business.
[00:29:48]  But when it comes to privacy over our information, that's a different fundamental value, right?
[00:29:57]  We have two competing priorities here.
[00:29:59]  One is our right to privacy over our body and our information.
[00:30:03]  And the other is anti-regulation.
[00:30:05]  And those two principles are sort of at odds here.
[00:30:09]  On the House side, we've taken a strong stance that the right to privacy prevails here.
[00:30:14]  And I think over on the Senate side, they might be feeling the other way.
[00:30:18]  They might be feeling like that the business lobby has a stronger voice in their ear.
[00:30:23]  I've run this bill for two sessions now.
[00:30:26]  And we've got three days left in the legislative session in Tallahassee.
[00:30:30]  And unless the Senate can get their butts in gear, I don't know if we're going to be able to get this bill done.
[00:30:36]  Well, everyone needs to understand the companies that are opposed to this.
[00:30:40]  And these are the big tech companies, right?
[00:30:41]  Google and Facebook.
[00:30:42]  They don't want this sort of bill, even though other states have one very simple, have bills very similar to this.
[00:30:48]  And the reason they don't want it is that they want to be able to monetize your internet activity without your consent, without notifying you.
[00:30:57]  And these big tech companies obviously are no friends of conservatives.
[00:31:00]  They're no friends of America.
[00:31:02]  They're basically foreign companies that call themselves American companies that come in and commercialize the most private communication and activity of our citizens.
[00:31:13]  And in particular, our young people.
[00:31:16]  So tell me, what's one of the most shocking things you learned about this big tech data collection over the last two years?
[00:31:23]  It's crazy, Charlie.
[00:31:24]  I mean, I'm in my freshman term.
[00:31:25]  I've been doing this for two sessions now.
[00:31:27]  So I'm still sort of new of it.
[00:31:28]  But, you know, I filed this bill with huge support from the governor and the speaker of the Florida House.
[00:31:33]  I filed this bill and I thought I would just be hearing from the big tech companies.
[00:31:37]  But within a matter of hours of having filed this bill, I started hearing from way more.
[00:31:43]  It wasn't just big tech and telecommunication companies.
[00:31:46]  I started hearing from auto manufacturers and I started hearing from grocery chains.
[00:31:51]  I started hearing from just the businesses and industries I wouldn't have initially thought.
[00:31:57]  But as I said, it totally makes sense.
[00:31:59]  I mean, everyone deals in data right now.
[00:32:02]  The place where this bill steps in is the point at which I stop being the consumer and I start being the product.
[00:32:11]  When I buy goods and information, goods and services from a company, we transact financially because I'm receiving something from them.
[00:32:19]  But when companies then turn around and profit off of what they know about me, that's where this bill steps in and draws the line.
[00:32:26]  And we're not even saying that businesses have to stop that.
[00:32:29]  Like I think, you know, the world of online advertising, I appreciate a well-delivered, targeted ad.
[00:32:36]  It shows me things that I, you know, I forgot to stock up on diapers.
[00:32:40]  It's very helpful to get that little alert.
[00:32:43]  But I think we just need to have a say in whether we're being profited off of.
[00:32:48]  Well, yeah, it's all about consent.
[00:32:50]  Yeah, if you don't like it, just don't engage in these services.
[00:32:53]  But there is no Luddite out there who can exist in the modern day society and not be tracked in some way.
[00:33:02]  Unless you went to great lengths to like pay in cash for everything, you know, not use an AVM, walk in places that there were no cameras ever.
[00:33:12]  I don't know how you exist in the world today without having companies collect information about you in some way or another.
[00:33:19]  Yeah, that's exactly right.
[00:33:21]  And look, these tech companies, they turn you into the product.
[00:33:26]  Only addictive drugs and social media call the people who use their products users.
[00:33:30]  They're highly addictive to young people in particular.
[00:33:33]  Talk about the generational component to this of how these tech companies really prey on young people and then they monetize them for the rest of their life.
[00:33:41]  Your bill will make it much more transparent.
[00:33:45]  Yeah, I mean, you know, if anyone followed along with the Facebook whistleblower over the summer, I think we got a little peek behind the curtain into how some of these companies really like profit seek with our data.
[00:33:58]  When I interact with a company, I'm only so valuable to them, right?
[00:34:03]  Like I can only buy so many cups of coffee in a given year, but they can take what they know about me.
[00:34:11]  They can take my behavioral characteristics and say, oh, I know that this consumer is like a 30-something white female that has two small babies.
[00:34:20]  They can sell that an infinite number of times and continue to profit seek.
[00:34:24]  And they can sell it to whomever.
[00:34:26]  And they're typically selling it to whoever the highest bidder is, wherever that highest bidder may be.
[00:34:31]  And again, you know, like 90% of this is benign and it's for consumer insights and for product improvement.
[00:34:38]  But sometimes it's not.
[00:34:40]  Sometimes when you're selling insights about customers, it's really to, you know, for nefarious reasons.
[00:34:50]  You talked about kids.
[00:34:53]  Our bill goes one step further to protect children.
[00:34:56]  It says that for a child under the age of 18, they or their parent has to opt in to their data being sold or shared.
[00:35:06]  No one would bring this up in lobbying because I think it's very, it's politically untenable to say you don't support the children.
[00:35:12]  But I have a sneaking suspicion that there's a great deal of fear in turning off that spigot of insights into minors.
[00:35:22]  You mentioned it, you know, you identify these kids early on and then you've got a product that, you know, their data is a product that you can continue to profit off of for life.
[00:35:31]  Another component of our bill is that a company would have to delete information about you if you haven't interacted with them for three years or records retention.
[00:35:43]  Every year on my birthday, I probably get 20 happy birthday emails from vendors and stores that I have not shopped in for like at least 15 years.
[00:35:53]  And the fact that there are all of these companies out there that know my name, address, phone number, and birthday when I have no intention of ever shopping there again is highly unsettling to me.
[00:36:06]  Yeah, that's a terrific point.
[00:36:09]  So in closing here, what I love about this too is the states that are rising up against these tech companies, not just waiting for Washington, D.C.
[00:36:16]  A lot of people ask, what are we going to do about big tech?
[00:36:19]  How are we going to restrain them?
[00:36:20]  Well, this is one way to protect consumers, but also punish the companies that hate us, that kicked Trump off social media, that consistently restrict our ability to speak, whether it be about vaccines or anything.
[00:36:32]  So talk about the state-based component of this.
[00:36:34]  Florida is the leader in so many ways.
[00:36:36]  Florida is a free state, and it will be a disappointment if Florida's not able to get this right.
[00:36:40]  I agree.
[00:36:42]  This would be legislation better suited to the federal level, period.
[00:36:46]  There are so many companies that operate across state lines and internationally.
[00:36:50]  And I agree that it is burdensome for them to have to figure out a patchwork of regulation in different states around the country.
[00:36:57]  However, that doesn't mean I'm going to sleep on privacy for Floridians until the federal government gets their butt in gear and passes something.
[00:37:03]  That's right.
[00:37:03]  What we have now, a couple states were able to pass a version of this last year.
[00:37:08]  There's a few more of us that are on the cusp of doing it this year.
[00:37:12]  As more and more states start to step up for privacy for their residents, it puts tremendous upward pressure on the feds to get their butts in gear.
[00:37:22]  I don't ever like to compare us to California, but California passed a version of a consumer data privacy bill last year.
[00:37:30]  It was very broad and very bold and very California.
[00:37:35]  We are intending to do the same thing, a big, bold step for privacy, but with Florida flavor.
[00:37:42]  I think that if two of the three largest states in the country, one red, one blue, can pass such compelling legislation, I think that even ratchet up the pressure even more on DC to do something.
[00:37:54]  I agree.
[00:37:55]  Well, Fiona, thank you for your leadership.
[00:37:57]  And I hope this gets passed.
[00:37:58]  I hope the Senate does the right thing.
[00:38:00]  And we appreciate it.
[00:38:01]  Hope to meet you sometime soon.
[00:38:02]  Thank you.
[00:38:03]  Thanks, Charlie.
[00:38:06]  Thanks so much for listening, everybody.
[00:38:07]  Email us your thoughts as always, freedom at charliekirk.com and support our show at charliekirk.com slash support.
[00:38:14]  Thanks so much for listening.
[00:38:15]  God bless.
[00:38:18]  For more on many of these stories and news you can trust, go to CharlieKirk.com.