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May 18, 2025 - The Charlie Kirk Show
01:19:02
Why Sticking to Your Morals Matters — Live at Dream City Church with Sage Steele

Charlie sits down with prominent sports reporter Sage Steele to discuss the controversial ending of her career at ESPN, how she learned to stand up for her beliefs, what she has learned since launching her own podcast, the importance of her faith, and more.Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Hey everybody, happy Sunday.
It's my conversation with Sage Steele, live from Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona.
We also take questions from the audience.
It's a phenomenal back and forth.
I think you'll really enjoy it.
So also become a member today, members.charliekirk.com, and get involved with the most important organization in America at tpusa.com.
That is tpusa.com.
Thanks to Alan Jackson Ministries for your continued support.
Buckle up, everybody.
Here we go.
Charlie, what you've done is incredible here.
Maybe Charlie Kirk is on the college campus.
I want you to know we are lucky to have Charlie Kirk.
Charlie Kirk's running the White House, folks.
I want to thank Charlie.
He's an incredible guy.
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.
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.
That's why we are here.
Noble Gold Investments is the official gold sponsor of The Charlie Kirk Show, a company that specializes in gold IRAs and physical delivery of precious metals.
Learn how you can protect your wealth with Noble Gold Investments at noblegoldinvestments.com.
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It's where I buy all of my gold.
Go to noblegoldinvestments.com.
Thank you, everybody.
Thank you.
What a great crowd this is tonight.
We're going to have some fun.
And I'm going to just kind of really shorten my remarks at the beginning because I feel we never get to enough questions at the end.
But let me tell you, as you know, I visit college campuses so you don't have to.
That's right.
You know it.
And we are seeing something so special on these college campuses, everybody.
I'll tell you, we are traveling the country and there are thousands and thousands of young people attending.
We try to prove them wrong from Scripture, from the natural law, from reason, and from conservative values.
This last week, the tour has been going very well.
We went to University of California, San Diego, went to Long Beach State, and yesterday, we were at San Francisco State University.
And well over 1,700 students came out in the middle of the day in Nancy Pelosi's district.
And we proclaimed Jesus' name in San Francisco.
And I'll tell you what, I'm not like a huge believer in exorcisms, but we as evangelicals have got to get back into knowing what an exorcism is and how to call a demon out.
That would have been very helpful in downtown San Francisco.
What was amazing while being there and being on this campus tour is there is a legitimate move of God with younger Americans, and the data shows it.
In fact, according to The Economist, The Economist says that thanks to Gen Z, America's Christian fall is actually being reversed.
Younger people are coming back to church in record numbers, especially young men.
They are desiring the truth.
And if there's one thing you remember from me tonight, it's that when you encounter an 18, 19, or 20-year-old, especially a young man, they're looking for an excuse to have a relationship with Jesus.
Don't write off the nation's youth.
Not only are they our future, they are currently the driving force of America's religious and Christian revival.
And I know my very good friend Frank Turek is here tonight, who we had on a Freedom Night before.
Give it up for Frank.
Frank also goes to college campuses and he's seeing the same thing.
And when I go to these campuses, it almost always goes back to ultimate purposes.
And it goes back to third grade.
And it goes back to the very same questions.
Which is, why do I have to do that?
And who tells you that?
Who told you and why?
Those questions don't change for your entire life.
We might have like different trappings and more elevated ways.
To try and disguise that?
Who told you and why?
We know the answer to that as Christians.
And the entire university, despite the billions of dollars, and by the way, how great is it that President Trump is defunding Harvard?
Can we get an amen?
And what is so tragic about the Harvard story is that it once was America's greatest Christian college, our oldest college, and now it is our not-so-great anti-Christian college.
And despite all the money they get, They cannot answer those two questions.
Who tells you and why?
The answer is, well, I'm going to do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it, and I'm going to do it because I want to do it, and that's just what I want.
It's an awful way to live.
It creates misery.
It creates despondency.
It creates disorder.
It creates disillusionment.
We are the wealthiest society ever, and as you know, we've repeated it many times, despite being the wealthiest society ever to exist, we have the most depression, the most suicide, the most anxiety, the most self-harm, and the most drug addiction.
Something is wrong, and it's not a lack of stuff.
It's not a lack of possessions in our garage.
It's not a lack of stuff around us.
You guys can get an all-you-can-eat buffet.
People used to die of starvation.
Now people are dying because they eat too much.
It's not material conditions that dictate somebody's happiness or their joy or their peace.
It's something different because we have decided to accumulate riches in the West, to have a bunch of plastic, to have a bunch of nonsense that we could put all around us, to have piles of garbage imported from China as if that was going to give us meaning.
But instead, we're actually unhappier than ever before because we increased our plastic dividend and we decreased how much we worship God.
As we've removed God from the West and we've increased the amount of stuff, we are seeing the result.
And Gen Z understands the consequences of this because they were raised in a hyper-materialistic society.
The very same people that told them to wear the mask while they shower and to take the ninth booster shot, and the same person...
That told them that COVID was going to kill them and all their friends, and because of that, they'd have prom and graduation taken away.
They said, I don't know what I believe, but it's certainly not that.
And I'm going to go find something else, and I'm going to go deep, and I'm going to go old.
I'm going to go ancient, in fact, to a group of people that professes to know the truth, and they are curious.
Every church, we have a lot of pastors here tonight, including this church, must configure itself to be ready for the greatest harvest awaiting us, which is the harvest of 18, 19, 20, and 21-year-olds.
It's happening earlier.
It's happening sooner.
If we seize on this opportunity, they do not want to water down gospel.
They do not want someone to tell them, hey, you know, we here do the...
Trans, lies, nonsense.
They don't want to see a gay pride flag.
They want to see something unchanging, something bold, something courageous.
They want you to be able to have the ability to defend it because everything around them is changing at all times.
It's disorienting.
But they want something that lasts.
And the love of God lasts above all the technological advancements.
Even when ChatGPT version 75 comes out, God's love for all of us will still be everlasting.
It's up for us to lean in to the greatest harvest waiting to happen, which is this next generation.
I'm so excited for our guest here tonight.
I grew up watching her on ESPN.
Who is with me?
Who watched her on ESPN?
A lot of hands are up.
And she is one of the most courageous truth tellers of a generation.
I'm going to force her to retell this story.
She doesn't like telling it, but it's such a good story.
She decided to turn down a high paying job with lots of publicity and her life's career because of one decision.
And it was a time for choosing.
And I hope this pricks somebody's heart here.
The Holy Spirit will speak to you.
Where something you know that is wrong that might come with a lot of money.
She was forced to take the COVID shot against her will.
And she'll tell you the rest of the story in just a second.
Join me in welcoming Sage Steele, everybody.
Hi.
Hi.
Oh my gosh.
Very rarely do people stand.
Usually they roll their eyes when I walk in.
So thank you.
Can you do that again?
No.
I'm kidding.
Sorry.
I was kidding.
Thank you.
Sage, you are amazing.
And I'm so excited for people to learn your story.
I know it's exhausting.
No.
But let's tell it again.
So you grew up in a military family, if I remember, right?
Yes, sir.
And a Christian family.
Goal was to be involved as a sports journalist.
Yep.
You reached that goal.
Tell us your story.
11 years old, watching the 1984 Olympics.
12, so you can do the math.
So when people say, I grew up watching her, I could slap you.
Because you're aging me completely, and that's okay.
Hair, dye, does wonders.
I was 11 years old when I said I want to be a sportscaster watching the 84 Olympics, knowing that I wouldn't play any sport past high school.
I thought the second best way would be to talk about it and to be around it.
And what I noticed at a young age, moving to different countries, by the time I was 11, I lived in four different countries.
Military brats?
Anyone else here?
Yes, you understand.
I thought that was normal to move around and have kids next door that were from Turkey here, Greece here, Norway there.
We didn't speak the same languages, but kids always figure it out.
But I realized living overseas and that sports is what brought people together.
On a football Sunday, for three hours, everybody's on the same team.
In your race, in your sex, in your socioeconomic status, in your politics, nothing matters.
You're just cheering for the same team, and I felt that.
And I wanted to be around more of that and to tell people's stories along the way.
So that was the why behind it, to tell stories and do true sports journalism.
The problem was I was like, I don't think you knew this, I was really shy.
Like, weirdo shy.
And my parents were like, okay, so you want to be on TV?
Probably need to talk a little bit more then.
So I had, I mean, I had to really push through that fear from a very, very young age.
Went to school for it at Indiana University.
Hoosiers.
Thank you.
Do you know that next, I think it's the 10th, so it's this weekend, right?
Yeah, Saturday is the 30-year anniversary of my graduation from Indiana University.
And the 30-year anniversary last time they had a good basketball team.
Wow.
Were you alive then?
One.
That was one.
He had diapers on.
This is great.
See?
Open mouth insert.
Whatever.
I'll just leave now if he's going to do that.
I'm kidding.
I'm kidding.
I'm kidding too.
I love it.
I take pride in it and you're absolutely right.
But I just knew, knew, knew from that young age and got into it and then local TV, regional TV and actually I don't think you know this story either.
2004.
I got the call I'd been waiting for from ESPN.
I was working in Washington, D.C. at Comcast Sportsnet covering the Baltimore Ravens and the Washington Wizards and Maryland Terrapins and you name it.
And I got the call and went up to Bristol, Connecticut for the audition.
Scared to death, kind of, sort of, but I was really, really, really pregnant, like 12 months pregnant with my second kid.
By the way, my first is over here in the orange shirt.
Say hi, Quinn.
Sorry.
She graduated from college, High Point University on Saturday.
So one down, two to go.
And so she was like 19 months old at home when I was pregnant with Nicholas and Nicole.
And I'd been working for four or five years, sending my resume tape in.
Yes, VHS tapes, snail mail, not like a YouTube link that these little brats use now.
And so like sending the tapes in and they kept saying, yep, nope, you talk too fast, still do.
Your hair's weird, still is.
All the things.
It is what it is.
God gave me, I can't straighten it.
Go for it.
So I got the call and went up for the audition and I crushed it because I had more important things.
I had this baby bouncing on my bladder and so when they tried to like roll the wrong tape to see how I handle adversity, I'm like, guys, whatever, go for it.
Got the offer when I got back and I talked about it with her dad, with my parents, with my agent and I prayed about it and I knew I couldn't take the job.
So the dream job since I was 11 years old, I turned it down.
My agent said, you're crazy?
ESPN does not need you.
You need ESPN.
As that Army kid growing up around the world, all I saw was the example my parents set, that family comes first.
And I knew that I wanted at least one more kid.
I mean, I was about to have number two, and my dear friend, the late, great Stuart Scott, who took me under his wing before I even got to ESPN, Yeah, he was my best friend at ESPN.
Stuart believed in me a long time before I believed in myself.
And the human being that he was, I talked to him daily.
And he told me before I even got there, he said, don't come here until you're ready because you'll get eaten alive.
So that's what I was thinking when I turned down the job.
And they all said I was nuts and they're gonna blackball you and good luck, you're done, your career's done.
Had the baby, signed another contract for three years and just thought, If this is what's meant to be, what God wants me to do to get to ESPN and fulfill that dream, then that's what he'll make happen.
And three years later, I got another call.
And it happened to be a better offer this time, too.
Because I was better at my job.
I had worked on my craft.
But that was, in hindsight, Charlie, one of the first big tests.
Because I was scared to turn it down.
It was this big dream.
And back then, in 2004, I mean, there were many fewer women.
And certainly no one that...
Very few that look like me.
Robin Roberts was really the only one, and she was certainly my idol.
Absolutely the trailblazer.
So in 2007 went, and I've got to tell you, 16 and a half years at ESPN.
When I got there, my kids were 11 months old, 2 and 4. I don't remember much from those days.
I don't regret a thing.
I got to do things that I never dreamt of.
SportsCenter was that childhood dream, but it ended up being...
Hosting coverage pre-game halftime at the NBA Finals with 30 million viewers and Super Bowls and seven straight Masters tournaments and World Series.
I get emotional still thinking about what I got to do.
And despite how it ended, no regrets.
I loved it.
So then there was a time for choosing.
Yeah.
COVID happened.
Tell us about that.
Yeah.
What a fun time.
I had actually lived here from 2014 through 17. And so when I come back to Scottsdale, I cry because this is, oh gosh, right, Quinn?
We were landing today and I started crying.
I'm like, this was home.
I hope you appreciate where you live.
This is the best place.
It is the best.
It's the best state in the union.
It is.
I will be back.
Mark my words.
And I had to come back to Connecticut in 2017 when they were going through layoffs, said, we want to keep you, but you've got to come back.
So, smart, and I loved my job, and so you leave and you go back.
And I was watching how it was being handled here.
And it was a lot different than the Northeast, as you know, just like California.
And basically, long story short, I went on a podcast.
Anybody remember Jay Cutler?
Sports fans, former Bears quarterback.
I did a ton of terrible...
I'm a Bears fan.
He never brought us to Super Bowl.
I'm just going to say it.
Not even close.
I know.
He is a conservative, though.
He is, but he's really quiet about it and needs to speak up a little bit.
He's got to be more like Sage.
Come on, Cutler.
But he had just started his podcast and his publicist said, hey, he hasn't had a woman yet.
Would you mind?
I'm like, absolutely.
I actually had crushed him on his Bears highlights for years.
I'm like, let me go on the podcast and try to be nicer.
He did a great job.
His research team, they did a great job, and they looked up things that I had spoken about in the past, in particular on The View.
This is in 2014.
I know The View.
2014, when it was different.
Barbara Walters was still there when I was on, and so he brought up, that was one of the hot topics, was Barack Obama, and Barbara was upset that I didn't identify as a black woman because It was important to me to say what I am, which is biracial.
I have a mother who's half Irish, half Italian.
When I say Italian, my grandmother's name was Philomena Lena DiPertola.
Yeah.
I know when you see me, you think Italian all the way.
And then my grandfather was William Edward O 'Neill.
So don't mess with Mona Steele.
My mother will cut you.
And then my black father.
So I'm...
You guys, isn't that the definition of diversity?
I'm so proud of my diverse background where my black family loved me as much as my white family.
And our family reunion pictures were all colors of the rainbow and as a beautiful thing.
And I didn't understand why Barbara Walters was so angry with me for saying I'm biracial.
And so she asked me on live TV on ABC, why don't you identify as black?
Our president does.
And I said, well, congratulations to the president.
I think it's fascinating because he was raised by his white mother.
And his white grandmother and his black father was nowhere to be found.
And he wrote a book about it.
This is not breaking news.
But you do you.
I choose to identify.
I said, I'm pretty sure my white mom was there the day I was born.
And why not celebrate all of me, not just part of me?
I think it's simple.
That hit different in 2021 than it did in 2014.
So that blew up.
I got in trouble for that.
I got in trouble for saying that women in locker rooms, we need to be professional and it does matter how we dress.
That's another story for another day.
And then finally, the COVID shot.
I will tell you, Charlie, I had just come from getting the shot.
We had until September 30th, 2021 to get it or we were fired.
I was devastated because I...
I'm not a scientist or a doctor, but I knew that it didn't feel right to be forced.
A simple Google search told me that it takes six to nine years on average for the FDA to approve a vaccine.
And this was how quick?
A couple of months.
So I just wanted to wait.
But I had three kids, and they had recently gone through a divorce.
Financial responsible for everybody.
And I felt at that moment I didn't have a choice.
And someone said, religious exemption.
And I'm like, But it has nothing to do with my religion.
So I didn't want to, I wanted to be honest about my why.
Get a medical exemption.
Well, it isn't, I don't have anything wrong that I know of.
This is just wrong and it's my body, my choice, correct?
Sometimes?
So...
Only if you want to get rid of another body.
Right, right.
So I fought it and fought it, and then at the end of the day, I ended up going, and I remember sitting in the parking lot of the grocery store that I had to go in and probably have someone off the street put a shot in my arm, and I just prayed and said, please, Lord, let this just go right through my body.
Let it be nothing, just water that she's putting in me.
And I remember sitting down, and I walked in and sat down, and she looked at me, and my eyes were red.
And she said, are you okay?
And I said, no.
I'm being forced to take this shot to keep my job.
And I just cried like a little baby.
And she looked at me and she said, this is so wrong and I'm so sorry.
And then she held my hand and with her other hand, I don't know how accurate it was, put the needle in my arm.
And I can honestly say, it gets me choked up to say it, something changed in me at that moment because I'd never been forced to do anything to my body.
And there was like a little, I think in hindsight, some rage in me.
And then it was over and I got in my car and I raced home because I had promised Jay Cutler to go on that podcast.
And I had forgotten that I had a Band-Aid on my shoulder because I was shaking and berating myself for caving.
I was embarrassed and I was ashamed.
And he brought it up on the podcast.
And I was like, yeah, I took it.
I said, I think it's sick.
And scary for any employer to force their employee to do anything to their body, but it is a global company.
We are owned by Walt Disney, the Walt Disney Company, and I understand.
Onward.
That's what I said.
I found out that it was not okay to say that, according to my employers, and I was called in within days of it dropping, well, within minutes of it dropping, days later, and basically pulled off the air.
Suspended off the air for 12 days, forced to publicly apologize, or they said I'd get fired.
My agent said that.
And when I say public apology, it's a very long statement that I spoke ill of the company.
And then, of course, they passed it on to the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune and every single web service to, you know, crush me, to embarrass me, and then followed it up with, while we believe in diversity of thought...
We're in a suspender.
So they didn't call it a suspension because I was paid.
Paid suspension happens in sports all the time.
I was taken off the air.
I was willing to let it go, Charlie, because I was scared.
And they scared me.
And that I wouldn't be able to feed my family and support my family.
So what do you do?
You do what it takes.
The problem is it didn't stop there.
And they kept taking assignments away.
And things I had worked on for years.
And hosting the...
Rose Parade in Pasadena and the New York City Marathon and they just kept taking things.
In the meantime, my peers were allowed to go on ESPN Airwaves, not on a podcast with an old former quarterback, on ESPN Airwaves and talk about their opinions, how devastated they were when Roe vs.
Wade was overturned, how angry they were about that and that girls, I guess, didn't have the right to kill their babies on a basketball show.
Their opinions on COVID.
The George Floyd stuff.
The George Floyd non-stop Black Lives Matter.
ESPN turned into MSNBC for 30 days.
Correct.
And I don't care what our beliefs are.
Even if they were aligned with many of what people here in this room believe, you aren't turning to ESPN for politics.
No, not at all.
We're honored to be partnering with the Alan Jackson Ministries, and today I want to point you to their podcast.
It's called Culture and Christianity, the Alan Jackson Podcast.
What makes it unique is Pastor Alan's biblical perspective.
He takes the truth from the Bible and applies it to issues that we're facing today.
Gender confusion, abortion, immigration, Doge, Trump, and the White House.
Issues in the church.
He doesn't just discuss the problems.
In every episode, he gives practical facts.
We can do to make a difference.
His guests have incredible expertise and powerful testimonies.
Each episode will make you recognize the power of your faith and how God can use your life to impact our world today.
The Culture and Christianity podcast is informative and encouraging.
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That is alanjackson.com.
Again, that is alanjackson.com.
This is why I don't watch ESPN anymore.
I don't either.
Unless that is a college football game I like.
That's the only reason.
The only reason they're still alive in my mind is because of the programming.
They've done a great job.
It's not the daytime stuff.
No.
And also, for news breaking, we have our phones.
You go to X, you go somewhere else.
It's not must-see TV anymore.
It's the exclusive rights they have.
Correct.
And they've done a great job with that, and that is why they're still standing.
But the problem is, I told my bosses for years, long before things went crazy in 2020 with COVID and George Floyd, please keep it separate.
Diversity of thought.
Diversity of thought.
And we were told not to tweet or talk about politics, unless they agreed with what you were saying, if it was...
Anything on the left, basically wokeism.
So that's when I said enough is enough.
And if you're going to allow all of my peers to talk about their politics because they align with Disney on ESPN Airwaves, and I can't go on a day off on a separate podcast separating myself from ESPN to not just talk about my opinions but my experiences as a biracial woman, a proud biracial woman, as a mother who...
Just wanted to protect myself and my kids from these mandates.
I can have an opinion, especially if I'm complying with your rules and I comply.
So that's when I hired an attorney, the same attorney, by the way, who helped and represented Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson right now as we speak.
If you get in trouble in the media, Brian Friedman's your guy, let me tell you.
It was devastating to have to file that lawsuit.
It broke me.
That was my dream job, and I was so proud of it.
But for 16 months, from the moment the lawsuit was filed to the moment we settled, who sues their employer while they're still working there and on their airwaves every day?
I would go in shaking, feeling sick every day, and I'll shut up after this.
I would pull into the parking lot and call my mom and dad.
I'm 52 years old.
I call my parents three times a day still.
You're never too old for mom and dad.
And I'd call my parents, and we would pray.
Right before I walked into those doors to go on TV and represent my company and try to represent the fans out there.
And for those of you Catholics and others, the prayer is St. Michael the Archangel.
Protect us from the wickedness and snares of the devil.
Rebuke him, we humbly pray.
And that prayer every day is the reason I could walk in and put the fear back here to go do my job.
And I felt like I had this bubble around me, a bubble of protection.
And I look back, I did my best work during my scariest time.
And I know that is because God was with me every step of the way.
I love that.
And what has, obviously based on what you just said, it has strengthened your faith.
But then you decided to level up the ante even more.
You left ESPN.
You started speaking out about your experiences, but oh, no, no.
Then all of a sudden, Sage decided to endorse Donald Trump and go on the road to advocate for Donald Trump.
So, why did you do that?
And thank you, by the way.
And why did you do that?
That's a great question.
Why?
When Laura Trump called and offered me to wear those cute pink jackets, Women for Trump, I'm like, I'm in.
Really hot pink.
It was gradual, Charlie, and I look back on it, and I'm just almost laughing that I went from saying, no, no, no, separate, because I believe it should be separate from our jobs, our politics, to this.
I think I'm like millions of other Americans who had just been pushed a little bit too far.
When I had people telling me how racist I am...
White people.
I guess it's that white mom that they did want me to acknowledge at that point.
I don't know.
Racist, sexist, all of those things.
And at the end of the day, I can separate who I want to win based on what?
Policies.
It's very simple.
I lived here.
I live in Florida now.
I live in Tennessee part-time as well, and I lived in the Northeast.
And when you can experience those different cultures, as I call them, you see the difference.
And I didn't feel safer.
I felt less safe.
I also talked to my younger daughter when she was a sophomore, and she came home talking about the litter box sitting outside of the math class because there was a girl who identified as the girl on Wednesday, a boy on Thursday, and a cat on Friday.
We're fine with that.
This is very real.
Hundreds of schools have this, by the way.
If you don't know about this, you guys are not informed.
I'm just going to be honest.
It's real.
It's not a joke.
They identify as cats, so they have to have litter boxes throughout all these schools.
They're furries.
In Arizona, they have them, too.
They're furries.
Furries.
In Scottsdale Unified School District, they have this.
So when you see the craziness, and you're living it, and then you're trying to teach your children to stand up for what they believe in, what I realized was that if I stayed quiet, If I settled and did all the things and trying to build a new career from scratch, from nothing after being...
Canceled 86 times.
And then I still stay silent.
I fought on the First Amendment.
On my right for free speech, too.
If you're going to let my coworkers say it because you agree with them but not me, that is in violation.
So if I stood up for free speech, but then I go silent with the most obvious things, then I'm a hypocrite.
Not just to myself and whichever viewers may watch me or follow me, but to my three kids.
When we're telling our girls and boys to stand up and be strong and not take it, and then we're silent, We are complicit.
So I realized, for me, I had to do it.
And then the best part about getting canceled so many times is then you realize it's okay.
Like, I don't care.
I think that was the biggest thing I learned through this whole process.
As a firstborn pleaser my whole life, that goody two-shoes girl trying to make sure everybody, my mom, my dad, my brothers, my uncles, my neighbors, the people who don't know me, everybody likes me.
And the most powerful thing was to be okay being disliked.
And to let go of that fear of being disliked.
And if I can teach that by showing this to my kids, then this is worth it.
And I'll say this, the day before the lawsuit dropped.
I went to each one of my kids.
Quinn was a freshman at High Point.
Nicholas was a senior in high school, and Evan was a sophomore in high school.
And each kid, I said, guys, I'm sorry this lawsuit's about to drop.
It's going to affect you.
In the past, when speaking up, people had threatened my kids, threatened to rape my daughters, saying the worst things because of their mother's opinion.
And so I said, guys, I'm sorry for what's coming at you.
Don't ever defend me.
Don't ever feel the need to defend me.
Just remind people.
Especially those who preach diversity and tolerance and equity, that diversity of thought is where it all begins.
So my mom has a right to her opinion.
You don't have to agree, but she has that right.
But don't feel the need to defend me.
And I went to my son, who I always say, he's my saint, in between my two, not psycho, but kind of crazy daughters.
Psycho.
He is definitely going to heaven.
I said to him, I'm so sorry for what's about to come.
And he looked at me and he goes, Mom, it's about time you stood up for yourself.
But what's the lesson?
What's the lesson?
We're staying silent to protect those around us so they don't go through pain, so they don't fear things.
And what was I doing?
I was a hypocrite.
I was showing him the opposite of what I wanted him to do.
So I knew at that moment, and Quinn said too, she was proud of me.
She was scared, but she was proud of me.
And I knew at that moment that even if Disney crushed me, which financially they came pretty close to doing in about four minutes, right?
Disney versus me.
Even if I lost, I actually won because my kids saw that their mom no longer lived in fear, and that's been the biggest blessing to come from it.
Last question here, then I want to do some Q&A.
Did you know this whole world existed?
I want you to talk about it.
I heard you say this briefly.
I thought it was so interesting.
It was at our Believers Summit.
It was kind of like a one-off thing.
So here you were...
The guiding force of commentary at the NBA Finals, the Masters, every major sporting event.
So you think you kind of had a good pulse on America, like how people gather and how they think.
And yet you've been introduced to this entire world.
Tell us about that as someone who didn't even know it existed.
Social media, especially, frankly, before Elon Musk took over.
Thank you, Elon.
It was an ugly place.
And the algorithms made sure that if you had an alternative slash middle to right viewpoint, that you were ostracized and vilified and attacked.
And so I thought that was the real world.
And I began to, I remember when I lived here and I was on the road back and forth with NBA and I was at Sky Harbor and I was afraid to make eye contact with people.
Because I thought, and then because of my comments about my mother and diversity of thought and biracial and all that, I thought, oh gosh, now black people aren't going to like me and the white people already don't.
I remember just living in fear like I couldn't please anybody and I wouldn't make eye contact with people, Charlie, because I was told on social media that I was the worst and I believed it.
So to then come through all that and stand up and Especially when I was still at ESPN fighting to tell the story.
Why are we not reporting on what Riley Gaines is doing?
And talking about this massive story in sports and ignoring it, I began to get rumbles and whispers from people like, thank you.
Keep going.
And I went, oh my gosh.
There's so many other people like me out there.
But if you listen to that...
They want you to think you're alone.
And that's why we stay silent.
And I got out in this crazy world and I realized there's a lot more normal people than they want us to think.
Common sense.
But now what happens?
I can't tell you how many times I have gotten emotional and cried and hugged strangers in airports across the country because they'll come up to me.
It happened twice on the plane this morning.
And I was like, oh gosh, I have a hat on and no makeup.
How the heck do you?
They're like, I'm like, I know.
If I just changed this, I'd totally blend in.
But I have been in tears when real grown men will walk up to me, emotional, saying, I'm afraid to speak up for my daughter because I'm going to lose my job.
Please don't get silent.
So when you realize this isn't even about me.
This is so much bigger.
It's about, my girls are, I mean, their competitive sports days are long gone.
I have no horse in this race.
But if God has given me this platform, even if it's over tomorrow, if I waste it, what a shame.
And I finally realized that I'm not alone.
And that's why I have to keep, even if he's going to make me keep telling that ESPN story, because...
If I don't, what a shame.
What a waste.
Because if I can help others realize that they're not alone, because you do feel lonely, then that's a win.
And I say this to these young girls.
It should not be up to these young girls now to stand up with this sports trans ridiculousness.
Where are the adults in the room?
We have to continue to encourage the adults.
Silence is compliance.
Yeah, and I do want to get to questions.
I have to follow up on this, though.
It is one of the biggest stories happening in the country.
890 women in the last couple of years that we know of have had championships, awards, and medals stolen from them by biological men.
Commit that number to memory.
890 women.
We're told, oh, this never happens.
There's no. 890 women that we know of.
And a lot of this goes unreported, by the way.
A little middle school thing in Kentucky or high school thing in Ohio that doesn't even make it.
So 890 that we know of.
And this actually, the Democrats and the left, and I hate politicizing stuff with this stuff, guys, but it's just the truth.
They are digging down, they're doubling down and digging in on this.
They're going all in on biological men stealing awards and trophies from women.
You are a sportscaster, you're a former sportscaster, you understand this so well.
What is your analysis as someone new to the political world on this issue of obvious theft, of obvious Cheating.
And that's what this is.
This is cheating.
It is.
First of all, they're all cowards in my mind.
Sorry.
I also work with so many men.
We were talking about this earlier.
So many men.
I mean, former NFL players and NBA players.
There is no way they agree with this.
The problem.
I mean, and they have daughters.
Who are playing these sports now?
Like Shaq.
I mean, it would be nice to have him speak out.
It would be great to have any one of them.
Charles Barkley has a daughter that played basketball near here, actually, in Scottsdale.
Yes.
Right?
Yes.
I try to be really nice about this and watch my words.
You don't have to be nice.
Jesus was not nice.
He wasn't.
He was loving and truthful, but he was not nice.
Okay, forgive me, but these...
Men need to grow a pair.
And I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
How else do you say that?
How else do you say that?
Stop being cowards.
Stop being quiet.
I was talking about my co-workers at ESPN because they've got millions and millions of dollars.
They have the security.
They don't have to worry.
And they still choose to be silent when, again, If one spoke up, what happens?
You see it with these young women now, and slowly but surely, these girls are giving up their lifelong training to stand up.
The fencer over a couple of weeks ago who took a knee, God bless her, and how scary for her that she could be throwing her career away.
We're not gonna let that happen, right?
There's so many good people now who are uplifting women who have that courage, but for the men out there and the fathers, it is real.
The fear is real for cancellation, et cetera.
However, if you band together, And again, you're reminded that you're not alone.
There is power in that, and we cannot stop with this issue, because that's the 890 that are reported.
But you're not talking about the girl, if you're placing one through eight, and there's a boy in third, number nine, then doesn't even get a shot.
Didn't make All-American.
Correct.
In the Riley Gaines story, the man who all of a sudden parachuted in, there were girls that their whole life goal was not to win the national championship, was to be called an All-American.
And they got displaced from number 8 to number 9. And so that one doesn't get reported, but then they lose being All-American status by one slot.
Their whole goal was to make that 8th spot.
And a man then displaced them.
So we're talking about tens of thousands of women that have been displaced by...
Some of them are perverts, let's just be honest.
They just are.
But they're all cheaters, okay?
And I know the legislative solution.
But I still, I don't understand, and it's just a failure for me to get this, because I'm a father of a daughter, why dads are putting up with this.
I don't get it, and I get nothing but excuses like, oh, I'm going to lose my job.
Okay, well, you're going to allow your daughter to be publicly humiliated like this?
Right.
Do something.
Organize a group.
Have a protest.
I will say this, and the men of the, I've said this before publicly, I got in a lot of trouble.
So I'll say it again.
The men of the 1950s would have put up with this for like three seconds, and they would have handled it the way the men of the 1950s handled stuff.
Thank you.
I do think every one of those Democrats, they know.
We might disagree, but they're not stupid.
They know.
I truly believe it's deeper than that, and God forbid you agree with something that the center-right believes in.
It's so tribal.
It is, but it's actually evil.
A hundred percent.
And this is, I mean, look, we have huge pressing issues, but if we as a country can't agree that men should not be in female private spaces and in female sports, I have nothing in common with you.
I'm sorry.
I don't have common ground.
I don't seek to remedy that.
That is an existential dividing line between the two factions and camps in this country.
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Let's do some questions.
Let's start lining up.
Sage, please plug your podcast, ways that people can support you, all that stuff, as people start lining up for questions.
Thank you.
I never thought I'd be doing this.
By the way, The Charlie Kirk.
This man, I know, you're the worst at accepting compliments.
I'm just telling you that I don't believe this election would have gone the way it did without you and without your voice.
I don't.
I don't.
And I, my daughter, my daughter, again, you hear this all the time.
My daughter's like, no offense, Mom, I don't listen to you.
I listen to Charlie.
This is long before I met Charlie.
So thank you, thank you, thank you.
And in general, I feel smarter.
Well, I get to sit next to him.
Can you rub off a little?
But like when I watch your stuff and I feel smarter and it does take courage to repeatedly go into the lion's den like you were this week with Riley at the University of Washington.
It was great.
You're crazy.
But I'm so grateful for that.
And I love talking to people like Charlie.
For AmFest, which is incredible here, I was able...
I was able to talk to you for like 12 minutes on my podcast because we're doing a short one.
So it's the Sage Steel Show YouTube.
I didn't understand that you needed subscribers.
Like I didn't know anything.
I worked at a TV network.
You just tune in and that's how I get paid.
Like I get a salary and a paycheck.
It's a contract.
That's not what this world is.
So if you would subscribe, Sage Steel Podcast.
Everyone should subscribe to the Sage Steel Podcast.
Do it now.
But it's about conversations.
It's about conversations even with people you don't agree with.
And here's the thing.
I think that we...
Remember, Sage Steele did this for a living for a while.
She asks great questions.
She's a phenomenal interviewer.
My parents were my guests last week, and it was the most important show I've ever done.
It was my mom and dad.
Phenomenal.
Let's start here.
On this side, everybody, if you want to start lining up for questions here, don't be shy.
Yes, sir.
How are you doing?
First of all, actually, before I saw you at Carolyn Levitt...
At the White House, being introduced there, I've actually never heard of you.
I like that.
That's nice.
Yeah, I'm an engineer, okay?
So how did that feel, displacing a lot of the other, let's say, big networks like ABC, MSNBC, that kind of thing?
So you're talking about the new media seat that Caroline Levitt has done with the White House press room?
Yes, the Steve Bannon's, the Newsweek, yeah, the Newsmax, yeah.
Oh, I have never been more nervous for anything in my life.
In the White House, The Brady Press Briefing Room, I was scared to death.
It was such an honor.
I was the third one.
And they brought me there the day that Donald Trump signed the executive order to keep men out of women's sports.
So it applied for me to be there.
The key with that question, which again, I was so nervous.
I've talked to Michael Jordan and LeBron James and Stephen Curry and all the best top athletes in the world.
And I interviewed a sitting president, Joe Biden, in March of 2021.
I did.
It was not live on SportsCenter because it had to be taped.
Just in case.
That's a story for another day.
Read the book, guys.
It's coming.
Oh, the question.
It was...
I really wanted to make sure and push that point further.
So the president is signing this, but what we need to do is to make sure that if another crazy administration comes back and tries to blow Title IX up like the last administration did, what does Donald Trump and company need to do to make sure that never happens again?
And that was my question.
But that takes understanding government and all the things that must happen in order for that to take place.
And right now, by the way, there are still loopholes that the NCAA has taken advantage of because men are still allowed in women's spaces.
College campuses and sports.
And they can still take scholarships away from women.
So those are the things that the president is continuing to work on.
We are so grateful for the EO that he signed that day.
And it was honestly the biggest honor to be there.
I never aspired to do politics.
I ran the opposite direction.
I was like, oh heck no, you are not getting me into this thing.
And there I was sitting in the press briefing room talking to Caroline Levitt.
What an honor.
And it was really a moment.
I don't know that anything can really top it because of the importance of it for young women.
Thank you.
And I have to say, you are the first Freedom Night guest to have ever interviewed Joe Biden.
So congratulations.
It was a struggle.
Oh, I want to hear all about this.
I'll just say this.
It was April 2021, so he was just in office.
He was like a spring chicken then.
Here's the problem.
Before we started, we had a little technical issue.
And so I had to make chit-chat with him.
Remote?
Remote.
And still kind of COVID at that point.
And so there was a camera of him.
The camera was pointing at him, but there was a black tarp covering it.
And they didn't let me see him until that moment.
So I had to make small talk.
And he started talking about...
What a great football player he was at Delaware and how he was a receiver and he had great hands.
It was probably all made up.
The whole thing was...
No, but when he said he was a receiver and he had great hands, I was like, okay, can we start this interview now?
It was, you know what?
Listen, Charlie, it was still an honor.
For a sitting president.
This is at the beginning.
100%.
I don't fault you in the slightest.
It's the office of the presidency that deserves honor.
Correct.
Not the occupant.
Regardless of it, I totally agree.
And that is exactly right, Sage.
Regardless of who the president is, you honor the office.
That is always right.
I still had...
The questions, I'll just say, were very scripted and non-negotiable.
So they gave you the questions.
I don't know if they did and went to ESPN or ESPN went to them.
I know that there was no diverting away from what was given to me.
You think that's how they interview Trump?
You know, here's the questions.
Are you okay with them?
Oh, great.
Yeah.
All right.
Yes.
How we doing, man?
I was wondering, this is a question for both of you.
How did you feel about the security, the death threats, like going from college to college or going to different places and all those people attacking you?
Because I want to stand out too.
I don't want to sit back and see all this happen.
But if I have a family, I don't want to get killed in the process.
So I want to know.
I don't know.
I feel like it's a fair question, and it speaks to the fear that so many people have.
I was watching the videos of you this week at University of San Francisco and University of Washington, and I'm so glad that you posted it because people need to realize it is still there and encouraged.
And look, I love the question, but...
I don't want to play the victim.
Look, we get death threats every day.
People want to murder us.
They're going to try to take me out.
Okay.
But honestly, police officers have dangerous jobs, too.
Firefighters have dangerous jobs, okay?
People in our military have dangerous jobs.
Like, I'm not unique.
I just have a differently type of dangerous job.
And yeah, some deranged liberal might try to take me out at some point, cover us in prayer at all times.
But honestly, if people are unwilling to do dangerous jobs, then we don't have Western civilization and we don't have America, right?
I mean, so that's the way I think about it.
And you don't have to be reckless about it.
We have great security.
You know, we got...
It really helps now that I can text the FBI director.
That is very helpful.
And it's a lot different.
It's a lot different.
Hey Cash, here's a social media post.
They say they want to murder me.
On it.
So cool.
It's a lot different.
Elections matter, everybody.
Elections matter a lot.
And again, it's nothing improper.
It's me just sending him little death threats.
And, you know, meanwhile, the old FBI, I mean, I don't know what they were doing.
They were trying to infiltrate Turning Point USA, right?
Why are you applying for a job?
They were sending all these people in.
But look, I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me.
Because I'm so struck by police officers who are literally in the line of fire every day.
They're not asking you to feel sorry for them, right?
And so I'm just in another higher hazard job.
That requires a little more security, a little more layering, a little more covering and protection.
But the more important question is that there should be no, there should be, as an ideal, no compromising of your security just because you have different opinions.
That is something that's worthy of actually talking about.
The fact that it's dangerous is just factual.
It shouldn't be, though.
You should not have to walk around with security for your entire family and for myself.
Just because you support a politician or political candidate or certain values.
That is a deeply sick trend that has happened in this country.
And look, the radical left, when I say they want us dead, I mean it literally.
I experience it.
I see it.
And we're not going to let that slow us down.
In fact, it makes me only want to fight even harder and win even more because that shows the wretchedness of what we are fighting against.
And I really hope again encouraging people to do the same in their own way.
You don't have to go be Charlie Kirk, but maybe it is that school board meeting.
Maybe it's just a conversation with your neighbor who gave you a hard time back in 2008 for having a John McCain sign in my yard.
Like, those little things.
Have the conversations.
That, I think, qualifies as standing up, too.
With kindness, we can do it with kindness and with class.
That's the difference.
Totally, yeah.
And so, just, again, so thankful for you guys that pray for us and cover us.
Because, look, we go on these college campuses.
It's me, verse 3,000.
We have great security, but it opens it up for uncertainty.
But we trust in the Lord, and we are going to keep on doing that.
Yes, sir.
Scott Jackson.
Growing up, I learned at a young age that everything was cyclical, whether it was the economy and recessions or politics went left, they went right.
I think we're in a period where clearly that has changed for a longer period of time.
The cycles have extended, whether it was COVID or the crazy election.
I'm wondering, because I can't extrapolate out into the future with journalism.
Is journalism going, is it dead?
Is it going towards podcasts completely and ABC News and 60 Minutes and all that is going to, they're going to go out of business?
I'm sure you guys have thought about it, so the question is really for both of you.
Where do you think journalism, since journalism is basically dead now, will integrity revive?
Thankfully, Charlie, in your 15-year plan, I think that will have a lot to do with it, so thank you very much, Charlie.
But both of you, where do you think it's going?
Can you speak to that?
I think it's going to take a very, very long time to regain the trust of the American people.
And it should, because it's been abused.
And they took us, and I consider myself a consumer as well as a journalist.
Am I a journalist now?
Am I an opinionist?
Like, I don't know what I am.
Truth teller.
Thank you.
Truth teller.
And again, just trying to ask the questions that I hope others would want to hear from whoever I'm speaking with.
It's going to take, for me, I don't know.
I don't think it's coming.
Not with the mainstream media.
Not with traditional TV news and ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, as far as those four networks.
And frankly, it doesn't matter which cable news network you watch either, even if you agree with them.
It is biased.
And so to me, it's really, really difficult.
It is inherent.
We all have to make an effort and go dig and research and not just have an opinion but know why and be able to discuss it.
Now, I know who I listen to and I know my why behind it.
And most importantly, when you have that information, understand they have a right to their opinion too.
I say this to my kids.
I say this to anybody who will listen.
Just because you disagree with somebody doesn't mean...
They're wrong.
Because at the end of the day, I don't know your why.
I don't know what you went through.
Every single opinion is based on someone's experience.
So when we judge, I don't think it's the right way to handle it.
So go dig, go do your research, know your why, and respect other people's why.
But I think mainstream media is dead.
Yeah, I agree with that.
And it's for the better.
What I call a ruling class reporter.
I won't tell you who.
It was all off the record.
You'd all recognize him, and he's on TV a lot.
And he's like, well, what can I do to regain the trust of my audience?
Because they're actually self-aware at this point.
That was what was so interesting, is that he's like, all my colleagues, I know that people do not trust us anymore.
And I was like, number one, how about a little contrition?
Can you apologize and just mention that you got a lot of stuff wrong?
That you got COVID wrong.
You told us that masks worked.
You told us six feet to slow the spread.
You told us to get nine booster shots.
You told us to close down the schools.
You told us that the virus came from a wet market in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Not the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
How about just some contrition that you misled the entire civilization and then called us names and then smeared us for years on end?
And then the other part...
You need to apologize for what you didn't cover.
The lack of coverage and intentional conspiracy, and I use that word conspiracy to not cover Joe Biden's mental decline, is one of the greatest acts of journalistic malpractice in the history of the spoken and written world.
Period.
I want you to think about what they really did.
President Donald Trump, if he orders...
Two Diet Cokes we know at the New York Times within 90 minutes.
Most transparent president ever, but I mean, they're covering every breath of this White House, right?
Joe Biden was legitimately incapacitated, unaware of who he was and where he was.
Not a joke, not something that I'm just saying is comedic.
And the media then did not just cover it, they said those of us that were noticing it...
We're right-wing conspiracy extremists.
So they actively covered up for it.
That's even worse.
So they didn't cover the story, they covered it up.
And then we can see with our own lying eyes, like, wow, he's not well.
And President Trump, in all of his infinite wisdom, and I believe the hand of God is on President Trump, because even the media says he's very lucky.
No, no, this guy is blessed.
I was, and I was wrong, because you just never doubt Donald Trump's instincts, honestly.
It was this whole debate of whether or not he should do the summer debate against Joe Biden.
Whether or not he should do that summer debate.
And the consensus was, don't do it.
You're winning in the polls.
It's an only way for him to resurrect his chances.
It's too high risk.
And if he does bad, they'll pull him and get another candidate.
And he's like, no, no, no, I want to do it.
And forget the political strategy.
He won, so it doesn't really matter.
But on full display, I think at that moment, we will look back at 100 million people realizing the media is completely fraudulent.
Because there was no filter.
There was no ability to interrupt.
There was no we're going to cut to commercial break.
That full mental implosion of Joe Biden in that one moment where, oh, you know, COVID.
You remember that?
Donald Trump's instincts to put that on full display.
Was the death of the power center of the mainstream media.
And I don't say this with a lot of delight, and I don't want to take too much time on this.
We actually do need good media.
You need people that look after stories.
You need journalists.
We need it, absolutely.
But at that moment, yes.
And also, kudos to Donald Trump in that moment for complete self-control.
And he just got quiet and let him fry.
Let him do it to himself.
Sorry.
And that's not easy.
But that was a newer version of Donald Trump, right?
And by the way...
It was artful.
It was tasteful.
It was beautiful.
I remember, like, I was watching an NBA game.
I'm like...
It was chef's kiss.
Yeah, but real quick, I love that you said that.
There's zero accountability.
That matters.
That's the retired Army colonel, my father.
Accountability is everything.
And it wasn't just the most obvious, most important thing to cover up with Joe Biden.
It was what happened in Nashville, the school shooting there, and how they completely made that go away.
Even with Butler, Pennsylvania.
The border.
We don't know what happened.
So then people finally went, oh my gosh, they have been intentionally lying to us.
This whole time.
I do believe it's a blessing in disguise.
All of the lies.
All of these things.
Because without that, I don't think the American people would have believed how bad it was.
And because of that, that's why November 5th went the way it did.
If you want to make sense of the change and the chaos happening around us, you're going to need God's help.
That's why Alan Jackson Ministries, a friend of mine, created the Culture and Christianity Podcast, the Culture and Christianity Conference, and their weeknight news show, Alan Jackson Now.
Millions of people also listen to Pastor Alan Jackson's powerful sermons each week, I do, on radio, television, satellite, and online.
In today's world, there's desperate need for truth, and Alan Jackson Ministries feels a sense of urgency to deliver God's truth and a biblical perspective to anyone who will listen.
We can't afford to be complacent.
Their mission is to help people become more fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ, which is the most important thing, giving your life to the Lord, including here on The Charlie Kirk Show.
Go to alanjackson.com slash Charlie.
That is alanjackson.com slash charlie to find recent podcasts, shows, and sermons.
Be informed.
Find encouragement.
Hear the truth delivered in a way that just makes sense.
You'll also find books, studies, prayers, and other tools to help you grow in your faith.
Again, that's alanjackson.com slash charlie.
alanjackson.com slash charlie.
This is our time to make a difference.
Check it out right now.
Yeah, and again, so here's the good news.
Find podcasters and information sources that are decentralized.
Here are some things, again, I would love that you listen to my show, listen to Sage Steele, whatever.
If you want to listen to me, it's great.
Number one, they have to earn your trust.
Don't give it immediately.
Watch them over periods of time and see how they cover stories and make them earn it.
Number two, watch or listen to people that engage with their audience.
They read the emails from their audience.
They have an opportunity for the audience to call in.
They have an opportunity for the audience to communicate.
If you look at the worst of the journalists, they do not communicate with the common folk.
That's something that Rush Limbaugh did better than anybody else.
Open line Friday.
Show me what you...
And you think about it.
It's a check and balance.
Hey Rush, I think you were wrong about this.
Hey Rush, he would read his emails all the time.
Remember that?
Rush, he had the big screen of all the emails.
It's a reason why he had a pulse of the country.
Because he knew what people were thinking.
Not just what was on a teleprompter screen.
And finally...
Listen to people that pursue stories the mainstream media ignores.
Story selection is incredibly important.
The number one point of media malpractice is the things they don't talk about.
The stuff they decide not to cover.
For example, the trans athlete thing picked up huge speed at the Olympics when a biological man beat that Italian woman to a pulp and they couldn't hide it.
So those are the three characteristics.
Yes ma 'am, your question.
My question is more of curiosity.
You raised the point of furries and having litter boxes in schools.
So my question is, how far does this mental illness really go?
Teenagers, because I work at a high school, a Christian high school, and I'm well aware of the psyche of a teenager.
Have teenagers actually pulled down their pants, squatted over a litter box, and pooped?
Yes.
Really?
Yes, and teachers support it.
And then they use their hand to cover it up?
No, they have the tools like if it was a cat.
Oh, and then I was like, do they lick their hands afterwards like a kitty cat?
I mean, I'm not sure.
How bad is it?
It's bad.
Oh, that's...
I'm sorry.
I'm surprised, too.
I'm surprised you're shocked.
No, you shouldn't be surprised.
And again, you're shocked, and I'm going to be very honest.
And it's appalling.
It means that you have to consume non-mainstream media.
Because this is very well known, right, Sage?
Unfortunately, it is.
For those of us, if you guys do not know this is happening, I encourage you to re-evaluate where you get your news from.
This is all across the country.
Furries are a thing in almost every school district in America.
With accommodating litter boxes.
Hinsdale High School.
Hinsdale South.
We have Donners Grove North.
We have all across...
The country this is happening.
And if you don't know it, I'm not trying to criticize to make you feel bad, but you are in an information cycle that is not rooted in reality.
Thank you.
It's uncomfortable.
It's very uncomfortable.
And this is why people say they don't watch news or pay attention because it's depressing.
Yes, it is.
But then look what's happened.
Look what we've allowed to happen.
Again, cable news might not talk about it.
Well, you should get to know it.
Yes.
As parents, do we have resources out there?
I know the leftists are quick to respond to anything, but like you were talking about with the high schools, I'd like to have a lawyer look into the high school that my son is going to that I'd like to change their mascot name.
It's called The Demons.
It's Greenway High School, just like ASU has demons.
And I'm just wondering, do we have resources available to us?
Is there anything out there that we can take action?
I mean, we talk about it, but what are we willing to do?
Are we willing to walk and act on it?
But the resources are not there as far as I'm...
I don't know any of them there.
Yeah, you mean like legal resources or...?
Just...
To start the ball going?
Illegal?
You know, anything.
I mean, the left is so organized.
They have, at every level, if they're attacked, they know how to, they have everything to back them up.
But we as believers, you know, where do we start?
I mean, there's Alliance Defending Freedom, which is headquartered here in Arizona.
They do a really good job, obviously a turning point.
But you bring a good point.
I would have a difficulty as a young person, you know.
Playing for a team that said demons on it, that would be tough for me, I'll be honest.
But we'd be happy to refer you to our team and help you out.
Thank you.
And by the way, I will say the big picture, which might seem like, you know, really far away because it is logistically Washington, D.C., but what Linda McMahon...
Well said.
again another reason why the right person is in the White House because it starts to your point it starts with our kids and she is doing everything she can to help yeah well said Really quick, yes.
Hey, how are y 'all?
Thank you for coming.
My name's Aaron, and I go to the college at this church.
Personally, you know, I had a question, you know, for like chasing your dreams, because ESPN was like your dream, and if you had any pointers, I'd appreciate it.
About chasing your dream.
What's your dream?
Music and preaching the gospel.
You know, I feel like that's a God-given dream, and like, you know, I grew up watching Billy Graham.
So, and just putting those two together probably.
No, I love you.
Isn't it refreshing?
How old are you?
I'm 24. Right?
We have so much hope in this country with young men like this.
The fact that you're going to school here, I think, says a lot.
You're going to get no's along the way.
You're going to get other people.
Everything is, I mean, it's a beautiful goal, and you're within the church and God and Jesus, and it's competitive.
And there's a business aspect to it.
And so what happens when they tell you no?
That, I don't know, maybe they don't like your draw.
I think it's great.
Depends where you are, right?
Depends on who's making the decisions.
So at the end of the day, I cannot tell you how many times I was told no.
And then when I would get my foot in the door, how many times I fell on my face in front of millions a couple of times.
And so the question is, what do you do with that when you get back up?
And it does take a long time.
What I always say to my kids, and I think, Quinn, you said this earlier to somebody, when you see what someone else is going through, learn from it.
Like, watch us screw up and take it and do more with it and push through with that dream.
But most importantly, what's your why?
Know your why.
I told you my why earlier with journalism to tell the stories and to help unify because that's what sports did for me.
So know your why.
And I think for you and for everybody, that makes it easier to keep pushing when there is fear, when you're not making any money, when people tell you you're crazy.
It's not up to them.
It's up to you.
These will be the final two questions here.
Hi.
Thank you both for coming tonight.
I appreciate you not only being here, but also standing up for truth.
My question more revolves around the Jay Cutlers of sports in general.
I would assume you know a lot of athletes, and Charlie, I would see that you would know a lot of athletes.
And from what it seems like, they have enough to pay for security, they have all the fame they can ever need, and money to last them a lifetime.
Why don't they stand up and actually say something on a conservative point of view?
Why are they sitting back and watching this happen, not unifying around truth?
I mean, it's not just athletes though, it's a lot of people with power and money.
Stay silent.
I mean, let's take a good example.
Harrison Butker is an amazing example of an athlete that had a lot to lose, and he still spoke out.
And it didn't even speak out that forcefully.
He just said that some women should stay at home and raise their kids if they want to.
And he received the whirlwind.
I have a lot of respect for Harrison Butker because...
He's in a very high-pressure job, which is being a kicker for an NFL football team, and which even the slightest distraction could throw you off.
And so any athlete that says, well, I don't want the distraction, I'd be like, look, Harrison Butker only gets like four chances to perform a game, if that.
And the entire game is around whether he moves his toe by like a quarter of an inch.
Right?
So don't give me that excuse that you don't want the distraction.
This guy...
Spoke out for what was moral and what was good.
And he's the highest pressure thing in all of sports with, again, 30 million people watching on Sunday night.
Are the Chiefs going to make the final field goal?
I think it's pretty admirable.
But look, I don't want to call these people cowards, but they're part of an entire cultural organization for their whole life where the incentive structure is to remain quiet and to remain silent.
What I don't get, current players I can sort of understand, But I fall short of understanding.
What I really don't understand is those that are retired, that have all the money in the world, that have everything imaginable, and they're the ones privately messaging me.
I'm like, what's the big deal?
You're not going to want to go on CBS or Fox.
I mean, Peyton Manning is very conservative.
He does not speak out on this stuff.
Eli Manning is very conservative.
And I like these guys.
I grew up watching them.
But imagine the combined power if like Peyton Manning and Eli Manning and Dan Marino and Drew Brees and every major NFL quarterback of a generation came together in harmony and said, here's our five non-negotiables and we're going to vote this way.
That could have a profound impact on culture.
Instead, they kind of tap dance around it.
And what's so disappointing is that those on the left...
They're not afraid of speaking their political beliefs.
LeBron James is talking about Kamala Harris all the time.
And again, it doesn't make any difference on there, but I think it would make a difference on the right.
I think if there was a mass consolidation of...
Absolutely.
And look at what happened last week with the Philadelphia Eagles going to the White House.
And Saquon Barkley got crushed for golfing with President Trump.
But it's fine to play basketball or golf with President Obama, right?
So he called them out on that double standard, and I love him for that.
Good for Saquon.
He deserves a lot of recognition.
Absolutely.
He's a Christian, too.
He is.
He's such a good guy.
And Jalen Hurts, who I believe is also a very good guy, chose not to go.
Very good.
That is his right, and we have to respect that as well.
A couple of things.
I do think you can look back at Aaron Rodgers, for instance, who took so much heat for what he said in 2020.
He got canceled for the first time about a month after I did.
And so I'd known him for years, through ESPN stuff, and we were texting, and I'm like, I mean, I was like, oh good, Aaron's getting canceled too.
And not that I'm on his level, but it was like, again, you feel like you're alone.
What he was saying, and I won't, you know, reveal all of it, but it was comical to see how many people, peers of his, some of the biggest names, texting him to say, yeah, you're right, good job, got your back.
Do they?
Not one other one stood up and said, why are we being forced to do this?
They let him get just crushed, right?
And he still does.
Some of it is self-inflicted with other things.
Point being, he was right about that.
And again, there's no attrition.
There's no accountability to come back to that.
I do think, finally, we do have to remember, and I have to remind myself a lot, that as much as they are rich and famous and all those things, they're still human.
They have fears.
A lot of them are just like me.
Or at least how I was, where I really, really cared about what people think.
Oh, that's true.
They're hypersensitive to criticism.
Very, very sensitive.
And despite having the power to do so, they choose otherwise.
So do I say grow a marriage?
Yes, I do say those things and believe it.
But I also have to remind myself that just because I did doesn't mean you're ready to do it.
The problem is, if you don't, I don't want to hear it.
Don't complain.
Unless you choose to stand up.
And a final wrinkle, then we've got to get to the last question.
You know who's the one that's actually pushing these quarterbacks and their wives?
Like, Brittany Mahomes is actually pushing Patrick Mahomes.
And first of all, they're raising the kids.
They're seeing the woke stuff.
They're on social media.
They also see that, like, the world is against anybody with success.
And, you know, they earn a fair amount of money.
And, like, Brittany Mahomes, like, God bless her for speaking out in favor of President Trump during the election.
And instead of it being welcomed, it was, like, suppressed.
Like, no, no, no, we don't really mean that.
I think that's wrong.
And then remember the camera saying, oh my gosh, are Brittany and Taylor Swift still friends now?
I mean, this is what people are focusing on.
I will say this, though, that a lot of NFL wives are getting radicalized by the Charlie Kirk show, and I'm sure they're bugging their husbands to speak out.
Thank you.
Last question.
I know that.
Hey, Charlie.
Thank you both for being here.
I just wanted to ask a question in regard to something that was asked earlier.
While I believe the government and media are filled with useful idiots, why should we believe the mainstream media is dead and isn't just taking on a new form with new faces?
I worry that this is because the left plays dumb so we underestimate them.
This way they can get to us in conservative media to misreport false news created by them to discredit us.
For example, some of the details surrounding the murderer Carmelo Anthony.
Okay, yeah, I mean, I do agree with your premise that we shouldn't declare victory preemptively.
I mean, the left is always going to readjust.
They're going to recalibrate.
But I will say, I mean, it is an objective fact.
Subscribers of the New York Times and the Washington Post are down.
Viewership of CNN and CBS and ABC.
And NBC is down.
They're going to struggle.
They're going to try to reinvent themselves.
But they're going to struggle.
And I think they're going to struggle because decentralized long-form podcasting lends itself towards one thing.
The pursuit of truth.
If you're in long-form decentralized podcasting and you're not pursuing truth, you will not have an audience.
People will not go out of their way to listen to you while they're walking or cooking dinner.
Or while they're working out, if they feel as if you're leading them towards a lie.
And so it's almost, long-form podcasting is like incompatible with left-wing values because of this very fact.
Sage, do you have a thought on this?
I just think overall, we're a lot smarter, aren't we?
It took us a long time.
It took us getting...
Beaten down and beaten down to the point where we said, wait a minute, enough is enough.
And I've said this a hundred times.
I truly believe we were on the brink of disaster on November 5th.
And it took the last four years for everybody to say, you know what?
Push me a little bit too far.
And now we've had enough.
Amen.
And we've got to save this country and truly practice what we preach with diversity of thought and all those things.
So I feel like...
Our jobs, if we have a platform, is to, number one, continue to, yes, push the truth and the facts, and point out when others are not.
Not to get clicks and not to crush them, but if you do it and you back it up with facts, like last weekend, two weeks ago, whenever that was the NFL draft with Shooter Sanders, football fans watching him slide, slide, slide.
I think it was hilarious, honestly.
I was loving every moment.
I know, I know, and I go way back.
I know his father, Dion, quite well, so it's like, oh my gosh, you see the human part of it.
He needs more humility.
They all do.
I could not agree more.
I totally, totally agree.
But the point is, when people are trying to make that about race, I'm like, okay, okay, here we go again.
That's just such low-hanging fruit, so lazy.
So I went and gave some numbers and how 26 of the 32 first-round picks were black.
The first overall pick is black.
Does that mean that every single GM in the National Football League that is of color, and there I think were 10 last year, and then the black head coaches for not picking the black guys?
So are they racist too?
Like, stop.
So when you go at them, and that was just an example with facts, not just my opinion, But facts.
It's tougher for them to call us idiots in all the names that they did for so many years.
So to me, it's the easiest, safest way is to come back with facts.
And the only thing I will take from Michelle Obama, only, is that what?
When they go low, we go high.
And the way that we do this really, really matters.
Sage Steele, everybody.
God bless you guys.
Give it up for Sage.
Thanks so much for listening, everybody.
Email us, as always, freedom at charliekirk.com.
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