The Charlie Kirk Show/Real America's Voice/screeen grab
The pro-MAGA podcast “The Charlie Kirk Show” erupted into a shouting match after MS NOW analyst Tim Miller challenged the hosts’ claims about President Donald Trump’s record.
Miller, a former Republican strategist and host of “The Bulwark Podcast,” sparred with co-hosts Andrew Kolvet and Blake Neff on Wednesday’s episode, less than a week before the midterm elections. The three clashed over immigration enforcement, the war in Iran, and the cost of living.
Miller began on a point of agreement, condemning the shooting of the show’s founder, who was killed at a Utah Valley University event last year.
“Charlie was always nice,” Miller said. “… But, I mean, I was just horrified last year, and I was then doubly horrified by people who spread conspiracy theories about it or that cheered it on. And I find any of that despicable.”
Miller pointed out that he had been critical of Trump's character from the moment he "came down the escalator," but noted that the current president had also "betrayed you guys, and he’s betrayed his promises to the base.”
“I mean, he started a war of choice that is making us less prepared in the world from a military perspective,” he continued. “It is costing us a lot of money... It has cost us lives, and it’s making things more expensive for people at home."
“So he’s betrayed his promise when it comes to lowering costs for people.”
The hosts objected as soon as Miller turned to the administration’s immigration enforcement.
“I mean, he has masked agents in the street shooting people down,” Miller pointed out.
“Hold on!” Neff said. “Let’s push back on that!”
“We don’t even get to see the faces,” Miller replied.
“I feel like that is a far greater violation of our traditions,” Neff complained later, referring to sanctuary cities.
“I think the agents of the state murdering American citizens in the streets is a bigger affront,” Miller responded.
Miller was referring to Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two U.S. citizens shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January.
“You’re calling them Gestapo,” Kolvet said, faulting media coverage of the agents. “You’re calling them Nazis. You’re dehumanizing them.”
The exchange quickly turned into a shouting match.
“Nobody wanted Renee Good to die more than the left!” Neff argued.
“That’s an insane thing to say,” Miller shot back.
“No!” Neff shouted. “That is not an insane thing to say!”
“Especially after the way I started this conversation, with Charlie, to act like people were rooting for that,” Miller said. “It’s horrible.”
“You think I want them to get shot?” Neff asked.
“You seem perfectly fine with the fact that they got shot,” Miller said. “You seem perfectly fine with the fact that they got murdered... And the punishment of that should be summary executions?”
“They are ICE agents!” Neff exclaimed.
The former Republican strategist pleaded with the MAGA hosts to debate the "other failings of the Trump administration that I started with.”
“Why don’t we talk about the corruption?” Miller wondered. “The fact that his kids are getting hundreds of millions of dollars... We went through the list of Donald Trump betrayals… It’s been a disaster. So all of that has been just an ugly disaster.”
“He had two massive self-inflicted wounds: creating an insane, you know, top-down-run tariff regime based on his personal whims, and then starting a war of choice in Iran that nobody wanted and that has no end in sight,” Miller said.
“The results of those two decisions have been a massive increase in interest rates, a massive increase in gas prices, a massive increase in food prices for Americans,” he added.
“My life is better!” Neff said, pointing to Trump’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. “My life is better because the government doesn’t say I’m a second-class citizen based on my skin color.”
“I’m sorry, dude!” Miller replied. “There’s not a bunch of white guys that are doing better now than they were before. They’re doing worse.”
“You guys are doing socialism right now!” he told the right-wing hosts. “Donald Trump has a state-run economy. He’s taken stakes in businesses... He’s controlling the means of production in Venezuela and stealing their resources and bringing it to us... He’s offering voters a $5,000 bribe. He’s friends with all of the socialist dictators all over the world.”
“He’s running a right-wing, soft-authoritarian, nationalist socialist administration that’s making people’s lives worse,” Miller said. “Like, that’s what this administration is.”
Miller tried to press Kolvet for a defense of Trump's tariffs. “We have to go, Tim. I actually have to wrap it up, but go ahead,” the host insisted.
Miller continued speaking: “[T]he idea that he put illegal tariffs in, then the Supreme Court said they were illegal, and then he bullied companies into not getting their rebates back. “I mean, like, if a Democrat had done that — if Obama had put an illegal tax in and then bullied corporations and said, sorry, I’m not gonna give you your money back that I illegally stole from you — your guys’ hair would be on fire."
“It’s just another example of socialism, right-wing socialism,” Miller said after Kolvet called the Supreme Court’s decision “garbage.”
“I’ll personally ignore whatever personal conduct from Trump,” Neff said.
“What about all the theft?” Miller asked.
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