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Home » Transcript: An Unfiltered Conversation With Charlie Kirk – The Iced Coffee Hour

Transcript: An Unfiltered Conversation With Charlie Kirk – The Iced Coffee Hour

Read the full transcript of Charlie Kirk’s interview on The Iced Coffee Hour with hosts Jack Selby and Graham Stephan on “Fake News, Corruption, & Greed”, June 29, 2025.

The Iced Coffee Hour Interview

JACK SELBY: Charlie Kirk, thank you so much for coming on the Iced Coffee Hour.

CHARLIE KIRK: Thank you, guys. I’m a big fan. I’ve seen a lot of your clips, and so it’s great to be sitting down.

The Foster Friess Story

JACK SELBY: That means a lot. In 2012, when you were just 18 years old at the Republican National Convention, you approached billionaire Foster Friess.

CHARLIE KIRK: Yes, I did.

JACK SELBY: And you asked him to help you out with your idea, Turning Point USA. What was the conclusion of that conversation, and what did that teach you about life and risk?

CHARLIE KIRK: Wow, that’s a great question. So I was just recently graduated from high school. I wanted to go to West Point before that didn’t get in. And it ended up being one of the greatest things that never happened to me.

And so I went to the Republican National Convention. I studied all the major donors. I had to kind of sneak my way into the RNC grounds, if you will. And the fourth day, I was so demoralized, I was like, “Oh, this is not working.” I have this idea for Turning Point USA, which basically the idea was to try to win over young people around conservative ideas.

And I was in a stairwell, literally a stairwell. And then I saw Foster Friess doing a podcast interview with this major cowboy hat on. And I gave him the stairwell pitch. You know, people talk about the elevator pitch. I gave him a stairwell pitch, and he told a couple jokes. He was the sweetest, most godly incredible person ever. He actually took me seriously because here I was, 18 years old, no money, no connections, no idea what I was doing, and no reason that he should be listening to me.

And this guy, for people that know, Foster Friess started from nothing in rural Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Became the top mutual fund manager for 30 years. The Brandywine Fund out of Delaware. Legendary stuff, right? So he’s someone that gets pitched all the time. His life is to listen to pitches 10 times a day. Top companies would come in and try to pitch Foster Friess. Can you have your couple billion dollars assets under management to buy Coca Cola or to buy United Airlines, who’s constantly getting pitches?

So here I am pitching a guy, a legend, about this organization that I wanted to start, Turning Point USA. And he took me so seriously, and he wrote me a $10,000 check. And that was the seed funding. It wasn’t shares. It wasn’t equity. It was just a donation because we were 501c3, and it might as well have been $100 million. Right? It finally was enough for me to be able to start a website, to have gas in the car, and then from there, the journey just started. And he became a bigger and bigger donor.

GRAHAM STEPHAN: What do you think he saw in you?

CHARLIE KIRK: Well, he probably saw someone that was passionate enough and crazy enough. And honestly, he probably saw someone that was really naive to a great extent, that I still wanted to get into this broken political space, but I didn’t know any better.

And in Foster’s own words, he said he saw someone with focus and determination and a Midwestern work ethic. So he was from Wisconsin, I was from Northern Illinois. So we kind of had that in common. And look, I live in Arizona now, and I love Arizona, but I have a huge Midwestern bias. I think Midwestern work ethic is the best on the planet. And nothing against other people in the country, but there is something very special about how we’re raised in the Midwest and kind of that idea that we’re going to outwork everybody, and that’s always been who I am.

I’m going to do more events and more speaking and more podcasting, more radio interviews and more donor meetings. And that’s kind of been the ethos. So I don’t want to put words in his mouth. He passed away, unfortunately, a couple years ago. But he was a great friend. And you asked the question, what did it teach me about risk?

JACK SELBY: Risk in life.

The Philosophy of Risk

CHARLIE KIRK: Yeah. Well, honestly I had nothing to really risk because I had nothing to lose.

JACK SELBY: I mean that’s a nerve wracking thing. A lot of people are presented with opportunities to talk with someone, get their foot in the door for some opportunities.

CHARLIE KIRK: Sure. So what are you losing though?

GRAHAM STEPHAN: Getting over the embarrassment of rejection.

CHARLIE KIRK: I know, but that’s not losing anything, right? I mean that’s in life, if you think about it. Okay, if you’re actually second mortgaging your house like some entrepreneurs are. I don’t have one of those stories. Right. I’m sure you guys talk to some of these people. “I was on the second mortgage in my house and I couldn’t feed my kids.” That’s actually not my story. That is something to lose.

This is the only thing you have to lose is your own sense of comfort. That’s kind of weird when you think about it, right? “Oh, I’m not going to ask that girl out.” Why? “Well, because I’m comfortable in my own corner.” Comfort will not bring you success. Actually it won’t bring you excellence. Only in that place of discomfort do you actually get to the next level.

GRAHAM STEPHAN: So why do so many people believe the exact opposite of that? That they feel like that’s a big risk for them to go and do that.