Charlie Kirk had Jaiden Rodriguez, who he described as a “hero,” on his show Wednesday to discuss the waves made this week from a video of Rodriguez being asked to remove his Gadsden flag patch at school. Kirk began by pointing out the oddity of a charter school that prides itself on teaching American history “misrepresenting the Gadsden patch as being slavery.”
Rodriguez quipped, “I mean, yeah, we definitely gave her a history lesson,” referring to the representative of the school’s board of directors seen in the viral clip, candidly recorded.
Charlie asked Rodriguez to elaborate on the impact of the virality he experienced after the video was posted online.
“Well, if it didn't go viral, they’d probably suspend me because I didn’t listen to them…as well as others. Maybe even expel me,” he responded.
Touching on what his options would have been had he in fact been suspended, Rodriguez revealed his family considered homeschooling which “is not bad. Anything better than public school.”
“But I was just trying to stand up for all the kids there…that have to endure liberal teachers,” Rodriguez continued. “Thanks to the video going viral, I'm going back to school with a Don't Tread on Me patch proudly on."
After mentioning the memes and posts from prominent influencers that made Rodriguez into a symbol, Kirk asks, “For all the other school students out there that are afraid to take a stand because they're afraid of losing friends…what is your advice to the other teenagers or soon to be teenagers that believe in these values, but are afraid to speak up?”
Rodriguez responded beautifully, “I tell them to ponder this question. Would you rather have friends but live under a tyrannical system? Or stand up for yourself…but maybe lose a few friends?”
He concluded, “I sat at lunch alone today, which is weird… So yeah, you will lose friends… But you're standing up for your rights, and vouching for them because if no one stands up for your God-given rights then they just fade away.”
