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Jesse Kelly
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Jesse Kelly

Things Jesse Says on Podcasts

Conservative talk radio host and U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq in 2003. Ran for Congress in Arizona in 2010 and 2012. Author of The Anti-Communist Manifesto (Threshold Editions, 2023). Hosts The Jesse Kelly Show, a nationally syndicated weeknight program from Premiere Networks that covers politics, news and social issues, and the digital television show I'm Right with Jesse Kelly on The First. Has appeared as a guest on The Charlie Kirk Show.

“People like you who are self-motivated get frustrated by those who are not. … Most people need a little shove. They do. Most people need to be convinced. That's why salesmen exist and will always exist.” — Jesse Kelly, The Jesse Kelly Show “Everything has pizzazz. Everything. You can't go to a restaurant and just order some mac and cheese without the chef having to put a special cilantro blend on the top. Everything is fancy. Because of that now, I think kids are returning to simplicity. And I think that is why they like the Hershey's bar.” — Jesse Kelly, The Jesse Kelly Show “People will verbally lie to you, but then the proof is in the pudding. If there's an assorted tray of candy on your secretary's desk, the last thing in that bowl will be the Three Musketeers, and everybody knows it. People will tell you straight that they love Three Musketeers, it's a good candy bar, but the votes don't lie.” — Jesse Kelly, The Jesse Kelly Show

Where to Find Them

Jesse Kelly hosts The Jesse Kelly Show and hosts Human Flourishing . They have also been a guest on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show (2 times) and The Charlie Kirk Show .

Recently: “Hour 3: Fair-weather Fans” on The Jesse Kelly Show (November 2026); “Hour 2: Another Jesse Kelly Show Endorsement” on The Jesse Kelly Show (November 2026); “Hour 1: Political Jitters” on The Jesse Kelly Show (November 2026); “Hour 3: Priced Globally” on The Jesse Kelly Show (October 2026); “Hour 2: Amy Acton Problem” on The Jesse Kelly Show (October 2026); “Hour 1: Trashing America” on The Jesse Kelly Show (October 2026).

What They Said

“People like you who are self-motivated get frustrated by those who are not. … Most people need a little shove. They do. Most people need to be convinced. That's why salesmen exist and will always exist.” — Jesse Kelly, The Jesse Kelly Show

Kelly was making a general point about persuasion, using his church's fundraising breakfasts as an example: he would just give when asked, but most people need a push.

The Jesse Kelly Show · 2026-11-03 Permalink → Listen →
The Jesse Kelly Show Around 06:42 into the episode
Speaker 3

Fighting for your freedom every day. The Jesse Kelly Show.

Jesse Kelly

…not talking about Abdul El-Said. Quick, Chris. Anyway, first of all, Haley Stevens is a total wacko. She's a Democrat wacko. She was running in the primary in Michigan against Abdul El-Said. And believe me, she is a total freak job wacko. All right, we got that. Um, Well, this is Haley Stevens.

Speaker 3

The gentlewoman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds.

Speaker 4

Cause of the servitude, sharing in the profession with those.

Jesse Kelly

Who have not come before you. Give me the willies. All right, nut job. But she came out recently, loudly and publicly... And she endorsed Republican Mike Rogers against Abdul El-Said. And we'll get to the Democrat response to that in a little bit. That's not my point right off the bat. Here is my…

Speaker 5

The gentlewoman is recognized for an additional 30 seconds.

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
“Everything has pizzazz. Everything. You can't go to a restaurant and just order some mac and cheese without the chef having to put a special cilantro blend on the top. Everything is fancy. Because of that now, I think kids are returning to simplicity. And I think that is why they like the Hershey's bar.” — Jesse Kelly, The Jesse Kelly Show

Kelly reported that plain Hershey's bars and Skittles went fastest on Halloween while Snickers and Kit Kats sat untouched. This is his theory for why: when every food is dressed up, kids reach for the simple option.

The Jesse Kelly Show · 2026-11-03 Permalink → Listen →
The Jesse Kelly Show Around 36:03 into the episode
Jesse Kelly

…I get this exactly correct, the candy options were Hershey's Bar, straight Hershey's Bar, Twix, Snickers, Starburst. Four different kinds of Skittles, including the Sour Skittles. We'll come back to that. The original Skittles, these weird tropical ones. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats.

Speaker 4

All right?

Jesse Kelly

…Here's my kooky theory that everyone can shoot holes in. My theory is when I was a kid, you know, you had plain chocolate. You'd have a Hershey's Kiss or something like that the secretary at school would give you if you were a good boy. So when you got the opportunity to have something like a Butterfinger with extra stuff in it, that was special. That had some pizzazz. Fast forward to today. Everything has pizzazz. Everything. You can't go to a restaurant and just order some mac and cheese without the chef having to put a special cilantro blend on the top. Everything is fancy. Because of that now, I think kids are returning to simplicity. And I think that is why they like the Hershey's bar. What, Chris? What? Chris said it doesn't excuse the hate for the Snickers. Are you a big Snickers guy, Chris? I understand it's not bad for a quick pick-me-up for energy because the peanuts and whatnot. I understand that. I've had plenty of Snickers in my life. If I'm putting a Snickers next to a Reese's peanut butter cup, are you picking a Snicker? You are. Well, it could come down to a peanut…

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.
“People will verbally lie to you, but then the proof is in the pudding. If there's an assorted tray of candy on your secretary's desk, the last thing in that bowl will be the Three Musketeers, and everybody knows it. People will tell you straight that they love Three Musketeers, it's a good candy bar, but the votes don't lie.” — Jesse Kelly, The Jesse Kelly Show

Kelly was setting up his Halloween-night experiment: he handed out an assorted tray of candy to trick-or-treaters and watched which pieces went first. It's a plain-language case for revealed preference over stated preference.

The Jesse Kelly Show · 2026-11-03 Permalink → Listen →
The Jesse Kelly Show Around 36:03 into the episode
Jesse Kelly

…I get this exactly correct, the candy options were Hershey's Bar, straight Hershey's Bar, Twix, Snickers, Starburst. Four different kinds of Skittles, including the Sour Skittles. We'll come back to that. The original Skittles, these weird tropical ones. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Kit Kats.

Speaker 4

All right?

Jesse Kelly

Hershey's Twix, Snickers, Starburst, Skittles, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and Kit Kats. Now, you know my thing on candy. People don't lie. I mean, the way they vote don't lie. People will verbally lie to you, but then the proof is in the pudding. If there's an assorted tray of candy on your secretary's desk, the last thing in that bowl will be the Three Musketeers, and everybody knows it. Everyone knows it. People will tell you straight that they love Three Musketeers, it's a good candy bar, but the votes don't lie. I decided to figure out What do kids want today? What's going to be popular? Now, you want to know what happened? Shocking results. At least a little bit shocking. First of all, nobody wanted Snickers. Nobody wanted Snickers. No one. I couldn't give a Snickers away until it was towards the end of the night and everything else was gone. Nobody wanted Snickers. But it gets crazier than that. Kit Kat, too. Kit Kat and Snickers were probably the very, very bottom of it. Kit Kats, can you believe that, Chris? Look, this is the kids voting, not me. Don't look at me. I held out the tray and said, pick…

Speaker names come from our own diarization. The position is estimated from where the line sits in the episode.

Collections They Appear In

US Politics