Ep. 1638 - Another Christian School Attacked

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Michael Knowles Show - Ep. 1638: "Another Christian School Attacked"

Release Date: December 17, 2024
Host: Michael Knowles
Platform: The Daily Wire

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1. CNN's Controversial Release of a Syrian Prisoner (00:00 - 04:17)

Overview:
Michael Knowles opens the episode by criticizing CNN for inadvertently releasing a Syrian war criminal from prison. He accuses the network of sensationalism and questions their journalistic integrity.

Key Points:

• CNN's Investigative Failure: Knowles highlights CNN's mistake in freeing Mohammed Salama, a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force intelligence accused of severe war crimes.
• Misrepresentation: The reporter's initial portrayal of Salama as a civilian held for three months is disputed by subsequent reports revealing his true identity and criminal background.

Notable Quotes:

• [03:02] CNN Reporter: "The guard makes us turn the camera off while he shoots the lock off the cell door."
• [03:19] Michael Knowles: "Oh, he doesn't want to move. Is that a human? Hands up."
• [04:17] Michael Knowles: "The shooter reportedly got the gun from her father. Universal background checks. There's no reason to believe the father didn't have every right to purchase a gun, so that wouldn't have stopped it."

Analysis:
Knowles argues that CNN's actions not only jeopardize their credibility but also endanger public safety by releasing a known torturer. He draws parallels to U.S. incarceration practices, emphasizing the importance of knowing who is imprisoned rather than just the quantity.

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2. Madison Christian School Shooting (04:17 - 15:31)

Overview:
The discussion shifts to a tragic school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. Knowles provides a critical analysis of media coverage and political responses.

Key Points:

• Incident Details: A teenager fatally shot a teacher and another student, with additional injuries reported. The shooter, a 15-year-old female, died from self-inflicted wounds.
• Media Coverage Critique: Knowles criticizes mainstream media's initial misreporting of the shooter's identity and motivations, suggesting biases influence narrative framing.
• Political Response: President Biden's proposals for gun control measures are dismissed as ineffective by Knowles, who argues they wouldn't have prevented this specific incident.

Notable Quotes:

• [10:05] Michael Knowles: "It's water."
• [15:31] Michael Knowles: "Christian school, girl shooter, 9 millimeter pistol, radical, feminist. No, the media, they're not reporting on it well right now, and I don't think you're gonna hear much about it two days from now."

Analysis:
Knowles emphasizes the inadequacy of proposed gun control laws in addressing the root causes of such shootings. He argues that the media's portrayal of the shooter undermines the severity of the event and the potential threats posed by radical ideologies.

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3. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's Broadway Debut (15:31 - 24:15)

Overview:
Knowles transitions to a segment mocking Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson for her unexpected foray into Broadway musicals, questioning the appropriateness of such endeavors for a Supreme Court Justice.

Key Points:

• Broadway Appearance: Jackson participates in a Broadway rehearsal, showcasing a performance that Knowles finds incongruent with her judicial role.
• Critique of Politicians in Show Business: Knowles argues that politicians engaging in entertainment undermines the seriousness and dignity expected of their positions.
• Cultural Commentary: He suggests that the shift towards valuing show business over public service reflects a broader cultural degradation.

Notable Quotes:

• [16:24] Ketanji Brown Jackson: "I'm so excited to be here. This has been a dream of mine."
• [16:36] Michael Knowles: "This is so embarrassing. This is so inappropriate. This is so degrading for the United States."
• [23:50] Michael Knowles: "The activist judges, which tend to be on the left, they are impressed by the crowds. They do want to rile up the mob."

Analysis:
Knowles criticizes Jackson's performance as a Supreme Court Justice engaging in theatrical activities, arguing that it diminishes the perceived authority and impartiality of the judiciary. He connects this behavior to a larger trend of politicians seeking popularity through entertainment rather than focusing on governance.

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4. Tariffs and Justin Trudeau's Government Instability (24:15 - 41:41)

Overview:
The conversation shifts to international politics, specifically the impact of former President Trump's tariff policies on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.

Key Points:

• Tariff Tactics: Knowles discusses how Trump's threat of imposing a 25% tariff led to destabilization within the Canadian government, forcing Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland to resign.
• Canadian Political Turmoil: Opposition leaders in Canada called for Trudeau's resignation, citing his government's inability to withstand economic pressures.
• Effectiveness of Tariffs: He posits that tariffs not only serve economic purposes but also act as strategic tools to influence international leaders and policies.

Notable Quotes:

• [33:21] Brandon Johnson: "He doesn't believe in science. 20% of the world's fresh water is right here in the city of Chicago."
• [34:03] Michael Knowles: "Why didn't you even fix all the voting rules again in 2024."
• [35:22] Michael Knowles: "That's the power of the American presidency. That is the power of focused negotiation that we see from President Trump, and that's the power of tariffs."

Analysis:
Knowles lauds Trump's use of tariffs as an effective negotiating and strategic tool, asserting that it successfully pressured Canada into political instability. He frames this as evidence of the American presidency's influence and the practical application of economic policies beyond their immediate financial impacts.

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5. Republican Party Dynamics and Endorsement of Donald Trump (41:41 - 47:58)

Overview:
Knowles delves into internal Republican Party dynamics, advocating for the endorsement and continued influence of Donald Trump as a model for future candidates.

Key Points:

• Weak vs. Strong Candidates: He contrasts Trump with other Republican figures like Mitt Romney, labeling the latter as weak and less effective.
• Election Outcomes: Citing historical election results, Knowles argues that Trump's populist approach and strong leadership are critical for the GOP's success.
• Democratic Challenges: Discusses how Democrats struggle to connect with certain voter demographics, suggesting that Trump's strategies effectively appeal to a broader base.

Notable Quotes:

• [41:41] Tim Walz: "I focused my whole career in focusing on the middle class."
• [42:34] Michael Knowles: "The left wants them to. The left is always trying to gin up class conflict and make politics a matter of private interest."

Analysis:
By endorsing Trump as a paradigm for Republican candidates, Knowles emphasizes the importance of strong, populist leadership in the party's future electoral successes. He critiques the Democratic Party's reliance on class conflict and envy as ineffective and counterproductive strategies.

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6. Critique of Democratic Figures and Strategies (47:58 - End)

Overview:
In the concluding segments, Knowles offers a scathing critique of various Democratic figures and their approaches, highlighting perceived failures and hypocrisies within the party.

Key Points:

• David Hogg's Political Aspirations: Knowles mocks activist David Hogg's endeavors to gain leadership within the Democratic Party, questioning his effectiveness and suitability.
• Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders: He criticizes their responses to violent incidents involving corporate entities, suggesting their rhetoric indirectly justifies such violence.
• Democratic Strategies: Argues that Democratic leaders exploit class resentment and envy, fostering division rather than unity.

Notable Quotes:

• [24:15] Michael Knowles: "Most Americans are not totally consumed by it. The left wants them to be."
• [45:36] Bernie Sanders: "Violence is never the answer."
• [46:19] Michael Knowles: "We are going to encourage them to take all your stuff because we're going to run whole campaigns just grounded in envy."

Analysis:
Knowles asserts that Democratic leaders manipulate social and economic discontent to further their political agendas, creating an environment rife with division and resentment. He contends that this strategy undermines societal cohesion and fails to address genuine issues effectively.

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Conclusion

In this episode, Michael Knowles offers a critical perspective on recent events involving media missteps, political strategies, and societal issues. He consistently champions conservative viewpoints, advocating for strong leadership and questioning the effectiveness of liberal approaches. Through sharp critiques and pointed analysis, Knowles aims to provide his audience with insights aligned with The Daily Wire's conservative ethos.

Notable Highlights:

• CNN's Ethical Lapses: [00:00 - 04:17]
• Madison School Shooting Analysis: [04:17 - 15:31]
• Judiciary and Entertainment Intersection: [15:31 - 24:15]
• Impact of Tariffs on International Politics: [24:15 - 41:41]
• Republican Party Endorsements and Strategies: [41:41 - 47:58]
• Democratic Party Critiques: [47:58 - End]

Final Thoughts:
Michael Knowles leverages current events to underscore his conservative viewpoints, engaging listeners with a blend of critique, analysis, and advocacy for specific political strategies. The episode emphasizes the importance of media accountability, effective leadership, and the pitfalls of political strategies rooted in division and envy.

Transcript

[Michael Knowles]

The holidays are a time to slow down and savor moments shared with those who matter most this year. Make those moments extraordinary with Mayflower cigars. From the milder Mayflower dawn to the bolder Mayflower dusk, each blend of Mayflower Premium handmade cigars is crafted for conversation and contemplation. Give the gift of unrushed excellence this holiday season. Create your [e-mail] you must be 21 years old or older to order. Some exclusions apply. Just when you think the liberal media cannot humiliate themselves any further, CNN accidentally frees a Syrian war criminal, extortionist and torturer from prison and brags about it on tv. I'm Michael Knowles. This is the Michael Knowles welcome back to the show. Liberal Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Jackson has made her Broadway debut. She's singing on stage on Broadway. There's so much more to say. First though, go to preborn.com knowles the fight for life has never been more crucial than it is right now. While the libs fight to expand abortion to make it easier to end innocent life, Preborn Ministries is on the front lines fighting back, fighting for life, fighting for truth, fighting for the most vulnerable among us. When a mother sees her baby's heartbeat, when she witnesses that undeniable proof of life, everything changes. Preborn's clinics are strategically positioned in areas with the highest abortion rates, offering free ultrasounds and welcoming these women with God's love. The results speak for themselves. The majority of mothers choose life when they see their baby. Would you join me in this crucial fight? One ultrasound costs just 28 bucks. $140 sponsors five ultrasounds. You can save multiple lives with a single donation. Now is that time. End of the year. I know you've been waiting till December. Make your tax deductible charitable donations right now. You dial £250 on your cell phone. You say keyword baby. That's £250 keyword baby. Or you go to preborn.comknowles I personally support this charity. I strongly recommend you give whatever you can. All gifts are tax deductible. Preborn has a four star charity rating. Preborn.comKnowles before we get into any of those stories, CNN has just done the most CNN thing I could possibly imagine. This is as CNN is concerned about their ratings collapsing. Mass layoffs. Not just cnn. MSNBC is on the chopping block. New York Times and Washington Post both admitting that they're having their lunch eaten by podcasts and new media. So CNN goes in intrepid Investigative reporters in Syria. And they actually free a prisoner who was being held captive by the Bashar Assad regime, which has just fallen. Here is the incredible clip from cnn.

[CNN Reporter]

The guard makes us turn the camera off while he shoots the lock off the cell door. We go in to get a closer look. It's still not clear if there is something under the blanket.

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, it moved.

[CNN Reporter]

Is there someone there?

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, he doesn't want to move. Is that a human? Hands up.

[CNN Reporter]

I'm a civilian, he says. I'm a civilian. He tells the fighter he's from the city of Homs and has been in the cell for three months. You're okay, you're okay. Clutches my arm tightly with both hands. Does anyone have any water?

[Michael Knowles]

I'm only laughing because I know how this story ends. Guys, don't. It's not. I don't mean to seem heartless.

[CNN Reporter]

Okay?

[Michael Knowles]

It's water.

[CNN Reporter]

It's water.

[Michael Knowles]

She's holding his hand. How sweet. Okay, okay, okay.

[CNN Reporter]

You're okay.

[Michael Knowles]

You're okay. You're okay. Civilian who has been held captive for three months. Except it turns out, like so much CNN reporting, none of that is true. That man is not a civilian. He's not been held captive for three months. That man is apparently one of the most notorious torturers from Bashar Assad's regime and he was imprisoned because of his particular cruelty. This is according to reports that have since come out. Even CNN has had to acknowledge this doesn't look really great. This guy's real name is Salama. Mohammed Salama, a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force intelligence. He has committed a slew of war crimes, allegedly. Even CNN says to the post, we have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity. We're continuing our reporting into this and the wider story. So he was imprisoned, according to the subsequent reporting, because he would shake people down. And if the people didn't pay him money and didn't bribe him, then he would torture them so brutally, so severely that he was ultimately put in prison until he was freed by cnn. Cnn, which believed his lies, bought it all hook, line and sinker, and has freed an extremely dangerous psychopath. Classic. I think this would be exhibit Z. This is exhibit number 7,000, 258, that maybe we shouldn't celebrate the fall of Bashar Assad. I know of Bashar Assad. He did lots of really tough things. And I know he suppressed people's autonomy in Syria, and I get all of it. But compared to what is about to come in Syria compared to what's already shown up. Don't forget the people who took control of Syria are lunatic Islamists. Say what you will about Bashar Assad. Say what you will about Hafez Assad, Bashar Assad's father. The Assad family has ruled Syria for half a century. They did a relatively decent job of protecting religious minorities from the lunatic Islamist majority in that country. And so now that they've fallen, what are we going to expect in Syria? I think you're gonna expect a lot more of that guy. A lot of. Not just him. Cause he obviously worked with the regime until he was imprisoned. You're gonna see a lot of lunatic ideologues. The question you have to ask all the media reporting Bashar Assad held people in prison. Now CNN is going and freeing the people from prison. The question is not did Bashar Assad put people in prison? The question is, whom did he put in prison? That's the question. They do the same thing in America. The left. The left says, we have so many people in prison. The question to me is not how many people do we have in prison? The question is, who's in prison and what are they there for? So if you've got political dissidents who have done nothing wrong but peacefully articulate their views, which are moral and contrary to the regime, okay, yeah, I guess they should probably be let out of prison. But if the people in prison are psychos and torturers and murderers or even in America, drug dealers, there are all sorts of people committing all sorts of real crimes. Yeah, they should probably be in prison. How is this a good thing? The moment that Assad fell in Syria, the media, oh, this is so wonderful. The people are free. I don't that guy to be free. I don't want crazy torturers and psychos and Islamists out on the streets of the Middle East. I don't want criminals out on the streets of America. It reminds me of when the American left talks about how we have an over incarceration problem. I think, well, crime's going up. So if anything, it seems to me we have an under incarceration problem. Or more precisely, perhaps we're just incarcerating the wrong people. We're really good at locking up Midwestern grannies who take photos in the capital rotunda on January 6, the worst day in the history of the world. But we're not so good at locking up Mexican gangsters and Venezuelan gangsters and murderers and looters and drug dealers and pimps. Now, speaking of crime, a really horrific story yesterday came out of Madison, Wisconsin. There was a school shooting there at Abundant Life Christian School, yet another Christian school being targeted in recent years. There was that awful shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville. So yesterday a teenager opened fire at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, killed a teacher, killed another teenage student. This is right before Christmas. It's just too horrific almost to contemplate. The shooter also wounded six other people. Two of those people were as of last night in critical condition with life threatening injuries. So you know, we hope that they'll make a recovery. We just don't really know yet. The other four people had non life threatening injuries. Who is the shooter? Well, the shooter's not talking because the shooter killed herself. Madison Police Chief Sean Barnes said that the way the shooter died was most likely self inflicted. However, the establishment media and law enforcement are being pretty tight lipped on what actually happened here. And this is unsurprising. Not only because the old establishment media tend to be slow, not only because law enforcement tends to be tight lipped, but also because of who this shooter is. Had the shooter been a right wing white teenage male, you would have known every single person about every single thing about this person's life within about five minutes of the shooting. That is not what happened in this case. Initially the Associated Press reported that the shooter was a 17 year old female student. But as we know, the establishment media have lost a lot of credit credibility. They're just not good people. Don't go to the news, go to the Associated Press for the news anymore. The AP report was wrong. Twitter X very clearly began to report that the shooter was a 15 year old female student. Andy Ngo in particular Twitter account pagliaccithehated, who I believe is with Redux a number of other accounts which are journalists but they use Twitter and they're a little more independent. They got the story. It would appear much closer to the truth than the Associated Press or the establishment media. And according to the most recent reports from the Daily Mail, there's a report out from LifeNews.com, this 15 year old girl was a radical feminist. So there were some reports initially that maybe it was a trans identifying shooter, maybe it was really a boy who identified as a girl or whatever. That seems not to be the case. The best reporting we have right now says this was a 15 year old girl. She was not trans, she was not lgbt. Lmnop she was a radical feminist though and was following radical feminist accounts. And if the reports going around her to be believed again You've got to take everything right now with a little bit of a grain of salt because it's happened so recently and the news is changing quickly. But there's a little piece of a manifesto that the shooter appears to have left which talked about how women are the only hope for the world and patriarchy is evil. And the radical feminists are vindicated now. And this girl hated her father and her parents and all sorts of feminism. Terribly, terribly sad, especially right before Christmas. Everyone should say a prayer or two for the victims. Also, from a political standpoint, expect this story to disappear very quickly. Very quickly. None of this checks out for the liberal narrative that they want to push. It's a girl, not a boy. It's a feminist, not a misogynist. It's even the gun. The gun was a 9 millimeter pistol, was not an AR15, was not an AK47. So nothing about this story is helpful to the left. The victims were at a Christian school. That's not helpful. Had it been a mosque, had it been a madrasa, even maybe a synagogue, it would be helpful to the. Certainly a public school would be very helpful to the left's narrative. Christian school, girl shooter, 9 millimeter pistol, radical, feminist. No, the media, they're not reporting on it well right now, and I don't think you're gonna hear much about it two days from now. The Biden White House has already tried to seize on this story to advance its own largely disconnected political agenda. But it looks ridiculous, and the White House is not gonna get very far. The president made a statement, and he said, I created the first ever White House office of Gun violence Prevention. But more is needed. Congress must pass common sense gun safety laws, universal background checks, national red flag law, a ban on assault weapons with high capacity magazines. First of all, Biden says, I've done all this great stuff on gun violence prevention. Apparently not because it didn't work, because there are still shootings that go on. So anything Biden claims to have done, any competency he claims to have had in preventing gun violence obviously hasn't worked. He's failed at that. But then, furthermore, he says, we need this new stuff, universal background checks. That would not have stopped the shooter. The shooter reportedly got the gun from her father. Universal background checks. There's no reason to believe the father didn't have every right to purchase a gun, so that wouldn't have stopped it. A national red flag law. Again, it wasn't her personal firearm. No evidence to suggest that that would have stopped the shooting. A ban on Assault weapons with high capacity magazines. That's the most ridiculous example. This wasn't a so called assault weapon. There's really no such thing as an assault weapon. Or rather, every weapon is an assault weapon. That's the purpose of weapons is to assault people. So what they call an assault weapon, which is a term of propaganda that developed in the 1990s, is a rifle that looks a little bit scary, but it's just a rifle where you pull the trigger once and one round is released. It's not a burst fire, it's not a fully automatic weapon. It's just a rifle. And what they mean by high capacity magazine, what do they mean? 10 rounds, maybe? No maybe. They mean 20 rounds, 30 rounds, a zillion, a hundred rounds. There was no hundred round mag in this shooting. None of that would have stopped the shooting. It's all completely disconnected. It would be as though Joe Biden came out and said, hey, that's a terrible tragedy that happened and I'm gonna capitalize on it to tell you why you need to pass a new carbon tax. A new carbon tax would have exactly as much effect on this shooting as any of the nonsense that he's promoting here. So totally disconnected. None of it would have worked. The left has not one square foot to stand on in this. So they're gonna move on. You're not gonna read anymore. It's so horrific this time of year. It's so horrific for the families, but it doesn't serve the left's purpose. It's gonna pass out of the news. Speaking of law and order, Justice Ketanji Jackson, the latest Democrat on the bench, has just made her Broadway musical debut, Justice Take it away.

[Ketanji Brown Jackson]

Female empowerment. Sick. Welcome to the first day of rehearsal.

[Michael Knowles]

Thank you.

[Ketanji Brown Jackson]

I'm so excited to be here. This has been a dream of mine. I think that it means that anything is possible. Tonight we have a very special guest, Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

[Michael Knowles]

There she is. She walks out on stage in her costume.

[Ketanji Brown Jackson]

I think what I like about it is that I am having a very strongly negative reaction to it. Like I hate it. Which makes me think it must be brilliant.

[Michael Knowles]

Got this feeling in my body can't stop the feeling Got this feeling in my body I can't stop the feeling.

[Ketanji Brown Jackson]

I did it. I made it to Broadway.

[Michael Knowles]

I did it. I did it. This is so embarrassing. This is so inappropriate. This is so degrading for the United States. And it's not that Ketanji Jackson enjoys theater or musicals or movies or show business. That's not what's degrading. That's actually commonplace. Many, if not most politicians, including Supreme Court justices, have some interest in or connection to the theater, but politicians broadly. Ronald Reagan, actor. Al Franken, Democrat side actor. Donald Trump. He's at least been in a bunch of movies and TV shows. The skills of the theater and the skills of politics are quite similar. I was an actor. There were plenty of people in show business have been. Actors have been interested in theater and film and tv. Justice Antonin Scalia adored opera. He was a huge fan of opera. Ruth Bader Ginsburg loved opera. In fact, there was an opera written about Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and they went to see that opera. I don't think that Scalia sang any arias as a tenor, though he certainly wasn't in any Broadway musicals. Why? It's perfectly ordinary for politicians to have some kind of interest in the theater. The skills are so similar. But when you become a politician, when you become a statesman, certainly when you become a judge, you need to be sober, you need to be judicious, you need to be serious. Most important of all, you are supposed to be unimpressed by crowds. The most disturbing part of that video for me is how much Ketanji Jackson loves the applause of the crowd. Maybe she should have ran for Congress if that was the case. But judges in particular are supposed to be unimpressed by the crowd. They are not seeking votes. They are not seeking popularity. They're not supposed to be. They are supposed to be implementing the law. They are supposed to be interpreting the law. They're supposed to be interpreting the Constitution. They are supposed to be standing against the crowd much of the time. That's not what she's doing. The activist judges, which tend to be on the left, they are impressed by the crowds. They do want to rile up the mob. And the leftist politicians want that kind of pressure on the court. You remember when Chuck Schumer came out, he said, listen, Justice Kavanaugh. Listen to Justice Gorsuch. You have reaped the whirlwind you're about to see. You're not gonna know what's coming. And then what happens? Leftist tries to murder Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Alito has to move out of his house because the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs overruling Roe v. Wade was leaked. All of this political force, and what does Ketanji Jackson do? She decides she's gonna go become a Broadway star, and she's gonna go say all of these lines in an unconvincing way. That are really highly polemical, highly party political. It's just so degraded. But I do understand it. I understand it even at a deeper level than politicians and statesmen often have a connection to the theater. The deeper level is today show business is considered more desirable than serving in the government. That was not always the case. It used to be in the old days that actors, singers, dancers, they were considered kind of the lowest of the low. They were lumped in with criminals and prostitutes and, and statesmen. Those were very serious people. Today, I think that's basically flipped. It used to be if you wanted to have real influence and prestige in society and public life, why you would vie to have some public office. Today, however, even the people who are already in public office want to be in show business. They feel they can have more influence in show business. Think about how many elected politicians have podcasts at this point. Senator Cruz and I launched a podcast together. I think it was basically the first of its kind. And it was this unique opportunity during the impeachment when we could break through the establishment media and Senator Cruz could walk from the Capitol. We'd go into a studio at 1:00 in the morning and explain to the American people what's going on. That was a highly targeted, innovative thing. But when that show hit number one, just about every politician in the country decided he was gonna have a podcast. Sometimes people leave Congress and they get a promotion and their promotion is to have a cable news talk show or to have a podcast or to have a radio show. It's flipped as the government, as the political order has become impotent. As legislators lose their power, they lose their power to bureaucrats, they lose their power to private corporations that exert a lot of control over public life. You think of the big tech companies that control the public square. As that all happens, power actually starts to move into the media, into show business, into Hollywood, or into whichever entity in show business comes next. That's a fact. Ketanji Jackson is revealing that a little bit. And it's probably not good for our country, but it is what it is. There's so much more to say. First, though, go to PureTalk.comKnowles they say free, don't they? That's what the cell phone companies say. They say free, but what they mean is, see the fine print, because free means, okay, you're going to get the latest iPhone for free. But when you look deeper, you will find that to qualify, you need to trade in your phone valued at $1,000. Then you need to be on the $100 a month unlimited plan. Then you need to pay the $35 activation fee. That's a lot of money for free. Don't fall for it. Pure Talk My cell phone company has a better option. Get a brand new iPhone 14, which has all the bells and whistles you need. Plus get unlimited talk, text, 15 gigs of data and mobile hotspot, all for 50 bucks a month. How about that? Half the price of the big guys. You get a new iPhone powered by America's most dependable 5G network. PureTalk.comKnowles KWLAS switching is easy. Plus when you go to PureTalk.comKnowles you'll get an additional 50% off your first month. Go to PureTalk right now, you will not regret it. You get the best cell phone service in the country. You can take it overseas. Even there's overseas availability now. You can get all the data you need. You get the nice phone, you get all of it. And you support a company that supports us. PureTalk.com knowles My last speech of the semester was at the University of Iowa, which is much more left wing than I expected. And so people protest and they yell and they make stupid comments. But sometimes after the speech, Mr. Davies will go out, he'll brave the mobs and he'll find one or two people who are protesting me, who hate me, who showed up to pull their hair out of my speech, but who are willing to speak. Sometimes I've changed their minds. Often I've not changed their minds. That recently happened. Here is just a little teaser of my conversation with two campus leftists at Iowa. If I told you I am a black man, like Congolese Heart of Darkness black, would you believe me? You could, I guess.

[David Hogg]

You, you fascist.

[Michael Knowles]

The Liberals are a lot louder than the Republicans are. It was only after the speech ended, while conservative students were being berated outside, that two students agreed to cross the line, come back in and talk to me face to face. Go watch the full episode right now on the Michael Knowles YouTube channel. Speaking of governments losing credibility, Mr. Justin Trudeau, according to his birth certificate, the son of Pierre Trudeau, according to Twitter, the son of Fidel Castro certainly has the politics of Fidel Castro Trudeau, the Liberal leader of Canada, might go down up there in America's evil top hat, and he might go down because of Trump. According to reporting that was just breaking last night, this is happening in real time, probably while we're speaking. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has been thrown into disarray because Christia Freeland, his finance Minister has resigned. She's resigned in large part because of President Trump's tariff threat. Then yesterday, Canada's three opposition party leaders said Trudeau's gotta go. Notably, Pierre Poilievre, the leader of the Conservative Party, great conservative politician up in Canada, called for a federal election as soon as possible. Why does this matter? Why do I care about America's evil top hat? Because it shows that Trump's tariffs work, at least as a matter of tactics. I've said, as Trump has been pushing tariffs, I've said there are two arguments for tariffs. One is the policy argument. One is the actual revenue raising argument, that tariffs can help raise revenue and it'll be good for the economy and it'll stimulate American manufacturing, it'll help national security, and sure, okay, but put that to the side for a second. The other reason that I think even more people can agree tariffs work is they can be a tactic. They can be a tactic to get what you want on the world stage. They can be a negotiating tactic. They can be a tactic of grand strategy to actually replace leaders you don't like. That's what's happened here. Trump says, hey, Trudeau, I'm gonna smack a 25% tariff on you and your country's gonna collapse. And why am I gonna do that? Because I'm sick of trying to work with you and because you're not doing what I want you to do. So good luck. And then Trudeau, he hops on that private jet, he flies down to Mar a Lago as fast as he can. He begs, he pleads, he says, please, Mr. Trump, don't smack a 25% tariff on me. He says, I don't know, maybe I will, maybe I won't. But just the threat, just Trump's little truth social post about 25% tariffs might have just caused the Canadian government to collapse. That is the power of the American presidency. That is the power of focused negotiation that we see from President Trump, and that's the power of tariffs. At least the threat of tariffs. Pretty good stuff. I think Trump totally vindicated on pushing the tariffs. Now, speaking of liberal politicians who have been ousted because of Trump, Bob Casey, the Pennsylvania senator, former soon to be former Pennsylvania senator who went down, lost to Dave McCormick, didn't want to concede the race. He was an election truther. He held out until the very end. But then eventually it was pretty clear McCormick won. He was asked, why is it that McCormick was able to win? And he said, it wasn't McCormick, it was Trump. He said, I think it's probably premature to make an assessment as to whether we're going in one direction decidedly or the other. But I will say there were factors in this election that won't be at play or won't be relevant in 2028. One of them is Donald Trump will not be a candidate for president. I think he's about as strong a Republican candidate as they've had for president in my lifetime. I think that's true. I think that is pretty clearly true. And all I want is for the anti Trump Republicans to admit it. That's all I want. And you don't need to grovel, you don't need to flagellate yourselves. You just need to admit it. And we all need to be able to move on from that. There are still people, a dwindling number, but still some people who insist that nominating President Trump in 2016 was a really terrible idea and it was gonna cause the end of the Republican Party and we were never gonna win an election again. And it was gonna be so humiliating. And he was the worst candidate ever. And that just obviously wasn't true. He beat Hillary Clinton. He won in a pretty decisive Electoral college victory in 2016. Then in 2020, the Democrats changed all the rules and all of the new rules advantaged them. In some cases they were illegal or unconstitutional and they seemed a little bit sus. So then the anti Trump Republicans said, see, ha ha, we were right. But then we didn't even fix all the voting rules again in 2024. We just restored a little bit of normality to it. And Trump won in a massive electoral College victory in a landslide. And he won the popular vote as a Republican for the first time in 20 years. So can we just all admit Trump's a good candidate? I can't believe I'm saying Bob Casey is right. I think Bob Casey is right. In 2000, George W. Bush was a weak candidate. Well, let's go back even further. Ronald Reagan, 1980, was a good candidate. Let's go back even before that. Jerry Ford was a weak candidate. Nixon was a good candidate. Nixon won the presidency. He then won in a massive landslide for reelection. Then the deep state pulled a coup on him and tossed him out because of how some guy duct taped the door or something. And then Jerry Ford was a weak candidate. Ronald Reagan was a strong candidate. Ronald Reagan, 84 was an even stronger candidate. Reagan, 84 won 49 states. Then what did we get? George H.W. bush really just won Reagan's third term when he had to run on his own. Two feet, he lost. George H.W. bush was a weak Republican candidate. Bob Dole, weak Republican candidate. George W. Bush in 2000, weak Republican candidate who barely won. He only won because of 500 votes in the state of Florida. Those happy hanging chads in the punch card ballots. Bush04 pretty strong candidate, won the popular vote. John McCain, weak candidate. Mitt Romney, weak candidate. Then you get to Trump, very strong candidate. So all the people who were forcing John McCain on us, who were forcing Mitt Romney on us, who insist that we need to supposedly moderate, I don't think they're moderating. I don't think they're moderates in the sense of moderation as a virtue, as a mean between two extremes. I think they're just kind of those are the weaker candidates. Trump leaning into a little bit of populism. Trump being a little bit funny. Trump upending the recent GOP orthodoxies on free trade and just giving globalist corporations whatever they want. Trump with a little backbone, a little Thumas, he was a strong candidate. And if Republicans want to win elections in the future, we need to model our candidacies after Donald Trump, not after Mitt Romney. There are many anti Trump Republicans even today who believe that we just need to get back of being the party that talks like Mitt Romney. You should not draw that lesson that think all that Trump, he got lucky a couple times and all that Trump. No, Trump is a really, really good candidate. And there's really no copying Trump, he's an American original. But we need to learn some lessons from Trump. Bob Casey's right. He is as strong a Republican candidate as they've had in even Bob Casey's lifetime. And he's a little bit up there, up there with Ronald Reagan. And you can't even really compare the two because Reagan was elected before all the mass migration which the Democrats even admit is aiming at demographic shifts to give them a permanent electoral majority. Ronald Reagan was able to really unify the country before a decades long process of trying to permanently disrupt the potential for unity in the country. And even so, Trump wins. 46% of Hispanics, 1 in 5 black guys, shocking win for a Republican in recent decades. I'm not saying you copy everything Trump does. It's not possible to do and it's not even advisable. But we want more Donald Trump's and fewer Mitt Romney's. Democrats of course, are still furious at Trump. The Chicago mayor, Brandon Johnson is whining about President Trump's evil plans. Let's start here. Your reaction to Homan saying, he's going to come after you if you stand in his way.

[Brandon Johnson]

Look, the President elect and the former President of the United States of America. Trump has demonstrated an incredible disdain for people. He's also shown a great deal of just evilness towards the Department of the Environment. He doesn't believe in science. 20% of the world's fresh water is right here in the city of Chicago. We can build a green blue economy to create real, sustainable opportunities for people. And so he has not just shown animus towards immigrants, he has shown a great deal of animus towards working people across the city of Chicago. And it is my responsibility and is my joy to protect all residents of this beloved city.

[Michael Knowles]

Evilness, just the word to start out with. Evil is a noun. You can just say a great deal of evil. Or maybe you could say wickedness or evilness is par for the course for the mayor of Chicago. We talked about how these days being a Broadway dancer carries more prestige and gravity than being an American politician or even a Supreme Court justice. I guess that's true because most actors and Broadway performers can use the English language correctly. So evilness already, big red flag. But he's accusing Trump of evil actions. And what are the evil actions that he says? He's been evil toward people, broadly. He's been evil toward the Department of the Environment. I think he means the epa. He doesn't believe in science. He. What is it? He hates immigrants. He said he's shown animus. He's shown a hatred toward immigrants, hatred toward working people. What's awkward about this claim from the mayor of Chicago is had Trump won but not won the popular vote, he'd be saying, look, most Americans are still good people, but that minority who voted for Trump, they're evil people. But now, just because of this fact that Trump won the popular vote, not that it matters for the election, that's not how our elections are conducted. But he also won the popular vote in addition to the Electoral College. The mayor of Chicago, and I think he's typical of a lot of Democrats, he's saying, the American people are evil. Most Americans are evil. Most Americans don't believe in science, which is a way of saying most Americans are idiots. Most Americans hate immigrants. Most Americans are hateful. They're not charitable people. It's the most charitable country in the history of the world. We're not charitable people, we're hateful. Most Americans hate working Americans. I think most Americans are working Americans. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. And if the Democrats want to campaign on this, please be my guests. But their campaign then is. Hey, hey. Most of you people who I want to vote for me, most of you are dumb, stupid, evil, hateful idiots. Democrats 2026 vote Democrat 2028. Okay, great. I totally endorse that campaign. Please let me know where I can donate to that particular strategy. Are you still searching for the perfect gift? Don't sweat it. DailyWire plus gift memberships are 40% off right now, but not for long. This is not just a gift. It's a ticket to uncensored truth. Unapologetic news. Premium entertainment for the conservative in your life. With the Dailywire membership, you'll get a year of daily shows from the most trusted voices in conservative media. And the most handsome, if you ask me. With limited ads. Live breaking news that gives the full story. No agendas, just the facts. Access to investigative journalism exposing what the mainstream won't. An entertainment library packed with hit movies and documentaries such as Am I Racist? Along with can't miss series like Dr. Jordan B. Peterson's the Gospels. Here's the best part. You get to keep that shopping stress free. You pick the delivery date for the Daily Wire plus gift membership. We will handle the rest. 40% off DailyWire gift memberships go to DailyWire.com now. My favorite comment yesterday is from Marcus W. 210. Hearing Michael call Sydney Sweeney a pretty lass was so unexpected to me that I accidentally spilled my drink of Jolly Rancher flavored soda. I'm sorry to have made you do that. I also really love any time that I can take a kind of stupid story and use it as a flimsy excuse to discuss my philosophical hobby horses. I would say that's my favorite kind of story to do. And the Sydney Sweeney Hot or Not debate very much checks that box. So thank you all. Thank you, Sydney Sweeney, for allowing me to discuss Jean Baudrillard's theory of seduction. Speaking of Democrats shooting themselves in the foot, David Hogg. You remember David Hogg. He's a guy who gained some modicum of celebrity by making himself a TV fixture after some of his classmates were killed in a school shooting. David Hogg then turned this into a political career as being a gun control activist. Then he got into Harvard purely on his leftist celebrity. He does not appear to have quite academically qualified for that admission. But these days it's Harvard. So what does a Harvard diploma mean? And now he wants to parlay all of that into a real career in politics by running for vice chairman of the Democrat National Committee. I floated this story a week or two ago when Haag was suggesting that maybe he wanted a leadership role among the Democrats. At that point, I endorsed him for that role. I asked where I could donate. I asked if there were any federal maximum donations that I had to be concerned about because how great would it be to max out to David? Well, now he is outlining a little bit of his campaign for this job. Said today I'm meeting with a group of researchers and activists to discuss how Democrats win back young men. What questions would you be most interested in asking? Hogg has so few original ideas that he has to ask you what he should ask activists, what he should ask researchers so that he can then get some answers and campaign on those answers. But I love that he's the guy who's doing it. I would say if Democrats have a problem with young men, and you said, Michael, lay out every single person in the country and in order of most likely to help to least likely to help, David Hogg would be in the bottom 5% among the very least likely people to help in the country. Democrats lost support this election cycle specifically among black and Hispanic men because the black and Hispanic men shifted to the right because the Democrats seemed too far to the left. Donald Trump appealed to the black and Hispanic men and so they shifted to the right. And so if you're facing this catastrophic problem as a Democrat, why not hire a whiny, rich, leftist white kid? Who better? Who better to win back the rightward leaning black and Hispanic men than a whiny, radical, leftist, rich white kid from Florida? Of course, why wouldn't you? So I fully endorse. In fact, I endorse again. I previously endorsed the prospect of David Hawk running. I now fully endorse his candidacy. Please let me know where to send the check. Let's do matching donations. I don't know how much I'll match up to, but let's marshal all of our resources, folks. I want David Hogg to run the Democratic Party. Now, in fairness to David Hogg, other Democrats, even prominent older Democrats, don't have any better ideas. Tim Walz just gave this interview in which he was reflecting on his totally failed candidacy. He was very nearly a heartbeat away from becoming the second woman president and he flopped. He was totally rejected by the voters. What he can't make sense of is how he lost to a billionaire.

[Tim Walz]

I thought it was a real flex when the Wall Street Journal pointed out that I might have been the least wealthy person to ever run for vice president. And I thought that would be something people say, well, this guy knows where we're coming from. He's had to pay his bills. He had to do and still does. How in the world did we lose to a billionaire or a venture capitalist when we were making the case of a county attorney and a high school teacher? I think the biggest thing for me that I'm searching for, and this is the one that keeps me up at night, is I focused my whole career in focusing on the middle class. And it seemed like a lot of the good ideas were coming from the Democrats. I still believe that, but apparently in this election, not the majority of Americans did. They chose to vote with a billionaire who's talked about not paying overtime, who has a long history of not paying his workers, someone who wants to take away the aca.

[Michael Knowles]

I can explain it. I actually think that Tim Walls is being sincere here. He's pounding his head against the wall. He can't figure out why voters would vote for a billionaire when he ran his campaign as a working class hero against the billionaires, against the rich, trying to stoke class resentment. How is it that these people, virtually none of whom are billionaires, how did they vote for the billionaire? The billionaire is the enemy. The answer is most voters are not as driven by envy as the Democrats think they are. Democrats think that what motivates voters ultimately is envy. And there's some basis for this. You see this in a lot of political philosophy, certainly modern political philosophy. I was actually having this conversation in Washington, D.C. with a white House reporter the other night who said, you know, all politics comes down to covetousness. And I said, that's actually a sparkling insight. And it's certain eras, that's true, in certain periods. Envy, at the very least, is a big motivator in politics. Dante talks about this avarice as being at the heart of political corruption. But Tim Walz has too low an opinion of voters. That's ultimately why they lost. There are many other reasons, but on this question, why did the voters vote for the billionaire over the politician who says he's a working class hero? It's because voters are not as motivated by envy as the Democrats are or as the Democrats think that they are. That's it. That speaks very well of the American people. Envy is awful. Envy ruins everything. Envy really is at the heart of political corruption, and Americans are not totally consumed by it. The left wants them to be. The left is always trying to gin up class conflict and make politics a matter of private interest. Just clubbing other people on the head and Stealing their stuff. You think about the BLM riots, which the Democrats largely supported. Kamala Harris actually bailed the rioters out of jail. Joe Biden's staffers did the same thing. Well, what was that about? A lot of those BLM riots was people just going in and looting stores, just stealing stuff. Just greed, just envy. Okay, Yeah, a lot of Democrats are motivated by that. Most Americans are not. Now the proof that a lot of Democrats are motivated by envy and play on envy in politics is coming from not only Senator Elizabeth Warren Liawatha, but also Bernie Sanders. Elizabeth Warren just got in trouble because she was asked about the United Healthcare CEO being murdered. And she seemed to excuse it. She said, you know, you can only push people so far, then they start murdering the CEOs. Elizabeth Warren has tried to portray herself as a working class hero throughout her career. So an out and out socialist in the Senate. Bernie Sanders was just asked about Elizabeth Warren's answer. Here's what he had to say.

[Bernie Sanders]

Violence is never the answer. This guy gets a trial who's allegedly killed the CEO of UnitedHealth. But you can only push people so far and then they start to take matters into their own hands.

[Elizabeth Warren]

Elizabeth Warren obviously understands killing and murder and shooting somebody in the back is totally unacceptable. But what I think has happened in the last few months is that what you have seen rising up is people's anger at a health insurance industry which denies people the healthcare that they desperately need while they make billions and billions of dollars in profit.

[Michael Knowles]

Now listen here. Obviously, obviously Elizabeth Warren does not support violence, would never seek to justify the murder of a CEO of a healthcare company. But I think we also have to agree that people were damn right to hate that healthcare CEO. And he had it coming, the dirty rotten bastard. That's what he said. That's basically what he's saying. Could you imagine I was talking the other day to sweet little Alisa. Imagine you are this poor man's family and your father's murder, your husband or your father's murder has been a national news story, an international news story, and you have prominent Democrats justifying it, excusing it, explaining it away. Yeah, people are gonna get angry. Yeah, people. You can only push them so far. Eventually, if you're too rich and other people are too poor, they're going to come take all your stuff. That's what we're going to. We're going to encourage them to take all your stuff because we're going to run whole campaigns just grounded in envy. Totally disreputable. No wonder even the Supreme Court justices want to be Broadway stars. It's somehow become a much more dignified way of life. That's not speaking highly of show business. That's speaking in a, in a realistic way about the degradation of politics. Now today is tee hee Tuesday. The rest of the show continues now. You do not want to miss it. Become a member. Use code Noel scanner WLAS to check out for 2 months free on all annual plans.

[David Hogg]

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