Ep. 1670 - Super Bowl RECAP: We Won!

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Michael Knowles Show - Ep. 1670: "Super Bowl RECAP: We Won!"

Release Date: February 10, 2025

In Episode 1670 of The Michael Knowles Show, host Michael Knowles delivers a comprehensive and incisive analysis of the recent Super Bowl, dissecting the cultural and political undercurrents revealed through the game’s advertisements, halftime performances, and the broader societal implications. This episode delves into the shifting landscape of American pop culture post the 2024 Trump election, highlighting how corporate America and media narratives are realigning in response to the electoral outcome.

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1. Evaluating Super Bowl Advertisements

Timestamp: 00:00 - 07:57

Michael Knowles begins by expressing his intent to watch the Super Bowl not for the game itself but to assess the influence of the Trump election on pop culture and media narratives. He notes a noticeable reduction in "woke" advertisements, indicating a shift away from left-leaning ideologies that previously dominated the NFL's advertising strategies.

Notable Quotes:

• "I watched it to see if even the most left wing professional male sports league would bend the knee not to George Floyd, but to the majority of Americans who rejected leftism in November." (00:00)
• "There were a handful at most of woke ads...little woke, a little lib. But overall an improvement." (02:40)

Key Points:

• Anti-Semitism Ad: Knowles critiques a Foundation ad aimed at combating anti-Semitism. He argues that its vague messaging unnecessarily portrays Americans as inherently hateful, a notion he finds outdated and counterproductive.

• Nike's "Woke" Ad: The host dissects a controversial Nike advertisement featuring a young woman of color outperforming stereotypical white jocks. He views this as an overt attempt to push a progressive agenda, undermining traditional gender roles in sports.

Timestamp: 07:57 - 08:29

• Jeep's Patriotic Commercial: Knowles praises a Jeep commercial featuring Harrison Ford, lauding its direct opposition to leftist narratives by highlighting military heroes over Hollywood celebrities. He interprets this as a strategic move by corporate America to align with conservative values.

Notable Quote:

• "Real heroes aren't Hollywood celebrities. They're military service members." (07:57)

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2. Analyzing the Super Bowl Halftime Show

Timestamp: 08:29 - 20:53

The halftime show, featuring Samuel L. Jackson as Uncle Sam and Kendrick Lamar, becomes a focal point for exploring the intersection of culture and politics.

Key Points:

• Performance Breakdown: Knowles finds Kendrick Lamar’s performance to be indecipherable and criticizes it for lacking coherent messaging, despite its patriotic aesthetics.

• Trump’s Presence: The host highlights President Trump's appearance, noting the ovation he received, which signifies corporate America's newfound respect and acknowledgment of his leadership.

• Taylor Swift's Booing: Knowles observes Taylor Swift being booed at the stadium, attributing this backlash to her endorsement of progressive policies, specifically Kamala Harris.

Notable Quotes:

• "Kendrick Lamar's performance was complete gibberish... but it was at least vaguely patriotic." (13:15)
• "Taylor Swift probably shouldn't have endorsed Kamala." (20:53)

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3. Political Controversies and the Trump Administration

Timestamp: 20:53 - 33:20

The episode transitions to internal political dynamics, focusing on recent controversies within the Trump administration.

Key Points:

• Firing Over Offensive Posts: A member of Elon Musk's Doge team was dismissed for offensive social media activity, including posts normalizing hatred towards Indians. Vice President J.D. Vance advocates for his reinstatement, arguing against punitive measures for past online behavior.

• Vance vs. Democrats: Knowles presents the clash between Vice President Vance and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, showcasing a broader battle over accountability and free speech within government ranks.

Notable Quotes:

• "A culture that denies grace to people who make mistakes... This is good." (20:53)
• "My kids... they won't think constantly about whether a flippant comment or a wrong viewpoint will follow them around for the rest of their lives." (20:53)

4. Kanye West’s Social Media Antics and Super Bowl Ad

Timestamp: 33:20 - 26:19

Knowles pivots to discussing Kanye West's tumultuous behavior post-divorce and his controversial Super Bowl advertisement.

Key Points:

• Social Media Outbursts: Kanye’s tweets, filled with inflammatory statements including anti-Semitic remarks and pro-pornography sentiments, are scrutinized as symptomatic of his personal struggles and broader cultural conflicts.

• Super Bowl Ad Critique: West’s low-budget Super Bowl ad featuring a swastika on a T-shirt is condemned as a deliberate shock tactic to garner attention, reflecting his erratic public persona.

Notable Quotes:

• "If he listens to this segment, which he should, I hope he takes that to heart." (26:19)
• "The devil doesn't like that, okay? The devil really doesn't like that." (26:19)

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5. Trump’s Executive Actions and Symbolic Moves

Timestamp: 26:19 - 41:49

Michael Knowles delves into President Trump’s latest executive orders, emphasizing their symbolic and practical implications.

Key Points:

• Cutting Aid to South Africa: Trump halts all financial aid to South Africa in response to anti-white policies and land expropriation. Knowles supports this move, framing it as a defense of American interests against foreign-led leftist agendas.

• Killing the Penny: The elimination of penny production is portrayed as a cost-saving measure and a symbolic rejection of governmental wastefulness.

• Renaming the Gulf of Mexico: Trump's decision to rename it the "Gulf of America" is criticized as a political maneuver to undermine support for Mexico and assert American dominance.

• Reinstating Plastic Straws: By reversing the ban on plastic straws, Trump targets progressive environmental policies, appealing to a conservative base that views such regulations as unnecessary.

Notable Quotes:

• "Freedom is yes or no or maybe freedom is for everybody, but it isn't free. It's earned." (07:57)
• "I'll be signing executive order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for paper straws." (41:49)
• "We are a big act. Okay, we can just rename it if we want." (42:16)

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6. Public and Media Reactions

Timestamp: 41:49 - 42:16

Knowles contrasts media perceptions with public sentiment, citing a CBS News poll that indicates President Trump maintains positive approval ratings despite liberal criticisms.

Key Points:

• Ben Rhodes’ Critique: Former Obama speechwriter Ben Rhodes claims Trump’s current actions deviate from what the American electorate desires. Knowles disputes this, presenting poll data that shows Trump fulfilling campaign promises and maintaining approval.

• Public Support: Citing a CBS News poll, Knowles underscores that a majority of Americans approve of Trump’s policies, reinforcing his argument that the administration's actions align with voter intentions.

Notable Quotes:

• "Ben Rhodes, who's as far as I can tell, never been right about anything... He goes, okay, well actually this is what Americans want from the Trump term." (41:49)
• "President Trump has started his term with net positive marks From Americans overall, 53% approval." (42:16)

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7. Concluding Remarks and Cultural Implications

Timestamp: 42:16 - End

In his closing segments, Knowles emphasizes the broader cultural shifts influenced by political outcomes, asserting that the alignment of corporate America with conservative values marks a significant departure from previous left-leaning trends.

Key Points:

• Cultural and Political Symbiosis: The episode concludes with the notion that electoral politics and cultural movements are interdependent, with Trump’s presidency catalyzing a resurgence of traditional American values in media and corporate messaging.

• Future Outlook: Knowles remains optimistic that continued political consolidation will further erode leftist influence in American culture, paving the way for a more conservative societal framework.

Notable Quotes:

• "This is evidence that culture is downstream of politics, okay? It's a symbiotic relationship." (33:20)
• "This is exactly the Trump America Elect." (42:16)

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Conclusion

In this episode, Michael Knowles effectively argues that the 2024 Trump election has precipitated a significant realignment in American pop culture and media, reducing the prevalence of left-leaning narratives in major events like the Super Bowl. Through meticulous analysis of advertisements, political actions, and cultural performances, Knowles illustrates a landscape where conservative values are reasserting their dominance, reflecting the will and preferences of the broader American populace.

Transcript

[Michael Knowles]

I watched the super bowl last night. Not because I like the Philadelphia Eagles, not even because I like the Kansas City Chiefs and Gigachad Catholic Harrison Butker in particular. I watched it to see how much the Trump election had changed the pop culture. I watched it to see if even the most left wing professional male sports league would bend the knee not to George Floyd, but to the majority of Americans who rejected leftism in November. And what did I find? A handful at most of woke ads, an apparently patriotic halftime show, an attack on the very notion of pride, normal military ads, an ovation for President Trump and booze for Taylor Swift. We're back. I'm Michael Knowles. This is the Michael Knowles Show. Kanye west is tweeting. We will get to the tweets. He also apparently had a Super bowl ad in a couple of media markets. That is really funny. It's not. It's dark, it's not good, but it's, it's fairly funny. There's so much more to say. First though, go to balanceofnature.com use promo code knowles Balance of nature, fruits and veggies is the most convenient way to get whole fruits and vegetables daily, especially if you've focused on creating a healthier, happier lifestyle. Nature is pretty good at giving us the nutrients we need through fruits and vegetables. So balance of nature takes fruits and veggies, freeze, dries them, turns them into a powder, and then puts them into a capsule. You take your fruit and veggie capsules every day, then your body knows what to do with them. Balance of nature is just one ingredient of a balanced lifestyle. Has no intention to replace a healthy diet, exercise, sleep or any other healthy habits. It is intended to be used in concert with other healthy habits. I absolutely adore balance of nature, especially when I'm on the road, as I am a lot. I was just in California for a night a couple days ago. It is really, really great to be able to have balance of nature. And even if you're not eating the best, you know, you know you're getting your fruits and veggies. Balanceofnature.com use promo code knowlescannawles for 35 dol off your first order as a preferred customer. Plus get a free bottle of fiber and spice. Balanceofnature.com promo code knowles let's just start with the bad ads. There were a handful of bad. Here is one fairly woke ad from the Super Bowl.

[Kendrick Lamar]

I hate you because we from different neighborhoods.

[Michael Knowles]

I hate you cause you look different.

[Kendrick Lamar]

I hate you cause I don't understand You. I hate you.

[Michael Knowles]

Cause people I know hate you.

[Kendrick Lamar]

I hate you because I think you hate me. Cause I need someone to blame. Cause you talk different. Cause you act different. Cause you're just.

[Michael Knowles]

Are as stupid as they sound.

[Kendrick Lamar]

I hate that things are so bad that we have to do a commercial about it.

[Michael Knowles]

Me too. Stand up to all hate. Okay, so that was an ad from the foundation to combat anti Semitism, even though it was this totally vague generic ad. So it was kind of an annoying ad because the insinuation is that Americans are hateful and bigoted and racist and this and that and the other thing. And I just think we don't. We're kind of past that. We don't need those ads anymore. But I guess an improvement of that kind of ad over where the NFL has been for the past five years is that it was just vaguely promoting people not being mean to each other. It wasn't saying, America's a white supremacist nation and we murdered George Floyd and we gotta take a knee with Colin Kaepernick because the black man's been kept down. It wasn't that kind of thing. It was just, you know, hey, let's be nice to each other, okay? Annoying. A little woke, a little lib. But overall an improvement. Now, the most woke ad came from Nike. This ad which pitted a young woman of color against evil white jocks in the game of football. Hey, Chad, check out the new girl. Ew, what is she wearing? Girls don't play football.

[Kendrick Lamar]

They do where I'm from.

[Michael Knowles]

Get a load of this one. Think fast. You think fast. Right in the Jimmy Johnson. This ain't over.

[Kendrick Lamar]

We just getting started.

[Michael Knowles]

Chad, get the clap. Let's go, let's go.

[Trump Administration Official]

Get down, get down. Come on.

[Michael Knowles]

There you go. Ooh. Little girl, bad. Oh, enough. Let's settle this once and for all. Your best guy, girl, whatever, versus our best guy. The Brad.

[Trump Administration Official]

Not the Brad.

[Michael Knowles]

I'm Brad. I can read.

[Kendrick Lamar]

There you go. You gotta fold it up. Brad, get her.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay, okay.

[Kendrick Lamar]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Michael Knowles]

So the girl, she's really good at football. And all the dudes are really bad at football. So the antagonists are two white guys. Two like 1980s movie looking white guys, Chad and Brad. The protagonist is a young woman of color. Young black woman. I guess there are a few other people of various ethnic backgrounds here, but that's basically the setup. And then the good guy cheering from the sidelines is a black guy who looks like Shaft or something. So classic, modern, politically correct. Woke Setup. Black people, good. White people, bad women, good. Men, bad women. Even putting forward the notion that women can beat men in football. That will never happen, ever. Not even one time, under any circumstances. Any woman, any man. Can't happen. That was annoying. It's Nike, though, you know, C'est la vie. What are you gonna do? It was a comprehensively woke ad. Some said. They said, well, look, at least Nike had another ad defending women in sports. They say, well, at least they're defending women in sports, meaning they're not promoting transgenderism in sports. So in that way, maybe it's a win for the right. But I don't really buy that because this commercial was implicitly advancing the trans ideology by pretending that women could beat men at football, which will never happen. So that was annoying. That was a total loser. However, the fact that I'm only pointing to those two commercials, out of what were there a billion commercials last night? There were a lot of commercial breaks during the Super Bowl. The rest of them were fine, politically speaking. Ideologically, they were great. They weren't that good. As a matter of creativity and entertainment, the left in Hollywood doesn't know how to make compelling ads that aren't just didactic and ideological anymore. However, they were not left wing. When I think of this Harrison Ford commercial, Harrison Ford did a commercial for Jeep, which was actually a good commercial. It was well made, and it took a direct shot at the left.

[Trump Administration Official]

Freedom is yes or no or maybe freedom is for everybody, but it isn't free. It's earned. There are real heroes in the world, but not the ones in the movies. Real heroes are humble. They're not driven by pride. Pride is a terrible driver.

[Michael Knowles]

You catch that. You catch that little bit there right at the end says these guys. The real heroes aren't Hollywood celebrities. They're military service members. Okay, so first, right, right off the bat, wow, okay, stop listening to the leftist Hollywood celebrities, because the real heroes are the much more conservative members of the military. Then he says, and they're driven by humility. They're not driven by pride. Pride. Pride is the slogan of the left. They're about to have a whole month for pride. And in case you missed it, he doubles down on it right there in the end, he says, pride is a terrible driver. That's not accidental. Not one word of these $8 million each Super bowl commercials is accidental. Okay? These are all focus group tested. They've been run through a bunch of producers. This is very intentional. And what Jeep is signaling here is, hey, we recognize that leftism, liberalism, Wokeism are dead. They are not cool. The American people have turned against it. The majority of the American people have turned against it. Thanks to this election, we now know that we ain't for it. We support the military, not Hollywood. We support normal stuff, not pride. We support buy our cars. We're normal. Hey, you guys are normal. We're normal. All the other guys might be woke and crazy, but we're normal. It was a beautiful ad. There was even another ad. I can't find it. I was watching it on Tubi. So I don't know which media market this ad was airing in if it wasn't national. It was a Navy ad. And the Navy ad just featured a normal looking guy. Just a normal, he's a white guy even, which is, you know, these days it's very politically incorrect. He was just a muscular looking white guy. They said it was reminiscent of the old be all that you can be army ads. And they said, hey, you wanna join the navy? You can find your purpose. It's really great. Join the Navy. I thought, wow, we must be on the brink of world War iii because back when everything was peaceful, we had military recruitment ads that had latina Muslim pygmy lesbians talking about how great it is that her lesbian parents brought her to pride parades and that's why she joined the CIA. I'm not even really exaggerating that much about that CIA commercial. And now the commercials are, hey, are you a guy that looks like most military service members? Yeah, you should join the military. And maybe it's because we're on the brink of World War iii, or maybe it's because we've had a seismic domestic political shift here. You even saw it with the radical left wing artist so called who played the halftime show. There's so much more to say. First though, go to hometitlelock.com use promo code knowles,25. Did you know that American homeowners have over $32 trillion in equity? That's a lot of scratch. Criminals are targeting that equity with a growing scam the FBI calls house stealing. Scammers can transfer your title out of your name using a one page document they file with the county. Then they can take out loans against it or even sell it behind your back. And the most concerning part is you won't find out about it until collection or foreclosure notices start arriving in your mailbox, leaving you with a financial and legal nightmare. The best way to protect your equity is with home Title lock's exclusive million dollar triple lock protection. This service offers 24. 7 monitoring urgent alerts and if fraud should occur, their US based restoration team will spend up to $1 million to fix the fraud and restore your title. Good news is we've partnered with Home Title Lock to offer you all 25% off their services. Go to hometitlelock.com, use promo code KNOWLES25 to save 25% and you'll also get a free title history report to ensure you're not already a victim. Make sure you check out the million dollar triple lock protection details when you get there. Link below. That's hometitlelock.com promo code knowles25 the halftime show featured Samuel L. Jackson as a kind of emcee dressed up as Uncle Sam. He did a great job and then some guy named Kendrick Lamar who I don't know anything about. I've heard the name before. I was not able to understand basically a single word that he said during his rap performance in the halftime show. It was complete gibberish and I'm not sure he was even attempting to speak the English language. However, the aesthetics of it looked generally pretty good because while the performance was gibberish, it was at least vaguely patriotic.

[Kendrick Lamar]

It's a great American game My Gemini twin back powering up no more handshakes and hugs the energy only circulate through us Everybody must be judged but this time God only favoring us 20 years in still got their pen dedicated to bareheard truth and the kiss speak with a vigilant tongue Predicate this time Ms. I'm carrying heavier hearts right now. I got power lift with Olympians too. Now I'm counting this. Matter of fact, I'm downing this Tuesday with my bou. Tastes like koolaid for the analyst girl knocking by you the world with my taste of I know it's good once you sit in my taste.

[Michael Knowles]

All right man, I'll take it. I'll take it. For those of you who are just listening, this guy Kendrick Lamar was standing there amid a big human American flag. He's wearing red, white and blue. The fact that I couldn't understand what he was saying is probably actually a good thing, because if he said anything that was leftist or anti American or whatever, I totally missed it, as did everybody else. Pretty good. I'll take it. Someone pointed out to me that this guy Kendrick Lamar is a huge left winger, radically pro abortion. When Roe v. Wade was overruled, he did some deeply sacrilegious performance where he pretended to be Christ and was advocating for murdering babies. And so I Don't know. I don't know anything really about that. However, what I do know is if that is who that guy is. The fact that his super bowl halftime show was just kind of generally patriotic and featured Sam Jackson as Uncle Sam. Great. Even if his personal views are anti American, contrary to the good, the true and the beautiful. The fact that the culture has forced him to get with the program and make a pro American halftime show. Great. I love it. I love it. And it was clear that there were cultural pressures to do that in the stadium because Trump was at the game yesterday. And when Trump stood up, when attention was called to his presence there, he got an ovation. There he is. Big, big round of applause. Now, when another prominent person was put on the big screen, they called attention to the number one Chiefs fan, Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift got boo. She just looks there and she's like, wait, what are they booing me? I'm not even a huge Taylor hater. I know some people really dislike Taylor Swift. I feel perfectly lukewarm about her. However, she probably shouldn't have endorsed Kamala. I'll tell you that. If she didn't want to get booed at the stadium, she probably should not have endorsed Kamala. Okay? This was a major cultural shift. This is a new day. This is evidence that culture is downstream of politics, okay? It's a symbiotic relationship, and cultural movements lead to certain political incidents and electoral changes, which in turn lead to more cultural shifts. However, had Trump not won in November, the commercials would have been way worse. The halftime show would have been way worse. Taylor wouldn't have been booed. There are consequences to electoral politics. Trump won in November and all of corporate America just shifted. Okay? All of a sudden, oh, they like having Trump there. What an honor to have the President here. All of a sudden, the people who called him Hitler for now, almost a decade, look ridiculous. Cuz most Americans voted for this guy and corporate America took note. Okay? Now, speaking of the Trump administration, there's a big controversy that has occurred over the past few days. The controversy is that a member of Elon's Doge team, the government efficiency department, he got caught making offensive posts to social media. This guy. I'm not talking about big balls. I'm talking about big balls. Colleague, former colleague. He. Former and future colleague, I guess because he got fired for making spicy offensive posts online, one of which notably was normalize Indian hate. Look, I really like Indians, you know, but it's kind of a funny post to make normalize Indian hate. So it seems out of the blue. And he got fired for that. J.D. vance, whose wife and children. Whose wife is Indian and whose children are half Indian, responded in this way. He said, here's my view. I obviously disagree with some of Elez's posts, but I don't think stupid social media activity should ruin a kid's life. We shouldn't reward journalists who try to destroy people ever. So I say, bring him back. If he's a bad dude or a terrible member of the team, fire him for that. Beautiful. It's also hard to imagine this kind of response from the vice president to a staffer being fired for racist social media posts. It's hard to imagine that even four or five years ago. And JD Says, you know, let's not reward these journalists. They're digging up old social media posts from this kid, and he posted spicily. No one's denying that, But I don't think, look, if he's bad for the job, then fire him for that. But we're gonna fire him for making crude jokes on social media? I don't think so. Ro Khanna, who is a Democrat member of Congress, responds. He goes, are you gonna tell him to apologize for saying, normalize Indian hate before this? Rehire. Just asking for the sake of both of our kids. So he responds with the concern. Troll our kids are because this guy working for this department in the federal government, because he made jokes about Indians on social media, Our kids are in grave danger. And JD Just came in with the smackdown. He said, for the sake of both of our kids, grow up. Racist trolls on the Internet, while offensive, don't threaten my kids. You know what does? A culture that denies grace to people who make mistakes. A culture that encourages congressmen to act like whiny children. This is good. He goes on. I cannot overstate how much I loathe this emotional blackmail. Pretending to be concerned. My kids, God willing, will be risk takers. They won't think constantly about whether a flippant comment or a wrong viewpoint will follow them around for the rest of their lives. They will tell stupid jokes. They will develop views that they later think are wrong or even gross. I made mistakes as a kid, and thank God I grew up in a culture that encouraged me to grow and learn and feel remorse when I screwed up and offer grace when others did. You disgust me.

[Trump Administration Official]

Oh.

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, man. J.D. is just killing it. Last week, we get the sitting vice president giving lectures on scholastic philosophy on television and then explicating them in Latin on Twitter. So already, wow, we're in. And now we get this kind of absolutely beautiful. So the media then have to ask, okay, well, hold on. Is JD Getting a little out in front of his skis here? Are you? What does Trump think about. What does Trump think about rehiring the man who made offensive social media posts? This Doge cost cutting effort. One of the Doge engineers was fired for some inappropriate posts. The vice president says, bring him back. What do you say?

[Trump Administration Official]

I don't know about the particular thing, but if the vice president said that. Did you say that? I'm with the vice president.

[Michael Knowles]

What a great answer. The whole thing is just so beautiful. What do we take away from this? We take away that it is a new day. This response would have been unthinkable even five years ago, even in the first Trump term. This kind of response, both from JD and from Trump, unthinkable. And then what does Trump say here in response to the question? He says, huh, I don't really know anything about this. But wait, the vice president. You really said that? Okay, I'm with him. I trust the vice president. So, yeah, I'm with the vice president. This team is unified. This team is not going to be bullied by the left. Everyone makes naughty posts on the Internet. Everyone. Every single person has said something offensive on the Internet. Even you. Even I know we have professional left wingers who watch my show to pull out all the best clips. Even you. Media Matters or right wing watch or whichever group is watching right now. Even you have made offensive posts on the Internet that could ruin your life. And you got JD and now Trump saying, you know what? I don't think those should ruin your life. That is beautiful. That is a very healthy response. There's so much more to say. First, though, go to Lumen me, Knowles. There is a magnificent tool that I have that you can have also that will give you real time insights into your metabolism through something as simple as your breath. It is called Lumen. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. I love it. I'm a little skeptical of some technology. I'm not always the earliest adapter. I love my lumen. All I have to do is breathe into it first thing in the morning and I can know exactly what is going on with my metabolism, whether I'm burning fats or carbs based on my measurements. Lumen then creates a personalized nutrition plan just for me. They can do it for you, too. You can also breathe into it before and after workouts and meals so you know exactly what's going on in your body in real time and Lumen will give you tips to keep you on top of your health game. If you are concerned about your body and staying in shape and being fit, this is a no brainer. If you don't have Lumen already, I don't know what you're waiting for. Go to lumen me knowlesknowles get 20% off your lumen. That's L U M E N me Knowles k wlas for 20% off your purchase. Thank you Lumen for sponsoring this episode. Now, speaking of naughty posts on the Internet, I don't know if you've heard about this fellow Kanye West. He's been making a few such posts on the Internet. He's back on Twitter. He is tweeting pretty much entirely in all caps, which is always a sign of self control and serious thought. And I'm not gonna go through all of them, but a handful of these posts are, well, for instance in all caps I'm a Nazi. Or Hitler was so fresh. Or he had one. I think he deleted it, but it was about how Jews should be slaves and you have to enslave all the Jews. He had another one attacking his friend Dave Chappelle, which I thought was particularly crazy because Dave Chappelle did a joke on Saturday Night Live actually defending Kanye, but Kanye didn't understand that and so he thought that Dave was making fun of him and went after him for it, even though Dave was clearly trying to help Kanye. In one of the posts he called the JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon a Jew. Jamie Dimon is Greek. He's not non Jewish. I believe he's Christian. And then he had one beyond the Hitler stuff, he had one about how much he loves porn. I think he's actually had multiple posts about how much he loves porn, but in one of them, I guess this does tie in with the Jewish stuff. He says, I want to thank Jews for porn. I'm not being sarcastic. I love porn. Which is believable because Kanye has previously admitted to having a porn addiction and earlier he said that his porn addiction actually ruined his marriage and was a big factor in his divorce. He said, but Jesus is going to heal everything. And now he's very pro porn. Then he's been posting a lot of porn. So that's another reason why I'm not going to actually be showing any of the tweets. Happily, I've avoided most of them other than he posted some pictures of his wife naked because he took his wife to the Grammys and had her stripped down totally naked not great. And then I found out today, I didn't see it last night, but Kanye apparently took out a Super bowl ad, not nationally, but in a couple of media markets. And this is the ad.

[Kendrick Lamar]

So what's up, guys? I spent, like, all the money for the commercial on these new teeth, so once again, I had to shoot it on the iPhone. Go to yeezy.com.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay, go to yeezy.com. a little bit of a low, low production value super bowl commercial, but. All right, let's see. Let's go check it out. So you go to yeezy.com we have a little screen recording. Okay, let's go to yeezy.com that pulls up this site with just one little T shirt up in the corner. And then it's a. The only thing on Yeezy. The only thing on yeezy.com is this tiny little thumbnail of a T shirt in the upper left corner, and then you click on the thumbnail, and it's just a white shirt with a black swastika on it. So that's not great. That's not great. What's going on here? What's going on with Kanye? I think it could be a few things. It could be that he just lost it after his divorce. I've seen this with friends of mine who've gotten divorced. They just kind of lose it. Usually it's temporary. With Kanye, it seems to be dragging on a little bit more. But guys who get divorced do lose their minds a little bit because it's your whole world just being exploded. So it could be that. Could be that Kanye's always been a little bit, shall we say, eccentric. This is not a new thing. You remember in 2003 or 4, whenever it was after Hurricane Katrina, when Kanye went on tv, said, george Bush doesn't care about black people. Then there was the Taylor Swift thing when he went up at the Grammys and took the microphone from her and said, hey, I'll let you finish, Taylor, but Beyonce, the best album of all time. So he's always been a little out there. However, I have another theory of a contributing factor to Kanye's public breakdown, and it's his Jesus is King album. You remember some years ago, Kanye came out with this album, Jesus is King. And I don't like Kanye's music generally. I don't really like hip hop or rap or any of that stuff. However, I listened to the whole album, and it was pretty good. There were some good bits. Actually. A friend of mine wrote the bridge on one of the songs. Actually, a friend of mine who's Jewish, even funnier, wrote the bridge on one of the songs, Water, we are water like a newborn daughter. And it was a pretty nice album. And it was this big cultural shift. Wow, you've got one of the biggest pop culture figures making a modern day gospel album. I remember at the time, Kanye was saying during his recording sessions, nobody could be fornicating. He had these Sunday services, which were these kind of vague, vaguely Christian kind of meetup groups. They'd go out into the middle of a field somewhere and it was a little out there, but there was something really beautiful about it. He apparently had this big conversion and now this. Now he's. I mean, even putting the Hitler stuff aside, which is quite bad. Even just the porn, even just the porn of it all, this way that he's degrading his wife and he's posting pornography all over Twitter and he's kind of just delectating in his own vice and his addiction to pornography and to say nothing about all the Hitler stuff, it reminds me that when people convert, I've just seen this happen when people convert. It attracts the attention of principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places, okay? As St. Paul tells us in the letter to the Ephesians, when one converts, that can be and often is a very spiritually intense time and a very dangerous time. And especially if you're Kanye west, you're one of the biggest figures in the pop culture and you are maybe causing people to think about religion again for the first time, maybe to turn to God, which I think he actually did with the Jesus is King album, that they're gonna be. The secularists and the agnostics and the atheists are gonna tune me out right now. But it's just a fact, so you gotta deal with it. The devil doesn't like that, okay? The devil really doesn't like that. And he's gonna redouble his efforts to grab you. And our Lord in the Gospels tells us about this. He says, you know when a guy gets his spiritual house in order and he cleans evil spirits out of his house, well, sometimes what's going to happen if he's not careful is that that evil spirit is going to go around and he's going to get like six or seven of his buddies and then he's going to go right back into that cleanly swept house and the guy is going to be worse off than he was in the first place, because now he's going to be even more brimming with. With diabolical forces. Okay? And our Lord tells us about, you know, the mustard seed that falls on bad ground and it's choked off and dies, or that blows away with the wind, or if it doesn't find good, fertile ground, it's gonna just disappear. That's what I fear is going on with Kanye. So, anyway, if he listens to this segment, which he should, I hope he takes that to heart. Hope he takes that to mind. That would be good. The radical tweets, which, frankly, I think that the Hitler tweets are more or less just a way to shock. Because to say I love Hitler, as he did on Alex Jones, look, maybe he just truly hates the Jews. That might be part of it, but part of it also is that in the modern mythos, Hitler is understood as the embodiment of evil. So the most shocking thing you can possibly say is I love Hitler. And he's saying that, and he's getting a lot of attention for it. So he's achieving his end in that way. But there's a lot of darkness underneath all of that. Then to be posting, I don't know, porn and your wife naked and all, that's not good, bro. Not good. Watch out. You were on a good path for a while. If you've been pushed off that path, it's not too late to get back on the right one now. Speaking of race relations, President Trump has just cut off all aid to South Africa. And he has done this because South Africa is targeting white people in the country and murdering them and robbing them. And you've got one of the major South African political leaders who many expect to be the act president of the country someday, Julius Malema, singing things like this. Kill the poor, the farmer.

[Trump Administration Official]

Kill the poor, the farmer.

[Michael Knowles]

Shoot to kill, Kill the Boer, which is just the white people in South Africa. Shoot to kill, shoot to kill. So that's not great. And President Trump is cutting off all aid to South Africa as a result. He said, quote, south Africa is confiscating land and treating certain classes of people, namely white people, very badly. It is a bad situation that the radical left media doesn't want to so much as mention. A massive human rights violation is happening for all to see. The United States won't stand for it. We will act also because of this, I'll be cutting off all aid to South Africa until further notice. He's also prioritizing the resettlement of the boa, of the fama, of the Afrikaners, the white people there. More than 10,000 white South African farmers have expressed interest in relocating to the US following this executive order. Some people are suggesting that the reason Trump is doing this actually has more to do with grand strategy than with South Africa. In particular, because the US Supports the state of Israel, we have a close alliance with the state of Israel, and South Africa recently brought a genocide case against the state of Israel in the International Criminal Court. So some people are saying, oh, it's actually really just about the Israel thing. It's not about the white, the farmers. The farmers have been targeted in Africa, South Africa, for years and years now. However, I don't think that's really persuasive because Trump is taking this on in the very earliest days of his second term, the second term going much harder, much more focused than the first term. So I don't really think that's true. In fact, I think the simpler explanation is that one of the most prominent guys in Trump's ear right now is a South African named Elon Musk. And so he's calling attention to this. And I think it's really, really good because I'm not opposed to any refugee resettlement. I think we just need to seriously rethink it because the refugee program has been exploited by the left to just import a bunch of people that they think are gonna vote for them. So in this case, okay, 10,000 South African farmers who are being threatened with murder by some of the political leaders in the country, that seems like a pretty good thing to do. Yeah, I'm fine with that. Plus, when we take in the South African farmers as refugees, that will also turn the left against refugee resettlement. General, they'll probably try to stop them at the border. They'll probably try to sink their boats as they're coming over from South Africa. The Daily Wire. We break the news that the corporate media won't touch. We bring you the facts first, fast and unfiltered. Our exclusive investigative journalism actually does what journalism is supposed to do, namely, expose corruption, uncover the truth, and hold those behind it accountable. When you join DailyWare, you get ad free, uncensored live daily shows where you can chat with fellow Daily Wire members and the show's team in real time. Plus, you get full access to our entire library of premium entertainment, including Miracist, the number one documentary of the decade, and the films and series that continue to reshape our culture. The fight for truth is happening right now. Become a member today dailywire.com subscribe My favorite comment yesterday is from Annabelle Sabangan, 7565 who says, I'm from a country receiving aid from the US I agree with your president. I don't and wouldn't whine about it. Your country and its citizens should come first. Make America great again. Hard. Well, and Nayib Bukele, actually the leader of El Salvador recently pointed out, he said, you know, that aid isn't always such a great thing for the countries that receive it because USAID is just a way for the US to use its soft power to control countries around the world. And when it's being used by a corrupt political elite, then often what it does is foments revolutions and upends the traditional ways of life that people want to practice in their own countries. So even just from the standpoint of the recipients say, do you really want that aid comes with a lot of strings. Now, we are seeing a lot of follow through with the Trump administration. In the first term, it was a little more scattered and some of the staff members were just not that good. Some were good, but some were not that good. Here he's saying Trump tweets out, he says, or posts on Truth Social, says we're gonna cut off aid to South Africa. Marco Rubio says he will not attend the G20, says I will not attend the G20 in Johannesburg. South Africa is doing very bad things, expropriating private property, using G20 to promote solidarity, equality and sustainability. In other words, DEI and climate change. My job is to advance America's national interests, not waste taxpayer money or coddle anti Americanism. Love this, love this. When Trump tweets, now in the second term, there is follow through. Okay? This is why it was so important for Trump to threaten Colombia with the tariffs, threaten Canada and Mexico, be willing to follow through on it, actually levy tariffs on China. And those were all just kind of the amuse bouche, I think, to the actual tariff program, which hasn't kicked in yet. This is why it's so important. Trump has to follow through on threats. Sometimes that's the only way that you can have credibility. It's like in poker. You can't just bluff all the time. Sometimes you really have to have the royal flush. Speaking of executive actions, President Trump is killing the penny. He's killing the penny. You know, the penny, like your pennies in your pocket. You probably don't have any because no one has change anymore or even cash. Well, the problem with the penny is it costs more to produce than it's actually worth. And Trump says, quote, for far too long, the United States has minted pennies, which Literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful. I've instructed my secretary of the U.S. treasury to stop producing new pennies. Let's rip the waste out of our great nation's budget, even if it's a penny at a time. This is also important. Symbolically, it'll save a little bit of money, but symbolically, it's important because of some good old advice that my godmother used to give me, which is that you gotta save pennies to spend dollars. Back during the Tea Party, we were told the only way to actually fix the federal budget problems, the only way to tackle deficits and the national debt, was to reform entitlements. That is to, say, cut Social Security and Medicare. That's the lion's share of the federal budget. It's the only way to fix it. That was very unpopular, and Republicans lost because they ran on cutting entitlements. When Trump ran in 2016, he upended that recent GOP orthodoxy and he said, I will not touch entitlements. I will not touch your Social Security or your Medicare. That was more successful. Okay, so now how are you gonna deal with debt and deficits? You're gonna do things like Doge. You're gonna do things like end pennies. And the question is, can these guys, can Elon in particular, cut enough waste and bloat in the federal government to begin to make a dent into the fiscal problem? And if you had asked me six months ago, I would have said probably not. And it still remains to be seen, because judges are trying to stop Doge right now and trying to throw wrenches into Trump's plans. However, Elon seems to be cutting a lot, and he has to, because if you have this fiscal catastrophe waiting for you actually already kind of occurring, because our debt is something like 125% of GDP. If you've got this fiscal problem right there so close to you and you're not going to take on the easiest way to fix the debt, the easiest way, technically, though, the hardest way politically, then you've gotta do something elsewhere. I guess the second best option is to do stuff like this. But if you save pennies, you might be able to spend dollars. Now, another historic executive order. President Trump just signed a proclamation while flying over a certain body of water to the south of the United States. Gulf of Mexico done with. Gulf of America is here. Air Force One is currently in international waters for the first time in history, flying over the recently renamed Gulf of America. Please enjoy the flight. And we are now about to Head westbound to Super Bowl 59.

[Trump Administration Official]

Wow, he did that well. Make America great again, right? That's what we care about. Okay, here we go. So this is a famous pen now.

[Michael Knowles]

This is a famous pen now because it's the Gulf of America pen. It's that easy. I remember when Trump said he was going to rename the Gulf of Mexico. People said, you can't just do that. No, you can. We can do things. We're a big act. Okay, we can just rename it if we want. And you know, the libs are gonna keep calling this the Gulf of Mexico, which is a political masterstroke from Trump, because the libs are then gonna put themselves in a position favoring Mexico and opposing America. You know, they're not gonna call it the Gulf of America cuz they hate Trump so much and they hate America, but they're at the very least, cuz they hate Trump. It's actually in the Gulf of Mexico, you know, and it's actually been named that for many years. Okay, well now Trump just puts you in a position where you're taking the side of Mexico against the side of America. Great. Cool. Love it. This is just like Trump did this with plastic straws. Trump also has an executive order now and he says he's gonna bring back plastic straws. He goes, I'll be signing executive order next week ending the ridiculous Biden push for paper straws, which don't work. Back to plastic. This is another political masterstroke. One because Trump is signaling there is no issue too small, no issue too seemingly trivial for him to take on. He's gonna fix everything. He's gonna pay attention to the details, because it's sometimes in the details that the rot begins. And because he's gonna now make the libs defend paper straws. But everyone hates paper straws. Some of the biggest libs in the country hate paper straws cuz they just turn to pulp. And you can't actually drink your iced tea or your diet Coke or whatever. They're awful. So this is. Some people say it's an 8020 political issue. I think it's like a 9010 political issue. And Trump is forcing the libs to take the side that only 10% agrees with. Beautiful stuff. The libs are so furious about this. They're saying because they have a distorted view of what the American public wants, they're saying that this is not the Trump that the people elected. Ben Rhodes. Ben Rhodes, who was an Obama speech writer, he ended up on the national security team. He has this guest Essay in the New York Times. This isn't the Donald Trump America elected. This isn't it. We don't want this. We don't want the Trump who's cutting the government, USAID and expanding America's interest. I'm not gonna read the whole piece. You can read it yourself if you want. There's no reason to. You get the thesis in the headline. This isn't the Donald Trump America elected. Well, I have another article here from CBS News, not exactly the most right wing outlet. Says CBS News poll Trump has positive approval amid energetic opening weeks seen as doing what he promised. It comes out, I think the same day. Is it the same day as. Yeah, it is the same day as Ben Rhodes stupid column in the New York Times. You get actual data, it says Ben Rhodes is totally wrong. This is exactly the Trump America Elect. If you go down in the article it says, with most describing him as tough, energetic, focused and effective and as doing what he'd promised during his campaign. That's the key there, doing what he promised. That means it's the Trump America elected. President Trump has started his term with net positive marks From Americans overall, 53% approval. His deportation policy, one of the most controversial, finds majority approval overall, just as most voters said they wanted during the campaign. And that extends to sending troops to the border. Too many say he's doing more than they expected. And so that part you could say, well, that's not the Trump America voted for. Except CBS goes on. Of those who say this, most like what they see, very few think he's doing less. A large majority say he's doing what he said he would, whether they approve of him or not. 70% say that this isn't, I love this, this happened in the first term. Yet a bunch of people who hated Trump from the beginning, even some on the right, he gets elected and then they say, okay, well this is actually what Trump means and this is actually what he should do. And this is actually what the people want. Bro, you have no idea what the people want. You thought that Trump was gonna go down in flames. You Democrats and Republicans, you thought he was gonna go down in flames. You thought he was a total joke and then he got elected. And this time you got the same thing. Ben Rhodes, who's as far as I can tell, never been right about anything, certainly wasn't right in this election. He goes, okay, well actually this is what Americans want from the Trump term. You know, I'm gonna trust Trump and the self professed views of the American people over some washed up former Obama flag. It is music Monday, baby. The rest of the show continues now. You don't wanna miss it. Become a member. Use code knowlescanawles at checkout for two months free on all annual.