Ep. 1671 - Criminal Alien Hotels? $59 Million WASTED Per Week

Summary

Episode Summary: Ep. 1671 - Criminal Alien Hotels? $59 Million WASTED Per Week

Podcast: The Michael Knowles Show
Host: Michael Knowles
Release Date: February 11, 2025
Duration: Approximately 42 minutes

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1. Misuse of FEMA Funds for Housing Illegal Aliens

Timestamp: 00:00 - 05:00

Michael Knowles initiates the episode by addressing former President Trump's accusation that the Biden administration misallocated FEMA disaster relief funds to house undocumented migrants in luxury hotels. Highlighting a recent discovery by "Elon's Department of Government Efficiency"—revealing a $59 million FEMA payment to house illegal immigrants in New York City hotels—Knowles emphasizes the disparity between funds allocated for disaster victims and those diverted for undocumented migrants.

Notable Quote:

“$59 million in one week to put fighting age male economic migrants up at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan? Well, no problem.”
— Michael Knowles [00:02:30]

He critiques the administration's priorities, suggesting that while minor sums are allocated to American citizens, a substantial amount is being wasted on non-citizens.

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2. Department of Education's Wasteful Contracts

Timestamp: 05:00 - 15:17

Transitioning to governmental inefficiencies, Knowles references a Daily Caller report by Reagan Reese exposing $900 million squandered across 90 contracts within the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. He argues that these contracts do not directly support educational improvements, citing an example of a $1.5 million contract unrelated to core educational goals.

Notable Quote:

“These contracts they found were not directly funding student score improvement, which is the whole purpose of the Department of Education.”
— Michael Knowles [10:45]

He draws parallels to the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act of 1883, asserting that the civil service has reverted to a patronage system despite historical reforms aimed at meritocracy. Knowles praises Elon Musk and DOGE for uncovering these inefficiencies, suggesting the need for further governmental reforms to prevent ongoing waste and corruption.

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3. Discovery of JFK Assassination Files

Timestamp: 15:17 - 29:13

Knowles delves into the revelation of 2,400 previously undisclosed files related to the JFK assassination, as reported by Axios. He critiques the enduring fascination with JFK, contrasting it with other presidents like Garfield and McKinley, whom he views as less competent and consequently less remembered.

Notable Quote:

“JFK was not really a good president at all. He screwed up the Bay of Pigs, he invited the Cuban Missile crisis because he didn't know how to manage Turkey.”
— Michael Knowles [20:30]

He posits that the discovery of these files rekindles distrust in government institutions, linking it to the broader societal issues of the 1960s, such as the Vietnam War and civil unrest. Knowles questions the necessity of revisiting JFK's era, suggesting it symbolizes a critical point where American institutions began to falter.

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4. Ilhan Omar's Accusations and the Distinction Between Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide

Timestamp: 29:13 - 39:08

The discussion shifts to Ilhan Omar's allegations against President Trump and Israel, accusing them of planning ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza. Knowles dissects her statements, arguing that intentional differentiation between ethnic cleansing and genocide is often blurred for political convenience.

Notable Quote:

“It's not. And they would support certain ethnic cleanses, they would support certain forced movements of people out of territories, but not others.”
— Michael Knowles [35:45]

He provides historical context by citing the 1947 Partition of India and the post-World War II expulsion of ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe, framing them as instances of ethnic cleansing sanctioned by the international community. Knowles contends that Omar conflates these concepts to manipulate public perception, emphasizing the need for consistent moral standards irrespective of political affiliations.

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5. Israeli Defense Minister's Proposition on Gazan Refugees

Timestamp: 39:08 - 41:52

Addressing comments from Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, Knowles critiques the assertion that countries like Norway, Ireland, and Spain are "obligated" to accept Gazans fleeing the conflict. He challenges the validity of such claims, arguing that political actions to prevent genocide do not necessarily mandate accepting refugees, thus deeming the statement as a flawed rhetorical tactic.

Notable Quote:

“It is perfectly possible for one to accuse a country of committing any number of crimes up to and including genocide, and still not wish to take those victims into one's country.”
— Michael Knowles [40:10]

Knowles further clarifies his stance, emphasizing that while he acknowledges Israel's right to self-defense, he does not perceive their actions as genocide but rather as an ethnic cleansing aimed at ensuring national security.

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6. Dropping of Eric Adams' Corruption Case

Timestamp: 41:52 - 29:13

Knowles discusses the recent dropping of a corruption case against Eric Adams, the Democrat mayor of New York. He draws attention to the timeline, noting Adams' prior public statements criticizing the Biden administration's immigration policies, which intensified shortly before the federal investigation was halted.

Notable Quote:

“Would Eric Adams have had that federal corruption probe had he not criticized the Biden administration? I don't think so.”
— Michael Knowles [25:00]

He suggests that the investigation was a retaliatory move, undermining Adams' credibility and highlighting perceived political vendettas within the current administration.

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7. Trump's Interview with Brett Baier: Succession and Tariffs

Timestamp: 29:13 - 41:52

In an exclusive segment, Knowles analyzes former President Trump's interview with Brett Baier, focusing on discussions about potential succession and trade policies.

• Succession Talks: Trump deflects questions about Vice President J.D. Vance being his successor, stating, “No, but he's very capable” ([32:05]). Knowles interprets this as Trump maintaining a flexible stance to keep various administration members motivated and loyal.

• Tariffs on Canada and Mexico: The conversation shifts to Trump's imposition of tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which elicited moderate concessions from these countries. Trump expresses dissatisfaction, indicating that the concessions were insufficient ([39:08]). Knowles posits that Trump views tariffs not merely as negotiation tools but as instruments to ensure sustained American economic dominance and reshore manufacturing.

Notable Quote:

“We owe $36 trillion. That's because we let all these nations take advantage of us.”
— Donald Trump [39:18]

Knowles underscores Trump's emphasis on economic independence and trade fairness, aligning with his broader agenda to fortify America's financial stability.

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8. Potential Annexation of Canada and Symbolic Gestures

Timestamp: 41:52 - 42:00

Trump's remarks on potentially annexing Canada as the "51st state" are scrutinized by Knowles, who interprets them as symbolic gestures aligning with historical American expansionist ideologies like Manifest Destiny. He connects Trump's renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America as another step towards territorial expansion.

Notable Quote:

“I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada.”
— Donald Trump [36:20]

Knowles critiques these statements as attempts to rally nationalistic sentiments, reinforcing the notion of American exceptionalism and territorial growth.

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9. Media Shifts and Fox News' Acquisition of Red Seat Ventures

Timestamp: 42:00 - 44:00

Concluding the episode, Knowles highlights Fox News' strategic acquisition of Red Seat Ventures, a prominent podcasting company. He notes that this move signifies the media's pivot towards podcasting as the dominant platform for news consumption, forecasting that the "podcast election" of 2024 was a precursor to this shift.

Notable Quote:

“The media are here, the eyeballs, the ears are here. It's in podcasts.”
— Michael Knowles [43:30]

He speculates that major figures like Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly's association with Red Seat Ventures indicates a resurgence of influential conservative voices within the podcasting sphere, potentially reshaping the media landscape.

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10. Closing Remarks and Upcoming Segments

Timestamp: 44:00 - End

Knowles teases upcoming segments, including a conversation with Jesse Kelly in the "Membrum Segmentum," encouraging listeners to become Daily Wire members to access exclusive content and support the platform's mission to uphold truth and counteract mainstream media biases.

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Key Takeaways:

• Governmental Waste and Misallocation: Significant funds intended for disaster relief and education are being diverted for purposes that do not directly benefit American citizens, highlighting systemic inefficiencies.

• Historical Context of Civil Service: Despite reforms aimed at meritocracy, the civil service system has reverted to patronage, necessitating renewed efforts for genuine governmental reform.

• Public Perception of Historical Events: The enduring focus on JFK's assassination contrasts with lesser-known presidencies, reflecting selective historical narratives shaped by subsequent societal upheavals.

• Political Rhetoric on Conflict: Distinctions between ethnic cleansing and genocide are often manipulated for political agendas, with broader implications for international policies and humanitarian responses.

• Media Evolution: The acquisition of podcasting platforms by traditional media outlets like Fox News underscores a transformative shift in how information is disseminated and consumed, emphasizing the growing importance of digital media channels.

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Notable Quotes:

1. Michael Knowles on FEMA Funds:

   “$59 million in one week to put fighting age male economic migrants up at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan? Well, no problem.”
   [00:02:30]

2. Michael Knowles on Department of Education Contracts:

   “These contracts they found were not directly funding student score improvement, which is the whole purpose of the Department of Education.”
   [10:45]

3. Donald Trump on Tariffs:

   “We owe $36 trillion. That's because we let all these nations take advantage of us.”
   [39:18]

4. Donald Trump on Annexing Canada:

   “I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada.”
   [36:20]

5. Michael Knowles on Media Shifts:

   “The media are here, the eyeballs, the ears are here. It's in podcasts.”
   [43:30]

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This episode of The Michael Knowles Show provides a critical examination of governmental inefficiencies, historical narratives, international conflicts, and media transformations, all through a conservative lens. With incisive commentary and strategic analysis, Knowles underscores the necessity for accountability, transparency, and media evolution in shaping America's future.

Transcript

[Michael Knowles]

Hey, do you remember four months ago when White House press secretary Karine Jean Pierre insisted that Joe Biden had not been spending FEMA disaster relief money putting up illegal aliens in fancy hotels? Former President Trump is accusing the Biden administration of using FEMA funding to support undocumented migrants. How is the White House responding to this? I mean, it's just categorically false. It is not true. It is a false statement. False. Categorically false, not true. False statement. Opposite of the truth. Not right. Well, Elon's Department of Government Efficiency just discovered a $59 million FEMA payment last week to house illegals in luxury hotels in New York City. FEMA could not find the money to help out hurricane victims in North Carolina. Maybe a $700 check here or there. Maybe if the American citizens were l. But $59 million in one week to put fighting age male economic migrants up at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan? Well, no problem. And you think those 59 million bucks are bad? That is just the tip of the iceberg of what Elon has dug up in our crooked federal government in just the last 24 hours. I'm Michael Knowles. This is the Michael Knowles Show. Welcome back to the show. Does President Trump View Vice President J.D. vance as his successor? The president weighs in and the answer might surprise you. There's so much more to say. First, though, Tex Knowles to 98. 98. 98. Everyone has been thinking about the economy lately. Economic experts have been analyzing long term trends. Some are expressing concerns about potential serious economic challenges once we approach 2030. It's interesting when you look at the big picture. We have the boomers entering retirement, which puts pressure on Social Security and Medicare. At the same time, we're dealing with a smaller workforce, national debt and rising cost of living. Now we hope that we will see changes for the better in the near future. In the meantime, these are the kinds of things that should make you think about financial security and how to protect your savings. Now, I've looked into plenty of different options. You can't just dismiss the tried and true traditional approach, which is investing in physical gold. That's where Birch Gold comes in. They're making it pretty simple and straightforward to diversify your portfolio to. They can actually help you convert an existing IRA or 401k into a gold IRA without any out of pocket costs. I myself have a decent portion of my portfolio in physical gold and I'm quite happy about it. Protect your future today. Text Knowles Ken Wles to 9898 98. Get your free info kit on gold and a copy of the Ultimate Guide for Gold in the Trump Era with a forward by Donald Trump Jr. There is no obligation only information Text Knowles kwles to the number 989898 today also folks, you gotta get your candles from thecandleclub.com the Michael Knowles Collection at the Candle Club is always a wonderful aspect of our consumer products, but especially now we are looking down the barrel toward Mardi Gras. Then it is Ash Wednesday, then it's Lent. And it's why you're going to want to get the Wise Man Candle, which is the new incarnation of the Smells and Bells candle to make your home smell like an 11th century monastery. So go to thecandleclub.com make sure you check out the Michael Knowles Collection. Get the Wise Man Candle. That's my favorite one. Okay, what else is Elon digging up? According to the Daily Caller, White House correspondent Reagan Reese has the scoop that Doge found $900 million of wasteful contracts at the Department of Education. What are these contracts? 900 million across 90 wasteful contracts from the Institute of Education Sciences at the Department of Education and Administration official is telling this to Daily Caller. The contracts they found were not directly funding student score improvement, which is the whole purpose of the Department of Education. $1.5 million just for example, went to a contractor to quote, observe mailing and clerical operations at the U.S. census Bureau's National Processing center in Jeffersonville, Indiana. What does that have to do with education? Couldn't possibly tell you. The contractor was tasked with securing and handling logistics support of an external expert for mail out operations consultation. What? What is that? That's just a made up job. That's like, that's like four made up jobs. That's like a made up job for a made up job for a made up job for a made up department at an agency of the government that should not exist. Back in the 1880s, in 1883 there was the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. This was signed into law by President Chester Allen Arthur. Chester A. Arthur, a great president in many ways. I actually have a Prageru video on Chester Arthur because no one remembers him anymore. But he was this crooked New York politician who never really wanted to be president. He accepted the vice presidency so he could dole out patronage jobs to his friends because he was one of the kings of the patronage system in New York. And then James Garfield died shortly after being inaugurated president and Chester Arthur became the president. And he was a crook. But oddly enough, through a correspondence with this woman In New York, he came to realize that he had squandered a lot of his life and his political opportunity, and he grew into the role as president. And he did not just dole out patronage jobs, he actually reformed the civil service. The purpose of that reform was to turn the bureaucracy from just little handout to your political friends when you won an election to a merit based system to make the government run better. And that's what we have been told for decades now, well over a century, that the civil service is. Except what we just found out thanks to Elon Musk and DOGE is actually it's become a patronage system again. The irony is people were warning that when Trump and Elon were gonna go in and reform the way that the government works, that they were going to compromise our dignified civil service, which has based on merit and is nonpartisan, and they were going to turn it into a spoil system patronage system again. But actually, no, just naturally, what had happened over the century and a half since civil service reform is it just kind of reverted back to a patronage system. And so we need another reform. We had the 1883 Pendleton reform, now we have the 2025 Doge reform, okay? And we're finding out that there is so much more waste in the government than even the greatest efficiency hawks had considered. All right? So Democrats, if they're of good faith here and they're being really honest with themselves, should be cheering on Doge Because Democrats are the ones who supposedly want a merit based civil service that is not merely a way to give handouts to your political cronies, right? If the Democrats are opposing this reform, if they oppose DOGE as they are, it must be because the Democrats want to maintain the machine. Because the Democrats, in fact, rely upon this patronage machine to advance their interests. And the minute you get rid of an agency like usaid, which is a feedback loop funding liberal activism not just around the world, but even in America. The example I was pointing out last week was your taxpayer dollars go to the irs. The IRS dishes them out to the federal government, the federal government appropriates it to usaid. USAID sends that money to the Tides center, the Tide center sends that money to blm. BLM burns your city down, kills your neighbors, loots your local footlocker, demands that your corporations and politicians further shake them down by the ankles and send more money to the government to go to usaid, to go to the Tide center, to go to blm. And it's this feedback cycle. It's even here, though, within the Department of Education. Then your other money goes to the Department of Education and that money just goes to the Deputy assistant Deputy Director of finding experts for mail out operations for the U.S. census Bureau's Education initiative or whatever. It's all just graft. Good on Elon for finding this. Pay close attention to the people who are opposing this reform. Now, while we're talking about big numbers, it's a smaller number than 900 million. But what about this number, 2,400? You know what that number represents? That number represents the number of files pertaining to the JFK assassination that have just been discovered by our federal government. We're 60 years now after the JFK assassination. Just now we've just discovered the FBI just must have looked behind a bookshelf or something. Found 2,400 records tied to Kennedy's assassination that were never provided to the assassination review board. This is according to Axios. So Trump in his first term was going to declassify the JFK assassination files. This follows decades of American official policy being the release of the JFK files. They were supposed to be released back in like 1992 and then the government just kept putting it off saying no, this would compromise national security, it would compromise sources and methods, it would compromise people who were still alive, blah blah, blah, blah blah. They kept kicking the can down the road for decades. Trump gets in there, he's a real shaker, mover and a shaker. He says he's gonna do it, but even he doesn't release all of them second term. Especially cuz he has Bobby Kennedy working for him now. He says, okay, we're gonna do it, we're finally gonna release all the records and this is evidence that I guess maybe they will since the FBI is now admitting, okay, well actually we do have thousands more records that people didn't even really know about. Why are people so fascinated with the assassination of jfk? People are really, they're not as fascinated with the assassination of Garfield, the President I was just talking about, or I don't know, McKinley or I don't know, why him, why Kennedy? Is it because he was a really good president? No, he wasn't. There's a modern mythology that's cropped up that Kennedy was this great president and he was shot down in his prime. Kennedy was not really a good president at all. I feel to see any evidence that he was even a competent president. He screwed up the Bay of Pigs, he invited the Cuban Missile crisis cuz he didn't know how to manage Turkey. He presided over the construction of The Berlin Wall, which Khrushchev admitted he built because he knew that JFK was inexperienced and weak. So, no, he wasn't president for that long, and he didn't do a good job while he was president. Why do people care so much? There's a good reason. There's a totally logical reason. The reason is because the JFK assassination coincides with almost precisely the moment that everything starts to go wrong in the country, that Americans start really deeply distrusting their institutions. That you have the Vietnam War, which Kennedy got us involved in, but the Vietnam War really starts to escalate. You had all the tumult of the 1960s, which was in part caused by. It was both a symptom and a cause of the JFK assassination. You had all of the racial strife in the 1960s. You had the advent of not only the massive welfare state, but also a new system of racial discrimination that came up. You had not even just the racial strife. You had the sexual strife, radical feminism. You had the sexual revolution, broadly. It just kind of all fell apart in the 60s, and we all know it. And it's represented by those wacko hippies who looked dirty and smelly and aimless. And that's kind of what our country became, dirty and smelly and aimless. You know, we just didn't know. We didn't exercise proper order or anything like that. It was in the 60s. So I think we're focused on that because we realize something broke here. And whether the break was caused by the Kennedy assassination, I don't really think so, though it did lead people to distrust even further government institutions. But maybe it's just a coincidence. In any case, we recognize something went really wrong here. Maybe we need to revisit that era to see if we can get back on the right path. There's so much more to say first, though. Go to goodranchers.com use promo code knowles. I'm gonna tell you about my dinner last night. I come home, sweet little Elisa, and the boys had already eaten. But actually, I don't know if sweet little Lisa had totally finished eating because the boys are running around. They need this, they need that. So, anyway, I go to get my plate, and I see a nice, beautiful, delicious New York strip steak from good ranchers. So I go with the tongs. I get my steak, and Elisa says, don't take that whole steak, Mac. I haven't had that yet. I said, wait, hold on. What, you. You want me to cut this steak in half? I'm a grown man. I'm not Gonna eat this full New York strip steak. No, I wanna have some. I said, fine, I'm a good husband. I cut the steak in half. Even though I wanna eat this entire delicious New York strip from Good Ranchers. I take half. But then she tells me later, she goes, but there's also a little ribeye over there. You have some of the ribeye and then you have. I said, okay, that makes a little bit more sense. So I have both the New York strip and the ribeye. Both delicious. Frankly, I liked the New York strip a little bit more. Whatever you have from Good Ranchers, you're gonna love it. It's the best meat you're gonna get. The price can't be beat. It's all American. It's all really good, clean stuff. Not too late to start the new year, right. Go to goodranchers.com right now. You will get free ground beef, chicken breasts, or wild caught salmon in every order for a year, plus $25 off with code knowleskin@wles goodranchers.com, promo code knowles. Speaking of death, Ilhan Omar is accusing President Trump and specifically the state of Israel of planning for Gaza not only an ethnic cleansing, but a genocide.

[Ilhan Omar]

That's just plain out ethnic cleansing and genocide. That's what he's talking about. The Palestinian people will remain in Gaza. There is no support around the world for the ludicrous suggestion that he is making.

[Michael Knowles]

Well, he's saying give them a choice to leave. Open the gates.

[Ilhan Omar]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure most of the people in Gaza would love to remain in their homeland and be where they're born.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay, did you catch what she did here? She tries to blur two different concepts. She says, what? Yeah, she sounds so villainous. What Trump is talking about here with Israel is ethnic cleansing and genocide. Hold on, hold on, hold on, lady. I've gotten in trouble for pointing out that in this war between the state of Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian territories, the rational objective of both sides is the ethnic cleansing of the other. Okay, from the Palestinian side, they're quite open about it. They say, from the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free. Which means, at the very least, the complete wiping out of Jews from the state of Israel. And often when you hear Hamas and when you see Hamas act, they do go further beyond ethnic cleansing to the point of genocide. Some of them call for it openly. Okay, so that's from the Palestinian side of things. And then from the Israeli side, at the very least, the objective is the implicit ethnic cleansing of Gaza. And I totally understand why? It is an unacceptable security risk for the State of Israel if the State of Israel is to continue to exist, to permit a Palestinian state or even a Palestinian territory in Gaza. October 7, 2023 proved that it's an unacceptable security risk. What are you gonna do? You're gonna wipe out Hamas? Hamas was elected by the Palestinians there in many ways, that Gaza was an experiment in a Palestinian state, and the Palestinians failed because they elected Hamas. So what are you gonna do? Hamas still has wide support in Gaza. So, you know, come on, give me a break here. Now, I've gotten in trouble for saying that because you're not supposed to say it out loud, but I don't know. Show me any other conclusion. I've yet to see the flaw in my reasoning. In any case, what Ilhan is saying here is ethnic cleansing and genocide are both totally evil and unacceptable. Now, obviously, genocide is. Yeah, that's totally evil and unacceptable. And ethnic cleans, that is. The removal of certain peoples from territories is deeply unpleasant. Not the sort of thing that one generally pursues. But it has happened with the approval of the international community in relatively recent decades. Do people forget about the partition of India? Partition of India was 1947. It involved the movement of millions of people, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, because when the British got out of India, they divided it into two states, a Muslim state, Pakistan, and a Hindu state, India. And guess what? There were Muslims in the Hindu part and there were Hindus in the Muslim part, and a lot of people had to move. That is an ethnic cleansing. Not ideal. Again, not the sort of thing one wishes for. But it happened. It happened with the approval of the international community. And some people would defend it today and say actually it was for the best. How about the expulsion of 14 to 16 million Germans, ethnic Germans, from Eastern Europe after World War II, in accordance with the Potsdam Agreement, in accordance with international law. What are you going to say about that? If you're going to whine and cry and rend your garments over ethnic cleansing, what about that? That was a major ethnic cleansing, way bigger than what we're talking about in Gaza. So, no, it just seems like these people, first of all, either intentionally or through ignorance. I think, though, the more charitable read and the more accurate read is that it's intentional. They're pretending that moving people out of territories is the same thing as genocide. It's not. And they would support certain ethnic cleanses, they would support certain forced movements of people out of territories, but not others. And they support them based on their own political convenience. The question that One has to ask here. I don't care if you love the state of Israel. I don't care if you hate the state of Israel. I don't care if you wear a keffiyeh. I don't care if you are the biggest Philo Semite or you hate the Jews or anything in between. Ask yourself one question. Do you at present support the right of the State of Israel to exist? Maybe you don't agree with how the State of Israel was founded. Maybe you don't agree with the Balfour Declaration. Maybe you don't find the premises of Zionism persuasive. Maybe you don't agree with the religious or historical arguments. I don't really agree with the religious or historical arguments. That's not the question. As Christopher Hitchens pointed out in his criticism of the founding of the State of Israel. In his criticism of Zionism, he pointed out plenty of states have been founded on dubious premises. That the only question is, do you today support the existence of this nation that has been there for 80 years? If the answer is yes, then you have to take seriously the unacceptable security risk posed by Gaza. You have to take seriously the attack that took place on October 7, 2023. You have to take seriously the fact that the Palestinians elected Hamas. You have to take all of that seriously. You can't defer back to, well, I don't agree with the founding of the state of Israel. Oh, okay, all right, fine. So then I guess you support the ethnic cleansing on the other side. I guess I don't know where that argument really leads. Now, having defended the State of Israel all that much, I want to take issue with the state of Israel. The Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, just made a very provocative statement on social media. He suggested that Norway, Ireland and Spain, because they've accused Israel of genocide in Gaza, they are now obligated to receive the Gazans into their countries. They're obligated or else they would be hypocrites. There's so much more to say. First though, go to publicrec.com use code Michael I want to talk about Something is changing the game in men's fashion, that is Public Rec. In February's cold weather, everyone deserves to be comfortable while looking sharp. That is exactly what Public Rec delivers. The quality is exceptional. Their proprietary blend of performance materials offers ideal breathability and stretch while maintaining its shape. The Public Rec pants are so cool. I could wear them not only to the office looking nice and sleek. I also could wear them in the snow. I took my kids out sledding and just because the material is really, really good. It's just very adaptable to lots of different things. Their colors are also fabulous. Right now, this February, treat yourself right because comfort is always in season. Upgrade to Public Rec. Feel the difference. For a limited time, you can get 20% off at public Rec by using Code Michael. At checkout, you go to publicrec.com, use code Michael. You're all set. When they ask you how you found them, be sure to mention our show really helps us out. Find your perfect fit. Never compromise on comfort again. Public Rec where comfort rules Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz says this I've instructed the IDF to prepare a plan that will allow any resident of Gaza who wishes to leave to do so to any country willing to receive them. Hamas has used the residents of Gaza as human shields, built its terror infrastructure in the heart of the civilian population, and now holds them hostage, extorting money from them through the humanitarian aid system and preventing their departure from Gaza. Okay, put a pause here. I wanna point out there are two narratives that come out of Gaza that are contradictory. One is that the Gaza and civilians are totally politically innocent and they're just being held captive by the evil Hamas, which opposes their interests. That's one narrative. The other narrative is that the Palestinians in Gaza elected Hamas and they broadly support Hamas, and that many civilians participated in the October 7 attack in 2023, and that Hamas faithfully represents the desires of the Gazan population. Those are contradictory narratives. Only one of them can be true. It would seem from my layman's outsider perspective, it would seem that the latter better represents reality than the former. But in any case, the Israeli defense minister is advancing the former argument here, which is more flattering to the civilians of Gaza, though I'm not sure it's quite as accurate. In any case, he goes on, the plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air. Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway and others which have falsely accused Israel over its actions in Gaza are legally obligated to allow Gazans to enter their territory. Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse. Meanwhile, countries like Canada, which has a structured immigration program, have previously expressed willingness to take in residents from Gaza. The people of Gaza should have the right to freedom of movement and migration, as is customary everywhere in the world. Yeah, so how about no? How about no? We know no Gazans to Europe, none to Canada. Definitely none to Canada. The closer we get to America, the harder the no? Now I get the point that he's trying to make. The Israeli Defense Minister is making a little joke here. I think. I think he's making a joke. And the joke is, look, you guys, Spain, Norway, Ireland, you have joined South Africa's case in the International Criminal Court against the State of Israel, accusing Israel of genocide. Well, if you really believe that the state of Israel is committing genocide, then you are obligated to take in Gazans. Now, that isn't exactly true. I don't know, maybe there are national laws in Norway, Ireland, and Spain that require this. I haven't found the exact treaty obligations that would require accepting these refugees. In fact, I think, broadly speaking, this seems like a non sequitur. It is perfectly possible for one to accuse a country of committing any number of crimes up to and including genocide, and still not wish to take those victims into one's country if one can instead just stop that country from committing the genocide. It does not follow that because one observes a country committing a genocide and one does not wish immediately to take in the citizens as the civilians as refugees, that one is a hypocrite. It doesn't necessarily follow. Now, of course, to be perfectly clear, I don't think that what Israel is doing constitutes a genocide. I do think that implicitly, they wish for an ethnic cleansing. And I do think that that is what President Trump's policy stated policy during that press conference with Netanyahu represents. And I do think that the Palestinians certainly want an ethnic cleansing in the State of Israel, if not an outright genocide. I do think all that. But I don't think that what Israel's doing constitutes a genocide. And I agree, in fact, with the Israeli Defense Minister's frustration with these other nations that are accusing Israel of doing that. So I agree with Israel in that way. I don't support the cause of a Palestinian state, but I'll just give a little rhetorical advice to the Defense Minister of Israel. I don't think this little joke is gonna land in Europe, because the reality is Europe and Canada and the United States have taken in a lot of refugees because of the tumult in the Middle east in recent decades. And that joke isn't so funny as Israel is dealing with murders and stabbings and mass rapes and grooming gangs and all the rest of it, and terror attacks and churches being burned to the ground. It's just that little joke. It's not quite so funny, actually. Okay, so if the State of Israel would like to maintain a little bit of international support, I would maybe cool it with the Don Rickles Routine. Okay. And I would ground the state's defenses on what I think are perfectly legitimate defenses. The right to national existence as a nation state, the right to defend itself against unacceptable security risks and the backing of the United States, which is necessary to Israel's plan. I would back it on that. But these kind of non sequitur, hyperbolic little jokes about taking in even more particularly zealous Muslim refugees. No, thanks. You know the kind of Muslim civilians who elect Hamas. Yeah, no, thanks. It's not gonna land. Okay. Now, speaking of migration, President Trump's Department of Justice has just dropped its corruption case against Eric Adams. Eric Adams, not a Republican, not a conservative, Actually the Democrat mayor of New York. If you don't remember the timeline, let me refresh the timeline of this corruption case into Eric Adams. September 2023. Eric Adams says this in public.

[Eric Adams]

And let me tell you something, New Yorkers. Never in my life have I had a problem that I did not see an ending to. I don't see an ending to this. I don't see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City. City, destroy New York city. We're getting 10,000 migrants a month. One time we were just getting Venezuela. Now we're getting Ecuador. Now we're getting Russian speaking coming through Mexico. Now we're getting Western Africa. Now we're getting. People from all over the globe have made their minds up that they're going to come through the southern part, part of the border and coming to New York City.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay, you remember that? So that was September 2023. Well, what do you know? Two months later, the Biden administration launches a federal investigation into him. Eric Adams in New York. He's supposed to be a good, loyal Democrat, but he says, look, this illegal immigration, this open border from Biden and Harris, this is going to destroy New York City. Eric Adams actually had a meeting scheduled for the White House at the White House. And the meeting had to be canceled because before the meeting could take place, there was a federal probe investigated into him. Okay, so it looked pretty crooked to me. Would Eric Adams had had that federal corruption probe had he not criticized the Biden administration? I don't think so. What was the probe into? It was over nonsense like accepting seat upgrades on Turkish Airlines. It was very, very silly. And so Trump now is instructing the doj, or rather the Trump doj, I guess, on its own, is dropping the corruption case into him because there are new coalitions here. Okay? When Trump remade the Republican Party, he lost some support among traditional Republicans. And you have to make that support up elsewhere. So Trump loses Mitt Romney. Trump loses Bill Kristol. Trump loses David French. Trump loses those guys who were Republicans. Well, now he's got to make it up with the Bobby Kennedys and the Tulsi Gabbards and the Eric Adamses, which is good. Gives me a lot more respect for Eric Adams. Now, speaking of Trump helping out politicians, Trump was just asked a really pointed question by Brett Baer. This is right before the Super Bowl. Do you view JD Vance as your successor? Here's Trump's answer.

[Brett Baier]

Do you View Vice President J.D. vance as your successor, the Republican nominee in 2028?

[Donald Trump]

No, but he's very capable. I mean, I don't think that it, you know, I think you have a lot of very capable people so far think he's doing a fantastic job. It's too early. We're just starting.

[Brett Baier]

But by the time you get to the midterms, he's going to be looking for an endorsement.

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, a lot of people have said that this has been the greatest opening, almost three weeks in the history of the president.

[Brett Baier]

Definitely been the fastest and the most stuff.

[Donald Trump]

Well, I've done so much so fast, and we really had to, because they have really, what they've done to our country is so sad. It's so sad. We're going to be bigger, better and stronger than, than ever before.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay, what's he doing here? I thought Trump loved J.D. remember, just yesterday I played a clip on this show. J.D. vance said to rehire that guy at Doge who made the saucy social media posts. Trump was asked about it. He said, huh, I haven't seen it, but what's the vice president say? Okay, I'm with the vice president. So hold on now. Is this a break between Trump and J.D. vance? No, that's not what this is. I think that answer is much less about J.D. vance than it is about Trump and everyone else. One, Trump doesn't want to be seen as a lame duck. He doesn't want to be seen as getting involved in the next presidential race. Now, just a few weeks into his term, Trump is presently term limited. For now, almost certainly he will be term limited. And I mean, you know, as Normie Tom Holtz says, no river so long doesn't contain a ban, but if we had to bet, we would say he's term limited. So he doesn't want to appear as a lame duck. He doesn't want people thinking about the next presidential election. But two, Trump has a lot of good people on his team who might want to run for president themselves. He wants to keep them incentivized to do a good job. He doesn't want them out looking for the next gig. He doesn't want them trying to stab JD in the back. He doesn't want that court infighting to undermine his administration. So if you want to keep a Marco Rubio, for instance, doing a great job as secretary of state on the team, really working hard, you need to at least dangle in front of Rubio the possibility that he could be the successor. This is true for a lot of people in the administration. Pete Hegseth Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense, now very popular television host Pete Hegseth is a legitimate presidential candidate if he wanted to be. You want to keep Pete Hegseth incentivized to be doing a good job at the Pentagon. This is a little bit more about managing the administration. Will the successor eventually be JD as of right now, it's looking pretty good, but Trump's going to keep his cards a little closer to his chest for now. When you join the Daily Wire, it is not just a subscription, it's a statement. It's a statement by you that you refuse to be played by the establishment media. Become a Daily Wire plus member because it is not just about access to content. It's about standing up for truth in a world that treats truth as a disposable inconvenience. It's about rejecting propaganda. It's about demanding facts, logic and reality when the culture wants you gaslit into submission. When you join, you know exactly what you're doing, backing a movement that does not just report on the culture, but reshapes it. Every dollar you spend goes directly into building the future, because America's future won't build itself. Join the fight [e-mail] subscribe My favorite comment yesterday is from Hannah Groves243, who says, can you imagine getting fired for old social media posts? And then the vice president of the United States sticks up for you and suddenly you've got your job back. Not just the the vice president of the United States sticks up for you and then the president weighs in and also lands on your side. Yeah, that's pretty good, man. They should frame whatever those tweets were or whatever that got him in trouble. That's historic. Trump's interview with Bret Baier before the super bowl also gave us a few more important insights into what Trump is thinking. For starters, on the potential annexation of America's evil top hat, Canada.

[Brett Baier]

The prime minister said this weekend to A group of Canadian businessmen. He was a private meeting. He said that your wish for Canada to be the 51st state is a, quote, real thing. Is it a real thing?

[Donald Trump]

Yeah, it is. I think Canada would be much better off being a 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I'm not going to let that happen. It's too much. Why are we paying $200 billion a year essentially in subsidy to Canada now if they're a 51st state, I don't mind doing it.

[Michael Knowles]

Now, look, all right, look, maybe if you're a 51st state, we can work things out. Trump is serious about this. Trump wants to expand the territory of the United States. He's already done that, symbolically effective yesterday, two days ago, which is to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. That is a symbolic way to expand American territory. He clearly really wants Canada, or, I'm sorry, really wants Greenland. And I think he wouldn't mind having Canada, too. This is going to be described by the liberals as a break with the American tradition. He's upending standards and norms again. Again. Once again, is there anything more American than territorial expansion? Is there anything more? We have a whole ideology about it. It's called Manifest Destiny. And even that, by the way, wasn't a break with the classical tradition. It's just a rearticulation, a little American spin on the classical concept of the translatia imperii, the expansion of the empire westward, actually, which was the notion originally of Manifest Destiny. So it's very American. Just like when people say these mass deportations are un American, they're un American. What are you talking about? But we've had mass deportations in 1830, in 1919, in 1954, we deported a million people, over a million people in a single year after the Marielle boat lift in the 80s. And we had a lot of mass deportations. Okay, that's not even all of them. Same here. Trump, I think, recognizes that not only would territorial expansion make him a consequential president, he's already a consequential president. But American greatness has historically been tied with territorial expansion. And so if you want to make America great again, territorial expansion, not Bush era nation building overseas, but in a way that wouldn't ever be imperial. And we're not going to take the oil and we're not going, don't forget, that was one of Trump's big criticisms of the Iraq War was not even on the grounds of just war. It was in part cuz we didn't get the oil. So in part, his criticism of Bush's expansions was that they weren't imperial enough. Okay. And I think that's, I think that's what he's getting at here. Now, speaking of Canada, what about the tariffs? What is Trump really thinking of with the tariffs? Bret Baier presses him.

[Brett Baier]

You announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico, you immediately got action from both of them on border security and drug interdiction.

[Donald Trump]

I did a lot of does that go good enough?

[Brett Baier]

Is that good enough?

[Donald Trump]

No, it's not good enough.

[Brett Baier]

So more needed in 30 days.

[Donald Trump]

Something has to happen. It's not sustainable. Look, we're not that rich right now. We owe $36 trillion. That's because we let all these nations take advantage of us. Same thing like 200 billion with Canada. We owe 300. We have a deficit with Mexico of $350 billion. I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to let that happen.

[Michael Knowles]

So remember, Trump threatens the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, 25% tariffs, maybe higher. And he says, we're gonna institute these cuz you're cheating us on trade and you're not dealing with immigration. And then we get some concessions from Canada and Mexico. And Trump says, okay, I'm Gonna put a 30 day pause on the tariffs. And a lot of people predicted, okay, well Trump got these concessions, so now he's gonna let the tariffs pass. It was just an idle threat. But here you have Trump saying it wasn't good enough, which is probably a good thing to say because a lot of people were saying, well, he didn't really get that many concessions. Some more troops on the border in Mexico, but they already had a lot of troops on the border, so that doesn't do a lot. And Canada's going to appoint some director of fentanyl or whatever, but that's not really a serious concession. And so Trump is now coming in saying, yeah, not good enough. Because the question with Trump on tariffs is, is he just using the tariffs as a negotiating tactic to get better trade deals? That is to say, does Trump view tariffs as a good threat for freer trade, for the purpose of freer trade, or does Trump view tariffs as good in themselves because they reshore American manufacturing, because they generate wealth in themselves because America's so powerful, our economy is so powerful, which is it? Many people have bet on the former. Trump is now signaling, no, no, I want the, it's not that I'm threatening the tariffs, but I'd like to avoid them. I want the Tariffs. Peter Navarro, I believe elsewhere has stated that this little tit for tat with Mexico and Canada, that's not even really part of the trade. The tariff policy, that's like the amuse bouche to the entree of the actual tariffs. Final point that Trump makes. In the Bret Baier interview, Bret Bear asks him about Trump doing the YMCA and everything, dancing around at the end of his rallies and speeches because it's a little weird. I like it. I find it very charming, but it is a little odd. What is it? Here's Trump's answer.

[Brett Baier]

UFC fighters winning fights, NFL players doing the Trump dance. Did you ever think that was going to be a thing?

[Donald Trump]

No, I didn't. I mean, we do these rallies. They've always been great, but they got really great. And it's just, I don't know what it is. I try and walk off sometimes without dancing, and I can't, I have to dance because it's just got something special about it.

[Michael Knowles]

I love this. This is one of my favorite Trump answers I've ever heard. He says, look, I try to walk off stage without dancing and I can't do it. I, I just have to dance. This is, I know I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be criticized for making this comparison. There are at least faint echoes here of King David dancing before the Lord. Okay, Trump is a guy who at least got some religion in a field in Butler, Pennsylvania. In fact, I don't know how you don't get religion if you're in that field in Butler, Pennsylvania, and a bullet hits your ear and you survive. And this guy, he just said, I just gotta dance. I don't care if I look ridiculous. I don't care if people make fun of me. I don't care if it's unpresidential. I just have to dance. I love it. That's kinda how I feel with these early weeks of the administration. I just think this is. How could you be down, man? The policies have been great. The vice president is giving Thomistic philosophy lectures in Latin. How could you not dance? How could you not dance in these early weeks of the administration? Now, speaking of entertainment, one last little story here. I have to get to Fox News, the News Corporation, I guess Fox in particular is being reported as set to acquire another company called Red Seat Ventures. Now, Red Seat Ventures, most people have never heard of it. If you're in the podcasting space, you have heard of it. They are a podcasting company that white labels podcasts and they have major, major clients and they do a very good job. Some of their clients include Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and I believe, Bill O'Reilly. Which means that Tucker is about to go work for Fox again in a slightly distant way. Not directly, but it means that Fox is acquir firing two or I think three of its most prominent hosts ever, two of whom were fired by the company, one of whom left of her own accord, but who was a top billed host. They're coming back in a certain way because Fox is making a major move into podcasts, which I think is the clearest evidence yet that the New York Times and the Washington Post actually were right when they observed that 2024 was the podcast election. Cable TV, radio ain't what they used to be. The media are here, the eyeballs, the ears are here, the intimacy with the audience is here. It's in podcasts. That's where we're at right now. And if people want to communicate in the future, they're gonna be coming here increasingly, they're gonna be maybe coming here first. Amazing to think everything old is new again. Tucker, Megan and I believe reportedly Bill O'Reilly all going back to Fox. That's wow, man. That's something else. What a. I'm getting whiplash. Okay, now, speaking of right wing media figures, I'm so pleased to be joined by my friend Jesse Kelly on the show in the Membrum segmentum. The show continues now, you do not want to miss it. Become a member, use code knowles at checkout for two months free on all annual plans.