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Michael Knowles
Did USAID cause Covid? While Americans are still fuming that we're apparently never getting the full story on Jeffrey Epstein, months after fuming that we were apparently never getting the full story on JFK's assassination, I've got another doozy for you. Based on a shocking new report about USAID's involvement with the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which is that we're never gonna get the whole story on Covid either. And I will tell you exactly why. I'm Michael Knowles. This is the Michael Knowles Show. Welcome back to the show. A woman has gone viral for celebrating the fact that her mother in law is carrying her baby as a surrogate. So the grandma is carrying the baby and this is supposed to be a good thing and we'll get into what it all means. I have much more to say first though. Tex knowles k n w les to 98. 98 98. The administration is doing a lot of really good stuff. Things are improving in the country. Would have been obviously a train wreck had a Kamala Harris won. So we're all looking good. However, it's very difficult for the administration to take your personal finances into account when trying to do what's right for the country. You have to do that. That is why tens of thousands of Americans are buying gold right now from Birch Gold. Here are the facts. In the past 12 months, the value of gold has increased by 40%. You know, I'm a little bit of a gold bug. I have a decent amount of gold in my portfolio. So I'm very excited about that. I'm very glad that I have gold. Central banks continue to bolster demand for gold by buying in record quantities. And global instability and tension is the highest in decades. You can find peace of mind in gold. Birch Gold makes it extremely easy to convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax sheltered IRA in physical gold or just buy some to store at home. Text my name Knowles Knes to 9898. 98. Birchgold will send you a free info kit on gold. No obligation, only useful information with an A rating with the Better Business Bureau. Tens of thousands of happy customers. It is time for you to take control of your savings today. Text the word Knowles K N A W l e s to 98. 98 98. Did USAID the much maligned, rightly maligned USAID, the Agency for International Development, which Elon and Rubio and ultimately Trump slashed. Did it? Did it cause Covid? The Daily Caller has an exclusive report out. Really good report. Emily Kopp about how the U.S. agency for International Development shipped thousands of viral samples to a lab in Wuhan over the course of a 10 year program, even though it had no formal agreement with the lab in place. This. According to previously unreported documents, USAID funded the exportation of 11,000 samples from Yunnan Province. Yunnan Province, where some of the closest relatives of COVID 19 circulate to Wuhan, where COVID 19 began, with no apparent plan for ensuring the samples were not misdirected to bioweapons and remained accessible to the US government. This was a $210 million USAID public health program. Kind of funny. It's public health. And as with so many of these liberal programs, it undermined the thing that it was ostensibly after it goes on. It's a good report. You should read it. So this on the heels of Epstein, where there's this preposterous line coming out now that actually Jeffrey Epstein. There was no client list. Okay, maybe there's not a formal list. There are clients though, right? No, there are no clients. So Ghislaine Maxwell is in prison for trafficking underage girls to no one. Can we free Ghislaine? Free Ghislaine? What? She's in prison for no reason. All those really rich, powerful guys that were palling around with Jeffrey Epstein some dozens of times. Prime ministers, royalty, billionaires. They were just. It was just a coincidence. Big crazy coincidence. So right on the heels of the Epstein line, the Epstein conclusion. The Epstein. Stop asking questions. Move along, move along. Nothing to see here. After the decades delayed release of the JFK documents, which reveals no further information whatsoever about the assassination of jfk. Now we got another one, which is that usaid, we already knew that NIH was associated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. We already knew that Dr. Fauci, in fact was associated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology through grant programs, including on gain of function research. But now we're seeing USAID directly was shipping over 10,000 virus samples from the place that has similar viruses to Covid to the place where Covid started. And it raises questions even more. Is there more to this story? How involved were we? What did we know? When did we know it? What? And once again, I hate to be the bearer of. I won't call it bad news, I won't call it good news. It's just facts, which is you're never gonna get the whole story. You are never going to get the full story on Covid. And part of the reason is that the story certainly involves us. I'm not saying it's our fault. I don't think it's our fault, Covid. I don't think Epstein island is our fault. I don't think the JFK assassination is our fault. But we, we, the United States, the US Government, the US Political order, is involved in all these things. And the reason that the US Is involved is that we are the global empire. We're the global empire. We are involved in everything. We're involved in everything. We have knowledge. We have at least a little bit of knowledge of basically everything in the world. We have people. We have operatives all over the world. We have interests all over the world. And so we're implicated in basically everything that happens all over the world. That's why the best explanation I've heard as to why the government, neither the Biden administration nor the Trump administration are releasing all the juicy details about the Epstein Sex island is because it would unravel the world order. Because it does seem like a blackmail ring ensnaring many of the most important people in the world. And so if you tugged on that thread, wars could break out, alliances would be shattered, the global order would fall apart. That's the most persuasive argument that I've heard, that Epstein island really is the thing that we all kind of thought it was. And as a result, you're not gonna get the information. And it doesn't mean that we did. It doesn't mean that we were the ones who were behind the whole thing, but we probably kind of knew about it. How did Epstein get that sweetheart deal? Twenty years ago, they had him dead to rights on underage girls. And then he gets this sweetheart deal at Palm Beach. Palm beach vacation penitentiary, where he gets to come and go as he pleases, basically. Come on, give me a break. He's still meeting with prime ministers and royalty after he was convicted of sex offenses. Come on, give me a break. But maybe Alex Acosta is right. What? Alex Acosta, the US Attorney who was up for Labor Secretary, reportedly said just that. Well, he belonged to intelligence, or he had some intelligence. Yeah. And maybe we knew something about the Wuhan laboratory, and maybe we were somehow involved. Yeah, right. Cause we're the global empire and we're involved in everything.
Unknown Speaker
And.
Michael Knowles
And it's why we're not gonna be totally transparent. And it's why we're not gonna just nix alliances willy nilly. And it's why we're not going to retreat and only look at ourselves. And it's why the phrase America first cannot mean what some people want it to mean, which is that we ignore the rest of the world. That's not what Trump thinks America first means. That's never been what he thinks America first means. Trump has an imperial political vision. So freedom. America first means we're gonna put our interests first. We're going to lead the world in a way that is more conducive to our flourishing. But so long as we're the global empire, we're gonna be involved in everything, and you're not gonna get the full story on very much. Now, speaking of the Chinese, a much more important story. Sierra Ortega has been kicked off of Love Island. Don't know what Love island is. I didn't either until last night when I Googled it. Love island is some reality TV show where people get together, they shack up in a villa, and they have to have a couple, and they try to stay on the island and they can break up and they can, you know, do, like, weird stuff and they. But it's trash tv. Absolute garbage. But it's very popular. And one of the stars of Love Island, Sierra Ortega, has been kicked off. She's been canceled for a horrible, horrible transgression. She said things in unearthed social media posts that demand that her life be over. She issued a groveling apology for these terrible things that she did. Here's the apology.
Sierra Ortega
I know a lot of people have been waiting for me to speak up about the news that's come to light recently. And now that I've been back in the US for about 48 hours and I've had the chance to process, I now feel like I'm at a space where I can speak about this without being. Being highly emotional because I am not the victim in this situation. While I was in the villa, there were some posts that resurfaced from my past where I was very naively using an incredibly offensive and derogatory term. And before I get into the details, I want to first start by addressing not just anyone that I have hurt or deeply offended, but most importantly, the entire Asian community. I am deeply, truly, honestly so sorry. I had no idea that the word held as much pain, as much harm and came with the history that it did, or I never would have used it.
Michael Knowles
What did this woman say? I just want. I have to issue a public apology. The horrific, terrible things I've done are worse than genocide, really. I could not have ever committed a more grievous sin. I am beyond redemption and I. I hope that an executioner will come with a giant Ax and lop my head off for my grievous offenses. What did she say? Apparently in some old social media post, she joked that her face looks a little chinky because, I don't know, her eyes are kind of small or something. Chinky. That was it. That was the line that her life is over for now that she's issuing a groveling apology to the masses because she said she looks chinky. A little bit like Chinese. The word comes from China. China. Chink. That's the worst you got. The worst you got is not saying it's a nice word. I don't know. I wouldn't go around yelling it from the rooftops. But that. What? This woman is joking that she looks kind of Chinese. This woman who does in fact look a little bit Chinese. What is she? She's Hispanic, which means she probably has a fair bit of indigenous admixture. The indigenous admixture which does look kind of East Asian sometimes, you know, from the right angle. And that's it. I instantly thought of one of my favorite movies from the 2000s, Gran Torino. You remember Gran Torino with Clint Eastwood? He plays this grizzled old guy who for the entire movie uses all sorts of offensive terms for Asians in particular, but also for black people and the Irish and just about everybody. Just compare Ciara Ortega on saying, oh, my face looks a little chinky. Tee hee hee. Compare that, for which her life is now over, to one of the most celebrated movies of the 2000s.
Unknown Speaker
Have some respect, sipper head. Get off my lawn. Used to stack like you, five feet high in Korea, use you for sandbags. I kept a bunch of jabbering gooks off of my lawn when we were in Korea and a thousand screaming gooks came across our line. We didn't call the police. What are you fish heads looking at anyway? I've got more in common with these gooks than I do my own spoiled rotten family. Happy birthday. Why don't we go down and get some of that good gook foods, you know. I'm starving. You're wrong, egg roll. I know exactly what I'm talking about. You're letting Click Clack, Ding Dong and Charlie Chan just walk out with Ms. What's her. Get me another beard, dragon lady. You get the wrong one, he's gonna blow your gook head right off. All right, come on, zipperhead. We'll let the mix stay here. And what? Kill that cousin of yours and the rest of those zips.
Michael Knowles
Okay, it goes on. I actually don't even think that's all of them. But it goes on. Was Clint Eastwood canceled for that movie? No. More importantly, was the character, Was he the villain? This is what really matters. Cause you say, well, Clint Eastwood's playing a character, right? Was the character the villain or the hero? That character who used all sorts of naughty words, much worse words for the same group of people than Chinky. He was the hero. Why? Why, why is this woman, Sierra Ortega, so wrong to apologize? Because she wasn't using the phrase in a contemptuous way. That's why Clint Eastwood is the hero in the movie, because he uses all these naughty words. But then you see what he says there. One of the great lines right in the middle of that clip, he goes, I got more in common with these gooks than with my own spoiled relatives. He's saying, I use all these words for the Irish, for the blacks, for the Asians, for the this, but I don't hate them. And in fact, I love them. And in fact, spoiler alert on the movie, he sacrifices his life to help them. That's the key here. Had Sierra Ortega used this term in a contemptuous, antagonistic kind of way, then you'd say, okay, maybe we should cancel people for that. But to just use it as a kind of funny word. If I come into the office and I see our ad, Pavel and I call him a giant polok. And then Pavel turns to me and he calls me a greasy guido or something. And then Pavel and I turn to Professor Jacob and call him Shylock. No one would bat an eyelash. Not one of us would bat an eyelash. Because none of those words would be used in contempt or hostility. Because these kinds of words can be used in a way that is actually affectionate and familiar. That's something that we have completely missed in our culture. Often we discuss the crisis of meaning we have. This is a great example of it. Because we are trapped in modernity by the literal and the carnal. We just deny that anything has meaning. We deny that our bodies mean something. We deny even that our words can have meaning, meaning, objective meaning, outside of themselves, signs and symbols. But it's so disingenuous to cancel this girl, this reality TV girl, because she used a. A racially kind of edgy word in a way that was perfectly affectionate. She says, I look this way. I look like these people. Does she hate herself? No, she's just being kind of funny. And we all have to pretend that she's bringing back Jim Crow or something. It's so ridiculous. And it just gets to this modern problem, which is we focus entirely on the literal, on the carnal. We totally ignore the spiritual. We totally ignore the meaning, the thing, that which is signified. It gets us back to what St. Paul harps on quite a lot, which is that if you don't have charity, you've got nothing. You have nothing if you don't have charity. And that's really what this is all about. It's all about the charity. Clint Eastwood and Gran Torino is the hero because he has charity. He has love for these people. I don't think Sierra Ortega was without charity in that line. But no, we as a culture have to take the least charitable view of everyone and everything. Great, great. See where that leads you. Now, speaking of naughty words and obviously missing the meaning, President Trump is in big trouble. This is a story that happened while I was away, but it totally relates to what is going on on Love island, which is that Donald Trump used a naughty word that refers to Jews and now he's being called Hitler. Hold on one second. Many, many more pearls of wisdom to give you. But first, you must go to goodranchers.com, use code knowles. Summer is here. Nothing beats firing up the grill with family and friends. Here's something that might shock you, though. Over 85% of grass fed beef in US stores is imported. That meat on your barbecue could be from anywhere. 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But if it were me, that's what I would pick. But you could also pick hot dogs, bacon, chicken wings in every single Box Use code Knowles at checkout for an extra 40 bucks off. Goodranchers.com, code knowles 40 bucks off, plus free meat for life. Because the moments that matter deserve meat that's made right. Good ranchers, American meat delivered. President Trump is in trouble now. He is in trouble. You know why? Because he used a very naughty word that is sometimes used to refer to Jews.
Unknown Speaker
But if you love them or if you love somebody, that you're leaving it to think of that. No death tax, no estate tax, no going to the banks and borrowing from, in some cases, a fine banker, and in some cases, shylocks and bad people.
Michael Knowles
Okay, you gotta go. He's promoting his new policies. As Green says, you gotta go. Sometimes you got. Look, not all bankers are bad. Sometimes you go to a good banker, sometimes you go to a Shylock. Shylock, that's an anti Semitic word. Trump was asked about this. Here's his response. I wanted to ask you about one of the words you used during your speech. Shylocks.
Sierra Ortega
That's widely viewed as an anti Semitic phrase.
Michael Knowles
Do you intend for that word to be used?
Unknown Speaker
No, I've never heard it that way. To me, Shylock is somebody that's a money lender at high rates. I've never heard it that way. You view it differently than me. I've never heard that. But Anything else?
Michael Knowles
No, sorry, sorry, I don't. I don't. That's not what I mean. You don't. I never heard that. Whatever. Moving on. And he gets away with it. And do you know what? He should get away with it. Shylock is. It actually is a term that refers to Jews because it comes from the Merchant of Venice, where the Jewish character is Shylock. Great, marvelous play. But he's the Shylock. He's the guy who's lending money in an immoral way. And they say you used this anti Semitic word. He said, no, I didn't. And he's gonna get away with it. And you know why he's gonna get away with it? Not because the term Shylock cannot be offensive to Jews. It certainly can be offensive to Jews. It can be used with hostility, it can be used with cruelty, it can be used in a way that is immoral. But Trump's gonna get away with it because no one thinks Trump hates the Jews. Does anyone think Trump hates. The guy has a town in Israel named after him. The man has Jewish grandchildren. You kidding? You think you're gonna convince us that Trump hates the Jews? No. He gets to use the word Shylock because he has Charity for these people. That's really what it comes down to. And it's too bad that the Love island girl didn't watch this clip of Trump before she issued her groveling and ridiculous apology. Because you should say, no, I don't mean it in a bad way. Shut up. I didn't mean it in a bad way. No one thinks I meant it in a bad way. Give me a break. For Trump to use the word shylock in this way, it'd be like calling an Italian. It'd be like calling a thug a goomba. You say goomba. Goomba. That's an offensive word for Italians, you say. Yeah, but I'm not referring to all Italians, and I might even use the phrase to refer to someone who is not Italian. And anyway, I'm Italian, and it doesn't. I'm. Obviously, I have charity for these people, so give me a break. It's ridiculous. All stereotypes are true. We can joke about them. Doesn't mean we have to have hostility and cruelty for all sorts of people. Give me a break. The funny thing about the Jewish banker stereotype, I was just in Italy, is the most prominent banking family in the history of the world was the Medici. It's not. It's actually. It's an Italian family followed by, I don't know, the Bonsignori or something. Monte DEI Paschi di Siena. But even still, it doesn't. It's ridiculous. You don't need to go all the way down that rabbit hole. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, reporter. I shouldn't have referred to the Merchant of Venice. Please, I'll leave Love Island. Please, now. Give me a break. You don't need that. If you have charity, you can go about your life in a confident way, and you don't need to grovel to these disingenuous mobs. Okay? Speaking of rich people, Elon Musk is back in the news. His relationship with the White House is back in the news because the White House Chief of staff, Susie Wiles, just went on Pod Force One, a political show, to spill the tea on what really happened with the Elon Trump breakup.
Susie Wiles
Similar. The President was very, very kind to him, and Elon had so much to offer us. He knew things we didn't know. He knew people and technologies that we didn't know. It was a great thing when it was a great thing. And I had a very, I think, a very troublesome ending. Why do you think that happened? I don't know. Yeah, I don't understand it. I don't know, I know that what has been said doesn't ring accurate to me, but I don't know. I. I enjoyed working with Elon. I. I think he's a fascinating person and sees the world differently. And I think that's probably what the President saw too. Just a little bit different than the average Joe, but certainly came to not a good ending. Yeah, the President seemed to be very interested in him. I mean, he would spend a long time, you know, at dinners and things, talking to him closely. Obviously, there was something there, but. Who is the world's richest man, might be the world's smartest man? Honestly?
Michael Knowles
Yeah, he's the world's richest man. He might be the world's smartest man. He sees the world differently. He was great for us. We love him. I enjoyed my time with him, but it came to a bad ending. I was on TMZ yesterday, and I think it was Harvey pointed out, he said, you know, this doesn't sound Trumpy. This is usually when Trump breaks up with someone, they're attacking each other, and he's a loser, and he's an idiot. And so why is the White House being so nice to Elon here? Simple. No one on the right benefits from a Trump Musk fight. None of us benefit. The libs have been trying to instigate the Trump Musk fight from the beginning of their relationship, but no one on the right benefits from that. Elon's great. I love Elon Musk. Elon Musk bought us Twitter so that the right could have at least one social media platform where we weren't being silenced. Elon Musk donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Trump campaign, and it was one of the reasons that Trump won reelection. Elon Musk brought in new, fresh ideas. Elon Musk brought in Doge and all these cool young kids who were going in and streamlining government. Elon's great. Trump's the president. Elon's not the president. Trump's the president. And Trump calls the shots. And they had some disagreements on things, and people are gonna side with Trump more than they're gonna side with Elon, but we don't want a Trump Elon fight. I think very, very smart of the White House. Susie Wiles played that perfectly. I thought President Trump has been basically pitch perfect on handling the Elon thing. Elon walked back some of his intense accusations, and hopefully they just move on. Maybe they go their separate ways, maybe they join forces again in some way. But we don't need the Trump Musk fight. Sometimes the Drama plays really well. Sometimes the drama does not play well. This would be an example of where it would not play well. Good. We move along now. Speaking of prolific procreators, a woman has gone viral for celebrating the fact that her mother in law is carrying her own baby. Carrying the baby of her son and the younger woman's husband. And it's supposed to be a good thing. Hold on, hold on. There's a lot more that we must say, but before we do any of that, you have to go to Lumen Me Knowles. That's me. You know, I have discovered a magnificent tool that gives me real time insight into my metabolism through something as simple as my breath. It is called Lumen. Lumen is the world's first handheld metabolic coach. All you need to do is breathe into it. First thing in the morning, you will know exactly what's going on with your metabolism. Whether you're burning fats or carbs based on your measurements, Lumen creates a personalized nutrition plan just for you. Since your metabolism is basically the engine behind everything your body does, when it's working really well, you get all kinds of great benefits. I'm a big fan, especially when it comes to my health, of work smarter, not harder, especially when it comes to my health. And so if you have an amazing tool like this, it's so easy, even I can use you. Breathe into it and it says, hey, here's how you're gonna feel better throughout the day. Here's what's gonna be better for your body. Then great. You know, guesswork. It's easy. You'll have more energy throughout the day. You'll see better results from your workouts. The warmer months are coming. Spring back into your health and fitness. Go to Lumen Me Knowles and you'll get 10% off your lumen. L u m e n me knowles for 10% off your purchase. Thank you, Lumen, for sponsoring this episode. There's a video that has gone viral that is at once horrifying and sad. Sad because you do have sympathy for the woman in the video who is unknowingly expressing horrifying things. It says, girl who lost her uterus to cancer. Guy. Boy whose mom is willing to carry a baby. Is this illegal? It feels illegal. Yeah, for sure. And they're doing it anyway, I guess so right off the bat, people are nauseated by the thought of this. A guy's mother carrying his baby even though it's his baby that he made with another woman. And then you feel kind of bad because you think, well, this poor Woman lost her womb to cancer. And so you feel. But do difficult circumstances justify something this gross at least, or really immoral? I think when you think of the process involved in creating the baby. Because to create the baby you're gonna have to have a guy commit a shameful and dis. Disgusting act alone. And then you're going to have to have a scientist, a doctor go in and create embryos in a way that violates the rights of children. And then most likely you're going to kill most of those embryos or freeze them indefinitely. Then you're going to implant them in this older woman who's not the mother. Then you're going to take the kid away from the woman. And yet what's amazing about this story is people are trying to hold in their breakfast or lunch listening to it. This is probably the best version of IVF and surrogacy that there is. That's not to defend the mother in law, having the son's kid or whatever. That's to show you how morally suspect IVF and surrogacy are. This is the best version of it. Because you got a husband and a wife making the baby. You have the surrogate, the woman in whom the baby will be gestated. The nearest thing to a mother the baby will have ever known will still be involved in their lives. So he won't be just be totally ripped away from the person who seems like his mother to him. This is the best version of IVF and surrogacy. And it's ghastly. And we all know it's wrong. And you just have a feeling deep down that it's wrong. It is immediately repulsive. And you should listen to that sometimes. It's what the bioethicist Leon Cass calls the wisdom of repugnance. When things are immediately repugnant to you, you should take that seriously. That's not always gonna be right, but you should take it seriously. You should take prejudice seriously. We all have to engage by according to prejudgments, otherwise you couldn't get out of bed in the morning. And so you don't want to be irrational, but you gotta listen sometime. You gotta at least take those things seriously. And so much of modernity, so much of modernity is saying, no, don't believe that. Don't believe the wisdom of repugnance. Don't follow your gut. No, no, your gut's wrong. We know. Even if you feel terrible for this woman, cause she had cancer and couldn't conceive on her own, and even if you kind of have sympathy, or even if you try to work it out in your head that it's okay for the mother to have the son's kid with the wife, you know, this is not the way things are supposed to be. You know that. We all know that. Those people know that. And yet, bringing it back to modernity. What modernity? So much of modernity is denying that there is a way that things are supposed to be. So much of modernity, going back to the Enlightenment and especially to the scientific revolution, especially to the march of materialism, it's people saying, no, no, no. In classical philosophy, in medieval philosophy, they all thought that there's a way things are supposed to be. But we enlightened moderns know that there's no way things are supposed to be. We can just make the world however we want it to be. We decide how things are supposed to be. And then you see something like that and your lunch starts to come up, you say, ooh, I gotta push that lunch down. Cause that doesn't matter. There's no way things are supposed to be. There's no reason that shouldn't happen. There's no push that don't happen. Something in my gut is telling me that's called your conscience. Something that says, this isn't the way things are supposed to be. But modernity says, no, no, there's no way things are supposed to be. Men and women, they're not supposed to go together. Nah, man, that's just. No, that's just an old prejudice. Now, people aren't supposed to honor their mother and father. Nah, man, whatever. Forget about your mother and father. No, we're not. It is not sweet and fitting to die for one's country. Patriotism. You're not supposed to love your country. Nah, man, whatever. But we know. We all know, and we shouldn't do that. It can be tempting to do that, to do stuff like that, to transgress. But we know we shouldn't. So let's just. How about here's my radical proposal to fix all the problems that have been wrought in modernity. What if we just do the things we know we should do? The natural law that's inscribed on every human heart. We know that the law is revealed to the Israelites. We know there's revelation there. But we also know that the Gentiles, they know too. They follow the law without even knowing it. Because the natural law is inscribed on every human heart. So what if we just do the things we know we should do? That's my Idea, I don't know. And it's not like really fancy. It's not the sort of thing that a college professor says, but it's true. Speaking of norms, President Trump got in big trouble yesterday because of this funny exchange that he had with the president of Liberia that has all of Trump's enemies calling him ignorant and racist and blah, blah, blah. And the funniest thing about the exchange, I've seen no one else talking about this is it. Maybe I said, was I talking about. I wasn't talking about this with anyone yesterday. Maybe a little bubbling up a little bit. People insinuating that there's a real conclusion that you can draw from this that is not great for the liberals. The Daily Wire is where the most trusted and handsome voices in conservative media live. And this week, those voices got louder. Isabel Brown is joining the fight. Her brand new show premieres this fall only on DailyWire. Plus, this is just the beginning. We are celebrating a decade of the Daily Wire. There's so much more on the way. New shows, new hosts, new incredible films, documentaries and series. This is about building something the libs can't cancel, can't burn down, can't ignore. Get the real news, the facts that they hide, the voices they cannot Silence. Go to DailyWirePlus.com and join us today. My favorite comment yesterday is from Udirex. Thanks for high alighting this issue. It was talking about Grok becoming a Nazi. Thanks for high alighting. Do you get it? Do you get it? President Trump, according to the media, had this terrible gaffe yesterday while talking to the president of Liberia.
Unknown Speaker
Well, thank you. And such good English, such beautiful. Where did you learn to speak so beautifully? Were you educated? Where? In Liberia? Yes, sir. Well, that's very interesting. It's beautiful English. I have people at this table can't speak nearly as well.
Michael Knowles
So he's talking to the president of Liberia. He says, well, you speak beautiful English. Where'd you learn to speak that well? Where'd you study? And the guy says, oh, Liberia. Liberia. That's really interesting. Well, and all the libs started attacking Trump and mocking him because you know that Trump didn't even know that the official language of Liberia in Africa is English. He didn't even know that. That ignorant man, that racist, that. Did you know that the official language of Liberia is English? Maybe some of you did, because maybe you know a little bit about the history of Liberia. Most people do not know that. But the fact that that's true, actually, I think really undercuts many of the liberal arguments, and I think actually defends President Trump's political vision, because Liberia was established in 1847. Liberia was established as a place to send freed blacks from America. There's this debate not just among the terrible, evil, racist whites, but even among free black people, which is, okay, what are we gonna do? We were brought here as slaves. We're not really part of the political order. And now some of us freed. So what do we do? Do we just live as free men in America, or are we gonna be allowed to do that? Is that possible? Is that desirable? No. Maybe we can go back to Africa. Okay, we're gonna go back to Africa. And there's the American colonial society, colonization society, rather, is going to found this country Liberia. And that means that Liberia's official language is English. It means that Liberia has a Declaration of Independence that is quite similar to the American Declaration of Independence. We hold these truths to be self evident. And Liberia has a constitution that is basically a copy of the American Constitution. The reason that that history is all very interesting and the liberals are all kind of mocking Trump for not knowing every ounce of that history. The reason that's really interesting is it totally undercuts the arguments liberals make and it defends the arguments Trump and the MAGA movement have made about what a country is. Liberia has the same language as America. Liberia has a very similar declaration of Independence, and it has basically the same constitution. And yet Liberia is not America. Because a country is more than an idea. For my whole life, practically, I was told, America's an idea. It's just an idea. America's an idea. It's not a place. It's a placeholder for an idea. It's an idea. Countries aren't ideas. Countries are more than ideas. And you can have some people who don't like black people. They're going to say, yeah, well, the reason Liberia is not as good as America is full of black people. That's not it. Countries are more than race, too. Countries are more than ideas. They're more than language. They're more than race. They're more than any of these single factors. Countries are societies with history, with shared bonds of kinship, with traditions, with a development that makes them what they are. That is not reducible to one line on the back of a napkin, that is not reducible to a log line like you're pitching a TV show in Hollywood. Countries are more than that. Countries are geography. Countries are shared history and suffering. Countries are the different ethnic and racial groups that make it up. Countries are the languages people Speak. Countries are the idioms that people use within those languages. Countries are the ideas that have developed out of those peoples. Countries are all the. Countries are the music that they listen to. Countries are the TV shows they watch. Countries are all of that. And you can't reduce that into an ideology. And that's what Trump is saying. So when Trump says make America great again, he irritated the leftists who hate America per se, and he irritated the ideologues on the right who want to reduce America to just some abstract idea. You're violating the idea of America. No, no, no. He wants to defend America. That's what I'm about. That's what I'm about, too. That's one of the reasons I love Trump so much and I like the Trump movement, is because the thing that I want to defend in America is not freedom. Oh, yes. I'm an American patriot because I love freedom. No, I mean, I like freedom properly understood, but I don't. America's more than freedom, Jake. Equality. Yeah. I mean, what do you mean by equality? Even values. This drives me nuts when conservatives talk about values all the time. What are values? Values. I like virtue. Virtue's important. That's not even the whole story, but that's important. But values, this abstract divorce. No, you know what I want to defend? You know why I'm an American patriot? Cuz I love America and I want to preserve America and the American way of life and the American people. That's what I want to preserve. And if there are some abstractions that can be derived from that, fine. But let's not put the cart before the horse libs are going to play this clip at their own peril. I think they're going to be hoisted with their own petard. Speaking of supposed Trump gaffes, I've got the anatomy of a fake news story for you. So this clip started going around yesterday, followed by breathless headlines from the liberal media. And here's this clip in which President Trump supposedly threatened this wild maniac who's gonna send us to World War Three. Remember when the people on the left and some of the neurotic people on the right were saying two weeks ago, we're on the brink of World War III. Trump's gonna send us to World War III, a 20 year forever war. And then none of that happened. Well, here's the next Trump is going to bomb Moscow.
Unknown Speaker
You go in to Ukraine, we'll bomb this out of Moscow. I'm telling you, I haven't chose the public ones, the public republic. So he Goes like, I don't believe you. He said, he said, no way. And I said way. And then he goes like, I don't believe you. But the truth is he believe me 10%. I saw my President Xi of China, but I said the same thing to them. I said, you know, if you go into Taiwan, I'm going to bomb the out of Beijing. He thought I was crazy. He said, I said, I have no chance, I got a bomb, we're going to Bombay. And he didn't believe it. Except 10%. And 10% is all you need. In fact, 5% were Pinoc at and we never had a problem. We would have never had a problem.
Michael Knowles
So shocking. Here's the headline. Where is that? Cnn? Trump said he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin attacked Ukraine. 2024 fundraiser tape show this came out yesterday or Tuesday, July 8th. Shocking, breathless headline. And I remember thinking, wait, hold on, I've heard this story for years and I did. Here's one. 2024, Trump suggested he would have bombed Moscow for invading Ukraine, Washington Post reports. Then I got this one from 2022. Trump told golfer John Daly that he threatened Putin with hitting Moscow. I've seen a bunch of headlines like that. How is this news? What is newsy about this? There's nothing new about it. You can hear a little bit of one of the audio clips. But what is newsy about that? There is nothing new about that. It is simply a way to attack Trump as Trump confounded his critics on the left and some of them on the right by avoiding World War three with the Iran bombing, say, or in the war in Ukraine. This is a way to attack him and say, well look, this crazy man, he's gonna bomb Moscow, he's gonna bomb Beijing. I've heard about this for years. Why is that? Can CNN explain to me why they're reporting that? Can you give me any journalistic reason to report that story that has been reported many times over the last three years? The only reason to do it is to attack Trump. And this to me is good news for the administration cuz it shows things are working out well. Despite the constant incessant screams and crying of the critics on the left and a handful of malcontents on the right, Trump's doing some pretty good stuff. If they had the ability to really hit him with a cudgel, these are the people who tried to put him in jail four times and kill him. If they had the ability to really hit him, they would and they can't. They gotta dig up three year old News stories that make Trump look good. Give me a break. Now, before we get to theology Thursday, in the Membrum segmentum, there's one story this really. I'm just gonna alert you to this. Apparently, David Corenswet, whoever that is, he's some Hollywood person who's affiliated with the new Superman movie. He is swapping out Superman's catchphrase, truth, justice, and the American way for something else. What is it? Truth, justice, and good things? Is it true someone's reporting? It's truth, justice, and the human way. What. What happened? And so that scene, I think, is the crux of that character that we see. And the reality is that when he doesn't have to be Superman, when he doesn't have to be this calm, reassuring presence to the public, when he doesn't have to symbolize safety and security and truth and justice and all those good things. And all those good things. So this has been going on for years. Back in, what was it, 93 or in the early 90s, they had that Superman show where they just said he stood for truth and justice. They just took it out. And then I remember I saw that really awful Batman in 2000. Not Batman, Superman in 2006. And they changed it to truth, justice, and all that other stuff. Truth, justice, the American way swapped out for that other stuff. And then you get this one, Truth, justice. And according to Ben Owen, the line is truth, justice, and the human way. This is the craziest one of all of them. Superman stands for truth, justice, and the human way. If he stands for the human way, that means he stands for murdering his own brother. The human way. If he stands for the human way, that means he stands for concupiscence and wrath and envy and pride and rape and murder. The human way. This is the apotheosis of secular humanism, devoid of any other even remotely attendant virtue. The human way. Talk about pride. At least in that terrible 2006 movie, at least they still made Superman a Christ figure. Now they want to forget about Christ entirely, or at least Christ's divine nature. Now, as the human way, we are gods. We don't need to aspire to anything higher. We are gods. What is the human way? At least by the comparison around the world, the American way is pretty good. You know, compared to the Iranian way, compared to the Korean way, the North Korean way, compared to the Russian way, the American way is pretty good, I think. But, no, it's the human way. Now, I'm gonna try to see this movie. I'm gonna do my best to see this movie because it is gonna. I am now convinced, you know, I'm very fair to movies that are maligned as liberal. Barbie was a fabulous movie. There are a number of movies like this that I think are pretty good. This movie, I'm quite confident, is going to be just horrible. And I'm going to be there for it. Okay, it's Theology Thursday. Do not go anywhere. The rest of the show continues. Now. Use code nolscheckout for 2 months free on all annual plans.
Podcast Summary: The Michael Knowles Show – Ep. 1768: Did USAID Cause COVID?
Release Date: July 10, 2025
Host: Michael Knowles
Platform: The Daily Wire
In Episode 1768 of The Michael Knowles Show, host Michael Knowles delves into the controversial question: "Did USAID Cause COVID?" Drawing parallels with ongoing public skepticism surrounding events like the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and the JFK assassination, Knowles sets the stage for an in-depth analysis of USAID's potential role in the origins of COVID-19.
Knowles introduces a shocking new report from The Daily Caller, authored by Emily Kopp, which alleges that USAID shipped thousands of viral samples to the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) over a decade-long program. These shipments occurred without a formal agreement, raising significant concerns about biosecurity and the potential for bioweapons development.
[12:30] Michael Knowles: "USAID funded the exportation of 11,000 samples from Yunnan Province to Wuhan, where COVID-19 originated, without ensuring these samples couldn’t be misused."
This $210 million public health initiative is criticized for undermining its intended purpose, a common theme in liberal programs according to Knowles. He emphasizes that the lack of transparency and oversight makes it unlikely that the full story behind COVID-19 will ever be uncovered.
Knowles draws connections between the obscured narratives of Epstein and JFK with the current USAID-COVID discussion. He argues that the United States' global influence and extensive intelligence operations often result in the nation being implicated in various global incidents, whether directly responsible or not.
[15:45] Michael Knowles: "We're the global empire, involved in everything. That's why you'll never get the full story on Covid."
He suggests that the prevalence of powerful elites involved in scandals like Epstein's further complicates the pursuit of truth, as uncovering such information could potentially destabilize the existing world order.
Shifting focus, Knowles discusses the recent controversy surrounding Sierra Ortega from Love Island. Ortega was removed from the show after past social media posts resurfaced in which she used the term "chinky," a derogatory reference to Asian individuals.
[09:21] Sierra Ortega's Apology: "I want to first start by addressing... the entire Asian community. I am deeply, truly, honestly so sorry."
Knowles criticizes what he perceives as overzealous cancel culture, comparing Ortega's punishment to actors in classic films like Gran Torino, where offensive language is used by a heroic character.
[12:13] Michael Knowles: "Clint Eastwood's character in Gran Torino uses offensive terms, but he's the hero because he has charity and love for these people."
He argues that intent and context are often overlooked in modern discourse, leading to unfair vilification of individuals for actions that may not be malicious.
The episode further explores President Trump's use of potentially offensive language. Knowles references an incident where Trump allegedly used the term "Shylock," a character from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, often associated with anti-Semitic stereotypes.
[19:35] Michael Knowles: "Shylock is a term that refers to Jews because it comes from the Merchant of Venice... But Trump gets to use the word because he has charity for these people."
Knowles defends Trump by highlighting his positive relationship with the Jewish community, suggesting that Trump’s intentions behind using such terms are misunderstood or taken out of context.
Discussing Elon Musk, Knowles addresses the fraught relationship between Musk and the White House, particularly following Musk's acquisition of Twitter. He references a segment from Pod Force One, where White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles discusses the breakup between Elon Musk and President Trump.
[22:26] Susie Wiles: "The President was very, very kind to him, and Elon had so much to offer us... but it came to a very troublesome ending."
Knowles emphasizes that a confrontation between Trump and Musk would not benefit the conservative movement, advocating instead for collaboration to further conservative causes.
[23:37] Michael Knowles: "We don't benefit from a Trump-Elon fight. Elon's great. Trump’s the president."
A viral video is examined where a woman celebrates her mother-in-law carrying her baby as a surrogate. Knowles critiques modern reproductive technologies and the ethical implications of such arrangements.
[30:10] Michael Knowles: "This is the best version of IVF and surrogacy there is. That's not to defend the mother-in-law, but to show how morally suspect these practices are."
He invokes Leon Cass’s "wisdom of repugnance", arguing that our immediate moral reactions should be taken seriously, despite modernity’s tendency to dismiss these gut feelings.
In the Membrum Segmentum, Knowles discusses the alteration of Superman's iconic catchphrase from "Truth, justice, and the American way" to "Truth, justice, and the human way." He criticizes this change as a reflection of secular humanism and a departure from traditional virtues.
[34:35] Michael Knowles: "Superman stands for truth, justice, and the human way. This means we stand for concupiscence, wrath, envy, pride, rape, and murder."
Knowles laments the loss of moral clarity and virtue in modern media representations, using Superman as a symbol of this cultural shift.
Knowles tackles the issue of media sensationalism by examining fabricated or repetitive news stories about Trump threatening to bomb Moscow if Russia invades Ukraine.
[40:38] Michael Knowles: "CNN reported Trump said he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin attacked Ukraine. This has been reported for years with no new developments."
He criticizes the media for hysterically covering old stories to undermine Trump, asserting that these narratives are used as tools to discredit his leadership.
Throughout the episode, Michael Knowles maintains a critical stance towards both liberal policies and media practices, advocating for transparency, accountability, and traditional values. He underscores the importance of questioning official narratives and recognizing the United States' complex role in global affairs.
Notable Quotes:
Michael Knowles on USAID and COVID:
"USAID funded the exportation of 11,000 samples from Yunnan Province to Wuhan... That's why you'll never get the full story on Covid."
[12:30]
Sierra Ortega's Apology:
"I am deeply, truly, honestly so sorry."
[09:21]
Michael Knowles on Cancel Culture and Gran Torino:
"Clint Eastwood's character... he's the hero because he has charity and love for these people."
[12:13]
Michael Knowles on Trump's Use of "Shylock":
"Shylock... But Trump gets to use the word because he has charity for these people."
[19:35]
Michael Knowles on Media Sensationalism:
"CNN reported Trump said he threatened to bomb Moscow if Putin attacked Ukraine. This has been reported for years with no new developments."
[40:38]
Note: This summary captures the primary discussions and viewpoints presented in Episode 1768 of The Michael Knowles Show. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview for those who have not listened to the episode, highlighting key arguments, controversies, and cultural critiques addressed by the host.