The Michael Knowles Show
Episode 1848 – If Mamdani Wins, New Yorkers May Need to Learn Arabic
Date: November 3, 2025
Host: Michael Knowles (The Daily Wire)
Episode Overview
In this episode, Michael Knowles dives into the upcoming New York mayoral election, where Zohran Mamdani, a self-professed “Muslim Communist,” has emerged as a frontrunner. Knowles dissects the cultural and political consequences of Mamdani's candidacy, the shifting landscape of Democrat and Republican politics, President Trump's surprising commentary, and the broader implications of mass migration, identity politics, and shifting party allegiances. The show also touches on landmark issues like voting rights, abortion, same-sex marriage, and the increasing polarization—and emotional tenor—of American political life.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Zohran Mamdani Phenomenon & Identity Politics
[06:05 - 18:40]
- Knowles introduces Zohran Mamdani as “a chameleon, a political chameleon,” highlighting Mamdani’s use of Arabic language ads and shifting accents to appeal to various communities (Arab, Ugandan, New Yorker).
- Plays Mamdani’s Arabic ad targeting non-English-speaking and immigrant voters in New York.
- Argues Mamdani’s approach reflects a reality: politics is built on appealing to shared traits and identities (“That’s politics. People are really attacking him for this... well, you know what? Appealing to these voters might very well get him elected mayor of New York, even as a Muslim communist. So that’s politics.” [08:20])
- Discusses the historical arc of ethnic politics in American cities—Irish, Italians, Jews, Mexicans, and now Arabs and South Asians—and how mass migration and lack of assimilation have changed electoral dynamics.
- Criticizes liberal “bougie” white voters’ romanticization of diversity and New York cosmopolitanism, likening their worldview to sitcoms like Friends and Sex and the City:
“She just wants diversity. She wants to walk down the street hearing seven different languages... she watched all those episodes of Friends, a big city, she just knew that was for her—not her stuffy hometown.” [11:40]
- Warns that their idealization blinds them to the real consequences of urban policy and social conditions.
Notable Quote:
“Only a frivolous culture could even consider electing Zohran Mamdani. Only a resentful culture would actually do it.” – Michael Knowles [15:05]
2. Mamdani’s Accents, Political Opportunism, and Voter Motivation
[18:50 - 22:40]
- Plays a clip of Mamdani code-switching between a Ugandan and New York accent ("He's got a beard in this video. He's on some radio station, Kaya FM...”).
- Draws analogies to Hillary Clinton’s infamous accent shifts, underlining that all politicians do this on some level.
- Raises questions about Mamdani’s true identity and ideological core: “Are they getting the Muslim extremist? The LGBT queer liberation extremist? A Communist? A Ugandan? A New Yorker?...We might soon find out, though, and it's pretty scary to think about." [21:55]
3. Trump, the Buckley Rule, and Strategic Voting
[22:45 - 29:25]
- President Trump weighs in, suggesting he’d support Andrew Cuomo (“a bad Democrat”) over Mamdani, rather than waste federal dollars on a city run by “a communist.”
“If it's going to be between a bad Democrat and a Communist, I’m going to pick the bad Democrat all the time...” – Donald Trump (quoted by Knowles) [23:40]
- Knowles explains the “Buckley Rule”: support the most right-leaning viable candidate—sometimes that means holding your nose and choosing the lesser evil.
- Presents two right-wing perspectives:
- Let New York fall and “learn their lesson.”
- Try to prevent a “Communist” from controlling America’s largest city for the country’s sake.
- Ultimately, Knowles leans toward the latter for national cohesion, but personally can't endorse Cuomo.
4. Close Races & Shifting Party Fortunes in 2025
[29:30 - 33:50]
- Highlights the unexpectedly tight New Jersey gubernatorial race (Jack Ciatarelli vs. Mikie Sherrill) as evidence that past political patterns may not hold—“we’re through the looking glass.”
- Notes the uniquely awful reputation of the Democratic Party:
“The Democrat party’s reputation is as bad today…actually considerably worse than it has been in my lifetime. Don’t take my word for it—listen to CNN.” [32:25]
- Plays a CNN soundbite: “The Democratic brand is in the basement. It is total and complete garbage in the mind of the American public.” [33:10]
5. From “Safe, Legal, and Rare” to “As Many Abortions As You Want”
[47:55 - 52:49]
- Highlights a Planned Parenthood post: “You can get as many abortions as you need and want.”
- Contrasts this with the old Democratic messaging (ex: Hillary Clinton’s “Safe, legal, and rare”), and argues that modern leftism is the logical result of that earlier cognitive dissonance:
“Ideas themselves have momentum…Either it was going to cease to be legal or it was going to cease to be rare. And now you’ve seen the sides clarified.” [50:50]
- Asserts that abortion, same-sex marriage, and “transing the kids” are all logical consequences of underlying ideas about identity and rights.
6. Voter Integrity: Trump’s Executive Order and Judicial Pushback
[41:20 - 47:00]
- Discusses President Trump's executive order requiring proof of citizenship for federal elections.
- Federal judge rules the order unconstitutional on procedural grounds.
- Knowles mocks the legal reasoning:
“That’s like saying the President has no right to require that squares have four equal sides…It’s not that the Trump White House is changing the way elections are to be conducted exactly. The Trump White House is merely clarifying something that is intrinsic to voting...” [43:15]
- Argues that the inability to restrict voting to citizens undermines the very idea of a polity—a recurring fear of “voter fraud.”
7. The Nature of Political Coalitions and Standards
[1:04:20 - 1:12:40]
- Plays Wanda Sykes’ comments about favoring women—especially black women—in hiring (“Girl, you got the job!”).
- Explains that while illegal, this is fundamentally human nature: people prefer those who resemble them:
“It is human nature to like people who are similar to you…The only way to grapple with that... is to establish some basis of similarity in the country.” [1:08:15]
- Advocates for unity through shared standards and values, not imposed by the left’s “woke” dogmas but rooted in natural law and the common good.
8. Jon Stewart and The Loss of Affection in Politics
[1:12:45 – 1:16:45]
- Shares a clip of Jon Stewart reflecting on the importance of loving family members across ideological divides:
“I’ve got people in my family that are to the right of Attila the Hun... and by the way, I love him. He’s a three-dimensional human being who has qualities that I really admire. We’ve lost the ability to love people, because we litmus test at every point.” — Jon Stewart [1:13:30]
- Knowles commends Stewart for sincere affection for ideological opponents, but observes that it’s now rare on the left (“No right winger speaks about the left in the way the left speaks about the right.” [1:15:25]).
- Concludes that this absence of love and unity is at the heart of the spiritual malaise afflicting the American left.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Mamdani’s campaign & immigrant politics:
“When you import the rest of the world and you tell them not to assimilate... then don’t expect them to campaign in any other way.” [10:10]
-
On political culture and leftist priorities:
“There is the politics of the supposedly aggrieved minority, which is mostly resentful. There is the politics of hippie children—which is mostly frivolous. Hers is a little frivolous and resentful. And I’m not sure which one is more dangerous.” [13:20]
-
On Trump’s Buckley Rule endorsement:
“If it’s going to be between a bad Democrat and a Communist, I’m going to pick the bad Democrat all the time.” – Donald Trump (quoted) [23:45]
-
On CNN covering Democratic party’s decline:
“There is no front runner. Nobody wants to put anybody up at the top of their ballot list because… the Democratic brand is in the basement. It is total and complete garbage in the mind of the American public.” – CNN Pollster [33:10]
-
On momentum of radical ideas:
“Ideas have their own momentum... the momentum is going to continue in the other direction.” [52:00]
-
On coalition building after DEI and wokeism:
“We need to offer our own standards that are good. Our own standards—like good is to be pursued and evil avoided.” [1:11:02]
-
On the importance of love in a divided era:
“If we have all the virtues but we don’t have love, we’re nothing but clanging cymbals.” [1:16:15]
Important Timestamps
| Timestamp | Content/Theme | |:----------:|:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------:| | 06:05 | Zohran Mamdani and identity-based campaign in NYC | | 10:10 | Politics of mass migration and lack of assimilation | | 13:20 | Liberal white voters and their motivations—frivolous & resentful | | 18:50 | Mamdani’s code-switching and political performance | | 22:45 | Trump’s strategic endorsement and Buckley Rule analogy | | 29:35 | New Jersey gubernatorial race and shifting demographics | | 33:10 | CNN’s analysis of Democratic Party’s cratering public image | | 41:20 | Federal judge blocks Trump’s voter ID policy | | 47:55 | Planned Parenthood’s abortion messaging and shifting leftist positions | | 52:00 | The logical progression from “safe, legal, rare” to abortion on demand | | 1:04:20 | Wanda Sykes: “Girl, you got the job”—human nature, similarity, and the search for unity | | 1:12:45 | Jon Stewart on loving family across partisan lines | | 1:16:15 | “If we have all virtues but no love, we’re nothing but clanging cymbals” |
Episode Tone & Style
Knowles’ tone is sardonic and incisive, often laced with mockery, particularly toward leftist politicians, media, and identity politics. He bounces between vivid cultural commentary, political analysis, and philosophical reflection, with asides that are both tongue-in-cheek and sincere, especially when discussing broader trends or closing on the theme of love and unity.
For Listeners Who Missed the Episode
This episode provides a comprehensive, right-leaning critique of the cultural and political transformations upending New York, the Democratic Party, and American society. Through the lens of the looming New York mayoral election, Knowles argues that identity politics, mass immigration, and the collapse of shared standards have created a crisis—a test case for whether America’s largest city, or the nation at large, can redefine or reclaim its core values.
The episode moves briskly from local politics to national trends, always circling back to the question: What kind of community do we want, and what standards—if any—still unite us?