The Michael Knowles Show — Ep. 1856

Title: The Right-Wing SPLITS Over Trump’s H1-B Legal Immigration Plan
Air Date: November 13, 2025
Host: Michael Knowles (The Daily Wire)

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the growing divide on the political right over Donald Trump’s support for maintaining and expanding the H-1B visa program and legal immigration. Michael Knowles unpacks the outrage among conservative base voters, examines the “dirty secret” about U.S. migration numbers, and discusses the broader context, including economic pressures, generational divides, and party coalition interests. The episode also touches on notable moments in current cultural and political debates, from John Fetterman’s critique of leftist vitriol, to Michelle Obama’s statements about black beauty, to Jack Schlossberg's family feud, the diversity "problem" in podcasting, and contentious issues around gender spaces and church scandals.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Trump’s Comments on H-1B Visas and Talent (04:01–06:58)

• Context: Trump administration’s public defense of H-1B visas and legal migration has incited anger among right-wing conservatives.
• Quotes & Major Points:
  • Michael Knowles:

    “Just the way the sound bite falls, it sounds like President Trump is saying that Americans aren't talented.”
    (04:34)

  • Trump clarified (via Laura Ingraham interview) that certain “talents” are lacking domestically, sparking interpretation that American workers are being devalued.
  • Many on the right, particularly younger and more nationalist conservatives, are frustrated by policies that seem to increase legal migration during a period when they want overall reductions.

2. Kristi Noem on the Administration’s Immigration Stance (05:51–06:58)

• Kristi Noem (Secretary of DHS):

  “We’re going to keep using our visa programs… we’re actually doing the vetting of the individuals who come into this country, that they want to be here for the right reasons…”
  (05:51)

• Knowles points out that Noem’s defense addresses vetting/security but sidesteps the labor market impact and core policy question: “Are there Americans who can fill these jobs?”

3. Conservative Discontent and the “Dirty Secret” (06:58–12:49)

• Knowles identifies two camps within the right:

  • 1. Boomer Conservatives: Oppose illegal immigration but support higher legal immigration.
  • 2. Restrictive Nationalists (Younger/more right-wing): Want drastic reductions in all migration (legal and illegal).

• The “Dirty Secret”:

  “We are on track to have net negative migration into the United States this year. Net negative migration for the first time in half a century.”
  (08:43)

• Key factors: Increased deportations and self-deportations leading to fewer net arrivals, regardless of visa and naturalization numbers.

4. Economic Context: AI, Tech, and Political Calculus (12:49–15:56)

• The tech sector and AI boom are critical for the economy:

  “Silicon Valley is propping up our whole economy. Right now, the stocks that are propping up the market are the Mag 7, these big tech stocks, AI in particular.”
  (13:46)

• Trump’s balancing act: Keeping donors, industries, and voter blocs content, even if it means giving rhetorical support to skilled immigration while practicing overall restrictionism.

5. Political Culture & Civility: John Fetterman’s Critique of the Left (16:13–17:29)

• John Fetterman (Democratic Senator) on CNN:

  “The right would say really rough things... but on the left it was like, they want me to die. Or that we're cheering for your next stroke, or... That's terrible, that depression. Why couldn't it. Depression won. And I hope your kids find you.”
  (16:34–17:29)

• Knowles underscores that leftist online behavior is more hateful, as confirmed by statistical social research, and muses about the paradox of the left’s performative “kindness.”

6. Pop Culture & Trump’s Human Touch: The Osbourne Voicemail (20:20–20:57)

• Michael Knowles plays and analyzes a personal voicemail from Donald Trump to Sharon Osbourne after Ozzy Osbourne’s passing, highlighting Trump’s personal, non-performative empathy.

  • Michael Knowles:

    “I love this voicemail so much. Because he didn’t have to do it... what I love about the voicemail is it’s personal, you can recognize it. Just like Jack Osbourne says, you know who it is, you don’t need to intro it. You can tell it’s Trump, but it’s not performative in any way.”
    (20:51–20:57)

7. Michelle Obama on “Unique Black Beauty” and Gnostic Liberalism (23:17–26:16)

• Michelle Obama’s comments about the “power” and “uniqueness” of black beauty prompt Knowles to discuss identity politics as “gnostic racism”—an induction into a special knowledge/cult.

  • Michelle Obama:

    “And our beauty is so powerful and so unique that it is worthy of... the conversation and it's worthy of demanding the respect that we're owed for who we are and what we offer to the world.”
    (23:23–23:40)

  • Michael Knowles:

    “If something is powerful, it does not require you to educate people, to induct you into the secret mysteries of it. If a thing has power in itself, then it imposes itself on others.”
    (23:44)

8. Podcasting’s “Diversity Problem” (27:55–30:20)

• Recent study: 64% of podcast hosts are male; 77% are white.
• Knowles uses this to discuss the unregulated nature of podcasting as a market-driven medium and critiques top-down diversity mandates in other broadcasting forms.
  • Michael Knowles:

    “Maybe white guys, maybe we finally found our niche. Maybe we were made for podcasting. That’s certainly what the market says.”
    (30:20)

9. Kennedy Family Feud: Jack Schlossberg vs. RFK Jr. (34:08–35:07)

• Jack Schlossberg (JFK’s grandson) on MSNBC lambasts his cousin RFK Jr., calling him a “rabid dog.”

  • Jack Schlossberg:

    "A rabid dog in his cabinet. Put a collar on my cousin RFK Jr and has him there barking, spreading lies and spreading misinformation."
    (34:08)

  • Michael Knowles:

    “This is nasty. This is ugly. People don’t like to see family members wage attacks on each other this way... How can anyone be a patriot if he would treat his own family this way?”
    (35:07)

10. Transgender Rights, Feminism, and Single-Sex Spaces (41:00–45:48)

• At a Scott Wiener town hall, a black lesbian constituent confronts him after being attacked by a trans woman in a women’s locker room.

  • Constituent:

    “As a lesbian woman who was attacked in a woman's locker room at Gold's Gym... what would you say to women who are seeking assurance that their safety will be protected from men who by California law can self-ID as women...”
    (41:06–41:37)

  • Scott Wiener:

    “We have trans people, both men and women, who are men and women. And so, you know, we. So if you're trans, women are women.”
    (41:43–41:56)

• Knowles: Argues the core objection to transgender ideology should be its departure from reality, not just safety or sports.

  • Esther C. Krakue (tweet quoted):

    “Why do women always have to cite sexual domestic violence to justify single sex spaces? Shouldn’t 'I don’t want to share a changing room with a man' be enough?”
    (45:20)

11. Catholicism and LGBT Inclusion: Gio Benitez’s Confirmation (49:03–51:30)

• Gio Benitez (ABC anchor) confirmed in the Catholic Church as an openly gay man, with his husband as sponsor, facilitated by Fr. James Martin.
• Knowles calls this a “serious scandal” and discusses the importance of doctrinal clarity:
  • Michael Knowles:

    “The truth above all things is to be pursued. And this kind of stuff, it's a kind of soft fake niceness... but it's scandalous. And people need to take note of that.”
    (51:19)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the GOP’s H-1B Split:

  “We're losing social solidarity. There's strains on the welfare system. Crime is going up. I have to press 3 for English. I don't want it. I don't want it.”
  (Michael Knowles, 07:54)

• On Net Negative Migration:

  “If the net effect of that is that we have net negative migration for the first time in 50 years... and the administration goes on TV and says ‘we love legal immigrants and that's it,’ that’s what it... Sign me up, man.”
  (Michael Knowles, 10:01)

• On Leftist Vitriol:

  "If you look at social scientific data, you notice that the left is meaner. The left is more likely to unfollow people on social media, to disown family over politics, to justify political violence, to celebrate political violence."
  (Michael Knowles, 15:57)

• On Trump’s Relatability:

  “People still wonder, how does this billionaire from New York, big TV star... have a relation to the common man? It's that—it’s these intangibles."
  (Michael Knowles, 21:06)

• On Liberalism and “Gnostic Racism”:

  "That is gnostic racism. That is to say, look, there’s this special power of black beauty, but you have not been inducted into the special mystery cult, so let me do that to you."
  (Michael Knowles, 24:46)

• On Sex Segregated Spaces:

  “...the reason that we can't have transgenderism in public life or that we should not is because it's false. It's completely ridiculous. A man can't be a woman and, and it harms everyone involved when you pretend that he can.”
  (Michael Knowles, 44:19)

Important Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 01:27 | Episode Intro begins (post-sponsor section) | | 04:01 | Trump’s comments on H1-B and conservative reaction | | 05:51 | Kristi Noem explains admin visa policy on Fox | | 06:58 | Knowles’ deep dive on migration and 'dirty secret' | | 12:49 | The economic and political stakes for legal migration | | 16:13 | John Fetterman slams leftist online hate | | 20:20 | Osbourne family plays personal Trump voicemail | | 23:17 | Michelle Obama’s ‘unique black beauty’ comments | | 27:55 | ‘Diversity problem’ in podcasting coverage | | 34:08 | Kennedy family drama: Schlossberg vs. RFK Jr. | | 41:00 | Black lesbian constituent confronts Scott Wiener | | 49:03 | LGBT confirmation scandal in the Catholic Church |

Tone and Language

• The tone is sharp, polemical, and often humorous or sarcastic, in keeping with Knowles’ trademark style.
• Content is presented with a combination of cultural critique, policy analysis, and personal anecdote, directly addressing traditionalist and nationalist frustrations, while maintaining skepticism of both establishment narratives and performative progressivism.

Useful Takeaways

• There’s a real and expanding split on the right regarding legal immigration, with generational and ideological rifts evident.
• The Trump administration is de facto reducing net migration despite pro-legal-immigration rhetoric, mainly through aggressive deportations and self-deportation trends.
• Economic considerations (namely, tech industry demands) factor significantly into conservative policy balancing acts.
• Discord and incivility increasingly define mainstream politics—not just between parties, but within them (Democrat family feuds; Republican “civil wars”).
• "Gnostic" takes on race/gender by the left may alienate even some in their own ranks, especially as basic realities are denied or mandated to be ignored.
• Issues like single-sex spaces and trans rights are increasingly creating rifts not just between left and right but within traditionally left-leaning or marginalized groups.

This summary should serve both as a comprehensive guide for those who missed the episode and a reference for listeners seeking specific discussions, quotes, or thematic threads.