The Michael Knowles Show Episode 1876
Date: December 16, 2025
Title: BREAKING: FBI Stops MASSIVE New Year's Eve Terror Plot

Episode Overview

In this episode, Michael Knowles addresses the breaking news of the FBI thwarting a terror plot aimed at Los Angeles on New Year's Eve. He delves into the overlapping motivations between far-left activists and Islamist groups, the targeted shooting at Brown University, the impact of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) policies on millennials—particularly white men—Gen Z's financial woes, and recent controversies around the "Appeal to Heaven" flag. Along the way, Knowles analyzes media bias, generational grievances, and identity politics within America’s evolving culture wars.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. FBI Foils Leftist Terror Plot in LA

[00:00–06:00]

• Incident Summary: A major terrorist attack planned for New Year’s Eve in Los Angeles was stopped by the FBI.

  • The group behind the plot: Order of the Black Lotus, a spin-off from Turtle Island Liberation Front.
  • Members arrested: Tina Lay, Audrey Eileen Carroll, Zachary Aaron Page, and Dante Gaffield—from affluent LA neighborhoods.

• Motivations and Ideological Overlap:

  • The group’s materials included slogans like “Death to America,” “Long live Turtle Island and Palestine,” and “Death to ICE.”
  • Knowles highlights the similarity between the slogans of leftist terrorists and Islamist groups, noting:

    “What is so strange, or actually maybe not so strange about this case in LA is that it seems to have been leftists using the arguments of Islamists, leaving some of us to wonder what practically is the difference between the two.” [00:48]

• Common Enemies as Unifying Force:

  “They have a number of common enemies on different levels. One would be America. They all hate America. At a greater level of abstraction, they all hate Western civilization. At an even greater level of abstraction, they all hate Christianity.” [06:20]

2. Recent Violent Attacks and the Media Response

[06:30–13:30]

• Australia Hanukkah Attack: Islamist terrorists killed 16 at a Jewish celebration in Australia.

• Brown University Shooting:

  • Victim: Ella Cook, Republican Club VP, possibly targeted due to her political identity.
  • Second victim: Mohammed Aziz Umur Zhokov, an aspiring neurosurgeon.
  • Media confusion, lack of information, and police mishandling lead to speculation.
  • Reporter Mark Halperin (guest):

    “The family of Ella Cook...has been told that she was the target of what happened at Brown. I have no idea whether that’s true...But if it is, that’s a big story because she was one of the most visible conservatives on that campus.” [11:45, Mark Halperin]

• Knowles's Frustration with Media Coverage:

  • Conservative-targeted violence underreported.
  • Calls out mainstream media’s lack of curiosity if the targets are on the right:

    “Can we even talk about it? Are you even hearing about this in the establishment media?” [12:21]

3. Rise of White Male Grievance – The ‘Lost Generation’

[13:30–30:30]

• Compact Magazine’s “The Lost Generation” by Jacob Savage:
  Knowles reviews this article about DEI’s impact on millennial white men in professional America.

• Key Findings:

  • DEI didn’t hurt older white men (pre-established in their careers), but significantly hindered millennials and young zoomers from breaking into industries—especially Hollywood, journalism, medicine, and tech.
  • Example from Medicine:

    “In 2014, white men were 31% of American medical students. By 2025, they were just 20.5% — a 10 percentage point drop in barely over a decade.” [24:40]

• Cultural Consequences:

  • Journalism became "more effeminate" and "a lot more liberal."
  • “Discriminating against this specific group, not only did it push them out of their careers, it changed the industry.” [22:20]

• Celebration Parallax:

  • If you applaud the demographic drop for white men, you’re celebrated; if you criticize it, you’re called a conspiracy theorist.

• Group Identity and Alienation:

  • White Americans historically low on racial identity, but identity politics on the left are causing a rise on the right.
  • On generational alienation:

    “Don't be surprised when people feel a little isolated from their culture, deracinated, feel as if they don’t really have a stake in the society. It comes from somewhere.” [27:30]

• The Need for Political Solutions:

  • Individualism isn’t enough—systemic discrimination requires systemic redress.
  • Praises Supreme Court’s end of affirmative action and Trump’s immigration policies.

4. Gen Z Economic Pressures

[31:20–38:40]

• Key Points:

  • Gen Z spending more on essentials; real wages stagnant compared to inflation and cost-of-living.
  • Housing costs and other staples have skyrocketed, partly due to mass migration:

    “Especially the rises in rent are something like 40% attributable to mass migration. So the zoomers are getting hammered on this.” [34:45]

• Right Wing Critique:

  • Acknowledges that older conservatives often minimize younger generations' burdens:

    “The whole culture tells you not to do that. This on top of white male millennials and older Zoomers being actively discriminated against in the college admissions process and in the job market. The zoomers do have it tough, okay?” [36:00]

  • Political, not just cultural, solutions are needed:

    “Politics is done politically. Politics is an effort of the community.” [36:50]

• Notable Analogy:

  • References “The Godfather” to reinforce that, while whites and zoomers shouldn’t wallow in self-pity, society needs to acknowledge the legitimacy of their grievances.

5. Controversy Over the Pine Tree ("Appeal to Heaven") Flag

[39:00–43:00]

• Media Scandal:

  • USA Today’s Zach Schremelli describes the historic Pine Tree Flag as a controversial “Christian nationalist symbol” because it appeared on January 6th and outside a Supreme Court Justice’s home.

• Knowles’s Rebuttal:

  • The flag is from the American Revolution, commissioned by George Washington, and the phrase “Appeal to Heaven” comes from John Locke—not the Bible.
  • “So if the pine tree flag is a symbol of Christian nationalism, then so are George Washington and John Locke. Fine by me.” [42:40]

• Memorable Quote:

  “If the libs read John Locke today, they would call him a Christian nationalist. He said that atheists shouldn’t be able to speak in public.” [43:00]

6. Media Bias: Jake Tapper Confession

[43:40–44:40]

• Moment of Self-Admission:
  • Jake Tapper admits on a livestream that he covered Trump more critically because he gave Biden a pass during his administration.
  • Knowles ridicules this as proof of inherent media bias:

    "You want to know why I go so hard on Trump? Because I gave Joe Biden a free pass and I lied on his behalf for four years. So that’s why it’s so important that I go hard on Trump... The fact that Tapper can say this with a straight face...is impressive." [44:14]

Memorable Quotes

• Michael Knowles [00:48]:

  “Those are the two groups that do the terrorism. So which one was it?”

• FBI Statement [03:25]:

  “This case is another reminder about the dangers that radicalized antifa-like groups pose to people, public safety, and the rule of law.”

• Mark Halperin [11:45]:

  “The family of Ella Cook...has been told that she was the target of what happened at Brown...But if it’s true that she was targeted, that’s a big story because she was one of the most visible conservatives on that campus.”

• Michael Knowles [27:30]:

  “Don’t be surprised when people feel a little isolated from their culture, deracinated, feel as if they don’t really have a stake in the society. It comes from somewhere.”

• Michael Knowles [42:40]:

  “If the pine tree flag is a symbol of Christian nationalism, then so are George Washington and John Locke. Fine by me.”

• Michael Knowles (on Jake Tapper) [44:14]:

  “You want to know why I go so hard on Trump? Because I gave Joe Biden a free pass and I lied on his behalf for four years. So that’s why it’s so important that I go hard on Trump.”

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 – Recap of recent terror incidents; FBI stops LA plot
• 03:25 – FBI statement on Order of the Black Lotus
• 06:20 – Analysis on leftist/Islamist overlap
• 11:45 – Mark Halperin on Brown University shooting
• 13:30 – DEI, “The Lost Generation” and millennial white male struggles
• 24:40 – Statistics on white men in medicine
• 34:45 – Gen Z hit hardest by cost-of-living and migration
• 39:00 – Pine Tree Flag controversy and historical context
• 43:40 – Jake Tapper admits media bias

Conclusion

Michael Knowles weaves together headline news, identity conflicts, and sociopolitical grievances from America's left and right. He paints a picture of ideological convergence among radicals, details the fallout for young men under DEI, highlights economic hardship for Gen Z, and punctures media narratives around symbols and bias.

For listeners who want a succinct breakdown of America’s current cultural flashpoints—with Knowles’s trademark rhetoric and unapologetic perspective—this episode offers a primer on the right-wing response to America’s latest news cycle.