Don Lemon (5:48)

So you can see the protesters here have gathered over here. They're in the middle of the church. During the beginning of the church service, the pastor was speaking. Nakima stood up and said her piece, and then the protesters surrounded her. But this is a clandestine mission. I think they found out one of. According to them, this is according to Operation Pull up, that one of the pastors here is a member of ice. And so here we go.

Michael Knowles (6:21)

Yeah. So the voice that you're hearing, I think that is also Don Lemon. The Don Lemon of it all is very, very weird. He enters into this church with the mob, and then he's explaining the mob's position. This seems less like a journalist covering a news story than a journalist participating in a news story. A journalist encouraging a news story, a journalist breaking the law. In any case, though, the mob busts into church during the service because they say that one of the pastors is affiliated with ice. Don Lemon then, dressed like an antifa black block thug wearing a hoodie, goes up to one of the pastors and gets right up in his face.

Don Lemon (7:08)

What do you think of this?

Pastor at Minneapolis Church (7:09)

I mean, this is unacceptable. It's shameful. It's shameful to interrupt a public gathering of Christians in worship.

Don Lemon (7:19)

But there were folks who will say.

Pastor at Minneapolis Church (7:21)

I have to take care of my flock. Listen, we live in a.

Don Lemon (7:24)

There's a constitution in the first place, First Amendment to freedom of speech and freedom to assemble and protest.

Pastor at Minneapolis Church (7:29)

We're here to worship. We're here to worship Jesus because that's the hope of these cities. That's the hope of the world, is Jesus Christ. I'm gonna be very respectful.

Don Lemon (7:36)

Please don't push me, though.

Pastor at Minneapolis Church (7:37)

We're here. We're here to worship Jesus. That's why we're here.

Michael Knowles (7:41)

Okay?

Pastor at Minneapolis Church (7:41)

That's why we're here. That's what we're about.

Don Lemon (7:43)

Don't you think Jesus would be understanding?

Pastor at Minneapolis Church (7:45)

And we're about love these folks. We're about spreading the love of Jesus.

Don Lemon (7:49)

But did you try to talk to them as a Christian?

Pastor at Minneapolis Church (7:51)

No one is willing to talk Okay. I have to take care of my church and my family, so I asked that you actually would also. You don't want us to chronicle worship?

Michael Knowles (8:00)

I'm always worship.

Don Lemon (8:01)

I'm a Christian.

Michael Knowles (8:03)

I'm always worshiping. Ha. I'm a Christian. News to me. Interesting. Didn't know that. I know a few things about Don Lemon's life. It's surprising to me that he would call himself a Christian. But he's obviously not being serious. Says, ha, ha. What do you mean? I mean, just take it from the beginning, he says, I mean, we have a First Amendment right here. So you can just bust into anybody's private church service, any organization, any association. Can you bust into someone's home? Hey, we're protesting. I'm just protesting. I have a First Amendment right. Hey, so I know I'm interrupting dinner, but hand me a turkey leg. I'm protesting. That's my constitutional right. Does anyone seriously believe that? Is Don Lemon that dumb? I don't think so. I mean, you would have to be powerfully, powerfully stupid and ignorant. And I don't think he is. I think he has bad intentions. I think he has an ill will. He's certainly malicious, but I don't think that he's all that dumb. He busts into this church with a mob. He says, why aren't you talking to them? Meanwhile, you hear the mob just shrieking and screaming. And the pastor rightly says, I don't think they wanna talk. Yeah, but come on, it's their First Amendment right. So what's crucial here is they don't have any right to do this. Not only do they not have any right to do this, it's actually against federal law. There's something called the FACE Act. The FACE act is really just used to stop pro lifers from advocating outside of abortion clinics. But the way that they were able to get the FACE act passed was to say, okay, well, we're gonna stop demonstrators at abortion clinics, and we're also gonna stop them at churches. So, okay, so the left, you know, we're gonna protect the left's churches, which is where you go and sacrifice babies. And we're gonna. We're also gonna protect the rights churches, which are just churches. So, okay, you know, it's like, well, fine, listen, here's our concession to you conservatives. We'll stop leftist mobs from ransacking your churches, but you need to stop praying outside of abortion mills where they're slaughtering babies to Moloch, okay? And it got passed. The FACE act should be Repealed. But in as much as it's still the law, they are not allowed to do this. We wouldn't tolerate this in any other circumstance, even if we weren't talking about churches specifically. As one of the congregants mentions to Don Lemon.

Church Congregant (10:18)

These people have come into our house and they've interrupted our worship. This is a house of peace. And we try to proclaim that. And this stirs division and rancor. And in the end, it's not helpful. Ultimately, I believe they've lost. They've emptied a house of worship. Everybody's gone home. Their point has been proven worthless. And so in the end, I think they lose. But more importantly, if I was to break into any of their houses uninvited, caused derision and upset according to their values, I would be kicked out. Ultimately, it's not a good way. I feel violated. I feel interrupted. I feel angry.

Michael Knowles (11:10)

Yeah, yeah. Very well stated. And there's Don Lemon, just looking like a complete. Not even looking like a schmuck. He's just looking like a radical, like a real radical. And he used to keep it in check. He used to seem more moderate. Then he went a little more left as CNN went more left. And since he's left cnn, now, he's just cheering on the ransacking of churches. They always go after the churches. They always go after the churches. This was true in the French Revolution. This was true in the Spanish Civil War. This was true in the Bolshevik Revolution. And the left just. This was true in Mexico. They always go after the churches. This is true in Germany, the Nazis, too, which. All of those movements were from the left. The Nazi movement was more from the right, but it's a little complicated. They, too, though, swore to get rid of the churches in Germany, radically changed the churches. In Germany, they always go after the churches. Why is that? I mean, even going down to the origin of right and left, the origin of right and left in the French Revolution had the people on the right who defended the church and the people on the left of the national assembly who hated the church and who ended up trying to destroy it. In France, the church got the last laugh, but there was a lot of suffering in the meantime. And Don Lemon defends all of this. The establishment media defend all of this. We look a little closer at the establishment media. There's this clip going viral on the BBC of a BBC journalist interviewing some guy. I don't even know who the guy is, and asks, who are your. Who are your heroes? Who do you look up to? Listen to his answer. And the lady's reaction just quickly, who are your heroes?

Daniel Tendaray / Voice Actor in Dramatic Reading (12:49)

My heroes are Santandeev, Kendrick Lamar, most of all, Jesus Christ. Well, it's lovely to meet you, Daniel Tendaray.

Michael Knowles (12:59)

What? I didn't know if that was a real clip at first. I had to go into the community notes. I had to look for context around here. There are news articles about this. Hey, who are your heroes? Oh, you know, I like so and so. I like Kendrick Lamar. And of course, my ultimate hero, Jesus Christ. Begone. What is your business with me, Jesus of Nazareth? My time is not yet come. Well, wonderful to have you with us. Thank you so much for joining. We'll have to have you back. We'll be back in one. First, a quick message from our friends over at Sealy Hats Incorporated. That was really a bizarre reaction, wasn't it? But maybe it wasn't. We see this a lot, all of these political revolutions. They always go after the churches. They always go after the clergy. They always go. There's a special kind of hatred with these radicals, a special kind of hatred for the name of Christ. And then you hear this woman, oh, Kendrick Lamar. I like Kendrick Lamar. And of course, Jesus Christ, like the serpent in the garden. And it shouldn't really be surprising because if you believe in Christianity, this makes sense. If you believe in Christianity, this makes sense. The holy name would be a terror of demons. If you don't believe in Christianity, this doesn't make sense. But that should stop you, too. What is it about the name of Jesus? What is it about the churches that get these radicals riled up? Especially in a way that seems really kind of inexplicable. Why did the lady hiss? If you don't believe in Christianity, it doesn't make any sense. If you do believe in Christianity, it makes perfect sense. This would be exhibit Z. I don't know. This would be piece of evidence number 10,558. Perhaps Christianity is true. Have you ever considered that? Well, speaking of Christianity, we'll get to a controversial statement that's just come out of the patriarchs and heads of the churches in Jerusalem with regard to Christian Zionism. We'll get to that momentarily. First, though, I want to tell you about Helix sleep. Go to helixsleep.com knowles. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, michael, what is it like to sleep with you? Well, it's comfy is what it is. And don't stop thinking about sleeping with me. Think about what it's like to sleep with you. What is your ideal custom designed sleep. That's what Helix is going to give you. Okay, Helix doesn't just have one of these one size fits all kinds of products. Helix has the Sleep Quiz, which is very straightforward. It matches you to the perfect mattress based on your specific preferences and sleep needs. Not just another mattress company. This is the most awarded mattress brand out there with glowing reviews from major publications like Forbes and Wired. And by the way, who cares what they think? Glowing reviews from me, your favorite podcaster. It's not just the marketing hype. A study that they conducted found that 82% of participants actually saw an increase in their deep sleep cycle while sleeping on a Helix mattress, which is pretty impressive when you think about how crucial quality sleep is for everything else in life. I love it. I have multiple Helixes in my house actually right now. Go to helixsleep.com knowles for 27% off helixsleep.com knowles make sure you enter code Knowles at checkout so you know that we sent you helixsleep.com knowles very controversial statement according to the Internets. Just came out of not just the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, which is the chief Catholic prelate in Jerusalem, but the heads of the other churches around Jerusalem. You know, the Armenian Church, the Syriac Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, all those kinds of Apostolic churches. Here we are. I'll just read it to you. A statement from the Patriarchs and heads of the churches in Jerusalem on unity and representation of the Christian Communities in the Holy Land. The Patriarchs and heads of the churches in the Holy Land affirm before the faithful and before the world that the flock of Christ in this land is entrusted to the Apostolic Churches which have borne their sacred ministry across centuries with steadfast devotion. This is the controversial line. Recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies such as Christian Zionism, mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock. These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East. Goes on a few more paragraphs. It says, may the Lord, who is the shepherd and guardian of souls, grant wisdom for the protection of his people and the safeguarding of his witness in the Sacred Land. The Patriarchs and heads of the Churches in Jerusalem so what is this about? There's been a lot of talk about Zionism generally, which is the nationalist ideology that sprung up in the 19th century that sent the Jews back to the Holy Land where they had been a couple of millennia prior. It hadn't really been in big numbers for a while. And then they go back. We've heard a lot about Zionism. We've even heard about Christian Zionism, which is the. A Christian perspective on this. But what are they talking about? This local individuals who are sowing discord, who are upending the proper Christian authority. And I did a little research. Cause I don't really know. Cause I'm Catholic, and I don't follow these particularly Protestant trends all that closely. But I think what they're referring to is this guy, Robert Stearns, who calls himself Bishop Robert Stearns. He's not part of any apostolic Christian community, but he calls himself Bishop Robert Stearns. And he is apparently a vociferous advocate of the ideology of Christian Zionism. Here's just a little bit of what he said recently.

Bishop Robert Stearns / Justin Waller / Tristan Tate (18:36)

If I had a hundred lifetimes, it would not be sufficient teshuvah. It would not be sufficient repentance for all that has happened over history. But I'm here tonight to say something to you. I'm here tonight to tell you that there is a new breed of Christian alive in the world today. There is a new breed of Christian that's says along with you, for Zion's sake, I will not be silent. And for Jerusalem's sake, I will not be still. We have been divided. There is the fear. Evangelicals are all missionaries. We just want to get you all to return to Jerusalem so the Apocalypse can come. When Mashiach comes, there will be a great press conference in Jerusalem. The BBC and the New York Times will not be invited. The Jerusalem Post will be conducting the interview with the Mashiach. And they will say to him this. They will say, sir, is this your first visit or your second? I believe his answer will be yes.

Michael Knowles (20:00)

Okay. All right. Hold on. I was trying to have a sympathetic view of this. And the end here is totally ridiculous because it violates the law of non contradiction, which we've known about since at least Aristotle, which is that opposing statements cannot simultaneously be true in the same respect. So, you know, Christ is gonna come back and the Christians are gonna think it's his second coming. And the Jews are gonna think it's his first coming. And they're gonna say, well, which is it? And at this imaginary press conference, this pastor says, and our Lord will say, yes, yes, it's both my first and second coming. What does that mean? That doesn't mean anything. It's one or the other. And it will be the second coming. I'm happy to break it to you. It will be the second coming. And if you're a Christian, you have to believe that. So he's trying to. I don't know, he's trying to be really nice or soft or something, but, you know, give me a break. And then his other claim is that the existence of the present state of Israel is of biblical, prophetic, religious importance and is necessary for the coming of the apocalypse or whatever. Again, this is a view. I know there are a lot of people who share this view. However, this is a relatively new view in the history of Christianity. It's only been around for really less than two centuries. And this is not the traditional view held by Christianity, and it's not the view that I think is correct. Which brings us back to the initial statement. Is this statement shocking new, even anti Israel or something like that? No, no, it's not. Here, let me just read. This is a line from the Vatican from 1985. This is a declaration from the Vatican on the state of Israel from 40 years ago and 20 years after the Second Vatican Council, which says all sorts of nice things about Jews and all. You know, it's in no sense anti Semitic in any way. The Vatican in 1985 says the history of Israel did not end in 70 AD. It continued, especially in a numerous diaspora, which allowed Israel to carry to the whole world a witness, often heroic, of its fidelity to the one God and to exalt him in the presence of all the living, citing Tobit while preserving the memory of the land of their forefathers at the heart of their hope. And the references, the Passover Seder. So here the Vatican is writing not about the church as the new Israel, which is what Christians have always held, but is writing specifically about the terrestrial and figurative Israel of the Jews. He's saying, you know, the Jews went all about this world. They didn't just end in 70 AD and they've carried this witness, which is often very heroic, and they do have some connection to the land. However, here's the key. Christians are invited to understand this religious attachment which finds its roots in biblical tradition, without, however, making their own any particular religious interpretation of this relationship. And then, just to underscore the point, the existence of the state of Israel and its political options should be envisaged not in a perspective which is in itself religious, but in their reference to the common principles of international law. Bingo. Love this. This is exactly what the patriarchs are reaffirming from Jerusalem. And it's totally right. And this is why I would not call myself a Zionist or a Christian Zionist or any other kind of Zionist. It's not because I don't like the Jews and it's not because I don't even support the state of Israel. As I think I've made clear. I am broadly supportive of the nation state of Israel, but I am broadly supportive of it not because I believe in the principles of Zionism, which makes certain historical claims and religious claims that I just don't think are true. I don't think that the Jews are entitled to the Holy Land because of some religious premise. I don't think that's true. In fact, being Christian, I believe that the Old Testament is fulfilled in the New Testament. Christ is the new covenant, the fulfillment. Everything that was typified in the Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ and the church as the new and spiritual Israel. So I don't buy those religious premises. And I don't believe just because a people was on a plot of dirt 2000 years ago that that means they're entitled to it today. If that were the case, we'd have to turn the Black Hills of, you know, we'd have to turn Mount Rushmore over to the Lakota Sioux. I don't believe any of that. And yet I am broadly supportive of the nation state of Israel because I don't like the alternatives. I don't like the idea of giving Iran more power in the Holy Land. I don't think the Muslims have been particularly protective of the holy sites. Sometimes they've been better than others. But the Ottoman doesn't exist anymore. The current options in the Holy Land are not great and we're probably not re establishing Baldwin's Kingdom anytime soon. So as a practical political matter, then also on the point of international law, the Jews were bequeathed some of this territory by the British Empire, which had control of it after the Ottoman Empire. They then had a declaration from the United nations purporting to advance international law and they fought a war of conquest. So any way you slice it, it seems to me that according to the current nation state system, they basically have a right to it. But crucially, that is not Zionism and it doesn't imply anything as a matter of biblical prophecy for the modern nation state of Israel. You can support Israel if you want. You don't have to support the nation state of Israel, but if you do, you can do so without adhering to the relatively novel theology of Christian Zionism. You can like the Jews. I love the Jews. I grew up in New York. I'm very philo Semitic. Okay. I like if you Told me if I had to make a choice between hanging out and eating a pastrami sandwich with the guys who make pastrami sandwiches and eating shawarma with the guys who make shawarma, I'm taking the pastrami sandwich 100 out of 100 times. Okay, maybe 999 out of a thousand times. I'm going with the pastrami sandwich. You can, you can be philosemitic and not adhere to the relatively novel ideology of Christian Zionism. That's clearly what the patriarchs of Jerusalem are saying. Anyone suggesting that this is, I don't know, a break with tradition or anti Semitic or anything like that, I think is just totally insane. Now, speaking of really drilling down on Christianity, there is a lib, James Tallarico, who's gone viral for being a lib politician who's ostensibly Christian and he just went on Ezra Klein's show on the New York Times and, and I think expressed what supposedly left wing Christianity really comes down to. I think he revealed himself. We'll get to that momentarily. First though, I want to tell you about vanity Crisps. You need to go to vandycrisps.com knowles. You don't have to overhaul your whole life in 2026. You start with simple swaps, like upgrading your snacks to ones with real ingredients, like our sponsor, Vandy. The cleanest potato chip you're going to have. You're not going to feel like you're on a diet. You're going to feel like you're eating the greatest potato chip ever in your life. Vandy Crisps are. Hold on. Stop. 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Here is left wing politician, Christian par excellence, James Tallarico. He's a Texas state rep. Getting down. Good on Ezra Klein for just drilling himself. Trying to get down to the question of whether or not he's actually a Christian. You be the judge. How do you think about the competing claims of different religions? Do you believe Christianity to be more true than other religions? Do you believe there to be exclusivity in these beliefs that they're incompatible with each other?

James Tallarico / Ezra Klein (28:07)

I believe Christianity points to the truth. I also think other religions of love point to the same truth. I think of different religious traditions as different languages. So you and I could sit here and debate what to call this cup. And you could call it a cup in English, you'd call it something else in Spanish and French. But we are all talking about the same reality. I believe Jesus Christ reveals that reality to us. But I also think that other traditions reveal that reality in their own ways, with their own symbol structures. And I've learned more about my tradition by learning more about Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam and Judaism. And so I see these beautiful faith traditions as circling the same truth about the universe, about the cosmos. And that truth is inherently a mystery. And I think the most destructive thing is when religion becomes an end in and of itself. That's when religion implodes. My pastor always told me growing up that religious symbols are like aspirin. In order to work, they have to dissolve. They point beyond themselves. You get lost in the symbols. If you get lost in the words, you're missing the reality that we're all trying to describe and talk about.

Michael Knowles (29:13)

So that was a lot of words to say. No, the question, good question from Ezra Klein. He says, do you think Christianity is more true? He didn't even start out by saying, is the only religion that contains any truth whatsoever. He says, do you think Christianity is more true than other religions? And do you think that Christianity makes exclusive claims to the truth or is correct in its exclusive claims to the truth? And Talarico says no. He uses a lot of words to say no, which shows you that Talarico's real religion is liberalism. And that's true for a lot of Democrat politicians. It's true for someone like Joe Biden who says that he's Catholic. It's true for someone like, I don't know, someone like Kamala Harris, Barack Obama, really down the line. And here's how, you know, let's just use Biden as an example. Biden Makes such a big show of being the greatest Catholic in the world. You know, he's, oh, he's as Catholic as they come, isn't he? Until it conflicts with his liberalism on an issue like abortion. And then when it comes to that issue like abortion, he goes with liberalism. He says, I support abortion. The Church says, this is a non negotiable issue. You will be excommunicated, very likely, if you support abortion. And Biden says, well, I'm supporting abortion anyway. Because when liberalism and Christianity can go hand in hand, don't forget liberalism is an outgrowth and really a perversion of Christianity. When they overlap, okay, it's fine, he'll be a Christian. When they diverge and when they conflict, he's picking liberalism every time. What happens on marriage? Christianity says marriage is a union between a man and a woman ordered toward the procreation and education of children. Liberalism says two fellas doing weird stuff together can be marriage. Guess what Biden goes with? They always go with liberalism when there's a conflict. And Talarico is doing the same thing. He's just doing a really dumb version of Kant. Basically he's saying, well, Christianity has some truth. I mean, look, the true thing that Talarico is saying is that even in natural religion you can find a little bit of truth, partial truths that is accurate. You can in something like Buddhism or Greek paganism, you can find hints of the truth because the existence of God can be known with certainty from the natural world. Because Christ is the Logos, the logic of the universe. So inasmuch as we are engaging with the natural world in anything resembling a rational way, you're going to get some hint of religious truth. Then you fast forward to the Jews and the Jews get a real revelation that is actually the figure of Christ. So there you're getting a pretty good glimpse of revealed religious truth. Even with Islam, you're getting a bunch of heresy. But at the very least, it's heresy that comes against Christianity. So in that way it's kind of clarifying of Christianity. But Christianity is the truth. If you're a Christian, you have to believe it is the truth, that the Church possesses the fullness of truth, that Christ is the truth exclusively. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. You have to believe that if you're a Christian. And if you don't believe that, you're probably not a Christian, right? You probably don't believe in Christianity if you are not at the very least willing to say Christianity is More true than Buddhism. You're not in any meaningful sense a Christian. I suppose if you're baptized, then you have an indelible mark on your soul. But when it comes to the ascent of your intellect and will, you're not really Christian. He says, no, it's just all these religions, including Christianity, point to the truth. I would say all of these religions in some way point to the truth, which is Christianity, I guess you could say. But he says, no, no, no. All of the religions, including Christianity, point at some other truth, which is just liberalism. Liberalism just says, well, look, there are these abstract truths about human nature that previous religions tried to sort of get at but basically got wrong. That's what he's saying. So he's a lib. You gotta pick. You gotta pick. You can't. When it comes down to it, you really ultimately cannot be a Christian and a true, committed ideological liberal. Cause they make contrary claims and they can't simultaneously be true in the same respect. Speaking of irreverent religious discussion from legislators, Ilhan Omar going viral for having this to say about the United States. The one place where we thought we would never experience this is the US States. I don't like that. I don't like that. I don't like it when people take the Lord's name in vain. I'm not saying I haven't done it in my life, and I don't like that I did it in my life. And people shouldn't do it, especially not legislators and especially not in this context. Because when you take the vulgarity out of what she says, she's calling the country God forsaken. A little worse than God forsaken. Just saying this country is damned. And that's offensive in a much deeper way, because she's not from this country. She came here. And the only way she was able to come here is by claiming that this country was gonna give her refuge, that her own country was such a mess, that she was gonna come here as a charity case and we were gonna be really nice to her. And this is the gratitude we get this country, which ostensibly could have saved her life and which made her wealthy, which made her famous, which gave her political power, stupidly. And she has that kind of ingratitude to say about the country, that vulgarity. She, by her very presence in this country, degrades our political order so visibly, I don't like it. And what's her complaint? Her complaint is we don't want infinite Somalis to come in. Okay, well, we don't. And if you expected something else from America. That's too bad. It's too bad for you. I'm sorry that I'm not all that sorry. But I'm sorry that you miscalculated or something. But if your complaint is that, now we want you to leave, I'm not sorry for that. We want you to leave. You should leave. You shouldn't be here. We don't like you here. You make our country worse. You certainly shouldn't be in political office. You, it would seem, committed immigration fraud to come here anyway or to bring your brother here. You've broken our laws. You really should have no right to be here. And if my saying that makes you hate our country even more, well, I'm glad we have clarity. Clarity is charity, isn't it? So go. Get out. I don't know how to say get out in the Star wars dialect, but go. Buki beaky, baki Han Solo. You don't like it here, we don't like you being here. It seems we agree. So put your money where your mouth is. Get out. Go back to Somalia or the new country that's being carved out of Somalia. Whatever, but get out. We agree. I'm glad we finally have agreement with Ilhan Omar. She should not be here. Vamonos. You know what they teach in schools these days? Nothing at best, and they teach you a bunch of nonsense at worst. You know what they teach you in popular culture and on television and the movies? Nothing at best and a bunch of nonsense at worst. What you need is to become a Daily Wire plus member right now. That's step one. Step one, become a Daily Wire plus member right now. Step two, watch the new series, Real History with Matt Walsh. That's a reset on all the anti American nonsense that you're getting in schools and you're getting in the movies and on tv. That's step two. Step three, be a great American. That's how you do it. You have to become a Daily Wire plus member. Do it right now, before you forget. Step two, watch Matt's new show, Real History in that Wall. Step three, you'd be a great American. See you there. Hey, before we get to my favorite comment of the day, we have a new episode of Bar Fight Out. Check it out. Did she hit him with her car? And the same with people driving out of the Walmart parking lot. I don't support violence, but some of you guys have never had your ass kicked and it really shows. Listen, I've almost gotten hit by a deranged reteller. You Guys are like yeehaw for like not feeding babies. Oh. All right. Welcome everybody, to Bar Fight. I'm delighted to be joined by our two esteemed guests, including our first ever returning fighter. He's dusted himself off. Adam Mugler. You guys are quite literally taking an 8020 position on this because they've been lied to about what happened. If you want a job where you can go terrorize ice is for you. Our second guest, marketing an influencer sensation. Least necessary. She her pronouns in her bio. It's Lauren Perretra. My favorite comment yesterday is from Victor Simpson. 4487. Now, hold on. I didn't pick this. The producers picked. They didn't remind me to pick a comment. They gotta remind me. I'm absent minded in the morning and in the afternoon and the evening and they didn't remind me. So we'll see if this is a good one. Says France has a civil war every few years so they can win something. John Cleese. That's true. There's all sorts of rioting in the streets in France, but, you know, that's perennial. And this is one where I really don't totally blame it on the Muslims. The Muslims are making it worse in France, but really the French started it, so you can't blame that on the Muslims, okay? Muslims have been trying to conquer France since at least the 8th century. Civil strife in France, that's on the French. Not just Ilhan Omar, who's whining and screeching about this country. Another member of the squad, Rashida Tlaib. She is like the George Harrison of the squad. I view AOC as the Paul McCartney. AOC is the most marketable. She's kind of the. Weirdly, she's the most likable. Ilhan Omar is like John, she's a little more radical, She's a little more. She's up to no good. And then Ayanna Pressley is the Ringo. She's just not. She's the least of a star. But, you know, she's still in the group. And then Rashida's sleep. I guess she's George Harrison. Well, Tlaib freaked out over a simple post from the Department of Homeland Security saying we will have our home again. Department of Homeland Security says we're gonna enforce the law, kick out foreign criminals. We will have our home. That's like in the name of Homeland Security. Rashida Tlaib found that to be too much.

Greenlight Infinity Sponsor Voice (39:46)

Look at this.

Michael Knowles (39:47)

We'll have our home again. What does that evoke in you, when you see this, it literally, when I see it as a Muslim, as a Palestinian, as a child of immigrants, I see that this is something that is evoking like I'm not welcome here. It is very clear what is intentionally happening here. Okay, so if Rashida Tlaib has some legal right to be in this country, which I guess she does, that's too bad. It's a pity. But if she reads from dhs, we will have our home. And she reads herself as being outside of that. If she reads that as an attack on her, we will defend our home, says the Department of Homeland Security. And she reads that as an attack on her. That is an admission. Okay, that's a confession. I think homegirl's telling us something here about her real position in the United States and how she really views the country. If she viewed it as her home, then she'd say, yes, great, we will have our home again, won't we? If, however, she views herself as a hostile foreigner who's attempting to conquer the country, and she views a resistance to that as a threat to her, well, that tells us something too. And if that's how she views it, then I want her out too. Yeah, obviously we all do. This is basic stuff, guys. Who is ICE arresting? There's a clip, I don't think we're allowed to play it because it's from a litigious social media account, but a great, great clip. It was really well done, of an ICE officer pulling up and yelling at the, at the, yelling back at the journos and the agitators and the rioters. They're screeching at him. And he rolls down his window, he says, hey, hey, hey, we're here to arrest a child sex offender. It's not like these guys are just going in willy nilly, scattershot. They are in these places to go arrest particular people, one of whom, many of whom, but one in particular here, was a child sex offender. And he rolls down the window, he says, hey, you guys, you're obstructing us. You're putting yourselves in danger. You're violating the law to protect a child rapist. What is wrong with you people? It's insane. And the guy, actually, the ISO officer in question was himself, I think Hispanic, certainly of exotic origin, was not a white bread guy. He says, what? You people are insane, of course. And this is backed up by the most famous pedophile hunter probably in the world, Chris Hanson. Some of you are too young to remember that show To Catch a Predator where he would do these stings and these bumbling guys would come and be like, oh, hey, hi. Are you here to go see a 12 year old girl? What? No, I wasn't gonna do nothing. You know, and they've got all sorts of terrible things with them and they just confessed multiple times that they were gonna do this anyway. Chris Hansen still does these stings, and apparently it relates to immigration enforcement. We have seen an increase in illegal immigrants being caught in our stings across the country. And it seems today that we can't do a sting, whether we're in the south or the Midwest or West coast or east coast without catching somebody who's in this country illegally. We cannot do a sting without catching somebody who is in this country illegally. Now, that can mean one of two things. It can either mean that illegal aliens are more likely to solicit minors, or it can mean that there are just so many illegal aliens that statistically you're gonna get some pedophiles in the group. Those are the only two things it can mean. Either way, we need to get them out. Either of those are unacceptable. Yeah, we can't do a sting without some illegal showing up. So are they more likely than the native population to solicit kids for sex or are there just so many of them that you can't throw a rock without hitting an illegal alien? Either way, gotta get them out. Now we are getting them out. There's some critics of Trump on the right who are really understating how many illegals have been shipped out of the country. They're saying, oh, it's 200,000, 300,000. It's just like Obama. First of all, Barack Obama did not actually deport three to 400,000 illegals a year. They call him the deporter in chief. Who is they? To quote Kanye, who is they? Though in this case, it'd be liberals who are trying to defend their policy of effectively open Borders. Because the 300,000 to 400,000 deportations under Obama were largely just turn aways at the border. And they counted that. But the, the border is closed right now. So the people who are being deported are actually ISIS going in, arresting these people, shipping them out of the country. The Trump administration last year deported at least 525,000 or so and probably many, many more. Because we have reports from the various, the Labor Department and also from anti immigration groups that show that self deportations, because of the rather flamboyant way in which these people are being deported, self deportations could be well over one and a half Million people. So you could have well over 2 million deportations just last year. But how do we track it? How can we know? Maybe the administration's just trying to puff up its numbers. Maybe Barack Obama really wasn't great. No, you actually, you can track it in a few ways. One, we see that rentals, rental prices declined four months in a row. Why are the rental prices declining? They've been climbing, climbing, climbing. Where is the housing crisis coming from? It's coming from illegals. 100% responsible for that in mass migration generally, including legal immigrants. 100% responsible for that in California and New York, 60% nationwide. So that would be one sign while people really are leaving the country, another sign. This is really good stuff. And I'm quoting ABC News here. So not exactly a conservative outlet. U.S. overdose deaths fell through most of 2025. Federal data reveal this suggests a lasting improvement in an epidemic that had been worsening for decades. For decades. Wow. So why did it suddenly change? Could it be because all the drugs, all these illicit drugs were coming across the southern border thanks to the cartels and our foreign adversaries. And then when you cut off the flow of the immigrants, you cut off the flow of the drugs and then the overdose deaths drop. So by the way, this also reveals that when you cut off supply, demand changes too. Sometimes you hear especially from the libertarians, well, we just need to fix the demand problem. You know, the real problem isn't these face tattooed cartels. The real problem is that Americans like cocaine and sometimes it's laced with fentanyl. No, no, no. I mean that's a problem to get people to not want to do a bunch of coke. But also if you cut off supply, demand shrinks also. That's not an excuse to just do nothing on law enforcement. Okay, Speaking of drugs and partying and all this stuff, there's one clip I gotta get to, I have to get to it today. And this is from Clavicular, Remember Clavicular was on my show. He's this 19 year old kid who does meth, which I discouraged. But he does it to look thinner and he takes all sorts of drugs to look better cause he's a looks maxer. And so anyway, Clavicular went out with a number of other kind of edgy, I guess, right wing live streamers and influencers, including the Tate brothers, Andrew and Tristan Tate, including Justin Waller, who actually was also on Michael, and including guys like Nick Fuentes and Sneako, who is another one, Myron Gaines. Anyway, a bunch of these people and they all Went out to a club, and that was it. That was the show. And the reason that I find this politically relevant is. Cause there's a very funny clip of Tristan Tate and Justin Waller being very nice to my former guest, Clavicular, but telling him that he got something wrong. Because in our interview, Clavicular said, I find Gavin Newsom to be sexier than J.D. vance, and therefore, I am gonna vote for Gavin Newsom. And here is these two guys gently correcting this young puppy. Avoid it. And I. Yeah, I went viral for basically, she has an American. I said I was gonna vote for Gavin Newsom because he loves J.D. vance. You know what I mean? I called J.D. vance a fat, subhuman. You see this look, Ulysses, look on your face? I. I would advise you that you're wrong. However, you're. What? No, no. You're an American, and I'm an American, so I don't tell other Americans who to vote for it. I never have. You vote for whoever you.

Bishop Robert Stearns / Justin Waller / Tristan Tate (48:10)

But if Gavin Newsom's running against J.D.

Michael Knowles (48:12)

Vance, I will be voting for J.D.

Bishop Robert Stearns / Justin Waller / Tristan Tate (48:13)

Vance, and that's my vote.

Michael Knowles (48:14)

And you can do it with yours. You vote for whoever you like. But I'm voting J.D.

James Tallarico / Ezra Klein (48:17)

Vance.

Michael Knowles (48:18)

I'm voting for America, and that's probably gonna be J.D. damn right. So it's like, this is not a hostile interaction. And I'll get very briefly to what this whole kind of show was. Cause it was really going viral on the Internet. And I think people are just misunderstanding what this was. But I like this. One of the scenes of this episode of the edgy right wing live streamers go to a club. One of the scenes is, hey, you're so edgy and contrarian that you endorsed Gavin Newsom, the guy who said he wants more trans kids and destroyed his whole state and the economy and all the. And he's like, yeah, I did, guys. Isn't that awesome? I'm so contrarian that I said that because I find Gavin Newsom sexier, I'm gonna vote for him. And they were like, too far. It's too far. You went. I get. Look, it's the Internet. We want to be contrarian and edgy. That's a little. Don't do that, man. He's like a pro. Trans pro. Like, the far left burned his city to the ground. Like, destroyed the. You don't want to go that far. Never go so contrarian that you're endorsing Gavin Newsom. That's a bridge too far. I got a real kick out of that from these Two guys, Justin Waller and Tristan Tate. But broadly, what is the whole thing? What was this. What was this show? It was this show of all these kind of edgy guys going to a club, and there were these chicks who were there, and they're, like, dancing with them and talking about taking them home, and it's bumping all this music. And what. What is this about? I don't think. Yeah, I just don't think people really get what it is. Everyone's focusing on the political aspect because some of these guys sometimes talk about politics. This is just reality tv. There's nothing particularly new about this. It's just reality tv. Millennials had the Jersey Shore Zoomers have. Whatever this is. Live streaming generally is just the extreme of reality TV. It started with Survivor back in the 90s, and now. Then it evolved into the Jersey Shore and Real Housewives, and now it's. Whatever this thing is, it's just a show. It's just entertainment. And I'm actually pretty impressed with the quality of this because now that politics is really in vogue. Unlike years ago, fashion or music was more the thing, now it's politics. So now it's, like, vaguely about politics, but not really. They're kind of like the presidential election comes up, as it might, on another reality show. But otherwise, the thing I'm really impressed with about this is when they were making the Jersey Survivor, they had months to edit, to cut it, to had writers on staff that were creating some of the tension here. These guys are doing it in real time. I've never watched a whole livestream. I don't know. I think most of it's probably pretty boring, but it's impressive that they can grab audience and do all of this live in. What is reality tv. Reality tv, which is itself an outgrowth of game shows, which is basically the earliest form of television entertainment. As TVs are first emerging in the 1930s and 40s, that's where you get game shows. So that's really what's happening, what the livestream does. Is it just because it's doing it live? Because there's no editing, really at all when it is live, it's just even further blurring the line between public entertainment and private life. And in some ways, I blame Millennials for this. You know, in many ways, we really ramped this up when we all started taking pictures of our lunches when Instagram came around, and we all just had to let everyone know about our turkey club that we ordered at brunch or whatever. And so there's something Kind of sad about it, because, look, you watch it just like you'd watch reality tv, and it can be entertaining and it's kind of trash tv, but whatever. I watch trash tv. It's fine. I get it. But I hope that people don't emulate it. I'm not even. Look, obviously, certain political ideologies, I hope they don't emulate either. But I just mean even the behavior like it. It seems like everyone's an influencer now, and that's fine. I guess I'm kind of an influencer. But you need a private life. You need a private life to have a good life, to have peace, to flourish, to grow up, to do the things that will allow you to mature and flourish and have a good life. And you can't do that if every second of your life is on camera. That's not fun. It's fun for us to watch the Jersey Shore, to watch people go out to da club, whether it's at the Jersey Shore or whether it's this thing. It's fun for us to watch it, but it's not fun to do it. It's a show. It's a performance. And if you're living all of your life to just perform for others, dare I say, even to MOG others, that can be kind of fun in the short term. But if you're living all your life that way, you will have a miserable life. You won't do the things that actually give you satisfaction, which ultimately can only come from the kind of peace that you get when you live your life and its real purpose, the purpose of which is to know God and to serve him here and to be with him for eternity. This reminds me of something Thomas Aquinas pointed out, which is the cause of despair. Despair is living without hope. You know, that's as bad as it gets in this world. And despair, he says, comes from two things in particular. Sloth especially, but lust as well, maybe even more frequently. Lust. Why lust? Because lust especially, I guess, tastes foods and drinks and stuff. But lust especially causes us to focus on sensuous pleasures, the pleasures of the senses, the pleasures of the material world, and to take our eyes off of spiritual goods, which is the only place that we'll find our peace. Because we are beings that have a finite body, but we have a rational soul, which is immaterial. And so if you're only feeding the body, your soul, which is really driving you, is going to fall into despair. That might be the most anyone has thought about. The clip of the edgy Right wing streamers going to da club. But I had to touch on it. Especially because there was a reference in it to my interview with Mr. Mr. Ikular. Okay, today's Music Monday. The rest of the show continues now. You do not want to miss it. Become a member. Use code nolescanawlas at checkout for two months free on all annual plans.

Daniel Tendaray / Voice Actor in Dramatic Reading (54:54)

What was it like, Marlon? To be alone with God? Is that who you think I was alone with. Maradin?

Michael Knowles (55:10)

I knew your father. I am yet convinced that he was not of this world.

Daniel Tendaray / Voice Actor in Dramatic Reading (55:17)

All men know of the great Taliesin.

Michael Knowles (55:20)

Who are my father.

Daniel Tendaray / Voice Actor in Dramatic Reading (55:21)

That the gods should war for my soul. Princess Garrus, save saviour of our people. I know what the bull God offered you. I was offered the same. And there is a new pirate work in the world. I've seen it. A God who sacrifices what he loves for us. We are each given only one life, Singer.

Michael Knowles (55:46)

No.

Daniel Tendaray / Voice Actor in Dramatic Reading (55:47)

We're given another. I learned of you and I have become his follower.

James Tallarico / Ezra Klein (55:55)

He's waiting on a miracle. And I think you can give him one.

Daniel Tendaray / Voice Actor in Dramatic Reading (55:58)

Trust in Yael. He is the only hope for men like us. Fate of Britain never rests in the hands of the great Light. Great light. Great darkness. Such things mattered to me then. What matters to you now, Mistress of lies. You, nephew. The sword of a high king. How many lives must be lost before you accept the power you were born to wield? So clinging to the promises of a God who has abandoned you. I cannot take up that sword again. You know what you must do. Great Light, Forgive me. The time has come to be reborn.

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