The Michael Knowles Show
Episode 1909: The Supposedly "Racist" Trump Post Explained in 5 Minutes
Date: February 10, 2026
Host: Michael Knowles (The Daily Wire)
Episode Overview
In this episode, Michael Knowles dissects the controversy over a supposed "racist" meme posted by Donald Trump regarding Barack Obama, challenging the mainstream narrative and offering his own contextual analysis. The episode further explores American athletes criticizing the U.S. at the Olympics, a bizarre effigy protest at an Illinois high school, a New York politician defending sanctuary city policy with Quranic references, the U.S. Vice President's historic visit to Armenia, and a viral news story about judicial leniency in a rape case.
Knowles ties these stories together with recurring themes of media-driven outrage, cultural decline, globalism vs. American identity, and the distortion of language in public discourse.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The "Racist Trump Meme" Controversy
[00:00–09:30]
- Situation Recap: Trump posted, then deleted, a video on Truth Social about election fraud. The video, mainly focused on voting machine accusations, auto-played into a meme for about 1-2 seconds showing Barack and Michelle Obama’s heads on gorillas.
- Media Outrage: Mainstream outlets, Democratic politicians, and even some Republicans claim this "proves" Trump is racist.
- Knowles' Analysis:
- Auto-played Context: The image surfaced only at the very end as an auto-scroll, similar to how social platforms auto-play related content.
- Content of Meme:
- Multiple Democratic figures shown as different animals, e.g., Joe Biden also depicted as a monkey, Kamala Harris as a turtle, AOC as a donkey. Not solely black figures as monkeys.
- Quote:
“If it were only black people as monkeys, I might understand the outrage... but that’s not what happened because here you have Joe Biden, Vice President to Barack Obama, and the Democrat president that followed him as a monkey.”
—Michael Knowles [06:08] - “Making black people look like monkeys is racial and cruel or whatever, but in the context of the video, it’s actually not.” [07:59]
- Conclusion:
- Distasteful, yes, but not racist in context. Knowles calls the outrage "a hoax through and through.”
- “The original video itself is actually not even racist. In order for the original video to be racist, it would have to be the black people as monkeys and the non-black people as not monkeys. But that's not what happened.” [08:13]
2. American Athletes Criticize the U.S. at the Olympics
[09:45–15:50]
- Recent Criticism: Multiple American Olympians (notably skier Hess and figure skater Eileen Gu) publicly criticize Trump and, by extension, the United States.
- Eileen Gu Case:
- U.S.-born, U.S.-raised, but competes for China (America’s chief geopolitical rival) despite benefiting from American resources, coaching, and opportunities.
"She was educated in America. She trained in America. She’s lived basically her whole life in America. And she competes for China. She competes for China. Not only a different country, but America’s chief geopolitical rival." [13:42]
- Knowles sees her choices as emblematic of "globalism" and the modern Olympics' role in promoting internationalism rather than American identity.
“The Olympics are a modern invention... to promote liberalism, internationalism, globalism we would say today. And this is it. This is the kind of thing that the election of Trump was a rebellion against.” [14:12]
- U.S.-born, U.S.-raised, but competes for China (America’s chief geopolitical rival) despite benefiting from American resources, coaching, and opportunities.
3. Illinois High School Trump Crucifixion Effigy
[17:52–22:00]
- Event Recap:
- Waukegan High School staged an anti-ICE protest, hoisting Mexican flags and creating a Trump effigy crucified on a cross during the demonstration.
- Knowles reacts strongly, calling the display "vile and sacrilegious," but finds irony in the students comparing Trump to Christ—unknowingly placing themselves as the villainous mob.
“These libs have become so deranged, or they're just so ignorant, their intellects are darkened by sin and ignorance that they think the way to get Trump is by comparing him to God.” [18:50]
- He parallels this with the left's frequent misuse of the phrase "the Big Lie," noting the historical ignorance in its deployment.
4. Slogans, Language Games, and Cultural Decline
[22:35–28:30]
- "Love is love" and Super Bowl Halftime Shows:
- Knowles critiques the left’s reliance on feel-good slogans as substitutes for reasoned debate.
- Example: Bad Bunny’s halftime show at Levi's Stadium displaying the slogan, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
- Quote:
“The left comes out as they're like killing people, slaughtering babies, mutilating little children...they say ‘yeah, but we stand for love. We define everything we do as love and everything you do as hate.’” [24:11]
- He suggests conservatives are more willing to engage on substance ("let’s get down to brass tacks"), while "libs will focus on more and more hyperbolic and preposterous slogans...to avoid looking at the real issue." [26:43]
- Covers issues like abortion and marriage under the lens of ideological euphemisms.
5. Sanctuary City Defense With Islam
[29:30–32:30]
- NY Assemblyman Zoran Mamdani:
- Defends New York’s sanctuary city policy by referencing Quranic stories and the Hijra of Muhammad.
- Reads Quranic verse:
“The story of the Hijra reminds us that Prophet Muhammad was a stranger too, who fled Mecca and was welcomed in Medina…” —Zoran Mamdani [29:33]
- Knowles pushes back against the appropriateness of Islamic scripture in American civic debate, invoking historical and cultural fit—especially in NYC post-9/11.
"It's not fitting for the mayor of New York to be quoting Muhammad as some kind of great authority." [31:20]
- Raises concerns over the longer-term implications of open immigration policies by tracing the historical expansion following Muhammad’s own migration.
6. U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance Visits Armenia
[36:00–39:40]
- Historic Visit:
- J.D. Vance becomes the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Armenia, the first Christian country.
- J.D. Vance Quote:
"This is one of the oldest Christian countries in the entire world, a true bedrock of Christian civilization and culture. As a devout Christian myself, I know the meaning of this country to the entire world and to the religion that the prime minister and I share..." [36:20]
- Knowles highlights the decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Artsakh and laments the lack of U.S. attention to Christian persecution.
“If America’s going to have any global leadership at all, surely we have to do our very best to protect the very first Christian country.” [39:10]
7. Outrage Over Judicial Leniency for Convicted Rapist
[40:39–45:58]
- Case Summary:
- Louisville Judge Davis reduces the sentence for Mr. Thompson, an unrepentant convicted rapist and kidnapper, citing his age and presumed potential for rehabilitation.
- Highlights:
- Mr. Thompson expresses no remorse for his victim or the court; Judge responds, “At the end of the day, I’m the one with the pen...” [41:41]
- Knowles underscores the danger:
“What we’re talking about is rapists telling the judges to their face, I have no repentance...and the judge saying...‘You’re gonna be on the street again soon.’” [44:41]
- Calls for political and legislative solutions, arguing America suffers from "severe under incarceration" and lawlessness, enabled by progressive ideology in the justice system.
“This is what we’re talking about here, okay? That is such an escalation of lawlessness. That is so irresponsible. That is such, in effect, anarcho-tyranny.” [45:10]
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On Trump Meme Outrage:
“It is thoroughly, entirely, 100% grade A, USDA-certified a hoax.”
—Michael Knowles [08:25] -
On American Identity in the Olympics:
“They’re just gonna take, take, take, take, take. They’re not going to consider themselves American, they're not going to assimilate ... and they’re even going to help their country of origin to compete against the United States.” [14:52]
-
On Waukegan Effigy:
“Maybe sometimes when you think you're the good guy, maybe you're actually the baddie.” [21:50]
-
On Judicial Leniency:
“We have a severe under incarceration problem and we have a serious problem of lawlessness. And if you don’t enforce the law… you can’t have any other of the goods or accoutrements of civilization.” [45:14]
Timestamps for Major Segments
- [00:00] – Show opens; Trump meme controversy explained
- [03:33] – Excerpt from “election fraud” video posted by Trump
- [04:33–07:59] – Dissection of the meme’s full context and intent
- [09:45] – Olympian criticism of Trump; Eileen Gu controversy
- [17:52] – Illinois high school crucifies Trump in effigy
- [24:11] – Bad Bunny halftime show; “Love is love” slogans
- [29:33] – Zoran Mamdani quotes Quran in defense of sanctuary city
- [36:20] – Vice President J.D. Vance in Armenia (audio statement)
- [40:39] – Louisville judge reduces sentence for convicted rapist; Knowles’ critique
Tone and Style
Michael Knowles maintains his trademark sarcastic, pointed, and unapologetically conservative style throughout, blending humor with cultural and political arguments. He critiques both the left and the "squishy" center-right, argues directly against media narrative framing, and frequently calls for more assertive political action from conservatives.
Summary Usefulness
This summary encapsulates all major points and arguments, with context and direct quotes, while providing the listener with structure and timestamps for deeper exploration. Those who haven't listened will understand the reasoning, controversies, and cultural moments addressed by Michael Knowles in this episode.