Ep. 1980 - Spencer Pratt's Path To Become Mayor Of Los Angeles

Summary

The Michael Knowles Show: "Spencer Pratt's Path To Become Mayor Of Los Angeles"

Episode 1980 | May 22, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Michael Knowles tackles the political climate of Los Angeles as reality TV personality Spencer Pratt mounts a notable Republican mayoral campaign. Knowles analyzes the campaigns, polls, and debates surrounding incumbent Democrat Karen Bass, critiques the state of liberal Catholicism through Stephen Colbert, reviews Republican fundraising numbers, and addresses questions about party influence in primaries. He also offers reflections on America's 250th anniversary and the cultural shift over the past 50 years.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Spencer Pratt vs. Karen Bass: The LA Mayor Race

• Spencer Pratt is shaking up LA politics: Knowles praises Pratt’s campaign, noting it as "the best Republican campaign I’ve seen in California ever" [05:13], but tempers expectations given LA’s deep-blue tilt.
• Polls and Prediction Markets: According to Kalshee, Karen Bass is still favored (68% chance) but polling from Emerson College shows the race tighter: Bass at 30%, Pratt at 22%, Rahman at 19% [06:40].
• Effect of Left-Wing Vote Splitting: Socialist candidate Nithya Rahman siphons votes from Bass, indirectly boosting Pratt’s odds.

2. Karen Bass’s Debate & Policy Stumbles

• Homelessness Crisis

  • Bass promised to end street homelessness by 2026. Two years in, homelessness has only dropped by 17.6%.
  • Key Quote:
    Bass (on why she’s off target): “I am very committed to achieving that goal. I didn't anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers that I would experience. But I am prepared to take those on now.” [07:45]
  • Knowles’s Reaction:
    ”You should be thankful that now there’s a 1/6 reduced chance that you get stabbed by a crackhead on the street. Where are my thank yous? Excuse me?” [08:20]

• Non-Citizen Voting

  • Pressed by Politico about non-citizen voting, Bass replied: “I think we need to explore it now... we'll wait and see.” [10:29]
  • Knowles’s Critique:
    “You’re the mayor. Do you support foreigners deciding our elections? … The reason that Democrats support mass migration… is because they want to give themselves an electoral advantage.” [11:00]

3. Fundraising: Republicans v. Democrats

• Big Surprise in Party Finances

  • RNC recently raised $18.6 million in April and has $123.8 million cash on hand. DNC is $3 million in the red [14:13].
  • Senate Races: Dems often outraising Republicans in key races, but Knowles points out the GOP’s broader party advantage and cautions not to read too much into early primary numbers.

• Key Point:
  “From the perspective of the parties, right now, the Republicans are looking better…. The silver lining is voters are even more dissatisfied with the Democrats.” [16:55]

• "Wokeism" Still an Effective GOP Wedge

  • “The Democrats have not given up on wokeism… They’re still… openly in favor of… transing the kids… open borders… foreigners deciding our elections. Those are very, very effective issues for the Republicans.” [18:17]

4. Stephen Colbert, Catholicism, and the Afterlife

• Theological Drift
  • Stephen Colbert, asked about the afterlife by Jim Gaffigan, offers a vague, almost Buddhist response: “When we die, I think there is some continuance of some kind, but it's like a dispersion of the self into some other, greater being.” [22:22]
  • Gaffigan quips: “What you're saying is we become Febreze. Yes.” [23:01]
  • Knowles contrasts this with a 2006 clip of Colbert reciting the Nicene Creed, expressing actual belief in resurrection [24:37].
  • Quote:
    “How do you go from [the Creed]… to this woo woo, wine mom, new-age Gnostic nonsense…?” [25:24]
  • Analysis: Knowles uses this as an example of liberal Christianity losing doctrinal clarity, seeing it as symptomatic of broader left-wing trends.

5. Trump, Primaries, and Party Power

• Libertarian Critique and Knowles’s Response
  • Dave Smith critiques Knowles’s take that Massie’s loss would signal Trump’s party control, suggesting AIPAC influence is greater.
  • Knowles retorts that Trump’s endorsements—and not just pro-Israel money—are the decisive force, offering other primary examples (e.g., Raffensperger, Cassidy) with no Israel connection [29:49].
  • Notable Exchange:
    Dave Smith: “I wonder what Michael Knowles’ reaction will be when his prediction proves incorrect.”
    Knowles: “I guess we’ll never know because my prediction was totally correct.” [29:49]
  • Conclusion:
    “…the chief takeaway… is that Trump turned on them and told voters not to vote for them.” [31:08]

6. America at 250: National Identity and Cultural Decline

• Reflections on ’76 Bicentennial vs. 2026
  • Knowles muses on the nostalgic tone of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations compared to the patriotic excitement of 1976 [36:29].
  • “It’s not a good sign of national health when… on a big anniversary… you are nostalgic for the last anniversary. That’s a sign that things have gotten worse.” [39:27]
• Cultural & Demographic Shifts
  • Cites rising foreign-born population, plummeting birth rates, and changes in education and pop culture for fraying national bonds.
  • Vision for the Future:
    “We are in desperate national need of a vision of the future that makes us love our country, not hate our country. That makes us hopeful, not despairing.” [39:55]

7. Mailbag: Language, Life, and Levity

• Listener Critique: A traditional Catholic listener admonishes Knowles for referring to his unborn child as “half a kid,” suggesting it undermines pro-life language [41:08].
• Knowles’s Defense:
  “It’s a joke. It’s a little bit of verbal irony… The angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. A little bit of levity goes a long way.” [41:59]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On LA Homelessness:
  ”You should be thankful that now there’s a 1/6 reduced chance that you get stabbed by a crackhead on the street. Where are my thank yous?... Don’t look at what I’ve done. Just listen to my words. I super double doggy promise to do it next time.” —Michael Knowles [08:20]
• On Non-Citizen Voting:
  ”You’re the mayor… Do you support foreigners deciding our elections?... Yeah, we might need to seriously explore letting foreigners decide elections because you Americans… don’t want to elect me.” —Michael Knowles [11:00]
• On Colbert & Afterlife:
  Jim Gaffigan: “What you’re saying is we become Febreze.” [23:01]
• On Election Analysis:
  ”I guess we’ll never know because my prediction was totally correct.” —Michael Knowles [29:49]
• On Historical Decline:
  ”It’s not a good sign of national health when… on a big anniversary… you are nostalgic for the last anniversary. That’s a sign things have gotten worse.” —Michael Knowles [39:27]
• On Levity and Seriousness:
  ”The angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. A little bit of levity goes a long way.” —Michael Knowles [41:59]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• LA Mayor Race & Polls – 05:13–10:00
• Karen Bass on Homelessness – 07:45–08:20
• Non-Citizen Voting Debate – 10:08–11:00
• Party Fundraising Figures – 14:13–18:17
• Wokeism as GOP Strategy – 18:17–19:40
• Colbert on the Afterlife / Faith – 22:16–25:24
• Trump vs. Libertarian Analysis on Primaries – 28:59–31:08
• America at 250 & Cultural Nostalgia – 36:29–39:55
• Mailbag: Pro-Life Language & Levity – 41:08–41:59

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Conclusion

This episode blends political commentary, cultural criticism, and moments of humor. Knowles frames LA’s mayoral race as both a microcosm of wider Democratic vulnerabilities and a cautionary tale for GOP optimism. He underscores the enduring influence of Trump within the Republican Party and critiques progressive drifts—both religious and political. Closing with historical reflections and call-ins, Knowles emphasizes the need for vision and national renewal at America’s 250th anniversary.

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Transcript

[Michael Knowles]

Who answers America's call for more energy? Our people do. They've helped boost Chevron's U.S. energy production by nearly 60% in the past three years, helping fuel national energy security and drives down the open roads that make America. Learn more about what our people [e-mail] America. Can Spencer Pratt go the distance in Gomorrah by the Sea? Karen Bass Inability to answer one simple question might turn LA over to a Republican. Then speaking of not being able to answer a simple question, one of the most prominent liberal Catholics in media does not seem to believe in heaven or the resurrection of the dead. We will examine Stephen Colbert's Woo woo Wine mom spiritual gobbledygook. And finally, one of the nation's best known libertarians, Dave Smith wonders how I would react if my political predictions turned out to be false. And I guess we'll just never know. I'm Michael Knowles. This is the Michael Knowles Show. Welcome back to the show. A clip is going viral from the Bicentennial of America, 1976, Spirit of 76. It's going viral because as we are now in the 250th anniversary of America, people are getting a little bit nostalgic. They recognize that the country has transformed radically over the last 50 years. We'll see how, how to fix it, how to make the most of this 250th anniversary. Speaking of which, I have to say if I'm looking a little worse for wear today, it's because I just got off a flight. I was in D.C. last night. I went to D.C. for a dinner. That's why I was in town. I happened to be in town. And I'm not gonna say too much about this now. I'll maybe post about it a little bit later. But I got a tip off for from someone involved with a group of statues. You know, there's a lot of stuff going up for the semi quincentennial for the 250th anniversary of America. I got a tip off from someone involved in a group of statues in our nation's capital. And just as a crane was lifting the first statue in. And it is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I'm actually a little choked up even thinking about it. So how's that for vague posting? Maybe I'll post something about it later on today. First though, I wanna tell you about something that I did not get very much of last night because I was flying all over the place and had an early flight. But something that I get A lot of when I'm here in Nashville, and that is sleep. I wanna tell you about Helix sleep. Go to helixsleep.com knowles when you're younger, you can survive on a few hours of sleep, caffeine and a frozen pizza and somehow still function. At a certain point though, that stops working. And even if you could still do your podcast on only a few hours sleep, you get bags under your eyes and you look like a Z. And you. I'm just speaking hypothetically here. I'm just trying to speak in general. Anyway, if you want that good, good sleep, you need your Helix mattress. Something I long for when I'm on the road. You know, I long to see my wife and my children and all that stuff too. But my Helix, I love my Helix. Helix makes mattresses tailored to different sleep styles and preferences because not everybody sleeps the same way. Some people sleep hot, some need extra support, some toss and turn constantly, some wake up every time another person moves, especially when your wife is pregnant. So that's all the more reason to get that Helix. I absolutely love them. I'm such a believer in Helix. I have multiple Helix mattresses in my home. I'm such a good father, I gave them to my boys who are sleeping out of the crib now. For an exclusive offer, go to helixsleep.com knowleskn l e s for 27% off helixsleep.com knowles 27% off make sure you enter my name at checkout so they know that we sent you. Helixsleep.com knowles first off, we turn to LA, my former town. Is Spencer Pratt going to become the mayor of la? Are we going to flip LA Republican? By all rights, LA is going to remain Democrat. Okay? I want to temper everybody's expectations here. Even though Spencer Pratt is running an incredible, amazing campaign. Best Republican campaign I've seen in California ever. I wasn't alive for the Reagan days, so the best one ever. Despite all of that, if you look at the prediction markets right now, Karen Bass, the current Democrat mayor of la, a former card carrying communist, actual communist, is the overwhelming favorite to remain mayor of LA. According to the Kalshee Markets, 68% chance Karen Bass remains mayor. 27% chance Spencer Pratt unseats her. He's going up. Karen Bass? Nah, she's not even really down a little bit. She's actually kind of up from where she had been. The one who really cratered was this socialist candidate from the city council, Nithya Rahman. So look, by all rights, Bass is gonna remain mayor and Spencer Pratt's campaign will be valiant, but unsuccessful. Now, if you look at the polling, not the prediction markets, but the polling, things look a little bit better. Emerson College polled in May. Bass has a 30% support. Pratt has 22% support. Rahman has 19% support. So it's much, much closer in the actual polls than it would be in the prediction markets, which makes sense. The issue here is that undecided voters are dropping sharply. So Pratt is probably not gonna pry the purple haired lunatics, he's not gonna pry the illegal aliens and all the people that Karen Bass wants to vote for her. So he's really relying on those undecided voters. As the undecided voter number gets smaller, his odds are gonna go down. But still, it's an eight point race in California. That's pretty impressive. Rahman is helping him here. Or the socialists splitting the left wing vote is actually helping Spencer Pratt. So you say, all right, look, the odds that this great Republican candidate actually wins, pretty, pretty low. However, Karen Bass is doing her level best to get a Republican elected there because she is running a horrible campaign. She knows she's running a horrible campaign. That's why she dropped out of the debate. After Spencer Pratt completely dominated at that first debate, Karen Bass said, whatever, I'm not facing this guy on stage. Nidhiaraman, same thing. Karen Bass does make the mistake of going on CNN doing an interview with my old pal Alex Michelson. Alex, who is a great objective down the middle reporter, probably leans a little bit left, so he's certainly not a Republican. But he's just tries to ask fair questions. He asks a very simple question of Karen Bass. The biggest issue in Los Angeles is the homeless problem. LA residents have to worry about getting stabbed by schizophrenic crackheads on the street, even in the nice neighborhoods. This is a big, big problem. It's only gotten worse over the past decades. They tried to fix it over the last year or two. Not a lot of advancement here. So, simple question, hey, Mayor Bass, why should voters trust you on the biggest issue when you haven't done anything about it in the last year or two? You said that your goal was to end street homelessness in LA by 2026. It's now 2026 and we haven't ended it. We have not ended it, and we're not close to ending it. How were you so off?

[Karen Bass]

Well, basically when I said that, it was at the beginning of my term. I am very committed to achieving that goal. I didn't anticipate some of the bureaucratic barriers That I would experience. But I am prepared to take those on now.

[Jim Gaffigan]

But you promised that it would go

[Michael Knowles]

away 100% and it's only gone down about 17.6%.

[Karen Bass]

Right?

[Michael Knowles]

So why should people trust you that you're going to be able to get to the hundred percent?

[Karen Bass]

Because let me just tell you for the first time we've had a decrease at all.

[Michael Knowles]

What? You should be thankful the now there's a 1/6 reduced chance that you get stabbed by a crackhead on the street. Where are my thank yous? Excuse me? Look, I know I promised that I would solve this problem and I haven't and it's only gone down by 17.5%. But you know, come on, that's pretty good. He says no, but hold on. You promised you'd fix it. Like this isn't brain surgery. Why? It shouldn't be that hard to get the vagrant dangerous criminals off the streets. No, but you don't understand. The reason I couldn't do it is cuz I was not able to overcome bureaucratic red tape. Okay, so why do people, why should people think that you're gonna do that now? Cuz now I'm prepared to do that. Don't worry. Forget about my record. Forget about my complete failure. Forget about my incompetence at best or just ideological affinity for the criminals at worst. Don't worry. Don't look at what I've done. Just listen to my words. I super double doggy promise to do it next time. That was not an interview on the Daily Wire. That was not an interview on the Michael Knowles show. That was not an interview on Fox News. That was cnn. And that's a California reporter who was asking that question. And she's got nothing. And the haughtiness, the pride, the hubris to say. What are you talking about? The number went down very slightly. Come on, let me off the hook. She then she steps in it again. Karen Bass was asked also, this is by Politico. Politico is a left wing outlet, said, hey Mayor Bass, simple question. Should non citizens vote? Should foreigners decide American elections?

[Listener/Caller]

Councilmember Hugo Sotomartinez who has endorsed you, he wants to explore ways to let non citizens vote in city elections. I know that there are some cities that already do this, but you know, politics is all about timing. With Donald Trump in the White House, is this the right time for Los Angeles to go down this path?

[Karen Bass]

Well, I think we need to explore it now. I've not seen exactly what he's calling for. I have a little familiarity of what happens in other cities. And for example, some cities will allow people to vote in like city council and school board elections because they pay local taxes, but they are not necessarily undocumented. They might be here completely legally, but have not finished the citizenship process. So we'll wait and see.

[Michael Knowles]

We'll wait and see. What are you talking about? We'll wait and see. You're the mayor. It's a question for you. Do you support foreigners deciding our elections? Because, well, look, we got to explore that. What is the top issue in people's minds? Usually it's the economy. There's the national economy, which is a little bit out of the control of state and local leaders. But California's really screwed it up at the state and local level. They have screwed up the economy, they've screwed up affordability as much as it is possible to screw it up. Gas in California is what, seven bucks a gallon? It's because of the taxes, because of the terrible regulatory environment. You want to talk about the affordability crisis in California? Karen Bass and Gavin Newsom allowed LA to burn to the ground. That made things a little more expensive, didn't it? It's kind of difficult to deal with affordability when you don't have a house. That's why Spencer Pratt has a successful campaign here. So the biggest issue she totally screws up, the second biggest issue, which sometimes even supplants the economy in voters minds, is mass migration. This influx of foreigners, especially not just from the perspective of the labor market or of crime, but especially from the perspective of sovereignty, of our identity, of having some control over our political destiny. And she says, yeah, we're gonna have to explore letting foreigners decide elections. Why? Because if Americans decided elections, if people with skin in the game financially, as a matter of their family, as a matter of their tradition within their communities, if Americans decided elections, Democrats would not have a chance. The reason that Democrats support mass migration, and they have been explicit about this for decades, the reason they support mass migration is, is because they want to give themselves an electoral advantage. They know that Americans don't like them that much and so they need to pad the vote with foreigners. And she's just open about this. I'd almost respect her more if she just blatantly lied. That would be bad. It's wrong to lie, obviously, but hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue. If she were talking like a Democrat in the 90s or 2000s, even like Obama was talking about in 2008. Well, listen, we know we oppose illegal immigration and we need to make sure that Americans control our borders. And, you know, this is a country of, by and for the people. He was totally lying about that. Obviously. He gave an unconstitutional mass amnesty to over 800,000 illegals. But at least he pretended right before he did the unconstitutional mass amnesty. He said it was unconstitutional. At least he acknowledged reality and what voters want. She doesn't even do that. Says, yeah, we're gonna have to explore that. We're gonna see. I think the implication might be we're gonna see how my reelection odds are going. We're gonna see what those prediction markets say. Yeah, we might need to seriously explore letting foreigners decide elections because you Americans, for whatever reason, you don't want to elect me. Okay, so what does this mean for Democrats and Republicans nationally? The fundraising numbers are in. And I know Republicans are big doomers because historically we should get completely creamed in the midterms and maybe we will.

[Karen Bass]

But.

[Michael Knowles]

But the fundraising numbers tell a very, very different story. We'll get to that momentarily. First, though, I want to tell you about Policygenius. Go to policygenius.com knowles k n o W L E S very important, folks, to protect the most important thing that you have built beyond the sanctity of your own soul, and that is your family. This great life that you've built. Okay, Especially it's summertime. You're making memories. You're just thinking about what a lucky guy you are. Well, make sure that your family is protected if something were to happen to. Policygenius is an online insurance marketplace that lets you compare quotes from top insurers side by side for free. Right now. It will make it much easier to understand your options without spending days sorting through jargon and paperwork. Most people are not avoiding responsibility. They're avoiding unnecessary complexity when they push that off. Well, don't push it off any further. 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It's a limited edition release only available while we have inventory. It is an absolutely gorgeous box. The team did a great job. The questions are even more impressive. It will help you to figure out who knows whom best among your friends and family. All the kind of questions. Was Truman right to drop the nuke? Is Canada America's evil top hat? All the questions about this country. Get yours while supplies last. Secure yours now. Dailywire.com shop because they will not last. Do not make me say I told you so. Fundraising numbers are in the Republican National Committee right now. Just take a guess. How much cash on hand does the Republican National Committee have? You know, we always think the Republicans are screwing everything up. I said at that TPUSA, ID event that I did with Matt a few weeks ago, I said, look, guys, you might be dissatisfied with the Republicans. I think the Republicans are the worst political party in America other than the Democrats. But elections involve a choice, and you gotta pick one or you gotta pick the other. That's just how elections work. I'll give you a little hint as to how much money they got. The RNC raised $18.6 million in April. $18.6 million. That's a pretty good haul for the National Committee. That means that the total cash on hand, according to the FEC, is $123.8 million for the Republicans. Now you say, okay, I just. I don't have any context. Is that good? Is that bad? How does that stack up? Well, let's compare it. To The Democrats, the DNC has negative $3 million cash on hand. It's a pretty big spread. Now, I don't wanna get too excited about it because there's fundraising for the party committees, there's fundraising for Super PACs, there's fundraising for specific races. So in the Senate races, the Democrats are really putting up a big fight against the Republicans. You look at Georgia right now, Jon Ossoff, the Democrat, is $13.8 million fundraising. The Republicans, you got Mike Collins, Derek Dooley, Earl Carter, way, way less. A million dollars. At most, half a million. Half a million. You look at Texas right Now, James Tallarico, $27.1 million raised, compared to John Cornyn, only $2.7 million. So Talarico's raised an order of magnitude more than Cornyn, who's the incumbent. But Cornyn doesn't have Trump's endorsement. Trump just days ago endorsed Ken Paxton, who has even less money than cornyn. Paxton's raised $1.7 million. Now again, on these two races, Texas and Georgia Democrats are gonna post these numbers to make themselves seem really strong. It's worth pointing out there are multiple Republican candidates in these races, so the floodgates haven't really opened up yet. A lot of donors are gonna wait to see how the primary goes, then they're gonna dump their money in so they get a better return on their investment. For the general, you look at Ohio, Sherrod Brown, vastly outraising John Husted. Alaska, North Carolina, vastly outraising the Republicans. Now Maine, it's a little bit tighter. Graham Platner, who's this guy? He has a Nazi tattoo on him. He's a complete lunatic. It's kind of funny that the Democrats gave a lot of grief to Pete Hegseth, the Defense Secretary, the Secretary of War, because he has a thousand year Christian symbol, the Jerusalem cross on his chest, as well as we the people written on his arm. They said these are Nazi symbols. You're quoting the Declaration of Independence and medieval Christianity. Meanwhile, Graham Platner has an actual Nazi tattoo on. Anyway, he's out raising Susan Collins. Okay. New Hampshire, problem. Michigan, problem. Iowa, the Republicans out raising the Democrats a little bit. So look, it's gonna be tight. I don't want to make everything seem all hunky dory. Republicans are gonna have to fight as hard as they possibly can. But from the perspective of the parties, right now, the Republicans are looking better. When you see the approval ratings for Trump or for this policy or that policy or this event or that. I'm not saying it's all sunshine and roses. The Republicans are in a very tough spot. Voters are dissatisfied with Republicans. The silver lining to that is voters are even more dissatisfied with the Democrats. Democrats are at a low ebb. And one way that Republicans can beat them is to keep just cracking them over their rhetorical heads with wokeism. For those of us who are political junkies who are paying attention day by day, who are very online, especially young voters, you're gonna say, look, wokeism's dead. Wokeism died two, three years ago. It's no big deal. It's over. We gotta move on. Stop beating a dead horse. But that isn't true. One, that isn't true in the minds of normie voters and older voters. And two, it, it isn't true in the minds of Democrats. The Democrats have not given up on wokeism. The Democrats have not given up on transing the kids. The Democrats have not given up on open borders. The Democrats have not given up on foreigners deciding our elections. They're still, when you really press them openly in favor of all of those things and those are very, very effective issues for the Republicans. So you can't give up on that. Republicans still have some major advantages in this race and that's even being reflected in the money. Okay, now speaking of Dems coming up short, this was a pretty scandalous clip. Stephen Colbert's show is over. He had the late night show. He used to have the show on Comedy Central which was pretty funny. It was a left wing show, but it was pretty funny. Then he got David Letterman's old show on CBS and then his show got canceled and Colbert whined and cried and blamed Donald Trump. But it wasn't Donald Trump's fault. It was cause his show was hemorrhaging money and no one really watches late night anymore. And frankly, that show is David Letterman's show. And it's never been the same since David Letterman left. The late night format is kind of exhausted. But Colbert did not shine in that format. He was good, but playing a character on the Comedy Central show, he was good for what it was. He was not all that good in this format. So he's out and everyone's being real sappy and real nice to him. And one of the plaudits that he's gotten over the years is that Stephen Colbert is this model of a left wing Catholic. He says that he takes the Catholic faith seriously. I don't want to judge his sincerity, but he's really been put out there by the left wing elements within the Catholic Church. He's been put out there as this exemplar of liberal Catholicism. Okay, well, let's test that. Here is Colbert chatting with Jim Gaffigan, also Catholic, about their view of what happens when you die. Now this is not a particularly complicated question. If you've graduated from your first year of catechism, if you've been to mass even one time and recited the Creed, you should have this answer pretty well. What's Colbert's answer?

[Jim Gaffigan]

Here's the question, Stephen, what is the question?

[Michael Knowles]

What do you think happens when we die?

[Jim Gaffigan]

Here's what I. Here's what I picture some of these questions. If I answer them, I have to think of what do I think as I'm waiting for the person to Answer them when I give it to them. What comes to mind when I. Comes to mind when I ask this question, I think of almost like it's more like a feeling. And the feeling is that when we die, I think there is some continuance of some kind, but it's like a dispersion of the self into some other, greater being. And I don't know, I don't have any other feelings beyond that. What you're saying is we become Febreze. Yes.

[Michael Knowles]

Right. Okay, great comeback from Gaffigan here. You're saying we become Febreze. What was that answer? I know there are religions that believe something like that. The non theistic religions, Hinduism or Jainism or Buddhism, believe something like that. That when we die, we continue on in a way, but we cease to really be the self. You know, we just kind of disperse and are absorbed into some greater kind of thing and we lose our individuality and we achieve nirvana or something like that. Yeah, I've heard that before, but I don't hear that in Mass. I don't read that in the Catechism. In fact, when you go to Mass, you recite the Creed and you say, all confessional Christians say this. They say, I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. This is pretty basic stuff. We believe that when you die, there is a particular judgment. You go to heaven or hell. And we believe in the resurrection of the body, which we see proof of and we see a figure of, but it literally happened in the resurrection of Christ. That's what we believe. That's not nirvana. That's not just dispersing into the greater being. That's not becoming Febreze. And what's so weird about this is Colbert used to know this. I remember. We'll see if the producers were able to do truly MVP crazy level work here. Cause I remember a clip from 20 years ago when I was watching Colbert's show on Comedy Central in. In which Colbert recited that creed.

[Jim Gaffigan]

There are a few things I believe off the top of my head. I'd say I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen, and in Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, God from God, light from life, true God from true God, begotten, not made one in being with the Father, through whom all things were made for us men and for our salvation. He came down from heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit, was born of the Virgin Mary, and was made man for our sake. He was crucified under Pontius Pilate, suffered, died and was buried. And the third day he rose again. Fulfillment of the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He shall come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. And his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son with the Father and the Son his worship and glorified. He is spoken to the prophets. I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism through the forgiveness of sins. I look to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

[Michael Knowles]

No. Wow. Wow. We gotta give editor Olivia huge plot. It's that she dug that up. That clip is basically scrubbed from the Internet. It's very, very old copyrights protecting. I don't know how she got that, but that was great. I remember when Colbert said that 20 years ago. I think it was in 2006. I remember watching and thinking, wow, that was impressive. I was an atheist at the time and I thought, wow, that was really impressive. And he was clear about what he believed. All the other great things he believes. But on the point here, apropos of our discussion, he said, yeah, I believe in the resurrection of the dead. So what happened? How do you go from that? He says he believes that assuming Colbert goes to mass, he says he believes that every week, maybe he goes more than once a week to this Woo woo. Wine, mom. New Age Gnostic nonsense of we all just kind of disperse and we lose our individuality, man. And we're all part of the. Hmm, you know, and we do our yoga and then we. Hmm. And we just dissolve into. What is that? That's a little weird. So a little weird. It's making me even more skeptical of liberal Christianity, left wing Christianity, which strikes me, having read the Syllabus of Errors and looking at the history of the church and looking at theology, strikes me as a contradiction in terms. Okay, now, speaking of difficult questions, the libertarian commentator and comedian Dave Smith just wondered on one of his shows, was just wondering aloud what my reaction would be if I were wrong in my political predictions, specifically about what would happen in that congressional race in Kentucky with Thomas Massie. We'll examine that question. First though, I wanna tell you about Preborn. Go to preborn.com knowles kennewlas There are moments in life that change everything instantly. Sometimes it's planned, sometimes it's unexpected. But for a lot of families, few moments are more emotional than finding out. A new baby is on the way, and I've done that four times now. For some women, however, that moment is not filled with excitement right away. It's filled with fear, uncertainty, questions about whether they can handle what comes next. That is why organizations like Preborn exist. Preborn helps connect women facing unexpected pregnancies with support, encouragement and free ultrasounds. That ultrasound matters more than people realize, because when a woman sees her baby and here's that heartbeat, it dramatically increases the likelihood that she will choose life. It increases it by more than double. So Preborn helps provide real, practical support from mothers. Maternity resources, counseling, baby supplies, diapers, clothing, and ongoing care to help women feel prepared instead of alone. This is one of those moments where even a relatively small contribution can make a real difference. 28 bucks provides one ultrasound appointment. 140 bucks helps reach five mothers. I personally support this organization. I strongly encourage you to give what you can. Those moments can change lives for both the mother and the child. Really, the whole family get involved. I'll pound 250 keyword baby. That is 250 keyword baby. Or go to preborn.comknowlespreborn.com knowles A clip comes across my feed yesterday. People were tagging me in it. This was from before the Thomas Massie primary campaign, before the election on Tuesday in which Dave Smith was taking some issue with my political analysis and my predictions. He was sitting with the reactionary commentator Nick Fuentes, and Dave said that he was really eager to see what my reaction would be if my prediction turned out to be incorrect.

[Dave Smith]

Then the betting markets start like change. Clearly people are putting money in and influencing this. So Michael Knowles over at the Daily Wire, who, you know, I don't dislike Michael Knowles, but his take on this was he goes, man, if Thomas Massie loses, this just shows the iron grip that Donald Trump has on the Republican Party.

[Michael Knowles]

Oh, brother.

[Dave Smith]

And you're like, dude, dude. I mean, I think it shows the iron grip that the Israel lobby has. If they like, that might be a slightly more accurate take. But then I also go and I'll be interested because I think Thomas Messi is going to win. I think it's close, but I think he's going to pull this off. I wonder what Michael Knowles reaction to that will be. So if it proves that Trump has an iron grip when Massie falls out, what about when Thomas Massie WINS and survives $20 million being pumped into his district? What would that suggest?

[Michael Knowles]

I wonder what Michael Knowles, what his reaction will be when his prediction proves incorrect. You see Nick Fuente's theory says, oh yes, yeah. Mm hmm. Yeah, that's right. A wonderful. I wonder what my reaction would have been had I been wrong. I guess we'll never know because my prediction was totally correct. And here Dave says, he goes, you know, look, I think it's going to be close. It wasn't even close. It wasn't close. It was a nine point swing. So that was the first bit. I found that very delightful and I appreciate that. Dave says, he goes, look, I don't dislike Michael Knowles and I feel exactly the same way. Actually, I want to get Dave on one of the bar fight shows cuz he'd be a good figure for the show. I would be the conservative, Dave is a libertarian. Then we get some left winger. I think that's a pretty good lineup because everybody could kind of disagree but sometimes would agree with each other. So anyway, I'm grateful for Dave's statement there and I look forward to, you know, seeing him on a bar fight show or something. But what about the first part where you say, okay, well, maybe Michael was totally right in his prediction, maybe Dave was wrong in his prediction. But Dave and Nick Fuentes both take issue with my analysis. My analysis was part of my prediction. I said, was if Massie goes down, this will be evidence that Trump has an ironclad grip on the Republican Party. And the two of them, they say, brother, here we go. No, it doesn't show. That's not what it will chiefly show. What it's gonna show is that the pro Israel lobby has an ironclad grip on the Republican Party. That will be the chief takeaway if Massey goes down. But I don't think Massie's gonna go down. Yeah, no, I don't think he's gonna go down. No, he'll win. It'll be close, whatever. Okay, so I wanna point out I was also completely correct in my political analysis of the broader context here. And let's be totally clear about it, I am not denying in the least that pro Israel donors wanted to take Massie out. I'm not denying that at all. It's a little complicated because Massey's biggest individual backer was ardently pro Israel. That's a slight confounding factor, but it's true. AIPAC wanted to take Massie out. The pro Israel donors really wanted to take Massie out. But that was not the chief takeaway. And my proof of this is all of the other races, all of the other primaries that Trump intervened in, you can say the Israel issue was a big factor. In the Massey race, How do you explain Brad Raffensperger in Georgia? Israel didn't play a single role in that election. That primary race was about Raffensperger's reaction to the 2020 presidential election. How do you explain Bill Cassidy's Senate primary? Bill Cassidy's Senate primary had nothing whatsoever to do with Israel. He just irritated Trump by turning against him. Turning against him. On the issue of impeachment, how do you explain the five Indiana state legislators who went down in their primary campaigns in all the races that Trump intervened in? That issue wasn't about Israel, that was about redistricting because they turned on Trump on redistricting. My point is not that the pro Israel donors didn't want to take Massie out. My point is that the chief takeaway of Massie going down alongside Raffensperger and Cassidy and the Indiana legislature all at the same time is that the only common thread there. It wasn't Israel. It wasn't the 2020 election. It wasn't impeachment, it wasn't redistricting. Those were individual issues. The only common thread to them all going down at the same time is that Trump turned on them and told voters not to vote for them. And so if we're trying to find the common thread, the chief cause of their going down, the only conclusion that we can draw is that it was Trump having an ironclad grip on the Republican Party despite the predictions and prognostications of podcasters who keep being proven wrong. That's my point. I'll go even further. In the Massey race, there are a number of Republican congressmen who don't like Israel, who have voted to defund Israel who are still in their seats. I'm sure AIPAC would love to take them out too. The deciding factor is Trump hadn't turned on them. That's where I get my political observation from. I'd go even further. The last point I'll make on Massey is had Massey played nicely with Trump, had Massey voted for the big beautiful Bill, had Massey not started palling around with Ro Khanna, an unctuous Democrat, Trump very likely would not have turned on him. And even if you had the pro Israel donors trying to take him out, my point is that wouldn't have mattered. Cuz the decisive factor was Trump. Now, once again, as I pointed this out, in the Massey race, you can say it's good that Massey opposed the gop. You can say it's good that Massey opposed Trump. You can say you like Massey more than Trump or the Republicans. You can say any of those things. You can say you want to be a libertarian instead of a conservative. I'm not making any comment on that in this context. All I'm saying is if you want to understand what's going on in politics and if you want to be able to be more likely to make accurate political predictions, you have to understand the underlying structures, how party politics actually works and the fact that, you know, look, you know how much I hate to say I told you so, but the fact that my observations and predictions have this habit of being proven correct. Now, look, none of us is omniscient, but the fact that there is pattern recognition here and they do keep playing out in reality, that would seem to suggest that that analysis on what's going on in politics is the more accurate one. And you know, I hate to say I told you so, but who knows? Maybe David, very nice comments there. Maybe we can hash it out on a bar fight. I hope in the future. Okay, now much, much more to get to talk about uncertainty. We might be taking Cuba. First though, I want to tell you my favorite comment from yesterday's chuckhoyle 12:11. Who said now? I didn't pick this. The producers picked this. We'll see if it's good. Chuck Norris once told a woman to calm down and she did. Of all the stupid Chuck Norris jokes. Talk about things from 20 years ago. Of all the great Chuck Norris jokes. That's a good one. I'd actually never heard that one before. Okay, I wanna get to Cuba. Cause we might be taking Cuba, but we don't have time. And I do. I told you at the top, I told you at the very top we would get to the bicentennial. And especially because I had this experience last night, one of the most moving things, I got a little choked up about it relating to the semi quincentennial, the 250th anniversary. I wanna get to this clip that's going viral from 1976. Spirit of 76. 200 years of America. Making people conclude that the past is a distant and foreign country.

[Jim Gaffigan]

Coke ads, like everybody wants a little.

[Michael Knowles]

This is a Coca Cola ad from 76. And it's all these people bunting everywhere wearing Uncle Sam hats, carrying Betsy Ross flags. Spirit of 76. Every everywhere. Got the drummer boys. Remember that? Actually in 76 they had the drummer boy quarters. Those are great. My grandma used to collect those. All sorts of people smiling parades. Happy birthday, America. Now, of course, look, this is a commercial. It's a commercial for a product, but it reflects one consumer tastes because people. There was obviously an appetite for this kind of patriotic stuff and said, and there were a lot of parades and there were a lot of festivities and the organizers of the semi quincentennial are doing a great job. As I mentioned, there's a lot of amazing stuff going up in Washington D.C. a lot of great events. You know, there's the rededicate event that just occurred, was that last week, rededicating America to God. And you know, there's good stuff going on, but there seems to be much less of an appetite among the people for this kind of patriotism. There's a reason actually why clips from 50 years ago are going viral from the 200th anniversary rather than the 250th anniversary. There's a sense that things have gotten worse over the last 50 years. And I don't think there was really that sense in 1976. There were political problems, but people were still, I don't know, still patriotic, still excited about the founding of America and, and celebrating that. And the country has changed radically. Look, in part, we have the highest foreign born percentage of the population that we've ever had. So it's just people who know a lot less about our founding, who have less of a civics education, who have less of a personal connection to the founding. John Jay writes in Federalist too. He thanks God that we all descend from a common stock with a common religion and a common experience of the war of the Revolution. And that has frayed over time, not just because of the vicissitudes of the passage of time or something like that, but also cause of policies that have changed the makeup of the country. Also because Americans don't really have kids anymore, which is one of the arguments for mass migration. Also because of changes in the academy and in pop culture that make us hate our country rather than celebrate our country. It's just, it's not a good sign of national health when on a big anniversary of the founding of your country, you are nostalgic for the last anniversary. That's a sign that things have gotten worse. And so then it makes you think in the grand scope of history, America's still very, very young. We're 250 years old. I was having a cigar with my pal Spencer Clavin the other night and he pointed out, he said, you know, we are half the age of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic lasted almost 500 years, 486 or so years if memory serves. And then you got the Roman Empire, maybe in modernity things go a little bit faster. I don't know. So maybe we're on the cusp of something. Maybe we are transforming from a republic into an empire. Those kind of things happen gradually. Maybe we're more aware of that now. Maybe we're more willing to transform. I don't know. I'm not saying America's gonna disappear. I'm not saying it's gonna go anywhere. But we need to come to grips with our national identity, with who we are. And we need to do so in a way that gives us a vision for the future. This is in fact, at the change from the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. This is the point of Virgil's Aeneid. Virgil's Aeneid, which is the great patriotic epic poem which was written for Caesar Augustus, which is to draw from and indeed to craft the mythology of Rome that would push Rome toward further greatness. We need something like that. Nostalgia's history after a few drinks. But we cannot simply look back. And we can't sit in the present and be doomers in despair. We are in desperate national need of a vision of the future that makes us love our country, not hate our country. That makes us hopeful, not despairing. We need. We're at a tipping point. We're at this moment where the old images, the old traditions, they've lost some of their luster. We have to rejuvenate them. Okay, in the time that I have left, because I'm typically running late, we get to my favorite time of the week when I get to hear from you in the mailbag. Our mailbag is sponsored by PureTalk. Go to PureTalk.comKnowles K N O W L E S to claim unlimited high speed data for just $34.99. Take it away.

[Listener/Caller]

Good morning, Michael. Fellow traditional Catholic here. I just wanted to say congratulations on baby number four. Unfortunately, I do feel the need to reprimand you for something. You talk a lot about how the words we use matter. I agree. So I'm sorry to say that you've fallen into one of my greatest pet peeves. And since Matt didn't call you out on it during your episode of off the Clock, I guess I have to. You've said multiple times now that you have three and a half children. No, you don't. You have four. It's like when I go to baby showers and the decorative banner says mama to be. No, there would be no baby shower without a baby. And if there's a baby, the woman is already a mother. It's the Same thing. Having only half a baby is impossible. If we want to win on the abortion issue, why would we use the left's dehumanizing language? That seems pretty self defeating to me. Your unborn daughter is a baby. A perfect, beautiful baby designed by God in his own image. Never speak of her or any potential future children as anything less. Please and thank you. Okay, End of rant. Have a nice day.

[Michael Knowles]

Okay, that's a really, really good point. And I'm not going to take your advice. It's a real. I'm not denying the precision of your point. But I think your advice demand is wrong. Here's why you make a good point. You say something that's really annoying is when you go to a baby shower and it says mother to be. So you're not a mother to be. You're a mother already. There's a baby inside you and obviously that's a whole baby. So you're already a mother. That's true. It is dehumanizing. It is, I think, rhetorically dangerous to say it's a mother to be. Cause you're already a mother. That's true. But when I say that I have three and a half children, three walking around the earth, one still cooking in there, it's just a joke. And it's not as dangerous as saying mother to be or to refer to, I don't know, an embryo or a fetus or a zygote or whatever kind of euphemisms the pro abortion crowd tries to use. It's a joke because as you point out, you can't really have half a baby. That's not a real thing. So it's a joke. It's a little bit of verbal irony. And we are allowed to joke. It's actually good to joke. The angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. A little bit of levity goes a long way. And so it's good to joke about these things. You don't want people to be confused. You want people to know that babies are babies. But joking about having half a baby, I think actually kind of does that because we all know that would be an absurdity. There's no such thing as half a baby. And the pro abortion crowd doesn't argue that a baby is half a baby. They argue that a baby is a total meaningless clump of cells or that, you know, at some magical moment the baby fully becomes a baby. So no, jokes are okay. Jokes are okay. Nihil obstad. Jokes are okay. It's okay to have some fun. We don't need to frown all the time. We can make our important moral points while still having a little charm to it. It's all right. But your point is very good. But not your advice. Okay. So much more to get to. So much more to get to. We don't have time right now for the hoi polloi on the major platforms. We've got to go to our own private major platform, the Daily Wire, for all of the members. We'll get to a lot more. Maybe some more. Mailbag. It's fake. Headline Friday. The rest of the show continues now. You do not want to miss it. Become a member. Use code Knowles, Canada WRAS at checkout for two months free on all annual plans.