The Michael Knowles Show - June 25, 2025


Ep. 1762 - Trump Nukes His Enemies With This Meme


Episode Stats


Length

43 minutes

Words per minute

172.32079

Word count

7,411

Sentence count

714

Harmful content

Misogyny

12

sentences flagged

Hate speech

30

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The New York Times has a new attack on President Trump. It's a desperate play on a desperate political strategy that's been going on for a decade. And it's a good one. Michael Kinsley explains why.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
00:00:00.000 If you were the president of the United States and you had just negotiated a tenuous ceasefire
00:00:04.980 between two nations that hate each other more than any other two nations on earth,
00:00:10.540 one of which has a nuclear weapons program of dubious legality and the other of which
00:00:15.380 has a nuclear weapons program of certain illegality until you blew it up three days ago.
00:00:21.120 If you were that guy and you had managed to achieve an improbable peace without escalating
00:00:28.080 the war and destabilizing the region, you would probably play it cool for a few days, right?
00:00:34.020 You'd try not to rock the boat too much.
00:00:37.040 That's what you would do because you are not Donald Trump who instead posted this to social media.
00:00:58.080 Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. 0.97
00:01:04.020 Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. 0.96
00:01:05.300 Went to a mosque, gonna throw some rocks, tell the Ayatollah gonna put you in a box.
00:01:11.060 Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. 0.96
00:01:13.020 Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. 0.96
00:01:14.880 Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. 0.96
00:01:17.180 The country's got a feeling, really, it's a ceiling.
00:01:20.200 Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. 0.97
00:01:23.360 Old Uncle Sam's getting pretty hot.
00:01:26.600 Time to turn Iran into a parking lot. 1.00
00:01:29.300 Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. 0.97
00:01:32.520 I don't have to tell you that that post is hilarious, but what I might have to tell you
00:01:48.420 is that that post also achieved at least three strategic political objectives
00:01:53.360 and exemplifies a political posture that goes all the way back to Julius Caesar.
00:01:57.800 I'm Michael Knowles. This is the Michael Knowles Show.
00:02:02.520 Welcome back to the show. The New York Times has a new attack on President Trump.
00:02:25.860 This is the, I think, the desperation play for them.
00:02:30.600 It's that Iran's nuclear sites might not have been totally obliterated.
00:02:35.200 He didn't start World War III. He didn't get American troops killed.
00:02:38.200 He didn't, check, check, check, check, check.
00:02:40.820 Okay, well, I guess the best way, maybe it didn't work.
00:02:44.040 We'll get into what the reports actually say.
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00:03:21.520 Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran. 1.00
00:03:23.920 Okay, what does this do?
00:03:24.720 It's really funny.
00:03:25.960 It's really funny.
00:03:27.000 And people are going to say, this is Trump being crazy.
00:03:29.560 This is Trump being reckless.
00:03:31.500 Why did he have to do that?
00:03:32.860 Why, Trump, why?
00:03:34.600 That's what they're all going to say.
00:03:35.640 Oh, why would you?
00:03:37.340 You just brokered this 10-year speech.
00:03:38.900 Look, I don't know how conscious Trump is of his excellent, obviously, insanely successful political strategy that is undeniable at this point, even for all the haters.
00:03:52.200 But even if he's not totally conscious of it, the fact that he just keeps doing it for 10 years straight shows you it's a pretty good strategy.
00:03:58.920 What this post does is reestablish three things.
00:04:06.000 First, the post reestablishes tonal balance.
00:04:10.060 Two days ago, President Trump was walking to Marine One, and the reporters asked him about Iran and Israel breaking the ceasefire.
00:04:16.960 And he got real angry, real visibly angry.
00:04:19.180 He wasn't telling jokes.
00:04:20.100 He said, these countries don't know what the F they're doing. 0.77
00:04:22.380 He really was serious.
00:04:25.060 But Trump needs to have a little balance.
00:04:28.700 He needs to have that levity.
00:04:29.960 Trump is a stand-up comedian in many ways.
00:04:32.100 Trump has that gift that Ronald Reagan had, which is opening with a joke.
00:04:35.580 He disarms people.
00:04:37.500 And so he's got to reestablish that balance.
00:04:39.120 By posting the bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran, he's funny again. 1.00
00:04:43.020 He's light again.
00:04:44.840 Second thing that the post reestablishes is ideological balance.
00:04:48.960 Because Trump was being hit from the right, not just from the libs, but from the right, over this mission in Iran.
00:05:00.020 You had people, very serious voices on the right, saying that Trump was no better than George Bush, and he was going to get us bogged down in a forever war.
00:05:07.820 And he was risking American troops when there was no real American interest at play.
00:05:12.680 And this was awful, and he was being dog-walked and all the rest of it.
00:05:16.360 So, because you had this extreme dove position, not even just a dovish position, an extreme dovish position.
00:05:25.840 If the United States ever flies a fighter jet, you know, it's an immoral act or something like that.
00:05:30.780 Because of that, he has to mock that view.
00:05:34.340 And so he does that with the video.
00:05:36.000 He's got actual bombs dropping out of a B-2.
00:05:39.080 And it's a joke.
00:05:41.540 Ha, ha, ha.
00:05:42.000 It's okay.
00:05:42.880 We're America.
00:05:43.880 We're the global empire.
00:05:45.120 We can, we drop bombs.
00:05:46.680 We have the, we have not only the greatest military in the world, we basically have the only military in the world.
00:05:52.660 The only actual military that can project power anywhere.
00:05:57.360 We have that.
00:05:58.640 It's okay.
00:05:59.180 You don't need to cry every time an American fighter jet takes off.
00:06:02.040 It's all right.
00:06:03.400 That he's, he's reestablishing tone.
00:06:05.900 He's reestablishing ideology, the balance of both of those.
00:06:09.860 And then, third thing, he's reestablishing his madman credentials.
00:06:15.620 And I think this is probably the most important.
00:06:18.380 These lyrics are crazy.
00:06:21.380 The lyrics, and it's not just, we've all heard the version of the song before.
00:06:24.420 Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran. 1.00
00:06:26.300 It's the lyrics.
00:06:29.260 There I see a mosque gonna throw some rocks. 1.00
00:06:32.100 That is provocative language.
00:06:35.500 Gonna take the Ayatollah and put him in a box. 1.00
00:06:38.820 The song is Trump coming out and saying, ha ha ha, I'm gonna kill you.
00:06:43.640 Or am I joking?
00:06:45.140 Maybe I'm just joking.
00:06:46.460 Or I'm gonna kill you.
00:06:49.720 Gonna turn Iran into a parking lot. 1.00
00:06:53.420 I'm just joking.
00:06:54.600 Am I?
00:06:55.580 Am I joking?
00:06:57.060 No, no.
00:06:57.900 I mean, I just did.
00:06:58.740 I just bombed it.
00:06:59.460 But I didn't kill you yet.
00:07:02.040 Hey, what am I gonna do?
00:07:04.840 That's what he's doing.
00:07:05.620 He's reestablishing his madman cred.
00:07:08.360 Which is very effective.
00:07:10.140 It's helped him in the Middle East.
00:07:11.300 It's helped him dealing with Iran in both terms.
00:07:13.140 Helped him dealing with Syria. 0.85
00:07:14.060 It's helped him dealing with Putin.
00:07:16.060 Famously, it was reported that Trump warned Putin.
00:07:21.300 Said, Putin, if you invade into Ukraine while I'm president, I'll bomb Moscow.
00:07:25.280 I'll hit the Kremlin.
00:07:27.300 And Putin might think, okay, look, 95% chance he's bluffing.
00:07:32.600 But 5% chance he's a crazy guy.
00:07:34.860 He's the kind of guy who, after securing a tenuous ceasefire, a real stop and go ceasefire
00:07:41.320 between two nations, at least one of them has nukes, one of them almost had nukes, two
00:07:45.520 nations who hate each other more than any other nations on Earth.
00:07:49.160 I got the ceasefire.
00:07:51.200 I completed the mission, got the ceasefire.
00:07:52.860 And you know what I'm gonna do?
00:07:53.700 I'm gonna take my finger and rub it right in their wound. 0.96
00:07:56.080 Yeah, I'm gonna take some salt and rub it in there, too.
00:07:58.440 I'm gonna kill you, Ayatollah. 1.00
00:07:59.700 Just kidding.
00:08:00.240 Am I kidding?
00:08:01.540 That is very effective.
00:08:03.540 And it reminds me of an ancient anecdote.
00:08:08.780 Some people are gonna look at this.
00:08:09.740 They're gonna say, this is not how statesmen believe.
00:08:12.540 This is not how statesmen behave.
00:08:16.440 This is not, this is so, this is shameful.
00:08:20.680 George Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Joe Biden would never do that.
00:08:24.380 Yeah, okay.
00:08:26.380 There's a temptation to say that posting this kind of video is modern or postmodern even.
00:08:32.580 No, this goes back to classical antiquity.
00:08:34.620 It reminds me of a story about Julius Caesar.
00:08:37.940 This comes to us from Plutarch's Parallel Lives.
00:08:41.080 The year is 75 BC.
00:08:43.720 Julius Caesar is on his way to study oratory at Rhodes, and he's captured by Cilician pirates.
00:08:49.540 So they capture Caesar, and they, Caesar's, you know, 25.
00:08:53.860 He's not, he's not a commander.
00:08:55.080 He's not a big political leader yet.
00:08:56.860 And they say, okay, we're gonna set the ransom at 20 talents.
00:09:00.480 And what does Caesar do?
00:09:02.240 Does he coward?
00:09:03.040 He says, oh, please.
00:09:03.940 Does he throw himself on the mercy of the pirates?
00:09:05.680 Please, no, please.
00:09:06.680 I mean, does he haggle with them?
00:09:07.520 No, he mocks them.
00:09:09.500 He laughs at them.
00:09:10.820 And he says, you, you idiots, you don't even know who you have.
00:09:13.580 I'm a Roman nobleman.
00:09:14.560 You should set the, you should set the ransom at 50 talents.
00:09:17.520 You think I'm only worth 20?
00:09:18.620 I'm worth 50.
00:09:20.360 Then he sends his entourage back to Miletus to go get the money.
00:09:24.900 And for 38 days, he's captive, but he doesn't behave like a captive.
00:09:28.640 He decides he's gonna order these guys around.
00:09:31.140 He starts bossing the pirates around.
00:09:32.920 He starts reciting speeches of his, and he's gone to study oratory.
00:09:37.200 He recites poetry that he's written.
00:09:39.120 And when the pirates don't get it, he makes fun of them.
00:09:41.460 He calls them illiterate.
00:09:42.820 And he plays the games with them.
00:09:44.340 They're playing games.
00:09:44.900 He's playing games, bossing them around.
00:09:46.220 And then every so often, he would say, I'm gonna crucify you.
00:09:52.120 This is all recorded.
00:09:53.080 You can read this in Plutarch.
00:09:54.700 He says, oh, they're playing games.
00:09:55.800 He's reading.
00:09:56.360 He says, but don't forget, I'm gonna crucify you.
00:09:59.880 And the pirates think the guy's completely nuts.
00:10:03.700 So 38 days later, his entourage comes back.
00:10:06.860 They have the talents.
00:10:08.620 They ransom him.
00:10:09.540 And what does he do?
00:10:10.180 25 years old.
00:10:11.540 Does not command any armies or anything.
00:10:14.180 He raises a navy, a private navy.
00:10:16.680 Goes back to the island.
00:10:17.600 The pirates are still there.
00:10:18.480 He captures all of them.
00:10:19.560 He then takes them to Pergamum.
00:10:21.800 And puts them in jail.
00:10:24.320 And goes to the governor of Asia.
00:10:25.620 Who's Junius, I think.
00:10:27.000 And he says, hey, you gotta punish these guys.
00:10:29.360 They captured me.
00:10:31.200 They kidnapped me.
00:10:32.340 And the governor's saying, well, I don't know.
00:10:34.100 I'm not that interested in this issue.
00:10:35.860 And he's vacillating on whether or not to punish them.
00:10:38.120 So what does Caesar do?
00:10:39.820 He goes to the jail.
00:10:40.980 And he crucifies them himself.
00:10:42.860 And the lesson, I would say the chief lesson of that classic political episode is you probably
00:10:55.020 don't want to mess with Julius Caesar.
00:10:58.040 That's what Trump's doing here.
00:11:00.240 That's exactly what Trump is doing here.
00:11:03.080 He goes in.
00:11:04.060 He's got a lot of credibility.
00:11:05.560 He just dropped a bunch of bunker busters and blew up Iran's whole nuclear program.
00:11:09.080 The thing that they have wanted, that they have been pursuing more than anything else
00:11:13.540 for decades.
00:11:14.560 He just blows it all up.
00:11:16.660 Then he gives them an off-ramp.
00:11:18.360 He's a good diplomat.
00:11:19.180 Gets them to come to a peace.
00:11:21.340 Then he says, ha, ha, ha.
00:11:22.840 But don't forget, I'm going to crucify you.
00:11:25.680 I'm just kidding.
00:11:26.760 Am I?
00:11:27.780 Am I?
00:11:29.820 I don't want to hear any counter-signaling the bomb Iran video.
00:11:32.780 The bomb Iran video is very funny.
00:11:34.760 And it's worth it for that.
00:11:36.200 It achieves at least three political objectives for Trump.
00:11:39.080 And it's an example of strong political leadership.
00:11:44.080 We have good precedent for this.
00:11:45.720 It goes all the way back to Julius Caesar.
00:11:47.760 I have much more to say.
00:11:49.800 A lot to say today.
00:11:51.160 More than usual, even.
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00:12:56.680 Now, speaking of Trump threatening people, declaring war, memeing, not only did we get
00:13:04.680 that short film from the president yesterday, we got this novel, we got this war and peace
00:13:10.680 of truth social posts.
00:13:11.700 This is about AOC.
00:13:13.240 I'm going to fly through it, but it's good writing.
00:13:18.540 Why is Trump going after AOC?
00:13:20.900 Because AOC wants to impeach Trump.
00:13:23.360 Why does she want to impeach Trump?
00:13:24.360 Because Trump, as commander in chief, led maybe the most successful military expedition
00:13:31.100 we've had in my lifetime.
00:13:32.640 Just in terms of cost to the United States, cost in destabilizing any region, strategic
00:13:39.460 objectives attained.
00:13:41.320 This was pretty amazing.
00:13:42.780 This was what, like a three-hour military operation that obliterated Iran's nuclear program?
00:13:47.480 I haven't seen anything this successful, at least since Desert Storm, and maybe including
00:13:52.540 that.
00:13:52.980 Anyway, Trump writes, stupid AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the dumbest, in quotes, 1.00
00:14:00.700 people in Congress, is now calling for my impeachment, despite the fact that the crooked
00:14:03.900 and corrupt Democrats have already done that twice before.
00:14:06.120 The reason for her rantings is all of the victories that the USA has had under the Trump
00:14:10.200 administration.
00:14:11.080 The Democrats aren't used to winning, and she can't stand the concept of our country being 0.98
00:14:14.120 successful again.
00:14:15.260 When we examine her test scores, her test scores, like her SAT, we will find out that she is
00:14:22.400 not qualified for office, but nevertheless far more qualified than Crockett, who is a
00:14:27.000 seriously low IQ individual, or Ilhan Omar, who does nothing but complain about our country.
00:14:32.900 Yet the failed country that she comes from, Somalia, doesn't have a government, is drenched 1.00
00:14:37.980 in crime and poverty, and is rated one of the worst in the world, if it is even rated
00:14:42.000 at all.
00:14:42.400 Rated by whom?
00:14:43.560 It's just a total stream of consciousness.
00:14:46.300 This is like beat poetry.
00:14:47.860 I love it.
00:14:48.460 I love it.
00:14:50.140 How dare the mouse tell us how to run the United States of America?
00:14:53.740 Is that Ilhan?
00:14:54.420 Because she does kind of look like a mouse, and that's never occurred to me, but that's
00:14:56.900 an apt description.
00:14:58.780 As often, not always, but most of the time, Trump's nicknames usually work.
00:15:02.520 The mouse.
00:15:03.080 That's interesting.
00:15:03.720 Okay.
00:15:05.660 We're just now coming back from that radical left experiment with Sleepy Joe, Kamala,
00:15:09.440 the auto pen in charge.
00:15:12.340 What a disaster it was.
00:15:13.480 AOC should be forced to take the cognitive test that I just completed at Walter Reed Medical
00:15:17.380 Center as part of my physical.
00:15:20.060 As the doctor, all sorts of random capitalizations throughout.
00:15:23.600 As the doctor in charge said, President Trump aced it, meaning I got every answer right.
00:15:30.980 There's actual political import to this, but you kind of have to read all of it to get
00:15:34.720 through it.
00:15:35.420 I am going to read all.
00:15:36.020 I changed my mind.
00:15:36.520 I'm going to read all of it.
00:15:37.740 President Trump aced it, meaning I got every answer right.
00:15:40.060 Instead of her constant complaining, Alexandria should go back home to Queens, where I was 1.00
00:15:43.800 also brought up, and straighten out her filthy, disgusting, crime-ridden streets in the district 1.00
00:15:48.660 she represents, and which she never goes to anymore.
00:15:51.060 She better start worrying about her own primary before she thinks about beating our great Palestinian 1.00
00:15:54.560 senator, crying, Chuck Schumer.
00:15:56.900 He calls one of the most famous Jews in America the great Palestinian senator because he's a
00:16:08.480 kind of a traitor to the Jewish interests, at least as regards Israel.
00:16:12.620 And he ended up backing a lot of the anti-Israel measures, which there's a lot of political conclusions
00:16:20.320 one can draw from that.
00:16:21.140 But anyway, he goes, our great Palestinian senator, crying, Chuck Schumer, whose career
00:16:25.240 is definitely on very thin ice.
00:16:27.600 She and her Democrat friends have just hit the lowest poll numbers in congressional history.
00:16:31.300 So go ahead and try and beeching me again.
00:16:34.580 Make my day.
00:16:36.520 Okay, what is all of this about?
00:16:38.660 What is this about?
00:16:39.600 One, it's very, very funny.
00:16:42.560 It does the same thing as the video, which is intentional.
00:16:48.140 Now, Trump, at least at some level, and maybe totally consciously, knows what he's doing
00:16:53.060 here.
00:16:54.260 It restores tonal balance.
00:16:57.820 It's funny.
00:16:58.800 Okay, no more.
00:16:59.480 They don't know what the F they're doing.
00:17:00.820 Shoot, I'm starting to look like I'm losing my cool here.
00:17:04.240 All right, hold on.
00:17:04.640 I got to be funny guy again.
00:17:07.220 Reagan did the same thing.
00:17:08.960 It restores ideological balance.
00:17:11.460 Now, the right has just been fighting over this Iran war.
00:17:14.860 The doves and the hawks at each other's throats.
00:17:16.680 It's Tucker Carlson and Mark Levin at each other's throats.
00:17:19.660 This restores the ideological balance because we have a common enemy, our most prominent
00:17:24.220 farcical enemy that we've had for 10 years now, AOC.
00:17:29.280 Seven years now, AOC.
00:17:31.780 Okay, good.
00:17:32.320 Now, the ideological balance.
00:17:33.320 We can all make fun of AOC.
00:17:35.360 End the madman credit.
00:17:36.820 This is written like a madman, and he knows what he's doing.
00:17:39.140 He understands the effect of his rhetoric.
00:17:41.580 This is the guy who wrote the tweet about the Taco Bowls at Trump Tower.
00:17:44.840 Happy Cinco de Mayo.
00:17:46.500 The best Taco Bowls in the world are at Trump Tower.
00:17:48.560 I love Hispanics.
00:17:49.480 He knew how that would be received.
00:17:50.900 He is a consummate showman.
00:17:52.820 He was the top-rated guy in network primetime TV for like 15 years.
00:17:58.420 It's not an accident.
00:17:59.800 The Trump haters, the best they can muster at this point is, well, it's all just an accident.
00:18:04.120 He's just accidentally really good at all this stuff.
00:18:06.020 Okay, man, sure.
00:18:08.580 Whatever helps you sleep at night.
00:18:10.280 Whatever helps you maintain your self-conception having been wrong about the Trump admin for 10 years now.
00:18:19.680 It restores the madman stuff.
00:18:21.280 Man, maybe this guy's really crazy.
00:18:23.780 And if he's really crazy, maybe I better tread lightly.
00:18:27.920 Really funny stuff.
00:18:28.840 Also on the charge, though, it triggered AOC because AOC responds and she goes, also, I'm a Bronx girl.
00:18:37.500 You know, you should know that we eat Queen's boys for breakfast, respectfully.
00:18:43.880 I'm a Bronx girl.
00:18:47.680 She's not.
00:18:48.460 But I have a little insight into this because AOC and I, AOC is maybe a year or two older than me.
00:18:55.220 AOC and I were raised in almost exactly the same place at almost exactly the same time.
00:18:59.360 And it wasn't the Bronx.
00:19:01.680 AOC is, she grew up in a town called Yorktown Heights.
00:19:05.400 It's a very nice little town.
00:19:07.000 I grew up, it's a suburb, about an hour, a little more than an hour north of the city.
00:19:11.600 I grew up in the town right next door.
00:19:13.780 You can see it on a map, right next door.
00:19:15.740 It's called Bedford Hills.
00:19:17.100 The irony is that AOC actually grew up in a slightly wealthier and whiter suburb than I did.
00:19:23.400 But the place I grew up was lovely, too.
00:19:25.360 And it was about an hour north.
00:19:28.180 So if you look on a map, if you're watching this right now, you can see the red circle, that's AOC's town that she grew up in.
00:19:34.840 The blue circle is my town that I grew up in.
00:19:37.400 And then that circle all the way down at the bottom of the map in black, that would be the Bronx.
00:19:44.340 She ain't Jenny from the block, okay?
00:19:46.620 She's Alexandria from the Burbs, which is fine. 0.95
00:19:51.440 The suburbs are great.
00:19:52.500 But AOC has gotten in trouble for years lying about this.
00:19:55.420 And it's so silly.
00:19:56.720 And because I, oddly enough, AOC and I actually have very similar life circumstances.
00:20:02.420 Even family matters.
00:20:03.660 And it's kind of interesting.
00:20:05.040 But I have a lot of insight into how she grew up.
00:20:07.640 And she didn't grow up on the streets, okay?
00:20:10.440 I spent a lot of time in the Bronx, too, because I'd go to the Bronx, to the Italian section, to go grocery shopping on the weekends.
00:20:14.900 So I like the Bronx.
00:20:16.040 But I didn't grow up in the Bronx.
00:20:17.720 And she didn't grow up in the Bronx, either.
00:20:19.620 And she ain't Jenny from the block.
00:20:21.140 And so she seems like a fraud. 0.99
00:20:23.580 The funny thing is Trump actually did grow up in Queens.
00:20:26.600 He was a rich kid.
00:20:27.840 He's been a rich kid all his life.
00:20:29.220 But Donald Trump has much more in common with the average guy on the street in Queens or the Bronx than AOC from the fancy northern Westchester suburbs does.
00:20:41.740 And that helps him.
00:20:43.260 And it's the reason why his tweets hit like that and AOC's, you know, we eat you Queens boys for breakfast.
00:20:49.760 That's such a northern Westchester thing to say.
00:20:52.320 That's such a suburban thing to say.
00:20:54.160 We, do you know, actually, we, it's like you're trying to come up with the playground taunt, and you don't have it because you didn't actually grow up on them mean streets.
00:21:05.700 She lies about that.
00:21:07.000 So she tries to concoct this personality.
00:21:09.700 Whereas with Trump, whatever it is, if it's a show, if it's authentic, if there's no difference between the two, his performance is more persuasive.
00:21:19.280 And that's why he has greater political effect than she does.
00:21:21.880 Now, really, really bad stuff coming out of the Bronx.
00:21:26.380 AOC is positively conservative compared to the next mayor of New York.
00:21:30.580 One second.
00:21:31.600 Hold on.
00:21:32.440 One, put a pause.
00:21:33.800 Stop your car.
00:21:34.720 Sit down.
00:21:36.160 Go to shopify.com slash Knowles.
00:21:40.380 When I was starting my businesses, it's kind of weird to think.
00:21:43.720 I don't think of myself as a businessman, but I actually have a number of businesses.
00:21:46.500 Back in the day, starting out, boy, oh, boy, would Shopify have made things easier.
00:21:54.220 Shopify is the commerce platform beyond millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e-commerce in the U.S.
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00:22:07.920 What if I'm worried people haven't heard of my brand?
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00:22:40.020 Shopify.com slash K-N-O-W-L-E-S. 1.00
00:22:44.700 Mossad.
00:22:45.940 Espionage.
00:22:46.500 Spying on Trump.
00:22:47.260 In this episode of Michael and the former spy, I sit down with Jack Barsky, a former KGB agent who lived a double life as both a Soviet spy and a suburban American dad.
00:22:57.380 We dive into the secrets of Cold War espionage, the lies he told to survive, and the psychological toll of living a life split in two.
00:23:05.120 When Donald Trump criticized the CIA and the FBI, partially I think it was his ego, but he was also right.
00:23:13.400 There was a lot of misbehavior.
00:23:15.080 Right.
00:23:15.660 They said 51 intelligence officials, past and present, see Trump as a threat.
00:23:19.780 51 did not ask for proof.
00:23:23.740 If Russia today is sending amateurs to do their spying, are there any countries that are still good at it?
00:23:29.840 Israel.
00:23:31.020 Yeah.
00:23:32.240 The Mossad is superb, and they also have a lot of Arabs among their ranks, which helps them a lot.
00:23:40.160 Well, that's one of the reasons that they could blow up a bunch of Hamas people with drones, because they knew exactly where they're going to be. 0.95
00:23:48.840 Watch the full episode now at the Michael Knowles YouTube channel.
00:23:51.660 For the uncensored ad-free version, subscribe to Daily Wire Plus.
00:23:57.520 Speaking of New York politicians, the results are in from the New York Democrat mayoral primary.
00:24:03.320 And the next mayor of New York is going to be freaking terrible, just terrible, just the worst we've seen in our lifetimes and well beyond our lifetimes, maybe the worst ever.
00:24:18.840 I feel confident to say that now before he's even won the general election, before he's won, before he's ever entered into office.
00:24:26.680 The race was between two guys.
00:24:28.480 On the one hand, you had Andrew Cuomo, former governor of New York, who left during a big scandal.
00:24:34.460 They pretended it was a sex scandal.
00:24:35.720 It was really because he mishandled COVID and lied about COVID, and he was trying to mount a political comeback.
00:24:40.380 Andy Cuomo, I was a waiter for him one time in northern Westchester.
00:24:45.300 He has been a fixture in New York politics for 50 years.
00:24:49.180 His dad was governor, a very famous governor, almost ran for president.
00:24:52.580 He's just been around forever.
00:24:54.500 He wanted to make a comeback as mayor of New York.
00:24:58.480 And then you had this guy, Zoran Mamdani, a 12-er Shiite Muslim socialist who wants to stop arresting criminals and affirmatively wants to trans little kids. 0.80
00:25:09.100 A cartoonishly horrible candidate.
00:25:12.560 Guess who won?
00:25:13.880 And it wasn't even particularly close.
00:25:15.960 Zoran Mamdani won the primary.
00:25:22.140 And we should look at why, because it's going to give you, forget about New York.
00:25:25.640 I actually do care about New York.
00:25:26.880 You know, some people are saying, who cares?
00:25:29.220 It's Democrat cities, let them burn. 0.82
00:25:30.940 That's not my view.
00:25:32.740 There's like three views on this that get you to deepening levels of conservatism.
00:25:36.820 The first view is, we should care because the New Yorkers are our fellow countrymen.
00:25:43.380 And even though it's our city, or even though it's their city, you know, we should care about what happens to them.
00:25:49.200 I mean, it's really their right to elect whoever they want, but we should kind of care.
00:25:52.660 The next year of conservatism is, well, whatever.
00:25:56.380 It's a bunch of libs in New York.
00:25:57.580 It's a terrible city up by the axis of evil and whatever, let it burn.
00:26:02.580 But then the deeper level of conservatism is, it's a great American city.
00:26:08.440 I'm an American.
00:26:10.040 Those miscreants up there who elected Zoran Mamdani don't have any right to ruin it.
00:26:15.000 And give me my city back.
00:26:16.260 I don't care that I don't live there.
00:26:17.120 It's my city.
00:26:18.260 You don't get to do that.
00:26:19.540 You don't get to do that.
00:26:20.960 I'm an American.
00:26:22.220 It's an important American city.
00:26:23.880 Sit down and shut up and give me my city back.
00:26:25.740 I go there twice a year and I want to make sure I can safely walk to go get a bagel and even maybe ride the subway.
00:26:32.680 So no, I care about it because I'm an American.
00:26:35.820 That's kind of my view of it.
00:26:37.120 And I am a New Yorker of extraction.
00:26:40.560 So what's really interesting about this race is both of these guys ran on the same issue.
00:26:48.020 The chief issue was affordability.
00:26:51.860 That was it.
00:26:52.580 It wasn't a campaign about abortion.
00:26:54.880 Andy Cuomo has leftist credentials on abortion that cannot be exceeded.
00:27:01.260 Andy Cuomo changed the law to permit abortion up until the moment of birth and changed the penal law to redefine murdering a pregnant woman as double homicide to single homicide.
00:27:11.640 And then he lit the Freedom Tower up pink.
00:27:13.380 Andy Cuomo is a left winger, even on all the social issues.
00:27:17.520 But the issue was affordability.
00:27:19.520 And each of these guys ran a TV ad about affordability.
00:27:23.440 Check out the difference.
00:27:24.280 Here's Andy Cuomo's on affordability.
00:27:26.880 New York City has an affordability crisis, but we will rise.
00:27:31.360 The minimum wage will rise.
00:27:33.320 I raised it to the highest in the nation as governor.
00:27:36.020 I'll do it here.
00:27:37.260 500,000 new affordable homes will rise.
00:27:40.500 I did it as the nation's housing secretary.
00:27:43.040 We can do it here.
00:27:44.100 We built new bridges, train stations and airports and got through COVID together because there's a simple solution to a crisis.
00:27:52.240 You act.
00:27:53.020 So let's rise together.
00:27:55.480 Paid for by Cuomo for NYC.
00:27:56.760 We're going to rise.
00:27:59.280 Look, it's a little unaffordable now, but we're going to grow.
00:28:03.720 We're going to make government more efficient.
00:28:06.400 I did it when I was governor.
00:28:08.560 I did it when I was housing secretary under Clinton.
00:28:12.480 Listen, we're going to have abundance liberalism.
00:28:16.640 We're going to have stable leadership.
00:28:18.760 We're all going to rise together.
00:28:20.900 That's how things are going to be more affordable.
00:28:23.180 Here's how the other guy talked about affordability.
00:28:30.100 I'm Assemblyman Zahran Maldani, and I'm running for mayor to freeze the rent for every rent stabilized tenant.
00:28:36.880 Wait, you're going to freeze my rent?
00:28:39.360 Yes.
00:28:40.560 Did I hear rent freeze?
00:28:42.720 Yes.
00:28:43.420 This guy's going to freeze the rent.
00:28:45.420 No, Pike?
00:28:47.040 None.
00:28:48.340 This guy's going to freeze the rent.
00:28:51.020 It's true.
00:28:51.600 As your next mayor, I will freeze your rent.
00:28:55.180 Paid for by Zoran for NYC.
00:28:58.140 Did you catch the difference?
00:29:00.720 Andy Cuomo's.
00:29:01.660 We're going to be more affordable by growing and by raising the minimum wage a little bit and rising together and growing and being abundant.
00:29:12.960 And this guy, Zoran Maldani, comes out.
00:29:14.760 He says, hey, you're going to have more money because I'm going to eat the rich.
00:29:18.320 We're going to eat the rich.
00:29:19.440 We're going to get those dirty, nasty landlords. 1.00
00:29:21.380 We're going to slit their throats. 0.99
00:29:22.820 They're not going to get one penny extra.
00:29:24.580 I'm going to freeze your rent.
00:29:25.920 Money, money, money, money, money.
00:29:27.660 You want money?
00:29:28.920 Hold on.
00:29:29.260 I'm going to get it from this guy.
00:29:30.020 Hold on one second.
00:29:31.380 Give me that money.
00:29:32.300 Hey, you want it?
00:29:32.900 Hey, here you go.
00:29:33.400 Here's his credit card.
00:29:34.120 Take his credit card, too.
00:29:34.960 Money, money, money.
00:29:35.620 Guess who won?
00:29:39.160 Guess who won?
00:29:40.900 Mom done.
00:29:42.540 Andrew Cuomo was running on a 90s liberalism campaign.
00:29:47.900 Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, George Bush, Mike Bloomberg in New York.
00:29:55.740 Hey, we're all going to grow together.
00:29:57.360 Abundance.
00:29:57.800 We're not going to worry so much about, you know, hostilities and tensions.
00:30:03.340 No, we're just all going to grow and be rich, and we're going to have a truce on some of
00:30:07.020 the social stuff, and that's 90s liberalism, and Mamdani ran on socialism.
00:30:13.240 We're going to freeze your rent.
00:30:15.340 Implicit is someone's going to have to pay for that.
00:30:16.960 It's going to be the landlords, and they're whatever.
00:30:18.560 They're not going to get their money.
00:30:19.680 Forget about them.
00:30:20.440 Screw them.
00:30:20.980 We're going to, I'll eat them if you get hungry, and guess who won?
00:30:26.240 Now, there is a Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.
00:30:29.980 He's great.
00:30:31.340 Curtis Sliwa is the founder of the Guardian Angels, the civic group to protect people when
00:30:36.340 the political order was failing to deal with crime on the streets.
00:30:39.660 It's this group, the Guardian Angels, would ride the subways and just protect people from
00:30:44.300 the criminals and the vagrants who are coming back because of bad governance in New York.
00:30:48.320 He's great.
00:30:49.100 He's a total legend in New York.
00:30:51.400 I don't think he's going to win.
00:30:52.640 George Pataki, the former Republican governor of New York, he came out.
00:30:55.820 He said, I think Curtis Sliwa might be able to win here.
00:30:58.700 Maybe.
00:30:59.000 I mean, it might be the case that Zoran Mamdani is just so radical that the Republican has a
00:31:04.940 chance, but I don't think so, because Curtis Sliwa is such a colorful character in his
00:31:08.620 own right, and New York has become so liberal, and so many conservatives have left New York
00:31:13.120 even since COVID, since Cuomo's terrible management under COVID.
00:31:17.300 They've left for places like Florida and Tennessee and Texas.
00:31:20.180 I just don't see it.
00:31:21.060 I think this guy Mamdani is going to get it.
00:31:23.300 I think that politics has moved away from a kind of squishy procedural norms where we're
00:31:30.540 all just different shades of liberal.
00:31:31.960 I think on the right, we've concerned ourselves more with substantive goods, family, virtue,
00:31:37.820 natural law, flourishing societies.
00:31:40.220 It's all good stuff.
00:31:41.240 And on the left, they've concerned themselves with more putative substantive goods, not
00:31:46.280 actual goods.
00:31:46.740 They're actual evils, but substantive goods like class struggle, race struggle, soaking 0.99
00:31:55.100 the rich, you know, real substance, not a kind of broad procedure that supposedly is going
00:32:00.920 to allow everyone to abound together.
00:32:05.100 That's done.
00:32:06.580 Cuomo-ism is deader than disco.
00:32:09.120 Now, what rough beast is this?
00:32:11.100 I don't know.
00:32:11.740 I don't know.
00:32:12.200 That replaces it.
00:32:13.680 Speaking of threats and New York, you're getting some reports out now.
00:32:19.300 New York Times has a report that the Iranian nuclear sites might not have been totally
00:32:28.240 obliterated.
00:32:29.900 So you got this piece of strike set back Iran's nuclear program by only a few months, U.S.
00:32:35.040 report says.
00:32:36.220 Preliminary classified findings indicate that the attack sealed off the entrances to two
00:32:40.020 facilities but did not collapse their underground buildings.
00:32:42.380 And here's why actually it wasn't that good and what Trump did is just not that impressive.
00:32:46.500 Sean Parnell, who is the spokesman for the Pentagon, he responded.
00:32:50.980 He said, we dropped 14,000 30,000 pound bombs directly on their target, 420,000 pounds of
00:32:56.600 bombs.
00:32:57.200 It doesn't take a genius to know that these nuclear facilities have been completely obliterated.
00:33:01.760 New York Post, though, even, which is a little bit more right wing, is hitting it from another
00:33:07.520 angle.
00:33:08.280 Says, top Trump official calls U.S. airstrikes on Iran pointless, suggests deep state swayed press.
00:33:14.440 Now, this is great clickbait because it's a total red herring here.
00:33:18.480 The Trump official reportedly called the U.S. airstrikes pointless before we knew what
00:33:24.580 their effect was.
00:33:25.380 He was just opposed to them in principle.
00:33:28.200 So this actually has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not they collapse the nuclear
00:33:31.560 facilities.
00:33:32.520 It's just a guy who said, look, I just disagree with military intervention generally.
00:33:36.580 And they're trying to turn this into a narrative that says that the strikes weren't effective.
00:33:40.840 The New York Times is going at it more directly.
00:33:42.320 Saying, well, they didn't even stop the program.
00:33:44.300 To me, this is total, total desperation.
00:33:48.060 The libs are just out of ways to criticize Trump.
00:33:50.600 And the right, in many ways, is out of ways to criticize Trump.
00:33:54.360 Trump is going to, he's a coward.
00:33:56.800 He's getting pushed around by the Ayatollah. 0.84
00:33:59.240 Or on the flip side, he's a maniac, belligerent.
00:34:02.540 He's going to start World War III. 0.77
00:34:04.560 He's going to get American troops killed.
00:34:06.920 He's going to get us embroiled in an endless war in the Middle East.
00:34:11.260 And then the criticisms, even from the extreme right.
00:34:14.660 He's just doing Israel's bidding. 0.98
00:34:17.740 He's going to do whatever Netanyahu says.
00:34:20.360 Didn't look like that yesterday.
00:34:21.680 He's just going to get us embroiled in a regime change war.
00:34:24.200 I don't see any regime change wars.
00:34:25.820 He's going to this.
00:34:26.760 And Trump defied all of them.
00:34:29.200 Defied all of them.
00:34:30.480 Carried out probably the most successful military operation of our lifetimes.
00:34:35.660 Just so, I mean, it remains to be seen if the ceasefire holds.
00:34:38.740 But if, assuming it holds, it's just, it was just a complete grand slam.
00:34:43.260 It was a hole in one.
00:34:44.040 It was just unbelievable.
00:34:45.620 I've exhausted my sports metaphors.
00:34:47.220 So they're out of ways to criticize Trump.
00:34:49.820 The only way they can criticize it now is, yeah, well, I don't know.
00:34:52.780 I mean, maybe it didn't like totally 100% work.
00:34:56.860 But it probably did.
00:34:58.200 I mean, I don't know.
00:34:58.700 Maybe it didn't.
00:34:59.320 But like, that's your best criticism.
00:35:01.040 Well, maybe it just only like 99% worked.
00:35:03.120 It didn't like 100% work.
00:35:04.800 Yeah.
00:35:05.060 Okay.
00:35:06.220 All right.
00:35:06.600 Go back to the drawing board, guys.
00:35:08.740 If you're listening to this show with ads, why?
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00:35:46.720 Now, CNN is responding in a slightly different, though equally farcical way.
00:35:53.780 CNN is not focusing on the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the bunker buster attack.
00:36:02.440 CNN is trying to cultivate sympathy for the Ayatollah because you just misunderstand.
00:36:09.780 You ugly Americans, you just don't have enough cultural enrichment to understand that when the Iranians chant death to America, it's actually an act of friendship. 0.98
00:36:21.480 Israel stays in place, and that is part of the discussion, right? 0.99
00:36:29.340 Yes, absolutely part of the discussion.
00:36:31.240 And, you know, I remember, Dan, at one point being in Tehran years ago, and they're chanting death to America all around me, even as I say, oh, I'm an American reporting for CNN, and they were happy to speak to me.
00:36:43.340 So those two sort of jarring realities of the chant, and yet the friendliness have existed together.
00:36:53.700 Mostly friendly murder threats is what it is.
00:36:55.980 We had mostly fiery but mostly peaceful protests.
00:36:58.900 Now we have mostly friendly death to America chants.
00:37:03.760 We're going to have to go back to the drawing board on that one, too.
00:37:08.460 I don't think that's persuading anyone.
00:37:09.720 Now, speaking of jokes, President Trump was flying on Air Force One, and he was asked by reporters if he was going to see Zelensky.
00:37:19.720 Remember that war?
00:37:20.660 Before the Israel-Iran war, there was this other war we were dealing with, the Ukraine-Russia war.
00:37:25.760 We're also a little focused on the war that could break out, the China-Taiwan war.
00:37:29.080 But what about happening to Ukraine and Russia?
00:37:31.060 You remember that?
00:37:31.740 He's asked if he's going to see Zelensky.
00:37:33.660 Here's his answer.
00:37:35.560 Do you think you'll meet with Zelensky when you're there?
00:37:38.120 Yeah, probably.
00:37:38.960 I'll see him.
00:37:39.480 Yeah.
00:37:39.640 What would you say to him?
00:37:41.120 I'll say, how are you doing?
00:37:43.820 It's tough.
00:37:45.300 He's in a tough situation.
00:37:46.760 Should have never been there.
00:37:48.680 So, well, what are you going to say to Zelensky?
00:37:52.040 Oh, I don't know.
00:37:52.760 I'm probably going to talk to him about the weather.
00:37:54.180 What do you think I'm going to say to him?
00:37:55.960 Yeah, that's his answer.
00:37:56.940 Brushes are off.
00:37:57.720 And then he keeps it up.
00:37:59.340 He's asked.
00:38:00.960 He might even have volunteered this story about a phone call he got from Vladimir Putin.
00:38:06.980 You know, I'd like to see a deal with Russia. 0.70
00:38:10.220 As you know, Vladimir called me up.
00:38:12.020 He said, can I help you with Iran?
00:38:13.680 I said, no, I don't need help with Iran.
00:38:15.100 I need help with you.
00:38:16.820 And I hope we're going to be getting a deal done with Russia. 0.99
00:38:21.300 So he's just working out bits.
00:38:24.800 What's the point of that story?
00:38:26.580 It's just a funny bit.
00:38:28.640 Yeah, he calls me, this guy.
00:38:29.940 He might as well, Trump might as well light up a cigarette on the plane.
00:38:32.020 You know, spotlight on him, grabs the microphone.
00:38:34.160 So this guy, you want to hear about this guy?
00:38:36.060 This guy, Vladimir, calls me.
00:38:37.720 He says, hey, can I give you any help with Iran?
00:38:40.680 I said, I don't need help with Iran. 0.91
00:38:41.680 I need help with you.
00:38:42.360 Yeah, yeah, Zelensky.
00:38:44.580 What am I going to say to Zelensky?
00:38:45.560 I don't know.
00:38:46.020 I say, hey, I watch the Yankees lately.
00:38:49.860 These guys, I tell you, I tell you, I get no respect, no respect.
00:38:53.200 You all know my doctor, Dr. Vinny Boombats.
00:38:54.860 He's doing a stand-up routine, which he's done for 10 years.
00:39:00.740 I mean, there's nothing new about that.
00:39:03.780 The clearest example of that was back in the 2016 race, when he was pinned down on a question
00:39:09.680 by Megyn Kelly, that you've called women fat and ugly and stupid and whatever, and what's Trump's answer?
00:39:15.440 It's not, no, I didn't really, actually, you don't understand my meaning, actually.
00:39:18.840 Actually, his response was, yeah, only Rosie O'Donnell.
00:39:23.660 Totally wins over the audience, completely cuts the tension, disarms everybody.
00:39:29.960 And it's not, the mistake that people make when they look at him is they think he's a clown.
00:39:35.080 The mistake that people make is they think he's frivolous, that he's a superficial person.
00:39:41.860 I don't know how you could continue to think that, especially because we're citing historical
00:39:46.100 examples of these kinds of political strategies.
00:39:48.260 This is an obvious one, much more recent than Julius Caesar.
00:39:52.080 This is exactly the kind of thing Ronald Reagan did.
00:39:54.340 Ronald Reagan started every cabinet meeting with a joke.
00:39:57.000 This is exactly the kind of thing Winston Churchill did.
00:39:59.520 Winston Churchill, famous for his wit, so famous for his wit that people attribute jokes
00:40:03.380 to him that he never told.
00:40:05.080 Even more recently, Berlusconi, Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister of Italy, had this,
00:40:10.840 in many ways, he was kind of a proto-Trump, this media mogul, billionaire, playboy persona,
00:40:16.980 always telling jokes, but it was for political effect.
00:40:21.920 Now, as a related story, a media story, it's not even directly related to politics,
00:40:27.420 but there are implications for it.
00:40:28.940 A New York Times has a story out.
00:40:30.760 Now, for the first time ever, streaming took over TV viewing.
00:40:36.840 Network TV and cable TV combined.
00:40:41.460 Streaming just beat them.
00:40:43.360 This was in May of this year.
00:40:44.540 First time more Americans watch TV on streaming than on cable and network combined.
00:40:49.520 This is according to Nielsen writings.
00:40:50.660 It's the first time that that has ever happened over a full month.
00:40:55.200 This presents a political risk to Trump, to the Republicans, to everybody, really.
00:41:02.020 Which is, we've had an expression for 10 years now, which is, Twitter is not real life.
00:41:08.140 Which is kind of true.
00:41:10.100 We get all wrapped up in it.
00:41:11.340 If you're in media, if you're in politics, you're on Twitter all the time.
00:41:13.560 But most people are not on Twitter all the time.
00:41:16.400 And so, the Twitter algorithm doesn't really reflect reality, especially now.
00:41:21.060 I mean, it promotes all this, like, really fringe, crazy content that a lot of people have never even heard of.
00:41:25.540 And so, it's easy to get sucked into that and think that Twitter represents political reality, but it doesn't.
00:41:30.480 If a political candidate campaigned only on what Twitter favors, that political candidate would go down in flames.
00:41:37.900 I mean, and you've actually seen a few people.
00:41:39.340 There's this guy in California that he's running, and it's just a total Twitter campaign, and no one's even heard of his name, really.
00:41:45.160 So, you can't make that mistake.
00:41:49.740 However, as streaming overtakes TV, network, and cable combined, Twitter will become real life.
00:42:00.140 Twitter matters now because perception can affect reality.
00:42:03.900 But Twitter will soon matter because that will be where people are living, streaming, online.
00:42:10.460 It's a little bit different than being on your phone or being on your tablet or being on your laptop or something, but it's pretty related.
00:42:17.800 And so, you could see the political order, political incentives, political opinions begin to shift rapidly.
00:42:24.460 I don't think it'll be a gradual change.
00:42:25.920 When streaming really takes over, and we've been waiting for the death of TV for 30 years now, when streaming really takes over, that's going to be a rapid shift.
00:42:35.160 And politicians are going to have to keep up with that. 1.00
00:42:38.140 Now, there's so much more I want to tell you about.
00:42:42.440 We didn't even get to, apparently, Big Balls has left his employment at the White House.
00:42:46.420 I don't know that that's his name on his birth certificate.
00:42:49.320 But anyway, so much more to get to.
00:42:52.140 We don't have time because it's Woke Wednesday.
00:42:53.820 The rest of the show continues now.
00:42:55.180 You do not want to miss it.
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