The Michael Knowles Show - Ep. 25 - All Politics Is Local. Or National. ft. Mayor Jesse Dwyer

00:00:00.000 Is all politics local, or has the entertainment news industry made all politics national?

00:00:06.260 We discuss with the mayor of the village of Greenwood Lake, New York, population 3,301, Jesse Dwyer.

00:00:13.220 Then, the Daily Callers, Amber Athey, and the Daily Wire's Amanda Prestigiacomo join the panel of deplorables 0.95

00:00:18.900 to talk Ted Cruz's porn preferences, uncontacted Amazon jungle tribes,

00:00:24.020 and my cousin Hillary Clinton's latest tinfoil hat rantings at the launch of her terrible book, 1.00

00:00:30.000 I'm Michael Knowles, and this is The Michael Knowles Show.

00:00:40.240 I couldn't even get it out of my mouth, my second cousin once removed Hillary's book.

00:00:43.940 It's such an upsetting event that she's going to be going on this tour and showing her face,

00:00:49.480 but probably it's good for Republicans.

00:00:50.860 So anyway, today, we always talk about national politics.

00:00:55.300 We talk about President Trump.

00:00:56.940 We talk about big trends.

00:00:58.520 We talk about the sky-high view.

00:01:00.640 We never talk about local politics.

00:01:02.520 We never talk about politics on the ground, what it's really like for people who are going out there,

00:01:07.840 pressing palms, going to spaghetti dinners, and what regular Americans in that little sliver of the country

00:01:13.900 between L.A. and New York are thinking and what their lives are like and what they're talking about

00:01:18.800 beyond just the latest Trump tweet and all of the reaction to it.

00:01:22.700 So I would like to talk about local politics today.

00:01:26.280 I want to talk about the real nitty-gritty because I think basically the problem with all political shows right now

00:01:32.520 is that the reason that they, like sports predictors, very often get their predictions wrong

00:01:38.220 is because they don't actually go out there and talk to voters, and so they miss that huge swath, that silent majority.

00:01:44.180 Not us, Michael.

00:01:44.820 Not us.

00:01:45.300 Not us, because we press the palms, and we've got these great experts who are coming in.

00:01:48.620 So, you know, I think former House Speaker Tip O'Neill really made the blanket statement on this

00:01:57.360 when he said all politics is local.

00:02:00.460 Now, he's a Democrat, so he's probably wrong, and here is Newt Gingrich explaining why he's wrong.

00:02:05.240 Well, first of all, O'Neill was wrong.

00:02:06.680 All politics is not local.

00:02:08.140 It wasn't even local when he was Speaker.

00:02:10.580 When in the Vietnam War, the draft was extended to college students,

00:02:16.000 every college student in every congressional district in the country noticed it the same weekend.

00:02:20.200 So it wasn't local.

00:02:21.980 Its impact may be local.

00:02:23.800 Second, we live in a national media.

00:02:26.680 In the last month of the campaign, Rush Limbaugh will talk to a national audience.

00:02:31.920 Sean Hannity will talk to a national audience.

00:02:34.300 A national audience will read the Wall Street Journal editorial page or the New York Times editorial page.

00:02:39.560 People will wake up and turn on the Today Show and Good Morning America and Fox and Friends and CBS Morning News,

00:02:45.440 and they're going to get a national conversation.

00:02:47.700 So if one party has a huge advantage in that national conversation,

00:02:52.500 that party has big advantages in turnout and in winning.

00:02:55.520 Now it is my distinct pleasure to bring on my friend of many years,

00:02:59.300 the mayor of Greenwood Lake, New York,

00:03:01.060 and also partner of Red Pillar Political Consulting, Mr. Jesse Dwyer.

00:03:05.200 Jesse, thanks for coming on.

00:03:07.600 Michael, thanks a lot for having me, man.

00:03:09.540 So, Jesse.

00:03:10.020 It's funny you mention those spaghetti dinners,

00:03:11.980 because I'm pretty sure you and I have at least attended about a thousand of them together, right?

00:03:15.620 I should, for the people who are listening and watching,

00:03:19.980 I should say Jesse and I have worked on about a hundred million campaigns together

00:03:23.340 in suburban New York and rural New York.

00:03:26.400 We have been to a million spaghetti dinners.

00:03:28.820 We have been to train stations.

00:03:30.580 We have talked to a lot of voters on a lot of campaigns.

00:03:33.720 Some of those campaigns unexpectedly won.

00:03:36.660 A lot of those campaigns did not win because New York is left of Lenin.

00:03:42.260 But, Jesse, that's why I wanted to bring you on.

00:03:44.580 I feel like you can bring a great perspective

00:03:46.300 that is completely missing from political news shows.

00:03:49.580 Which is it?

00:03:50.280 Is all politics local or is all politics national?

00:03:54.320 I think you hit the nail on the head.

00:03:56.540 You know, the national media, they're going to focus on national issues,

00:03:59.700 and unfortunately it's turned into the WWF and increased ratings

00:04:03.780 and trying to get everybody's attention and everything is really erratic

00:04:08.700 and everybody's, you know, it's high stress levels,

00:04:11.240 and they're getting ratings and they're getting viewers because of this high stress.

00:04:13.900 So that's getting into local people's television,

00:04:17.060 but that doesn't mean that local people in rural areas and middle-class areas

00:04:20.540 really care too much about national issues.

00:04:23.320 It may grab their attention, but they're certainly not voting on it.

00:04:26.400 It's not affecting their school taxes.

00:04:28.320 It's not affecting their roads that are in front of their house.

00:04:30.660 It's not affecting, you know, property disputes.

00:04:33.120 And it's not affecting what I believe to be things that will drive middle-class people

00:04:37.640 to the polls on both local as well as national issues.

00:04:40.640 You know, it's, you've got two different things here.

00:04:43.020 You've got the democratic machine in the inner cities,

00:04:45.780 where it doesn't matter about national politics.

00:04:48.160 They do exactly what they're told.

00:04:49.500 They're going to vote Democrat.

00:04:50.760 Then you've got everywhere else in America,

00:04:52.420 which I would say is predominantly the Republican Party, right?

00:04:54.800 That's where everybody else who voted for Trump outside of the major cities.

00:04:58.200 They're more focused about school taxes, school issues,

00:05:02.740 getting jobs and the things that matter most to them,

00:05:05.120 and I would argue are more local issues than national issues.

00:05:07.880 And the national news media and the big political shows,

00:05:10.900 they never talk about it because you're right.

00:05:12.520 It's like the WWF.

00:05:14.580 And it's probably for, I think, a lot of people in a lot of small towns,

00:05:19.280 it's like the WWF also in that you can talk about it.

00:05:22.580 You talk about it just like you watched a ball game

00:05:25.060 or you watched a reality TV show or you watched some event.

00:05:28.200 It's fun, it's gossip, it's entertaining,

00:05:30.500 but it isn't your property taxes.

00:05:32.820 It isn't your school taxes.

00:05:34.200 It just does not affect your life.

00:05:38.040 Right.

00:05:38.600 It's become all about entertainment.

00:05:40.440 And you watch Fox News or CNN,

00:05:42.280 and they're both all about entertainment and hype.

00:05:44.180 And, you know, look at the storm.

00:05:45.940 The storm was literally a 10-day extravaganza,

00:05:49.300 just trying to hype it up and get as much people,

00:05:51.740 you know, as many people scared as possible.

00:05:54.000 And it does serve a valuable purpose.

00:05:55.840 You know, you're alluring people to potential danger.

00:05:59.140 But they literally will drag out any piece of energetic

00:06:02.180 or stressful information out as long as they possibly can.

00:06:05.820 And it does get attention.

00:06:07.000 It does bring people together.

00:06:08.240 And I think Speaker Gingrich was correct,

00:06:11.040 and people are following this information.

00:06:12.440 But I certainly don't think it is what genuinely drives people to the polls

00:06:15.840 and will determine the elections.

00:06:18.240 We're in a congressional election.

00:06:19.440 On that point, I think we should point out Rush Limbaugh was absolutely right

00:06:23.800 and vindicated here.

00:06:25.220 He predicted a week ago that Hurricane Irma was being hyped for ratings.

00:06:29.080 When he was forced to evacuate, they raked him over the coals. 0.98

00:06:32.860 They called him a hypocrite. 0.99

00:06:33.920 They said it was awful. 0.99

00:06:34.760 And then it turns out he was absolutely 100% right.

00:06:37.620 So another chalk for Rush Limbaugh.

00:06:40.940 Now, Jesse, as a mayor, what are your priorities?

00:06:44.700 You're a mayor of a local government, small town.

00:06:46.940 What are your priorities?

00:06:47.880 I assume it's Melania Trump's shoes, right?

00:06:51.420 Absolutely.

00:06:52.040 I mean, those are the issues that my constituents care most about.

00:06:55.280 Which shoes are they?

00:06:56.300 Which are wearing the sneakers?

00:06:58.740 Right. 0.79

00:06:59.380 It's ridiculous. 0.99

00:07:00.500 It is absolutely ridiculous. 0.99

00:07:01.700 And I know you're going to talk about Ted Cruz's little porn incident. 0.99

00:07:04.240 Like, who cares about that?

00:07:06.000 It was an accident.

00:07:06.980 Well, there goes the next half of our show.

00:07:09.660 Bob Menendez.

00:07:10.540 You know, why aren't they focusing about Bob Menendez's trial?

00:07:13.540 They're looking at, you know, Ted Cruz.

00:07:15.140 Some staffer tweeted this out because it's interesting.

00:07:18.040 People are going to see the link.

00:07:19.020 They're going to click on it.

00:07:19.880 It's going to drive viewers.

00:07:20.800 It's going to get support.

00:07:21.860 People in my community, they don't care about that stuff.

00:07:24.100 You mentioned Ted Cruz.

00:07:25.600 They probably, half of them don't even know who he is.

00:07:27.440 And he ran for president.

00:07:28.520 They just don't care.

00:07:29.980 You know, they care about the lake.

00:07:31.260 They care about the infrastructure in our community.

00:07:33.480 They care about our schools, the roads.

00:07:35.660 You know, those are the issues they care about.

00:07:37.220 When you hear someone like Donald Trump talking about those issues, talking about infrastructure

00:07:41.840 and jobs, you know, that's, those are local issues that affect people locally.

00:07:46.760 They're not talking about which bathroom you can use or which gender you think you are.

00:07:50.400 They're talking about things that matter, jobs, the infrastructure.

00:07:54.840 Right.

00:07:55.120 Those are inner city issues where the Democrats, I would argue, are, you know, focused on those

00:07:59.800 things and they're following the Democratic agenda for the most part.

00:08:03.200 And us out here in rural America and the middle class and the Republican Party, we care about

00:08:08.380 the real things, you know, the jobs, what kind of a future our kids are going to have

00:08:12.620 in the school districts and things like that.

00:08:14.140 Thank you for validating a perspective I've had now for, I guess, six months or nine months,

00:08:20.140 which is whenever Donald Trump tweets something, people lose their minds, their heads explode.

00:08:26.160 They say, oh my gosh, it's going to get us into war.

00:08:28.340 It's going to undermine this bill.

00:08:30.380 It's going to stop this legislation, yada, yada, yada, yada.

00:08:33.600 And my reaction almost across the board is that I don't care other than the Covfefe tweet,

00:08:38.800 which I really loved, but I just don't, who cares?

00:08:41.820 I mean, I enjoy it.

00:08:42.940 I find it entertaining in so much as he affects conservative policy.

00:08:46.800 I'm happy in so much as he does nothing.

00:08:48.740 I'm also happy as a conservative myself.

00:08:51.580 But I think that the point that half of your constituents might not have even heard of

00:08:56.520 Ted Cruz, I think that is true around the country.

00:08:59.480 And it's so easy for us in political media to lose sight of the fact that I guarantee you

00:09:06.060 nobody in your community and very few people in any other community have ever heard of Jim

00:09:10.480 Gilmore.

00:09:11.120 He ran for president too.

00:09:12.480 The only reason they heard of George Pataki is because he was the governor of their state.

00:09:16.560 Those priorities.

00:09:17.620 Do you think that plays into why political pundits on the national level are so often

00:09:23.440 wrong?

00:09:26.160 I think you might have a point on that.

00:09:28.960 You know, I think, I think they're probably wrong is because they, they constantly have

00:09:32.740 to find the next thing.

00:09:33.700 They constantly have to have the 10 day news cycle showing the, uh, this storm and they

00:09:38.720 have to predict it because they have to be on TV.

00:09:40.620 They have to be talking about it and they're doing that for everything.

00:09:43.460 They're making predictions.

00:09:44.260 They're always making some sort of a guess and they're, they're sticking by it.

00:09:47.600 They're following through with it.

00:09:48.820 Uh, and I think it's because they feel compelled to just constantly have some sort of a stressful,

00:09:53.220 energetic, uh, uh, you know, component on the TV.

00:09:56.280 So that's what they're doing.

00:09:57.460 So I think they're constantly at.

00:09:58.820 Do you think pundits need to go press the flesh and go work on a few campaigns and eat

00:10:02.640 spaghetti dinners like you and I have done?

00:10:04.760 Do you think that would help their predictions or do you think these crazy predictions are just

00:10:08.680 built into the system?

00:10:11.100 There's literally nothing you can do about it.

00:10:12.820 I mean, it's going to happen.

00:10:13.580 They've, they, they understand that there are senior citizens literally sitting in front

00:10:18.440 of Fox news, scared to death, that something is going to happen.

00:10:21.600 And they feel that their success rating is going to go up if they can make that senior

00:10:25.760 citizen constantly watch them, uh, or, you know, the, the tax paying citizen who can't

00:10:29.920 pay their bills and they're just going to watch these things.

00:10:32.000 I'm a 27 year old who just constantly watches these things too.

00:10:35.940 That's because you're in the business.

00:10:37.120 You know, I don't really watch it.

00:10:38.160 I don't watch news all the time.

00:10:39.640 I mean, most of the time I don't watch Fox news or CNN because it's constantly this,

00:10:44.180 uh, aggravating, uh, loud music, stressful, you know, they're trying to get your attention.

00:10:49.100 They're trying to make you believe that the problems are far worse than they really are.

00:10:51.820 And I don't want to do that. 0.97

00:10:53.360 I have enough problems that we're dealing with in my community for me to not give a crap about 0.78

00:10:57.240 what's going on in, uh, in Florida, quite frankly, you know, it doesn't matter to me.

00:11:01.240 It's an interesting thing that I'd like to see every once in a while, but my priorities

00:11:05.480 as a local mayor is ensuring that our, uh, our lake is clean, that our roads are swept,

00:11:09.880 that our roads are, are properly paved and the neighbor disputes are handled properly.

00:11:13.740 Like, you know, I don't really care.

00:11:15.760 I have sympathy for the residents of Florida, but I don't need to hear about it for 10 days.

00:11:20.040 That's what their local media should be focusing on.

00:11:22.520 Uh, but I don't need, I don't need to see that up here in New York state.

00:11:25.160 I really couldn't care less.

00:11:26.340 I understand that there are a lot of people who have houses in Florida, but you know,

00:11:29.980 that's what it is.

00:11:30.940 In my opinion, they feel compelled to drag out whatever news they get and elaborate on

00:11:36.360 it as much as they possibly can, because that's what gets people interested.

00:11:39.220 And Jesse, you'll forgive me, but I'm just writing down some of the advice you're giving

00:11:45.220 me for my own show.

00:11:46.120 I need louder music.

00:11:47.800 I need to scare senior citizens. 1.00

00:11:50.480 Do I, I'll get the full producer salary.

00:11:52.840 Yeah, I don't, we're definitely going to scratch that one.

00:11:55.180 So that, that everything you've said makes perfect sense.

00:11:58.120 I've always assumed this to be the case, having been on the campaign trail with a number

00:12:02.980 of politicians and with you as well.

00:12:04.500 Now, going back to the national politics that we constantly have to talk about to scare senior

00:12:09.880 citizens, what is your impression?

00:12:12.280 If I watch Fox News or CNN or MSNBC, especially if I read the New York Times or Washington Post,

00:12:18.540 I get the feeling that not a single person in this country supports President Trump, that

00:12:23.560 they all are outraged.

00:12:25.400 He's going to lose in a landslide in 2020.

00:12:28.320 What is your reaction on the ground talking to your constituents?

00:12:31.360 Do you, do you think that they're, they support the president?

00:12:35.160 Do you think it's mixed or everyone's against him?

00:12:40.180 Well, it seems apparent that his personality is horrendous for the position.

00:12:45.140 But what do you really feel, Jesse?

00:12:46.580 What do you really think?

00:12:48.140 If you look, it is.

00:12:50.680 I mean, he's got this, this WWF personality that fits perfectly into hyping everything up.

00:12:56.800 But if you look at his accomplishments, what he did before he became president, what he's

00:13:00.860 doing as president, you can certainly see that he's very well qualified for the position.

00:13:04.980 He has the, he has the smarts.

00:13:07.220 He has the know-how.

00:13:08.140 He has the negotiating skills.

00:13:10.340 He was put into a very complicated situation coming in with a Congress who, I think, almost

00:13:16.240 unanimously opposed Donald Trump.

00:13:19.560 So he wasn't really able to accomplish much with their support, but we'll obviously take

00:13:24.040 that up with our local congressman when it comes for that election. 0.93

00:13:27.400 But, you know, listen, I think Donald Trump's doing a great job as president.

00:13:30.840 He's handled these hurricanes very well.

00:13:32.720 He's been down there.

00:13:33.500 And even though he's getting criticized left and right about shoes and hats and all these

00:13:37.020 other ridiculous things, he did a very good job.

00:13:39.700 You can hear that from all of the elected officials in both Texas and Florida. 0.74

00:13:42.760 And he's got a long way to go.

00:13:45.960 And he's got a long road ahead of him.

00:13:47.460 And I think he's going to do a great job considering the circumstances that he's in.

00:13:52.120 And I'm certainly looking forward to seeing some of the progress that he makes with our

00:13:55.440 country.

00:13:55.700 Well, you know, what you have just said is something, it is exactly the opposite of what

00:14:00.880 every smart, elite political pundit is saying, with the exception of Ann Coulter.

00:14:06.520 Ann Coulter made the same point, which is, I think, the common view right now is that

00:14:11.540 President Trump is effective and was elected because of his personality, because he's mean, 0.85

00:14:16.380 he's a bully, he takes the fight to the Democrats.

00:14:19.120 And he wasn't elected because of his issues. 0.97

00:14:22.140 People don't really care about the issues.

00:14:23.700 People don't really care about what he'll affect.

00:14:25.480 All they care about is that fun, mean, angry personality.

00:14:28.740 And what you've said and what a lot of people that I've talked to in local politics have said,

00:14:33.080 and also Ann Coulter, is it's exactly the opposite.

00:14:35.360 He was elected despite his personality because his issues were so popular.

00:14:41.040 Putting America first on manufacturing, as he says, or renegotiating certain trade deals,

00:14:46.740 or just turning the whole focus onto jobs and deregulation and constitutional originalism.

00:14:53.320 And all of the other stuff is just a circus to surround what people really care about.

00:14:58.200 Well, the Democrats and other sore losers who didn't vote for him and didn't support him 0.88

00:15:05.760 and who are bitter, they're never going to like him. 0.95

00:15:08.360 They didn't like him to begin with.

00:15:09.580 They're not going to like him now.

00:15:10.540 They're not going to give him a chance.

00:15:12.040 But if you look at middle-class America and people like me, people like you,

00:15:16.160 you had Dr. Hayworth on yesterday, we're giving him a chance because he is our president.

00:15:20.380 And the future of our country depends on his success.

00:15:24.380 We have to help him.

00:15:25.680 We have to encourage him.

00:15:26.740 We have to support him.

00:15:27.920 Whether you agree or disagree, you have to support our president.

00:15:31.040 And he's not getting much help with Congress.

00:15:33.680 He's not getting much help with certain state leaders.

00:15:36.580 But at the end of the day, we need to support him.

00:15:39.820 And I'm certainly optimistic because I did vote for him.

00:15:42.880 I do think that he's doing a great job so far.

00:15:45.560 But he's not getting a very good hand.

00:15:49.060 You bring up he's had trouble with Congress.

00:15:51.420 He has had trouble with Congress.

00:15:52.940 He's sort of new to politics.

00:15:54.420 He's never held elected office before.

00:15:56.280 You're not new to politics.

00:15:57.660 You're a veteran of it compared to the president.

00:16:00.220 Do you have any advice for the guy on how to make better deals with Congress

00:16:03.260 and get some legislation passed?

00:16:05.940 So I had a professor in college who became a friend of mine and a mentor.

00:16:11.260 And he gave me this advice when I first got into politics.

00:16:13.820 He said, local politics, contrary to congressional politics and national politics,

00:16:19.500 is hand-to-hand combat.

00:16:21.000 So it is vastly different what I have to do than what, say, the president

00:16:24.680 or a congressperson or an assemblyman has to do in that I work and live

00:16:29.160 and represent among my constituents.

00:16:31.700 You know, I'm here every day working with them.

00:16:33.220 You're going to see them all the time.

00:16:35.180 I will pass someone on the street and they'll either give me a high five 0.85

00:16:38.040 or want to, you know, slap me in the face. 0.82

00:16:39.680 I don't know. 0.95

00:16:40.020 They'll give you a one-fingered high five.

00:16:41.900 Yeah.

00:16:42.920 Right.

00:16:43.420 But, you know, advice that I could give to the president is very difficult

00:16:46.360 because his position that he's in now is vastly different than business.

00:16:50.300 It's vastly different than his experience that he had.

00:16:52.840 He's uniquely qualified in that no one could essentially assume the office

00:16:56.540 of the presidency and have all of the tools necessary to be prepared.

00:17:00.040 Everybody's opportunity.

00:17:00.840 To govern for a very large state.

00:17:02.280 But I would say that, you know, he is prepared with all the business skills

00:17:06.960 far more than I was to become mayor, although I run a business myself.

00:17:11.360 But, you know, he's dealt with lobbyists.

00:17:13.980 He's dealt with Congress.

00:17:14.960 He's dealt with all these things.

00:17:16.300 He can certainly get things done.

00:17:17.540 And I think if he were a different man who had a different background

00:17:20.280 and didn't say crazy things before he was elected,

00:17:22.620 he would have had a little bit more assistance in accomplishing things

00:17:26.800 in the outset of his presidency.

00:17:29.600 It's hard to tell how much of the personality helps him,

00:17:31.980 how much of it hurts him.

00:17:33.180 One good bit of advice that he gave to himself, of course,

00:17:35.680 is despite the constant negative press, covfefe.

00:17:38.660 That might sum it up.

00:17:40.260 We need to bring on, Jesse, will you stick around for our panel?

00:17:44.520 Absolutely.

00:17:45.080 All right.

00:17:45.340 We've got to bring on the panel of deplorables.

00:17:47.480 We have a great one today.

00:17:48.980 We have Amber Athey from The Daily Caller,

00:17:52.940 and we have Amanda Presto Giacomo from The Daily Wire.

00:17:55.700 And listen, we've just been two schlubs talking the whole time.

00:17:59.800 Now we have these ladies who are coming on the panel. 1.00

00:18:02.160 But if you don't subscribe to The Daily Wire,

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00:18:14.860 Who cares?

00:18:15.540 I know.

00:18:15.960 None of that matters.

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00:18:28.320 You're going to have them hot or cold.

00:18:30.260 So go over there right now, dailywire.com.

00:18:32.580 And by the way, I have to make one more announcement.

00:18:35.000 We are very shortly on Tuesday, September 19th at 5 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Pacific,

00:18:40.020 going to have a private chat with Ben Shapiro.

00:18:43.800 If you're a subscriber, you get to send in your questions.

00:18:47.580 He will answer your question.

00:18:49.000 He's just going to go down the list.

00:18:50.820 He's not going to be hopping around picking his favorite questions.

00:18:53.460 You'll get your question answered, time permitting, of course,

00:18:56.700 but you've got to subscribe right now.

00:18:58.380 Everyone will be able to watch it.

00:18:59.600 It'll be streamed on Facebook, but only subscribers can ask the questions.

00:19:03.360 So if the Leftist Tears Tumblr didn't get you, there's another incentive.

00:19:07.400 Go over there right now, and we'll be right back.

00:19:08.720 Ted Cruz broke the internet this morning when someone screenshotted an apparent like from

00:19:24.840 his Twitter account that suggested Senator Cruz had been interacting with smut.

00:19:29.700 With that, I bring on my panel.

00:19:32.340 I bring on mixed company.

00:19:34.240 Amber, thank you for coming.

00:19:35.480 Your first time on the panel.

00:19:36.420 Now, it is a great story, but was it Cruz or was it just some staffer?

00:19:41.600 I would almost have to bet that it was just a staffer, as you all know.

00:19:47.140 I know, unfortunately.

00:19:48.200 But as you all know, most of these Twitter accounts of senators and representatives are

00:19:52.820 almost entirely run by either comms directors or lower level staffers that sort of take care

00:19:57.580 of everything.

00:19:58.840 So I don't know if it was done intentionally.

00:20:01.740 I'm sure that the Cruz Twitter account doesn't follow any porn sites.

00:20:06.320 So my guess is that maybe they were on some kind of tweet deck or they were searching for

00:20:10.340 some kind of hashtag and their finger accidentally brushed a like button.

00:20:14.340 So you don't think that it was some staffer who was up to no good in the halls of one of

00:20:18.860 the buildings up on Capitol Hill?

00:20:21.280 As fun as that story would be, I really don't think that's the case.

00:20:26.240 I think this is a whole lot to do about nothing.

00:20:29.740 Amanda, can you please bring back some smut after that real letdown? 1.00

00:20:33.760 Do you think it makes any sense whatsoever that Senator Cruz was perusing pornography and

00:20:40.000 interacting with pornographers on Twitter?

00:20:41.960 Does that story hold together at all?

00:20:44.500 Well, I mean, Rafael Cruz assassinated JFK.

00:20:48.800 So I won't put anything past Ted Cruz. 0.99

00:20:51.820 I mean, maybe he is promoting porn.

00:20:53.280 I wouldn't put it past this family to do something like that. 0.98

00:20:55.960 Relatively, the porn is pretty innocent compared to murdering a president.

00:21:00.600 True.

00:21:01.260 So again, we can't put anything past this, past the Cruz family.

00:21:05.400 But in all seriousness, Amber's correct.

00:21:08.180 I mean, these things are not actually run by these senators.

00:21:12.380 Or I mean, if you remember Hillary Clinton's, like her email and her Twitter, it was all like

00:21:17.720 millennial pop stuff.

00:21:19.060 So again, these are just like young interns.

00:21:20.700 It was not Ted Cruz, unfortunately, because that would be a great story.

00:21:25.700 All right, Jesse. 0.97

00:21:27.080 Let's assume that Ted Cruz was looking at some naked ladies on his computer. 0.99

00:21:30.860 Does it matter? 0.82

00:21:31.880 Does it change our view of Cruz?

00:21:33.760 Will it affect his job as a senator?

00:21:36.480 Is there any, certainly it's a scintillating story, but is there any implication for him as

00:21:42.900 a politician?

00:21:43.500 There's one thing I would disagree with first, and that's that I'm pretty confident that

00:21:49.240 Trump's Twitter handle, with all the grammatical errors, is certainly run by himself.

00:21:53.720 I think it's him too.

00:21:55.880 That's true.

00:21:57.060 He is absolutely the exception to the rule.

00:21:59.080 Michael and I know firsthand, these congressmen and senators, they have sometimes a dozen people,

00:22:03.860 if not more, running their Twitter handles than Facebook.

00:22:05.840 He is the exception, though.

00:22:07.600 I remember when he tweeted out my book, Reasons to Vote for Democrats, people asked what was

00:22:12.920 the strategy, who did he have to do it, and he just did it when I was on Fox and Friends.

00:22:19.280 I was on Fox and Friends, I said something nice about him, and he immediately tweeted it.

00:22:23.740 There was no meeting about this, so good on him.

00:22:26.620 I love that he's running his own, and we haven't seen any porn on there.

00:22:29.700 But back to Mr. Cruz.

00:22:31.040 Jesse.

00:22:31.280 No, I mean, look at everyone.

00:22:35.420 Look at all these senators and all these congressmen.

00:22:38.720 They're all doing crazy things, and I don't think that something that minor would have really

00:22:43.760 affected his career, especially in Texas.

00:22:46.980 I don't think he has really a tough time getting reelected in the state of Texas.

00:22:51.420 But to be honest with you, I mean, it's just not that big of a deal in this day and age.

00:22:56.760 Are you suggesting that many people look at internet pornography, that it's a many billions

00:23:01.240 of dollars a year industry?

00:23:03.000 I am clutching my purse.

00:23:04.600 I'm shocked.

00:23:06.320 Absolutely.

00:23:06.800 I'm sure you've never done it.

00:23:08.180 Not even.

00:23:08.880 I've never even thought about it.

00:23:09.800 We would do that.

00:23:10.300 Nope.

00:23:11.060 But I think, again, I mean, there's so many issues.

00:23:13.620 If you look at all these congressmen and all these senators across the entire country,

00:23:17.280 look at all the crazy things they're doing.

00:23:19.020 Bob Menendez is literally under trial right now for federal bribery, and I'm sure he's going

00:23:23.420 to be fine, unless he gets convicted, in which case he would probably have to resign.

00:23:27.400 But during that entire process, he'd probably get reelected.

00:23:31.880 You know, it's like these people, they just—and that's another point, to bring it back home.

00:23:35.940 All politics is local.

00:23:37.520 People don't care about Ted Cruz's little, you know, click on a possible porn site, which

00:23:43.480 we all know he didn't do.

00:23:45.100 And people aren't right now caring too much about Bob Menendez.

00:23:48.480 They're worrying about local issues, their school taxes, and what really affects them

00:23:52.120 most.

00:23:52.800 It's not that.

00:23:53.380 Everybody hates Congress, but they love their congressmen.

00:23:57.080 Moving on from civilization into the jungles of Brazil, the New York Times is reporting

00:24:02.100 that uncontacted tribesmen have been killed in the jungles of Brazil.

00:24:06.460 This is the second attack on the uncontacted tribes this year in Brazil, which government

00:24:12.040 has promised to protect them.

00:24:14.480 So, Amanda, there's this great documentary on Netflix.

00:24:17.740 Coincidentally, I just watched it a couple days ago.

00:24:19.480 It's a new documentary on there, and it's called First Contact, Lost Tribe of the Amazon.

00:24:25.700 So one of these guys, he's just come out of the jungle, and he describes a jaguar eating

00:24:31.060 his grandmother.

00:24:32.080 He describes going days at a time, four days at a time, without eating so much as a bite

00:24:37.240 of food.

00:24:38.080 So the first question that comes into my mind is, why haven't we brought these uncontacted,

00:24:43.440 isolated tribes into civilization?

00:24:45.800 What is it that's keeping us from bringing them into the nice luxury and glories of the

00:24:51.880 civilized world?

00:24:52.480 I think this is like a good example of this fear that people have of being labeled like

00:25:00.240 xenophobic, or all cultures are the same.

00:25:04.400 Imperialistic.

00:25:04.840 You can't be imperialistic.

00:25:06.160 Exactly.

00:25:07.060 And I think this is like a prime example of that, is that everything is equal.

00:25:11.560 No, not all cultures are the same.

00:25:13.600 And this is that example where people are just so scared to show actual civilization.

00:25:19.100 You don't have to live like a barbarian, but you can't do that. 1.00

00:25:21.540 You'll be a xenophobe and imperialistic.

00:25:23.260 So it's really sad, honestly.

00:25:25.040 And it's a romantic idea, Amber.

00:25:27.600 It's this romantic Western idea that there's the noble savage who hasn't been tainted or

00:25:33.320 corrupted by our civilization, which is so awful.

00:25:36.460 If only we could go back and live in the trees and nature.

00:25:39.260 But we know it's a terrible life.

00:25:41.180 They eat bugs whenever they can find them.

00:25:43.260 They're hunted down.

00:25:44.180 They have low life expectancies in so much as we can measure how long they live.

00:25:49.400 Very many of these tribes, particularly in the Amazon, can't count above 10.

00:25:53.280 So the tribes who have come out that we've contacted have almost universally said they

00:25:58.660 don't want to go back.

00:25:59.920 They love clothing.

00:26:01.100 They like having pots and pans and food to eat regularly.

00:26:04.660 So what does it say about us that we think that the jungle tribesmen have it better than 1.00

00:26:10.200 us who have electricity and our problem is that we're too fat, not too skinny?

00:26:15.560 Well, I think it's sort of this more relativist thing that Amanda was talking about where I

00:26:20.940 find this is really an issue with liberals where they sort of fetishize these tribes and

00:26:25.980 they view them more as almost endangered species than they do actual human beings.

00:26:30.380 And I'm sorry to interrupt, but great use of the word fetish right after we were talking

00:26:33.900 about Ted Cruz's porn preferences. 0.78

00:26:35.600 Very well done.

00:26:36.140 Totally intentional.

00:26:36.680 Please go on.

00:26:38.120 Yeah, but I think if we actually are viewing these people as human beings with actual human

00:26:43.900 rights, then we would recognize that on the whole, it's better for these people to be

00:26:48.320 integrated into society.

00:26:49.620 And there's a reason why we ask immigrants, for example, to assimilate to our culture.

00:26:54.660 It's because if you don't, you start to see these blatant violations of human rights.

00:26:59.480 You'll notice that, for example, female genital mutilation has been on the rise in the United

00:27:04.620 States.

00:27:05.020 That's been shockingly a major issue.

00:27:08.440 And so this isn't all just people being imperialist and being racist.

00:27:12.320 There's a really good reason why we ask people to assimilate to a certain kind of culture and

00:27:18.680 a certain human rights standard.

00:27:20.380 And it is so dehumanizing, you're right, to say, well, those people, look how cute they

00:27:24.720 are running around naked in the jungle.

00:27:26.780 We need to preserve them so that we can go and watch them.

00:27:30.460 How interesting and adorable it all is.

00:27:32.840 Jesse, let's bring it back to local politics.

00:27:35.080 You solve a lot of local disputes.

00:27:37.320 In these isolated areas, villagers often report that the tribesmen will raid their villages,

00:27:43.380 they'll steal their things, they'll kill some of them, they'll attack the local villagers.

00:27:47.500 But the villagers are not allowed to respond in kind because the uncontacted tribes are totally 0.91

00:27:53.260 protected by those governments.

00:27:55.280 So how should the, in these totally far-flung areas, how should these disputes be resolved?

00:28:03.920 I personally believe that we shouldn't have much of an involvement in it.

00:28:08.720 I don't think that we have a right or an obligation to get involved in any situation that's over

00:28:13.540 there in the Amazon.

00:28:14.220 Other than any sort of a business interest that our nation may have in that area, which

00:28:19.860 obviously there are many.

00:28:21.100 But I happen to believe in an anti-imperialistic view, and I don't think that we should be

00:28:25.280 involved in a lot of other conflicts in the Eastern context.

00:28:28.140 Do you think the local governments should go in and try to mediate this or bring the tribes

00:28:33.060 out of isolation or basically, say, laissez-faire, live and let live, you know, just don't do

00:28:39.520 it in the streets and scare the horses?

00:28:42.520 Yeah, I think there are a lot of variables that we just don't understand or comprehend

00:28:45.620 from where we're sitting in America.

00:28:47.500 You know, I would say more than likely, yes, it should be up to the local government to determine

00:28:52.460 the outcome of any local tribes.

00:28:54.640 It's just like we would handle certain situations like that here in America.

00:28:58.620 Keep it local.

00:28:59.580 Now self-serving of the local mayor.

00:29:01.900 Right, right.

00:29:02.820 Just trying to bring it right back.

00:29:04.020 Yeah, exactly.

00:29:05.020 Yeah, autonomy we want in our village.

00:29:07.580 I would say that we over here, we shouldn't have anything to do with it.

00:29:11.440 It should be left off to the local governments of Brazil or wherever this was found.

00:29:16.300 And I don't think that we have enough information from where we're sitting or enough perspective

00:29:21.300 to give on how that should be handled.

00:29:23.160 You know, it's great to bring people into a civilized world, but that's what we define

00:29:27.720 as a civilized world.

00:29:28.640 Just because their life expectancy isn't as high as what standards might, you know, we

00:29:33.320 might expect them to be, that doesn't mean that that's the life they want to live.

00:29:36.620 And although some have come out and said that they wouldn't want to go back to living that

00:29:40.240 way, who's to decide that that's the way that they should live?

00:29:43.380 That is the most laissez-faire, you isolationist Republican.

00:29:47.440 But you bring up the point of these villages and this local government.

00:29:52.300 And speaking of it taking a village, my second cousin twice removed, Hillary Clinton, now 0.86

00:29:58.100 says she is convinced that Donald Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to defeat her on the release

00:30:02.980 day of her new book, presumably a terrible book, What Happened?

00:30:07.260 Amber, what do we even mean by collusion at this point?

00:30:11.280 What does that even imply?

00:30:13.420 Well, it's not even a legal term.

00:30:15.140 Basically, what it means is that members of the Trump administration allegedly were in

00:30:20.480 some kind of contact with the Russian government to sway the election against Hillary Clinton.

00:30:26.580 But let's be honest, this is just another blame game from Hillary. 1.00

00:30:30.360 She's done this time and time again.

00:30:32.200 She's blamed everything from Bernie Sanders to sexism to white nationalists.

00:30:36.760 The list goes on and on and on.

00:30:38.400 Of course, it's very convenient for her to say that she is convinced that Trump has colluded

00:30:44.140 with the Russians.

00:30:45.540 It's just another part of her blame game narrative.

00:30:48.380 Jesse, Hillary's approval rating is lower than Donald Trump's.

00:30:51.880 According to an NBC News poll recently, it's at 30 percent, the lowest ever recorded for

00:30:57.000 her.

00:30:57.680 Is she trying to rehab her image with this book tour?

00:31:01.940 And will that work?

00:31:03.240 Well, unfortunately, you know, I hate to say it, but I'm pretty sure she's too old to really

00:31:09.600 make anything of her political career.

00:31:12.240 But what I do think she's trying to do is salvage.

00:31:15.980 I'm praying that she does nothing further with her political career. 0.99

00:31:19.440 But I do think she's trying to salvage the Democrats and try to really put more of the 0.67

00:31:24.100 blame on Donald Trump. 0.99

00:31:25.400 And again, she falls in the class of sore losers. 0.98

00:31:27.260 I would also say who cares if the people in the Trump administration or Trump team campaign 0.98

00:31:33.280 team did work with Russians to get information which proved that Hillary Clinton was a slimy 0.68

00:31:38.580 borderline criminal and just brought it out to the American people.

00:31:41.760 Yeah, they never talk about what's in the allegations.

00:31:44.320 They just talk about or what's in the documents.

00:31:46.600 They just talk about how they were gotten.

00:31:48.880 But, you know, this does not shine a very nice light on Hillary Clinton. 1.00

00:31:53.420 It's all been acknowledged that it wasn't illegal, even if they do find that they were

00:31:58.520 colluding, that some people from the campaign were colluding with Russia or attorneys or

00:32:02.640 people from the Russian government.

00:32:04.880 But again, they literally just proved that Hillary Clinton was not fit to serve as our

00:32:10.360 president.

00:32:11.420 Just absolutely deplorable.

00:32:14.040 What would you say the word?

00:32:15.900 Her career, her entire career was deplorable.

00:32:19.100 And the fact that she made it so far is horrendous.

00:32:21.720 And, you know, I don't think that they did anything wrong if they did.

00:32:25.220 We've used really sleek tactics to try to get information on our opponents when we work

00:32:29.840 with...

00:32:30.320 It's a diplomatic way to say that.

00:32:32.800 It's the nature of the beast.

00:32:34.280 But you do.

00:32:35.080 And I think that the ends justify the means in this case, as long as the means were not

00:32:40.680 illegal.

00:32:41.260 And as long as the ends is getting Hillary Clinton as far away from the Oval Office as 1.00

00:32:46.000 possible.

00:32:46.960 Amanda, the book is currently number one on Amazon, though it's only been a few hours.

00:32:51.940 What sort of person is ever going to buy this drivel?

00:32:54.780 No one's going to read the book, right?

00:32:56.100 They're just going to put it on their bookshelves and virtue signal.

00:32:59.280 I think maybe it's like a lot of conservative journalists buying it up right now.

00:33:03.760 And they're just like reading it and reporting on the hysteria.

00:33:06.300 Because the thing is, I actually disagree.

00:33:08.280 I would love for Hillary to stay in politics as long as possible. 1.00

00:33:11.080 She is terrible.

00:33:12.020 She's hurting the brand.

00:33:13.200 I want her to run forever. 1.00

00:33:15.160 I wish her the best of hell. 1.00

00:33:17.180 Yeah.

00:33:17.660 So I think it's right now there's an onslaught of conservatives buying the book and just

00:33:20.820 laughing at her and promoting the heck out of it.

00:33:23.060 And then we'll see.

00:33:24.580 And also, I would like to bet that there's like a stack of these books in Hillary's,

00:33:28.440 you know, mansions or Chelsea's apartment.

00:33:31.440 You know, so.

00:33:33.040 That's true.

00:33:33.440 Bubba has to step over them on his way to the humidor.

00:33:36.140 Absolutely right.

00:33:36.920 You bring up a great point.

00:33:38.100 Run, Hillary, run. 1.00

00:33:39.440 Panel of deplorables.

00:33:40.620 Thank you so much for being here.

00:33:42.140 Daily Callers, Amber Athe.

00:33:43.300 Daily Wires, Amanda Presta-Giacomo.

00:33:44.920 And my buddy, the local mayor, Jesse Dwyer.

00:33:48.100 Now it's time for the final thought.

00:33:55.480 Political analysts are like sports commentators.

00:33:58.200 They only focus on the major leagues and they keep showing up to work no matter how many

00:34:02.940 times their predictions turn out to be wrong.

00:34:05.620 Now, these two character traits are related.

00:34:07.480 Most talking heads have never passed out palm cards to commuters at a train station or sat

00:34:12.820 through a summer of spaghetti dinners at the VFW hall.

00:34:15.920 Instead, they attend cocktail parties with their fellow political, media, and donor class

00:34:20.640 elite.

00:34:21.440 And that's all well and good.

00:34:22.320 I like cocktail parties.

00:34:23.580 They've read all of the philosophic and social scientific literature.

00:34:26.900 They've crunched the numbers and they devour every myopic op-ed penned by people who have

00:34:31.720 even less perspective on the voting populace than they themselves.

00:34:35.160 Now, those data points are not without value.

00:34:37.120 But all politics is particular.

00:34:39.900 Politics comprises particular goals affected through particular people caused by particular

00:34:45.560 issues.

00:34:46.740 There is a significant, a substantial group of voters that cannot be reached by opinion

00:34:51.440 polls.

00:34:52.280 Richard Nixon called them the silent majority.

00:34:54.500 George W. Bush called them values voters.

00:34:56.700 And Hillary Clinton called them deplorables.

00:34:59.200 Far distant elites cannot pin them down.

00:35:01.880 And yet they often decide American elections.

00:35:04.940 God bless America.

00:35:05.700 I'm Michael Knowles.

00:35:06.980 This is the Michael Knowles Show.

00:35:07.960 Come back tomorrow.

00:35:08.740 We'll do it all again.

00:35:09.420 Thank you.

00:35:11.980 Bye.

00:35:12.560 Bye.

00:35:13.200 Bye.

00:35:15.740 Bye.

00:35:16.300 Bye.

00:35:17.280 Bye.

00:35:18.160 Bye.

00:35:18.440 Bye.

00:35:18.700 Bye.

00:35:19.060 Bye.

00:35:19.580 Bye.

00:35:19.760 Bye.

00:35:21.280 Bye.

00:35:21.720 Bye.

00:35:21.760 Bye.

00:35:22.340 Bye.

00:35:23.820 Bye.

00:35:24.080 Bye.

00:35:24.760 Bye.

00:35:25.980 Bye.

00:35:27.600 Bye.

00:35:30.380 Bye.

00:35:30.820 Bye.

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00:35:36.640 Bye.

The Michael Knowles Show - September 12, 2017

Ep. 25 - All Politics Is Local. Or National. ft. Mayor Jesse Dwyer

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Summary

Transcript