The Michael Knowles Show - Ep. 34 - Did Trump Win Or Lose The Alabama Senate Primary？

00:00:00.160 President Trump's endorsed candidate Luther Strange lost the Alabama Republican Senate primary last night,

00:00:06.180 but he lost to the far Trumpier candidate Roy Moore.

00:00:09.620 Is the Trump effect dead, or is it cofaffer than ever?

00:00:13.300 We'll debate.

00:00:14.300 Then, after a vast, no-doubt Zuckerbergian conspiracy prevented our interview yesterday with journalist Mary Lane,

00:00:21.200 we'll have her on to explain the relationship between football protests and national elections around the world.

00:00:26.940 And finally, Amber Athe and Jacob Erie will join the panel of deplorables to discuss George Clooney's terrible poetry,

00:00:34.180 I will be doing a performance, woman drivers in Saudi Arabia, and finally, free money tax reform, baby.

00:00:41.560 I am Michael Knowles. This is The Michael Knowles Show.

00:00:51.400 This election result is great news.

00:00:54.280 It is a little strange because I'm happy about the election.

00:00:59.040 I'm happy for President Trump, even though President Trump's guy lost.

00:01:03.080 We'll get to why in a bit.

00:01:05.020 But the long and short of it is Trump's guy lost, but sort of and not really.

00:01:09.660 Background here is that Luther Strange was appointed to replace Jeff Sessions in the U.S. Senate from Alabama

00:01:15.780 after Sessions became the attorney general.

00:01:18.080 So there was always going to be a special election.

00:01:20.200 He is technically the incumbent. He's been there since Sessions became AG.

00:01:24.820 And so he ran against this guy, Roy Moore.

00:01:27.520 Luther Strange was preferred by the establishment Republicans.

00:01:30.500 He's a conservative enough guy.

00:01:31.960 And then there's Roy Moore.

00:01:33.120 Roy Moore, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.

00:01:36.640 He's the guy behind the Ten Commandments monument.

00:01:39.860 He had it built there.

00:01:40.940 He was then attacked by the ACLU, the SPLC, and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, some organization like that.

00:01:50.720 And he was actually removed from office over this.

00:01:54.460 The court said that they had to remove the monument.

00:01:58.840 He said no.

00:01:59.840 Roy Moore just would not do it.

00:02:01.920 And so he was removed.

00:02:02.880 Then he runs again for election and he wins.

00:02:05.060 So clearly this guy has a lot of intestinal fortitude.

00:02:09.700 Trump endorsed Strange ostensibly because Strange had a better chance of winning the general.

00:02:15.360 They were worried of a Todd Akin sort of situation that happened in previous elections where you go with a very far right guy in the primary

00:02:23.520 and then he can't win in the general or he'll fizzle out or he'll fall into some faux pas.

00:02:28.980 Here is the clip of President Trump's endorsement of Luther.

00:02:32.660 We have to be loyal in life.

00:02:35.020 You know, there's something called loyalty with these folks.

00:02:38.640 And I might have made a mistake.

00:02:40.680 And I'll be honest.

00:02:42.000 I might have made a mistake.

00:02:44.880 Because, you know, here's a story.

00:02:47.260 If Luther doesn't win, they're not going to say we picked up 25 points in a very short period of time.

00:02:53.420 They're going to say Donald Trump, the President of the United States, was unable to pull his candidate across the line.

00:03:04.240 It is a terrible, terrible moment for Trump.

00:03:07.320 This is total embarrassment.

00:03:09.220 I mean, these are bad people.

00:03:10.800 And by the way, both good men, both good men.

00:03:16.160 And you know what?

00:03:17.420 And I told Luther, I have to say this, if his opponent wins, I'm going to be here campaigning like hell for him.

00:03:26.120 But I have to say this.

00:03:30.240 And you understand this and just look at the polls.

00:03:33.840 Luther will definitely win.

00:03:36.460 Not exactly a resounding endorsement.

00:03:41.800 It's a little bit tepid.

00:03:42.840 He says he'll campaign for the winner, whoever it is.

00:03:45.940 He said he might have made a mistake.

00:03:47.840 Now, President Trump here might have seen the writing on the wall.

00:03:50.220 It looked like Strange was doing better in the polls.

00:03:52.720 Or, I'm sorry, rather, Moore was doing better in the polls.

00:03:55.440 Some of President Trump's most ardent apologists are saying that this was 4D chess.

00:04:00.720 That he knew that Moore was going to win the whole time.

00:04:03.060 He endorsed Strange so that he could make nice with the establishment with Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.

00:04:11.900 But, really, he only did that to get tax reform out of them.

00:04:14.880 You kind of get dizzy when you think about all of that logic.

00:04:17.780 This was what Bill Mitchell suggested.

00:04:20.860 And that seems a little far-fetched for me.

00:04:23.440 Every once in a while, even dear leader can make a bad bet.

00:04:26.240 But, the one issue in this primary is that, as of June 21st, President Trump had a great record on these special elections.

00:04:33.780 He said it was 5-0.

00:04:34.880 Depending on how you count it, it's actually probably 4-1.

00:04:38.020 But, he had huge wins.

00:04:39.640 Karen Handel beat Democrat Golden Boy John Ossoff in Georgia.

00:04:43.420 Ralph Norman beat Democrat Archie Parnell in South Carolina.

00:04:47.200 So, this race upsets that record a little bit.

00:04:49.480 But, I'm not so sure that it actually does.

00:04:51.920 Here is Roy Moore's victory speech.

00:04:53.260 I've talked to Mr. Strange, who has recognized that I've won and that he'll work with me.

00:05:01.780 I've talked to Senator Lee, Senator Paul, Rand Paul, and Senator Cruz.

00:05:13.720 And various others that are important in our government.

00:05:18.040 Together, we can make America great.

00:05:21.240 We can support the president.

00:05:24.240 Don't let anybody in the press think that because he supported my opponent that I do not support him.

00:05:30.180 And support his agenda.

00:05:33.780 As long as it's constitutional.

00:05:37.960 As long as it advances our society, our culture, our country.

00:05:43.460 I will be supportive.

00:05:46.160 As long as it's constitutional.

00:05:48.040 But, we have to return the knowledge of God and the Constitution of the United States to the United States Congress.

00:05:55.400 So, if this is a loss for President Trump's agenda, what does victory look like?

00:06:00.480 This is pretty good.

00:06:01.780 If Luther Strange, if Trump's endorsed candidate had won, he wouldn't have given as resounding and supportive a speech as that.

00:06:07.760 It's really excellent.

00:06:09.080 If you're one like me, I like a little bit of a schizophrenic view of the world.

00:06:13.500 I like a semiotic view of the world, a symbolic one.

00:06:15.940 Then, you have guys like Donald Trump.

00:06:18.740 You have the name Trump.

00:06:19.760 Trump wins this election.

00:06:21.100 Then, you have someone like Luther Strange.

00:06:23.320 Okay.

00:06:23.680 And Roy Moore.

00:06:25.120 More covfefe.

00:06:26.460 More Trump.

00:06:27.760 More aggression in the culture war. 0.71

00:06:30.500 Fighting issues that people really care about.

00:06:32.860 Saying, absolutely not.

00:06:33.960 We won't move this monument of the Ten Commandments.

00:06:36.900 We're going to stand our ground and defend the culture that's made our country so great.

00:06:41.480 The great news about this is it backs up Ann Coulter's thesis.

00:06:46.040 Ann Coulter wrote a book called In Trump We Trust, E Pluribus Awesome.

00:06:50.460 Because Ann has the best titles, the best words, doesn't she, folks?

00:06:53.600 No, it's so click-baity.

00:06:54.720 It's an excellent title.

00:06:55.800 And the book is actually really good.

00:06:57.140 It seems a little bit like a frivolous title.

00:06:59.100 The book makes a good point.

00:07:00.060 Her entire thesis is everyone thinks, the mainstream consensus view, is that people only follow Trump because he has a cult of personality.

00:07:09.000 They love his personality.

00:07:10.520 They love his little jokes.

00:07:11.880 And we're all sort of mindlessly following him because he amuses us and makes us giggle.

00:07:16.460 And it has nothing to do with issues.

00:07:18.340 She says that isn't true.

00:07:19.380 People are following Trump despite his personality because he's a fighter.

00:07:23.200 He's fighting the culture war.

00:07:24.880 The only personality trait that really we admire in him is his intestinal fortitude.

00:07:30.860 And really it's about these issues.

00:07:32.340 He's talking to issues that neither party has talked to in a long time and that the American people care about.

00:07:38.720 Issues like immigration. 0.96

00:07:40.100 Issues like patriotism.

00:07:41.580 Cultural issues.

00:07:42.680 And, you know, we've been burnt by a lot of so-called conservative politicians who make nice with the left and don't pursue our agenda.

00:07:51.940 People in the establishment in D.C., Nan Hayworth was on, former congresswoman from New York, and we talked about this.

00:07:59.040 We know a lot of those people down there, and they hold the base of the Republican Party in greater disdain than they do the Democrats, than they do their nominal opponents on the Democratic side.

00:08:10.520 So if that is the case, then that means that people won't just blindly follow President Trump off a cliff or follow him if he pivots to the left or something.

00:08:20.500 They'll hold him accountable.

00:08:21.880 President Trump came down there.

00:08:22.860 He said, vote for this guy.

00:08:23.740 They said, no, we're going to vote for the other guy because he's more like the agenda that we elected you to fulfill.

00:08:30.380 Really good news.

00:08:31.300 Really good news out of there and not bad for Trump either.

00:08:34.300 I think it's just fine that he endorsed a candidate.

00:08:38.040 It didn't work out.

00:08:38.640 Now he gets to work with a guy who likes him and the Republican agenda even more.

00:08:43.060 With that, maybe I am just being too hopeful, possibly optimistic here.

00:08:47.700 Let's bring on our panel of deplorables.

00:08:50.220 We have Amber Athey from The Daily Caller and Jacob Aery from The Daily Wire.

00:08:54.600 So many daily publications.

00:08:57.040 In one word answers, is Moore's win good or bad?

00:09:00.580 Amber?

00:09:01.860 Good.

00:09:02.820 Jacob?

00:09:03.740 Good.

00:09:04.620 Excellent.

00:09:05.220 We all agree.

00:09:06.000 Why do we even have this panel?

00:09:07.160 We're like the opposite of Crossfire.

00:09:09.900 You know, Crossfire is like wah, wah, wah.

00:09:11.420 Us is just like, is Trump great or is Trump the greatest?

00:09:14.440 Amber, why did President Trump endorse Luther?

00:09:18.380 There's actually a report that came out of Breitbart yesterday that said this was all Jared Kushner's idea.

00:09:23.760 And I think the underlying logic here was that he was trying to play nice with Mitch McConnell after all of his attacks on McConnell.

00:09:32.100 But that logic is so backwards because the solution to McConnell not getting things passed in the Senate isn't to turn around and make deals with him or praise him for his failures.

00:09:43.020 It's to elect people that support the Trump agenda and are going to vote for all of these things that are being pushed by Trump.

00:09:49.660 Do you think it was a mistake for President Trump to endorse Luther?

00:09:52.500 Well, with the way that it turned out, no, because Moore won anyway, and he still looks like he played nice with McConnell.

00:10:00.780 So he kind of gets the best of both worlds here.

00:10:03.040 I will say, though, his playing nice with McConnell kind of irritates me.

00:10:06.940 I don't want him to play nice with McConnell.

00:10:08.660 It's a little bit more.

00:10:09.200 Yeah.

00:10:10.380 Jacob, Moore's defeated opponent Luther Strange is warning that Moore will be the new Todd Aiken. 0.97

00:10:16.160 He's referring to these whacked out candidates, you know, who actually Todd Aiken, he made some very stupid rhetorical mistakes and it cost him. 0.93

00:10:25.540 It cost Republicans a good seat in the Senate. 1.00

00:10:27.360 But, you know, these guys give the media anything and they'll pounce and and jump on a stupid statement. 1.00

00:10:34.180 Is that the case here? 0.98

00:10:35.600 Is he going to be Todd Aiken or has the weakening of the media even made that logically and politically unlikely?

00:10:44.160 No and yes.

00:10:45.020 Yes. We have to remember.

00:10:47.180 What a bold statement, Jacob.

00:10:47.920 I love bold statements on this show.

00:10:50.380 No and yes.

00:10:51.260 Well, I say no because Todd Aiken, he was a relatively unknown person who just kind of came in on the wave of the Tea Party movement.

00:10:59.400 Where, you know, he took advantage of it.

00:11:00.920 He really wasn't a Tea Party candidate.

00:11:03.300 Roy Moore, on the other hand, he's been in documentaries.

00:11:07.180 He's been interviewed, especially with his time as a judge.

00:11:10.420 So people know who he is.

00:11:13.260 They're like, we like Roy Moore.

00:11:14.960 And I think that this is really good for Trump because I do think Roy Moore will be good for his agenda.

00:11:20.940 And I agree with Amber, I think, or I should say I agree with you.

00:11:25.640 I think that Trump was just endorsing Strange just to go, oh, yeah, see, I'm going to play nice with McConnell.

00:11:32.380 And if you remember, he said, I'm so, I didn't have to go to dinner with Strange's family.

00:11:38.560 That was amazing.

00:11:39.760 Not exactly a glowing endorsement to say, I came down to campaign for you, but I don't want to eat with you.

00:11:46.380 Yeah, I want to get out of there as soon as possible.

00:11:49.860 Amber, Bill Mitchell and some of the other very prominent and loud and vociferous Trump supporters have said that this was 4D chess, that President Trump, he didn't really want Luther to win.

00:12:03.740 He was trying to work against him a little bit.

00:12:05.460 He was just trying to get tax reform.

00:12:06.980 Does that hold water or are we reading way too much into this?

00:12:09.880 I think that's a little bit too far into it.

00:12:13.040 I think this is more about listening to his son-in-law and he's done other things at the bequest of Jared Kushner that didn't quite pan out either, firing Comey, for example.

00:12:23.960 So I think 4D chess is a little bit too far.

00:12:28.540 And especially considering a lot of Trump's aides did go to try to help Strange, he wouldn't have put this much time and effort into trying to get Strange elected.

00:12:37.280 If this were just a secret kind of chess move to actually get more, I think they're really going a little too far with that guess and giving Trump maybe a bit too much credit.

00:12:49.420 And speaking of the family, speaking of Jared Kushner, I look around the president's inner circle right now and I don't see a whole lot of conservative Republicans.

00:12:57.220 A lot of those people, Bannon, Gorka, have been pushed out.

00:12:59.980 They're not there anymore.

00:13:01.640 But for some reason, Jared Kushner is still hanging around.

00:13:04.600 Is there a worry that President Trump will be pulled to the left by these non-conservative voices or will he get the message from last night's election?

00:13:13.840 I think there's definitely a concern, especially when you look at these reports that say General Kelly is hiding reports from President Trump, specifically the ones from conservative outlets that are criticizing some of the things like working with the Democrats on DACA and these moves to the left that he's been getting from Kushner and Kelly without Bannon and Gorka.

00:13:35.700 So I think that's definitely a concern.

00:13:37.240 And if Trump doesn't know that the conservative base is rallying against him on these issues, he can't correct himself.

00:13:43.440 And do you think, also we'll go around with you and Jacob, do you think that Ann Coulter is right?

00:13:49.220 Is Trump's base focused on the issues more than his personality?

00:13:53.440 Would they leave him if he doesn't do what they want?

00:13:56.180 Yeah, my parents are proud Trump supporters and my mom actually read what Ann Coulter had to say about that.

00:14:03.840 And she said, she just summed up exactly how I feel about Trump in one sentence.

00:14:07.880 It's never been about his personality.

00:14:09.500 It's always been about the issues that he talks about.

00:14:12.880 And so she feels like the personality is something that she can deal with as long as he's getting his agenda through.

00:14:18.240 So I think Coulter has hit the nail on the head.

00:14:21.420 Jacob?

00:14:21.900 I think it's half and half.

00:14:24.880 I think there are 50% of Republicans who supported his agenda.

00:14:30.200 And those people will go along with Ann Coulter.

00:14:33.880 But I do think there is sort of a cult of personality that follows him along.

00:14:37.600 We definitely see that with his more hardcore supporters.

00:14:41.840 So I think it's a 50-50 thing.

00:14:43.540 You'll see 50 stay with him no matter what. 0.96

00:14:45.360 And then another 50% that will leave because they worry about the issues.

00:14:48.460 I think you're 50% right because I do agree there's obviously a personality component here.

00:14:53.560 But the personality component is the courage and the fortitude in the face of these massive left-wing institutions that are opposing him.

00:15:02.200 I think we're all slack-jawed that he's been able to stay on the bull so long that he keeps trying to buck him off.

00:15:09.160 But all right.

00:15:11.240 We have to move on from Dear Leader.

00:15:13.480 But I do hope that Ann Coulter's theory is correct.

00:15:18.980 And also to that point, I remember one time I was talking to Mitch Daniels when he was governor of Indiana.

00:15:24.840 And I asked, how are you such a good governor?

00:15:26.480 He was the best governor in the country.

00:15:27.680 And he said, well, I treat my citizens and my constituents like they're adults.

00:15:33.160 And most politicians treat them like they're children.

00:15:35.360 I think the constituents of this country, the citizens of this country are adults.

00:15:39.780 We're not just mesmerized by glitzy colors. 0.97

00:15:42.760 And a lot of the elite commentators and analysts and politicians on this issue, they think that it's a nation of dummies. 0.98

00:15:50.220 It's not a nation of dummies. 0.98

00:15:51.540 They're adults.

00:15:52.220 They know about their own citizenship.

00:15:55.340 They know about their own country.

00:15:56.560 And you ought to give them a little credit sometimes.

00:15:59.620 OK. 0.99

00:16:00.040 But there is one guy who's a dummy. 0.98

00:16:01.360 And we shouldn't give him any credit. 0.96

00:16:02.760 And that is George Clooney.

00:16:05.220 This is too good.

00:16:06.980 He has written a poem in support of the ingrate football players who are disrespecting their country.

00:16:12.740 And because I loved it so much, I will perform a portion of that poem for you right now.

00:16:18.100 Are we ready?

00:16:18.860 Can we get some snaps, Marshall?

00:16:20.560 Can I get some?

00:16:21.020 Thank you.

00:16:24.760 I pray for my country.

00:16:26.560 I pray that we can find more that unites us than divides us.

00:16:36.820 I pray that our nation's leaders want to do the same.

00:16:40.780 And it's like 10 more praise.

00:16:42.100 Yada, yada, yada.

00:16:42.700 I pray, pray, pray.

00:16:43.220 I pray.

00:16:43.320 And when I pray, I kneel.

00:16:49.660 Wow.

00:16:50.740 Wow.

00:16:51.340 Wow.

00:16:51.700 Wow.

00:16:53.000 Not quite Wordsworth.

00:16:54.580 Not John Keats, that George Clooney.

00:16:57.840 Amber, which is worse, the poetic diction or the political philosophy?

00:17:02.540 I'm going to pull a Jacob here and say both.

00:17:04.680 They're both equally bad.

00:17:06.220 All right.

00:17:06.740 I won't knock you for it because you're absolutely right.

00:17:09.980 Yes.

00:17:10.560 I think the worst part, though, was that this was actually published in the Daily Beast.

00:17:14.900 And they had this big exclusive banner.

00:17:17.740 They were so excited that George Clooney had written this poem for them, which just shows 0.99

00:17:22.620 how silly they are, too. 0.98

00:17:24.600 But the poem is so bad. 0.99

00:17:25.940 It reminds you of something that you would write in elementary school, like an acrostic

00:17:29.260 poem.

00:17:29.640 And I kind of feel bad for his wife, Amal, because she's supposedly this brilliant human

00:17:34.420 rights lawyer.

00:17:35.660 And now I feel like Clooney's kind of like her pet dog that she just pats on the head

00:17:39.280 and is like, oh, George, you're so cute.

00:17:41.940 You know, we all have written bad poetry.

00:17:44.460 I don't know about you, Amber, but young men, angsty, young artistic men, sometimes you

00:17:48.980 write a little poetry.

00:17:50.040 You read good poetry, and then you think, I can do that.

00:17:52.000 And then you write it, and you realize you can't. 0.97

00:17:54.300 Nevertheless, I don't think I've ever read any poetry of a 12-year-old that's quite so silly 0.90

00:17:59.380 and frivolous as this, mainly because it totally misrepresents the point. 0.90

00:18:06.080 He's trying to draw a parallel between taking the knee and praying to God for unity.

00:18:11.960 That is explicitly not what taking the knee here is about.

00:18:15.580 Colin Kaepernick, who started the whole gesture, said he's taking his knee because of the oppression

00:18:20.040 of blacks in the United States, the alleged police brutality, the widespread alleged epidemic

00:18:25.300 of racist cops shooting unarmed, innocent black suspects, and he's disrespecting the country 0.92

00:18:31.780 for that. 0.97

00:18:32.600 He's saying the country is innately, inherently racist and oppressive.

00:18:37.180 It has nothing to do with praying.

00:18:38.660 It isn't praying to God.

00:18:39.520 And even here, when you kneel down, that's supposed to be the sign of respect.

00:18:43.220 But you can kneel to God.

00:18:45.200 But when you're talking about a country, you stand.

00:18:48.660 You stand at attention, and you put your hand over your heart.

00:18:51.600 The symbol of respect and the symbol of disrespect are totally inverted.

00:18:56.300 But Clooney, I don't know that he's doing it on purpose.

00:18:58.320 I think he just doesn't quite get it because someone didn't write his lines for him.

00:19:03.720 Jacob, are George Clooney and the Hollywood establishment he represents just cynical Democrat

00:19:09.500 hacks, or do they actually think that their random smattering of words and phrases constitute

00:19:15.780 some coherent political point?

00:19:18.140 I think they're just bitter.

00:19:19.820 They're bitter that they lost.

00:19:21.700 And by the way, isn't George Clooney an atheist?

00:19:24.680 It seems like he promotes atheism in every movie he's ever starred in.

00:19:28.160 You know, it's interesting.

00:19:29.140 I did look that up.

00:19:30.080 I think he says he's a Catholic.

00:19:32.660 He was raised Catholic.

00:19:33.500 And then he also said, though, whatever anyone believes is fine as long as it doesn't hurt

00:19:37.820 anybody.

00:19:38.200 So I don't know.

00:19:39.820 He's probably just as confused as we are.

00:19:41.840 That could be.

00:19:42.620 I honestly think they're just bitter.

00:19:44.840 And it's just like the new American horror story, the new season of that, the cult, where

00:19:49.400 they're making Trump supporters look like they're cultists and that they're sociopaths who want 0.98

00:19:54.300 to devour everyone. 0.93

00:19:55.920 It's just more bitterness from the same old left-wing Hollywood elite.

00:20:01.800 All right.

00:20:02.420 Well, we have a lot more to get to.

00:20:04.260 We have to talk about the most feminist advancement in a very long time. 1.00

00:20:09.840 Women can now drive in Saudi Arabia. 0.74

00:20:11.840 We have to talk about tax reform.

00:20:13.180 And finally, we'll get a very interesting perspective on football protests and national

00:20:17.920 politics from – this is the only place I've ever heard this perspective from Mary Lane,

00:20:22.780 journalist, Wall Street Journal, previously New York Times, AP, author.

00:20:26.300 But you can't get any of that.

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00:20:53.300 Yeah, I know.

00:20:54.140 I know.

00:20:54.460 Who cares?

00:20:55.040 Who cares, right?

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00:21:36.520 The Saudi royal family has announced that by royal decree, women will now be allowed

00:21:54.140 to drive beginning next June.

00:21:56.260 Jacob, the last conservative bastion is being wiped away by the forces of modernity.

00:22:01.560 Is this the end of the right?

00:22:04.680 I don't know about the right, but it's definitely a breakdown of Islamic rule over women. 1.00

00:22:11.660 I honestly think that this – everyone is praising this like it's some sort of breakthrough.

00:22:18.180 Hello, Saudi Arabia still violates women's rights all around. 1.00

00:22:24.180 They still have to go out with their burqas and their hijabs. 1.00

00:22:27.200 They can't be seen without a male companion.

00:22:31.320 I mean this –

00:22:31.800 That's just common sense, I think.

00:22:33.260 Exactly.

00:22:33.780 That's not – is that what – well, you bring up a good point, Jacob.

00:22:37.320 There are some things that Saudi women still can't do. 1.00

00:22:40.540 They cannot marry, divorce, travel, open a bank account, get a job, or have elective 0.85

00:22:45.740 surgery without permission from male guardians.

00:22:47.760 Or vote.

00:22:48.180 They cannot mix freely with men.

00:22:50.220 They cannot appear in public without wearing a full-length black abaya.

00:22:53.980 They cannot conduct certain business without a male sponsor.

00:22:56.300 They cannot retain custody of their children in a divorce.

00:22:58.700 They cannot apply for a national ID or passport without the permission of a male guardian. 0.98

00:23:02.200 They cannot eat at restaurants that don't have a separate family section.

00:23:05.620 They cannot testify equally in court.

00:23:07.660 The testimony of one man equals that of two women. 0.91

00:23:09.800 And they cannot receive an equal inheritance.

00:23:12.860 So just a handful of things that they can't quite do.

00:23:15.540 Amber, why don't the pussyhats go and protest over there? 1.00

00:23:21.020 Well, besides the fact that they would be jailed and probably murdered. 0.99

00:23:25.680 Stop making a case for Saudi – no, I'm kidding. 1.00

00:23:28.260 That's not nice.

00:23:29.480 Oh, that's terrible.

00:23:30.880 That's not nice.

00:23:31.700 I didn't mean that.

00:23:33.360 But, Amber, that is the real question.

00:23:35.120 American feminists are complaining because of a mythical wage gap, which has been disputed 1.00

00:23:40.200 and dispelled even by Barack Obama's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

00:23:45.180 So why all the angst over here?

00:23:48.020 Well, these feminists completely leave the Islamic world, and Saudi Arabia in particular, off the hook. 1.00

00:23:55.800 You're exactly right.

00:23:56.680 And the problem is if they went over there to protest those types of things, it would be tantamount to admitting that the U.S. isn't as oppressive as they make it out to be.

00:24:04.780 I actually read an article in Cosmo, which is basically the bane of my existence yesterday.

00:24:09.200 But the article was about this new word called he-peating, and it's about when men –

00:24:15.460 Wait, what's the word?

00:24:15.820 It's called he-peating. 0.73

00:24:17.480 So repeating, but with he in the front.

00:24:19.880 And this is when apparently men take women's ideas in the workplace and repeat them and then get credit.

00:24:26.520 You know, that's so funny, Amber, because I was reading an article the other day in Cosmo, this little magazine, and I discovered a new word.

00:24:34.300 The word is called he-peating, which is apparently when men just repeat whatever women say and pass it off as their own idea.

00:24:41.380 Isn't that interesting?

00:24:42.380 Well, congratulations.

00:24:43.020 I'm now joining the next Women's March. 0.58

00:24:44.920 Thank you.

00:24:45.200 I like this idea of he-peating. 0.67

00:24:50.280 It's the new mansplaining, yeah. 0.93

00:24:52.700 But it just shows how silly modern feminism is in the United States, that they're worried about made-up things like he-peating and mansplaining, 1.00

00:25:01.940 while women in Saudi Arabia just got the right to drive and still lack so many other rights. 1.00

00:25:07.380 And many of these feminist organizations are in bed with people like Linda Sarsour, who openly call for Sharia law and jihad. 1.00

00:25:13.920 So for them to talk about wanting to, you know, free women is just so hypocritical while they ignore the plight of women in the Middle East. 0.81

00:25:22.520 And, you know, you make the good point that if they went over to Saudi Arabia, they'd be arrested and murdered or jailed or something.

00:25:29.140 But they would never go over to Saudi Arabia because that would dispute and do away with their intersectional hierarchy of victimhood, 0.61

00:25:37.940 at which the straight, white, Western male sits at the top, and he is the oppressor and everyone else is the oppressed.

00:25:46.220 This began—I was reading some account of this.

00:25:48.200 I don't remember who wrote the essay.

00:25:49.780 This began, though, in—oh, I'm sorry.

00:25:52.000 This was in Jonathan Rauch's book about free speech.

00:25:54.940 He said that this began with the Salman Rushdie affair.

00:25:57.740 That was the moment when we had to deal with our own principles.

00:26:02.140 Salman Rushdie wrote the Satanic Verses.

00:26:03.820 He had a fatwa put on his head.

00:26:06.000 The Islamic world tried to murder him for it and is still trying to murder him for it. 1.00

00:26:10.860 And the Western world, which previously believed in liberal values and free speech, we buckled.

00:26:17.160 We said, well, it wasn't nice of us or nice of Salman Rushdie to upset the people over in the Muslim world.

00:26:23.840 And, hey, they have a culture and we have a culture and we have free speech and they throw people off buildings.

00:26:29.860 But, you know, who are we to judge?

00:26:32.620 Who are we to judge?

00:26:33.460 And it's really paternalistic.

00:26:35.240 Ironically, it's much more paternalistic for these pussyhat-clad women in America to say we're going to fight for even more money in the United States, more money than men make. 1.00

00:26:44.960 But, oh, those women in Saudi Arabia, they're different. 1.00

00:26:47.560 They're just a different sort of breed and, well, good luck, ladies. 1.00

00:26:51.600 Absolutely absurd.

00:26:53.400 Now we have to talk about money.

00:26:54.640 Forget about all that stuff.

00:26:56.420 Donald Trump is pushing, finally, tax reform.

00:26:59.640 He has a four-point plan.

00:27:01.360 It's very exciting.

00:27:02.640 To simplify the tax code, to lower middle-class taxes, to cut the corporate tax rate, the marginal tax rate and the effective tax rate, and to repatriate trillions of dollars in profits that are currently being stored overseas because we have the highest corporate tax rate in the world.

00:27:17.420 People dispute that, by the way.

00:27:19.060 They say our corporate tax rate is over 39 percent.

00:27:21.880 And they say, well, that's the marginal rate, but that's not the actual rate that businesses pay when they pay their income taxes – or their business taxes, rather.

00:27:29.900 But we still have the highest effective corporate tax rate in the world as well.

00:27:35.200 By some estimates, it's 20 percent.

00:27:37.280 By some, it's up to 26 percent.

00:27:39.040 So it's true it's not as high as 39, but it's still the highest in the world.

00:27:42.900 If we lowered it, it would boost the economy.

00:27:45.320 Amber, there is one issue in this tax plan, which is that President Trump wants to raise the rate on high-income earners.

00:27:52.640 Is this a good idea, and why does he want to do it?

00:27:55.440 No, I don't think it's a good idea, and I'll get to that in a second.

00:27:57.920 I think he wants to do this because it's part of his, again, trying to misguidedly reach across the aisle and make a deal with Democrats.

00:28:07.720 And I think here's why it's so misguided.

00:28:09.940 First of all, there are already so many Democrats who support a lot of the tax reform efforts, including lowering the corporate tax rate, including lowering taxes on middle-class citizens.

00:28:20.300 For Trump to then give away the fact that he's also going to raise taxes on the upper class is the opposite of the art of the deal.

00:28:27.780 That's giving Democrats basically everything that they want.

00:28:30.420 Why are we throwing away the leverage?

00:28:32.900 Exactly.

00:28:33.740 Yeah, that's exactly the point.

00:28:35.360 It's the same exact thing that he did with DACA.

00:28:38.060 I think raising the tax on the highest people or the highest income bracket is definitely a little bit backwards,

00:28:46.460 considering those people already shoulder most of the burden of taxes in this country to begin with.

00:28:52.840 But, Amber, you would certainly agree that they don't pay their fair share.

00:28:57.920 They pay much more than their fair share.

00:28:59.480 They pay actually all of the taxes in the country, but it isn't their fair share.

00:29:04.780 Well, yeah, that's the Democratic argument.

00:29:06.480 Of course, these people also take a lot of their money and put it into businesses and hiring people for jobs and investing in various startups and small businesses.

00:29:16.500 But, yeah, they don't pay their fair share.

00:29:19.600 I remember in college they had an Occupy movement in New Haven, and so we went there to Occupy Occupy one day,

00:29:26.760 and there was some whiny guy yelling about finance or Wall Street or something.

00:29:32.140 And we asked him, we said, what does Wall Street do?

00:29:34.940 He said, well, they invest money.

00:29:37.340 He said, okay.

00:29:38.800 How do they invest money?

00:29:40.600 He said, well, they invest money in companies.

00:29:42.800 He said, okay.

00:29:43.540 So what do those companies do?

00:29:44.840 Well, they invest that money into capital or labor.

00:29:49.420 Yeah, okay.

00:29:50.020 And what does that do?

00:29:51.300 Well, yeah, it grows companies and creates jobs.

00:29:53.860 We took him through the entire – because I think people have this idea that corporations are high –

00:29:58.940 But that's me.

00:29:59.760 Yeah.

00:30:00.280 They think that these high-net-worth individuals are going in their backyard and burying money.

00:30:05.980 If they put the money in the bank or if they put the money in the market or they invest it in companies, it's in the economy.

00:30:11.960 It's creating capital for the economy, and it's spurring growth.

00:30:16.700 But don't ask the left to give you too many points on economics.

00:30:21.900 All they do is they buy that Piketty book, the New Communist Manifesto, Capital, and they don't read it.

00:30:28.000 They just put it on their shelves and virtue signal.

00:30:30.380 Well, Jacob, it is upsetting, this trying to raise the rate on the highest quintile of earners who already pay most of the taxes anyway.

00:30:39.880 But are we even going to get tax reform?

00:30:42.040 Is this a way to bring on people like Susan Collins? 1.00

00:30:44.520 Or are the Rhino Republicans going to shut it down and prevent even that legislative victory? 1.00

00:30:50.280 You know, I'm honestly not sure.

00:30:51.920 I think that if the Republicans don't bring this forward, this only, again, makes Trump look good.

00:30:59.240 And if the anti-Trump Republicans, if they want to make Trump look bad, they need to actually pass some of his law so he can sign it.

00:31:08.020 And then they can blame him if it causes a problem.

00:31:10.580 But instead, they won't even let his stuff come up, including tax reform.

00:31:14.080 And so I'm not sure if this will stall like Obamacare repeal and replace will or is.

00:31:20.920 But I have a feeling that some of the Rhino Republicans like Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, I think is what happened.

00:31:26.660 And don't let Rand Paul off the hook.

00:31:28.200 I'm so sorry.

00:31:28.720 We talked about this yesterday.

00:31:30.160 I am so sick and tired of letting Rand Paul off the hook by pretending that he has principles.

00:31:35.020 Thanks a lot for your principles that killed Obamacare.

00:31:37.260 Great principles, buddy.

00:31:38.660 Thank you for enshrining Obamacare.

00:31:40.200 What a moral, upright guy.

00:31:41.320 Well, in Rand Paul's case, though, the Republicans, you know how they always say, don't let the perfect get in the way of the good.

00:31:48.560 The Republicans promised perfect in the case of Obamacare.

00:31:52.240 They didn't promise good.

00:31:53.360 They promised perfect.

00:31:54.440 So what?

00:31:55.040 Repeal Obamacare.

00:31:55.880 I don't care.

00:31:56.480 I don't care what they promised.

00:31:57.740 I don't care what Rand Paul wants.

00:31:59.360 I don't care how he looks at himself in the mirror.

00:32:01.560 Repeal Obamacare and give me tax reform.

00:32:03.460 Okay, well, then just repeal it. 0.66

00:32:04.420 Stop offering all these ridiculous other laws.

00:32:06.960 Just repeal it. 0.81

00:32:08.400 Yeah, okay.

00:32:08.900 I mean, we're delving a little bit into Obamacare here.

00:32:11.520 We're talking about a sixth of the economy.

00:32:13.440 I don't think that the onus here is for the entire U.S. Senate and the White House to do what Rand Paul wants to do.

00:32:20.200 I think he's got to deal in reality.

00:32:22.580 And I don't think it's the Republican Party and the White House who is not dealing in reality here.

00:32:28.300 I think it's the people who are letting the perfect get in the way of the good.

00:32:31.880 But they promised perfect.

00:32:33.700 Who cares?

00:32:34.120 When you let the perfect get in the way of the good, you get the worst is what really happens.

00:32:38.720 Okay.

00:32:39.540 Amber, one last question.

00:32:42.000 The Washington Post ran a headline.

00:32:43.860 The middle class doesn't want a tax cut.

00:32:46.460 Now, this is objectively false.

00:32:48.120 I want a tax cut.

00:32:49.520 Four Pinocchios.

00:32:50.320 Give me money.

00:32:50.840 Let me keep my money.

00:32:51.360 Actually, don't give me money.

00:32:52.200 Let me keep my money.

00:32:53.580 I want to give less of my money to you.

00:32:56.400 So this does get to an actual point.

00:33:00.220 The Washington Post doesn't know that they're making this point.

00:33:02.100 But they do get to this point.

00:33:04.140 Are economic issues really at the forefront of America's mind?

00:33:07.460 Are we really just concerned about tax cuts?

00:33:09.900 Or is the cultural battle where Americans are really pouring in their heart and their soul and their political efforts?

00:33:18.140 I think it's a little bit of both.

00:33:20.880 I think tax cuts are really important to Americans.

00:33:23.600 As a poor journalist, I will lead the charge on that.

00:33:26.080 I definitely want to keep more of my money.

00:33:27.500 I know a lot of people, especially blue-collar workers, voted for Trump because they were hoping to see more money in their paychecks.

00:33:35.860 Economics is routinely listed as the number one concern for voters in elections.

00:33:41.420 So that's still really important.

00:33:43.140 That being said, I think Trump is actually the one who has made people care more about these cultural issues because he's been raising them so often.

00:33:50.360 I think this entire week the only thing that I've heard about are the NFL national anthem protests, and that's on cable news in conservative circles and everywhere.

00:33:58.960 That's like the number one issue right now.

00:34:01.300 And then, of course, there's the issue of immigration.

00:34:04.260 So it's a little bit of both.

00:34:05.300 And I think the culture wars are coming directly out of Trump's rhetoric and the issues that he's choosing to push, and it's because he can win on a lot of these issues.

00:34:14.120 But isn't that the point?

00:34:15.240 He can win on these issues.

00:34:16.640 So is it Trump who's pushing them?

00:34:18.760 Is it Trump who is the source of this cultural concern in the country, or is he just the vessel?

00:34:24.320 Did he just realize that this is what the Americans care about right now, and is he the symptom rather than the cause?

00:34:30.460 Yeah, it's a good question, and it's probably, again, a little bit of both, not to sound like too much of a cop-out.

00:34:37.060 Not to sound like Jacob.

00:34:38.700 Yeah, exactly.

00:34:41.960 All right.

00:34:43.320 I'm sorry.

00:34:43.980 Go ahead, Amber.

00:34:45.080 No, it's fine.

00:34:45.660 I was just saying people definitely care about the issues, but I don't think that those were necessarily things that they were voting on until they became raised in the election by Trump.

00:34:54.600 Absolutely right.

00:34:55.500 Okay, panel, thank you for being here.

00:34:57.900 Amber Athe from The Daily Caller.

00:34:59.900 Jacob Airey from The Daily Wire.

00:35:02.200 Me from My Daily Show.

00:35:03.580 Thank you both.

00:35:04.140 Great panel today.

00:35:05.940 That's our show.

00:35:07.100 I'm Michael Knowles.

00:35:07.920 This is The Michael Knowles Show.

00:35:09.600 Come back on Thursday.

00:35:11.660 That's our last show.

00:35:12.360 It's tomorrow.

00:35:12.800 Get your mailbag questions in, and we will see you then.

00:35:15.620 Thank you.

00:35:29.540 Please don't continue because it's forever.

00:35:33.860 Thank you.

00:35:34.760 Come back on Thursday.

00:35:35.940 Thank you.

00:35:36.480 Take you.

00:35:37.140 Thank you.

00:35:37.340 Take me.

00:35:37.620 Maybe you can see you next time.

00:35:38.000 Take you.

00:35:39.440 Take you.

The Michael Knowles Show - September 27, 2017

Ep. 34 - Did Trump Win Or Lose The Alabama Senate Primary？

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