The Michael Knowles Show - January 25, 2026


Michael REACTS To ＂HopeCore＂ TikToks： Try Not To Smile!


Episode Stats

Length

16 minutes

Words per Minute

139.70558

Word Count

2,284

Sentence Count

262

Misogynist Sentences

9

Hate Speech Sentences

4


Summary

Melania Trump is the First Lady of the United States, and she s the first black woman to become president of the country. She s also the first woman in history to become the wife of a sitting president. And she s a mom of three.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 From Amazon MGM Studios comes Melania.
00:00:02.580 Every protocol, every precaution, every move coordinated.
00:00:05.260 This new film takes you inside the 20 days leading up to the 2025 presidential election
00:00:08.760 through the eyes of the first lady herself.
00:00:10.760 The briefings, the planning, the private conversations.
00:00:12.880 Witness what it takes to secure her return to one of the world's most powerful roles.
00:00:16.820 Melania, only in theaters, January 30th.
00:00:20.740 Investing is all about the future.
00:00:22.760 So what do you think is going to happen?
00:00:24.800 Bitcoin is sort of inevitable at this point.
00:00:26.960 I think it would come down to precious metals.
00:00:29.480 I hope we don't go cashless.
00:00:31.940 I would say land is a safe investment.
00:00:34.480 Technology, companies, solar energy.
00:00:36.620 Robotic pollinators might be a thing.
00:00:39.280 A wrestler to face a robot? That will have to happen.
00:00:42.560 So whatever you think is going to happen in the future, you can invest in it at Wealthsimple.
00:00:48.320 Start now at Wealthsimple.com.
00:00:59.980 Benoist is a private крепmusic.
00:01:00.820 Certificatism is a greatbig
00:01:14.620 Pac-159.
00:01:17.860 PT-5015.
00:01:22.340 Your Highness, the transmission we received.
00:01:23.880 mission we received.
00:01:26.220 What is it they've sent us?
00:01:29.820 Hope.
00:01:45.000 The West is falling.
00:01:46.780 We all know civilization
00:01:47.920 is on its last gasps.
00:01:50.420 Everything is bleak.
00:01:52.060 We're all black people.
00:01:53.880 We doomscroll on our phones
00:01:59.200 and that sense of doom
00:02:00.720 grows greater and greater
00:02:02.260 until the enormity
00:02:03.860 brings us to the brink of despair.
00:02:07.500 But sometimes
00:02:08.220 there are little glimmers of hope.
00:02:10.720 Hope.
00:02:12.680 As my producer team,
00:02:15.020 as Professor Jacob in particular,
00:02:16.800 has apparently found on his feed.
00:02:18.440 So there's a new challenge.
00:02:19.860 Very often the challenge is,
00:02:21.180 Michael, watch some crazy video
00:02:23.220 and try not to laugh.
00:02:24.840 Try not to get angry.
00:02:26.600 Try not to.
00:02:27.140 This is the opposite.
00:02:29.020 Professor Jacob is going to pull up
00:02:30.380 those little signs of hope
00:02:32.040 that just creep into the algo
00:02:33.560 every now and again.
00:02:34.620 And I will do my best
00:02:36.180 not to smile.
00:02:38.480 Take it away.
00:02:39.000 What's in there?
00:02:40.420 What's in there?
00:02:41.220 Open it up.
00:02:41.760 What's in there?
00:02:43.120 Yeah!
00:02:43.780 Pajamas!
00:02:44.380 Yeah!
00:02:44.880 Yeah!
00:02:46.380 Yeah!
00:02:48.960 Yeah!
00:02:50.520 Yeah!
00:02:52.960 Pajamas!
00:02:55.040 Boys?
00:02:56.220 Yeah?
00:02:56.580 Daddy?
00:02:57.380 Daddy?
00:02:58.880 Who is it?
00:03:00.240 Oh...
00:03:01.240 Daddy!
00:03:05.620 Daddy!
00:03:06.620 Daddy!
00:03:07.380 I've seen these little baby
00:03:28.780 with their glasses.
00:03:29.760 With their goofy little eyes.
00:03:31.600 Hi!
00:03:32.160 Hi!
00:03:34.940 Hi, Munchkin!
00:03:40.480 Yeah, I've seen...
00:03:41.600 The last one is kind of cute,
00:03:43.320 but the rest of them,
00:03:44.900 really, wow,
00:03:45.380 I've never had a birthday cake before.
00:03:46.900 Is that real?
00:03:47.360 Wow.
00:03:48.240 Yeah, all of it.
00:03:48.780 The kid, my dad,
00:03:50.120 my dad.
00:03:50.520 It's tough.
00:03:51.220 It's tough.
00:03:52.080 Wow.
00:03:52.780 Like, I come home from work.
00:03:55.040 I usually don't get home too late.
00:03:56.460 Sometimes I travel,
00:03:57.340 but if I'm in town,
00:03:58.700 I usually don't get home too late.
00:03:59.640 I come in,
00:04:00.700 and you know,
00:04:00.880 my kids have come.
00:04:03.360 Often,
00:04:03.760 my kids will come to the door.
00:04:04.700 Oh, hey,
00:04:05.140 they die.
00:04:06.200 But now my youngest,
00:04:08.100 who's like a year and a half or so,
00:04:09.600 he's now old enough
00:04:10.500 to kind of get it
00:04:11.220 when I come in.
00:04:11.560 He just comes in
00:04:12.060 and he starts dancing
00:04:13.280 when I come in.
00:04:14.020 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:04:16.200 It's like doing a little jig.
00:04:17.740 He's so happy.
00:04:18.420 It's very,
00:04:18.720 it really melts your heart.
00:04:21.120 Wow.
00:04:21.440 The fact that after years
00:04:23.960 of just increasing viciousness,
00:04:27.840 invective,
00:04:29.680 polemic,
00:04:31.500 nasty,
00:04:32.840 demonic kind of stuff,
00:04:34.140 there's little glimmers
00:04:34.820 of hope in the algo.
00:04:36.280 What does that mean?
00:04:37.260 All right,
00:04:37.540 give me the next one.
00:04:38.460 A big surprise today
00:04:39.620 for one Channel 8 eyewitness news reporter
00:04:41.980 when her longtime boyfriend
00:04:43.520 showed up to propose to her.
00:04:50.400 Wow.
00:04:51.440 It was as far opposite
00:05:00.200 from Eva and Tony's
00:05:01.280 as you can get.
00:05:02.100 This one was very laid back,
00:05:03.620 very casual.
00:05:07.580 What are you doing?
00:05:09.500 What are you doing here?
00:05:11.020 I'm just here to say
00:05:12.200 that I've loved you
00:05:13.580 since the day I met you
00:05:14.440 and I want to spend
00:05:16.840 the rest of my life with you.
00:05:17.920 I don't like this.
00:05:19.540 It's very unprofessional.
00:05:21.720 I don't like this one.
00:05:22.840 The first one was cuter.
00:05:24.180 This one is unprofessional.
00:05:25.540 He's making it all about him.
00:05:26.980 Yeah, okay.
00:05:27.540 I want,
00:05:28.160 I lost it a little bit
00:05:29.300 on the first one.
00:05:30.360 That was,
00:05:30.900 because she seemed
00:05:31.400 so genuinely surprised
00:05:32.760 and it was like
00:05:33.140 a clever way to do it.
00:05:34.640 The middle one
00:05:35.220 I didn't like though
00:05:35.920 because it's just this guy
00:05:36.600 sauntering out,
00:05:37.180 hey, toots.
00:05:38.840 Hey, Ron.
00:05:39.560 Hey, Billy.
00:05:40.060 I know you're working
00:05:41.440 or whatever,
00:05:42.100 but hey,
00:05:43.020 let's make this about me.
00:05:44.600 They decided to marry you.
00:05:46.880 But the first one
00:05:47.700 is really sweet.
00:05:49.580 Oh, look,
00:05:49.860 because she didn't know,
00:05:50.840 you know,
00:05:51.060 she really didn't get it.
00:05:51.880 She, I guess,
00:05:52.900 the reason I like
00:05:53.480 the first one is
00:05:53.980 she was led unawares
00:05:56.740 into participating
00:05:58.100 in this very sweet act
00:05:59.820 that she desired.
00:06:01.940 That you,
00:06:02.760 you had,
00:06:03.980 you,
00:06:04.360 you,
00:06:04.940 you could,
00:06:05.840 you do.
00:06:07.140 Whereas in the second one,
00:06:08.720 the girl was just interrupted.
00:06:10.840 Was she,
00:06:11.280 yeah,
00:06:11.620 I,
00:06:12.060 okay,
00:06:12.340 but I like,
00:06:12.800 it was,
00:06:13.120 I want partial credit
00:06:14.160 for keeping it
00:06:14.980 despairing,
00:06:17.000 you know,
00:06:17.440 in the,
00:06:17.880 okay,
00:06:18.100 next one.
00:06:23.360 I lost.
00:06:36.320 Am I supposed
00:06:47.980 to turn around yet?
00:07:00.720 Problem is these days
00:07:01.780 that could be real.
00:07:06.320 Yeah,
00:07:19.560 that's kind of whatever.
00:07:20.420 The elephant one
00:07:21.320 is the best one.
00:07:24.380 Because that's a real,
00:07:25.880 it's not just a contrived.
00:07:27.240 What I don't like,
00:07:28.980 look,
00:07:29.420 why is this creeping
00:07:30.520 into the algo now?
00:07:32.180 This is actually
00:07:33.620 a great sign.
00:07:35.600 And it's,
00:07:36.000 it's the same reason
00:07:36.880 that the despair
00:07:37.620 crept into the algo.
00:07:38.900 It's that reality exists
00:07:40.980 and you can't divorce yourself
00:07:42.720 from reality forever.
00:07:43.980 So when everyone's saying,
00:07:44.820 everything's great,
00:07:45.600 ha ha ha,
00:07:46.460 we're,
00:07:46.820 it's great.
00:07:47.580 The borders are open
00:07:48.580 and crime is skyrocketing
00:07:49.880 and we're castrating kids
00:07:51.060 and we're killing babies
00:07:52.040 and ha ha,
00:07:52.600 but it's all great.
00:07:53.680 Ha ha ha.
00:07:54.660 The reality creeps in
00:07:56.180 and you,
00:07:57.280 you can't,
00:07:58.480 you can't really deny
00:07:59.320 what you're seeing.
00:07:59.960 No,
00:08:00.180 it's,
00:08:00.680 it's bad.
00:08:01.740 This is getting worse.
00:08:02.860 Things aren't going to get better
00:08:03.780 if we don't acknowledge
00:08:04.700 the reality
00:08:05.920 that they're bad right now.
00:08:07.100 But just as that is the case,
00:08:09.440 so too,
00:08:10.580 I think now that we're all
00:08:11.540 black-billed and despairing,
00:08:13.280 the,
00:08:13.480 the reality that is creeping in
00:08:15.180 is actually there is hope
00:08:16.040 in the world.
00:08:16.920 Actually,
00:08:18.040 we,
00:08:18.680 we can do
00:08:19.740 good things.
00:08:21.760 The kind of,
00:08:22.680 we can choose virtue
00:08:24.160 over vice.
00:08:26.140 There,
00:08:26.520 the God exists
00:08:27.360 and he extends grace to us
00:08:28.700 and we can cooperate
00:08:29.620 with that grace
00:08:30.400 and we're not
00:08:32.000 necessarily destined
00:08:33.160 eternally to death
00:08:34.300 or torment,
00:08:34.840 but actually we might have
00:08:35.740 everlasting life
00:08:36.560 and you might
00:08:37.060 and like kids are cute
00:08:38.680 and you know,
00:08:39.580 animals are kind of funny
00:08:40.520 and that,
00:08:41.960 that's,
00:08:43.060 that is just as real
00:08:44.360 as like all the bad things
00:08:45.840 in the world.
00:08:46.680 And so,
00:08:47.240 sometimes people
00:08:48.280 cynically
00:08:48.900 or not even,
00:08:50.700 it's not even cynicism,
00:08:52.240 it's like a jadedness.
00:08:53.960 They'll say,
00:08:54.820 well,
00:08:55.640 you know,
00:08:56.040 kid,
00:08:56.340 you don't understand
00:08:57.060 how dark it is out there
00:08:58.560 and that,
00:08:59.300 that can be true.
00:09:01.440 You could be correcting
00:09:02.280 for an optimism,
00:09:03.380 but you also need to correct
00:09:04.740 for pessimism,
00:09:05.500 which are two sides
00:09:06.160 of the same coin.
00:09:07.620 That's why this is creeping
00:09:08.460 back in.
00:09:08.960 And the thing I don't like
00:09:10.120 about these,
00:09:10.620 like be happy videos
00:09:11.580 is when they're just
00:09:12.180 totally contrived,
00:09:13.680 when it's like forced,
00:09:15.760 when it doesn't feel real,
00:09:17.040 but the elephant one,
00:09:18.880 that's like real.
00:09:19.620 It's just like a delightful
00:09:20.620 little thing that happened.
00:09:21.760 Okay,
00:09:21.980 keep going.
00:09:23.100 I need you to lock in
00:09:23.880 because you've actually
00:09:24.380 cracked on every single
00:09:25.200 one of these.
00:09:25.760 So,
00:09:26.120 let's see if you can do it.
00:09:27.280 Right now,
00:09:28.080 go to expressvpn.com
00:09:29.240 slash Michael,
00:09:29.920 letter Y,
00:09:30.280 letter T.
00:09:30.620 Did you know that
00:09:31.180 your internet provider
00:09:31.940 watches every move
00:09:33.260 you make online,
00:09:34.840 tracks all your clicks,
00:09:36.240 all the endless time
00:09:37.460 that you spend online,
00:09:38.640 doom scrolling,
00:09:39.560 searching,
00:09:40.400 building a profile
00:09:41.300 that they sell
00:09:41.880 to the highest bidder.
00:09:42.900 Sounds illegal,
00:09:43.800 probably should be,
00:09:44.640 but it isn't.
00:09:45.360 Why?
00:09:46.140 Well,
00:09:46.620 one reason is
00:09:47.200 the government benefits too.
00:09:48.360 It creates a loophole
00:09:49.120 around your
00:09:49.520 Fourth Amendment rights.
00:09:50.780 Normally,
00:09:51.240 the government would need
00:09:51.920 a warrant to collect
00:09:52.840 your information
00:09:53.420 without consent.
00:09:55.000 But when they buy
00:09:55.920 the data from the broker,
00:09:57.040 instead,
00:09:57.580 it's totally legal,
00:09:58.460 no warrant required.
00:09:59.800 These data brokers
00:10:00.620 are eroding our freedoms
00:10:02.460 as Americans.
00:10:03.260 Well,
00:10:03.360 fortunately,
00:10:04.180 there is a solution
00:10:05.160 that I've used for years now,
00:10:06.840 probably eight years
00:10:07.720 or something,
00:10:08.560 and that is ExpressVPN.
00:10:10.700 ExpressVPN
00:10:11.140 allows me
00:10:12.680 to keep all of my
00:10:13.640 online activity secure
00:10:15.200 through their
00:10:16.160 encrypted servers.
00:10:17.240 Nobody,
00:10:17.820 not even the
00:10:18.300 internet service provider,
00:10:19.560 can track any of my
00:10:20.320 movements
00:10:20.720 or infringe
00:10:21.660 on my privacy.
00:10:23.120 I love it.
00:10:23.680 It's great.
00:10:24.040 It's easy too.
00:10:24.660 I'm a total Luddite
00:10:25.520 and it makes it just
00:10:26.180 much,
00:10:26.740 much easier
00:10:27.360 for me.
00:10:28.240 If I can do it,
00:10:28.860 you can too.
00:10:29.560 Push one button,
00:10:30.400 all your devices,
00:10:31.140 you're good.
00:10:31.860 Find out how you can get
00:10:32.760 four months free
00:10:33.300 by scanning the QR code
00:10:34.320 on screen,
00:10:34.840 clicking the link
00:10:35.380 in the description box below,
00:10:36.940 or by going to
00:10:37.500 expressvpn.com
00:10:38.520 slash Michael,
00:10:39.560 letter Y,
00:10:40.940 letter T.
00:10:41.500 I've already seen
00:10:45.160 this one,
00:10:45.600 so I'm going to
00:10:45.920 succeed.
00:10:46.220 For the wider region,
00:10:48.040 I would be surprised
00:10:50.120 to see you.
00:10:57.580 Locked in a stalemate
00:10:59.220 and bars no old.
00:11:06.060 Locked in a hard place
00:11:08.000 is battling in control.
00:11:11.500 What the hell am I waiting for?
00:11:20.380 See plans for me?
00:11:24.500 Locked in a hard transport.
00:11:26.380 There's more authority parties
00:11:27.380 if you nominate for the Senate
00:11:28.340 and what we want to do.
00:11:29.540 I'll catch you next Tuesday.
00:11:30.600 The streets are.
00:11:31.400 Come on there.
00:11:32.040 Yes, please.
00:11:39.140 Hello, everybody.
00:11:40.380 Thank you.
00:11:41.500 Yeah, do you want to say
00:11:43.940 hello to the camera?
00:11:44.600 Yeah.
00:11:44.960 Say hello to the camera.
00:11:46.120 Hello.
00:11:47.020 Hey, Bob.
00:11:47.520 Hey, Dad.
00:11:48.180 Love you.
00:11:48.580 Love you.
00:11:56.380 I almost lost it there
00:11:57.680 at the end.
00:11:58.320 And you know what it was?
00:11:59.380 It wasn't even the,
00:12:00.280 it was the,
00:12:01.260 it was that.
00:12:02.680 I almost lost it
00:12:03.380 and I hadn't seen
00:12:04.040 that video before.
00:12:04.660 The one with the baby
00:12:05.420 on the news clip,
00:12:06.200 I had,
00:12:06.600 we've all seen that.
00:12:07.800 There was,
00:12:08.160 that one got me.
00:12:11.180 Okay.
00:12:11.480 Did I,
00:12:11.780 did I pass that one?
00:12:13.260 It was a great effort,
00:12:14.220 Michael.
00:12:15.000 I was smiling.
00:12:15.860 Does it count?
00:12:16.980 Does it count?
00:12:17.640 I was kind of doing
00:12:18.280 a little bit of like a,
00:12:19.560 I'm so hopeful now
00:12:20.780 that I'm going to give you
00:12:21.420 a point for that.
00:12:22.320 Thank you.
00:12:23.420 Wow.
00:12:24.860 What an,
00:12:25.420 what an act of grace.
00:12:26.700 The quality of mercy
00:12:27.640 is not strained,
00:12:28.740 you know?
00:12:29.720 That's why he's the goat!
00:12:31.600 The goat!
00:12:34.160 Though justice be thy plea,
00:12:35.760 consider this,
00:12:36.320 that in the course of justice,
00:12:37.260 none of us should see salvation.
00:12:38.280 Okay.
00:12:38.600 All right.
00:12:38.900 That's our,
00:12:39.240 is that it?
00:12:39.820 Are there any more clips?
00:12:40.700 There are like so many more.
00:12:41.740 Oh, there are?
00:12:42.300 Okay.
00:12:42.540 All right.
00:12:42.720 Keep going.
00:12:43.260 There's a black on my screen.
00:12:44.540 I don't know.
00:12:45.120 I was,
00:12:45.340 there's a black bill on my screen.
00:12:47.860 Grammy,
00:12:48.360 what are we seeing right now?
00:12:49.940 We're seeing 7,000 years
00:12:53.280 of lava flow.
00:12:54.580 7,000.
00:12:55.940 Opa,
00:12:56.280 what do you see?
00:12:57.360 I see Grammy.
00:12:59.020 And?
00:13:00.320 Just Grammy?
00:13:01.220 When I look at Grammy,
00:13:02.220 I don't see anything else.
00:13:03.420 Nobody else.
00:13:04.740 Boy!
00:13:07.260 What do you guys do
00:13:07.780 for your anniversary?
00:13:09.300 We looked at each other.
00:13:09.980 Same thing we're doing right now.
00:13:12.860 And he kissed me
00:13:13.980 on the forehead.
00:13:15.440 You kissed her?
00:13:16.400 Yeah.
00:13:16.840 He always kisses me.
00:13:18.360 Isn't that cute?
00:13:19.300 Yeah, that's cute.
00:13:20.060 He kisses me on the neck.
00:13:21.700 He kisses me on my head.
00:13:23.900 He kisses me anywhere.
00:13:25.460 Don't you love me?
00:13:26.520 Oh!
00:13:27.560 Oh,
00:13:28.240 I'm a love woman.
00:13:29.860 Don't you love me?
00:13:31.000 You too.
00:13:33.140 Love you, huh?
00:13:34.340 Don't you love me,
00:13:35.180 you too, baby?
00:13:37.080 When I look at Grammy,
00:13:38.160 I don't see anything else.
00:13:39.180 I love it.
00:13:41.000 Aww.
00:13:42.240 Are you any cute folks?
00:13:44.160 I love you.
00:13:45.420 Aww.
00:13:47.460 It almost got,
00:13:48.460 it almost got me.
00:13:50.280 It almost got me.
00:13:52.860 I think I,
00:13:53.600 I passed that one.
00:13:56.180 Next one.
00:13:56.940 I gotta be honest,
00:13:57.580 the reason why I stopped you
00:13:58.480 is because
00:13:58.760 you've got a child in the car
00:14:00.060 with no child seat.
00:14:01.060 I don't have a child.
00:14:02.360 I don't have a child.
00:14:04.200 Are you sure?
00:14:05.800 Are you positive about this?
00:14:08.180 Are you saying I do?
00:14:08.900 I don't have a child in the car
00:14:16.360 with no car seat.
00:14:17.880 I don't have a child.
00:14:19.840 I don't have a child.
00:14:21.140 Yeah I have a child in the car.
00:14:21.920 I'm going out.
00:14:33.920 Put the bag underneath here.
00:14:37.920 Hurry up.
00:14:39.920 Hurry up.
00:14:41.920 I'm going out.
00:14:45.920 Yeah, all right.
00:14:58.920 Yeah, the thing with the wife with the pregnancy test.
00:15:03.920 Because I don't like, there was a period for a while when everyone was attacking cops.
00:15:08.920 Well, that could be any year, I guess.
00:15:10.920 But this was around the LM era.
00:15:12.920 And then these cops would pull people over and it would be like, all right, you know, I'm pulling you over to tell you to have a great day or whatever.
00:15:19.920 There is like a PR campaign.
00:15:20.920 I said, don't do that, man.
00:15:21.920 You can't.
00:15:22.920 That's not your job.
00:15:23.920 Don't do that.
00:15:24.920 You're bringing the force of the state in to like, make people smile at you.
00:15:28.920 No.
00:15:29.920 But that is so great where the wife obviously coordinated with the cop.
00:15:33.920 So you're driving around with a kid without a car seat on.
00:15:36.920 There's no kid in the car.
00:15:38.920 Yes, there is.
00:15:39.920 That's good, man.
00:15:41.920 That's good.
00:15:43.920 You keep a straight face for that.
00:15:44.920 You're not going to succeed.
00:15:45.920 All right.
00:15:46.920 What'd I do?
00:15:47.920 I made it through two of them without breaking.
00:15:49.920 Yeah.
00:15:50.920 Okay.
00:15:51.920 I can't.
00:15:52.920 I can't.
00:15:53.920 I'm just, I am too hopeful.
00:15:54.920 You know why?
00:15:55.920 It's a, not only a theological virtue, but a demand.
00:15:59.920 You got to be hopeful, man.
00:16:01.920 Future's so bright.
00:16:02.920 We got to wear shades.
00:16:03.920 You know what I'm saying?
00:16:05.920 I don't have my sunglasses on me.
00:16:07.920 Doesn't matter.
00:16:08.920 I'll get them later.
00:16:09.920 I'll see you later.
00:16:10.920 I'm going to hug Professor Jacob.
00:16:11.920 Wow.
00:16:12.920 Wow.
00:16:13.920 Wow.
00:16:14.920 Wow.
00:16:15.920 Wow.
00:16:17.920 Wow.
00:16:18.920 Wow.
00:16:19.920 Yeah.