Michael Knowles (political commentator)

Michael John Knowles (born March 18, 1990) is an American conservative political commentator, author, and media host. He has worked for The Daily Wire since 2016.

Early life and education
Knowles was born in Bedford Hills, New York, and graduated from Fox Lane High School. Descended from Italian, Sicilian and Irish immigrants.

Knowles began training as an actor with the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, as part of its Advanced Teen Conservatory. He graduated with a B.A. in history and Italian from Yale University, where he produced the first English rendering of Niccolò Machiavelli's play Andria in 2012. He was raised in the Catholic faith by his family but fell away during his adolescence; at Yale, he experienced a reconversion to the Church, spurred at first by ontological arguments.

Acting
Before graduating from Yale University, Knowles participated in two Web series, Never Do Business with Friends and Survive. Upon graduation, Knowles trained with Wynn Handman at his acting studio in New York City and appeared in various Web series, films, and television shows. It was reported in March 2023 by The Daily Dot that Knowles appeared in the student film House of Shades (2012) as a queer man that seduces another man at a night club.

After moving to Los Angeles, he acted in the television pilot of I'm Back and in the television movies Life Coach and Blend In. He also starred as Alejandro in the comedy feature film Hóllyweird.

Political commentary
In 2016, Knowles was invited to join The Daily Wire, beginning as a regular guest and cultural correspondent for The Andrew Klavan Show podcast. He had worked with Andrew Klavan's son, Spencer, on theater productions while they were undergraduates at Yale.

In 2018, Knowles reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage and opposed attempts by some in the conservative movement to recognize such unions.

In April 2019, Knowles gave a speech at the University of Missouri–Kansas City titled "Men Are Not Women" during his YAF national college speaking tour. Student protesters disrupted his talk. One protester assaulted him and sprayed him with an unknown mixture, later determined to be lavender oil and other non-toxic household liquids. The protester was charged with assault and other violations. Chancellor C. Mauli Agrawal praised the protestors and condemned Knowles, alleging that Knowles's "professed opinions do not align with our commitment to diversity and inclusion and our goal of providing a welcoming environment to all people." Agrawal also acknowledged that how Knowles was treated "crossed a line". Many Missouri lawmakers were dissatisfied with Agrawal's response and threatened to cut the school's budget.

In September 2019, Knowles called climate activist Greta Thunberg a "mentally ill Swedish child" on Fox News program The Story. The network apologized for Knowles's statement, saying his comment was "disgraceful — we apologize to Greta Thunberg and to our viewers." Knowles did not apologize and Fox stated they had "no plans" to have him on again in the future. However, the channel welcomed him back shortly thereafter for a segment with host Tucker Carlson. Knowles later said, "Obviously, there is nothing shameful about living with autism or any other psychiatric condition. What is shameful is exploiting children for political purposes."

In January 2020, while the first impeachment proceedings of President Donald Trump were underway, Knowles and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz launched the podcast Verdict with Ted Cruz. On January 27, Cruz announced on Twitter that Verdict had secured the top spot on the podcast charts for that week. After the impeachment trial ended with Trump's acquittal, Cruz and Knowles began to interview Washington politicians such as U.S. Senators John Barrasso, Mike Lee, and Tim Scott, Trump administration officials including then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. They also interviewed actors Jon Voight and Isaiah Washington.

On November 13, 2020, Knowles was scheduled as the guest host of The Rush Limbaugh Show. After this opportunity, The Daily Wire, in collaboration with Westwood One, announced that Knowles would be hosting his own daily radio show on WHLD.

In February 2023, Knowles stated that those who identify as transgender are "laboring a delusion, and we need to correct that delusion". At the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in March, he further stated that "there can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism", and "if [transgenderism] is false, then for the good of society, and especially for the good of the poor people who have fallen prey to this confusion, transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely – the whole preposterous ideology." His comments were criticized by people including civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo, who interpreted them as "genocidal". Knowles made legal threats to media outlets which reported that he was calling for the eradication of transgender people or the transgender community, stating that the outlets were being were libelous, and that he was referring to "transgenderism" as an ideology; critics did not recognise this distinction.

Knowles defends and praises the successes of Christopher Columbus, Hernán Cortés, the Pilgrims, and others he calls "our political ancestors." He also defends the Crusades and colonization as justified and noble.

Publications
In 2017, Knowles released an empty book called Reasons to Vote for Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide. The book, which contained 266 empty pages and an extensive bibliography, became the top-selling book on Amazon. Shortly after Knowles lauded President Trump on Fox & Friends, Trump called Knowles's book "a great book for your reading enjoyment". That year, Knowles began his role as host of The Daily Wire's third podcast, The Michael Knowles Show.

Knowles's second book, Speechless: Controlling Words, Controlling Minds, became a number one bestseller for hardcover nonfiction according to Publishers Weekly, and a number two bestseller for nonfiction on Audible.

Knowles wrote the introduction to the 70th anniversary edition of God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley Jr.

Personal life
Knowles is a practicing Catholic, and he attends the Traditional Latin Mass. He married Alissa Mahler in June 2018 and has three sons.