Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

CPAC Crowd Cheers After Far-Right Radio Host Calls For Trans Community To Be 'Eradicated'

Screenshot of Michael Knowles speaking at CPAC
@RightWingWatch/Twitter

Daily Wire host Michael Knowles joined Republican lawmakers and other conservative speakers who spewed anti-trans rhetoric at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference.

Prominent conservative speakers attending the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland emboldened the attending crowd of mostly Republicans wishing to criminalize the act of trans youth receiving gender-affirming healthcare.

The GOP's latest rollout of anti-transgender legislation has been considered a dehumanizing attack on transgender people as well as largely on the LGBTQ+ community.


Many of these bills mimic Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee's ban on drag shows and trans healthcare as a means to "protect children."

One of the speakers at the annual event gave an impassioned speech against the trans community that social media users characterized as downright "genocidal."

Michael Knowles, the host of The Daily Wire's The Michael Knowles Show argued about a ideological concept used by the far right to demean trans people.

“The problem with transgenderism is not that it’s inappropriate for children under the age of 9," said the former host of Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz’s podcast.

"The problem with transgenderism is that it isn’t true.”
"There can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism. It is all or nothing."
"If transgenderism is true, if men can become women, then it’s true for everybody of all ages.”

He continued:

“If it 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.”
“If [transgenderism] is false, then for the good of society... transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely."

His statement calling for the authoritarian measure elicited cheers from the crowd.

You can watch a video, here.

Social media users were appalled at Knowles' transphobic statement.








Last week, Knowles responded to backlash after making a similar anti-trans remark on The Michael Knowles Show.

He argued:

“I don’t know how you could have a genocide of transgender people because genocide refers to genes, it refers to genetics, it refers to biology."
“And the whole point of transgenderism is that it has nothing to do with biology.”
“Nobody’s calling to exterminate anybody because the other problem with that statement is that transgender people is not a real ontological category."

He added.

“It’s not a legitimate category of being.”

Also featured at CPAC was Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who introduced her Protect the Children’s Innocence Act which prohibits transgender minors from seeking gender-affirming care.

The healthcare these politicians are discrediting is endorsed by the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Endocrine Society, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association.

Greene told the crowd:

"It couldn’t pass last Congress because Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker of the House. She doesn’t believe in gender at all, but we have a new speaker in our Republican majority.
"… and I’m going to be re-introducing my bill… that will make it a felony to perform anything to do with gender!”

The CPAC audience thunderously applauded her announcement.

This year's CPAC also featured panelists Riley Gaines–a former collegiate athlete from Kentucky who complained about competing against a transgender swimmer; and Chloe Cole, a woman who as a youth identified as male but "detransitioned."

Also associated with "transition regret," Cole's case is a rarity in the trans community.

But, the far-right has used Cole's story to perpetuate their belief gender-affirming healthcare for minors is evil.

The Huffington Post interviewed CPAC attendee Donald Ruthig, a 73-year-old retiree from Virginia who recently left the Episcopal Church after its decision to support transgender youth.

Ruthig drove three hours to attend CPAC to “meet people that think the way I think” who are “dedicated to restoring the Judeo-Christian morality that we’re losing.”

Ruthig explained this restoration movement would:

“Stop torturing our children with gender transitions, to stop this whole LBGTQ alphabet nonsense, and start treating people like God’s people created in God’s image."
"We are all alike. We don’t need to partition everybody by their little fetishes.”

More from Trending

A grocery aisle shelf of Cinnamon Toast Crunch
OLIVIER DOULIERY / Contributor/Getty Images

Bacon-Flavored Cinnamon Toast Crunch Just Landed In Stores—And The Internet Is Not OK

Every now and then, a food brand will try something different in an effort to rejuvenate its products and hopefully attract new customers.

Sometimes these pay off handsomely, such as Peanut M&Ms, which are arguably more popular than the original.

Keep ReadingShow less
Archbishop Thomas Wenski; David and Rena Mourer visit the entrance to "Alligator Alcatraz"
Joe Raedle/Getty Images (both)

Archbishop Rips 'Alligator Alcatraz' In Powerful Statement Condemning Trump's Immigration 'Enforcement Tactics'

Historically conservative Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Miami issued an official statement on Thursday, July 3, addressing immigration enforcement tactics employed by the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump.

Posted on the Archdiocese's website, it was also shared on the Archbishop's personal X account.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gavin Newsom; Nancy Mace
David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Gavin Newsom Hilariously Claps Back At Nancy Mace After Her Cringey 'Don't California My South Carolina' Debate Challenge

South Carolina Republican Representative Nancy Mace was widely mocked after she challenged California Governor Gavin Newsom to a debate—only for him to directly address her "Don't California My South Carolina' campaign with a list showing the stark differences between their two states.

Mace posted a video on X in which she extends a "FORMAL INVITATION" for Newsom to debate her "common sense policies," chiding him with the following message:

Keep ReadingShow less
office cubicles
Paymo on Unsplash

Things Toxic Coworkers Did That Made The Whole Office Go Silent

Workplaces have professional standards to maintain, or at least they should. While it's great to have fun in the office, there are some things that are appropriate during leisure time that aren't OK at work.

But some people never seem to get the memo.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Screenshot of Andrew Schulz
Joe Raedle/Getty Images; Flagrant Podcast

Trump-Supporting Podcaster Andrew Schulz Turns On Trump In Mind-Numbing Rant

Conservative podcaster Andrew Schulz had social media users rolling their eyes after he criticized President Donald Trump, saying Trump is "doing the exact opposite" of everything he promised during his campaign, like stopping wars and shrinking spending.

Which begs the question: why tf did Schulz believe a word Trump said during his campaign, since he is a well-known serial liar and con man?

Keep ReadingShow less