Knowles: Here’s Another Example Of The Left Manipulating Language To Push An Agenda

On Wednesday’s episode of “The Michael Knowles Show,” Michael explained how the Left and Right use language differently.

After playing a clip of Democrat Rep. Gregory Meeks claiming that President Donald Trump’s comments on nationalism was a form of chauvinism, Knowles explained how the Left is using this tactic of manipulating language to push their progressive agenda.

“I thought president Trump said it very well in that speech,” said Knowles. “What Gregory Meeks said is not true. Nationalism and chauvinism are not synonyms.”

Knowles explained: “So, we’ve heard of chauvinism. You hear of male chauvinism. It’s kind of boastful, or prideful. Being braggart about your country or your community. That isn’t nationalism. Nationalism says we protect the country. We defend the interests of a country. We extol the virtues of free nation states that we can interact with.”

Knowles suggested that Meeks “has no idea where the word chauvinism comes from” and that he is using it as simply another way to attack President Trump.

“On the left, they use these slogans all the time,” he added. “That’s why they have political correctness, is to use terms that don’t have real meanings or that have perverse meanings or that have meanings that aren’t what they purport to be. I always want to take the opportunity to point this out whenever I can. The Right is far more intellectual than the Left.”

Video and transcript below:

I thought president Trump said it very well in that speech.

What Gregory Meeks said is not true. Nationalism and chauvinism are not synonyms.

So, we’ve heard of chauvinism. You hear of male chauvinism. It’s kind of boastful, or prideful. Being braggart about your country or your community. It comes from this probably apocryphal French soldier Nikolas Jovan and he’s probably an apocryphal French soldier in Napoleon’s army. That isn’t nationalism. Nationalism says we protect the country. We defend the interests of a country. We extol the virtues of free nation states that we can interact with. If we’re talking about Chauvin, we’re actually talking about the opposite of nationalism. You’re talking about imperialism. You’re talking about globalism. You’re talking about armies that try to go out through the rest of the world, take over other places, conquer other places. That isn’t nationalism and people bandy these terms about.

I guarantee you Gregory Meeks has no idea where the word chauvinism comes from, but that’s what it comes from. Also, the reason I say this soldier Chauvin was probably apocryphal is that we have no record that he existed and tales of his and the use of the word chauvinism was used by critics of Napoleon, used by critics of Bonapartism. So even that, it’s a term that was invented in derision. It’s a term that was invented to be used as an attack. You know that the left accuses the right of anti-intellectualism all the time. The right is so much more intellectual than the left. We’re skeptical of experts. We’re skeptical of intellectuals, but if you’re gonna use a word I do find the people on the right know what it means. Of course they do. They use language appropriately. They use language to mean what it means. On the, left they use these slogans all the time. That’s why they have political correctness, is to use terms that don’t have real meanings or that have perverse meanings or that have meanings that aren’t what they purport to be.

I always want to take the opportunity to point this out whenever I can. The right is far more intellectual than the left.

How many public policy think tanks are there on the left? The left has the universities, fine. They have taken over the educational system, but how many think tanks dedicated to public policy do they have? Like two? Maybe Brookings is kind of left. I don’t know two or three.

How many are on the right? About a zillion. You’ve got Heritage, you’ve got a AEI, you’ve got Cato, you’ve got the Hudson, you’ve got all of these institutions of public policy, because the right actually is better about this. We just don’t go boasting about it all the time. We’re not chauvinists about it all the time, to use their word.