Michael Knowles GOES OFF on Woke Teacher Who Claims ‘Speech Is Violence’!

In a heated exchange that has reignited debates over free speech on college campuses, conservative commentator Michael Knowles delivered a masterclass in logic and rhetoric, dismantling a California State

University, Los Angeles (CSULA) professor who boldly asserted that certain words can equate to physical harm.

The confrontation, which unfolded during a 2019 Young America’s Foundation (YAF) event, began as a Q&A on immigration policy but swiftly escalated into a broader indictment of what Knowles calls the “corrosive” ideology infiltrating higher education.

Knowles, host of The Michael Knowles Show on The Daily Wire, was fielding questions after his speech when the professor interrupted, challenging his cited statistics on illegal immigration.

Drawing from federal data like the Bureau of Justice Statistics and Department of Homeland Security reports, Knowles had argued that illegal immigrants commit federal crimes at rates significantly higher than native-born Americans. The professor fired back, attributing these figures not to individual choices but to “structural racism and inherent bias,” implying that people of color are disproportionately convicted due to systemic inequities.

Knowles didn’t flinch.

“I don’t think that the people who enter this country illegally are forced to do so by some sort of systemic racism,” he retorted, flipping the script on her premise.
“There’s no systemic American racist going down to El Salvador and saying, ‘You better get up and sneak into the United States.'”

He accused her of a “profoundly racist” assumption—that immigrants lack free will or moral agency—pointing out that the majority of Hispanic Americans and voters oppose illegal immigration, underscoring that “race does not determine your criminality.”

As the debate intensified, the professor shifted gears, defending a protester in the audience whose sign read “Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric is Violence.”

Knowles seized the moment: “So I am oppressing people by what I’m doing. I am exerting violence on people by my speech. That’s what the sign says.”

When pressed on whether she believed speech itself constitutes violence, she doubled down: “Speech can be violent. What you are saying contributes to systemic racism in this country.”
She claimed it leads to real-world harms, like her students of color being wrongly pulled over by police.

This was the spark Knowles needed.

He methodically exposed the logical absurdity, emphasizing that violence is an “objective fact,” not a “subjective feeling.”

Citing a recent incident where a protester at the University of Missouri-Kansas City attacked him with a chemical substance, Knowles contrasted that tangible assault with mere disagreement: “Somebody disagreeing with me… are not committing violence on me.”

To the professor—a taxpayer-funded faculty member at a public university—he delivered a stinging rebuke: “If you cannot understand that there is a difference between speech and violence, you don’t understand anything that undergirds the liberal arts or liberal education. And that is a real shame.” The room erupted in applause, a rare moment of consensus amid the tension.

The professor, undeterred and citing her eight years in art school as credentials, pushed back: “You’re interrupting me and I think that you need to look up violence in the dictionary or expand your idea of violence.”

Knowles, ever the showman, feigned a quick Google search on his phone—only for his Wi-Fi to “conveniently” fail—before landing his knockout line: “Violence is not speech. Let me say it again. Violence is not speech. Speech is not violence.” He extended the admonition “for all the professors in the room,” lamenting a “sad state of affairs” where educators prioritize feelings over facts.

This wasn’t just a one-off clash; it encapsulated Knowles’ broader crusade against what he sees as the erosion of intellectual rigor in academia.

In the years since, the clip has gone viral, racking up millions of views across platforms like YouTube and X (formerly Twitter), where users continue to share it as a timeless takedown of “woke” overreach.

Recent posts on X, including one from September 2025, hail it as a reminder that universities need “a serious reevaluation” of their curricula.

Reflecting on his own college experience in the transcript’s narration, the video’s creator decried a system where professors “hated Donald Trump” and treated opinions as gospel, turning campuses into “indoctrination camps.”

Knowles’ response aligns with this critique, invoking Socrates: The path to wisdom lies in questioning everything, not blindly accepting a “woke mind virus” that equates dissent with danger.

Critics, however, see Knowles’ style as inflammatory.

A 2025 Boston Globe op-ed accused him of demonizing liberals and stoking division, labeling his views on immigration and transgender issues as extreme. Yet supporters argue his unapologetic defense of free speech exposes the hypocrisy of those who shout down opposition while claiming victimhood.

Six years on, this exchange remains a flashpoint in the culture wars, proving that words can wound egos—but they aren’t fists.

As Knowles wraps in the video: “If our teachers don’t understand the difference between ideas and violence… then they are in no position to educate the next generation of Americans.”

In an era of campus protests and speech codes, his words hit harder than ever.

Will academia heed the wake-up call, or double down on the delusion?