The Daily Wire reported this week that White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused one of its contributors of calling for mass murder. However, critics responded that Jean-Pierre's attempt at erasing the truth was contradicted by clear video evidence.
The controversy began earlier this month when the Daily Wire's Knowles told attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that "transgenderism must be eradicated from public life."
"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 — at every level," Knowles said.
Michael Knowles tells CPAC that "there can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism. ... Transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely." https://t.co/57hJF4frgq pic.twitter.com/szvnC1qWrP
— Right Wing Watch (@RightWingWatch) March 4, 2023
The Daily Wire noted how many on the left joined Jean-Pierre in alleging that Knowles had demanded the eradication of transgender individuals.
.@PressSec, why are you lying about what I said? pic.twitter.com/xxhCeoPRHA
— Michael Knowles, falsehood eradicator (@michaeljknowles) March 10, 2023
She added that the White House must "call out the shameful, hateful, and dangerous attacks that we have been seeing on the LGBTQI community."
Yet Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley pointed out during an interview last week with The New Republic that Knowles was referring to transgender ideology rather than people.
"By transgenderism, I assume he means the ideology of suggesting to kids who are suffering anxiety, depression, or what have you that there’s something fundamentally wrong with their bodies and they need to change their gender," Hawley was quoted as saying.
"We’re having that debate in Missouri right now about whether we should push kids toward gender reassignment surgery," the senator continued, adding. "I think no, no, no, no, no, no."
Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr. complained that "no group of people routinely and knowingly misrepresents the truth to fit their fictional narratives more than the Biden White House."
For all of their BS crying and smears of Tucker for courageously reporting on the J6 footage, no group of people routinely and knowingly misrepresents the truth to fit their fictional narratives more than the Biden White House. https://t.co/PZgiM19RER
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) March 11, 2023
Tennessee Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn agreed, saying that Jean-Pierre and the White House "have become experts at spewing misinformation and lies."
The White House and @PressSec have become experts at spewing misinformation and lies.
They want to scare Americans into submission. @michaeljknowles https://t.co/4vBqTLwc64
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) March 10, 2023