Liberal news outlet The Daily Beast walked back its initial headline claiming The Daily Wire podcast host Michael Knowles wants the “transgender community” to be “eradicated.”
Knowles called for the ideology of transgenderism to be “eradicated from public life entirely” during his Saturday speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The Daily Beast initially published the headline, “Michael Knowles Says Transgender Community Must Be ‘Eradicated’ At CPAC,” indicating that he referred to transgender people rather than the ideology.
“There can be no middle way in dealing with transgenderism,” Knowles said. “It is all or nothing. If transgenderism is true, if men really can become women, then it’s true for everybody of all ages. If transgenderism is false, as it is, if men really can’t become women, as they cannot, then it’s false for everybody too. And if it’s false, then we should not indulge it. Especially since that indulgence requires taking away the rights and customs of so many people.”
“If it is false, then for the good of society and especially for 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,” he continued. (RELATED: Missouri Lawmakers Upset By School Official’s Response Over Attack Against Michael Knowles)
Knowles demanded a retraction on Twitter Saturday with a screenshot of the article.
“I never said that and demand a retraction,” Knowles said, tagging The Daily Beast.
I never said that and demand a retraction. @thedailybeast pic.twitter.com/RvPCikgHgG
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) March 4, 2023
The headline was later changed to, “Michael Knowles Says Transgenderism Must Be ‘Eradicated’ at CPAC.” The article detailed backlash from liberals, including Tech expert and author Alejandra Caraballo claiming Knowles called for “genocide against trans people.”
Knowles responded to the outlet quietly editing its “defamatory headline.”
“I’m pleased to see that @thedailybeast‘s lawyers scrambled to make them stealth-edit their defamatory headline about me. Unfortunately, this tweak does not constitute a retraction of the article, which remains libelous,” Knowles said.
I’m pleased to see that @thedailybeast‘s lawyers scrambled to make them stealth-edit their defamatory headline about me. Unfortunately, this tweak does not constitute a retraction of the article, which remains libelous. https://t.co/TLkCne3sp2 pic.twitter.com/kvL61u11eZ
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) March 4, 2023
The article accused Knowles of being “transphobic” for saying that transgenderism is not rooted in biology and thus there can be no transgender genocide. The podcast host explained that the definition of genocide refers to genetics and biology.
“Nobody’s calling to exterminate anybody because the other problem with that statement is that transgender people is not a real ontological category,” Knowles said. “It’s not a legitimate category of being.”