The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Software Company Announces Layoffs, Gov. DeSantis’ Takes a Stand Against COVID-19 Mandates, Former President Trump | Jan. 18

Episode Date: January 18, 2023

On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Microsoft announces major layoffs  Philadelphia Flyers player takes a stand for his religion  Helicopter crash in Kyiv leaves more than 10 dead including a child  Former President Trump wants his Facebook back  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis proposes new initiative regarding COVID-19  Relevant Links Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/ Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription   Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcasts Sign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's the Nissan Black Friday event where you can... Wait, wait. Isn't it like a month long now? Nissan Black Friday Month? Does that work? It's the Nissan Black Fry Month event. On remaining 2025 Rogan Centra, get 0% financing. Plus, get $1,000 Nissan bonus on kicks models.

This Black Friday, you've got a whole month to catch all the exclusive offers waiting for you. See your local Nissan dealer or nissan.ca for details. Conditions apply. I'm Samantha Sherris. I'm Virginia Allen. And this is the Daily Signal top news for Wednesday, January 18th. Here are today's headlines. Former President Donald Trump is looking to access his Facebook once again after it was locked more than two years ago following the January 6th riot in the U.S. Capitol.

NBC News reports that Trump's presidential campaign penned a letter to Meta Facebook's parent company on Tuesday saying, we believe that the ban on President Trump's account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse. Meta's comment regarding Trump said that the company will announce a decision in the coming weeks in line with the process we laid out, according to NBC News. Trump was also kicked off of Twitter, but as you may remember, Elon Musk did reinstate his account last November, though the former president has yet to tweet anything.

There is more devastating news coming out of Ukraine today. A helicopter crashed and killed at least 14 people, including the country's interior minister. The Associated Press reports that the helicopter crashed into a kindergarten in a foggy suburb of Kiev. AP reports that a total of five interior ministry officials, a national police officer, and three helicopter crew members were killed. The cause of the helicopter crash was not immediately known, but what we do know is that at least 25 people, 11 of whom are children, were being treated in hospitals. In remarks on Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky blamed the crash on the war, saying, this is not an accident because it has been due to war and the war has many dimensions, not just on the battlefields. There are no accidents at wartime. These are all war results.

A Christian ice hockey player took a public stand for his faith against his team's embrace of LGBT activism. Ivan Provorov, an ice hockey defenseman and alternative captain for the Philadelphia Flyers, declined to wear the team's LGBT warm-up jersey for the Pride Night Tuesday, following the team's five to do home win over the Anaheim Ducks. Let's take a listen to his comments via Dan Gelson's Twitter. I respect everybody's choices. My choice is to stay true to myself and my religion.

That's all I'm going to say. How do you religious believe? Like I said, that's all I'm going to comment on that. If you have any hockey questions, I would answer those. Pravavov, who was born in Yoroslav, Russia, and played hockey there, moved to Wilkesbury, Pennsylvania at age 13. The flyers announced Tuesday that they would host their annual Pride Night Celebration in celebration and support of the LGBT-plus community after the game. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is once again taking a stand against COVID-19 mandates in the Sunshine State. The governor announced a common-sense legislative proposal to make permanent COVID-19 freedoms in Florida.

DeSantis office has announced that the pro-freedom anti-mandate action will permanently protect Floridians from losing their jobs due to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, protects parents' rights, and institutes additional protections that prevent discrimination based on COVID-19 vaccine status. Let's take a listen to some of DeSantis' remarks via his Twitter. Almost two years ago, we were the first state to ban vaccine passports in our state. We banned mandates in the workplace for COVID shots because nobody should have to choose between a job they need and a shot they don't want. We also were one of the first states, if not the first state, to prohibit source. schools from preschool all the way through our universities from requiring COVID shots of students. We prohibited schools from force masking their students, particularly our K through 12 schools and these elementary schools. We also knee-capped mass mandates imposed by local government,

and we granted clemency to all Floridians who were penalized by local government mandates. The proposal is linked in our show notes if you want to check it out, but it aims at protecting Floridians from the biomedical security state. Specifically, it would permanently prohibit COVID-19 mask requirements throughout the state, permanently prohibit COVID-19 vaccine and mass requirements in all schools, and permanently prohibit COVID-19 vaccine passports in Florida. It would also protect medical professionals' freedom of speech, protect the right to discipline, agree with the preferred narrative of the medical community and protect the religious views of medical professionals. A major software company announced significant layoffs today. Microsoft plans

to lay off 10,000 people by the end of the third quarter of the 2023 fiscal year, according to USA Today. In a statement to employees today, Microsoft CEO Satina and Adela said it's important to note that while we are limiting roles in some areas, we will continue to hire in key strategic areas. We know this is a challenging time for each person impacted. He also said the senior leadership team and I are committed that as we go through this process, we will do so in the most thoughtful and transparent way possible. The Associated Press reports that the layoffs count for almost 5% of Microsoft's global workforce. Previously, META announced layoffs. for 11,000 workers, as did Amazon, who announced they'd be laying off 18,000 workers.

And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to The Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't had the chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed, where we bring you interviews with lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Join us tomorrow morning for the Daily Signal interview edition. Rob Louis will be sitting down with Paul Teller to discuss the work. he is doing to further freedom in America with the vice president, Mike Pence. Also, make sure that you take just a moment to subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your

podcast. And if you haven't done so, take five minutes to leave us a rating and review. We absolutely love hearing your feedback, and it really helps us continue to get the word about the show out to more listeners. Thanks again for listening. Have a great evening, and we'll be back with you all tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to by more than a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheris. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop.

To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.