The Philip DeFranco Show - American Christianity Is Being Twisted on Purpose
Episode Date: April 16, 2026Try Gusto today at http://gusto.com/DEFRANCO and get three months free when you run your first payroll. LISTEN TO THE SHOW iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/...id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2VWATCH CRASHING OUT w/ PHILIP & ALEX Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCergKLoy-Yv9zlPk3XQYK7Q?sub_confirmation=1 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DkU87umhGH9mH1z24Bi9w?si=6sSdjhVNQjyVeBQDLiXcyg Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crashing-out-with-philip-defranco-and-alex-pearlman/id1843429519 WATCH/LISTEN TO MY NEW PODCAST w/ TOMMY VIETOR Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2CePXwDrvdQTes844wflKp?si=55a6b6049c4841ed Youtube: https://youtube.com/acw?sub_confirmation=1 iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-good-faith-with-philip-defranco/id1827016835 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY 📸Instagram: https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco 🐦Twitter: https://twitter.com/phillyd 🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco TODAY’S STORIESA Supreme Court Justice Just Publicly Apologized to Another One. That Almost Never Happens. - https://open.substack.com/pub/philipdefranco2032/p/a-supreme-court-justice-just-publicly?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Marjorie Taylor Greene Says Trump Told Her If Her Son Got Killed, It Would Be Her Fault - https://open.substack.com/pub/philipdefranco2032/p/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-trump?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Killed His Wife, Then Himself. Their Teenage Children Were Home. - https://open.substack.com/pub/philipdefranco2032/p/former-virginia-lt-gov-justin-fairfax?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web Pete Hegseth Quoted Pulp Fiction in a Pentagon Prayer and Called It the Bible - https://open.substack.com/pub/philipdefranco2032/p/pete-hegseth-quoted-pulp-fiction?utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web 00:00 - Pete Hegseth Quotes Fake Bible Verse From Pulp Fiction During Pentagon Prayer 02:32 - Trump Says Israel and Lebanon Have Agreed to a 10-day Ceasefire 12:34 - Sponsored by Gusto 13:34 - Police Say Ex-Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax Killed Wife, Then Himself 16:30 - Trump Told MTG It Would be Her Fault If Her Son Died Amid Family Death Threats 19:47 - Sotomayor Apologizes For Kavanaugh Remarks As Tensions Brew in SCOTUS THE TEAM Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino, Victor Sledge ———————————— #DeFranco #JustinFairfax #PeteHegseth Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Pete Heggseth just used a fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction in a prayer at the Pentagon to justify the war in Iran so
Onbrand and all of this is potentially complicated by data showing that young Republican men people who likely look up to Hegset are flocking to the church trying to find holy inspiration for their political beliefs
Now Hegset claims that this verse comes from a military source who used it during combat search and rescue mission saying it meant to reflect Ezekiel 2517
Right, you have a mask in the crowd to pray with him except the verse that he ends up quoting is almost verbatim to Samuel L Jackson's monologue at the beginning of pulp fiction
right as Jackson's character is gearing up to kill a guy.
The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.
Blessed is he who in the name of camaraderie and duty shepherd the loss through the valley of darkness,
for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.
And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother.
And you will know my call sign is Sandy One when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
And just so you know what Ezekiel 2517 actually says, it's,
I will execute severe vengeance against them with furious rebukes.
They will know that I am the Lord when I take my vengeance on them.
So it doesn't mention anything about an aviator or camarader and duty,
and it definitely doesn't say anything about Sandy One,
which is a rescue mission commander call sign.
Most of that's Quentin Tarantino, along with a few riffs from Hegset,
to make it sound more military light.
So that, it ended up receiving some pretty embarrassing backlash.
But also aside from how weird or how hilarious it is to a lot of people, like, it speaks to the bigger issue of this administration's weaponizing of Christianity to justify the war.
Grant this task force
Clear and righteous targets for violence that every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation and overwhelming violence of action
Against those who deserve no mercy
Right one of the concerns here is that this violent version of Christianity it could be spreading to younger minds across the country
Reason studies show that 42% of men under 30 they now say that religion is very important to them compared to
only 28% in 2023. Young men have even started to grow more religious than young women,
which hasn't happened in decades. And you have Bible sales rising along with church membership
and attendance as men look for purpose in life that they say the church can provide. And studies
say that the men who are flooding the views are largely Republican, whose numbers are double those
of the men on the left. Though, I will say that only tells part of the story because all of this is
happening as American religiosity is still generally on the decline. Which is actually why you
have researchers also saying that this influx of Republican men in church suggests political dynamics
could be playing a role in all this. And so all of it together, it's something to keep an eye on
as you have the top war monger using the Bible
to justify things like bombing schoolgirls
and threatening to cut water supplies.
Though it's also not just limited to that.
Because Hegset's also invoking the Bible
to attack the media for its coverage of the conflict
while near simultaneously repeating threats
to commit what experts say would very likely be war crimes
if Iran doesn't, quote, choose wisely
and reach to deal with the United States.
And that's even as he's now had articles of impeachment
filed against him in part for war crimes
that Democrats say that he is responsible for.
And then in the meantime, the Pentagon's ratcheting up the pressure
by expanding its blockade to apply
to almost every Iranian-linked vessel anywhere on earth.
and Israel and Lebanon have, according to Trump,
agreed to attend a ceasefire.
So there's a lot that we're gonna be diving into here,
but as we've covered on the show,
you know, Hegset has repeatedly cast a war
in explicitly Christian terms.
You've had him literally arguing
that American troops are fighting for military victory
in Iran, quote, in the name of Jesus Christ.
And in a press briefing this morning,
you had to comparing the rescue of the crew members
of two down fighter jets inside of Iran
to biblical miracles and likening reporters
in the Pentagon Press Corps
to the Pharisees who criticized Jesus.
A note to the press, to the press corps,
to the American media.
as I just can't help but notice the endless stream of garbage, the relentlessly negative coverage,
you cannot resist peddling, despite the historic and important success of this effort and the success of our troops.
Sometimes it's hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on.
It's incredibly unpatriotic. Our press are just like these Pharisees.
Not all of you, not all of you, but the legacy Trump hating press.
But you know, there is one notable figure who, based on recent events, would probably disagree with Hegss's interpretation.
And that is Pope Leo.
With Leo, having already said in remarks last month, that God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have hands full of blood, which is widely been seen as a veiled criticism of Hegson.
And actually, this week, he used a speech in Cameroon to again criticize leaders who use religion to justify spending billions of dollars on war, saying,
Woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain,
dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.
The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy,
yet often a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild.
They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent,
on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education, and restoration
are nowhere to be found.
And really, whatever you think about that, I will say he's not wrong that war is really
fucking expensive.
Though also a problem with that is that, at least with the Iran war, we have no idea just
how expensive.
Or you've had the Defense Department telling Congress that the first week of the conflict
cost more than $11.3 billion, but that number doesn't even include many costs that are
associated with everything.
And since then, we haven't gotten any updates, although you recently had one Harvard
academic, estimating that the total cost will ultimately amount to $1 trillion.
And actually in a House hearing yesterday, White House budget director Russell Vaude was unable to
dispel those concerns, saying that he just couldn't give an estimate.
While he then also claimed that health care, education, and low-income energy assistance programs
were just riddled with fraud, he defended Trump's request for a massive $1.5 trillion
military budget, even though the Pentagon's the only federal agency that has never actually
passed an audit.
And again, today, he just kept declining to provide even a ballpark figure, saying that
costs estimates were fluctuating due to factors, including the length of the war.
And well, yeah, technically, that is a real unknown.
We're more than halfway through this two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, and there are
a lot of different ways things could play out.
With that this morning, before attacking the press, you had Hegseth making it clear that
one way is the continuation of fighting.
With Hegseth, sharing what he said was a message to Iran's military leadership,
reminding them that they had been defeated and repeating threats to target
civilian infrastructure if they didn't give in to Trump's demands.
We are locked and loaded on your critical dual-use infrastructure, on your remaining
power generation and on your energy industry. But if Iran chooses poorly, then they will have
a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure, power, and energy. You also had General Dan
Kane, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, saying that he'd like to emphasize.
That the United States Joint Force remains postured and ready to resume major combat operations
at literally a moment's notice. He then went on to claim that U.S. military commanders
all around the world will now actively pursue any Iranian.
flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran.
And as far as exactly what that means, you had the Navy clarifying that all Iranian vessels,
vessels with active sanctions against them, and vessels suspected of carrying contraband
will now be subject to boarding search and seizure.
And saying that contraband items include weapons, ammunition, combat aircraft, military electronics,
but also petroleum products and lubricants due to their essential role in military operations
and their contribution to Iran's war-sustaining economy.
And so this appears to be part of a broader effort to ramp up the economic pressure
campaign on Iran. Especially as in lockstep with these announcement, you had the Treasury Department
announcing new sanctions on more than two dozen individuals, companies, and vessels that
it said were operating within the network of an Iranian oil shipping magnate. But, at least so far,
the pressure really hasn't yielded any obvious results. Or you have a spokesperson for Pakistan's
foreign ministries saying that a second round of talks between the U.S. Iran was expected to take
place in Islamabad, but he didn't say when. And actually, neither American nor Iranian officials
have confirmed as a recording, although both sides have said that indirect negotiations are
continuing. And actually yesterday, you had a Pakistani delegation arriving in Tehran to meet with Iran's
foreign minister. But also, even if there is a real desire to end this through diplomacy, it doesn't
seem clear right now if either side's actually prepared to compromise. J.D. Vance, who's been leading
the talks for the U.S., said this week, that Trump wanted to reach a grand bargain in which the
U.S. would treat Iran economically like a normal country if it acted like a normal country, and added,
he doesn't want a small deal. But you then also have an official formerly involved in Trump's
negotiations with Iran telling the New York Times that Iran will only make a deal they see as being
in their interests, which he argued will most likely be small and transactional. And they added that
the Iranian regime just would not capitulate to the
administration's demand just as they did not on the battlefield in claiming that Trump is unlikely to succeed in trying to force
transformational change on a system that feels like it just won a war. And trying to get a deal between Israel and Lebanon may be similarly challenging, although there is apparent progress.
Earlier this week, the two countries held their first direct in-person talks in decades. And after the U.S. announced that the two sides had agreed to launch direct negotiations to end the fight.
And then last night, you had Trump saying on social media that Israeli and Lebanese leaders would speak to each other today, but that conversation never took place.
And in the meantime, an Israeli air strike reportedly destroyed the last bridge connecting southern Lebanon.
to the rest of the country. Then, you had Trump announcing on social media today that he had spoken
with each respective leader and said that they have agreed that in order to achieve peace between their
countries, they will formally begin a 10-day ceasefire at 5 p.m. Eastern, with him that adding in another
post that he had invited both leaders to the White House for talks. Now, at least, as a recording,
the Lebanese Prime Minister has welcomed the ceasefire, but there's also been no comment from
Israel yet. And soon enough, you had Lebanon and Israel confirming the ceasefire, but Netanyahu
saying that Israeli troops would remain in Lebanon and what he described as an expanded security
zone, saying, this is where we are located, we are not leaving. And then it's also
unknown how Hezbollah is going to respond. And then even if this does move forward, as we've seen with the U.S. and Iran,
getting a more long-lasting deal, that ends up being a whole other challenge. You know, where I want to
end this kind of first section before we get into even more news is just this part's opinion. And I've written
a little about this. I'm a substack at philiptofranco.com. I'd love you subscribe there. But, you know,
growing up, I don't know if this was the same for you. When people would talk about Iran,
when we were told about Iran, it was always this cautionary tale, right? It was often described as
this backwards country where religious leaders, they decided what was moral, where the government
wrapped itself in scripture to justify whatever it wanted to do.
Bomb a neighbor, crack down a descent, silence the press.
We're clerics, they're the ones to tell you what God thinks about your foreign policy.
Iran was this place where the state in the pulpit, they weren't just holding hands.
It was the same hand.
That was the boogeyman, the big bad, that was the regime that we were supposedly so much better then.
And understand, this isn't a defense of or an absolving of Iran's supreme leader or the government and the leadership there.
But can someone fucking explain to me what's happening in our own damn country right now?
Because as someone that's been revisiting his faith, I was born Catholic, I'm not
practicing. I'm figuring my stuff out now. You know, I'm watching the Secretary of Defense,
though he renamed himself the Secretary of War, stand in the Pentagon and lead prayers asking for
God for righteous targets for violence. We're watching him justify bombing another country in the
name of Jesus Christ. He's quoting pulp fiction, calling it scripture. And then I'm watching the
president post AI images of himself as Jesus. And also he's attacking the Pope, like the actual
Pope for suggesting that war, it's not great. We're seeing reports that a Pentagon official
essentially threatened to kidnap and kill the Pope. We're watching the Vice President of the United
States who is so disgusting that many Catholics are noting that they are crib Catholics so that they're not put in the same frame as the president, telling the head of the Catholic Church to stick to matters or morality as if that's not exactly what he's doing when he calls out war. We're all watching this targeted at and landing on a generation of young men who were being handed by this administration and those who enable it, a version of Christianity that looks less like the sermon on the mount and more like a recruitment pitch. A version of Christianity and just faith in general that's not about loving thy neighbor. It's about identifying your enemy where God doesn't.
ask you to turn the other cheek, he asks you to lock and fucking load.
A lot of the ways, a number of people in power of our government are trying to operate
sounds a lot like a country that we were told to be afraid of.
And a huge fucking thing to remember is that every authoritarian religious state, in history,
it started with people who genuinely believe that they were the good guys.
They believe their violence was holy, that their enemies were demonic,
that those who questioned them were probably an enemy.
And really, whether you're religious or you're not, whether you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or nothing at all,
you should care about this.
Right, as someone that covers the news to make kind of your everyday person care about a situation that's happening over wherever there is?
A lot of the time you have to point out to how it's going to impact them in the case of Iran for some people that ends up being gas is expensive
stuff is expensive affordability. These are people that are just trying to survive you lose the human element when you hear hundreds or thousands or however many people are getting killed
and understand if you have leaders in the government or the government itself claiming that god is telling it to bomb people it doesn't stop there it never stops there eventually it will get around to telling you what god thinks about what you're reading
what you love, how you live, whether you dissent, if that counts is heresy.
So yeah, I'm with you. I'm laughing at the pulp fiction thing going, what the fuck is this?
This is a joke. Do not let the fact that it is ridiculous and outlandish distract you from what it is actually revealing.
The guy running the most powerful military in human history is using fake scripture to bless real violence.
We were told that Theocracy was the enemy, but it is a whole hell of a lot closer to home than a lot of people want to admit.
And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute.
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time, gusto.com slash defranco. But then, diving right back into the news, we've got to talk about
how former Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax and his wife's arena were just found dead
in their home early this morning. And what police say,
was a murder suicide.
But according to Fairfax County, police chief Kevin Davis,
the former Democratic official shot his wife multiple times
in the family's basement before then running upstairs
and fatally shooting himself.
And at the time, both of the couple's teenage kids were at home,
and their son was actually the one who called 911.
In a press conference outside of the home,
you had police chief Davis saying that the couple
was undergoing a divorce and had already separated,
but were still living together and then added.
This has been an ongoing domestic dispute
surrounding what seems to be a complicated or messy divorce.
From what I understand in this early stage,
Former Lieutenant Governor Fairfax was recently served some paperwork associated with an upcoming court proceeding.
That apparently led to this incident last night.
Then when asked if police had previously received any domestic calls from the Fairfax's home, Davis responded.
In January of this year, Mr. Fairfax calls the police and alleges that his wife assaulted him.
We responded to that scene.
There are several cameras set up inside the house.
Apparently, Mrs. Fairfax at some point during these divorce proceedings, set up a lot of cameras inside the home.
We review those cameras and we corroborated that the alleged assault never occurred.
So there was no arrest made, there was a report written, but the allegation that Mr. Fairfax made in January that Mrs. Fairfax assaulted him was proven to be untrue.
Now beyond that, at least for now, we really don't have much more information as a recording.
But what we do know is that if Fairfax sounds familiar, it's because he had a troubled and tumultuous political career.
When he was elected as Virginia's lieutenant governor back in 2017, and he served alongside Governor Ralph Northam until 2022.
But then, in 2019, both of those leaders were rocked by a series of scandals.
First, he would have a racist photo depicting one person in Blackface and another in a KKK robes surfacing from a
1984 medical school yearbook page dedicated to Northam.
While Northam actually initially apologized for appearing in the picture, he later walked it back saying that he actually wasn't
either of the people depicted in that photo, while also then admitting that he had done Blackface before as part of a
Michael Jackson costume.
And so with the sweeping calls for Northam to resign, Fairfax was next in line to take over
his governor.
But as his chances of taking that top spot started to become likely, two women came forward
and accused him of sexually assaulting them in 2000 and 2004.
And while Fairfax denied the allegations, he too faced calls to resign, though ultimately
both he and Northam served out the remainder of their terms.
But still, that scandal hurt his future political career.
Right, in 2021, he entered the governor's race, but he then lost the Democratic primary by a huge margin,
coming in forth with just 3.6% of the vote.
But as far as this tragedy in Virginia, you know, we're gonna have our eyes on it,
see if more information comes out soon.
but let me say something in the meantime.
If you are someone you know is in a dangerous relationship,
the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233,
or you can text start to 8-8-788.
And let me take this opportunity to say,
if you are supporting someone that is going through a divorce
or anything, you see warning signs.
Take them seriously.
Resources exist, they're out there,
reach out before it becomes an emergency.
But with that said, there are also a few more pieces of political news
that we got a hit on today.
Starting with Trump, allegedly telling Marjorie Taylor Green,
that it would be her fault if her son were killed
as a result of death threats that the president's own rhetoric instigated.
Because during an interview with Pierce Morgan that aired yesterday,
you had Green talking about how Trump's repeatedly called her a traitor and threatened to destroy her
because she pushed for the release of the Epstein file, something that he literally campaigned on.
And when asked if she and Trump had spoken since she left office, she said,
The only time I reached out to him was via text message after I had resigned and he had been attacking me
and I was receiving it just, I can't even count.
how many death threats. And, but the death threats escalated on one of my children. I was so upset
over death threats on my children because of him. And the, you know, the quotes and the death
right were from what the president had been calling me a traitor. And I'm not a traitor to my country.
Standing up for rape victims doesn't make me a traitor. And I reached out to the president and
to let him know this is what's happening because what you're saying about me. And, um,
He was very unkind about these death threats.
And so that was our last exchange.
What did he say to you?
He basically blamed me.
He had no compassion for death threats on my children.
He blamed me basically that if my son were to get killed, it would be my fault.
Really?
Yes.
Wow.
Yeah, it was.
And I said, back to him, I said, no one's children should ever be the victim of death threats
or have any kind of political violence brought on them because of our politics, because of our
disagreements. He had no compassion whatsoever. With Green going on to speculate that Trump's mentally
unwell and repeating her claims that he should be removed from office over his post threatening
to wipe out all civilization in Iran. And of course, you know, this isn't the first time that Green
spoken out about the death threats that she's received because of her falling out with Trump.
I started getting serious death threats, serious death threats.
And a pipe bomb death threat on my home, pipe bomb death threat on my family construction business,
and then direct death threats on my youngest child, my son.
And those started coming in.
And it was dealt with so many death threats.
We reported, I think, 700 nearly 773 official death threats.
Well, obviously, this is horrifying on its own at the individual level.
It also speaks not only to the incredible power that Trump.
Trump has to incite violence and threats, but also his sheer willingness to do so.
Right, I know understandably we're always focused on the news of the day, but this is a man who incited a violent
insurrection and then functionally condoned and normalized a violence by pardoning the perpetrators.
He himself has openly made death threats against democratic lawmakers and encourage others to do the same.
I mean, Green isn't alone here. Many other political figures that he's targeted have also faced death threats as a result.
It is a known thing that his election lies have led to acts of violence and threats against election workers,
and yet he keeps spewing them actively undermining the democratic process.
And the fact that he is continuing it in some ways ramping up his violent rhetoric and election-wise ahead of the midterms,
it's absolutely fucking terrified.
Because at this point, it goes beyond just modeling dangerous behavior.
A number of his supporters have made it clear time and time again that they view his words as a call to action.
But then also, this other bit of political news I want to hit on is the situation with the Supreme Court.
Because we're talking personal attacks, apologies, more criticism, retirement rumors, successors already handpicked by Trump,
and that's barely scratching the surface.
And actually with this, let's kind of just go down the line.
Just as Sonia Sotomayor just issued an incredibly rare public apology to Justice Brett Kavanaugh for our
personal attack against him last week.
She was speaking at the University of Kansas Law School
when she was asked about Trump's immigration crackdown
and specifically her scathing dissent to the temporary
ruling back in September that allowed for immigration
related stops in LA.
Because in that dissent, she wrote that with that policy,
the Trump administration is all but declared all Latinos,
US citizens or not, who work low-wage jobs,
are fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work,
and held until they provide proof of their legal status
to the agent's satisfaction.
So when this question popped up, she had a pretty strong response,
and though she didn't mention him by name,
she did reference Kavanaugh's concurrence,
suggested that he was out of touch with what it means to be a working class citizen in America,
saying there are some people who can't understand our experiences even when you tell them.
And adding, this is from a man whose parents were professionals and probably doesn't really know
any person who works by the hour or the piece like I do.
That comment sparking a fair amount of backlash, including a Wall Street journal op-ed,
titled Sonasota Mayor profiles Brett Kavanaugh.
But that then led to yesterday when she was being grilled by journalists about those comments
and she actually walked them back and even apologize writing.
At a recent appearance, I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case,
but I made remarks that were inappropriate.
I regret my hurtful comments.
I have apologized to my colleague.
You know, that sort of public apology
from a Supreme Court justice is incredibly rare,
but so is, you know, the sort of comment
that she is apologizing for.
Supreme Court justices have a long history
of maintaining public friendships and collegiality,
even between those with the biggest ideological differences.
So some say, you know, this whole situation,
it highlights the deteriorating relationships in the court
that we are in different times.
Right, even with this apology, you know,
it doesn't look like that's a problem
that's going to go away anytime soon,
especially because others on the court
are absolutely not pulling any punches
when it comes to criticizing their fellow justices.
Right, Justice Kintaghi Brown Jackson's
maintaining pressure on her conservative colleagues
over their use of emergency orders to benefit Trump.
Even going so far as to call those orders back of the envelope
first blush impressions of the merits of the legal case.
And saying the even bigger problem is that the court insists
those scratch paper musings be applied by lower courts and other cases.
Which yeah, it's very different from the previous stance
that the court took.
They used to be very reluctant to step in on cases too early on in the legal process.
And so you had Jackson saying,
there is value in avoiding having the court
continually touching the third rail
of every divisive policy issue in American life
In recent years, the Supreme Court has taken a decidingly different approach to addressing emergency
stay applications. It has been noticeably less restrained, especially with respect to pending cases
that involve controversial matters. But it's also unlikely that we're going to see anything
different for a long time. And that's because you have Trump reportedly excited about the idea
of appointing yet another justice as there are rumors out there around Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.
Because while neither has expressly said anything about stepping down, there's been speculation
running a while, especially after Alito was hospitalized back in March. There, I'll say he's
since been back to work, actively participating in oral arguments. And then as far as Clarence
Thomas, there have been fewer rumors, but you know, he's getting older. He's 77 years old.
And so even with that little bit to go on, you had Trump telling Fox News that he is ready
and willing to appoint someone to replace one or both of us.
It's possible. You know, in theory, in theory, it's two or three, they tell me, if you just read
statistics. It could be two, could be three, could be one. I don't know. I'm prepared to do it.
And that was also something I was echoed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who said this week
that the Senate Republicans would quickly fill a Supreme Court vacancy if one opens up before
the midterms. And actually on that note, and the idea of the timing, you had
Trump in that same interview pointing to Ruth Bader Ginsburg kind of as a cautionary tale.
He's saying that her refusal to step down while there was a Democrat in office allowed for Trump to pick her replacement.
I mean, it's why we have conservative Amy Coney Barrett on the court today, and so you had Trump saying.
Ginsburg could not do it. And she really hurt herself within the Democrat Party.
People are very angry at her because I got to appoint people instead of Biden.
And in fact, Alito or Thomas retiring now would be very much in line with how justices have handled stepping down in the past.
They're making the choice while their party is the presidency, so their replacement is generally pretty like-minded.
Well, we don't know who exactly is on Trump's shortlist to fill a seat.
He reportedly seemed interested in naming Ted Cruz.
With Trump putting to Cruz as a potential pick earlier this year, even joking that he'd get unanimous support from the Senate because they want to get him out of there.
At least for right now, nothing's confirmed one direction or the other, and so we're going to have to keep our eyes on it.
But that, my friends, you beautiful bastards, is the end of your Thursday, Philip DeFranco show.
But I'll also tell you while you're leaving a funny and angry, whatever your reaction is to one of the stories that stood out today, comment.
I'll remind you that there's more to watch right now, whether it's the brand,
and new crashing out episode, which there's gonna be a trailer for.
Or if you missed last night's Philip to Frankl show,
I got links in the description or on YouTube,
you can click or tap here.
As always, thank you for watching.
I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here next time.
The president is committing blasphemy.
It's blasphemy, Phil.
The president just attacked the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics
because the Pope said, war is bad and don't kill civilians.
I've been yelling that this man is the antichrist
for quite some time now.
Trump asked, what does teleport mean?
And quote, was he kidding?
The first lady of the United States,
she showed up and she just went,
I have never been friends with Jeffrey Epstein.
He got slapped up so hard.
His authoritarian ass was like, good game.
And that's not a sketch, everyone.
That's just the world we fucking live in.
