The Philip DeFranco Show - New Charlie Kirk Shooting Details, Suspect’s Discord Chat, & The “Radical Left vs Radical Right”

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

You’re 30 seconds away from being debt free with PDS Debt. Get your free assessment and find the best option for you at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco Wes Moore x DeFranco on Charlie Kirk & more: htt...ps://open.spotify.com/episode/4uOYpnkyhiy3uD0pB793dq?si=b4PTJ3G5Sv-9ElWQiCMXSw LISTEN TO THE SHOW iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V WATCH/LISTEN TO MY NEW PODCAST w/ Wes Moore 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 STORIES 00:00 - People Debate the Motive of Suspect Accused of Killing Charlie Kirk  11:14 - Fox News Host Apologizes After Saying Homeless People Should Be Executed 16:11 - Sponsored by PDS Debt 17:16 - Trump Vows to Expand National Guard Deployment in U.S. Cities 23:59 - U.S. and China Reach TikTok Deal  25:53 - Nepal Has New Interim Prime Minister Amid Gen Z Protests  27:33 - One More Thing… Watch our previous coverage on the Nepal protests here: https://youtu.be/x8oSlHM4Ges?si=TrN_FP1UEqkwSudJ&t=1466 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   ———————————— #DeFranco #CharlieKirk #JDVance Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. We have so much to talk about today, starting with this. We need to talk about what we now know about Charlie Kirk's assassination, his suspected killer, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, the fallout, and what happens next. Especially because going into, and then over the weekend, you news outlets having to issue retractions and corrections. But as you likely saw things kicked off on Friday morning when you had Trump going on Fox News and announcing that a suspect had been taken into custody. Then, not long after Utah Governor Spencer Cox confirming the news at a press conference and revealing Robinson's identity. And they apparently got him because he confessed or implied that he had committed the crime to a family member. But then, that family member contacting a family friend who told the sheriff's office and encouraged Robinson to turn himself in. And on Thursday night, he surrendered to the police in the city of St. George, right where he lived, about 250 miles southwest of the campus where he allegedly killed Kirk.
Starting point is 00:00:46 The men booked on suspicion of aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm causing serious bodily harm and obstruction of justice with a judge ordering that he be held without bail. And he's expected to be formally charged by local prosecutors tomorrow. And that's his authorities have come out with a bunch of new evidence appearing to tie him to the murder. Right, one, according to the FBI, Robinson wrote a note before the shooting saying that he had an opportunity to take Kirk out and was going to make use of it. Two, his DNA was reportedly found on a towel wrapped around the rifle, believed to have been used in the shooting, as well as on a screwdriver found on the rooftop where the shot was fired. And three, you now have the Washington Post reporting that a Discord account belonging to Robinson reportedly sent a message in a group afterwards saying, Hey, hey, guys, I have bad news for you all. It was me at UVU yesterday. I'm sorry for all of this.
Starting point is 00:01:26 As of now, it's believed that he acted alone with Cox saying that officials didn't have any information that would lead to any additional arrests. Also, as far as anything that could give more insight, you had Cox saying back on Friday that Robinson's family members had told investigators that he'd become more political in recent years. And you had one claiming that at a recent dinner, he and a second relative discussed Kirk's upcoming event at Utah Valley University, saying they talked about why they didn't like him and the viewpoints that he had. You also had Governor Cox revealing the exact wording of messages inscribed on unfired cartridges in the woods near campus and alongside the rifle, used in the attack. Or because, as you may remember, before the sky was arrested and we learned his identity, you had the Wall Street Journal reporting that the ammunition found inside the shooter's rifle was engraved with expressions of transgender and anti-fascist ideology. But he then had a senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation telling the New York Times
Starting point is 00:02:12 that this information hadn't been verified by ATF analysts, didn't match other summaries of the evidence, and might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted. And so what we now know is that there were at least four shell casings found with some sort of message on them. Wanted lyrics to Bella Chow, which is an Italian song adopted by the anti-fascist resistance during World War II. Another said, hey fascist catch with an up arrow symbol, right arrow symbol,
Starting point is 00:02:33 and three down arrow symbols. While you had some, noting that the three down arrows alone or a common symbol used for anti-fascism, the whole sequence together seemingly refers to a sequence of moves on a controller that releases a bomb in the video game Hell Divers too. The third then reportedly says, if you read this, you are gay, LMAO.
Starting point is 00:02:47 And the fourth was inscribed with the meme, notices bulge, ooh-hoo, what's this? Right, and so then what you saw online was people kind of falling into one of three camps. Some arguing that this shows that the shooter is on the left. Other is saying this was more of a deep internet meme culture accelerationist kind of thing. Then finally, with the internet culture and the gaming references, you had some saying that it suggested he was actually a groper. And those are followers of Nick Fuentes, who was a personality who actually just the day
Starting point is 00:03:11 before Charlie Kirk was killed, there was a whole write-up about him in the New York Times that read, Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist problem for the right. And so for those in the camp they were pointing this way, they said, hey, Bella Chow, for example. That they claimed is something that the group adopted kind of as a meme. It would show up in playlist, meant for the group. Notably with that, you had Fuentes telling Axios, he's never heard of that song before. But then also, you had people arguing with these Groypers, they've long criticized Charlie Kirk. Because while you had many on the lap saying that Kirk openly espoused racist, homophobic, transphobic, and misogynistic views, for the Gropers, for the most part, he was seen as too moderate. With all of that, you had
Starting point is 00:03:44 Fuentes publicly condemning Kirk's killing and he posted on X that, my followers and I are currently being framed by the mainstream media based on literally zero evidence. And then with that writing, after the left gunned him down, they celebrated and justified it, they said I was next, now they are blaming me, these people are pure evil. And with all that said, as far as where this shooter reportedly landed, he reportedly wasn't affiliated with either political party, he never voted in an election, his parents are both registered Republicans who voted in the 2024 election. But in a daily mail interview on Friday, his grandma said that the family supports the MAGA movement, saying, most of my family members are Republican, don't know any single one who's a death.
Starting point is 00:04:18 With her then also being these photos from his childhood showing his family taking him and his brothers on trips to shoot guns and check out weapons displays. Then this weekend you had Utah Governor Spencer Cox speaking to several media outlets and pushing back against the idea that he was on the right. It's saying, yes, Robinson comes from a conservative family, but adding his ideology was very different than his family and he told the Wall Street Journal specifically. It's very clear to us and to investigators that this was a person who is deeply indoctrinated with leftist ideology. And then when asked to elaborate, he said that information comes from the people around him from his family members. numbers and his friends. That's how we got that information. But then, another thing that people are taking as evidence of Robinson being on the left is that you had Cox confirming reporting for Fox News that he had been living with an interrelationship with a person transitioning from
Starting point is 00:04:59 male to female. With Governor Cox noting that the shooter's romantic partner had been very cooperative with authorities and was shocked by what had happened. Well, he stopped short as saying that Robinson's partner's alleged status was a factor of Kirk's killing and the investigators were continuing to explore a possible motive in the attack that did not stop the internet from reacting. So you had the likes of Elon Musk reposting far-right commentator Matt Walsh, saying transgenderism is a death cult, the largest, most well-funded and deranged death cult that this country has ever seen. Though that as you had people noting that the gun violence archive is estimated that only about 0.1% of mass shootings of the past decade were carried out by transgender individuals. And that's as it's been estimated transgender people make up about 1% of the US population age 13 and over,
Starting point is 00:05:38 suggesting that if anything, they commit mass shootings at a lower rate than other Americans. But despite what the numbers may say, despite the fact that officials have not confirmed a motive yet and despite that we're talking about a situation where one person is being used to kind of paint an entire group you have many arguing that this is going to be used to justify action against transgender people and maybe even just people on the left in general because you're seeing right-wing politicians right-wing mainstream media and right-wing social media pointing to Kirk's killing and blaming virtually the entire left and the Democratic Party for his death and you have many vowing to go after the left saying that this is war also as far as big notable reactions and statements you had Charlie's wife Erica speaking in a live stream while staying behind the empty chair that Kirk used during podcast tapings. The evildoers, responsible for my husband's assassination, have no idea what they have done. If you thought that my husband's mission was powerful before, you have no idea. You have no idea what you just have unleashed across this entire country. In this world, you have no idea.
Starting point is 00:06:51 You have no idea the fire that you have ignited within this wife. The cries of this widow will echo around the world like a battle cry. And actually with that, you had J.D. Vance hosting the Charlie Kirk show today, also calling out Soros, and then addressing the issue of political violence. And on one hand, he kind of pushed back against painting the entire left with one brush, but he also ultimately, double down on the claim that it's a one-sided issue. Now, I have heard many calls in the last few days for unity and for healing in the wake of Charlie's assassination. You have no idea how desperately I want that, how gratified I was when Democratic friends
Starting point is 00:07:33 and even former Senate colleagues reached out to offer their condolences to me. I'm so thankful. And I know there are so many like them all across our great country. But unity, real unity, can be found only after climbing the mountain of truth. And there are difficult truths we must confront in our country. One truth is that 24% of self-described, quote, very liberals believe it is acceptable to be happy about the death of a political opponent, while only 3% of self-described very conservatives agree. 3% is too many, of course.
Starting point is 00:08:15 Another truth is that 26% of young liberals believe political violence is sometimes justified. And only 7% of young conservatives say the same, again, too high a number. In a country of 330 million people, you can, of course, find one person of a given political persuasion justifying this or that or almost anything. But the data is clear. people on the left are much likelier to defend and celebrate political violence. This is not a both sides problem. If both sides have a problem, one side has a much bigger and malignant problem.
Starting point is 00:08:54 As far as those numbers, Vance appears to be referring to a UGov poll that was conducted after Kirk's shooting. Now with that you also have UGov noting the way that Democrats and Republicans respond to questions about political violence. It changes when there's an act targeting their own party. With that, one, Democrats were also more likely to say that violence could sometimes be justified. in a poll back in June, although by a smaller margin. Though, too, aside from the polling, when it comes to actual violence taking place, we are seeing that this is a both sides problem. We've covered numerous instances on the left and the right.
Starting point is 00:09:21 But then with all that, as far as action that we've seen from the Trump administration so far, you've had Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth saying the department is closely tracking any military personnel who celebrated or mock Kirk's death. You also had Secretary of State Marco Rubio similarly saying that the State Department would strip visas from anyone doing the same. And then as far as Trump, he's vowed to punish, quote, each and every one of those who contributed to this atrocity and to other political violence, including the organizations that fund it and support it.
Starting point is 00:09:45 Though also, a really big thing here is that Trump's really only focused on attacks against conservatives and his allies. Right, that, even though the wave of violence that we've seen in this country, it's been across the political spectrum. It's targeted Democrats and Republicans alike, but Trump, he's really only doubled and tripled down on this. Right, on Friday, he seemingly excused extremism on the right by arguing, they're just motivated by a desire to reduce crime. The radicals on the right, oftentimes a radicals. because they don't want to see crime.
Starting point is 00:10:10 The radicals on the left are the problem and they're vicious and they're horrible and they're politically savvy although they want men and women sports, they want transgender for everyone, they want open borders. And then with that, he called again for prosecutors to file racketeering charges
Starting point is 00:10:25 against George Soros, right, one of the Democratic Party's biggest donor is claiming without evidence that he pays violent protesters. Then in Congress, he had Louisiana Republican Clay Higgins saying he'd push for immediate lifetime social media bans for anyone who belittled the assassination of Charlie Kirk with him writing on X.
Starting point is 00:10:39 I'm also going after their business licenses and permitting. Their businesses will be blacklisted aggressively. They should be kicked from every school and their driver's licenses should be revoked. I'm basically going to cancel with extreme prejudice these evil, sick animals who celebrated Charlie Kirk's assassination. I'm starting that today.
Starting point is 00:10:56 And then outside of the government, you had right-wing influencers like Laura Loomer, former proud boy leader, Enrique Tario, and the Libs a TikTok account, posting identifying details about people they claim celebrated Kirk's death. with the group calling itself the Charlie Kirk Data Foundation claiming to have identified over 60,000 extremists who have done so, and outlets reporting that many people are in fact losing their jobs over this.
Starting point is 00:11:15 So the next up today, let's talk about a situation that many have been calling a double standard in the media. Though there is a lot of debate around this, and it does largely seem to be split by left versus right. But the first thing up is former political analyst Matthew Dowd, who just got fired from MSNBC. Because what you saw is that the day that Kirk got shot, he reacted to the breaking news with this take. We don't know any of the full details of this that we don't know if this was a supporter shooting their gun off in celebration or so we have no idea about this. He's been one of the most divisive, especially divisive younger figures in this who is constantly sort of pushing this sort of hate speech or sort of aimed at certain groups.
Starting point is 00:11:54 And I always go back to hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions. What you saw is a lot of people interpreting that is him blaming Kirk. for his own death, basically saying that Kirk brought this on himself and it led the network to fire him with NBC's president saying his remarks were inappropriate, insensitive, and unacceptable. With endowed defending himself on substacks saying he has consistently been opposed to political violence throughout his career and writing. Keep in mind when the anchor came to me to comment on the national environment, the only thing known at the time was shots were fired and there was no reporting yet that Kirk was the targeter had been shot at. I said in the moment that we needed
Starting point is 00:12:30 to get the facts because we have no idea what this could be and that it could easily be someone firing a gun in the air to celebrate the event. Remember, Kirk is a diehard advocate of the Second Amendment. With him then also adding that even though most at MSNBC knew my words were being misconstrued, the network simply reacted to the right-wing media mob. And then also, with everything here, you had many comparing his treatment to that of another mainstream media personality, and that is Fox's Brian Kilmead. Because in this clip that first aired on Wednesday but only went viral on Saturday, with the network's host discussing the Ukrainian refugee who was stabbed to death by that homeless man on a train in Charlotte. And he would Lawrence Jones, giving his opinion first,
Starting point is 00:13:03 and then kill me, he jumps in at the end of the conversation with this remark. They have given billions of dollars to mental health and the homeless population. A lot of them don't want to take the programs. A lot of them don't want to get the help there as necessary. You can't give them a choice. Either you take the resources that we're going to give you, or you decide that you're going to be locked up in gym. That's the way it has to be now.
Starting point is 00:13:25 Or involuntary lethal injection or something. Just kill them. Right, and the reactions to that were both widespread and indignant. So you had the CEO. of Wynn, a group that runs homeless shelters in New York, blasting the suggestion as completely devoid of all humanity. Whether then welcoming Gilmead for a dialogue about the issue and adding, better yet, come volunteer in one of our shelters and see the face of homelessness for yourself. We could always use the help. You then also had Democrats slamming the Fox host with Gavin Newsom,
Starting point is 00:13:50 for example, quoting Proverbs 2113. Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered. You then also add Representative Don Bayer writing, America's homeless population includes over a million children and tens of thousands of veterans, many of whom served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Nobody deserves to be murdered by the government for mental illness or poverty. These Fox hosts are calling for mass murder. It's sick. With it then, apparently getting to such a boiling point that on Sunday, Kill Mead, and a rare move for Fox actually addressed the controversy on air. In the morning, we were discussing the murder of Arina Saruska and Shaw in North Carolina. How to stop these kinds of attacks
Starting point is 00:14:24 by homeless mentally ill assailants, including institutionalizing or jailing such people so they cannot attack again. Now, during that discussion, I wrongly said they should get lethal injections. I apologize for that extremely callous remark. I'm obviously aware that not all mentally ill homeless people act as the perpetrator did in North Carolina, and that so many homeless people deserve our empathy and compassion. And then, in reaction to that, you had many different responses. You had some saying that he shouldn't have apologized at all, that he was right to say what he said. Others than arguing that when you put it in context, it's clear that he wasn't talking about all homeless people, just the violent ones. So there you had people countering that saying the
Starting point is 00:15:03 context actually shows that he was talking about any homeless people who don't accept help or resources. And then finally, you had people calling his apology scripted, hollow and insincere and saying that regardless he should still lose his job. But with many arguing that if an employee on any other mainstream cable network said the same thing, they'd get fired. And you had Some like author and activist Shannon Watts writing, Brian Kilmead is advocating for extrajudicial killings on Fox, yet Matthew Dowd was fired by MSNBC for pointing out Charlie Kirk's dangerous rhetoric.
Starting point is 00:15:29 This moral asymmetry in the media and online is destroying democracy. And then you had places like Mother Jones pointing out that Kilmeet has a history of apologizing for what have been called racist or inflammatory comments. We keep marrying other species and other ethnic. The Swedes have pure genes. Because they marry other Swedes,
Starting point is 00:15:46 because that's the rule. Finland, Finns are marry other Finns, So they have a pure society. In America, we marry everybody. Not every Muslim's an extremist, a terrorist, but every terrorist is a Muslim. Like it or not, these aren't our kids. Show him compassion, but it's not like he's doing this
Starting point is 00:16:02 to the people of Idaho or Texas. These are people from another country. With everything that we're seeing with this, I'd really love to know your thoughts and reactions. Then next step before we get back into the news in just a minute, do you ever feel like debt is that annoying friend who just never leave? You pay one bill, feel good, and then they pop up with interest, late fees, and surprise charges.
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Starting point is 00:17:13 The QR codes on screen. You can scan it and take the first step today. But the next step in the news today, we've got to talk about how Trump's plans for deploying the National Guard and U.S. cities, they're going nationwide. Though starting in Washington, D.C., you've got Trump currently threatening to declare a national emergency after D.C. mayor, Muriel Bowser said the city's police wouldn't cooperate with ICE. And some important background to remember is that back in August, Trump misrepresented data about crime in D.C. claimed that it was completely out of control and declared a national emergency and federal takeover of the Capitol. He took control of the D.C. police and sent some 2,000 National Guard troops and federal ICE officers into the city to function as law enforcement. And this move, it was met with a lot of criticism, many saying that it was federal overreach. But as the weeks past, you had trumped touting it as this massive success, saying that crime in the city felt to virtually nothing.
Starting point is 00:17:55 And to be fair, when you look at the data, you see that violent crime dropped by 39% compared to the same period last year. It is worth noting that we saw a similar drop just last year, with violent crime dropping by 35% to a 30-year low between 2023 and 2024. Also, this federal takeover was only supposed to last 30 days, but the deadline for it passed last week, and you have National Guard troops still in D.C. without a clear mission ending. And while Bowser did sign an earlier order formalizing coordination between BC and federal law enforcement officials, now that the 30 days is up, she's telling local police to stop coordinating with ICE. With Bowser saying immigration enforcement is not what the MPD does, and with the end of the emergency, it won't be what MPD does in the future.
Starting point is 00:18:31 And that, it unsurprisingly, did not sit well with Trump, who posted on true social late last night that if the local police didn't cooperate with ICE, quote, crime would come roaring back and then saying, don't worry, I am with you and won't allow this to happen. I'll call a national emergency and federalize if necessary. And so for now, it seems like things aren't going to calm down in D.C., though, that is not where the National Guard news ends. Right, and that because over the weekend, Trump announced an interview with Fox and friends that he'd be hitting Memphis next in his crime crackdown. Right, Trump, he promised to not only send in the National Guard, but even the military if what he said is needed. And a big thing is that Trump said that both the Memphis mayor and the governor of Tennessee were happy with a decision to bring in the troops, but he had Memphis's Democratic Mayor Paul Young quickly dispelling that.
Starting point is 00:19:09 Right, you had Young saying, hey, we'd love to look at addressing crime in the city. look at ways to do that, but saying he wasn't happy about this move. And then also adding that he had heard from Governor Bill Lee's office that they were considering Memphis as the next city in Trump's crackdown, but he hadn't actually heard about a confirmation until Trump's announcement. An announcement that was then followed by a statement from the White House saying that the reason Memphis was chosen was because of their crime rate. Saying in 2024, Memphis had the highest violent crime rate,
Starting point is 00:19:33 highest property crime rate, and third highest murder rate in the U.S. So again, I will say, like in D.C., team Trump's characterization of crime stats in Memphis, it's not exactly accurate. You've got Memphis police, in fact, Just recently reporting that they've made substantial progress with drops in every major crime category in the first eight months at 2025 compared to previous years. In fact, overall crime has even reportedly hit a 25-year low and murders have hit a six-year low. Though, of course, like in D.C., there are people that counter that say the numbers are still too high. And again, just like in
Starting point is 00:20:00 D.C., it's believed that what's going to happen with the National Guard is going to mirror what happened to D.C., including forming a task force with local law enforcement. And with that, you would be young saying that more details would be coming out this week, including the number of troops coming, their arrival date, and their duties. So he also has suggested that the guard maybe would help with traffic control for major events, monitoring surveillance cameras, or neighborhood beautification efforts. So definitely something we're gonna have to keep eyes on,
Starting point is 00:20:21 though Memphis was not the only city that Trump name dropped in that interview. Because he also mentioned the CEO of Union Pacific, specifically requesting he bring the same treatment to St. Louis. Where else should we go? Where would you say? He said, sir, please, do me a favor. The St. Louis has been so badly hit. It's very, very, very hard.
Starting point is 00:20:39 Very, very hard. Now to that, St. Louis Mayor, Kara Spencer, said in a statement that neither she nor Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe have heard anything about plans being made for National Guard groups to come to St. Louis. And then she added that she'd rather see the Army Corps of Engineers than the National Guard, saying, St. Louis absolutely needs President Trump's help to lead in a great American comeback story for our city and Missouri by bringing in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as soon as possible to take on the massive task of removing tornado debris.
Starting point is 00:21:05 Our request for that help is sitting on FEMA's desk, so St. Louis needs the President to step in, make it happen, and help St. Louis in its comeback. And also, as far as their actual crime stats, it's important to note that St. Louis is also seeing historic lows in crime. I mean, you're seeing a 36% decrease in burglaries, a 42% decrease in car thefts, and a 53% decrease in shootings.
Starting point is 00:21:24 And you would Spencer attributing all that in part to the state takeover of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Though, I will say, despite that, the public perception of crime is actually at an all-time high. Or the recent survey of St. Louis residents, finding that most still have much concern connected to crime.
Starting point is 00:21:38 But then finally, with this, We go south, and we talk about the National Guard news connected to Louisiana, because it was just reported that the Trump administration has drafted up plans to activate some 1,000 Louisiana National Guard troops to serve as law enforcement in the state's urban centers. Right, and you have this coming from reported leaked Pentagon planning documents, which suggests that the National Guard will supplement law enforcement in high crime areas. So it looks like it would be things like helping with drug interdiction and providing logistical and communication support to local authorities. The Pentagon's plan also appears to suggest the Guard's mobilization will last until the end of September next year. which is significantly longer than Trump's regular timeline. And then also, among the documents, was reportedly a draft memo from Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth
Starting point is 00:22:16 to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Homeland Security Secretary Kristy Nome. Over the Washington Post, reporting that this memo says that the Pentagon's plan would allow for the National Guard to supplement local police forces in places like New Orleans and Baton Rouge as long as Governor Jeff Landry asks for assistance. There, I'll say it is important to note that while Landry has expressed support for the idea of National Guard mobilization within a state, it's not clear whether he's actually made a formal request
Starting point is 00:22:37 for something like this yet. And I mentioned that because it's actually a sticking point for some experts, including Randy Manor, who's a retired Army 2 star general and former acting vice chief of the National Guard, who said that he's never actually heard of anything like this before in his three-plus decades of military service. With them adding, this is the administration imposing missions on governors that are not requested even on a red state governor. But then there's also another thing that has critics concerned and that is staffing issues during hurricane season. Because should this leaked plan go into effect, it would reportedly tie up roughly 11% of Louisiana's personnel available for emergencies during hurricane season. With the adjutant general overseeing forces in Louisiana saying they may have to call in for assistance from other states in a worst-case scenario.
Starting point is 00:23:14 Which actually brings us to a big area of criticism against this plan and even Trump's recent use of the National Guard generally. Supplementing police forces is not what the National Guard is built for. And with that, you have people like Corey Sheik, the Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute saying that the Guard being used in this way, it could have a corrosive effect. And adding, the men and women of our National Guard signed up to defend their communities and defend their country in genuine emergencies. and the Trump administration is fabricating emergencies in ways that are dangerous to the relationship between American society and our military. It's destructive to businesses who employ guardsmen. It's disruptive to single parents. It's destructive to the guardsman's own professional development to be called up potentially for a year at a time. But if we wait to see how all this
Starting point is 00:23:55 plays out, I've got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts with this whole situation and how we've been seeing it develop over time? But the next up, in more news, you need to know, TikTok has been saved. Apparently, because that's what you have U.S. and Chinese negotiators saying after days of meetings in Madrid late last week with President Donald Trump than adding this morning. The big trade meeting in Europe between the United States of America and China has gone very well. It will be concluding shortly. A deal was also reached on a certain company that young people in our country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy. I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one. And a big thing is
Starting point is 00:24:29 we're seeing this just as a deadline to have the app banned was only days away. But probably a big thing. The specifics of how TikTok will be saved are not there right now. And according to Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, that's because we're not going to talk about the commercial terms of the deal. It's between two private parties, but the commercial terms have been agreed upon. That said, another big question here is whether China is going to let bite dance rape TikTok's parent company part with its recommendation algorithm. Because that algorithm, it is the key thing as to why TikTok's been so successful and why it's considered so important that China even placed it on its export control list. Well, you don't have to wait to see the specific.
Starting point is 00:25:03 What a wild ride this has been. Trump made a good effort during his first term, trying to ban the app. And then in his second term, he completely did a 180, even considered a deal that would have seen Oracle and Walmart invest in the app. And then on the Chinese side,
Starting point is 00:25:16 it wasn't seen like there was a huge appetite for this. So you have people asking, well, what changed? Well, some think that Chinese officials really want to get a Xi Trump summit going and feel that China was willing to give up TikTok to make that happen. You know, in that summit, there's a lot to talk about. You have things like fentanyl coming to the U.S.
Starting point is 00:25:30 as well as ongoing trade disputes. On the fence side of things, The US wants China to crack down on the precursor chemicals used to make the drug, but China refuses to do so until the 20% tariff that China faces gets dropped. And then at the same time, Trump wants China to heavily increase its soybean imports, which it hasn't done, all of which has created the stalemate. But all that said, before any of that can be addressed or kind of materialized, returning to TikTok, the deal technically will be finalized on Friday after Trump and she have a phone call. But then next up, in other news you should know, we've got huge updates coming out of Nepal. Because Nepal now has a new prime minister, though she's not going to have the job for long. So her name is Susheila Karki.
Starting point is 00:26:06 She officially took office on Sunday, and she's actually the first woman to be the country's prime minister. But she's only going to be in that position for six months until formal elections are held, right? Because her appointment, it comes amid turmoil in the country. We talked about this recently. Gen Z, let massive anti-corruption protests that toppled the nation's government if you want an even bigger deep dive and you didn't see it. I'll link to the coverage below.
Starting point is 00:26:25 But these protests, they were prompted by a social media ban that has since been reversed, But really, it was always about deeper issues within the country, like poverty and inequality. And what you ended up saying were government buildings being attacked, officers, opening fire on protesters. And today, the death toll actually reached 72. So, in her first remarks, we had Karki saying, we all need to get together to rebuild the country. We have to work, according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation, what this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance, and economic equality. And you and Karki also bowing to not overstay her a six-month interim position so that she can hand over her work to the next parliament and minister. saying this is not the job that she wished for, that the people brought her name forward,
Starting point is 00:27:02 which actually it brings us to how Nepal got a new prime minister in the first place. Because amid the protests last week, you had the previous prime minister resigning, and Karki was actually appointed on Friday after negotiations between the president, army chief, and many of the Gen C protesters. And interestingly enough, the protesters actually used discord to select and rally behind her as their pick. It was also not like she was nobody before this. She previously was a chief justice in the country, but she retired and per the AP was known for her anti-corruption stance. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens, though elections have been set for March,
Starting point is 00:27:31 and we're gonna have to see how things unfold from now till then. But then finally, today from that, for today's one more thing. Friday, I talked to Maryland Governor West Moore about everything from Charlie Kirk to Trump's deployment of the National Guard across the country. Which on that note, this is what he had to say in regards to Trump threatening to deploy the National Guard in Baltimore. I have been very clear, and I will continue to be very clear. If you want to provide federal resources and federal supports, things like FBI and ATF, If you want to make sure that we're getting these ghost guns out of our neighborhoods and out of our streets, if you want to stop cutting funding like the administration has done
Starting point is 00:28:04 to Maryland, if you want to stop cutting our funding like the $30 million in violence prevention that you have cut from our state, I would love to have a very serious conversation with you about that. But if you are trying to have a conversation about activating our National Guard inside of our cities, then miss me with it. And while that, it brings us to the end of this video, you've got even more just to click away Because you've got my newest podcast right here for you, one with Preston Stewart and the newest one with Maryland Governor West Moore. I've even got links in the description for you for Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, and wherever else you prefer to get filled in. But whatever you do, let me just say thank you for watching.
Starting point is 00:28:38 I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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