The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 10.12 Why People Are Freaking Out On Vanessa Hudgens & Gal Gadot, & Why CA TX Voting IS A MESS!

Episode Date: October 12, 2020

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Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you have a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and a quick note before we get started, it is last call. If you want to snag one of our premium and incredibly comfy one-day-will-all-be-skeletons hoodies and shirts, let's just say this is coffee mug and or a don't be stupid stupid mask or three, there are only a few hours left for you to grab them at shopdefranco.com. But yeah, that said, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it. And to start things off today,

let's talk about a batch of entertainment news. Starting with last night, the LA Lakers won the NBA finals for the first time in a decade. The Lakers winning the title this year was also especially meaningful following the tragic helicopter crash earlier this year that left Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gigi,

and seven others dead. Players on the team saying this win was for him. But last night wasn't just a big win for the Lakers, but also a big win for the NBA itself. With the Lakers winning the finals last night, that wraps up the NBA bubble experience, which is now a massive success story. No player who passed through quarantine tested positive

for the virus after the fact, and no game was canceled as a result of an outbreak. So seemingly to celebrate this massive championship win, that really is only possible thanks to the genius and the safety and the strict precautions of the NBA bubble, a large number of people in LA were like, hey, let's create a super spreader event. So despite the fact that local leaders

like Mayor Eric Garcetti tweeted urging people to not gather in groups because of the virus, asking fans to please celebrate safely at home, do not gather at the Staples Center. Ended up seeing very large gatherings and eventually the LAPD actually had to declare an unlawful assembly and begin arresting those refusing to leave.

And actually, according to an update, the LAPD said 76 people were arrested, eight officers were injured, over 30 buildings were damaged. There was that. Then on Saturday we had Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot announcing that she'll be playing Cleopatra in an upcoming Paramount film.

And while we've seen many people excited about the new project, there have also been split reactions to Gal playing the Queen of Egypt right in this because Gal is Israeli so we saw tweets like so there were no Egyptian women to play an Egyptian Queen and which Hollywood dumbass thought it would be a good idea to cast an Israeli actress as Cleopatra a very bland looking one Instead of a stunning Arab actress like Nadine Najim and shame on you Gal Gadot your country steals Arab land and you're stealing their movie Roll shake my head. It also had others saying Hollywood was creating

another whitewash portrayal of Cleopatra. There, even though Cleopatra was an Egyptian ruler, many pointed out that she was actually of Macedonian Greek descent. Still, her full ancestry is complicated and has also been long debated, right? I was unaware of this, but her mother's identity is unknown. Some scholars even say that she had Persian

and Syrian ancestry too. Though, Gal wasn't the only actress sparking outrage over the weekend. You had Vanessa Hudgens. This because over the weekend, she posted a photo of herself posing in front of tombstones in New York's Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. In the caption, calling it her happy place,

and quickly after that, she faced backlash, some calling it disrespectful, others saying tone deaf. Right with people arguing that it is especially insensitive to do at a time when over one million people have died from coronavirus worldwide, over 215,000 of which have died in the US alone. Possibly because of that reaction, Vanessa changed the caption to searching

for that headless horseman. But even with that, this situation then continued to grow because she continued to post more pictures of her cemetery photo shoot. And so you had people saying, you know, even separate from COVID, writing things like this is disrespectful. You're prancing around like it's some amusement park.

The caption is just why, clearly you have never been to a burial. It's not a happy place for anyone. And to that, Vanessa actually responded with, I buried my father in a cemetery. I love cemeteries. They're beautiful, especially that one. It's historical and I love history.

And there we saw a number of fans defending her. Others also noting that this particular cemetery is also a tourist attraction. So it's not uncommon to see people taking photos there, especially as we get closer to Halloween. And then let's jump into voting news starting with mail-in ballots, Texas, and allegations of voter suppression.

All right, so this story actually begins on October 1st, when Texas Governor Greg Abbott issues a proclamation that limits the number of absentee ballot drop-off locations for early voting to just one per county. Notably here, also allowing political parties to install poll watchers at each site. With Abbott saying these moves would strengthen voting safety in Texas, ensure greater transparency,

and will help stop attempts at illegal voting. Abbott, along with a number of Republicans, including Trump, saying they're afraid that increased mail-in voting could lead to increased voter fraud. Though Abbott provided no evidence that drop-off sites enable voter fraud, and most experts actually agree

that mail-in voting is a safe and secure system. So that's why with this, you had a number of people saying, "'This isn't about what Abbott's saying is safety and transparency. This is just a voter suppression tactic, arguing that it is most directly aimed at likely Democratic voters. With critics pointing to places like Harris County,

which houses Houston and has a population of 4.7 million people, which is why we saw a local judge sounding off on Twitter asking, "'Harris County is bigger than the state of Rhode Island "'and we're supposed to have one site?' And adding, "'This isn't security, it's suppression. "'Mail ballot voters shouldn't have to drive 30 miles

"'to drop off their ballot or rely on a mail system that's facing cutbacks. Also, as far as who this is going to affect, it is very likely going to be elderly people. Texas does not have universal mail-in voting. In fact, to qualify, you have to be 65 or older in jail, but otherwise eligible out of the county for the election or cited disability or illness.

Which is why we saw a number of civic groups, including the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans, challenging this move. Filing lawsuits against Abbott's order, arguing that it we saw a number of civic groups, including the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans challenging this move, filing lawsuits against Abbott's order, arguing that it will make absentee voting harder, despite the fact that more Texans than ever are expected to vote this way. Right, but main thing, that proclamation ends up

taking effect the next day on October 2nd. However, all of that changed this last Friday when we saw US District Judge Robert Pittman ruling against that order, calling it perplexing since the proclamation only applies to the early voting period and still actually allows for multiple drop-off locations on election day. Saying the state's own approval of counties

using satellite ballot return centers on election day belies their assertion that those same ballot return centers present ballot security concerns. And in his decision, Pittman also noted that many counties had already announced their plans to set up multiple drop-off locations prior to Abbott's proclamation. In fact, ballots had already started to be collected in places like Harris County, which had designated a up multiple drop-off locations prior to Abbott's proclamation. In fact, ballots had already started to be collected

in places like Harris County, which had designated a dozen ballot drop-off locations in clerk offices. And look, the idea of having multiple drop-off locations was something that has already been cleared with state officials. Just a day before Abbott's proclamation in response to another lawsuit,

Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins said that Harris County's multiple drop-off locations were legal. Also, with this decision from Pittman, he hits on five key impacts. One, that it creates voter confusion. Two, that it causes absentee voters to travel further distances.

Three, that it causes absentee voters to wait in longer lines. Four, that it causes absentee voters to risk exposure to the coronavirus when they hand deliver their absentee ballots on election day. And five, that it causes absentee voters, if they choose not to return their ballots in person to avoid exposure to COVID-19,

to face the risk that their ballots will not be counted if the USPS is unable to timely deliver their ballot after it's been requested or unable to timely return their completed ballot. And so with all of that, Pittman issued an injunction barring the state from restricting the number of drop-off locations to just one.

From there, we saw the Texas Democratic Party calling his ruling a common sense order that followed well-established law and stopped the governor from making up election rules after the election started. But on the opposite side of things, over the weekend, we saw state attorney, General Ken Paxton, pretty much immediately

file an appeal on the injunction, arguing that Pittman's decision usurps the power of the governing state authority and adding that Abbott's order only applied to a quote, "'small subset of voters who are eligible to vote by mail "'and could rely on the postal service, "'yet simply prefer to hand deliver their marked ballot.'" Paxton also saying that Abbott's order

does not violate voter rights because voters will still have more options on how to vote in this election than they would normally have for other elections. And following that appeal, just a few hours later, we then saw a judge granting a temporary stay, meaning that Abbott's limitation on the number of ballot drop-off sites

is now back in effect and will continue to stay that way until the appeals court makes a ruling either way. And ultimately that is where we are with this story. It is obviously not the end, but with this much confusion and chaos there, if you wanna make sure your vote is counted, it might make sense to err on the side of caution. Right, expect Abbott's proclamation to stand.

But also that story out of Texas isn't the only bit of election news. I mean, we're seeing a similar but kind of opposite story out of California. This because in California, Republicans have not managed to restrict the number of drop-off locations, but rather they're facing scrutiny

after setting up multiple unofficial drop boxes. With most of those drop boxes popping up in Southern California in front of places like churches, gyms, and gun stores. And very notably, while these boxes have not been authorized by local election leaders, they read official ballot drop-off box. And with that, California Secretary of State, Alex Padilla said yesterday-off box. And with that California secretary of state,

Alex Padilla said yesterday that these drop boxes mislead voters and violate state law. And adding my office is coordinating with local officials to address the multiple reports of unauthorized ballot drop boxes. Californians should only use official ballot drop boxes that have been deployed and secured by their county elections office.

In fact, it's even possible that these drop boxes could result in felony charges. With Padilla's office noting that criminal charges for erecting or advertising unofficial ballot boxes could result in a two to four year prison sentence. But despite that, the California GOP has defended this move saying that it's operating under a law that allows third parties to collect and deliver ballots

to election officials. For example, in California, the law allows voters and campaign workers to go directly to the homes of voters to collect completed ballots. State Democrats have even held ballot parties where attendees fill out their ballots before leaving them with volunteers who return them in mass.

Also, notably that law was written by state Democrats and later signed into law by then governor Jerry Brown in 2016. So you have the GOP saying on Twitter, "'Not sure why people are all of a sudden surprised.'" Also tweeting, "'If a congregation slash business or other group "'provides the option to its parishioners, associates,

"'or colleagues to drop off their ballot in a safe location with people they trust rather than handing it over to a stranger who knocks on their door, what is wrong with that? The National Republican Congressional Committee also suggesting that Democrats are only okay with ballot harvesting when they're the ones doing the ballot harvesting. But for some context, Republicans have criticized

this law pretty extensively. I mean, even just earlier this year, they sued Governor Gavin Newsom over this practice. Though Democrats have justified the law by saying that it can increase voter turnout for people living with disabilities as well, as for people with other obligations who might not be able to make it to the poll.

But you also have experts pointing out that there is a key difference between how the 2016 law works and how the California GOP is using it now. Specifically, Padilla has said that these boxes are illegal because that law requires a voter to designate a person to return their ballot. However, in this instance, there's just a drop box,

so there's no one actually present. And on top of that, Padilla says that these unofficial drop boxes do not meet security requirements. Now, all that said, as far as what happens from here, Padilla's office has said that it'll be sending updated guidance to both Democrats and Republicans,

warning them that they could face criminal charges if they use unsanctioned drop boxes. And if you are in California, you can go to the Secretary of State's website, I'll link to it down below, to find official drop-off locations. And the thing is, I know the big stories here, you have are in California, you can go to the Secretary of State's website, I'll link to it down below, to find official drop-off locations. And the thing is, I know the big stories here, you have Texas and California,

but it's not limited to just these two states. There's a lot of back and forth happening all over the country about what is and is not legal when it comes to voting. For example, a federal judge has now denied the Trump campaign and the Republican Party's attempts to make drop boxes in Pennsylvania unconstitutional. In North Carolina right now,

at least 6,800 ballots are in limbo because of errors voters made while filling out those ballots. While the state's Board of Elections said last month in Pennsylvania unconstitutional. In North Carolina right now, at least 6,800 ballots are in limbo because of errors voters made while filling out those ballots. While the state's board of elections said last month that it would allow voters to fix those errors, a federal judge halted that plan on October 3rd, arguing that it changed the rules too close to election day.

Right, and with North Carolina, for example, that is a key swing state. Trump and Biden are in a very tight race there. Even back in 2008, Barack Obama only won it by 14,000 votes. Ultimately, with these stories where I want to end, isn't just, man, that's so crazy and so confusing. Yes it is, but also the hope of videos like this or dedicating time in a video to a story like this is one,

you get the knowledge or two, you can spread the knowledge. Vote, educate yourself and do so in a way to make sure your vote counts and disregard the polls. Polling does not matter if your feelings and intentions are not actually executed with a vote. And in an election where we don't know how big the number of disqualified votes are gonna be, every vote counts even more.

Yeah, that is where I'm gonna end this one for now. And that is where I'm going to end today's show. As always, thanks for being a part of these daily dives in the news, maybe hitting us with that like button. Also, if you're new here, definitely hit that button down below to subscribe. And hey, maybe even text me at 813-213-4423. But with that said, of course, as always,

my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.