The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 10.31 “F*** OFF!” NYT Joe Rogan Tucker Carlson “Stolen Election” Situation, Disturbing Medicaid Purge, &

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

5 days left, but we have a lot to talk about first... Go to http://butcherbox.com/defranco, and receive your choice between a whole turkey, turkey breast or spiral ham in your first box! Use code DEFRANCOSHOW and get $20 off your first 5 boxes. Go to http://meundies.com/philipdefranco to get 20% off your first order and free shipping.  Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL  Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/ YOUR NEW https://BeautifulBastard.com DROP is LIVE! 5 Days Until Election Day! Make Sure You Are Registered to VOTE: https://Vote.org  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Top Podcasters/YouTubers Furious After NYT Says They Spread Election Misinfo 08:38 - Sponsored by Butcher Box 09:46 - Judge Rules Diddy Accuser Must Reveal Her Name or Lawsuit Will Be Tossed 11:39 - Chaos Erupts in LA After Dodgers Win World Series 13:29 - South American Crew Accused of Stealing Millions in CA Heists  16:28 - Android Malware That Can Route Bank Calls to Hackers Just Got Harder to Detect 18:12 - Sponsored by MeUndies 19:20 - Texas Medicaid Purge Removed Eligible People, Denying Healthcare to Children 27:45 - Sponsored by Seatgeek 28:19 - My Plans For Next Week ——————————   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 #JoeRogan #Diddy ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news. It is Thursday. It is Halloween. We are just five days away from the election, which on that note, if you can early vote, knock it out. Get it out of the way.

If you can't, come up with an election day plan, push your friends and family to do the same. Cause you know, it's just you and everyone you know is future up for grabs. Slightly, sort of kind of worth all of our attention. And while some of our stories today will be about the election, because of course we're so close, we have so much we got to talk about today.

I mean, the Medicaid purge for one, the set of crazy bank heists, new big ditty updates, where the New York Times and Washington Post just took aim at Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, and so many others. Hey, you just hit that like button and let's jump into it. This is a news show. So first up today, in one of the most requested stories of the day over on the text line,

let's talk about how the Washington Post and the New York Times just dropped two massive pieces saying that some of the most popular podcasts and YouTube channels in America, they are casting doubt about the integrity of the 2024 election. With experts saying what was described as a free flow of misinformation

could prime listeners not to accept the election and even boost support for Trump and others who would want to challenge the outcome if he loses. Right, and with this, their scope wasn't small, right? They weren't talking about a couple of podcasts. For example, the Washington Post saying that according to a new analysis, these doubts about the 2024 election have been aired by more than two dozen popular podcasts.

Some of the most prominent of those 26 programs they talked about, including the Joe Rogan Experience, which of course is the single most popular podcast in America. They also mentioned some other big names like Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk. The New York Times also prominently displaying several, including Tim Pool and Tucker Carlson. This is election interference by Joe Biden. They're cheating already in Michigan. Your party rigged many of the voting rules in advance of the election. All the sadness we've seen after the clearly stolen election, which makes it clear that the election was stolen.

With the Washington Post saying that all 26 shows it analyzed, quote, have amplified unfounded assertions, including that the election will be rigged or stolen. And with all this, you have people arguing that this is incredibly significant, not just because it's happening, but because specifically podcasts in this election cycle have played a huge role. In a way we've never seen before, with the Washington Post writing, both Trump and Harris have embraced a medium that nearly 100 million Americans listen to weekly. And this is some of those podcasts that have even provided a platform for Trump to come on himself

and make those lies direct to consumer. With probably the most notable recently being Trump's appearance on the Joe Rogan experience. I mean, just on YouTube, that thing racked up 40 million views. And while there, Trump lied about a number of things, but he also repeatedly made false claims about the election. You know, with him going through many of his greatest hits with little pushback from Rogan. And at one point, Rogan even tried to downplay Trump's election denialism by claiming that a lot of Democrats have also denied elections in the past.

One of the things that was fascinating also was the denial of the election results is a pretty common thing. Hillary Clinton famously denied that she called you an illegitimate president, and she said that Russia put you in place. Even though she conceded. Yes. You know, she conceded the night of the election because she was beaten. Yes. And it was a thing that was pretty common for people, especially Democrats, to deny the elections.

There's been many of them. The Bush administration, the, you know, the dangling chads, all that stuff. My point is this idea of election fraud is a forbidden topic and you get labeled an election denier. Right, one, even Donald Trump in that interview noted that Hillary Clinton conceded. And two, that is a false equivalency to say that she contested the election results.

When what she really did was simply point out, and it is a well-documented fact, that Russia tried to interfere in our election by fucking with stuff on Facebook and other places. Also at another point, in the Rogan interview, it appeared that he tried to lead Trump with a question about election vulnerabilities and fraud, but then failed to push back on anything he said. Let's talk about the potential vulnerabilities for elections and election fraud. One of them is mail-in ballots. The other one is the...

If someone can break into voting machines, if someone can hack voting machines. Those are two huge ones. So Elon Musk, I think he said it publicly. I hope he did because I wouldn't want to be the one. But he's a really smart guy, and he's a very good guy with computers. He said to me that unless you have paper ballots, it can never be an honest election. That's a big statement. It's a big statement. We should go to paper ballots. Now we have these sophisticated machine that goes up to heaven. It

goes all over the place and down and around. And they say, we'll need two weeks to figure out who the hell won the election. Do you think that's by design? Yeah, I do. I think it's very crooked. That's my opinion. Now, notably here, I will say Rogan did ask Trump a few times if he had evidence for his election fraud claims. But when Trump finally answered, he kind of just accepted his response, which was, I mean, I'll just let you see it for yourself. The 2020 elections, you say you have all this evidence that it was rigged. Why haven't you put this evidence in a consumable form? I did.

In what? Oh, I did. I have books on it. And by the way, books have been written on it. We have an author named Hemingway who is a great writer. She wrote a book on it, but many books have been written on it. Now with all that, I do think that it is notable that Rogan did at least try to press Trump on certain issues. Right, I criticized Rogan about this and other things in the past. He may have blind spots like we all do, but he does seem to be attempting to get some answers on some of these

topics. And that's more than can be said about a number of other people out there. But of course with this, you know, Rogan is just kind of one of the latest podcasters who have platformed false election claims. For example, the Washington Post saying on 14 of the shows that they analyzed, either the host or a guest,

repeated the Trumpism that his supporters need to overcome an inevitable attempt to steal the election by ensuring their turnout's too big to rig. Also, they said they found 19 podcasts had promoted the baseless claims that Democrats are trying to sway the election in their favor by registering non- too big to rig. Also, they said they found 19 podcasts had promoted the baseless claims that Democrats are trying to sway the election in their favor by registering non-citizens to vote. Additionally, some of the shows have been echoing

some of the false claims Trump's used to try and undermine the election, with that reportedly including an episode of the Charlie Kirk Show just this month, with there Kirk asking his guest, Tom Fitton, head of the conservative group Judicial Watch, if he thought the election was fixed. And Fitton responds by just lying and saying,

"'It's illegal for votes to be counted after election day,' even though literally some states mandate that practice. And then claiming that the processes in Arizona and Pennsylvania are structured quote to steal the election if need be. Now with all this I will say that the two pieces seem to kind of go in slightly different directions. The New York Times piece seems more about money and also in particular YouTube. Referencing the Tenet Media scandal that we covered earlier this month. Writing RT RT allegedly funneled the money through Tenet Media, which operated a YouTube channel with more than 16 million views. And then adding, Tenet then paid popular pundits to create content, including Benny Johnson and Tim Pool.

With them also specifically giving a lot of attention to YouTube ads on this content. Reporting that the 30 conservative channels they analyzed had posted 286 videos containing election misinformation, and in total, those videos garnered more than 47 million views, and YouTube generated revenue from ads on more than a third of them.

The researchers also said that they found some of the channels made money from their videos and monetization features available to members of the YouTube Partner Program. But with all that, very notably here, a YouTube spokesperson said none of the 286 videos violated its community guidelines, saying in a statement,

the ability to openly debate political ideas, even those that are controversial, is an important value, especially in the midst of election season. And specifically around money, saying most of the 30-track channels are ineligible for advertising and some had previously violated the company's content policies. And saying this report demonstrates our consistent approach to enforcing our policies. Right, and all of that is the Washington Post piece kind of focused more on the mediums themselves and the tools that they have. With the Post reporting that because podcasts operate largely outside the view of the tech

industry monitors, that they're more vulnerable to disinformation than many other sources. But with all that said, of course, that is just one part of this story. Because once these stories dropped, we ended up seeing the subjects of the pieces as well as their supporters and fans reacting. Ben Shapiro saying the Washington Post and New York Times just simultaneously dropped pieces calling for the destruction of conservative media and saying these are supposed guardians of the free press and free speech. What unbelievable liars. Elon Musk saying the New York Times is pure propaganda. And actually all of this is we knew that these pieces were gonna come out

thanks to the subjects of them. With several of the creators tweeting out questions they were getting about these pieces from the people writing it. With Tucker Carlson, for example, sharing this text message that includes a number of questions. You can pause here to read that yourself.

With Tucker then responding, so the New York Times is working with a left-wing hate group to silence critics of the Democratic Party? Please ask yourself why you're participating in it. This is why you got into journalism? It's shameful. I hope you're filled with guilt and self-loathing for sending me a text like this.

Please quote me. And then to the response and question, would you like to address any of the points or questions above? He said, would I like to participate in your attempt to censor me? No, thanks. But I do hope you'll quote what I wrote above and also know that I told you to fuck off, which I am now doing. Thanks. But again, all of this is developing in real time. We'll have to see if anything actually comes from this,

any sort of fallout. You know, in the meantime, I gotta pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? And really it can be about any and all aspects of what we talked about. Because obviously there are, it's all connected, but there are certain levels to this thing.

Where they're spreading outright lies and misinformation yourself. There's also having guests on and not pushing back, which is obviously a different thing. Some of that can just be, you know, it can have an impact, but that can be connected to just not being a good or well-informed interviewer. And then of course, there's the aspect

of these two massive outlets dropping these pieces on the same day. But yeah, again, that's the situation. That's what the stories are saying. That's what the subjects of the stories are reacting with right now. And of course, I'd love to know your thoughts. Then taking a quick break from the news, you know,

imagine being able to get high quality, ethically sourced meat delivered straight to your door. No grocery store hassle, no compromises. Well, that is exactly why I'm excited about today's sponsor, ButcherBox, a service curating top-notch cuts of meat and seafood from trusted sources, including 100% grass-fed beef, free-range organic chicken, and crate-free pork. And you need to hear this, for the holidays, they've launched a great Thanksgiving offering. Meaning you can choose from a free 10 to 14 pound whole turkey, a spiral ham, or a five pound boneless turkey breast in your first box. You know, I like using ButcherBox,

especially during the holidays because my family's schedules get hectic and having meat in the freezer, it makes it so much easier to have food on hand. And so we're not having to run around chaotic grocery stores and go through drive-thrus. And the value is incredible too, right? When you compare the price to what you'd pay

for similar cuts at the store, ButcherBox is very competitive, especially for the quality that you get. Plus, again, it is delivered right to your door with free shipping. I mean, what's not to love there? So new users looking to elevate your meals, go to butcherbox.com slash DeFranco

and sign up today to receive your choice between a whole turkey, turkey breast, or spiral ham in your first box. Plus, you get $100 off when using code DEFRANCOSHOW at checkout. That's $20 off your first boxes. But then this new ruling news for Diddy, it could be a complete game changer for her.

Because yesterday a federal judge ruled that a woman suing Diddy must reveal her name or her case is gonna get tossed out. And specifically the suit we're talking about is one where a woman's accusing Diddy of threatening her life and raping her back in 2004 when she was just 19 years old. And when she filed that lawsuit earlier this month,

she did so anonymously under the Jane Doe pseudonym. Now notably, this specific case is one of the first brought against Diddy, represented by attorney Tony Busby, who was also previously said that he represents more than 150 victims, with him promising to bring over 100 cases against Diddy in the coming months.

Right, and in this case, Busby and the woman's other attorneys, they argued that she should be allowed to stay anonymous because of her fear that Diddy could hurt her. But what we ended up seeing was Judge Mary K. Viscose still not being convinced, with the writing in her opinion that according to the woman's own submissions, Diddy hasn't contacted her in the 20 years since the alleged rape. And this is he's currently locked up in a Brooklyn jail until the trial for the criminal

charges that he was arrested for back in September. The judge also went on to say that Diddy has a right to defend himself and investigate the woman that's accusing him. And adding that while there is real likelihood that this woman is going to face intense public scrutiny if her name's released, that does not outweigh Diddy's right and the rights of the public to know who's using the court system. And with that, the judge specifically pointed to the other people who have sued Diddy for similar reasons using their own name. And so what all this means is that the woman now has until November 13th to file the lawsuit under her own name, or it's just going to get dismissed. But one of the biggest things is this goes beyond just one case, right? Because

this ruling could have a serious impact on the other cases that are being brought against Diddy, specifically the now more than a dozen anonymous ones filed under John or Jane Doe pseudonyms. And that's including two that were brought up against him earlier this week that include allegations that he raped a 10 year old boy and a 17 year old contestant on a show that he was producing. With again, the attorney in those cases

also being Tony Busby. But then beyond just the civil cases, right? There's the criminal charges to talk about because Diddy's attorneys have also reportedly been pushing for federal prosecutors to reveal identities of his alleged victims. With them arguing, they shouldn't have to, quote, play a guessing game, one made all the more challenging by the onslaught of baseless allegations that desperate plaintiffs are lodging at him, for the most part, anonymously in civil

suits designed to exact a payoff. So we're talking about big news, and it's going to be very interesting to see what the ripple effects end up being. But then, last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in game five to win the World Series. And while some of my LA buddies responded by going like, "'Yeah!' and another literally cried, a number of other fans, they gathered together to celebrate and things went from rowdy to destructive." We're talking about people vandalizing

and breaking into businesses, stealing armfuls of shoes from a Nike store, and even setting a bus on fire. Just a whole ass MTA bus on fire in Echo Park. And then when the LAPD stepped in, things didn't get much better, especially as fans took hours to clear the street following a dispersal order.

And according to the LAPD spokesperson, there were street takeovers in several places and police used less lethal munitions to try and control the hostile and violent crowds. With reportedly just 12 people being arrested on charges like failure to disperse, receiving stolen property, and commercial burglary. This, as many online actually heavily criticize

the police response to the celebrations. With one person saying on a video of the bus burning, the LAPD are to blame for this. They were out in their riot gear minutes after the game was over yelling at people to go home. Bitch, we are home. Others also calling upon Mayor Karen Bass to just let people celebrate and quote,

"'Call off the goons.'" But I will also say it wasn't all insanity, right? There were a lot of celebrations that happened all over the city without incident. Fireworks and chanting, people banging pots and pans together from their porches and just overall happiness. You also saw things like in Little Tokyo, a crowd gathered around a mural of Shohei Ohtani,

the Dodgers player who became the first ever to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a single season. You even saw the Hollywood sign taken part with just the D lighting up in blue. But also while there's the question of what celebrations might look like from here, you had Bass putting out a statement saying that the LAPD is gonna be on high alert this week

to protect communities and businesses. With her adding that as the celebration continues, quote, violence will not be tolerated. But yeah, with all that said, one, Dodgers fans, how you feeling? And two, Yankees fans, what are your feelings about Aaron Judge and or any individual player? Just looking online, a lot of people

have a lot of thoughts to share. Man, I don't think I could be a professional baseball, basketball, football player and have social media. Then, y'all, we're gonna talk about how a South American heist group pulled off an Ocean's Eleven-style spree across California, stealing $2.5 million before the FBI ultimately tracked them down

with now 10 suspects facing charges. With the FBI saying the crew apparently was helped a lot by just acting like they were supposed to be there. Which makes sense, because an ultimate truth of life is confidence is 95% of everything. There's a reason so many mediocre people succeed in life. If you act like you belong, you belong.

And so they'd wear construction vests and hats alongside surgical masks to hide their identities in order to scout out banks when planning their heists. And so this allowed them to target the banks more like you'd see in Ocean's 11 rather than Heat. And there were things like during scouting missions, they would spray paint camera lenses and scout out bank floor plans.

Like for example, in May, they got access to an ATM vault in Fresno and $80,000 by drilling through the wall of a unit that was next to the bank. And you know, the whole shtick of get into a neighboring business to rob a bank, that was actually considered a signature move of theirs. Like in mid-September when they stole $247,000

from a Wells Fargo in Fresno again, but doing so by breaking into the pet spa next door. And this is on top of that, they also use signal jammers to prevent wireless security devices from working. However, things started to unravel for them back in May when the FBI started following the case, with them quickly linking the group's tactics to several robberies across California. And the FBI noticed that during the robberies, there were always three cars present. A silver Suburban, a silver Audi SUV, and a white Ford Explorer. But then a huge break coming in September when the Chevy was pulled over in Simi Valley.

Turns out the car was reported stolen by Hertz Rental, although the driver claims to have been unaware of that and said he had just rented the car from a club promoter. The FBI, they tracked this person down, they interview him, they learn that he's also loaned the car out to a man by the name of Gordito. And that is when the whole house of cars just came crashing down.

Right, and that because the Chevy also happened to have an Apple AirTag device in it. So it allowed the FBI to track all of its movements and connect it to Airbnb rentals in every city that had a bank robbery as well, as see that it was always near the robberies. So they go after Gordito, who was later found to be Alex Moyano Morales, a Chilean national

who allegedly led this group. Which on that note, the group was apparently made up of mostly Chileans, as well as at least one who ultimately came from Venezuela. But either way, it ends up that Moyano was linked to crimes both in California and Chile and was finally picked up in Glendale. And it turns out he's been using aliases

to avoid capture for quite some time now. Now, as far as the rest of the group, they were still out and about until October 18th when they were tracked down in Oregon and Seattle. Because one group had set up shop in an Oregon Airbnb before becoming suspicious that police were on their tails. With them trying to get out in a hurry, even abandoning tools, but the police still got them.

And then the other group, they set up shop in Seattle on that same day before getting nabbed themselves. But y'all, with all this, let me say two things. One, officially, and then one, not so officially. Officially, y'all, crime is never the answer. But then also, unofficially, y'all, crime is never the answer for this amount of money. There was Tenneval, you brought in $2.5 million,

split evenly, that's $250,000, and now you're gonna face years behind bars. And to steal that amount of money, you were doing super cool, smart spy shit. Maybe I'm thinking too highly of you, but it sounds like you have applicable life and work skills. Like with the kind of high-tech shit y'all were doing, it sounds like you should have been leaving Fresno, gone up to San Francisco and been making 500K a year plus stock options. And now I'm feeling kind of bad. I'm like, maybe you didn't have a father figure in your life who told you to dream. Hey, anyway, I guess enjoy prison.

But then in super fun, can't trust anybody these days news. Let's talk about people trying to take your money. And specifically, I wanna talk about what a group of hackers have been able to do with an app called FakeCall according to security experts is Imperium. Because this hack that's being used involves Android phones and it works by hijacking calls to banks and rerouting them to hackers.

It even puts up a fake image on the screen to still show the bank number so users think they're still on a call with the bank. And it turns out it's based on similar tech that was discovered back in 2022, although the exact method has obviously changed since then. You see specifically here, it starts with a phishing attack with users then downloading an APK,

which is the format Android apps come in, and they're now pretty screwed unless they uninstall the app. From there, the app then has to be set as the default calling app, And let's just be honest, most of us just see something. We go, yeah, whatever, go click, click, click, get out of my face. Yeah, Mickey Mouse can kill me and I won't sue. But here, when clicking the prompts, it becomes the default calling app and it gives the malware a ton of access to the phone and it

abuses its accessibility features to redirect the calls. And that, it might actually just be the start of it as well. Because according to researchers, the malware might actually be far more powerful than that and can fully hijack your phone, not just calls. Are we talking about things like giving other apps more permissions than they should have and monitoring Bluetooth and screen activity? Also to be clear here, the name of the app may not always be fake call, right?

They can change it to whatever they want. But then to kind of broaden the issue here, this actually highlights something that Apple has argued in their antitrust court case. They argue that their closed off app store ecosystem, it allows them to prevent hacks like this. Which is partially true, as these kinds of vulnerabilities

are far, far less common on iOS. But all that being said, right, the normal anti-hack advice still remains the same. Do not download shit from emails or click random links. Also be hyper vigilant of even the most normal looking emails because all it takes is one slip up to become fucked. So I'm gonna be honest with you, there is probably a chance you're gonna get fucked up.

We are inundated with so much bullshit we have to sift through every single day. It really feels like a when rather than an if for most people. So yeah, I guess main point of this news is good luck out there. But then taking a quick break from the news, really no matter what you're doing this fall,

lounging around, working out, special night out, what matters is what's closest to you, your underwear. Because MeUndies, a long time sponsor of the show, they have something for everyone. And their micro-mole fabric is breathable, incredibly you, your underwear. Because MeUndies, a longtime sponsor of the show, they have something for everyone. And their micro-mole fabric is breathable, incredibly soft, and seriously comfortable for all the essential parts. I mean, just look at the hundreds of five-star reviews

saying that these could be your new favorite boxer briefs. I mean, sounds like a great holiday gift idea to me. And honestly, I can vouch for them myself, right? Especially if I'm on a run or even if I'm just chilling around the house. And whether you like boxer briefs, jock straps, matching holiday loungewear, MeUndies has over 10 styles and over 100 colors and prints from classic black to fun patterns.

And again, MeUndies isn't just about underwear, right? If you haven't yet, check out their lounge collection featuring joggers, hoodies, onesies, and more. Especially because their signature fabric feels so good that it makes all of their products ideal for all-day wear. And get this, if you're not happy with your first pair of undies, no worries, it's on MeUndies. Plus, they use sustainably sourced materials and work with partners that care for their workers. So y'all, kick off lounge season with MeUndies and get 20% off your first order,

plus free shipping at MeUndies.com slash Philip DeFranco. Again, that's MeUndies.com slash Philip DeFranco for 20% off plus free shipping. MeUndies, comfort from the outside in. But then, Texas is denying children access to life-saving procedures, critical care, and other essential health services. The state specifically doing this

by mass purging millions of people from their Medicaid rolls, causing many people to just lose coverage even when they're still eligible. And now because of the sheer number of people who have wrongfully lost coverage who are trying to get it back, Texas's Medicaid offices have been completely overwhelmed. Meaning that people who improperly lost their insurance

have to go without coverage for longer periods, sometimes waiting months at a time. And all of this as the state's medical system is being strained by the large population of newly uninsured. And here's the kicker, a new investigation by ProPublica and the Texas Tribune has found that it was completely preventable. So for some background here, during the pandemic, the federal government paid states billions of dollars to not kick people off of Medicaid and make the health crisis that much worse. So as a result, Medicaid rolls grew astronomically nationwide. I mean, just in Texas alone, the number of people receiving those benefits increased by more than 50% to 6 million.

But in April of 2023, the federal government stopped requiring states to keep everyone enrolled, with them leaving it to the states to determine who was still eligible and who needed to be removed, a process that is commonly known as Medicaid unwinding. And I mean, right from the get-go, federal officials were worried about how this unwinding would impact vulnerable Americans, like the millions of low-income people who rely on Medicaid for healthcare. So in order to prevent poor families from losing coverage, the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, issued guidelines instructing states to move slowly and carefully. But Texas, Texas did the exact opposite. Instead, working to remove as

many people as possible, as fast as possible. And those efforts were unprecedented, right? According to the nonprofit health organization, KFF, Texas purged more residents from Medicaid than any other state, with officials disenrolling a whopping 2.5 million people in total.

And yes, Texas is the second biggest state in the country, but it still removed more people than it kept on the rolls. But, and this is the key thing here, the key thing to take away, the vast majority of those people who were removed, it wasn't necessarily because they were no longer eligible for Medicaid, with KFF finding that nearly seven out of every 10 Texans stripped of their insurance

were disenrolled for administrative and bureaucratic reasons. Things like failing to return a renewal form or filling one out incorrectly, or because of issues on the administrator's end, like when a state Medicaid office doesn't have up-to-date contact information and can't reach people to tell them, hey, you need to resubmit to qualify. And that kind of procedural shit, it happens all the time. But when you're talking about it happening to 1.7 million people, you have to wonder if there's a bigger failure with

how the system's being administered. And that is exactly what ProPublica found in its investigation with the outlet reporting that it viewed dozens of public and private records, which clearly show that those and other mistakes were preventable and foreshadowed in persistent warnings from the federal government, whistleblowers, and advocates. Right from the very start, Texas decided to go against multiple key federal guidelines. Like for example, federal officials encouraged states not to review more than 11% of their caseloads each month, arguing that doing any more could overwhelm their Medicaid systems and cause eligible people to be removed. But just in the first month of the unwinding,

Texas reviewed nearly a million cases, 17% of its caseload. Within six months, the state had launched reviews of around 4.6 million cases. But arguably the most significant federal guidance Texas ignored was the strong recommendation that states automatically renew eligible residents using existing government data.

Or using information like tax records or quarterly payroll data, employers report to determine how much money a family makes and if they qualify. But instead, Texas, for some reason, forced nearly everyone to resubmit documents to prove that they were still eligible for Medicaid, which is a big part of the reason

so many people were removed for administrative reasons, like failing to provide the necessary documents in time. But also, Texas didn't just flout guidance. It repeatedly ignored numerous direct warnings from the federal government. In fact, according to ProPublica, just one month into the unwinding, the federal government

pressed Texas on why it was moving so damn fast, and officials responded by downplaying the concerns. Then, a few months later in July, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra urged Texas and other states to automatically renew more people using existing government data. Also, that same week, a group of employees anonymously emailed the leader of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, with them claiming senior management had informed them that tens of thousands of people had been improperly removed from Medicaid thanks to the

agency's poor handling of the unwinding. But it also doesn't end there, right? In August, CMS explicitly asked Texas to stop requiring eligible people to resubmit documents proving they still qualify, with them noting that it appeared that many people weren't even aware that they had to re-enroll, couldn't understand the forms, or faced other issues. And at around the same time, numerous advocacy groups, health providers, and newspaper editorial boards began urging the state to pause its harmful unwinding and make sure that people weren't incorrectly

losing their insurance. But Texas just kept ignoring and ignoring, and the problems persisted. With things getting so bad that back in December, Becerra appealed directly to Texas Governor Greg Abbott and eight other governors of states with the highest shares of children who had lost Medicaid coverage. And Becerra appealed directly to Texas Governor Greg Abbott and eight other governors of states with the highest shares of children who had lost Medicaid coverage.

And Becerra writing that Texas alone accounted for nearly a quarter of all American kids who lost federal insurance during the unwinding. And once again, urging the state to follow federal guidelines. But Texas, like the others before it, ignored that final plea with ProPublica writing, "'The decision to buck the federal government guidelines

"'was one of many that led to serious repercussions for Texas residents who rely on the program. As the outlet noted, that decision was especially devastating because the state already has so many restrictions on Medicaid that make access so much harder. I mean, Texas provides Medicaid to a smaller percentage of its residents than almost any other state. And it's also one of just 10 states that never expanded eligibility after the passage of Obamacare. And that, thanks in part to Greg Abbott, who helped successfully sue the federal government to make sure states didn't have to cover more residents when he was a state attorney general. So as a result, the state's program is seriously limited and mostly only applies to children, pregnant women, and disabled adults. But poor adults usually aren't eligible unless they have kids, and even then, the threshold is super low.

Parents who have two kids only qualify when they have a combined income of under $285 a month. Though oftentimes, kids can still qualify even if their parents don't. Which is also why when the state mass purged its Medicaid rolls, most of the eligible people it hurt were children. And the impacts of that are insanely consequential with one pediatrician telling ProPublica that children have been forced to postpone or even totally forego life-saving operations like heart surgery. And critical care has also been unnecessarily cut for kids with severe diseases like sickle cell anemia, as well as those with autism or other developmental disorders.

While crucial care is obviously the most serious repercussion, any lapse in healthcare coverage also hurts families who just need regular everyday care. Do you know exactly what happened to people like Michaela Hoops, right? I mean, her kids have been on Medicaid all their lives, but they lost their coverage during the unwinding.

After years of never having to renew their coverage, Hoops was confused when she was required to reapply and miss the deadline. So Hoops was forced to frantically apply seven days after the unwinding. After years of never having to renew their coverage, Hoops was confused when she was required to reapply and miss the deadline. So Hoops was forced to frantically apply seven days after the coverage lapse. But then because the Medicaid system was so bogged down with all these people who wrongly lost coverage reapplying, it took over a hundred days for their insurance

to be restored. And in those 100 plus days that the family went without insurance, Hoops had to take her oldest son to the emergency room for a serious migraine, a visit that ended up costing $3,000 that she and her husband couldn't pay. And then a few months later, the 14 year old broke his nose

and while she paid a few hundred dollars out of pocket for the doctor, she couldn't afford the CT scan needed to reset his nose, which was just left to heal crooked. And while Hoops' family eventually got their healthcare back, there are many other people who went through the same thing,

being forced to reapply and wait long periods of time without insurance. And according to the state Medicaid agency, the median processing time for applications is nearly three months because of the strain this mass purge has caused. And that's also way more than the federal limit, which is 45 days in most cases.

In fact, the wait time situation is so serious that CMS launched an investigation into it back in May. But then also the consequences of Texas's decision go beyond the human element with ProPublica explaining, the sudden suspension of health insurance for a population the size of New Mexico has had additional ramifications in Texas, including higher treatment costs for hospitals and clinics

forced to take on more uninsured patients. Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, the single biggest pediatric hospital in the country, they had to lay off employees because of major budget shortfalls caused in part by the loss of Medicaid patients during the unwind day. And statewide, some safety net clinics reported

a 30% decrease in Medicaid revenue, forcing layoffs, furloughs, and cuts to certain health services. Also at this point, if you think, things can't get any shittier, sorry, turns out it can, because Texas uses the same eligibility system to process applications for both Medicaid and food stamps. So some families who were pushed off of their healthcare also lost their food benefits,

and they're having to wait over a month for that assistance. And so ultimately we just have this huge fucking mess. And as far as what happens from here, unfortunately, there's really not that much that can be done to help all these people in the healthcare systems that Texas has hurt. At least right now, really, I mean, like the only glimmer of hope for accountability is the federal probe into the long wait time. Even there, while federal officials and health policy experts say that is a solid step, there are very few options for CMS to actually hold Texas responsible. You have experts saying the agency could pull federal funding but that could result in low-income people

losing health insurance and open the government up for a lawsuit. And this also as that probe probably won't go anywhere if Trump wins in November because he's encouraged states to restrict Medicaid and vowed to repeal Obamacare. And so for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how multiple things play out. And in the meantime, of course,

I'd love to know your thoughts, especially if you're someone who lives in Texas. Then finally today, let's end with a congratulations and let's talk about next week and specifically Election Day. Starting with a congratulations to this week's SeatGeek prize winner, right? $500 towards any tickets on SeatGeek. I mean, you can go to see your favorite artist, sporting event, or play. And I mean, there's over 70,000 events to choose from. And for everyone else, that's right, SeatGeek and the Daily Dip are still giving away

up to $1,000 in tickets, and you should definitely enter today if you haven't already. You just add code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance at the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. And $1,000 prizes are available to Daily Dip subscribers who add code PDS, newsletter doubling entries and winning.

So get in on it, it is a no-brainer. With that said, let's talk about next week. So next week, things are gonna be slightly different. Obviously, it's a big week. One, you're still gonna get your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Philip DeFranco shows. Two, I will be going live on election night. We're gonna be taking in the results as they come in,

talk about current events as they're happening. We got some segments pre-shot out. So no, no matter what your plans for election night are, outside of voting, which again, if you haven't voted, be a part of the process. Just know you're not gonna have to go through it alone, or at the which again, if you haven't voted, be a part of the process. Just know you're not gonna have to go through it alone, or at the very least, if you already got plans, I'm a plus one.

Available to you and depending on how the night goes, it'll, you know, I don't even know when the end point is. But yeah, that's it. Y'all have a safe and as sane as possible weekend. I love your faces. Of course, for more news, you might need to know that YouTube thinks you'll like. I got you covered here.

So get in on our brand new Beautiful Bastard drop. I got you covered here. So get in on our brand new beautiful bastard drop. I got you covered here and in the links in the description. As always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here on Monday.