The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.5 Debunking Election Result Misinformation, Exposing Desperate Lies, Lawsuits, & More

Episode Date: November 5, 2020

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Hey, welcome to day three of you constantly refreshing your Twitter feed to see if the guy that has an over three and a half million vote lead can squeak out a win in the election. Also for the non-Americans who watch this show, no, I'm not being sarcastic, that's how it works here. But that said, welcome to the, oh my God, it's Thursday, Philip DeFranco show.

Yeah, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. I'm emotionally exhausted and let's just jump into it. And first up today, let's talk about some key things regarding this election. Starting with, and this is important for everyone, but especially if you live in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona, or Nevada. Down below, I'll link you to a source

where you can check the status of your mail-in ballot if you have not done so yet, as well as information on what to do if you live in one of those critical states and your ballot was rejected, provided your state has options for that. And that is very important because in a number of these states,

we are seeing how much every single vote matters. And if it turns out your ballot was rejected, you do not have a ton of time to fight it. You need to act ASAP. Though here, I do want to note, there's also been some misinformation regarding rejected ballots.

There was a claim on social media that 40,000 votes out of DeKalb County were rejected. That claim blew up and the county themselves actually had to tweet out and debunk that claim. Writing voters, there is incorrect info circulating regarding the number of DeKalb ballots that need to be cured by Friday. Currently, there are approximately 200 ballots

that need to be cured and each voter is being contacted via phone or overnight mail. With the ProPublica reporter noting that the entire state of Georgia is actually only expecting about 3000 rejections altogether. But with how tight of a race we are seeing in Georgia, those votes could be key. Also on the note of false claims,

let's talk about Trump yesterday taking to Twitter to 100% falsely claim victory in a number of states, tweeting, we have claimed for electoral purposes, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which won't allow legal observers, the state of Georgia and the state of North Carolina, each one of which has a big Trump lead. Additionally, we hereby claim the state of Michigan,

if in fact there was a large number of secretly dumped ballots as has been widely reported. And I, Philip DeFranco, for electoral vote purposes, claim California as my own. Sorry, libs, I'm gonna drink those tears. No, as of right now, all of that is, I think scientifically speaking, bullshit, including that bit about secretly dumped ballots,

which Twitter flagged as false election information. But several outlets reporting that piece of misinformation appears to have stemmed from a typo and a now deleted tweet posted by a conservative columnist. Right, notably at that time, no single outlet had called any of those races for Trump. And in fact, just a few hours later, Michigan ended up being called for Biden

by every single projection. And the thing is, like we talked about yesterday, like we've talked about on a number of shows, none of this is surprising. He has been telegraphing this. We knew that this was going to happen. If it's not looking like it's going his way, claim fraud. Which, you know, in addition to the tweets,

we saw him at the White House saying, "'Ay, I won,' claiming fraud again, saying, "'So we'll be going to the US Supreme Court. "'We want all voting to stop. "'We don't want them to find any ballots at four o'clock in the morning and add them to the list. Now, notably here, legal experts have said that Trump can't just ask the Supreme Court

to intervene in the election and stop counting ballots. That's just not how the Supreme Court works. It can't just decide to take action on its own. You know, the cases have to work their way up. And actually, to that point, the Trump campaign yesterday did announce a number of legal challenges in numerous states. But the strategy here is seeming to be, let's sue everyone and see what actually sticks.

And the campaign has filed an absurd amount of lawsuits in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada. Some of those states actually getting hit with multiple lawsuits each, some of which have already been dismissed or rejected by state courts. And while I will not dive into the nitty gritty of all of those cases,

I do briefly wanna look at some of the more notable ones. This including legal challenges to stop the counting of votes in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Nevada. In Pennsylvania, which seems to be seeing the most legal challenges of any state, the campaign filed a lawsuit demanding the court stop all ballot counting. This, they say, until their poll observers

are given better access to oversee that process. And while a lower court dismissed that case, an appeals court judge overruled that today and allowed the observers to stand closer to the officials counting ballots as long as they were wearing masks. Right, and this lawsuit is almost identical to one out of Michigan, where the campaign also alleged

that their election inspectors did not have proper access to observe the counts. And there we saw a judge dismiss that case today, saying that it was basically moot because most of the ballots had already been counted. But notably, in both of these states, top officials have refused to stop counting ballots and defended how their elections were run.

With Pennsylvania's governor saying that the administration's legal claims are an attempt to subvert the democratic process. Meanwhile, in Nevada, the administration's taking a slightly different route with their legal challenge. Attempting to stop the counting of absentee ballots had been going far more for Joe Biden

in Clark County, home to Las Vegas, by filing an emergency injunction, demanding that officials there stop using an automatic signature verification machine. And after Nevada Supreme Court denied that request, the campaign decided to file another legal challenge just this morning. This time, suing to stop the counting

of what they referred to as illegal votes by claiming that they had evidence that ballots had been cast by non-residents of the state and dead people. Though, incredibly important to note here, not providing any evidence to back up this claim. And actually, regarding this, we ended up seeing this moment

with Trump's former acting Director of National Intelligence, Rick Grinnell. Hey, Rick Grinnell, we're live on MSNBC right now. Can you talk about the evidence? You're claiming thousands of illegitimate votes here in Nevada. What's the evidence? You should go in and ask the question of the clerk. No, no, no, no, no. Which you haven't done yet.

You guys just made the claim. No, in fact, you also said there's no election observers. There's Democratic and Republican election observers inside. Mr. Grenell, former DNI Grenell, acting DNI, where's the evidence of the fraud? You haven't presented any evidence of fraud. Now, as far as do any of these cases go to the Supreme Court,

many legal experts say that it is unlikely because most of them have absolutely zero legal basis or because they are simply smaller cases that will either be thrown out or dealt with at the state level like the one we saw in Michigan and Pennsylvania. With many saying that these lawsuits are bogus, it's kind of Donald Trump and the administration flailing,

possibly in an effort for him to save face if he ends up actually losing, or with it being Donald Trump, it could be a setup for something far more nefarious. Especially because as Axios points out, while close elections are common and there's no proof of widespread irregularities, as Trump has shown over and over,

he can quickly get 40% of the public to believe him and elected GOP officials to fall in line. Also, a thing I wanna note about why almost all of the mail-in ballots are favoring Biden. Somehow I have seen numerous people going like, "'That doesn't make sense. "'That seems shady.'" No, this is a situation that Donald Trump

and a number of key Republicans actually created. You were there for at least one of these all summer. Donald Trump kept spouting lie after lie about why mail-in voting wasn't reliable, saying it's not safe, it could lead to massive voter fraud, and while that is not true, his supporters likely listened to him and many opted to not vote by mail.

It's also why the in-person Election Day vote so heavily favored Donald Trump. And keep in mind, one of the main reasons that people chose to vote by mail this year was out of fear of the coronavirus. There are people concerned that if they vote in person, they might get COVID-19 and join the over 230,000 Americans that have died from this virus,

with fears of COVID-19 being much higher when it comes to Democrats. And as I and so many others have been pointing out for months, this is exactly what we should expect, especially once again, in places like Pennsylvania that local election officials wanted time before election day to process all the mail-in ballots and the Republicans in the state said no.

But that reality has not stopped a number of Trump supporters from being angry and outraged. So we saw them organizing and protesting to stop the vote in Michigan, which as we mentioned, Donald Trump sued for votes to stop being counted. Even though once again, the state has already been called for Biden, the gap in his lead now at nearly three points.

It's been so interesting comparing and contrasting the different Trump protests. Trump supporters in Detroit saying, Stop the count! Stop the count! Also seeing some footage there, those protesters trying to push into the building, but being stopped by security.

Then you look to Arizona and you see them saying, Help those votes! Help those votes! Also, let's take a second to talk about Maricopa County there. One of the main driving factors there for that protest was a conspiracy theory known as Sharpie Gate. This idea that poll workers were intentionally sabotaging votes for Donald Trump,

with their claim being that somehow poll workers were able to tell the difference between Trump supporters and Biden supporters by looking at them. And saying poll workers would then hand Sharpies to the people who were suspected to be Trump voters instead of regular pens. And claiming that from there, they would be able to invalidate votes for Donald Trump.

With one woman actually suing county election officials after saying that her ballot was invalidated because she was given a Sharpie. And as far as her claim, she said that after completing her ballot, she tried to feed it into the ballot box, but it was rejected. With the woman noting that the ink bled through to the other as her claim, she said that after completing her ballot, she tried to feed it into the ballot box, but it was rejected. With the woman noting that the ink bled through

to the other side, then saying that a poll worker canceled her ballot when she requested a new one. With her claiming that the poll worker then refused to give her a new ballot. And she also claimed that Maricopa County's voting machines were unable to read Sharpies. Also requesting that everyone who was given a Sharpie

be identified and allowed to fix their vote so it's counted. However, according to experts and election officials, her claim is not true. In fact, you even have the communications director for the Maricopa County Elections Department telling Reuters, Sharpies are just fine to use. They do not impact tabulation and we encourage them

on election day because of how fast the ink dries. And actually, even before this conspiracy theory got picked up on Tuesday, right, election day, you had the Maricopa County Elections Department tweeting, did you know we use Sharpies in the vote center so the ink doesn't smudge as ballots are counted on site? "'New offset columns on the ballots means bleed through "'won't impact your vote.'"

Alongside that, tweeting a video that was originally posted to YouTube on October 24th with that video saying that Sharpies are a valid method for marking your ballot. You also have the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is an agency formed by legislation that Donald Trump himself signed,

labeling this a false rumor, noting that poll workers are required to provide approved writing devices to voters. But the Associated Press also noting, even if a ballot could not be read by a tabulation machine, it would be reviewed by a board that reexamines the ballots. The vote would not be canceled.

But still, the internet and where we are as a country right now, all of that did very little to stop that conspiracy theory. Right, I mean, among other things, you had people posting tweets like, "'Voted with a Sharpie pen and now my vote is canceled. Whoa!" This guy also including an image showing that his ballot had been cancelled However, this is a severely cropped photo that doesn't appear to tell the full story and as Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs pointed out

Voters who received an early ballot in the mail but chose to instead vote in person will see their early ballot status as cancelled on Their ballot by mail early ballot status update This is because the early ballot is cancelled so the ballot cast in person can be counted. Right, and so if you compare these two photos, you can see that the guy's mail-in ballot was canceled because it was never actually returned. And as that guy noted, he voted in person. And while we're seeing similar Sharpie-related stories

circulating in places like Chicago, Michigan, Massachusetts, Connecticut, they are far from the only conspiracy theories meant to scare conservative voters. In fact, on Tuesday, election day, Eric Trump shared a video that alleges to show 80 Virginian ballots, all cast for President Trump, being burned.

In that video, you can see a person throwing what appears to be ballots into a plastic bag, all before pouring lighter fluid over that bag, setting it on fire. However, according to the city of Virginia Beach, those ballots are not real, with officials pointing out that these are clearly sample ballots

as they lack the barcode markings that are on all official ballots. And that is ultimately where I'm gonna end this section. Not because that is all that is happening regarding conspiracy theories or even the results in individual states. Lies and misinformation unfortunately in this day and age spread at a rate that it's almost impossible to keep up.

So I'm trying to address what I can there. And as far as results in individual states, as I'm recording certain states are tightening. We might see something flip another way, but that's a bit like trying to hit a moving target. And honestly, just like you, I'm gonna be just refreshing and refreshing to see what updates we get regarding those numbers.

But what I do hope is that we can all agree in this democracy, every vote should be counted. A vote does not somehow become illegitimate or fraud because it goes the opposite way. And I say that once again, to everyone, no matter who you support, if we attack this system, we attack trust in the electoral process, we all lose. This goes to a bad place.

We've seen it in other countries, I think, as Americans we believe that stuff just happens in other places, something scary or crazy, it couldn't happen here, but everything is possible. We're not superior, we're all human, we see it in other places, we see it at different times, and like that famous quote, history doesn't always repeat itself, but it often rhymes.

Then in non-election news, but not really, because everything is about it right now, let's talk about the Gap. And the reason we're talking about the Gap today is because yesterday they thought that it was a good idea to tweet out a new hoodie. A hoodie, I guess that was a commercial product that called for unity, writing the caption,

the one thing we know is that together "'we can move forward.'" With that post including this image of a half red, half blue zip up. And the honest truth here, they did it. The Gap brought people together to hate the, with people quickly mocking it on Twitter, writing things like, "'Thanks Gap, I'm gonna wear this on the battleground

"'in the Civil War to symbolize "'how we should all be getting along better.'" Even some bigger stars like Chrissy Teigen chiming in saying, "'Yay, we can just walk sideways "'depending on the city we're in.'" Then on top of that, you had people going after the company for essentially using the chaos in America as a marketing opportunity.

And so eventually what we ended up seeing was the brand deleting that tweet and then telling the New York Times that the hoodie actually wasn't for sale, saying, "'The intention of our social media posts "'that featured a red and blue hoodie "'was to show the power of unity. "'It was just too soon for this message.

"'We remain optimistic that our country will come together to drive positive change for all." You know, this story was supposed to be kind of a quickie, funny, let's kind of just dunk on gap really quick story. You know, a thing I do want to note here is I think that it's going to be a very long time until we can come together as a country. I mean, there's numerous examples, numerous reasons.

Like I mentioned earlier, just look at what's happening today. You have one side in one place saying stop the vote, this is fraudulent, then people from that same group in another place saying, hey the president needs to catch up, count the votes. We as a people, both nationally and internationally, no longer take information from the same bucket. Facts are no longer facts anymore. We see misinformation campaigns get unmitigated traction online, that fostering these crazy toxic communities. Hell, what's something that has historically brought a people together, even if just momentarily?

Tragedy. There was a chance with COVID-19, metaphorically, not physically, to bring us together, but that ended up getting politicized. You have people spitting in the face of science, people seeing wearing a mask, which is really just being considerate for others as the taking away of rights.

Right, apparently this is oppression. Unfortunately, in this country, there are people on completely different planets. I don't know what can mend that, and understand I say this as someone that's not trying to say that both sides are equally wrong here. We have people in this country this election cycle that decided it was a good idea

to send QAnon supporters to Congress. Right, I'm not saying legitimize crazy and misinformed by trying to meet that halfway. But yeah, that's a story, and I'd love to know your thought on either the gap part or the second half. And then let's talk about something that Donald Trump said would just disappear on November 4th.

No one's gonna talk about it, no one's gonna care. COVID-19, which I regret to inform you, as well as all the hacks that are like, I guess no one's even talking about it now, because there's an election happening and people are talking about the future of the entire country, is still here. COVID-19 is still thriving.

And we know this because the reporting on this incredibly important topic has continued. Even with the election going on and everyone caring more about Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia more than they ever did before, what we found yesterday was that the United States had 102,831 new COVID-19 infections, which is incredibly notable

because that is the largest single day spike in new cases since the pandemic began. And understand that really wasn't an outlier. In the last week, the United States had five days of record setting single day cases and the seven day average of new cases is 89,859 new cases a day. And for some context here,

that is a 108% jump from just last month. And in fact, nationwide, there are only three states jump from just last month. And in fact, nationwide, there are only three states trending in the right direction. You have Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. With John Hopkins reporting that about 9.5 million Americans have been infected with COVID-19 and roughly 234,000 have died. Now notably, this trend of increased cases

is not limited to the United States. Worldwide, we are seeing spikes in cases, government mandated shutdowns. Just about a week ago on October 30th, France entered its second national lockdown, with Germany doing something similar at the start of this week, while the UK, Austria, and much of Europe

are following in their footsteps. And really, only in East and Southeast Asia have countries managed to keep the virus relatively contained with only small outbreaks. So yeah, I guess mainly here, just a reminder that it did not disappear. This is still an incredibly important and scary situation. But where I'll actually leave this topic

is on the note of a second coronavirus stimulus bill. While we saw Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans essentially kill the possibility of any meaningful coronavirus relief before the election, it seems like there may be hope. Because yesterday we saw Senator Mitch McConnell announce. We need another rescue package. Hopefully the partisan passions that prevented us

from doing another rescue package will subside with the election. And I think we need to do it. And I think we need to do it before the end of the year. Though I do want to note here when he says partisan passions prevented us, the US House passed a comprehensive coronavirus relief package that Mitch McConnell wouldn't even take to the floor of the Senate.

The Senate Republicans instead offering their own relief bill that was much, much less. And a number of experts also said would not do enough. While for their part, Democrats did refuse to negotiate down nearly any part of their bill. There's this belief that if the relief is not of a certain size, it's not going to do what is intended.

Ultimately, what that meant was neither side could even agree on where to start negotiations. Though maybe there could be some movement here. Mitch McConnell yesterday saying that he would agree to negotiate a few of the points with Democrats. So maybe things like more funding for schools, hospitals, and a continuation of the small business loan program.

However, it should be noted he would not agree to the massive spending proposal that Democrats have sought. Things like increased funding for state governments and expanded national testing programs. Republicans are also more likely to back that small business loan program and also tax credits for retaining employees. And I will say, it'll be interesting

to see how these negotiations go. You know, right now with the House of Representatives, it looks like the Democrats will retain control, but they are losing some seats. It's also looking like right now that the House of Representatives, it looks like the Democrats will retain control, but they are losing some seats. It's also looking like right now that the Republicans will maintain control of the Senate, though the asterisk there, not definitively. How many votes are needed in the Senate

will also depend on who wins the presidency, since the vice president can break ties there. Also, depending on the final vote counts in Georgia, we may see two runoff elections in January. So like with almost everything in your life right now, it's a little up in the air right now. And I guess we'll know when we know. And that my friends is where I'm going to end today's show.

As always, thank you for being a part of my daily dives into the news. Thanks for being a part of this family. And hey, if you're new here, maybe you wanna get adopted, hit that subscribe button. Hey, maybe even text me at 813-213-4423. Notifications, updates behind the scenes, cool opportunities.

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 soon? Question mark?