The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.20 "Why'd You Shoot My Daddy & Me?" Jonathan Majors Has More Alleged Victims, Buzzfeed News Shutdown, &

Starting point is 00:00:00 I have to ask you, what is going on in the world right now? Though that's not fair. What is going on in America right now? It feels like this week specifically, everywhere you looked, it was just people getting shot left and right for, they described it as being in the wrong place, wrong time, which is oversimplified. But it is something that we have to talk about

Starting point is 00:00:15 because over the last week or so, there have been so many stories with four specific horrible stories having a very similar theme. The first making big national headlines was Kansas City, Missouri, where a 16-year-old black teenager named Ralph Yarl accidentally went up to the wrong house to pick up his younger siblings. It was a very simple mistake. Instead of going to Northeast 115th

Starting point is 00:00:31 Terrace, he went to Northeast 115th Street, which also was just one block away. But before he could realize his harmless mistake, he was shot in the head and arm by Andrew Lester, an 84 year old white man, with prosecutors saying that Ralph didn't even cross the threshold into the home, and there is no evidence that any words were exchanged before Lester just fired shots through a glass door. According to the criminal complaint, Lester told police he saw a black male, quote, pulling on the exterior storm door handle and thought the person was trying to break into his house. But Ralph, who luckily is expected to make a full recovery, told officers he didn't pull on the door, he just rang the doorbell. Now, Lester, he was initially taken

Starting point is 00:01:02 into police custody, but then released after 24 hours without charges. With that, then resulting in protests and widespread outrage on social media. But then on Tuesday, he was charged with felony assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. With Lester there pleading not guilty and then being released on $200,000 bail. And very notably here, many people, including Ralph's lawyer, have urged prosecutors to file an additional hate crime charge. And while the prosecuting attorney did say there was a racial component to the case, he also noted that the hate crime charge is actually a lesser felony than the charges they decided to bring against Lester and adding it could risk double jeopardy. But again, that was just one of the stories this week, which is days later, 20-year-old

Starting point is 00:01:33 Kalen Gill is being shot and killed in upstate New York after a group of friends accidentally drove down the wrong driveway while looking for another friend's house. And there, according to the authorities, the group was driving in a caravan of two cars and a motorcycle, but they began to leave when they realized their mistake. In fact, the first two vehicles had already turned around to leave, and the last car, which Kalen was in, it was doing the exact same when 65-year-old Kevin Monaghan stepped out of his house and fired two shots. And police believe that none of the friends exited the car or had any interaction with Monaghan before shots were fired. And so as a result, he's now been charged with murder and denied bail.

Starting point is 00:02:02 Then, one day after those charges were announced, he had two cheerleaders shot, one critically injured in a supermarket parking lot in Texas after one of the girls accidentally got into the wrong car, with a cheerleader named Heather Roth saying in an Instagram Live that she was the one who mistook the car for her own, opening the door and then retreating quickly to a friend's car when she saw a man sitting in the passenger seat. She then said that the man approached her friend's vehicle and she had rolled down her window to apologize when he just started shooting. According to court documents, a manager at the supermarket also told police he saw the suspect, quote, shoot at the vehicle multiple times before fleeing the area. And there are police saying they worked through the night to identify and track down the suspect,

Starting point is 00:02:34 who they later identified as 25-year-old Pedro Othello Rodriguez Jr., and they charged him with deadly conduct, which is a third-degree felony. And then the fourth high-profile incident that we had came out of North Carolina, where on Tuesday, you had a man shoot a six-year-old girl and several others, reportedly because a basketball rolled into his yard. Now there, few details have been released so far, with police saying that one man and one child were seriously injured, one woman was grazed by a bullet, and another man was shot at, but not injured. Authorities also didn't identify the victims, but local media have identified them as six-year-old Kinsley White and her parents, William White and Ashley Hildebrand. Officials have also not officially said what prompted the shooting, but neighbors have told reporters that several young children were just playing basketball

Starting point is 00:03:10 when their ball rolled into the yard of 24-year-old Robert Louis Singletary, with him then responding by running down the street, firing at a neighbor, and then approaching Kinsley, who was just playing outside in her yard and shooting her in the face. Singletary then shooting her father, who ran over to protect her, while another bullet grazed her mother. And family members saying they saw Singletary chasing William, who collapsed, bleeding on the ground, and is still in the face. Singletary then shooting her father who ran over to protect her while another bullet grazed her mother. And family members saying they saw Singletary chasing William who collapsed bleeding on the ground and is still in the hospital. Now as far as Kinsley, luckily she's alive. She's also been released from the hospital after doctors removed bullet fragments from her

Starting point is 00:03:34 cheek. And the kindergartner giving an emotional interview to local reporters. Why did you shoot my daddy and me? I tried to shoot a kid's dad. And as far as Singletary, he fled the scene after attacking all these innocent people, and as of recording, he's still at large. With a manhunt underway, and he's wanted on four counts of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflicting serious injury, and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon. And very notably here, before all this, Singletary was already awaiting trial on felony charges

Starting point is 00:04:02 from an incident back in December where he allegedly beat his girlfriend in the head with a mini sledgehammer. The man allegedly not letting her leave his apartment until she cleaned up the evidence. You know, a guy who should definitely still be out there in the streets with the public. And in a world and a country that seemingly does not want to change or don't know what else to say other than this is America. And then did this person cross a line or is the ban bullshit? That's what you have people debating right now with a journalist being suspended on Twitter after reporting on the hacking of Matt Walsh's account and speaking with the alleged hacker.

Starting point is 00:04:31 So for some background, Matt Walsh is a far right pundit, overall weasel man who was hacked earlier this week, with tons of people noticing the hack after several off-brand tweets were posted to his account, with those including things like mocking his Daily Wire colleague Ben Shapiro, another calling Joe Rogan a pedo, another confirming that Andrew Tate kidnapped and raped those girls.

Starting point is 00:04:46 Yesterday, we saw Wired reporter Del Cameron put out a piece titled The Hacker Who Hijacked Matt Walsh's Twitter Was Just Bored. And there, talking to the alleged hacker identified by the alias Doomed, who said that he just did it to stir up some chaos. And adding that the intent was to make funny tweets, as Matt Walsh likes to trigger people. Because no financial harm threatened anyone nor ruined anything. And as far as how he hacked the account, he said that he used SIM swapping, which involves compromising a phone, and there, specifically saying he had an insider help him.

Starting point is 00:05:09 Also on top of hacking Walsh's Twitter, the hacker claimed that he also got into his Google and Microsoft accounts. And there, providing Cameron with copies of Walsh's W2 form and email exchanges between Walsh and Steven Crowder as proof of those hacks. Though notably, Wired not publishing those documents, just referencing their existence as proof, and even keeping descriptions of them limited. Right from the W2, Cameron only revealed who his employer was listed as, and it only summarized and quoted a few emails with Crowder saying that those messages were actually largely benign.

Starting point is 00:05:31 But that article was seemingly enough for Twitter to take action with Dell Cameron posting to his Mastodon, just got permanently suspended for publishing this story. And later posting another screenshot where Twitter said that he was suspended for violating rules against distribution of hacked material. With that message continuing, we don't permit the use of our services to directly distribute

Starting point is 00:05:46 content obtained through hacking that contains private information, may put people in physical harm or danger, or contains trade secrets. But also, if you go to Twitter's policy page regarding hacked materials, it does seem to hold an exception for journalists in some capacity, saying there that because hacked material can be the basis for reporting, Twitter will defer to the editorial judgment of news outlets in its choices to publish it, and saying that in most cases, reporting on hacked materials constitutes indirect distribution, and in these cases, a violation of this policy would result in a label or warning message, not removal of the tweets from Twitter, which is also why you have Wired standing by its staffer, saying in a statement, neither Dell's story nor his Twitter feed contained

Starting point is 00:06:19 hacked materials. We do not believe his account violated Twitter's policy, and saying we have not received any further explanation from Twitter and our attempts to reach Twitter's press office were met with a customary poop emoji. We ask that the account be reinstated and that Twitter provide an explanation. Though, in response to that, some have said that it could do with the tweets

Starting point is 00:06:34 where Cameron asked for Matt Walsh's DMs to be sent to his email. And arguing, here he is seemingly trying to get the hacker to contact him, which would count as soliciting hacked material. Though again, many still believe that given the wiggle room Twitter has left journalists, he did not violate any policies,

Starting point is 00:06:47 which is why you had tons of people defending Cameron and his work, saying that this is deeply troubling, that a fantastic journalist who was incredibly ethical and principled has been suspended for merely reporting on a hack, with people noting explicit protections in law and TOS for this.

Starting point is 00:06:58 But also, a third part of this story is that Walsh has suggested he might actually go after Cameron and Wired. But for now, that's where we are. We'll have to wait to see what happens. And what are your thoughts here? Do you think a line was crossed or no? And then BuzzFeed News is dead,

Starting point is 00:07:10 with CEO Jonah Peretti announcing the shutdown as part of wider layoffs for BuzzFeed in general. Which, I mean, regardless of your feelings towards BuzzFeed and BuzzFeed News, this is huge. I mean, you're talking about a news division that, yes, it struggled economically, but it won a Pulitzer Prize. Reportedly, the staff cuts are going to affect around 180 people. And Peretti's saying in the memo, I made the decision to overinvest in BuzzFeed News because I love their work and mission so much. This made me slow to accept

Starting point is 00:07:31 that the big platforms wouldn't provide the distribution or financial support required to support premium-free journalism purpose-built for social media. Now, as far as the writers, it appears that not everyone's being just kind of cast out. But they're being reported that BuzzFeed and HuffPost will offer roles to some BuzzFeed news staffers. And as far as how the market has reacted, the stock price plummeted, dropping 23% as of recording today, which is also notably around a 90% drop since its listing price back in 2021. Yeah, very big news in a place where the landscape is constantly changing. And then, it's not over. More alleged victims are reportedly saying they were abused by Jonathan Majors. You might remember last month, Majors was arrested in New York over an alleged assault

Starting point is 00:08:06 with a woman telling the NYPD that Majors struck her with an open hand and put his hands on her neck. Though Majors has maintained his innocence and his lawyer even suggesting that he is the victim of the altercation. But now, according to a new report from Variety, more alleged victims are cooperating

Starting point is 00:08:18 with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Now, in response to this, Majors' lawyer gave a statement to the LA Times saying Variety's report is baseless and adding Jonathan Majors is innocent and has not abused anyone. Mr. Majors is currently considering his legal options. But the Times also saying that Majors' legal team has submitted video evidence that, quote, appears to show the accuser uninjured and out on the town after parting ways with Majors on the night of the incident.

Starting point is 00:08:37 But as far as what happens on the legal side here, you know, we're going to have to watch. His next court appearance is scheduled for May. But as far as on the career side, that is chaos right now. With majors now reportedly just being dropped by his talent manager, and you have people beginning to question his future in projects like the Marvel film. And then hydration, hydration, hydration, people. I can't stress enough how important staying hydrated is for everything to do with your body. And luckily, our friends over at Liquid IV can keep you hydrated. And that's why I want to thank them for being a sponsor of today's PDS. To put it plainly, Liquid IV works to hydrate you two times faster than water alone and has three times the electrolytes than

Starting point is 00:09:07 traditional sports drinks. You know, I'm drinking Liquid IV during my workouts on hikes, and I found it to be a great way to rehydrate after a long flight. You just tear, pour, shake, and drink. And of course, I got to mention, it tastes great and is made with clean ingredients and packed with five essential vitamins, B3, B5, B6, B12, and vitamin C. So if you're looking to keep hydrated, click the link down below or use my code to Franco to get 20% off plus free shipping on your next liquid IV order. And then Mike Lindell taking another L to the face with an independent arbitration saying to the firm of MyPillow founder and prominent election denier, Mike Lindell, you lost fair

Starting point is 00:09:39 and square. And that in specific reference to a cyber expert beating his prove Mike wrong challenge. Because if you don't remember after the 2020 election, Lindell spent millions and millions in dollars in spreading election denial. That including lawsuits, launching a television station, and just generally supporting other election deniers. And you might remember, Lindell said that he had verifiable proof that China had interfered in the election, saying that he had data in the form of packet capture showing real-time influence from the Chinese that, quote, cannot be altered.

Starting point is 00:10:03 There 100% evidence. But he wouldn't and didn't reveal that data until August of 2021 when he held a three-day cyber symposium. And Mike issuing the prove Mike wrong challenge, saying that if anyone could prove that the data he had was false or not from the 2020 election, he would pay them $5 million. And saying that his intention with the symposium was to attract media, cyber experts, and make politicians, quote, open their eyes.

Starting point is 00:10:24 With it being Lindell's claim of packet captures that caught the attention of Robert Zeidman, a 63 year old computer forensics expert. And a key thing to know is that Zeidman's a moderate conservative who has served as an expert for tech firms and IP lawsuits and saying that he even voted for Trump in both elections. And he went into this sure that Lindell wouldn't offer

Starting point is 00:10:38 this challenge if the data hadn't first been vetted. So he went to the conference, he entered the contest and he received the rules, which according to the Washington Post say nothing of disproving Chinese influence, but instead proving that the data was not from the November 2020 election. And so when Zeidman reviewed the data, it was mostly PDF files and the packet captures Lindell promised just weren't there. Zeidman even testifying that some of the PDFs were just

Starting point is 00:10:57 enormous files filled with seemingly random numbers and letters. So he laid it all out in a 15-page report saying, I have proven that the data Lindell provides unequivocally does not contain packet data of any kind and do not contain any information related to the November 2020 election. And Zeidman sends a letter to Lindell management a month and a half after the symposium asking for his $5 million, please and thank you. But the aide denied it, and so a month later, Zeidman files for arbitration in line with the contest rules. Rules that say that any dispute must be handled by, quote, final and binding arbitration, which is in turn subject to minimal review by the courts.

Starting point is 00:11:26 Now, Lindell claimed during arbitration that he didn't provide his key data during the conference because, and I'm being serious here, someone poked him in the side while trying to take a selfie, which he says he took as a sign that the government was going to tamper with his information if he made it public. You know, once again, the data, he said, cannot be altered. But anyway, Lindell told the arbitration panel that his red team of advisors told him not to make the information public in saying, they said it could be a poison pill put in the data and we really shouldn't release the China stuff. But the panel has now ruled in Zeidman's favor and directed Lindell management to pay within 30 days. And as far as why Zeidman has pushed it this far, he said that, yeah, he wanted the money, but he also wanted to push back against election denial, saying, Mr. Lindell has a lot of followers. He's making a lot of statements to people that I know,

Starting point is 00:12:06 people that are good friends of mine, people that are influential, and they are claiming that he has the data that shows that this election was stolen. And following the ruling, his lawyer said, I think the arbitrators thought it important that these claims be vetted because they've done great harm to our country. Also, as you might imagine, Lindell, not a fan of this ruling, saying in a text message to the Post, they made a terribly wrong decision. This will be going to court. But reportedly, the decision itself cannot be appealed. But Lindell can ask a federal court to overrule it on the basis that it represented a manifest injustice. The Zeitman's attorney says that's a long shot to say the least. But main point, another embarrassing

Starting point is 00:12:37 day for the walking L, that is Mike Lindell. And then, the British government reportedly has their grubby little hands on disabled people's money, with the cash in this case specifically being the savings held for people disabled or not in accounts created under the former Labour government's Child Trust Fund scheme. Essentially, it dished out up to £500 to children born between 2002 and 2011. Depositing the money in a trust fund that parents could contribute more to, encouraging them to save so their kids could collect it all tax-free on their 18th birthday. And the first 18-year-olds withdrew their money back in late 2020, many of them surprised to find out they had thousands of dollars. But almost three years later, those who

Starting point is 00:13:08 lack the legal capacity to make their own financial decisions have been blocked from accessing their own money. With there being examples like this 19-year-old girl with severe learning disabilities who can't retrieve the $7,500 that she saved. With her mom being forced to spend a year navigating the bureaucratic court system twice and paying nearly 400 pounds in fees each time. And they are saying it just wasn't even worth it, that she regrets even starting the long, expensive process, which notably still isn't even over because as a deputy of her daughter's finances, she now has a lifelong legal duty to account for every penny she spends. Now her dining table is just covered in documents, receipts, and spreadsheets where they're saying the ongoing scrutiny feels like a slur on her

Starting point is 00:13:40 character. And the thing is, this is not a one-off. She is not alone here. With a new report suggesting there are over 80,000 accounts just like this that can't be accessed without going through the courts. So by 2029, when all of these have matured, there could be up to 210 million pounds essentially locked behind a glass case. And this is looking right now like it's going to be a massive problem because in 2021, the most recent year for which figures are available, only 15 of those accounts were accessed. So either those families just don't know about the money or they just simply can't jump over all the hurdles the system has now put in front of them. And then 85 people are now dead, including many children, over 300 injured with around 50 of them,

Starting point is 00:14:12 seriously. So, and it all happened over around $9 with the victims being people who attended a charity event in Yemen's capital yesterday, right? Because as Ramadan comes to a close, poor people often gather outside the homes of businesses of wealthy people who dish out money to repent and show compassion for the less fortunate. And this year, a merchant organized a mass gathering at a school where he would hand out about $9 to each person. And so you had hundreds of people battered over the last eight years of war squeezing into a narrow alleyway leading to the school. With the crowd growing so large, the Houthi rebels who have occupied the capital since 2014 fired shots in the air in an attempt to restore order. But that actually had

Starting point is 00:14:43 the opposite effect when a bullet struck an electrical cable, sparking an explosion. So you had people screaming and shoving, unable to move amid the panic while outsiders tried to pull people out of the crush. And after the crowd finally breaks apart, you just see bodies littering the floor next to discarded shoes and clothing.

Starting point is 00:14:57 And so now you have this situation where three businessmen have been arrested over the incident with Houthis blaming them for not coordinating with local authorities before beginning the event. But then you have the businessmen pointing their fingers right back at the rebels, who they say tried to ban them from distributing cash for weeks and insisted that any distributions be run by the Houthis themselves.

Starting point is 00:15:11 But regardless of who is specifically responsible here, you have many pointing out that this tragedy wouldn't have been possible if not for the poverty and insecurity created by Yemen's war. A war that has claimed over 150,000 lives so far and left two-thirds of the country dependent on AIDS. So while you have the Houthis saying they'll pay $400 to those injured yesterday and about $2,000 to each family who lost a relative, that really does nothing to fill in the massive funding gap for aid to the vast majority of people under their control. Because back in February, the UN said it had raised only 1.2 out

Starting point is 00:15:36 of the $4.3 billion it needed to reach its target to alleviate the humanitarian crisis. And then let's talk about space, because today is the premiere of the first ever feature-length film to be shot in space. It's a Russian movie called The Challenge. It's about a surgeon who goes to the International Space Station to save an injured cosmonaut. It was reportedly filmed in late 2021 when Russia sent an actor and director up to the ISS for 12 days to film everything. Though it's run as the only movie shot in space, it's going to be pretty short-lived, with it being announced back in 2020 that Hollywood's working on a space movie of its own with Tom Cruise, NASA, and SpaceX. But with that, as SpaceX and Elon Musk probably a little more worried about

Starting point is 00:16:08 something else today, with them this morning launching the first ever fully integrated Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built by humans standing at almost 400 feet tall. And the launch went swimmingly, with his behemoth somehow defying physics, shooting off the pad. That is, until a few minutes later where it experienced what SpaceX engineers called a rapid unscheduled disassembly, otherwise known as exploding into a giant fireball. But I will say I like that descriptor. Right, I didn't have a stupid avoidable accident on my hike yesterday. I had a rapid unscheduled disassembly. Lessons were learned. The mission was still accomplished. So joking aside, while I am very and I feel like rightfully critical of Elon Musk, I will say explosions are famously a learning process for SpaceX.

Starting point is 00:16:46 Right? You do this, you learn, you blow up rockets so that when human beings are on them, they don't. What we're talking about here is a thing that's supposed to transport America's next astronauts to the moon and hopefully Mars. And then I love this saying because it's true. Privacy isn't just a right. It is your first line of defense.

Starting point is 00:17:00 So thanks to a fantastic sponsor of today's show, NordVPN, or more directly, nordvpn.com slash philad. You can easily help protect yourself from crappy people out there using your data for phishing attacks, getting passwords, or committing identity theft. And you know, there's so many reasons to be protected by NordVPN. I mean, one for us is the number of foreign websites that we access for research to bring you the news. Using the NordVPN proxy extension makes it a no-brainer when browsing those sites, with our proxy extension being a lightweight VPN that helps protect your privacy, bypass censorship, and keep you safe while browsing the internet or even playing browser games. So it's not only foreign websites, but there are a lot of e-shops abroad offering products that you can't get here. And with the proxy extension, it's just automatically

Starting point is 00:17:34 there. So when I or my wife are shopping, boom, it also loads faster and takes less resources when logging into an app. And very importantly, NordVPN doesn't collect activity logs. Your business is your business. So protect your privacy right now and go to nordvpn.com slash philly d to get a huge discount on a two-year plan plus an additional four months free. That's nordvpn.com slash philly d and it's all risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee. And then the House has passed a sweeping bill banning and isolating trans students from sports and it very likely will not just affect them. There being major concerns across the board including that the privacy of all women and even young girls are about to be seriously violated

Starting point is 00:18:07 and that parental freedoms are gonna be infringed on. And while trans rights are usually treated as kind of this two-sided culture war in the mainstream, polling has actually continually shown that Americans have incredibly complex and varying views on the matter. For example, a Pew survey from last summer found that while a majority of American adults

Starting point is 00:18:20 believe that trans rights should be protected, they're much more divided on some hot button issues like those involving trans athletes. with nearly six in 10 saying they support proposals to require trans athletes to compete on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth. And because this is such a divisive issue, I think it's important to look at both sides. If you're a part of the majority, they're looking into why the minority of Americans do support allowing trans folks to compete in sports based on the gender they identify as, especially because it's become one of the biggest platforms for Republican efforts to undermine those rights.

Starting point is 00:18:46 According to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit think tank, 21 states have laws that ban students from competing on teams that match their gender identity. And the House vote today, which was 219 to 203 down strict party lines, was on a Republican bill that would essentially ban trans women and girls nationally

Starting point is 00:18:59 from competing on female sports teams. The measure is also incredibly far-reaching, right? We're not talking about just like high school or D1 college athletes. This goes all the way to kindergartners, and it could have massive consequences. It would amend a section of Title IX, the law that protects against sex-based discrimination in education, so that federally funded schools would functionally be forced to either keep trans students off sports teams matching their gender identity or lose the money they need to operate. So to get a better idea about the scale of this legislation,

Starting point is 00:19:23 what is at stake here, what the arguments are, we spoke to Democratic Representative Ro Khanna. And a big part of what he talked about was who this was going to affect and how, which is incredibly important because nuance isn't really something we see a lot in these politicized culture wars. So right off the bat, Khanna pushed back on a core idea that it's unfair for trans girls and women to play on teams consistent with their gender identity because they're better athletes and cis girls and women and would just outperform them. The reality is, what's better than a well marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the

Starting point is 00:19:59 kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. For most schools, in most teams, this is not a real issue. And it's not like you have trans kids athletically performing better on average than other kids. If anything, the studies I've seen show that they aren't performing at the same level because of all of the challenges that they face in their lives. In fact, only 15 percent of trans kids even participate in sports compared to other kids where it's almost 50%. And this is often a way that they can have a community identity, that they're not isolated. And instead, it's become politicized

Starting point is 00:20:53 because of a few high-profile cases. Look, there were a total of 35 or 36 trans college athletes in the whole country. And yet those cases are being held up instead of focusing on the thousands of young people where there is really this issue and where this ban, complete ban would be cruel. And that last part's key because for those high levels of sports, collegiate, professional, and even the Olympics, there are standards and regulations meant to ensure fairness when it comes to trans competitors in the rare cases that it's an issue. And for younger folks, the ability to just be a part of a team, to be part of a community is super important, especially for trans and LGBTQ plus kids that are already facing higher

Starting point is 00:21:27 levels of exclusion and acceptance. Sports are part of the American ethos. It has such a formative experience on a child. And we know that trans kids are isolated, that it's so hard being trans, that they often don't have a sense of community. But when they're playing on a sports team, that gives them a sense of belonging. That gives them a sense of community. Conner also saying that while Republicans have painted this bill as a necessary protection, it's actually going to bring massive violations of personal privacy and liberty, values that the GOP supposedly claims to champion, and it won't just hurt trans folk. With him specifically explaining that this law would allow for what he called invasive surveillance practices,

Starting point is 00:22:04 like administrators asking young children incredibly personal questions about their bodies and asking for physical proof, which could obviously deter cis girls from entering sports. Beyond that, this would take away the ability of parents and communities to make their own decisions. Right, there are going to be plenty of communities that could be totally cool with a trans athlete being on their kid's team, but they wouldn't even get to decide. Now, even though the bill was passed in the House, it's widely expected to be DOA in the Senate, and President Biden even said this week that he would veto it if it somehow got to him. So if that's the case, why talk about it? It's going to be DOA. Well, again, I think part of this conversation

Starting point is 00:22:31 has to be us moving away from this false idea that you can only have one of two opinions on trans rights. Too often to push political agendas, you have people talking about the most rare or extreme instances of something, and then you try to use a broad brush to paint everything. It is important that we discuss these kinds of bills and initiatives because even if they're doomed right now, Republicans are clearly telling us this is our platform. This is who we are. This will be a voting issue in 2024. With Conner also saying that it is essential to highlight just how extreme these policies are. Well, we have to speak out against cruelty and discrimination. And it's appalling that the House of Representatives, even though it's one chamber, may pass a bill that's

Starting point is 00:23:04 legitimizing discrimination. Imagine if the House of Representatives, even though it's one chamber, may pass a bill that's legitimizing discrimination. Imagine if the House of Representatives was passing a bill saying kids of Indian origin shouldn't be able to play baseball because their parents came from a country that played cricket. Would we just say, well, the bill is going to pass in the House of Representatives, but who cares? It's going to die in the Senate. No, they'd be outraged. How is the House of Representatives said discriminating against kids of Indian origin? Well, right now, what the House of Representatives is doing is discriminating against trans kids. I mean, just picture yourself, one more point is, as someone who is trans, who's seventh grade, eighth grade, going through all

Starting point is 00:23:38 this hard time, and now you read the headlines that the United States House of Representatives has banned you from playing sports. You're not going to follow that President Biden vetoed it and the Senate didn't pass it. You're going to say, what message is my government sending? But I'm also going on to argue that it is important for Democrats to use their voices to support trans people, normalize their identities and recognize them as human beings who are important parts of their community, the economy and the fabric of America. I think there is this fear sometimes that if you stand up for trans rights and speak boldly about it and go on podcasts and speak on the floor, that somehow that's going to hurt us in the heartland or in the Midwest or rural

Starting point is 00:24:21 communities. And I just couldn't disagree more. You know, what's hurting us in those communities is that our jobs have gone offshore, that we don't have economic production and economic opportunity, that we don't have childcare and that we aren't standing up for working families and the people feel the loss of the American dream. And actually on that point,

Starting point is 00:24:40 we specifically asked Kana about the Pew poll showing that 60% of people support proposals that would ban trans athletes from playing sports that match their gender identity. And if Democrats felt pressured to fall in line with that position. Well, first of all, there's a time in politics where you just do what's right. And I draw that line again on issues of discrimination. And so on this issue, I don't think we should look at polling. I mean, there was a time in this country that discrimination against people who are black, discrimination against women probably polled as if there was support for it.

Starting point is 00:25:08 He also went on to argue that it's not a controversial opinion for Democrats to hold because it's in step with the Biden administration's position. Specifically noting that the administration recently proposed a rule that would prohibit schools from enacting sweeping policies that would categorically ban transgender athletes from universities and K-12 schools. Though an important note there is that policy would allow schools to block some trans athletes from competing on sports teams that match their gender identities if it could undermine what was seen as competitive fairness or lead to sports-related injuries. And as a result, some LGBTQ plus advocates criticize the move, saying that it creates a massive loophole that basically still gives supporters of the bands the grounds to implement them. And so we press Khanna on whether he supports that policy.

Starting point is 00:25:41 Look, I wouldn't just say that this shouldn't be an issue that we should have trans kids be able to participate on school sports teams. I think the reason the administration drafted the policy in that way is they think that would be the best way of surviving legal challenge and would allow the vast majority of schools to still have trans kids there. So I support the administration policy, but as a personal belief, I believe that, especially when it's looking at school sports, you shouldn't be cruel

Starting point is 00:26:12 and discriminating against trans kids. He also said that he thinks that Democrats in Congress need to back up their talk with action as well, and to do so by passing legislation that lets trans kids and their families and not the government make their own decisions

Starting point is 00:26:22 about gender-affirming care. These are not easy decisions in terms of delaying puberty or having a certain hormone therapy. And for the state to think that they're going to be better at making these decisions and to ban parents from doing that is, again, cruel and wrong. But ultimately, that is where we are with this situation right now. Obviously, we're going to keep our eyes on this specific bill and legislation. Also, I mean, this is a topic that comes up like every week. But in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts on this topic. And I know there are a lot of different things to talk about. For some people, it's a black and white situation. They're all in on the bans. They're all against the bans. With it also being such a complex story, I think there are people that have more nuanced takes, like drawing certain lines at age, drawing certain lines with certain types of sports, right? If it's like a combat sport or if it's a track and field. What I hope is we can see like a nuanced, respectful conversation about that specifically. But I don't know if that can actually happen because we live in a society right now where there's a decent chunk of the population

Starting point is 00:27:17 that don't want trans people to fucking exist or be alive. Which to be clear, I want to have a nuanced conversation about the sports stuff. But if you are denying people's existence or you want them to die, etc., fuck those ignorant monsters. That's just a simple people are trying to exist and you don't want them to situation. That's a much more simple conversation. But that's where I'm going to end today's extra, extra large Philip DeFranco show. If you like these extra large shows, of course, remember, hit that like button. Make sure you subscribe for our daily dives into the news. Also, if you're looking for more to watch, I got you covered here and in those links down below, including a special extra video from our buddy Zed Tabani.

Starting point is 00:27:47 But as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces, and I'll see you next time.

Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.20 "Why'd You Shoot My Daddy & Me?" Jonathan Majors Has More Alleged Victims, Buzzfeed News Shutdown, &

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.

Your Ad Here

Pet Camera - EBO Air 2

The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.20 "Why'd You Shoot My Daddy & Me?" Jonathan Majors Has More Alleged Victims, Buzzfeed News Shutdown, &

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.