The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 4.21 The Justin Bieber Problem, Pope Francis Dead at 88 from Stroke, & A New Pete Hegseth Scandal

Episode Date: April 21, 2025

A lot to unpack today... Visit https://on.auraframes.com/3YIJyHW  & use code PHIL to get $35 off on the best-selling Carver Mat frame! Get an exclusive NordVPN deal here https://nordvpn.com/phil It's risk-free with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee!   WEAR YOUR FEELINGS! https://BeautifulBastard.com Get 10% OFF with code "TARIFFS" Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PST & watch more here:  https://youtu.be/gEpLAhzf9sg?si=TMYBS8YcCMn1-WK2&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Pope Francis Dies at 88 10:49 - Sponsored by Aura 11:55 - News Outlets Take Heat for Their Coverage of Justin Bieber Amid Health Concerns 15:16 - Hegseth Reportedly Shared Military Plans in Chat with Even More People 19:54 - Sponsored by Nord 21:01 - U.S. Faces Student Loan Crisis as Millions Are Behind on Payments 25:47 - 9-Year-Old Honors Mom, Raises Money for Alzheimer’s Cure with Easter Egg Hunts 28:01 - Comment Commentary  ——————————   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  Associate Producer on Pope Francis: Jared Paolino ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #PopeFrancis #JustinBieber ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Pope Francis just died at the age of 88, and we're now learning about the cause of death and who is most likely to replace him. And we could be looking at a dramatically different kind of church. The Justin Bieber problem is getting bigger and bigger, but there's a disagreement about what the problem is. Pete Hegseth has now found himself in another texting scandal, and then a good news story to help keep you sane. We're talking about all that and much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show, you daily dive into the news, starting with this. Pope Francis is dead at 88 years old, and we've got to talk about what happened, what happens next, and what it all means. Right, but starting with his death, we can say that it's a total shock, right? He's been out of the hospital for about a month after spending five weeks there and nearly dying from a case of double pneumonia.

With his doctors reportedly telling him to take it easy for at least two months and to avoid crowds and situations where he could be exposed to germs. So with that, I'll say notably by early April, his health had reportedly begun to improve. And Francis, I mean, he was already known for putting the church above his health

and he seemingly wasn't taking it all that easy, at least for an 88 year old man. Earlier this month, he made an unexpected visit to St. Peter's Basilica. Last week, he greeted hospital and other medical staff to thank them for nursing him back to health. And last Thursday, which was Holy Thursday for Catholics, he met with dozens of inmates at a prison near the Vatican. And then on top of all that, he actually had been gradually increasing his meetings with Vatican officials, and he recently met with a king and queen of the UK. But then it's also seeing yesterday him meeting briefly with American Vice President,

JD Vance, before appearing to bless the tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square for Easter mass. And so with all that, I mean, just yesterday, you had so many outlets speaking about his continuing or ongoing recovery, which is why despite knowing how fragile his health was, it was pretty sudden when the Vatican announced that at 735 this morning, the Pope had quote, returned to the house of the father.

With the Vatican later revealing that a stroke and subsequent heart failure was the cause of death. So then with that, you had mourners beginning gathering back in St. Peter's Square, and you had leaders all around the world offering their condolences, including from the US, of course. With J.D. Vance, for example, who was baptized as a Catholic in 2019, paying tribute to the Pope

in a post to X, writing, "'My heart goes out to the millions of Christians all over the world who loved him. I was happy to see him yesterday, though he was obviously very ill, but I'll always remember him for the below homily he gave in the very early days of COVID. It was really quite beautiful. May God rest his soul. And also with that, you had Trump writing on Truth Social, rest in peace, Pope Francis, may God bless him and all who loved him. The wall of that is notably, Francis said, openly and repeatedly criticized Trump. I mean, as far back as 2016, for example, he questioned then candidate Trump's faith,

saying at the time, a person who thinks only about building walls and not of building bridges is not Christian. And then more recently, he had Francis referring to Trump's plan to ramp up deportations as a disgrace, and also claiming that his immigration crackdown was driving a major crisis

that damages the dignity of men and women. Right, and then beyond that, while the plight and wellbeing of migrants was a major focus of Francis, he'd been described by some as the woke Pope for his relatively progressive views on other issues, including gender, sexuality, conflict, and climate change. Or with his most controversial moves among some Catholics,

probably being to express support for the LGBTQ community and same-sex civil unions. And that is in addition to things like taking steps to improve the gender balance in the church, right? Increasing the number of women working at the Vatican, including those in leadership positions. And so with that, you know, Francis's tenure, it's widely been seen as having deepened divisions

within the Catholic church in general, and perhaps especially in the United States. And so now, you know, the big question that everyone's asking this time around is whether the person who succeeds him will be someone interested in preserving his legacy and continuing his work or unraveling it. You know, understand, even if you are not Catholic,

the answer to that question, it's not something to ignore. There are roughly 1.4 billion Catholics around the world and at least 50 million in the US, and the Pope, I mean, he has real influence. And so with that, we need to talk about a number of things, starting with what exactly Francis' influence has been. Because while he may be the so-called wokest Pope yet, that's by Pope standards.

Like he never went so far as to endorse same-sex marriage or the idea of women being priests with some feeling like he never went far enough with his calls for reform. And then notably on the issue of rampant child abuse in the church, he got mixed reviews. Right on one hand, a few years ago, he announced sweeping changes to the way

that the church deals with cases of sexual abuse. But more recently, he'd been accused of opposing reforms that would seriously address the problem of clerical sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults. And that is some accused him of turning a blind eye to priests who assault nuns and force them to have abortions. And similarly, while he urged all members of the church

to never cover up sexual abuse, he himself was accused of having knowledge of allegations against American Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. With in fact, a Vatican investigation eventually finding he had been aware of allegations and rumors regarding McCarrick's behavior, but believe that those allegations had been reviewed and rejected by his predecessors.

But even with all that, right, his fiercest critics, I mean, those were conservatives and traditionalists. With some claiming he had abandoned traditions, undermined the church's moral teachings, and one archbishop even branding him a heretic and getting excommunicated. And in another case, you had hundreds of priests and Catholic scholars signing an open letter

urging him to reverse his decision to approve blessings to be conferred upon people in same-sex relationships. With notably, Francis firing back and denouncing what he described as their hypocrisy in saying, Nobody gets scandalized if I give my blessings to a businessman who perhaps exploits people, and this is a very grave sin, but they get scandalized if I give them to a homosexual. And notably with that, Francis was at times especially at odds with Catholics in the United States. And I mean, in 2023, for example, Francis blasted what he saw as the backwardness of some conservatives in the States. With him saying it, they had replaced faith with ideology

and that a correct understanding of Catholic doctrine allows for change over time. And then even as he was criticizing Trump, some Catholic leadership in the United States is seemingly sided with Mac. And so for example, in 2021, he saw things like some bishops issuing guidance that would deny the sacrament of communion to Catholic politicians who publicly support and advance abortion rights, such as Joe Biden. And

although they mostly backed off after the Vatican warned against using the Eucharist as a political weapon, with Francis preaching that communion is not the reward of saints, but the bread of sinners, some still defied him. I mean, you had the Archbishop of San Francisco saying specifically that Nancy Pelosi would not be permitted to receive communion in his archdiocese unless she was willing to publicly repudiate her stance on abortion. Now, as we're in Trump 2.0 land,

I mean, we've seen bishops applauding the administration's initiative, supporting school choice, rolling back federal support for gender transitions, and requiring foreign agencies receiving USAID to certify that they don't provide or promote abortion. And so that's why with all this, you have some saying that the Trump administration is not above trying to steer the election

for the next Pope in its favor. This for example, seeing one observer of Vatican politics telling Politico, they've already influenced European politics, they'd have no problem influencing the conclave. And adding, they might be looking for someone less confrontational. Now, of course, you know, that said,

it's not clear exactly how the administration would manage that, but it would be a huge mistake to take the process of selecting a new pope as not political. Right, as you may or may not know, the way that it works is that within the next 15 to 20 days or so, the more than 250 members

of what is known as the College of Cardinals, they're gonna gather in Rome for what's known as a conclave. Though notably, only those under 80 years of age are actually allowed to vote. And so they enter the Sistine Chapel, they swear an oath of secrecy, and then they vote by secret ballot. And in fact, a two-thirds, they swear an oath of secrecy, and then they vote by secret ballot.

And in fact, a two-thirds majority is needed to elect a new pope. And they just vote again and again until this two-thirds majority emerges. So this is maybe you've seen on some screen after every vote, smoke is released through a chimney that can be seen from St. Peter's Square. When a vote ends without a two-thirds majority,

the smoke is black. And when a decision is reached, the smoke is white. But also, you know, in reality, there is so much more to it. Right, for one, Francis did all that he could to influence the eventual outcome before he died, seemingly trying to pack the College of Cardinals with like-minded candidates.

Take Mykola Bouchok, for example, an Australian-based Ukrainian bishop who advocated for legislation to help migrants and refugees settle in foreign countries. With him last year, at 44 years old, leapfrogging more experienced and higher- higher profile Catholic leaders to become the world's youngest cardinal.

Which very important here, it makes him one of 138 cardinals out of 252 in total, eligible to vote for the next Pope. And this is notably 110 of them, they've been appointed by Francis, which is about 80%. But even with that being the case, you have experts saying it is far from certain that you're gonna get another Francis.

But seeing, for example, Austin Ivory, who's written a biography on the now deceased Pope saying, to say he has stacked the College of Cardinals is not quite right. And adding, the idea that these cardinals will necessarily think like Francis is complete nonsense. It's trite. They're highly intelligent people who think for themselves.

And it's also not just that, right? The Vatican is also no stranger to lobbying and backroom dealing. So for example, while those older cardinals, they can't vote, far fewer of them were appointed by Francis and they can play a key role in behind closed door discussions

that take place ahead of time. And in fact, ahead of the 2013 conclave, Francis himself reportedly benefited from the influence of a group of cardinals who were too old to participate in the proceedings, but still were able to influence the outcome. And a key thing is at least according to some, those cardinals, they are not afraid to play dirty.

With this saying, for example, a former senior Vatican official telling the Sunday Times, most cardinals have some kind of a sin, whether it's money, a boyfriend, or a love child. Everyone knows which cardinals have works of art that they can't afford or who visits the gay saunas. And then adding, if for whatever reason someone needs to be removed from contention, then that information is deployed by a rival faction. And so with that, according to the College of Cardinals report, which is a project run by an independent team of Catholic journalists and researchers, there are at least 22 real contenders here.

And on major issues, including those dividing liberals and conservatives, like ordaining female deacons, blessing same-sex couples, and openness to divorce and remarriage, they're all over the place. So for example, you have the likes of Cardinals, Matteo Zupi and Luis Antonio Tagle. Right, and so Zupi, he was among Francis' closest allies, and so he'd likely keep things headed in the same direction.

And then Antonio Tagle, he could be similar as well, right? He's criticized the church's attitude and language towards gay people, unwed mothers, and divorced or remarried Catholics. Also, being from the Philippines, he'd actually ended up being the first Asian pope in modern history. And I specify modern history

because as some have pointed out, the first pope, St. Peter, as well as some other popes, they've come from the Middle East, which can also be considered Western Asia. But in any case, right, it would be pretty notable to have one from this century, especially since Catholicism is on the rise in many parts of Asia, as well as Africa, unlike in the United States and Europe. And actually with that, another name that's been floated is Cardinal Peter Turkson. In Turkson, he's from Ghana. He'd be the first confirmed black African Pope. And he's kind of been the Vatican's lead man on climate change as well as spoken out

against anti-LGBTQ legislation in his home country. He's also in the past been accused of anti-Muslim sentiment, having once shown a video sharing false statistics to claim that France would become an Islamic Republic within 39 years. Now also, in addition to Turkson, there's another contender to be the first black African Pope and that's Robert Serra from Guinea.

Though I will say his views are very different. He's branded so-called gender ideology as demonic and talks similarly about what he's described as Islamic fanaticism. Also speaking of possible leading candidates on the conservative side, you have Cardinal Peter Erdő from Hungary. He is notably close to Hungarian autocrat, Viktor Orban,

which makes it unsurprising that he's been vocal on immigration, reportedly having once compared the act of taking in refugees to human trafficking. But in any case, finally, you also have someone like Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who's now the Vatican secretary of state.

Parolin, he's seen as more of a moderate figure who could potentially appeal to both liberals and conservatives with one unnamed Vatican insider reportedly telling the Telegraph, he's very experienced and that could count for a lot in these times of turbulence. He could be seen as a steady hand at the tiller. But even then, there's more names to consider

with different outlets publishing their own lists of top contenders that are all different and include several names I didn't mention here. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens, and there's a lot that could play out from now, so when they pop that white smoke. And then, you know, I've got more important news for you in just a moment, but first, you know,

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Terms apply. And hey, don't forget to mention us at checkout to support the show. But then shifting to very different news, is Justin Bieber okay? And also, is it even fair for media outlets to be trying to answer that question? That is a conversation that we've been seeing play out

for a while now, but it also took a very new shape after Coachella this weekend. Right in that, because this video went viral showing him smoking at a party at a festival and also swaying and dancing to music, at one point nodding to one of his own songs. But then tons of people responding to those clips with concern, thinking that he just looks out of it

and commenting things like, "'I'm sorry, but he doesn't look okay. "'He's not just having fun. "'He's definitely under some hard influence.' "'As well as I'm mad that the people around him "'are not doing anything, "'and you can clearly see he needs help.'" But then over on Twitter, you had people comparing him

to other pop stars who have passed with some adding, "'Someone needs to check up on Justin Bieber, man. And while with this, some have defended him, noting that every moment of his life is analyzed by people trying to read into every single detail. This is also far from the first time in recent months that people have been worried about Justin Bieber. If you don't follow him, you might not have seen, but he's been posting kind of cryptic messages on Instagram, calling himself unworthy and unequipped and adding that he feels like he's drowning while also telling people to let go of hate. Also in other posts, he's talked about having anger issues and sometimes hating himself. And he also recently yelled at a paparazzi for filming him while in Palm Springs. So even all of that, it's just kind of a tiny portion of the behavior

that people have been reading into lately. People have also expressed concern about certain paparazzi photos that have been taken and have come out of him, which actually led to a rep shooting down rumors about drug use in February with them telling TMZ that these claims are quote, exhausting and pitiful and shows that despite the obvious truth, people are committed to keeping negative, salacious, harmful narratives alive. And you know, one of the things is,

is that talk about Justin, it extends well past anonymous social media users endlessly speculating. I mean, it's reached major industry news outlets. Just last week, you had the Hollywood Reporter running a massive piece titled "'Justin Bieber's Crisis of Faith'," with that diving into some of Justin's social media posts,

as well as other sort of behind closed door matters regarding his business and team and religion, with the article saying, "'A bitter management shakeup, angry public outburst, "'a narcissistic pastor whose word is gospel. "'What in God's name is happening "'to the once mighty pop icon?' With a former team member reportedly telling the outlet,

"'Seeing him disintegrate like this, it's watching the embodiment of someone not living their purpose. He's lost. There's no one protecting him because there's no one willing to say no to him. You say no, you get blown out. With the article then also saying that Justin still owes money over a canceled tour from 2022. Also with this last week, you had other sources telling People Magazine that people close to Justin are worried about him. But then you have other outlets like Rolling Stone pushing back against media reports that he's not doing well, arguing that his so-called vibe shift indicates a creative change for him

as he pays attention to up and coming artists. And so among all the talking, it's sparked conversations about what the media's role in talking about Justin Bieber like this should even be. Right with, for example, the Hollywood Reporter getting some heat online for its deep dive into Justin, with some comparing it to the way that the media treated Britney Spears in writing. I would delete this if I were you. As well as, quote, angry public outbursts, and it's him

reposting memes and telling paparazzi to leave him alone. If anything, I hope he actually yells so these paid articles might actually have a hint of truth to them. And this is you at Justin's Reps also shooting down the article, telling People Magazine, this is just clickbait stupidity based on unnamed and clearly ill-informed quote sources, "'disappointed they no longer work with Justin.'" And adding, as Justin forges his own way forward, "'These unnecessary stories "'and inaccurate assumptions will continue,

"'but they won't deter him from staying committed "'to following the right path.'" You know, for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens from here. If anything, and in the meantime, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on the situation in general as well, as specifically the media's role in all this.

But then, next up today, we gotta talk about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reportedly sharing detailed information about airstrikes in Yemen in a Signal Group chat that included his wife, brother, and personal lawyer. And to be clear, these were the same airstrikes that were discussed in the other chat that mistakenly included the editor of The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg. Also strikes that reportedly killed at least 53 people, including children. Which on that note, I should say before getting into the rest of this, that these types of airstrikes are still happening.

In fact, you have the Associated Press finding that the US bombing campaign in Yemen appears to be even more intense and aggressive than in the past. With for example, just today, a US airstrike reportedly killing 12 people in the country's capital. And a few days ago, multiple airstrikes on a port reportedly killed 33 people

with a Houthi-run news channel claiming that paramedics and workers were among the dead. And this after last week, an attack on the same port reportedly killed 74 with the extent of potential civilian casualties reportedly unknown. And so I wanted to mention that because there's a whole conversation

and folks to be had there. But for today, back to the Signal chat controversy. Notably there, besides having a conversation on Signal, Hegseth reportedly used his private phone rather than his government one to access Signal chat controversy. Notably there, besides having a conversation on Signal, Hegseth reportedly used his private phone rather than his government one to access the chat. And this, even after several staff members reportedly encouraged him to move the work-related matters to his government phone, which he reportedly never did.

And then as far as those included in the chat, well, like I said, there was Jennifer, his wife, who's a former Fox News producer, and who, in case you were wondering, is not a Defense Department employee. Though this also, is notably she has reportedly accompanied her husband to sensitive meetings with foreign military officials.

But then moving on from his wife, there's Hegseth's brother, Phil, and the lawyer whose name is Tim Parlatori. And those two, I will say, at least have jobs in the Pentagon. Phil is working as a liaison to the Department of Homeland Security and as a senior advisor to the Defense Secretary,

AKA his brother and Tim. He is still reportedly working as Hegseth's personal lawyer, but he is also a Navy commander in the Judge Advocate General's Corps, a job he reportedly got about a week before the strikes took place. And with that, it's still really unclear why either one of them would need to know

about upcoming military action in Yemen. And as far as what kind of information they were actually privy to, it reportedly included flight schedules for the fighter jets. So essentially the same attack plan shared in the chat with Jeffrey Goldberg, though also notably unlike that chat, which was created by national security advisor Mike Walton, included Goldberg by accident, this one was created by Hegseth.

And as far as we know, it included his wife, brother, and lawyer on purpose. And in fact, it reportedly also included about a dozen other people from his personal and professional inner circle before his confirmation as defense secretary, including, for example, two senior advisors who were accused of leaking unauthorized information last week and were fired. So actually, with that, Hegseth has seemingly responded to this latest story by trying to pin it on those individuals and just attacking the media in general. You know, what a big surprise that a bunch of, a few leakers get fired and suddenly a bunch of hit pieces come out from the same media that peddled the Russia hoax. See, this is what the media does.

They take anonymous sources from disgruntled former employees, and then they try to slash and burn people and ruin their reputations. Not gonna work with me. This is why we're fighting the fake news media. This is why we're fighting slash and burn Democrats. This is why we're fighting hoaxsters. Hoaxsters. This group? No, no, no. This is where we're fighting hoaxsters, hoaxsters. This group, no, no, this group right here, full of hoaxsters that peddle anonymous sources from leakers with

axes to grind. And then you put it all together as if it's some news story. And when we know it, we know exactly what it is. But with that, it's now actually being reported that the White House has started looking for a new secretary of Defense, though publicly, I will say, the administration has stuck by Hegseth, echoing his own talking points. With, for example, the chief Pentagon spokesperson blaming the so-called Trump-hating media, as well as disgruntled employees,

with a motive to sabotage the Secretary and the President's agenda. As well as maintaining that, quote, "'There was no classified information in any signal chat, "'no matter how many ways they try to write the story.'" With an also White House spokesperson, Caroline Levittitt saying that Hegseth has Trump's support and claiming the entire Pentagon is working against their agenda. Which, arguably, is kind of a way of agreeing with the former top spokesperson for the Pentagon

who wrote an opinion piece for Politico yesterday claiming that the department is in total chaos under Hegseth's leadership. And this as he notably also accused Hegseth's team of falsehoods about why top officials were fired last week, saying they hadn't actually leaked sensitive information to the media. And so with all that, you have Democrats pointing to the whole situation as even more reason for Hegseth to resign or be fired. With a scene, for example, Tammy Duckworth,

who lost both her legs serving in Iraq, saying, how many times does Pete Hegseth need to leak classified intelligence before Donald Trump and Republicans understand that he isn't only a fucking liar, he is a threat to our national security. And adding, every day he stays in his job is another day our troops' lives are endangered by his singular stupidity.

And from what I understand, those were her kind words. But for now, we'll have to wait to see how this plays out and keep an eye out because at any moment, Pete Hegseth may text you about bombing plans. And then I got more news you need to know in just a moment. But first, you know, let's face it. Scammers are basically startup founders now. Slick, polished, and dangerous.

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It could have sweeping economic impacts for every single one of you watching. So for five years after the pandemic, the federal government had a freeze on penalizing student loan borrowers for not making payments. And during the Biden administration, the education department, they offered a fresh start program that put millions of defaulted borrowers back into good standing. And as a part of the program, those folks were given a year long on ramp to get their finances together, during which time loan servicers were directed to pause the loans of delinquent borrowers and not report late payments. You know, the idea there being that borrowers could come out of the pandemic with a clean slate and ease into repayment. And so as a result, millions of people, they had their credit ratings rise. But at the same time, the Fresh Start program

also inflated the number of borrowers who were up to date on their debts. And so now that the freeze is over and loan services started reporting late payers again at the beginning of the year, tons of those people have become delinquent on their loans. And this is, you know, they're not alone. They've been joined by plenty of people

who weren't delinquent before the pandemic. And when I, you know, they're not alone. They've been joined by plenty of people who weren't delinquent before the pandemic. And when I say a ton, I mean it, we're talking millions. And so as a result, since the beginning of the year, millions of student loan holders, they've had their credit scores absolutely tank. And that number, it could increase dramatically. I mean, it's been estimated that around 4 million people have been reported to credit bureaus

for late payments and researchers, they say that the number will rise past 9 million by the end of June. And I mean, even people with good credit, they're falling behind. According to Credit Karma, over half a million student loan borrowers with good or excellent credit ratings,

they saw their scores drop by an average of 128 points. You know, if you've ever kept track of your own credit score you know that is a huge drop. And when we're talking about a fall, that can literally move a borrower with good credit down to the lowest rating tier. And now, servicers say that a record number of borrowers could default by the end of the year.

Because the big thing here is that federal student loans, they default when they're more than 270 days overdue. And notably, that's a point that people will reach this fall if they've never resumed paying their loans after the freeze. But they're seeing Nelnet, the government's largest servicer, sending an analysis to lawmakers

that showed an enormous uptick in borrowers whose loans were four to five months overdue. And to add some context here, just before the pandemic, less than 1% of Nelnet's accounts were nearing default, but now it's nearly 10%. As we have Nelnet explicitly warning, without immediate intervention, we could face the largest wave of defaults

in the program's history. Now, obviously, getting reported for late payments or defaulting on a loan entirely, they both have very serious consequences for the borrower in question, but also this goes way beyond the individual. When people have their credit scores downgraded for any reason, it can prevent them from renting or buying homes. And when they need to take out a loan for a big purchase, emergency cash, or everyday needs, they can only qualify for more expensive and riskier loans.

And so as a result, one of the things is that millions of Americans will not be putting as much money into the economy at a time when it's already struggling. And then in addition to that, when slash if millions of borrowers end up defaulting, the cost is gonna fall on taxpayers who are already coping with high inflation and expecting to bear more economic pain from Trump's tariffs. Now with this, one of the questions that pops up is, why the hell do we have so many borrowers not paying their student loan debt?

And well, there you have experts involved with restarting loan payment collections after the five-year pause, saying that the reasons are complicated, but there are two main overarching issues. First, the whole system has been an absolutely fucking dumpster fire mess, thanks to frequent and massive changes

to loan terms and repayment options. Moves that have dramatic consequences, not just for borrowers, but servicers and the education department as well. For example, 9 million people having had their loans in forbearance, which is a pause on collections. And most of those loans

are either stuck in major processing backlogs or frozen by GOP led legal challenges to an income driven repayment program enacted by the Biden administration called SAVE. And SAVE allowed students to repay their student loans based on how much money they made with the idea being to keep payments affordable and avoid defaulting. And while the people who are a part of SAVE

and other similar plans have been in limbo for months and have not yet been sent to collections, it's all but certain that the program is gonna be struck down by a federal judge or rolled back by the Trump administration. And so basically we're looking at a massive cliff and it's just a matter of time before millions of people fall off of it. But also that whole situation has been further exacerbated

by the Trump administration's tactics. With the shifting loan terms and repayment options, they've caused a ton of chaos, creating a surge in processing issues and other demands from borrowers. But instead of increasing education department staffing to fill the increased need, you have the Trump administration doing the exact opposite,

imposing sweeping cuts to the agency, which Trump has also directed the agency secretary to eliminate. And as a part of that, Trump has said that he'll be moving the management of student loans to the small business administration. Now, as we've talked about numerous times,

neither of those goals can be achieved without Congress, which has made it clear it's not interesting. But insiders say that the impact of Trump's orders, as well as the plans to fire almost half of the education department's employees, they've pushed its federal student aid office almost to the point of collapsing entirely, with the overall result being absolute and utter turmoil at a time when all hands are needed on deck to handle this budding student loan default crisis. Which then brings us to the second main reason so many student loan borrowers are not paying, and it's much more straightforward. In one sentence, it's simply just incredibly hard

for many people to incorporate a three or even four figure monthly debt into their budget after years of not paying, especially given the current economic situation. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how this plays out. But then next up from that, shifting gears to a very different kind of news,

I would like you to meet Bradley Snyder. So Bradley here, he's nine years old, and every year since 2022, he goes out to houses and neighborhoods and hides Easter eggs for a small donation of $30. So, you know, instead of hiding the eggs for your Easter egg hunt yourself, you'd hire Bradley and he'll hide roughly two dozen eggs

filled with candy and notes from the Easter Bunny around your yard. The funds that young Bradley is raising, it's not going into his pocket for a new game or a new toy. Rather, they're going towards the Alzheimer's Association. Because you see, after losing her grandparents to Alzheimer's, Bradley's mom joined the Greater Maryland chapter of the Alzheimer's Association.

And there, she directed the annual walk to end the disease. And the egg hunt project, it was something that Bradley and his mom loved to do together. That is, until she passed away suddenly last year. And instead of letting it go with her, Bradley decided to keep the fundraiser alive in her memory, saying- She was the best person I knew of anything, she was probably the best person on earth.

I was very lucky to have her for all nine years that I've been alive. Sometimes a little hard knowing the fact that I'm never going to do this with my mom anymore, but doing it for her at least. Right, and you know what? Bradley's grandma stepped up to help him do that. I didn't know anything about what to do, you know, where they order things from for the eggs and et cetera. And Brad set me straight. I'm so proud of him.

I could not be prouder, could not be prouder of him. He is a special child. He has his mother's heart. And since starting these egg hunts, Bradley has raised thousands of dollars. And this year alone egg hunts, Bradley has raised thousands of dollars, and this year alone, he raised more than $2,000, saying, Some people don't give to you at all,

but the least you can do is still give stuff to them. It helps make the world a little bit of a better place. And so on the tail end of those wise words from someone who hasn't even hit double digits yet, I'm gonna be calling Bradley our BAMF of the day. But then, let's talk about y'all's comments on the last show and some comment commentary brought to you by beautifulbastard.com. It's the best and most comfortable way to wear your feelings, and you can snag some of our new

drops like, yeah, no, it's fine, everything's fine, and one day we'll all be skeletons. As well as some of this year's bestsellers like a silly goose in this economy, God is testing me and I refuse to study, built different, clearly thriving, and much, much more. And you know what? I extended it a week. If you use code tariffs, you'll get 10% off. But, you know, that said, diving into those comments, there were a lot of comments about RFK Jr., starting with Mr. Kennedy, who quoted RFK Jr. saying, these children will never pay taxes, saying, notice that's the first thing he said. He doesn't care about the children. He cares about the money. Surprise, surprise. There, you had some saying, as someone with autism, I think RFK is onto something here. We should

abolish taxes for people, quote, suffering with this condition. You also had some just sharing their own stories, saying things like, so my younger brother, who's autistic, works with kids over the summer as a summer job, and he's about to go into his senior year. He did the same last year. Earlier this year, I helped him with his taxes, as I promised I would. With them then adding, imagine the knock on the door if we just put, I'm autistic, therefore no taxes, lols on it. RFK is very dangerous. Same with everyone else in this administration.

We also saw some of y'all expanding on that, saying things like, Autism doesn't destroy families. Intolerant attitudes and lack of understanding and support for these children and adults is what makes it hard. It's a society problem, not an autism problem. My autistic son has given me a very different parenting experience, not a worse one. He is an amazing individual that I feel honored to raise. Within some, like Sonata sharing personal stories saying I'm autistic and ADHD.

I consistently had 99th percentile scores in reading comprehension in my second language. I've held jobs each for years. I've been a professional musician for more than a decade. And evidently I have higher science comprehension than RFK Jr., as low of a bar as that may be. With Sonata then adding, autism is similar to left-handedness. Not better or worse, but it requires some accommodations.

To add to that analogy, scissors made for the opposite dominant hand are difficult to use effectively. Simply put, he needs to go retire and never be in a position of power ever again. Right, and all of this as we had some like Mad-Eye Oden saying, I have a niece with autism, semi-verbal. Her grandmother, my mother, is a huge fan of RFK Jr. After watching my niece, I started questioning if I might be on the spectrum. When I started sharing my thoughts with my mom,

I look up halfway through and she's nodding vigorously. Come to find out, they had me tested when I was a kid and I got diagnosed with what at the time was known as Asperger's. But she didn't wanna listen to the advice of the doctors, so she just ignored it and put me in regular classes where I struggled. With them then going on to say,

it means I didn't lose my mom to Trump and RFK, I never really had her. You know, I will say that's just a taste. Just on YouTube, that had almost 7,000 comments. One, the show in general is worth a watch, but two, like, if you want a deeper dive into the comments, it's one where it's definitely worth it. But that is where we're going to end things today. Thank you for watching. I love your faces. And of course, I'll see you right back here tomorrow because I got a brand new show for you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Okay, love you, bye.