The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.14 The Derek Chauvin Pardon Problem, Bombshell Diddy Trial Updates, Trump’s 59 South African Refugees

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

Unbox comfort at https://rovelab.com/defranco and get $200 off any Rove Lab sofa. 48 hours only.   https://BeautifulBastard.com Get 50% OFF a Mystery shirt while supplies last! Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PT & watch more here:  https://youtu.be/3Y5lXjAyCqM?feature=shared&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - MAGA Republicans Call for Derek Chauvin to be Pardoned 05:14 - Cassie Ventura Testifies in Diddy Trial  09:57 - Sponsored by Rove Lab 11:04 - Trump Admin. Faces Criticism for Taking in White South Africans as Refugees ——————————   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  ———————————— 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 #BenShapiro #Diddy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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so let's just jump into it. This is a news show. Is Donald Trump really about to pardon Derek Chauvin? That is the question that many are now asking him in a renewed push from many top conservative voices to do just that as we near the five year anniversary of the police killing of George Floyd. And in fact, we're now learning that officials in Minnesota

are now actively preparing for that possibility. Because in addition to being convicted on state murder and manslaughter charges for which he's serving over 22 years, Chauvin also pleaded guilty to federal charges back in 2021. And specifically there, you had the former cop admitting that he had abused his power as a police officer and willfully deprived Floyd of his right to be free

from unreasonable seizure by kneeling on his neck, even though he wasn't resisting. This is Chauvin also pled guilty to violating the same rights of a 14 year old boy at a separate incident back in 2017. And so as a result, he was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison where he's currently serving time. But now because Donald Trump has the power to pardon or commute federal sentences,

you're seeing conservatives come out of the woodwork to encourage him to do just that. And one of the main leaders of this effort has been Ben Shapiro, who started a whole campaign to convince Trump to grant Chauvin a pardon back in March. With Shapiro even circulating a petition, filming a five-part docuseries called The Case for Derek Chauvin, claiming that he's innocent, and using his podcast to publicly call on Trump to grant a federal pardon. President Trump should, in fact, pardon Derek Chauvin. He should. He should pardon him his federal charges. The evidence demonstrates that Derek Chauvin

did not in fact commit murder of George Floyd. I think it is worthwhile to remember that there is a man who is rotting in prison because the media decided in the middle of 2020 that they were going to turn a tragic law enforcement stop that ended with the death of a man who had a significant problem with drugs

and preexisting health problems into the raison d'etre of the entire 2020 election. Now, notably there, you have experts arguing that the evidence doesn't actually back up the claim that Shapiro is getting at. Instead, saying it shows the exact opposite. A county medical examiner explicitly ruled that Floyd's death was a homicide and listed the cause as cardiopulmonary arrest, complicating law enforcement's subdual restraint and neck compression. Saying that Floyd died due to loss or deprivation of oxygen caused by the neck restraint Chauvin placed on him.

And while the examiner did say that heart disease and fentanyl were contributing factors, they were not direct causes. And you had him specifically testifying during Chauvin's trial that quote, "'Mr. Floyd's use of fentanyl did not cause the subdual or neck restraint. His heart disease did not cause

the subdual or the neck restraint.'" And so with that, while many supported Shapiro, you also had a lot of people condemning his efforts. And you had many of those people also pointing out that this is a complete 180 from remarks that he made back in 2020. I think that once more, it is important to recognize that everyone should be on the same side of this, right? Really, everyone should be on the same side of this. What we have seen here, and yet we are not, what we have seen here is a police officer kneeling on the neck of a black man for four straight minutes while he's being told by people, including the guy who is underneath his knee, that he cannot breathe. Okay, it's really, really ugly, and it's really, really bad. At the very least, the officer should go to jail for assault, you would assume, because this is not within the

purview of employment. You don't get just to, it's police brutality, obviously. I mean, it's just egregious. It's egregious, egregious, egregious. And he should be prosecuted, this officer, to the fullest extent of the law into which the evidence shows. But again, the reaction to this was not just criticism. There was also a lot of support. And despite the criticism, you also had many people on the right amplifying Shapiro's calls and claims. Right in that, unsurprisingly, including Elon Musk, who shared the clip of Shapiro calling on Trump to pardon Chauvin and writing something to think about. Now with that, I'll say at the time, Trump said that he wasn't actively considering

a pardon for Chauvin when asked by reporters claiming that he hadn't even heard about it. But now, you know, that we're creeping up on the anniversary of Floyd's death, political and law enforcement leaders in Minnesota have started preparing for the possibility. There's even seeing a local outlet reporting that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz,

the Minnesota National Guard, and local leaders around Minneapolis have all been briefed on preparations for possible civil unrest. And he even had Walz, the Minnesota National Guard, and local leaders around Minneapolis have all been briefed on preparations for possible civil unrest. And he even had Walz confirming that this week, telling reporters that he hasn't gotten any indication from the White House that a pardon is coming, but adding,

I think it behooves us to be prepared for it. With this presidency, it seems like that might be something they would do. But with that, I think a big thing to note, and it's something that the governor also explained as well, if a pardon did actually come down, it would just be for the federal charges. Trump can't do anything about the state charges.

So Chauvin would just be transferred to state prison. The governor is saying, if Donald Trump exercises his constitutional right to do so, whether I agree and I strongly disagree with him, if he issues that pardon, we will simply transfer Derek Chauvin to serve out his 22 and a half years in prison in Minnesota. You then also had Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison

echoing that saying that a pardon here would be entirely symbolic, and functionally it wouldn't change anything because he'd still have to serve his state charges. And of the potential pardons, saying the only conceivable purpose would be to express yet more disrespect for George Floyd and more disrespect for the rule of law.

But again, with that, you still have many on the right sharing reports about state and local officials preparing for a potential pardon and urging Trump to take the leap. And among those saying that, you had elected officials like Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who posted, "'I strongly support Derek Chauvin being pardoned

and released from prison.'" With then Shapiro also chiming in again to reiterate his stance, writing, "'One of the biggest reasons Chauvin was convicted was jury and political intimidation by rioters. Now the same people who helped railroad him are concerned that people might riot if justice is done.'" Though to that point, which Shapiro has made recently,

it's important to note again that Chauvin himself pleaded guilty to the federal charges in question here. But as far as if any of this actually comes to fruition, that remains to be seen. And of course, in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts. But then next up in big, but very different news, we should talk about the biggest witness of Diddy's trial,

taking the stand and detailing patterns of violence, control and abuse at the hands of Diddy. And this witness is his ex, Cassie Ventura, who actually sued him back in 2023 in a case that was quickly settled, but then prompted dozens of other lawsuits. She is also notably the woman who Diddy was seen beating in hotel surveillance footage from 2016

that was previously shared by CNN. And that footage was actually played in court with Cassie then sharing her side of that incident yesterday. But they're saying that she had been participating in a freak off that day, and she knew that she had to get out after Diddy allegedly became violent and hit her,

giving her a black eye. But of course, as everyone saw in the hotel footage after she left the hotel room, Diddy followed her to the elevator with Cassie saying, "'The next thing I knew, I was just thrown to the ground. It was really fast.'" And when asked how many other times Diddy threw her to the ground like that,

she claimed, too many to count. Right in that, coming as the jury had already heard from a man who was working as a security officer at the time of the incident, with him claiming that he saw Cassie with a purple eye and that she was trying to leave, but Diddy would not initially let her. But also with this, she refused to call the police or answer questions, and that guard also said that Diddy held up a wad of cash for him that he believed was a bribe, but he turned down that money. Right, in that hotel video, it was not the only time during Cassie's testimony where she alleged that Diddy was

violent. With her noting that she met him when she was 19 and he was 37, he then signed her to his record label and began dating her within a few years. And with that, saying that by the time that she was 22, he had asked her to start doing freak-offs, which made her confused and nervous, but she also said she loved him. With her saying of their relationship,

there were violent arguments that would usually result in some sort of physical abuse, dragging, different things of that nature. She also accused him of controlling her appearance and the way she dressed or did her nails, saying, My appearance was very important to him. It was pretty immediate. Some days he would want me to be really sexy and other days like a tomboy. He was just very involved in it. And adding, I had to look a certain way during free cuffs. Definitely my self-worth took a hit during the

entirety of the relationship. She also alleged that he was controlling about the way that she acted as well, saying, Make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face. And with this, a big thing is that during opening statements, Diddy's lawyers admitted that he was controlling about the way that she acted as well saying, make the wrong face and the next thing I knew I was getting hit in the face. And with this, a big thing is that during opening statements, Diddy's lawyers admitted that he could be violent and even said that his behavior may have warranted domestic violence charges, but not trafficking and racketeering charges, which he's on trial for. With his lawyer saying that jurors might leave this trial

thinking he's a jerk, but quote, he's not charged with being mean, he's not charged with being a jerk. With his lawyers also repeatedly insisting that all sexual encounters were consensual. But regarding sexual encounters, some of the most disturbing details from Cassie's testimony actually came from her accounts of freak-offs.

There are among other things claiming that Diddy would order her to recruit male sex workers and then pay them to have sex with her and that these so-called freak-offs would last from 36 or 48 hours, with the longest going for four days. Saying they would often have no breaks for sleep, despite Cassie saying she needed rest,

with her claiming that they would use drugs to stay up the whole time. And all the while, Diddy allegedly choreographed and controlled every aspect of these, like who had sex with who, what lubricants, candles, and linens were being used. She also alleged that he directed her to be lathered in heated up baby oil

so she was glistening in it and reapplying it frequently. And to get through all this, Cassie claimed that she took drugs to numb herself while she was having sex with people that she didn't want to have sex with for days at a time. Right, and with this, she claimed that it got to a point where she was doing freak-offs weekly with this lasting for around a decade of her life.

With her adding here, freak-offs became a job where there was no space to do anything else but to recover and just try to feel normal again. And as for why she kept doing them, she says that she felt unable to refuse him, saying, "'I just didn't want to make him upset. "'I just didn't want to make him angry and regret telling me "'about this experience that was so personal.'"

And then alleging that when he got angry, his eyes were black. "'The version that I fell in love with was no longer there.'" She also said that she feared that he would blackmail her as there was footage of the freak-offs and she knew he had the ability to spread those images far and wide. She said that it really troubled her

that the freak-offs were recorded because she found them humiliating and disgusting. And she'd never wanted anyone to see her like that. Adding, the idea of objectifying me tossed around like it was nothing, putting me in these compromising positions with strangers. And also a thing that people noted as Cassie took to the stand is that she was visibly pregnant

and in her third trimester in the defense, even asked to have Cassie already sitting in the witness box when the jury entered. So her pregnancy would be less visible to them. Though notably the judge did not grant that request. Also, a big thing is that her testimony is continuing today. I mean, as I'm recording, and it's included more details about the freak-offs.

They're testifying that she would often get UTIs when they were happening frequently, but she was forced to participate even though the infections caused her horrible pain. She also said the drug use and sexual activities caused her to get sores on her tongue. And she alleged that she made it clear she did not want to do freak-offs

and pointed to attacks where she said nothing good came out of them and compared Diddy to Tina Turner's abusive husband. We also saw the subject of blackmail coming up again with Cassie claiming that in one instance, while they were on a plane together, Diddy pulled up videos of freak-offs and threatened to release them, which made her feel trapped.

And so she ended up doing another freak-off and adding, at that point, whatever was going to make him not be angry at me and threatening me, I was willing to do. I just didn't want to feel scared anymore. But of course, with that, the trial is still ongoing. We're going to have to see what all comes out from it. And in the meantime, of course,

I got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here about what we're seeing, what you're feeling? What do you think is going to happen? But then I've got more news for you in a minute. But first I got to say, you know, life's complicated enough. Your furniture shouldn't be.

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water to drink. And of course, you can rest assured that with Public Mobile's 5G subscription phone plans, you'll pay the same thing every month. With all of the mysteries that life has to offer, a few certainties can really go a long way. Subscribe today for the peace of mind you've been searching for. Public Mobile, different is calling. Then next up in other big news, we've got to talk about these white South Africans that are being accepted into the United States right now as refugees. Because while Trump has halted virtually all refugee admissions for people fleeing famine and war in places like Sudan and the Congo, on Monday, we saw him welcome 59 members of a white ethnic minority group from South Africa known as Afrikaners. And they're the

descendants of Dutch and other Europeans who went to South Africa centuries ago. They played a role in setting up the apartheid system in 1948. Now today, they and other white South Africans make up around 7% of the country's population while owning more than half of the country's commercial farmland. Especially as much of that land was originally acquired by forcing out black farmers and herders. And in 1913, in fact, a law was actually passed explicitly allocating 93% of the country's land

to white people. And now this week's news, it actually goes back to the current South African government's efforts to address this inequality through land reform. Because in January there, the president signed a controversial law that in very rare circumstances gives the government

the ability to take private property without paying compensation. Which then prompted Donald Trump to cut off all aid to South Africa and sign an executive order, ordering his own administration to, quote, prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination. With then some South African officials casting the move as politically motivated and noting that the Trump administration has criticized the country for having a close relationship with Iran and for its stance against Israel. And this is you had others pointing out that several of the most influential figures around Trump

are 50 something white men with formative experiences in apartheid South Africa. With that appearing to include not only Elon Musk, but also people like Peter Thiel, who's another Silicon Valley billionaire with deep ties to the administration. And actually Musk has been one of the most prominent voices spreading claims about persecution and even genocide against white people, and white farmers in particular, in South Africa.

And with that, on Monday, to justify the refugee program, we saw Trump repeating those claims. It's a genocide that's taking place that you people don't want to write about, but it's a terrible thing that's taking place and farmers are being killed. They happen to be white, but whether they're white or black makes no difference to me, but white farmers are being brutally killed and their land is being confiscated in South Africa. Now, notably with that, you have many experts saying there's little to no evidence to back up those claims.

But as far as confiscating land, there is a law that would allow for that to happen. And whether that's a good idea, that's up for debate, obviously. The key thing with that is at least so far, it hasn't actually been used to seize any land. Two, if the government does try to invoke the law, there are strict requirements that have to be met and the whole process is subject to review by a judge.

And three, another key purpose of the law is to deal with the dilapidated and abandoned structures throughout the country that pose a real safety risk. Or which actually is something we saw evidence of in 2023 when a huge fire killed at least 77 people, including children squatting in an abandoned building. And then as far as the other claims, right, the idea of a white genocide taking place,

you have experts saying that there's really no basis for that whatsoever. And then even the idea that white farmers are being specifically targeted and killed on a widespread or regular basis, you have many saying for sure, there have been murders that have made for shocking headlines. But the reality on the ground there is that

it's an extremely dangerous country in general and black South Africans are ultimately far more likely to be victims of violence. So they're seeing Tessa Dooms, for example, an executive at a think tank in Johannesburg saying that Trump's claims are based on lies, on false narratives and propaganda that is purely fictional. And then with that, if you look at the numbers,

last year there were 72 murders a day in the country. Right, that is per day, but over the year, only 44 murders were recorded on farms in smaller plots of agricultural land and only eight of those actually involved the death of a farmer. And while we don't know the race of all the victims, what we do know is that a majority

of the country's farmers are white, while the other people living on the farms, like as laborers, for example, they're mostly black. I mean, just looking at the last quarter of 2024, there were 12 farm murders recorded by the police with only one of those people actually killed being a white farmer. And again, that's out of nearly 7,000 total killings

in the country during that time. You know, with that, while there are obviously concerns about violence, we really haven't seen people trying to say that they were refugees. And you know, last year, there were reportedly no South Africans of any race, ethnicity, or linguistic group who met the UN's criteria to be resettled as refugees. And now, State Department officials are reportedly being tight-lipped about exactly what boxes have been ticked off for these new arrivals.

Though a departmental memo obtained by the Washington Post reportedly claimed that most of them have witnessed or experienced extreme violence with a racial nexus, including home invasions, murders, or carjackings that took place up to 25 years ago. And with that, you had one migration researcher claiming that the South Africans arriving in the US are aware that there's no persecution of white people in the country, but are taking advantage of the opportunity to go to America. And then also saying to another outlet, it has very little to do with South Africa's empirical realities

and everything to do with Trump positioning himself as a savior of white privilege and Christianity globally. And then ultimately with all that, you have aid groups, activists, and others saying that Trump's refugee initiative, it makes a mockery of a system designed to help people who are truly in need. But especially as you're seeing these South Africans

being helped not just in addition to others in need, but instead of. Because again, the Trump administration has suspended most refugee admissions and cut off funding to resettlement agencies in the country. It's also moved to rescind temporary protected status designations

for countries including Haiti, Venezuela, and Cameroon, and opening the door for their deportation back to those countries. And in fact, on the same day that these South Africans arrived in the country, you had the Department of Homeland Security announcing that it would terminate temporary protected status for over 9,000 Afghans already in the US. And with that, you had DHS Secretary Kristi Noem saying, Afghanistan has had an improved security situation and its stabilizing economy no longer prevent them from returning to their home country. Though there you had many calling the idea that Afghan refugees can safely return to their Taliban ruled homeland,

absurd and divorced from reality. And then on top of all this, this is as the South African refugees have been given preferential treatment in a number of ways. Because for one, the refugee process often takes years, but Trump created an expedited pathway that's gotten them into the country in just a matter of months.

But I'm also saying that he'd put them on an easy path to citizenship. Plus, for decades, the State Department has required refugees to pay their own way to travel to the US, and when a refugee can't afford the cost of travel, the State Department provides a refugee with an interest-free repayable loan. With all of that being facilitated through a UN agency

called the International Organization for Migration. But this time, what you're seeing is that the IOM hasn't actually been involved in, State Department officials have instead reportedly chartered a plane directly, which is a move that typically only occurs during emergencies involving a large number of people all being resettled at once, like when the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021. And then finally, the administration is also reportedly putting a lot of effort into helping the new arrivals with resettlement, including finding housing and getting a hold of other essential

goods and services. Though I will say with that notably, since Trump has frozen a lot of funding going to the organizations that help resettlement, officials are reportedly pulling the money from other sources. One meant to cover gaps in funding for particularly vulnerable refugees, and another to help state governments administer job training and other programs for refugees.

And notably, you know, one of the non-governmental organizations that the federal government was still funding, the Episcopal Church, it has actually refused its directive from the administration to help resettle the South African refugees, citing the church's longstanding commitment to racial justice and reconciliation.

The church then also announcing that by the end of the federal fiscal year, it would completely conclude its refugee resettlement grant agreements with the US federal government, a move that marks the end of a ministry-government partnership that has for over four decades

served over nearly 110,000 refugees from all around the world. And so ultimately, however you feel about the refugees from South Africa, which, you know, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments. One thing for sure is that a lot fewer people in need are gonna be getting help.

But then my friends brings us to the end of your Wednesday evening, Thursday morning dive into the news. I'm gonna go sleep off what I hope is the last of whatever the heck this stomach bug is that I have. But let me just say, thank you for watching. I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow. Cause of course, remember I got a brand new show for you

every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Bye bye.