The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.28 The Andrew Tate Situation Just Got WORSE, Elon Musk Criticizes Trump’s BBL, & Today's News

Episode Date: May 28, 2025

Click here http://www.seed.com/defranco and use code DEFRANCO25 to get 25% off your 1st month’s supply of Seed’s DS-01®️  Daily Synbiotic + Free shipping! Go to http://vessi.com/pds for 15% off your first order.   https://BeautifulBastard.com Check Out Our 3 New Tees + Our SECRET Drop! Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PT & watch more here:  https://youtu.be/8NrJVI-xm_w?si=mS6yh45Zr-20r2u-&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - U.K. Prosecutors Announce 21 Charges Against Tate Brothers  02:57 - Rubio Halts New Student Visas, Restricts Visas for Foreigners Who “Censor” Americans 11:39 - Sponsored by Seed 12:49 - Elon Musk Says Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill “Undermines” His Work in DOGE 17:15 - Israel Strikes Yemen and Gaza, Claims Hamas Leader Is Dead 21:58 - Sponsored by Vessi 23:04 - COVID Shots No Longer Be Recommended for Healthy Kids or Pregnant Women 26:22 - 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  ———————————— 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 #AndrewTate #ElonMusk Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Neutral. Refreshingly simple. You've got trouble in paradise as Elon Musk is now broken from Republicans and criticized Trump's BBL. Marco Rubio just paused student visa appointments as the US launches a sweeping new social media screening program into what y'all are posting. Israel just launched new strikes in Gaza and Yemen, killed a top Hamas leader and says Iran might be next. R.F.K. Jr. just erased COVID shots from the recommended schedule for pregnant women, and you've got doctors clamoring to explain why it's dangerous, unscientific, and going to hurt poor people.

Andrew and Tristan Tate just got hit with 21 criminal charges in the UK, including rape, human trafficking, and assault. 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. Prosecutors in the UK just confirmed that they have authorized 21 charges against Andrew and Tristan Tate, which was expected, but it marks the first time that the Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed or given details on criminal charges. And according to BBC News,

you have Andrew facing 10 charges stemming from three alleged victims, including actual bodily harm, rape, human trafficking, and controlling prostitution for gain. And that is you have Tristan facing 11 charges from one alleged victim, and again, that includes actual bodily harm, rape, and human trafficking trafficking with also the Crown

Prosecution Service releasing a statement of Sky News explaining these charging decisions followed receipt of a file of evidence from Bedfordshire police A European arrest warrant was issued in England in 2024 and as a result the Romanian courts ordered the extradition to the UK of Andrew and Tristan Tate however the domestic criminal matters in Romania must be settled first right with that in case you need a refresher Because it's been a minute, you've got the Tates facing many legal battles. I mean, in the US, they're facing two lawsuits, one alleging that Andrew assaulted his ex-girlfriend in California, and another from Florida, accusing the brothers of coercing a woman into sex work.

They're also under criminal investigation in Florida, and then in Romania, there are two cases. One, where they're accused of trafficking minors, intercourse with a minor, and money laundering, and then a separate human trafficking case that is actually facing setbacks after being sent back to prosecutors. Right, and then that brings us back to the UK where we not only have the charges we just discussed,

but also there's a lawsuit that was filed against Andrew by four women over allegations that the Crown Prosecution Service decided to not prosecute back in 2019. And of course, all of this is the brothers have repeatedly denied any allegations of wrongdoing. And then more specifically with the news today, you had Andrew retweeting, someone who called the charges fake and claiming that the UK was trying to make an example out of him and Tristan.

You also had Andrew tweeting, So Romania failed, now England tries. The Matrix is angry, they do this to any man who fights against them. Never give up men, never give in, do not be scared, strengthen honor. Though that is, we also saw other responses, like from the lawyer representing the alleged victim suing him in the UK, addressing the news saying, "'We welcome the clarity from the Crown Prosecution Service "'that our authorities are working to ensure "'that Tate's face justice here in the UK.

"'They cannot be allowed to escape extradition.'" And then adding, "'At the same time, we ask once more "'that CPS admit its mistake in failing to prosecute Tate "'when he lived in the UK and finally charge him "'for the rape and assault of the other three women, "'our clients who originally filed criminal complaints against him as long ago as 2014, but were failed by the system.

They deserve justice too. With all that said, as far as what is gonna come from this, the long wait kind of just continues. But then, next up from that, Secretary of State Marco Rubio just took two major actions on foreign visas that will have massive implications and we need to talk about it. Right, because yesterday, Rubio directed US embassies

and consulates to temporarily stop scheduling new appointments for foreign student visa applications while the State Department prepares to expand social media screening. With that move then being outlined in a State Department cable that was first reported by Politico and has since been obtained and verified by other outlets.

And specifically there the cable states effective immediately all consular sections must stop scheduling new appointments and remove all unclaimed appointments for student and exchange visas in order to prepare for the social media vetting expansion. Though, according to the New York Times, foreign citizens with existing interview appointments for student or exchange visas should, in theory,

still be able to attend those. Then also, very notably here, it is unclear exactly what those new guidelines will entail. Because the cable, it only says that the State Department is, quote, conducting a review of existing operations and processes for screening and vetting student and exchange visas and plans to issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applicants.

But you also had political reporting that the document alludes to executive orders that are aimed at keeping out terrorists and battling antisemitism. Which I will say also tracks given the fact that review has repeatedly spoken about canceling student visas, revoking permanent residency status, and studying the social media history of foreign visitors.

With that then largely in relation to what's happening with Israel and Gaza. And actually when asked about the cable in a press briefing, you had State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce responding with this. If you're discussing that, that's something that has not been discussed publicly. It would have to be leaked material if it exists.

What I can remind everyone of, which we've discussed for months here, is that we use every tool in our tool chest to vet anyone coming in who wants to come into this country. Every sovereign country has a right to know who's trying to come in, why they want to come in, who they are, what they've been doing, and at least hopefully within that framework determine what they've been doing, and at least hopefully within that framework, determine what they will be doing while they're here. So that's nothing new. Ritzy had that, but she also then refused

to say what the current process is for vetting applicants' social media or how it might change. And then in a statement to the Times, the department just reiterated her remarks about using all available information. And while you're the agency noting that visa applicants have been asked to provide social media account information since 2019, it also didn't specify what could cause

an applicant to be flagged for rejection under a new social media policy. And then, you know, to that point, it's kind of just unclear how any changes would significantly alter recent policies that have already been implemented. Because, you know, back in March, Tribune sent another cable to consular officers

directing them to study the social media content of certain applicants for various visas, including exchange visas and student visas. And last month, you had the Department of Homeland Security announcing that it would start screening non-citizen social media accounts for anti-Semitic content as reasons to deny visa and green card applications, including those of foreign students.

And with all that said, you know, one possibility is that the new State Department policy is just meant to provide more explicit guidance to consular staff on what kind of social media content should raise red flags, especially because, according to reports, State Department policy is just meant to provide more explicit guidance to consular staff on what kind of social media content should raise red flags. Especially because according to reports, State Department officials have been privately complaining for months that past guidance has just been too vague with Politico explaining.

It's unclear, for example, whether posting photos of a Palestinian flag on an ex-account should force a student to undergo additional scrutiny. But then also, regardless of the exact details of how this policy will be implemented, you have many immigration, law, and first amendment experts condemning the move. But with them arguing that this is just yet another attempt to crack down on free speech

and censor pro-Palestine speech on campuses. Because as we've talked about many times before, the administration has launched a sweeping effort to revoke the legal status of thousands of international students in the US who have expressed pro-Palestinian sentiment. But this latest step, it has experts saying it goes even further.

With for example, Stuart Anderson, the executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy saying that this latest step, it has experts saying it goes even further. With for example, Stewart Anderson, the executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy saying that this new move, it indicates that the administration is trying to prevent student visa applicants who disagree with their views from studying in America period. Though it also makes sense why they'd focus on that because it is much easier than trying to remove people

who are already here. Because as people like Anderson have explained, this administration's attempts to deport existing foreign students, quote, makes what the State Department has been doing legally questionable for students inside the country. But then adding, by focusing more attention on people before they get to the US,

they would cut off legal avenues that people would have once they're in the US. But, or and, depending on if it's part of the intent, as a result, Anderson and many other experts argue that this plan could discourage more foreign students from trying to come to the US while also dramatically slowing down student visa processing. And that specifically is something

that could have very, very serious economic consequences. Because what many people might not realize is that international students, they bring in billions of dollars to the US economy. They bolster the country's STEM sectors and they provide essential funding for both public and private universities. In fact, according to one recent analysis,

more than 1 million international students attend colleges in the US each year. And during the 2023-24 school year, they contributed nearly $44 billion to the US economy by paying for tuition, housing, and other costs of living. And part of the reason why they contribute so much to the economy is because universities rely on them to pay full tuition, which constitutes

a very significant portion of annual revenues for many US colleges. In fact, international students actually pay a tuition rate that is higher than normal out of state tuition at some public colleges. And that of course, in addition to the American students who are attending those same schools, paying lower in-state tuitions,

and at both public and private schools, they often get financial aid from the colleges directly or through federal programs. So as a result, you have experts saying that foreign students can actually end up contributing more than one and a half times as much as their American student counterparts in tuition. The international students essentially help subsidize

lower costs for American students, which is why you have so many people arguing that having less international students, it could make it more expensive for American students to go to college. And so it's entirely possible and plausible that what we're going to see are massive consequences, not only for the universities,

not only for American students, but also for the US workforce, especially when it comes to tech. But then all of that, it brings us to the second piece of visa news that I wanna hit on. And that is that today we saw Rubio announcing even more new visa restrictions on foreign nationals. So I will say these appear to be very different

from the ones we just talked about. With Rubio writing in a post on X, for too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights. Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans.

Free speech is essential to the American way of life, a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority. In a press release outlining the move, you had Rubio explaining it further saying, in some instances foreign officials have taken flagrant censorship actions against US tech companies and US citizens and residents

when they have no authority to do so and adding, it is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on US citizens or US residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on US soil. With them then seemingly hitting at the crux of what this move will really do stating,

it is similarly unacceptable for foreign officials to demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States. And it's really that last part that appears

to be the real meat and potatoes here. Because Trump and many others in the Republican Party have long complained of anti-conservative censorship, especially on social media, both at home and abroad. Though that appearing to kind of fly in the face of numerous studies that have actually shown very little evidence of that.

Instead, what was often found is that content that was removed was actually just misinformation or hate speech. But also very notably, as tech companies have started to unwind policies moderating that kind of content in the US, leaders in other parts of the world have responded by imposing new regulations. Which is then something that's pissed off

many conservatives, including Vice President JD Vance, who argued that foreign leaders are censoring American companies and suppressing dissenting views by labeling them as disinformation or hate speech. So there you've had EU leaders hitting back by arguing that the rules are necessary to compel tech companies to remove content that they deem illegal, like hate speech and child sexual abuse material. Rubio didn't name any specific countries or foreign leaders in his poster statement. This move, it comes as Vance and others in the Trump administration have been particularly vocal about their opposition to European moderation laws. Laws that they argue are hostile to free speech. And then beyond that, it also comes amid a high profile battle between Elon Musk

and a Brazilian Supreme Court judge who ordered him to take down accounts in post-Sonnax that were accused of spreading misinformation. But then going back to what Rubio announced, you have experts saying that it would be a major escalation to start restricting foreign nationals from visiting the US, including on official business, just because they're enforcing policies

that comply with their own laws and rules. With for example, one State Department official reportedly telling Politico, if there's an American Nazi posting stuff in France and France is like banning pro Nazi stuff, is Rubio going to say that the owners of that French platform doing content moderation are barred from entry to the United States, which is then also why you have

some saying that it is hypocritical for the US to try to force other countries to regulate speeches. They see fit in the name of preventing American censorship. And that in addition to people arguing that this move is especially hypocritical given the fact that Rubio and others in the administration are cracking down on pro-Palestine speech so intensely. Right, and arguing that it's just absurd

that he's revoking visas for people who engage in speech that the administration deems unacceptable, but then punishing foreigners who are doing the exact same thing in their countries. So then, on the other side, you have many conservatives applauding the move, arguing that it's actually an important step to combat censorship.

And so while we wait to see how all of this plays out, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below. And then, I've got more news you need to know about in just a minute, but first, you know, growing up, the advice was often, trust your gut, and I've applied that a lot in my life. in just a minute, but first, you know, growing up, the advice was often trust your gut, and I've applied that a lot in my life. Nowadays, the chatter isn't just about trusting your gut,

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But then getting back to the news, Elon Musk hasn't even left the White House yet and he's already breaking from Trump and Republicans. Because you now have Musk criticizing the president's so-called big, beautiful bill, which is that budget that passed the house last week. The bill is passed. But it's not really coming out of nowhere, right?

I mean, it's caused a split somewhat within the GOP between those who think that tax cuts should be the priority and those who think that closing the deficit should be. Because the bill, it would do a lot of things that Republicans generally like. Things like cut taxes by trillions of dollars, increase defense and border spending, impose Medicaid work requirements,

cut food stamps and roll back clean energy. Right, and in doing all that, it would raise the deficit by nearly $4 trillion over a decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, as well as raising the debt ceiling by $4 trillion just to fund the government through the next couple of years. But notably when Trump was asked about it last week, he attacked GOP lawmaker Thomas Massey

for voting against it, and he praised Speaker Mike Johnson for unifying the party and defended his bill against the deficit hawks. I'm a bigger fiscal hawk. There's nobody like me as a fiscal hawk. That's more deficit than Biden did. This bill kind of- Because we have to fix the country.

But not everyone in his party is convinced. You have a handful of Senate Republicans criticizing the bill, including Rick Scott, for example. I support President Trump's agenda, secure the border, build up the military, make the tax cuts permanent. I think we've got to do all these things. Let's live in reality for a second.

We've got to go through every line of the budget. That's what Doge is doing. And then actually speaking of Doge, you had Elon Musk echoing that same point on CBS with him arguing that the bill contradicts his team's mission. I was like, disappointed to see the massive spending bill, frankly,

which increases the budget deficit, not just decrease it, and it reminds the work that the Doge team is doing. I think a bull can be big or it can be beautiful. But I don't know if it could be both, my personal opinion. But also I think it's important to note that when it comes to shrinking the deficit, Musk has taken some flack himself for not living up to his promises either,

because he initially said that Doge would cut government spending by at least $2 trillion. Then he later revised that down to just $1 trillion. But as of April, Doge itself only claims to have cut over $160 billion. And even that number, I say put an asterisk on it, it is dubious. Because for example, you have the BBC finding

that many of the largest saving claims are either lacking in evidence, highly speculative, or vastly overstated. Though we should also mention there that when confronted about this during an interview in Qatar last week, Elon defended himself. Though he did seem on one hand

to blame the government for Doge's lack of success, and on the other hand, claiming that it has been actually successful given the constraints. The ability of Doge to operate is a function of whether the government, and this includes the Congress, is willing to take our advice. We're not the dictators, we are the advisors.

But thus far, for advisors, the Doge team, to their credit, has made incredible progress. And then he seemed to suggest that he would be pulling back not just from Doge, but from politics in general. In terms of political spending, I'm gonna do a lot less in the future. And why is that? I think I've done enough.

And with that, if he's trying to devote more attention to his various companies, he does appear to have a lot of work cut out for him. With Tesla, there's the fallout from his involvement in the White House, including protests, vandalism, boycotts, declining sales, a very turbulent stock price, and a tarnished brand. And then with SpaceX, he's hoping to launch

the first fully reusable Starship rocket by the end of this brand. And then with SpaceX, he's hoping to launch the first fully reusable Starship rocket by the end of this year. But then with that, this morning, as it descended back to earth during its ninth test flight, the rocket spun out of control and broke apart, apparently thanks to a leak in the fuel tank. And that also after it failed to deploy eight dummy satellites when a side hatch jammed.

Of course, with everything space, there's a lot of failure before you have successes. And the main thing is that obviously Musk and Trump have a lot on their plate this year. And as it connects to to the news today is the question of will one of the side dishes Be will this disagreement over the big beautiful bill deepen into a real political conflict or is it something that's kind of just in passing Or will someone bend and or is there a Trump tweet in the future about Elon Musk coming to me on his knees Tears in his eyes. So I will, it does not appear like we are there yet. Because today when Trump was asked about Elon's criticism,

he responded by saying, "'We will be negotiating that bill and I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it.' That's the way they go, it's very big. It's the big, beautiful bill. But for now, we'll have to see what happens with their relationship,

what happens with this so-called big, beautiful bill. And don't worry, because the know, the only thing at stake is the future of America. You know what, just to keep things light for me, it's no more Trump's so-called big beautiful bill, it's Trump's BBL, his big beautiful legislation. But then to shift gears from that, Israel's now launched a new round of strikes across Gaza

and Yemen, killing dozens, including children, and that it's coming as Israel claims it's killed the leader of Hamas, which actually could put a peace deal even further out of reach if that was ever really a goal. But where we're gonna start is with this tense humanitarian situation in Gaza and aid distribution sites. Because since March, Israel has blocked off aid to Gaza,

but then on Tuesday, it allowed the group Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to roll out new aid centers. And while there were multiple locations, the one in Tal Al-Sattin near the southern city of Ra'afah, it was the site of absolute chaos for a while because as you might imagine there was a massive crowd wanting to score anything and they quickly got out of control but with footage showing the group breaking barriers and rushing the aid and then nearby Israeli forces probably didn't help things when they fired what

they called warning shots which led to the crowd stampeding as it fled the area right initially it was also thought this was fire conducted by a plane or a helicopter but the IDF denied that and said it was just ground troops. However, according to reports at the site itself, the staff and armed contractors had an actual plan to avoid bloodshed. With the group, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation saying that as soon as it was clear

that things were gonna be a shit show, they fled. And then local Palestinian staff formed a cordon around the crowd to try and somewhat contain things, which worked because things eventually calmed down and no shots had to be fired. Right, and the good news here is that this does appear to be an isolated incident and the other sites had no real issues.

And all of that is notably, this is not a small amount of aid either, and it's mostly in the form of long lasting food items. You're looking at things like flour, pasta, rice, beans, and when taken together, they reportedly feed five and a half people for three and a half days totaling 462,000 meals. A number that importantly is expected to rise

as more and more aid centers are opened up. And then in addition to that, you have the absolutely massive news that Israel allegedly killed Hamas leader, Mohamed Sinwar, with him being the brother of Hamas's former leader before taking over the position following his death in Southern Gaza. And in a speech to lawmakers,

you had Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu bragging that, quote, we changed the face of the Middle East. We pushed the terrorists from our territories. We entered the Gaza Strip with force. We pushed the terrorists from our territories. We entered the Gaza strip with force. We eliminated tens of thousands of terrorists. We eliminated Mohammed Daif, Ismail Hanyay, Yahya Sinwar, and Mohammed Sinwar. And notably, Sinwar seems to have actually been killed

almost two weeks ago, but the group refused to acknowledge his death at the time. Right, and that is, it's not like the Israeli government was rushing to release the news. Because for many Israelis, Sinwar's death is probably a symbolic victory, but for the government, it might be a catch 22. And that because as they continue to assassinate

Hamas leadership, it becomes increasingly unclear who is actually leading the group. And that then also makes it harder to negotiate a peace deal, which speaking of that, there's a ton of confusion about whether a deal is actually on the table right now. Breakthrough reports coming out over the past few days that Hamas was agreeing to a 60 day truce proposed by American special envoy envoy Steve Witkoff.

A deal that would also include exchanging 10 of the still living Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. However, you then had Israel in the US denying the claims that any ceasefire was gonna happen. And a US official even said that what Witkoff saw from Hamas was quote, disappointing and completely unacceptable.

Which kind of paints the picture that he's not exactly close to making a ceasefire happen. Though then with that, speaking of deals that kind of involve Hamas Trump, he's continuing to try and secure some kind of Iran nuclear deal. Though there, Trump's negotiations really haven't seemed to move much, with Iran's foreign minister swearing last week that, I have said it before and I repeat it again,

uranium enrichment in Iran will continue with or without an agreement. You know, for the American side, that's a huge red flag, because while most negotiations seem to allow some enrichment, there's a push to stop it before it gets to the point where they can make weapons. And that is Netanyahu hasn't helped things because he's out there saying that Israel is going to strike Iranian nuclear facilities

without any American involvement. And to be clear, you know, Israel isn't involved in the negotiations directly, but these statements from a US ally in the region, it complicates things. And that's before we even mentioned that Israel may not be bluffing here. Because while they have definitely bluffed

about conducting strikes before they've also Actually carried out enough to make their threats credible and then speaking of Israeli strikes We can't forget about the one that they just carried out against Yemen But with those strikes hitting Yemen Sanaa airport and coming to a few days after the Houthi group launched their own missiles into Israel The group also claiming that the strike destroyed the last civilian planes Yemeni Airways operates from that airport Well, it doesn't appear like anyone was on the plane, reportedly it was scheduled to take Muslim pilgrims on the Hajj, which is a pretty big deal for Muslims. The Israeli sources have painted a very different picture

and they claim that the planes are used by the Houthis. And following the attack, you get Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warning, "'This is a clear message and a continuation of our policy. "'Whoever fires at the state of Israel "'will pay a heavy price.'" And that is the strike also means that the Sana'a airport was only back in service for like a week following strikes by the US.

And that is in the background, there's been some debate about how effective targeting the airport actually has been. Because it's mostly used for Yemeni airways, flights and UN planes. But then stepping back a bit, it's also easy to see how Israel views all of this as part of a greater conflict with Iran.

With for example, Netanyahu going out and saying, but as I have said more than once, the Houthis are only the symptom. The main driving force behind them is Iran, which is responsible for the aggression emanating from Yemen. And in the past, he's made similar statements about Hezbollah and Hamas, both of which are funded and armed by Iran.

But for now, that's where we are, and we'll talk about this again soon, because there's breaking news every day that ends with a Y there. And then I've got even more news for you in just a minute, but you ever step at a puddle so deep that it feels personal, like the sidewalk just betrayed you?

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Your feet will thank you. Why do fintechs like Float choose Visa? As a more trusted, more secure payments network, Visa provides scale expertise and innovative payment solutions. Learn more at visa.ca slash fintech. Then getting back to news we gotta talk about, RKJ is now officially walking back recommendations

for the COVID-19 vaccine. With them announcing yesterday that the shot's been removed from the CDC's recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and healthy pregnant women. And he delivered the news alongside the director of the National Institutes of Health and the commissioner for the FDA with them saying in a video.

Last year, the Biden administration urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot, despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children. That ends today. It's common sense and it's good science. But one, not everyone in the medical community actually thinks this decision is based on good science.

And two, there is primarily a bigger focus and concern around pregnant women. Because yes, the CDC previously recommended that everyone six months and older get vaccinated against COVID. But the group also specifically said and really pushed that it is especially important for those who are pregnant.

And recently, federal health officials cited pregnancy as a risk factor for developing more severe cases of COVID. And so when taking the shot off the schedule for healthy pregnant women, it clashes with that. Which is why you have the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists releasing a statement now condemning the move saying, "'As OBGYNs who treat patients every day,

"'we have seen firsthand how dangerous COVID-19 infection can be during pregnancy and for newborns who depend on maternal antibodies from the vaccine for protection. Saying, we also understand that despite the change and recommendations from HHS, the science has not changed. It is very clear that COVID-19 infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability

and it can cause devastating consequences for families. The COVID-19 vaccine is safe during pregnancy and vaccination can protect our patients and their infants after birth. Right, and that comes as we've already learned that the FDA is planning to limit future booster shots to only those 65 or with high risk conditions. Now with all this, I think that a lot of people watching,

they're not surprised that RFK Jr. is doing this. It feels like, you know, he's been telegraphing this for a while, but still you had the Washington Post reporting that CDC officials were surprised, though that was because they were not informed of the decision in advance. With an also some reports claiming that the decision was made without input from independent outside advisors.

I've viewed Dr. Richard Besser, a former acting director of the CDC, condemning the move while speaking to NBC News, saying, one of the things that I relied on as a pediatrician was an assurance that the recommendations that came to me were based on the best available science and evidence and came from the work of the expert advisors to the CDC.

This is clearly not coming from that direction and that's greatly concerning. And as far as one of the big reasons that many are concerned is that essentially this move makes it so that insurance companies no longer will be required to pay for vaccines for these groups. It's that out of pocket price tag it could price people out from getting it.

Cause you know, like most things that happen in this country, the people that have the least are affected the most. And specifically regarding pregnant women, the decision is also going to impact the newborn children of those women. Because vaccinating pregnant women, it protects their newborns who are too young to get the shots.

And this is, you have doctors saying that even though kids tend to not get seriously sick from COVID, it can still happen, especially for really, really young kids. And so with that, you have people like Dr. Sean O'Leary, who chairs the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, telling NPR, it's really concerning.

I think it's going to be confusing, not only for parents, but also for public health professionals and medical professionals as well. This takes away choice. And then I guess to just make this situation even more fun, in the backdrop of this news, we have the other news that a new variant

is now making headlines. With this variant reportedly surging in China right now, though it's only been detected in a handful of states. And this is, it's a relative of Omicron, and even though it does not appear to be any more severe than previous variants, it is apparently more transmissible. So yeah, fun times and now you know. But then, finally today, I wanna talk about y'all's comments

on yesterday's show and some comment commentary brought to you by Beautiful master comm where we just Launched these three brand new fantastic tees and hoodies. All right, you've got bite the hand that oppresses you Identify as being a beacon of light in a dark world and the one that I'm wearing right now I'm very normal and cool and chill all the time because you know if you're gonna lie to people it may as well be with A really awesome t-shirt and then there's also two other secret tees You'll see them on the home page if you go click that link in the description. But you know, with that said, diving into y'all's comments,

understandably, there was a lot of conversation around the new Harry Potter kids. And you know, as someone that, you know, I watched the movies, but I wouldn't call myself a Potterhead, like I didn't read the books, I didn't get, you know, super into it. A lot of the things that a number of y'all brought up, I mean, they're not even things that I was thinking about.

Right, RJ saying, Hermione, she gets called mudblood a lot through the books. And people are already on the girl for her race. I feel terrible for this kid. And then in the replies to that, as well as in completely separate comments, you had a lot of people bringing up Snape. With, for example, Pokemon coordinator Mare taking the time to write kind of a full dissertation on this, saying, my main issue with the casting is one, Harry immediately distrusts Snape the moment he lays eyes on him.

So in the remake, that's automatically gonna be seen as weird. Two, Snape's backstory consists of him having grown up poor, joining a gang of Yahtzees. So they're already gonna be perpetuating certain stereotypes that didn't even need to be there. And three, when James Potter bullies Severus by hanging him under a tree, like, I mean, come on. Not to mention the way Severus is described in the books

makes him unattractive, and that's on purpose to sow the seeds of doubt in Harry. Because Harry, due to his upbringing, has a severe lack of trust in adults. By making Sever Severus black not only are they adding in stereotypes to black people via Snape's upbringing They're going to have to redo certain scenes because otherwise yeah, James is gonna be seen as nothing but racist He was a bully sure but racist no because he you know joined up with the order to fight the wizards who were racist So, you know interesting points stuff. I wouldn't have thought of though I will say I always like to personally reserve judgment until the thing actually comes out because especially at this point who knows the

things they're gonna change or tweak or what they're gonna do. But then understandably separate from the focus on that story there were a lot of people talking about what happened with the Liverpool parade. For example, NeverKnowIsBest saying, watching the reactions to the car incidents which were being invaded by terrorists and you already know who did it to, oh they damaged his car, I would have done the same and why did you reveal the race of the driver so fast was very exhausting but expected. Which yeah, I will say one, it was very interesting to watch a lot of people move the goalposts,

but also two, fun fact, moving goalposts is a great full body workout. Just make sure you lift with your legs. Then kind of one of the last things that kept popping up in the comments were comments around what happened with McCrone and his wife. Because well there was a decent amount of back and forth

regarding, you know, the face push, was it too much, was it playful, et cetera. In general, it was just a lot of people feeling uncomfortable about that relationship. The top comments on this being things like, damn I had no idea Macron's wife was on that creepy teacher timing, my jaw dropped. Though then others went further like Blake the cyborg

who said, regarding the Macron situation, she 100% groomed him and probably is abusive to him in some way, whether it be physical or mental abuse. It is extremely hard to believe that a good and well-meaning teacher would end up dating their student that is 20 plus years younger than them without some sort of manipulation being involved. And while there was support there,

there was also some pushback, like Heldemann who said, certainly possible. But then also adding, I could see that little face shove done in a playful way and Macron just realizing it would look bad on camera, but who knows. but that my friends is the end of today's show Thank you for watching I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow cuz remember I got a brand new show for you every Monday Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern 3 p.m. Pacific