The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.4 Please Don't Cancel Me, Alex Jones, Armed Lockdown Protesters, Food Supply Problem, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you've had a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and two quick notes before we get started. One, I have obviously been gone for a week. It was not pre-planned. I explained why in pretty much every format that does not require a video. Even here on YouTube, there's a community page that goes out to people that have notifications turned on for this channel. But long story short there, because I don't want to regurgitate that. If you miss those posts and you want to go see, I'll link down below.

Starting point is 00:00:22 But long story short, I just want to say thank you to like 98% of you. The reaction was wildly different than I expected. I think dealing with the ugliness that we do every day, the people going at each other's throat over any possible thing, it kind of made me lose sight to the fact that we do have a community here. And in general, it is incredibly supportive. So truly, truly thank you.

Starting point is 00:00:40 And then also too, even though you had people actively trying to cancel Harry Styles for doing something similar, I'm dropping this limited edition essential and exhausted design on shirts, hoodies, and tanks. And with this, 100% of the proceeds will go to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, which you can also donate to directly

Starting point is 00:00:57 without getting a shirt at COVID19responsefund.org. So yeah, if you want to snag one of those while you can, link down below, they're available until May 12th. But with that said, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, buckle up, hit that like button and let's just jump into it. The first thing we're gonna talk about today involves stay at home orders slash lockdown

Starting point is 00:01:15 slash the protests about those. And it starts with a clip that a lot of people sent to me while I was on my break. And that is Alex Jones on cannibalization. Which I will say it's so odd that we live in a time that I can say that sentence and it's just like, yeah, that makes sense. No reason that wouldn't be a topic of conversation

Starting point is 00:01:34 right now, but here's the clip. I'll admit it. I will eat my neighbors. I'm not letting my kids die. I've extrapolated this out and I won't have to for a few years since I got food and stuff. But I'm literally looking at my neighbors now and going, I'm ready to hang them up, gut them and skin them and chop them up. You know what, I'm ready. My daughters aren't starving to death. I'll eat my neighbors. See, my superpower is being honest, I'll eat your ass, I will.

Starting point is 00:01:58 My main reaction to that is I wonder what Alex Jones being your neighbor does to the market value of your house. Now obviously, that clip blew up, drawing many a what the hell is happening reactions from a large number of people from all sides. But what I will say here in Alex Jones' defense, which is not a phrase that will normally come out of my mouth,

Starting point is 00:02:17 one, in this segment that this video was clipped from, he does note that he was joking. He's also later said that it was satire, with his main message being that the lockdown needs to end because what we're gonna see is starvation on a massive scale with so many deaths attributed to it. And actually, regarding starvation, but more importantly for the near-term food shortages,

Starting point is 00:02:33 we're gonna be touching on that in a little bit. But for now, let's talk about people like Alex Jones who are not happy about this coronavirus lockdown. Because you know, as we've talked about on the show, there have been a number of protests against the lockdown. Some where Jones himself even participated. And we saw a huge wave of those Over this last weekend one of the major ones there being in Sacramento on Friday

Starting point is 00:02:49 Which resulted in 32 arrests being made right now as you can see from some of these photos from the Sacramento Bee this did start off Peacefully with some just waving signs in their cars They drove around the state capital people also gathering at the Capitol with reports estimating around 1,000 people showing up there video circulated online From that event showing people gathered in incredibly tight-packed spaces, chanting things like whose house, our house. You also had some carrying American flags or signs with patriotic phrases, others with signs that definitely

Starting point is 00:03:13 take more of a violent turn. And then these protests turned into standoffs with the California Highway Patrol. Right in something of note here, protests at the California State Capitol have been banned as of around two weeks ago. That's why you saw CHP's presence there, CHP ordering protesters to disperse, then beginning to detain those who did not comply, officers with batons and riot gear ended up having

Starting point is 00:03:31 to move crowds away as they resisted, reports saying some of the demonstrators called the CHP officers traitors. Also, as far as who organized this protest as well as the other protests throughout the state, they appear to be in part led by a movement called Reopen California and on a website called I Need to go back to work com they describe themselves as a Non-political group of citizens who believe our rights are being violated by the coronavirus shelter in process We want to go back to work in order to support our lives and the lives of our families and also saying they do not Believe that the coronaviruses hit the state hard enough to warrant these measures and regarding California being hit as of this morning

Starting point is 00:04:02 California had almost 55,000 cases and over 2,200 deaths. Also, I will say, this is where we see the most debate. There are people saying, look at the numbers, look how small they are compared to the total population of the state. But then of course you have others arguing the only reason it's only 55,000 cases, it's only 2,200 deaths,

Starting point is 00:04:16 is because of the shelter in place order. Or you have people feeling like the effort and the thought that we need to be safe is being penalized because it's actually being effective. But that said, for what it's worth, it also appears that these protesters appear to be in the minority opinion in the state. And I say that because a recent poll of California voters

Starting point is 00:04:31 suggests that most voters want officials to take their time about ending restrictions on business and public gatherings. With 70% fearing that stay-at-home orders will end too soon, causing the disease to spread further, and only 30% fearing that the orders will go on too long and hurt the economy. But also, California was just one of the states that saw stay-at-home protests over the past couple of days.

Starting point is 00:04:49 Michigan and Illinois also made headlines because of protests happening there, with Michigan in particular making massive headlines because many protesters there were armed, with some of those armed protesters actually making their way into the Capitol building. Right, and you may have actually seen some of the viral videos of crowds attempting

Starting point is 00:05:03 to get into the House floor. You had one state senator, Dana Pol Polhenke tweeting out a photo saying, directly above me men with rifles yelling at us. Some of my colleagues who own bulletproof vests are wearing them. I have never appreciated our sergeants at arms more than today. And as far as what we saw from the federal government regarding this, afterwards you saw President Trump tweeting out, the governor of Michigan should give a little and put out the fire. These are very good people, but they are angry. They want their lives back again safely. See them, talk to them, make a deal. Now as far as Governor Gretchen Whitmer's response, she said that the lockdowns need to continue per advice from state health officials. Also regarding the rallies themselves, she said that there were displays

Starting point is 00:05:35 of racism there. There were swastikas and confederate flags and nooses and people with assault rifles. Well, some of the outrageousness of what happened at our Capitol this week, you know, depicted some of the worst racism and awful parts of our history in this country. And in Chicago, similar imagery was seen during the protest. Also, one of the things that got a lot of attention is this tweet showing a woman holding a sign

Starting point is 00:05:59 with a Nazi slogan. And while the tweet said that the woman denied being a Nazi and said that she had Jewish friends, people were obviously outraged by the sign. It's worth saying that that phrase translates to work will set you free and as the Auschwitz memorial explained in a statement announcing this sign, the phrase was a false cynical illusion given to the prisoners of Auschwitz. And adding, those words became one of the icons of human hatred. It's painful to see this symbol instrumentalized and used again to spread hate. It's a symptom of moral and intellectual degeneration. But ultimately, that's where we are with these protests right now.

Starting point is 00:06:25 Obviously we're gonna keep an eye on it to see if they grow, they change, what happens next. As far as my opinion on this, kind of like I said, even from the first time we talked about one of these protests, even if you don't agree with them, it is important to try to understand where they're coming from.

Starting point is 00:06:36 Why are they scared, angry, desperate? And I mean that in general for Joe and Jane Blow that are pushing to reopen as fast as possible and not like the conspiratorial anti-vaxxers that you sometimes see in these groups or the people that would call for lynching and stuff Blow that are pushing to reopen as fast as possible and not like the conspiratorial anti-vaxxers that you sometimes see in these groups or the people that would call for lynching and stuff like that. And I mention that because I've seen a number of people

Starting point is 00:06:50 in far more privileged positions and those impacted the greatest, essentially spitting at the idea that anyone would want to reopen, not taking into account how fearful and desperate a number of people are. Even with it being the case that there is a very large argument

Starting point is 00:07:02 that if you open up too early, that would actually be even worse for those people. It's some minimizing the position, like everyone that wants to reopen the government wants it so they can do things like go to a nail salon. But where I will definitely agree with the criticism is I am greatly concerned about the conduct of some. I agree with Dr. Birx in that when I see protesters

Starting point is 00:07:19 without masks who aren't practicing social distancing, that is devastatingly worrisome. Right, and this at a time where we're already seeing Trump now changing his forecast that only 60,000 people would die in the United States, as we have now already surpassed, now an estimate of 100,000 people. Right, and all while understanding

Starting point is 00:07:33 that what we're seeing in these protests are people from a bunch of different places coming together and then going back. So you're talking about a potential super escalation in the spread of COVID-19 if someone there has it. When I see armed men in the Capitol building with some people trying to push through past law enforcement, that's incredibly concerning,

Starting point is 00:07:48 especially at a time where you see headlines like Colorado man planning armed protest against state's coronavirus restrictions arrested for pipe bombs. With that man only coming to the attention of law enforcement after using social media to encourage people to bring assault rifles to a planned May 1st rally at the Colorado Capitol building.

Starting point is 00:08:02 And it just very much feels like things are escalating and escalating to a potentially very scary space. But of course, with that said, that's a story. Some of my thoughts on it, of course, I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this one? And then let's talk about some huge updates to the situation around meat packing,

Starting point is 00:08:15 processing plants, and food shortages. The coronavirus outbreaks in these facilities are something that we've been following over the last few weeks. But since we last covered it, this situation has escalated and escalated. With in fact, last week, the CDC saying that at least 20 meat packing and food processing workers have died

Starting point is 00:08:29 and more than 4,900 have tested positive. Though, it is believed that that number is probably a lot lower than the actual amount due to the lack of testing. And that's especially true for the meat industry because many major plants are in rural communities where testing and access to healthcare is extremely limited. Especially because there appears to be a high amount

Starting point is 00:08:43 of asymptomatic cases. I mean, just today we saw reports that more than 370 workers at a plant in Missouri all tested positive for the virus and all of them were asymptomatic. And at the same time we're seeing a growing number of cases, a growing problem. We also saw President Trump signing an executive order last week compelling meat packing and processing plants

Starting point is 00:08:59 to stay open. And through that order, Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, the DPA, to classify the plants as critical infrastructure that must remain open. Which is a very big deal because Trump has been very hesitant to use this power despite many calls to do so. With that executive order saying, Such closures threaten the continued functioning of the national meat and poultry supply chain. And adding, any unnecessary closures can quickly have a large effect on the food supply chain.

Starting point is 00:09:20 And with this move, it got a ton of backlash from union leaders and workers all over the country. Many of whom accused Trump of putting the meat industry and the economy over the livelihood of the workers and urged the administration to ensure worker safety. Right, I mean, just a few days before the executive order, the CDC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued interim guidelines for meat facilities that outlined information for cleaning shared equipment and how companies can use barriers

Starting point is 00:09:41 to ensure social distancing for workers. Workers who notably usually work shoulder to shoulder and often in relatively unsanitary conditions. But very notably there, those guidelines are voluntary. And so even before Trump's order, you had a lot of union leaders worried that meat plants wouldn't actually implement these new guidelines.

Starting point is 00:09:55 And at the same time, the executive order also gave the USDA the power to keep a plant open even if a governor or state health agency wanted it closed. With Trump also saying that the order resolved, quote, liability' for meat companies "'that stayed opened or reopened." Right, companies that were already worried that they could face lawsuits from employees

Starting point is 00:10:10 who felt forced to work in dangerous conditions or got the coronavirus while on the job. With the president also saying that it was unfair that meat companies could be sued by employees whose lives were at risk. So as a result, you had a lot of people, and notably unions, saying that the administration needed to clarify and clearly enforce those guidelines.

Starting point is 00:10:24 Now, with all that said, a lot of major meat industry leaders said that they were implementing more safety measures to protect workers. Things like providing protective equipment, taking workers' temperatures, disinfecting facilities, and more. But it's also unclear how widespread those efforts are

Starting point is 00:10:36 or if they're even going to be enough. Now, all that said, while you had those major companies cheering Trump's decision, the move has also not led to widespread reopening of plants. Almost a week after President Trump signed the executive order, barely any of the companies that own plants

Starting point is 00:10:48 that were already shut down have said that they are going to reopen. You do have the likes of JBS USA announcing it would partially reopen one of its pork production plants in Minnesota, but reportedly that's only to euthanize the pigs that can't be processed because the plant is closed, which has caused their pig supply to get too large.

Starting point is 00:11:01 And in fact, just today, Tyson said that it expects more of its plants to close this year and that it will be producing less meat than normal. And also adding in a statement, "'We have and expect to continue to face slowdowns "'and temporary idling of production facilities "'from team member shortages

Starting point is 00:11:14 "'or choices we make to ensure operational safety.'" And with Tyson specifically, that is a massive deal because they're one of the companies that push the hardest for plants to remain open. I mean, just a few days before Trump passed this order, you had Tyson running a full page ad in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Arkansas Democrat Gazette saying, the food supply chain is breaking.

Starting point is 00:11:31 And adding, we have a responsibility to feed our country. It is as essential as healthcare. This is a challenge that should not be ignored. Our plants must remain operational so that we can supply food to our families in America. And to that point, we are seeing more and more signs that a meat shortage, or at least shortages in some stores may be coming, even despite Trump's efforts here.

Starting point is 00:11:48 According to USDA data from last week, 10% to 15% of cattle slaughter capacity has been halted while 25 to 30% of hog slaughter was down. But at the same time of that production dip, industry analysts have estimated that retail sales are actually up 30 to 40%. And already that's beginning to affect the meat options that people have in markets.

Starting point is 00:12:04 On Friday, we had Kroger, the country's biggest traditional supermarket chain, saying that it was limiting how much ground beef and fresh pork customers could purchase at select stores. And in general, wholesale prices for both those meats have spiked significantly, meaning that it is more expensive for consumers to buy them as well.

Starting point is 00:12:17 So as this continues, experts are saying that you can expect to see higher prices for certain meat that's in high demand and a smaller variety of meat and fewer products overall in stores. But at the same time you have other stores like Walmart, right, the nation's largest retailer period, saying that they are not concerned.

Starting point is 00:12:30 With the company saying in a statement, "'As we would normally do during periods of high demand, "'we are working through our supply chain "'to continually replenish items as quickly as possible "'to help us meet the needs of our customers.'" But here's also another thing that makes this hard. Many experts have also said that even as more plants open up, right, if that happens,

Starting point is 00:12:45 it doesn't necessarily guarantee that production will be higher or where it needs to be. As one report explains, while President Trump's executive order is aimed at motivating meat processing plants to stay in operation, whether or not that's actually possible will come down to workers, not management. If workers fall ill or are concerned enough

Starting point is 00:12:59 for their own safety that they choose not to return, it won't matter if plants reopen or not. According to some experts, these shortages could last for a year or more. But ultimately, that's where we are with this right now. Obviously, this is something we have to keep our eyes on. And with this story, while I do have the general question of,

Starting point is 00:13:11 you know, what are your thoughts? Have you seen this reflected where you live? Those that are working in these plants have family or friends there. You live in the town. What are you seeing on the ground? And then, you know, let's talk about this theory that the coronavirus was released from a lab in China.

Starting point is 00:13:24 Right, because this last Thursday, we saw the Office of the Director of National Intelligence release a statement saying that it was looking into two possibilities into how this pandemic started. The first possibility being that the outbreak began through contact with infected animals, and the second being the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan. And what we saw is later in that day you had President Trump giving support to that second theory. Have you- Truck month is on at Chevrolet. Get 0% financing for up to 72 months on a 2025 Silverado 1500 Custom Blackout or Custom Trail Boss.

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Starting point is 00:14:12 When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner. Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer. So download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes. Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over deliver. Have you seen anything at this point that gives you a high degree of confidence that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was the origin of this virus? Yes, I have. Yes, I have.

Starting point is 00:14:52 What gives you a high degree of confidence that this originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology? I can't tell you that. I'm not allowed to tell you that. Though, as to why he won't say, part of that could be because according to reports, some evidence appears to be based on electronic intercepts of communications among Chinese officials. And revealing those could reportedly expose details about how the United States keeps track of Chinese leadership. And then we fast forward to yesterday where we saw this exchange between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and ABC co-anchor Martha Raddatz. Mr. Secretary, have you seen anything that gives you high confidence that it originated in that Wuhan lab?

Starting point is 00:15:24 Martha, there's enormous evidence that that's where this began. We've said from the beginning that this was a virus that originated in Wuhan, China. We took a lot of grief for that from the outset, but I think the whole world can see now. Remember, China has a history of infecting the world, and they have a history of running substandard laboratories. These are not the first times that we've had a world exposed to viruses as a result of failures in a Chinese lab. And so while the Intelligence Committee

Starting point is 00:15:51 continues to do its work, they should continue to do that and verify so that we are certain. I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from that laboratory in Wuhan. Though with that, Pompeo did agree with a recent report from the ODNI that it said that it didn't believe the coronavirus was manmade or genetically modified. Also in with that, Pompeo did agree with a recent report from the ODNI that it said that it didn't believe the coronavirus

Starting point is 00:16:06 was man-made or genetically modified. Also in this interview, you had Raditz asking Pompeo if he thought China had intentionally released the coronavirus or if it was a lab accident. And there, Pompeo said that he could not answer that question because the Communist Party has refused to cooperate with world health experts. Though, later last night during a Fox News town hall,

Starting point is 00:16:21 we saw Trump seem to indicate that he thought that this virus had broken out from a lab in Wuhan. I think they made a horrible mistake and they didn't want to admit it. We wanted to go in. They didn't want us there. Even World Health wanted to go in. They were admitted, but much later, you know, not immediately. And my opinion is they made a mistake.

Starting point is 00:16:38 They tried to cover it. They tried to put it out. It's like a fire. Right. And if that's true, that would be extremely notable notable except many scientists and health experts do not agree with this With many stating they believe the coronavirus originated from a natural process There's a lot of them arguing that it's much more likely that the virus made the leap from an animal to a human in a non Lapse setting you know just this last Friday you had who emergency response chief Mike Ryan directly pushing back at Trump's claim saying we have listened

Starting point is 00:17:00 Again and again to numerous scientists who have looked at the sequences and looked at this virus. We are assured that this virus is natural in origin. And adding, what is important is that we establish what that natural host for this virus is, how the animal-human species barrier was breached. You know, in addition to the health experts, we've also seen the likes of politicians like Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, French President Emmanuel Macron

Starting point is 00:17:20 speaking on the issues of no evidence seen thus far. And on top of all that, even here in the United States, according to reports, the CIA has yet to unearth any data beyond circumstantial evidence to bolster the lab theory, according to current and former government officials. And the agency has told policymakers it lacks enough information to either affirm or refute it. And adding, only getting access to the lab itself

Starting point is 00:17:38 and the virus samples it contains could provide definitive proof if it exists. And you know, regarding access and transparency, we're dealing with the Chinese government here. And the Chinese government, shocker, has not exactly been transparent. And that notably is part of the reason we're seeing all of these suspicions.

Starting point is 00:17:52 For example, Chinese officials have rejected calls for an investigation into the source of the virus. And in fact, back in March, one Chinese official actually pushed a conspiracy theory that the United States spread the virus. And in February, China actually shut down the lab that shared the coronavirus genome. And so because of actions like that,

Starting point is 00:18:06 yesterday we also saw Pompeo say. We can confirm that the Chinese Communist Party did all that it could to make sure that the world didn't learn in a timely fashion about what was taking place. There's lots of evidence of that. Some of it you can see in public, right? We've seen announcements, we've seen the fact that they kicked journalists out, we saw the fact that those

Starting point is 00:18:24 who were trying to report on this, medical professionals inside of China, were silenced, they shut down reporting. All the kind of things that authoritarian regimes do, it's the way communist parties operate. Still, on the opposite end of this, you had an editorial in the Communist Party-controlled Global Times pushing back against this claim in the lab theory. Reading, since Pompeo said his claims are supported by quote, enormous evidence, then he should present this so-called evidence to the world and especially to the American public who he continually tries to fool. The truth is that Pompeo does not have any evidence and during Sunday's interview, he was bluffing.

Starting point is 00:18:55 And personally, where I land on this, obviously I'm incredibly distrustful of the Chinese government, but I do agree with that note of if there is evidence, let's see the evidence. But at the same time, I ended up being skeptical because we have a Mike Pompeo publicly saying we have enormous evidence.

Starting point is 00:19:08 We have Donald Trump publicly saying we have a high degree of confidence. But that's being said at the same time where US intelligence agencies are saying they have not come to any conclusion. And understand, I share that skepticism while also thinking that it is completely plausible that maybe this virus was being studied

Starting point is 00:19:22 and that there was some sort of accidental transmission. But, and maybe this is in part having been a young man in America while the country was essentially fed weapons of mass destruction all those years ago, I'll be personally waiting for there to be direct or public evidence to support these lab theories. And for his part, Trump last night promised a report on this subject, which he said would be conclusive.

Starting point is 00:19:41 Right, and so with that promise report, does that show the evidence that President Trump said he's not allowed to share? I don't know, but for now we have to wait and see. And when it comes to this story, what are your thoughts on this? Do you have trust of anybody here? If so, why, where, how?

Starting point is 00:19:55 Let me know in those comments down below. And that is where I'm going to end today's show. And hey, if you like this video, you like diving into the news with me, hit that like button if you're new here. Definitely hit that subscribe button, ring that bell to turn on notifications that way you don't miss these daily news shows.

Starting point is 00:20:08 Also, if you're looking for more to watch right now, look no further, you can click or tap right here to watch one of these. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in, I love yo faces, and I'll see you tomorrow. I promise this time. I hope you liked this video.

Starting point is 00:20:22 Subscribe if you like it.

The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.4 Please Don't Cancel Me, Alex Jones, Armed Lockdown Protesters, Food Supply Problem, & More

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