The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.26 "I FEAR FOR MY LIFE" UFO Whistleblowers Testify Pentagon is Hiding UFO Evidence, Andrew Tate Leaks &

Episode Date: July 26, 2023

Go to https://pdsdebt.com/defranco to get our quick and easy debt assessment today!  Catch up on our latest PDS: https://youtu.be/jc7MrK-KeSE Check out our daily newsletter! http://dailydip.co/pds  Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phillydefranco/?hl=en  –✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 0:00 - Whistleblower Confirms Existence of UAPs and Aliens in House Subcommittee Hearing 06:59 - Flaming Crane Collapses in NYC 07:47 - Leaked Texts Show Andrew Tate’s Alleged Tactics 10:36 - Livvy Dunne Can’t Attend In-Person Classes Over Safety Concerns 12:29 - Sponsored by PDSDebt 13:21 - Video of Texas Dad Smashing Into Scorching Car to Save Baby Goes Viral 14:34 - Kevin Spacey Acquitted in the U.K. 15:44 - Herbal Supplement Kratom Spikes in Popularity 17:10 - Billionaires in Miami-Dade Pay off 125,000 People’s Medical Debt 18:54 - Saudi Arabia Spends Billions to Become Global Gaming Hub 21:35 - German Teachers Face Backlash for Combatting Rise in Right Wing Populism Senate Subcommittee UAP Hearing:  https://www.youtube.com/live/SpzJnrwob1A?feature=share  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxx Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Star Pralle, Chris Tolve  ———————————— #DeFranco #AndrewTate #Aliens ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, we're talking about UFO whistleblowers testifying under oath before Congress at the Pentagon is hiding UFO evidence from us, new Andrew Tate leaks, Kevin Spacey being acquitted, new Saudi sports washing, the dark side of Libby Dunn, Kratom concerns, a horrifying crane collapse in New York. We're going to talk about all that and so much more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, so buckle up, you beautiful bastards. Hit that like button and let's just jump into it. Starting with, Congress was talking about aliens today. If you haven't seen yet, the National Security Subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee held a public hearing today as part of an effort to convince the Biden administration

to release more information about UFOs, or rather the term that's being widely used here, UAPs. And with all this, you had people saying the situation went kind of off the rails pretty fast. So you had the committees hearing testimony under oath from three different witnesses with direct knowledge of how the rails pretty fast. Or so you have the committees hearing testimony under oath from three different witnesses with direct knowledge of how the government handles UAP reports. Those three witnesses being Ryan Graves, a former Navy pilot who's talked about encountering UAPs on training missions.

David Fravor, another former Navy pilot who shot a famous video of an object that resembled a Tic Tac during a flight off the coast of California back in 2004. And David Grush, a former combat officer and intelligence official who became a whistleblower last year and accused the government of withholding information on UAPs.

And most of the kind of wildest soundbites today came from that last witness. Now, very notably here, Grush's testimony doesn't come from personal experience, but rather from information he says he was given from other individuals in the military and intelligence community. With one of the most viral clips circulating social media

right now being where Grush is being questioned by Representative Nancy Mace about if he believes the US government has made contact with extraterrestrials. He responds that he can't answer that question in a public hearing. But then we saw this interaction. If you believe we have crashed craft, stated earlier, do we have the bodies of the pilots who piloted this craft? As I've stated publicly already in my News Nation interview, biologics came with some of these recoveries. Yeah. Were they, I guess, human or non-human biologics?

Non-human. And that was the assessment of people with direct knowledge on the program I talked to that are currently still on the program. Beyond that, Grush also claimed that the government has been aware of actual evidence of non-human intelligence related to UAPs since the 1930s and that the government is actually in possession of UAPs. Mr. Grush, finally, do you believe that our government is in possession of UAPs. Mr. Gresh, finally, do you believe that our government is in possession of UAPs? Absolutely, based on interviewing over 40 witnesses over four years. And where? I know the exact locations, and those locations were provided to the Inspector General

and some of which to the intelligence committees. With him also asserting that the government has a specific program for retrieving UAPs. I was informed in the course of my official duties of a multi-decade UAP crash retrieval and reverse engineering program, to which I was denied access to those additional read-ons when I requested it. Also notably here, you had a Defense Department spokesperson saying investigators have not discovered, quote, any verifiable information to substantiate claims that any programs regarding the possession or reverse engineering of extraterrestrial materials have existed in the past or exist currently. Beyond that, another absolutely wild moment

came in questioning from Representative Eric Burleson. With a mask and grush, if any of the activity documented in his reports have been hostile or aggressive, to which he responds, I know of multiple colleagues of mine that got physically injured. And the activity... By UAPs or by people within the federal government?

Okay. So there has been activity by alien or non-human technology and or beings that has caused harm to humans. I can't get into the specifics in an open environment, but at least the activity that I personally witnessed, and I have to be very careful here because you don't, you know, I tell you never to acknowledge tradecraft, right? So what I personally witnessed myself and my wife was very disturbing. Grush also going on to elaborate on the claim that the federal government hurt people to cover up this information on extraterrestrials in another exchange.

Do you have any personal knowledge of people who have been harmed or injured in efforts to cover up or conceal these extraterrestrial technology? Yes. Personally. Have anyone been murdered that you know of or have heard of, I guess? I have to be careful asking that question. I directed people with that knowledge to the appropriate authorities. He also claimed that he himself has feared for his life since coming forward. In the last couple of years, have you had incidences that have caused you to be in fear for your life for addressing these issues?

Yes, personally. And in addition to repeating his claims that the government is withholding information on UAPs, he also alleged there are secret government programs related to UAPs and that the military misappropriates public funding to hide those programs from Congress. But also one thing that is very important

with all of Grush's testimony here is that he wasn't really able to provide evidence or substantiate any of these claims. But that's also because so much of what he's talking about here is classified and also the subject of a whistleblower complaint, with Grush repeatedly responding to many of the questions that Congress members asked by saying that he couldn't answer in a public hearing. But he did say a number of times that he could provide some of the materials they asked for in a high-security private hearing,

which actually lawmakers have already officially said they will seek. But with all that said, like, the comments made by Grush weren't the only wild accounts to come out of the hearings today. You also had both the other witnesses, Graves and Fravor, recounting their personal experiences seeing UAPs. And while that information wasn't new because these two have been public with their stories for years, it was still wild to hear them giving these accounts to Congress for the public record.

I mean, Fravor's Tic Tac story just never gets old. All four of us, because we were in F-18Fs, so we had pilots and WIZO in the back seat, looked down a small, saw a white Tic Tac object with a longitudinal axis pointing north-south and moving very abruptly over the water like a ping pong ball. As we pulled nose onto the object within about a half mile of it, it rapidly accelerated in front of us and disappeared. Our wingmen, roughly 8,000 feet

above us, lost contact also. We immediately turned back to see where the whitewater was at, and it was gone also. So as you started to turn back towards the east, the controller came up and said, sir, you're not going to believe this, but that thing is at your cat point, roughly 60 miles away in less than a minute. Graves also describing some personal firsthand accounts that he had, as well as recounting a different story in another viral clip. In the 2003 time frame, a large group of Boeing contractors were operating near one of the launch facilities at Fandenberg Air Force Base when they observed a very large 100-yard-sided red square approach the base from the ocean and hover at low altitude

over one of the launch facilities. This object remained for about 45 seconds or so before darting off over the mountains. There was a similar event within 24 hours later in the evening. This was a morning event, I believe 8.45 in the morning. Later in the evening, post sunset, there were reports of other sightings on base, including some aggressive behaviors. These objects were approaching some of the security guards at rapid speeds before darting off. And very importantly, at varying levels here, all three witnesses also called for more government transparency regarding UAPs, and they agreed that UAPs could potentially pose an existential threat to America's national security.

And again, this is not everything. These are kind of just some of the main highlights I wanted to touch on. So, of course, with this in the description, I'll also be linking to the full hearing, so you can check it out yourself. But with everything we've just seen here, I got to ask the question, what are your thoughts? And then, a giant crane towering high above Manhattan caught fire this morning and partially collapsed. Reportedly, the fire ignited 45 stories up in a building that was under construction on 10th Avenue. And as the flames weakened the cable holding up 16 tons of concrete, the crane eventually buckled.

With video catching the horrifying moment when the crane's boom swung down, slicing through a building across the street and then crashing to the ground. Oh, s***. According to reports, 11 people were hurt in this, including two firefighters, but miraculously, none had life-threatening injuries and nobody died, which is absolutely incredible considering this is a very high-traffic area, but thankfully, it was early in the morning. And so for now, a chunk of 10th Avenue has been closed off while officials make sure the area is safe. And then this new series of leaked text messages are painting what many have described as a disturbing picture of how Andrew Tate allegedly recruited women for sex

work. Right, Tate was arrested late last year in Romania before being officially charged with rape and human trafficking last month. Authorities accusing both Tate and his brother of using the lover boy method of luring women in under the guise of a real relationship before forcing them to do sex work. And while the Tates have repeatedly denied those allegations, Rolling Stone just received texts that seemingly show Tate discussing his recruitment tactics. With reports saying that these messages came from conversations held in 2021 within the war room, a group of all male associates Tate had. Rolling Stone saying sources close to the war room verified the messages, which were reportedly sent in the channel titled PhD, which references Tate's previous pimp and hose degree program. And in one message, you see Tate discussing what he looks for in female partners, saying, give me an average moron with no skills who's blind loyal. I judge basically all females by loyalty. If they're loyal and they won't leave. In the end, they'll do

everything you want. Then in another message, he sent photos of women and referred to them as targets and assets. But in most of the texts they have here, he's actually just speaking about one specific woman who he says lost her support networks at home and who's been begging to see him. And the outlet saying that in an attempt to make this woman more dependent on him, he made up a story where her friends told him that she worked at a sex club. And so with that, he said that he got mad at her and that way it would put this woman on the defensive. With Tate adding, the real goal is for her to agree to never go anywhere without me, not even her hometown. I need her working. He also allegedly sent screenshots of conversations that he had with this woman, where he told her that she could never go back to her hometown and that she

never had to leave the house in Bucharest, to which she complied. Rolling Stone also claiming that he sent his associates messages where he detailed how he recruited her and working through challenges that he faced, pressuring her. Right, like at one point, she allegedly refused to send photos or do OnlyFans, so he asked the war room for feedback, to which some suggested he try good cop, bad cop, another telling him to act hurt so that she feels guilty and cries, with Tate at one point allegedly writing, Since she moved to Bucharest, she's been fed, but nothing else. She's broke and she can't go home, and she can't leave the house. Man, I almost sound evil, but I'm not. I'm a shepherd leading the sheep. She doesn't realize that following me makes life better for her. He also sent messages

explaining how he would use Georgiana and Angel, an associate who's also being charged, to create elaborate ruses and fake conversations that could be used to persuade women. But it is also very important to note here that while prosecutors have listed this woman as an alleged victim of Tate, she has denied this. So there, Rolling Stone did also add that the court documents claim that she and another woman were instructed to defend the Tate brothers. But that said, for his part, a spokesperson for Tate has refuted the text, telling the outlet that the woman from the purported screenshots has publicly and categorically refuted any mistreatment from the brothers,

claiming that this is part of a smear campaign, and while all statements from the alleged victims incriminating the brothers have been unquestioningly accepted by the public, the evidence supporting the brothers' innocence has not been given the same fair treatment. And that spokesperson also suggesting the messages were fake, right?

Saying social media and AI have made it easier to anonymously present fabricated evidence. And adding, these realities raise concerns about the potential for a deliberate and targeted effort to sway public opinion and undermine the credibility of the evidence presented. But ultimately, that is where we are on this seemingly slowly developing story

where we just kind of get a trickle of information every week or so. And then, I've always thought that being famous while being in school would be just such a strange thing. But especially with the rise of TikTok, this has become a more common occurrence. The barrier to entry to make engaging content online that people are going to like and follow, it's gotten easier and easier. And so with that, you're having more and more college and high

school students just becoming famous, which has also led to situations like that of Libby Dunn, now fearing for her safety. Because if you don't know Libby, she's a massively successful college athlete and social media star. She's a gymnast at LSU who's made millions of dollars in between the 4.3 million followers she has on Instagram and the 7.6 million she's nabbed on TikTok, she's landed some insanely lucrative sponsor deals. And while obviously that's great, I think she was also just recently in Sports Illustrated, there's also the dark side of social media fame, which she opened up about in a profile with Elle that was published just yesterday. Noting that while people on her school's campus are mostly used to her celebrity status, she still gets approached for pictures and has to be careful

walking around. And actually with that, adding she doesn't even attend in-person classes anymore for safety reasons. Explaining, there were some scares in the past and I just want to be as careful as possible. I don't want people to know my daily schedule and where I am. Which is obviously concerning because, you know, we knew that there were safety concerns in the past. Or you had things like massive mobs of boys demanding to see her outside of a meet earlier this year. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard.

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on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. With Elle saying that there were somewhere between 100 and 200 men in that crowd, and in some cases, they were harassing other gymnasts who were competing. With Livvy saying, of that incident, I knew that my success had grown from the years prior, but I did not expect there to be that many people out there to see me and my team. And LSU's athletic department even ended up hiring private security to accompany the team to the meets. Also, regarding the people who say that Livvy brought this on herself, saying, you know, you're asking for it, she responded, it's not a girl's

responsibility how a man looks at her or how he acts, especially when you're doing your sport and that's your uniform. It's hard to handle at times, definitely, because I'm just a 20-year-old student. I think people do forget that. And again, those are just things that we know about, so how many other instances have happened? Because one of the common things we see with celebrity is that most celebrities try not to talk about this because they're worried that it's just going to get more people to do it. And then, who hasn't felt the effects of the cost of living in recent years? And with credit cards, personal loans, medical bills, it's all too easy to fall into or further into debt. And how many of you wish that there was a better solution to paying off your debt? Well, thanks to today's sponsor, PDS Debt, they have customized 0% interest options for anyone struggling right now.

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and the quickest way to take care of your debt. So just go to pdsdebt.com slash defranco and get your quick and easy debt assessment today. Because, y'all, it's time to take back control of your life and live for you, not your debt. And then, this is my shouldn't-have-to-say-it public service announcement. Y'all, it is hot. With one-third of Americans currently under a heat advisory warning, be extremely careful with accidentally leaving your kids in your car. And while that may sound like, yeah, no shit, Phil, over the last 25 years, 950 kids have died because of this. And actually, it could have been 951 if it wasn't for how quickly this one father reacted when he messed

up, because he managed to lock his keys and baby in his vehicle when it was over 100 degrees outside, which obviously could quickly turn fatal. The temperature inside rises 20 degrees in just 10 minutes, not to mention that children's temperature rise much faster than adults. But in this video that's now gone viral, we see him not playing any games, taking what looks to be a tire iron and blasting a windshield, which if you don't know, can actually be surprisingly difficult because they're designed not to shatter. Eventually, another person approaching to help,

and they managed to carve a huge hole into the window. With the video then cutting, and we now know that a woman crawled into the vehicle to pull the baby out. Now with this, it's unclear why they removed the baby using the front windshield rather than, you know, opening the door from the inside. With that, there's been speculation the doors may have somehow been jammed. But either way, the good news, the baby is safe and the police say that no charges have been filed. It was all an accident granted, a terrifying one that hopefully will never be repeated.

And the father acted as quickly as he could have. Which is why I'll say, hey, accidents do happen. But when they do happen, you need to take it as serious as the people here did. Because again, it does not take very long to cause serious damage with heat stroke, even if the child doesn't die. And then Kevin Spacey has now been acquitted of sexual assault charges in the UK. There were nine charges against him in total, seven of sexual assault,

as well as one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent. And those claims coming from four men over instances between the years of 2001 and 2013. And during the trial, you had the prosecution painting Spacey as a sexual bully who delights in making others feel

powerless and uncomfortable. And among the specific claims, three of the men accused Spacey of grabbing their crotches, with one saying Spacey grabbed his crotch like a cobra. Another accuser saying that he wrote to Spacey in hopes of being mentored and at one point met with him for a drink at Spacey's London home, but there claiming he fell asleep and then woke up to find Spacey performing oral sex on him. But then you had Spacey's defense claiming that most of these accusers had just made up the allegations for financial gain, saying Spacey was an easy target for false allegations because he led a promiscuous lifestyle. And with that saying, it's not a crime to like sex, even if you're famous, and it's not a crime to have casual sex. But all that leading to the

not guilty verdict coming down where you had multiple reports saying that Spacey teared up with hearing it. Others also noting that today happens to be Spacey's birthday. For his part, after leaving the courtroom, Spacey told reporters, I'm enormously grateful to the jury for having taken the time to examine all of the evidence and all of the facts carefully before they reached their decision, and I am humbled by the outcome today. And then, if you've been to a bar, a gas station, a vape shop, or even just the internet recently, you may have seen a product called Kratom. It's an herbal supplement derived from the dried leaves of a tree in the coffee family. It's native to Southeast Asia, where it's been used for centuries as a folk medicine. And a key thing is that in low doses, it can help relieve aches and pains, depression

and anxiety, and opioid withdrawal symptoms, which is why it's become so popular with millions of Americans buying it from thousands of US businesses. Like this bar in Florida that serves Kratom tea to customers, many of whom are recovering from substance abuse. With a bartender who takes Kratom herself for a degenerative condition in her spine, telling NPR, it does nothing but help anybody that I've seen. But there has been this brewing controversy around the drug, because in high enough doses, Kratom can actually produce euphoria, kind of like an opioid. And because of that, it's also been linked to addiction, as well as seizures and even death, with dozens of wrongful death lawsuits now being filed over the product, including one relating to the death of 23-year-old

Ethan Pope, with his official cause of death being cardiac arrest due to kratom intoxication. And in the apartment where he died, his family found a note ominously reading, get off kratom. Now with this situation, at least half a dozen states, as well as San Diego, Denver, and Columbus have banned kratom, with courts and state legislatures currently debating how to classify and regulate the drug, be it through simple warning labels or age restrictions. And that, of course, in addition to the continued debate we've seen, where people are saying, you know, this is the only thing that's helped me. But others arguing that things need to be put into place or needs to be more education because it can be dangerous. And with this, because I know that it's been a while since we last talked about Kratom, especially if you

shared your opinion last time, have your thoughts remained the same or have they changed over that time period? And that, of course, is in addition to my question of what are your thoughts in general to everybody? And then everyone knows that health care in America is expensive, right? That cost has left some people skipping the doctor altogether. Others rack up tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt. But in Miami-Dade County in Florida, over 100,000 people are receiving unexpected help with their medical bills. And that's because Miami Beach billionaires, Daniel and Jane Auk, have footed the $264 million bill to pay off some or all of the medical debt for over 125,000 residents in Miami-Dade County.

With the Aux donating the money to the nonprofit RIP Medical Debt, which buys delinquent medical debt from hospitals in bulk at a discounted rate and pays it off. And Daniel Aux saying, Receiving quality medical care should not come at the expense of economic stability. We hope this gift will make a positive impact in our community. And in fact, since its founding in 2014, RIP Medical Debt has paid off $9 billion in medical bills for over 6 million families in America. And this is huge because, I mean, medical debt is a serious

problem in Florida and, I mean, the U.S. in general. With Florida having the second highest total amount of medical debt in the country with $8.2 billion just behind Texas's $14.6 billion. And the U.S. in general has over $88 billion in outstanding medical bills. And understand, with me mentioning that, I do not want to dismiss how amazing what we're seeing today is. The lives of over 100,000 people are significantly better today than yesterday. And while I'm going to appreciate that for the feel-good story that it is, it also highlights the not feel-good aspect, which is the much larger problem. The fact that we live in a country where so many people don't feel comfortable even getting the medical help that they need. Where you have recently published findings finding that 36% of people living in rural America do not

get the medical care that they need due to the have recently published findings finding that 36% of people living in rural America do not get the medical care that they need due to the costs. And in general, America looking horrible when compared to healthcare systems involving other high-income countries or places with universal healthcare. Rebillionaires deciding to put a Band-Aid on the situation. Yes, I'm gonna give them props for that,

but that is not a solution. It's a Band-Aid that I'm happy to see today, but is a Band-Aid that hopefully fucking something happens where it's not needed in the future. And then, how does a country known for killing journalists, executing LGBTQ plus people, and forcing women to essentially be accessories for men, clean up its image? Well, that is what Saudi Arabia has been trying to figure out. With one of the ways it's been tackling their problem being a bit unique, sports washing. Where they've got all this insane oil money, and so they're

trying to inject themselves into sports, and to use that to present themselves in a new light. With one of the most recent things we talked about being that whole drama in the golf world that led to Saudi Arabia becoming a major player in the space. And that, of course, in addition to them courting some of the soccer world's biggest stars. We've seen that with Ronaldo. We're now seeing that with Mbappe. But what you may not know, and it's very interesting, one of its biggest ventures is actually in the gaming and esports world with moves like becoming the largest outside investor in Nintendo back in February. And they've also set aside nearly $40 billion for a new company whose purpose is to make Saudi Arabia the ultimate global hub for games and

esports by 2030. And there, they have wasted no time. Last year, it hosted some major tournaments, and they've expanded on that this year. Like literally, right now, it's throwing its Gamers Aid event, where they had a $45 million prize pool across 12 different esports titles. And for some of the more popular games, they've set aside huge chunks of that as prizes. Dota 2 alone getting $15 million, which is massive even for a game that's known to break records consistently for largest prize pools. And footage from the event looks like what you'd expect from any Western esport event. Lashy lights, crowds, cosplay events. And notably, kind of the point, throwing in ads during the breaks featuring picturesque landscapes and messaging about how Saudi Arabia is an open place for tourists. However, its efforts to wash away its past haven't been completely successful, with many esports fans not happy that they were

okay playing in Saudi Arabia considering its history. And all of that even led to some teams boycotting the event or feeling like they had to make statements to justify their reasons for going. Take Team Liquid, for example, which told fans they were going to the event despite the fact that Saudi Arabia's laws and policies on women's rights, LGBTQ plus rights, migrant workers, native tribes, and political speech do not line up with our values or the values of the majority of the esports community. And saying, while there has been some improvement in the country, more needs to be done. And then donating $50,000 to LGBTQ plus organizations, helping people flee persecution from places like Saudi Arabia. And so with that, some fans were fine with the compromise, others feeling like it was still hypocritical, others

saying they just didn't want them to go at all. But it's been argued that the reality for many of these esports teams is that going is almost a requirement. For many of these games, this event is one of the only big tournaments of the year for them. Though for others, it's just the last big one before their final events like the international. Also, kind of funny enough, while Saudi Arabia is willing to do a lot to wash its image, it's not okay with everything. With some of the esports teams even having to censor themselves. Because if you don't know, many esports teams are actually sponsored by gambling sites. But in Riyadh, their jerseys are being covered with black tape over those sponsors because they're banned in Saudi Arabia.

But with all that said, I got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? When it comes to teams or players that you like possibly going to Saudi Arabia, right, getting themselves a bag, but in doing so being a part of the sports washing, what are your thoughts? Are you still supporting them? Are you completely against it? Do you think the team liquid compromise thing, that's a valid in between? What are you thinking and why? I'd love to know. And then, Germany appears to have a growing Nazi problem. And that's because in some places there, you're seeing ever-increasing support of extreme right-wing groups and even Nazi behavior. And unfortunately, this is something two high school teachers in the city of Berg found out recently. So the city is about 70 miles from Berlin in

East Germany, and the teachers, Laura Nickel and Max Teska, saw students engaging in some pretty bad behavior. Doing things like blasting music with racist lyrics when walking around campus, giving Nazi salutes to each other in the hallways, and scratching swastikas into desks. And they initially tried to stop it by asking the bullies, why are you targeting immigrants? They were teaching about Nazi history, they were inviting speakers to talk about racism, but none of that seemed to actually work, and it even made them the target of harassment. So Nickel and Teska, they decide, hey, let's write an open letter in the local paper describing the situation. Writing, teachers and students who openly fight against far-right students and teachers fear for their

safety. The problem has to be recognized and openly fought. Schools should be places free of fear, full of open-mindedness and safety for everyone and cannot provide a home for the enemies of democracy. And that did not go well. Almost immediately, an anonymous group of parents demanded their dismissal. Around town, stickers started to pop up with their photo with the caption, Piss off to Berlin. And on top of that, at least one person on social media said they wanted to hunt them down. Now to be clear, the authorities are taking the direct threats seriously. They're investigating them.

But for Tesca and Nickel, their concern were the students. But the reality on the ground there is that their colleagues and administrators just don't seem to care. And these Nazi saluting kids are seemingly facing no repercussions for their actions. And this is Nickel and Tesca are leaving town because of the threats. But also what's notable and weird about the situation is that these teenagers would feel so comfortable doing these things. You know, because doing Nazi shit in Germany is actually pretty illegal there for obvious reasons. You have the situation where if the community there doesn't care, then it doesn't matter. Which also brings us to the next thing we need to talk about here. The growing popularity of extreme right-wing populist

movements like the AFD in Germany, and especially in Eastern Germany, which if it sounds familiar, we've actually talked about them in the past. They're the far right, and I mean far right party that's been slowly gaining in national and local politics, especially since the coronavirus pandemic and the influx of 1.2 million Ukrainian refugees. They've been pushing a very hard us versus them narrative. And while like most populist movements, they give simple solutions to every problem that fall apart once placed under scrutiny, they are still gaining ground because emotions beat facts. And in cities like Berg,

where the teachers felt like they had to leave, much of the social scene there spewed AFD rhetoric. And this is really important because it's believed they could actually seriously take over the governments of at least a few German states. Now with their politics being so extreme, the authorities in the national and state governments have openly placed them on watch lists,

much to the group's anger. But again, considering Germany's past with extreme politics and also inaction to those extreme politics, it's kind of easy to see why they're worried. Though with that, it's also unclear how Germany should actually go about these groups and if they should even do so directly. With people arguing, you know, where is the balance between free speech and having a group becoming just too dangerous? Which again is why so many people say it feels like history is just repeating itself. Or at the very least, history is rhyming and Germany shouldn't just take this group as a nothing joke.

They're becoming more and more popular by the day. And the last time Germans kind of laughed off this stupid little crazy right-wing party, a decade later, they were in power and tens of millions of people wound up dead. And that is where today's Daily Dive into the news is going to end. But for more news, you need to know, I got you covered right here. You can click or tap, or I got you in the links down below. And remember, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.