The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.29 Bizarre Olympics Opening Ceremony, "Last Supper" Boycotts & Apology, Cody Ko Finally Responds, &

Episode Date: July 29, 2024

Level up your health at  http://www.TryARMRA.com/DEFRANCO  and use code DEFRANCO at checkout to get up to 15% off your first order. 10% OFF @ https://BeautifulBastard.com with code "PDS10" for the next 24 hours on everything including the new drop! -- ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Olympics Opening Ceremony Faces Backlash over “Last Supper” Parody 05:55 - Cody Ko Steps Aside From Daily TMG Podcast Operations 08:50 - Sponsored by Armra 09:56 - Trump Tells Christian Voters They Won’t Have to Vote Anymore if He Wins 2024 12:56 - Biden Calls for Term Limits and Enforceable Ethics Code for SCOTUS 16:08 - Selena Gomez Slams Plastic Surgery Rumors, Marvel Dominates the Box Office 20:15 - Check Out the New Beautiful Bastard Drop 20:51 - Maduro and Opposition Both Claim Victory in Venezuela’s Election ——————————   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 ———————————— #DeFranco #CodyKo #AndrewTate ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, your daily dive into the news. And wow, wow, wow, what a weekend and Monday we're having. Just so much that we gotta talk about and break down. So you sit back, relax, hit that like button and let YouTube know you love these big daily dives into the news, and let's just jump into it.

This is a news show. So first up today, this is one of the most requested stories from y'all over on the text line. Let's talk about the Christian boycott, backlash, and protest around the Olympics. Because where we are today is that the organizers of the Olympics have now officially apologized to Christians who were offended by a performance during the opening ceremony that some allege was a parody of the Last Supper. That important moment in Christianity most famously depicted in a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. You know, with that, you can see the resemblance between the performance and the painting.

With a key difference, at least according to critics, being that instead of the apostles gathered around Jesus, it was drag queens. And then on top of that, you had a singer dressed up as the Greek god of wine. And so that aired, and all of a sudden, you had a lot of outrage among Catholics, other Christians, and all types of conservative politicians

and personalities around the world. Elon Musk, for example, claiming the performance was, quote, extremely disrespectful to Christians. You also had Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, say, "'Last Night's Mockery of the House Mike Johnson say, Last night's mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Hell, he even had Andrew Tate coming out and saying he's boycotting the Olympics because of the whole thing. Also attacking the director of the ceremony for being gay and Jewish.

Writing, The opening ceremony planned and orchestrated by a gay Jew was disgusting. And then with that, sharing a nearly nine-minute rant about how the performance made a mockery of Christianity. How are you not angry by what they've just done? They've openly mocked your entire religion from head to toe. One of the most sacred images throughout all of Western civilization, the Last Supper, they mocked it. Are any of you gonna do anything

after the most blatant mocking, probably in history, of Jesus Christ. They wouldn't dare do it to Judaism and they wouldn't dare do it to Islam. They would not dare. They mock Christians because you're endlessly weak, endlessly forgiving. And actually with that, you saw Tate and his brother

stage a small protest in front of the French embassy in Romania. But in any case, right, all of this backlash led to this moment during a press conference where you had a spokesperson for the game say, "'There was clearly never an intention "'to show disrespect to any religious group. "'On the contrary, I think we tried to celebrate

"'community, tolerance. "'We believe this ambition was achieved. "'If people have taken any offense, "'we're of course really sorry.'" But with all that, here's the thing. This whole performance that so many people got upset about, reportedly it didn't actually have anything to do with Christianity at all.

Reportedly, it wasn't a parody of the Last Supper. It was actually based on a whole different painting called the Feast of the Gods, with that being a painting depicting a group of Greek gods on Mount Olympus for a banquet. And in fact, if you go back to the day of the opening ceremony, the official Olympics account actually posted on Twitter

explaining how the, quote, "'Interpretation of the Greek god Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.'" You had that right out the gate. You also had the artistic director behind the opening ceremony insisting The Last Supper was not the inspiration behind the scene.

Saying we wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone. As simple as that. And adding the quote, you will never find in me or in my work any desire of mocking anyone. But now, you know, the reality is you have this situation

where you have people arguing that the irony of this performance is that it's now potentially put people in real danger. With people pointing to Barbara Butch, for example, a French DJ and LGBTQ activist who was in the performance saying through a statement from her lawyer that she's been threatened with death, torture, and rape. Also saying they've been targeted

with numerous antisemitic, homophobic, sexist, and fatphobic insults. Also with that, announcing that she'll take legal action against people who seek to intimidate her. And so with all that, you know, one, I wanna pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts regarding that whole controversy and scandal?

But then also too, while you're maybe leaving that comment, I wanna talk about another big thing that's going down with the Olympics and it's about the concern around security. Because I mean, just today, there's been what's been described as another act of major sabotage in France. With this one being against fiber optic networks

and according to the police, it affected at least six of France's administrative departments. And notably, this includes the city of Marseille, which is hosting football and sailing competitions for the Olympics. Also, the reason I say another attack is because on Friday, we saw French rail lines disrupted by coordinated sabotage

ahead of the opening ceremony, with arsonists targeting installations along high-speed rail lines, connecting Paris with the country's west, north, and east. And even though rail workers happened upon one of the teams of saboteurs in the middle of the night and chased them away, three other attacks were successful. And they have had a massive impact.

I mean, around 250,000 passengers were affected on Friday. And I mean, by the time the traffic returned to normal this morning, around 800,000 customers had faced disruption. And so with that, you had France's transport minister saying, one, the cost of the attacks would very probably amount to millions of euros. And two, that considerable resource has been put into place to strengthen the surveillance of the 5,000 miles

of the high-speed rail network, with a state-owned rail operator describing it as a massive attack on a large scale to paralyze the network. The country's interior minister also described the attack as very precise and extremely well-targeted. He also had the head of the region that includes Paris and its surrounding areas

saying clearly this attack is not a coincidence, saying it aimed to destabilize France at the moment the Olympic and Paralympic Games are launched. And as far as who is behind these attacks, I mean, there's no shortage of speculation, I can say that. You have the Israeli foreign minister claiming the sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran's axis of evil and radical Islam. But really, it seems like most people's money is on Russia, especially as France has been one of

several European countries impacted by a wave of sabotage attacks that have been linked by officials to Russia. I mean, back in April, you had the French president saying he had no doubt Russia would target the Olympics this summer. In fact, with that, French authorities have recently arrested a Russian citizen in Paris, accusing him of preparing to stabilizing events

during the Olympics. But also, this is a key thing, at least with the railway attack, we saw the interior minister suggesting that far left activists were behind it, telling French TV, "'This is the traditional mode of action of the far left. "'We must be careful. The question is whether they were manipulated

or it is for their own benefit. There are people who can approach this movement. And in fact, today, you had authorities arresting an alleged far left extremist, someone who reportedly had access to keys to the railway operators facilities, tools, and far left literature. But then at the same time,

you had officials saying it was unconnected to the disruption on Friday. But I'm also adding that no one has been arrested so far in the investigation into the arson attacks. And so with that, you had the interior minister warning against jumping to conclusions because the perpetrators could have been manipulated. With of course, the unsaid thing there being by Russia. But of course, all of this is a developing situation. There are investigations, more information to come. And so we'll have to wait and see. And then in big internet drama news,

let's talk about Cody Ko being in the news for three reasons. The first of which we've already talked about. It's led to the other two updates where you had Tana Mongeau accusing him of having sex with her when she was 17 and he was 25. But then those allegations spreading further and further across the internet, there's been mounting pressure for him to speak about the situation. All of that leading to then the second headline

that Cody Ko, mid-silence, performed a DJ set in Vegas, which despite the drunken fist pumping that happened there, did not go over well on the internet. All of that led us to headline number three, that Cody Ko finally addressed the Tana Mongeau allegations. Kind of. With him over the weekend, loosely touching on it in a memo to employees

of his podcast network, Tiny Meat Gang Studios. With that memo signed by him, as well as co-founder Noel Miller saying, we wanted to let you know that Cody will not be involved in the day-to-day operations at TMG Studios. What has transpired over the past few weeks is a personal issue for him, and Cody wants to remove any effect this is having

on your professional and personal lives, and the work you and other hosts have done to make TMG Studios so successful. Also saying, we know it's been a very strenuous few weeks for everyone, and we really appreciate your willingness to bear with us. And then adding that Noel will lead the team going forward. And so there are a few things to mention there.

One, that message was also shared with paid subscribers at TMG. Two, it obviously didn't mention Tana by name, or Cody didn't actually say anything about the actual allegations, just discussing his subscribers at TMG. Two, it obviously didn't mention Tana by name, or Cody didn't actually say anything about the actual allegations, just discussing his position at the company. Three, that statement has gotten some backlash, though for a few different reasons.

Some think that it was wrong for him to put this behind a paywall, accusing him of trying to minimize the press around it. Though there, you have others pointing out that non-subscribers can view that statement, but they would need the link to it, and only subscribers could see the comments. Of course, others have countered

that the point still stands that it was posted on a subscriber platform, not a public-facing social media account where it would gain viral attention. We also saw some take issue with the fact that more concrete action wasn't taken. There were people pointing out that it just says he won't be involved

in day-to-day operations, but it doesn't go as far to say that he's out of the company. And you had people saying things like, Cody is clearly still involved, but just not in the public view of things. And saying continuing to support them in their podcast is continuing to support Cody.

What a lame response. Of course, this is, you also had others saying, you know, they don't want to hurt the other podcasts that are in this network or the other talent. But then also notably regarding this aspect, you had outlets like NBC News noting that this comes as the emergency intercom podcast, which TMG acquired back in May.

They actually left the network around a week ago as the claims against Cody were blowing up. So there's been a lot of speculation there. Also notably, Cody's lost 270,000 YouTube subscribers in the last 30 days. And if you hop to his Instagram, it's flooded with comments saying his silence has been too loud.

And all of it seeming like the situation and the pressure Cody's facing, it may be far from over. While that silence for many people has been a massive strike against Cody, you also have others pointing to things like Time Magazine previously speaking to a communications professor

at the University of Southern California about all this. And she said, he's in a very complex and very threatening legal situation right now. Because of the immediacy of the digital age, people want immediate comments, reactions, atonement, and accountability. And saying the people that were demanding these statements from have to listen to their lawyers first about whether or not making any statement would cause them either legal peril or amplify the scandal. And so with all this, with different corners of the internet saying different things, I want to pass the question off to you with where we are right now. What are your thoughts and feelings

with everything that we've seen, this response and what you think's forthcoming? And then- I've never felt healthier than the last two years, bro. And you know what? He was right. Since taking Armour Colostrum, I really have felt better.

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Just click that link in the description or scan the QR code on screen. And then, let's talk about this controversy around Trump, Christians, and voting. And all of this is centered around comments that he made at the Believer's Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida. It's this gathering of Christians organized by the conservative group Turning Point Action. And I'll just let you listen.

Christians get out and vote just this time. 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. We'll be right back. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. You won't have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what? It'll be fixed. It'll be fine. You won't have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians. I love you, Christians. I'm a Christian. I love you. Get out. You gotta get out and vote. In four years, you don't have to vote again. And actually, importantly here, I want you to listen to that last part, but with another added two seconds. You gotta get out and vote.

In four years, you don't have to vote again. We'll have it fixed so good you're not gonna have to vote. Okay, so the reason I played the first clip and then added a little bit with the last two seconds is, depending where you went online, there have been different versions posted. And according to some of Trump's defenders, those two extra seconds are the difference between the clip being Trump saying he's gonna be a dictator and apparently something else. With the Trump campaign, for example, claiming that the former president's words

were actually about how he would unite the country. With a spokesperson for the campaign specifically saying he, quote, "'was talking about uniting this country and bringing prosperity to every American as opposed to the divisive political environment that has sowed so much division and even resulted in an assassination attempt.'"

But then this also, as other Republicans gave different explanations, where you had New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, for example, saying it didn't mean anything. But then he also said, I think he was just trying to make a hyperbolic point that it can be fixed as long as he gets back into office and all that. You also then had Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton say, I think he's obviously making a joke about how bad things had been under Joe Biden and how good they'll be if we send President Trump back to the White House so we can turn the country around. And then finally you had childless cat lady Lindsey Graham laughing it off saying. Senator, just a minute here quickly. Democrats say the former

president is trying to take the reins of the entire democratic system here with these comments. You're laughing. What do you believe he's trying to say? What's the truth? He's trying to tell the Christian community and anybody else who's listening, the nightmare that we're experiencing will soon be over. Give me four more years and I'm gonna write this ship called America and pass it on to the next generation. Of course, all of this is we're seeing the Democrats

saying that Trump should be taken at his word. For example, Adam Schiff, a California Congressman who's now running for Senate, sharing the clip on X and writing, this year democracy is on the ballot and if we are to save it, "'we must vote against authoritarianism.'" Here Trump helpfully reminds us that the alternative

is never having the chance to vote again. You also have the Harris campaign calling Trump's remarks a vow to end democracy, saying, "'When Vice President Harris says the election "'is about freedom, she means it.'" And adding, "'Our democracy is under assault "'by criminal Donald Trump. "'After the last election Trump lost,

"'he sent a mob to overturn the result.'" And saying, "'This campaign, he has promised violence if he loses, the end of our election if he wins, and the termination of the constitution to empower him to be a dictator to enact his dangerous Project 2025 agenda on America. And then of course, a list of reactions just go on and on. But I mean, I guess with that,

I wanna pass the question off to you. One, what are your thoughts on those comments in general? And two, do you think the extra two seconds changes anything of what he was saying? Let me know what you're thinking and why. And then, President Biden, who by the way, contrary to what a shocking number of right-wing weirdos on Twitter were claiming has not been body snatched

by a person taller than President Biden, he is in the news because he proposed historic sweeping changes to the Supreme Court. And we've absolutely gotta talk about it because it's a move that marks a major shift for the president who has long been resistant to efforts to reform the Supreme Court. And we've absolutely got to talk about it because it's a move that marks a major shift for the president who has long been resistant to efforts to reform the high court. But now in an op-ed published

in the Washington Post this morning, you had Biden taking aim at decisions made by the ultra conservative Supreme Court in recent years. In particular, the court's new immunity ruling with him writing that America was founded on the principle that no one is above the law. With that saying the Supreme Court's immunity ruling means that there are virtually no limits

on what a president can do and adding, if a future president incites a violent mob to storm the Capitol and stop the peaceful transfer of power like we saw on January 6th, 2021, there may be no legal consequences, and that's only the beginning. With the men also continuing, on top of dangerous and extreme decisions

that overturn settled legal precedents, including Roe v. Wade, the court is mired in a crisis of ethics, and specifically pointing to scandals involving undisclosed gifts and conflicts of interest with January 6th insurrectionists. And so you had Biden going on to call for three major reforms.

Regarding the Supreme Court, the president called for term limits for justices on the high court, saying that he supports a system where the president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the Supreme Court, saying this will allow the court's membership to change more regularly, make nominations more predictable,

and reduce the chance that any single presidency radically alters the makeup of the court for membership to change more regularly, make nominations more predictable, and reduce the chance that any single presidency radically alters the makeup of the court for generations to come. Beyond that, Biden also called for a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court. He's saying that the court's current voluntary ethics code is weak because it's self-enforcing. Clearly, they're doing a shit job of self-enforcing.

And they are claiming that justices should be forced to disclose gifts, abstain from engaging in public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases where they have conflicts of interest. Pointing out that every other federal judge is bound by an enforceable code of conduct. Right, and the final reform that Biden's actually calling

for doesn't directly impact the court itself, but targets the immunity ruling directly. With him specifically calling for a constitutional amendment called the No One is Above the Law Amendment that quote, "'Would make clear that there is no immunity "'for crimes a former president committed while in office.'" And arguing there that the founders believe

that the president's power is limited, and adding, we are a nation of laws, not of kings or dictators. And with that said, as far as what happens from here, Biden's expected to talk about his proposals more in a speech in Austin later today, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. So obviously, I'm gonna keep an eye open for that,

but regardless of what he says there, Biden's efforts, they're gonna face a major uphill battle. For any changes to the court regarding term limits and ethics reform, it's gonna have to go through Congress. That's of course gonna be a tall order given the GOP controls the House and Democrats have such a slim majority in the Senate. And then the immunity question would be even harder

because a constitutional amendment requires approval by two thirds of both chambers of Congress or a convention of two thirds of the states followed by approval from three fourths of state legislatures. But with all that said, right, even if these proposals might be doomed because of the current politicians in Congress,

just seeing Biden make these demands, it's absolutely enormous because it shows that a US president supports major reforms to our broken Supreme Court. And a number of the things that he has proposed are widely supported by the American public, like term limits for the justices. For several years now,

two thirds of the American public have supported that. And it especially matters there when you have the White House saying that Kamala Harris also supports these proposals, meaning that she could push for them if she wins the election in November. You know, if that happened, as well as the makeup of Congress changed up

based off of the voting, I mean, these proposed alterations for the Supreme Court, they could gain some traction. But for now, we'll have to wait to see what happens. But of course, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below. And then we've got more social media and controversy news, with two kind of quickies, starting with Selena Gomez.

Because Selena Gomez wants you to stop talking about her face. And actually all of this starts with a plastic surgeon assistant by the name of Marissa, who posts videos on TikTok about plastic surgery. And specifically, she used to post videos speculating on what work different celebrities may have gotten. And last year, when asked to make a video

about Selena Gomez, she said, I literally have no idea what she has gotten done. I think she has been through so much in her life, especially medically related. So I don't think it's fair to speculate. I literally have no idea what to attribute her physical changes to. People say lupus, people say other things.

I don't know. And at the end of the day, let's just leave her be. But in the comments, people were like, cool story, let's play our own guessing game. And you had tons of people speculating about her apparent facial changes. But then all of this conversation getting reignited

over the weekend when Selena commented on the video herself, writing, "'Honestly, I hate this. "'I was on stripes because of flare-up. "'I have Botox, that's it, leave me alone.'" As for what she meant by stripes, a lot of assume that she meant steroids, which can be used to treat lupus.

And this then prompting Marissa to respond. I agree with you. I do think that we should leave you alone. And I said that in the video. I totally understand you. I do think that we should leave you alone. And I said that in the video. I totally understand you still like not appreciating it. And adding there that she doesn't know if Selena's response was addressed at her or the comments or just the general speculation. And then adding, you don't owe it to anyone to like tell us why you don't look the same as what you did when you were a teenager or like in your twenties.

Any before and after that I like have posted of celebrities and stuff, like I try to do it with so much grace and to not like tear people down. That is never, ever, ever my intention when it comes to it. And it's also why I stopped doing it because I think people thought my intentions were elsewhere. With Selena then responding, "'I love you, not about you, I just get sad sometimes.'" And so ultimately I think people thought my intentions were elsewhere. With Selena then responding,

"'I love you, not about you. I just get sad sometimes.'" And so ultimately, I think this story serves again as a reminder of one, you never know what people are going through. Two, regardless of if someone's a celebrity or not, remember they are a human being with feelings. And three, speculating and just talking about

how someone looks 24 seven is a good way to fuck with those feelings. So selfishly, I do need to add an asterisk to this story. To the gays and the bros who have been nothing short but fantastic and hyping me up since day one of my health journey, thank you, keep it up. You have been the driving force behind my progress

and will be the reason that I will just be fucking insufferable in several months when I have some meaningful mass. I mean, I posted this this morning and we're not even two weeks into weight training. I'm gonna be, I'm sorry in advance. So also on the note of muscles, let's talk about Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds.

To Ryan, that's right, Hugh Jackman gets top billing. Because Deadpool and Wolverine is in the news for just crushing at the box office, bringing in $211 million domestically over the weekend, making it the highest opening for an R-rated film. And it's not even close. With a record previously held by the original Deadpool from 2016, which brought in $133 million.

And in fact, Deadpool and Wolverine had the sixth highest domestic opening weekend of all time, which is a big deal for a number of reasons, including outlets noting that it takes Marvel out of a box office slump. And again, this is with us only talking about domestic numbers, because globally it brought in $440 million. With Ryan Reynolds even telling The Hollywood Reporter

that Disney probably doesn't want me to frame it this way, but I've always thought of Deadpool and Wolverine as the first four quadrant R-rated film. With the outlet there noting that it had way more viewers under 17 than an R-rated film usually attracts. But this news also comes as there is a bit of a controversy in the Marvel universe. Right, because you have a lot of people excited

and a lot of people pissed off about the return of Robert Downey Jr. Because we got the news over the weekend that he is coming back to the MCU, but not as Iron Man, instead as Dr. Doom, the villain in the upcoming Avengers movie. Because while the announcement got huge applause at Comic-Con online, the responses were mixed.

Some just so excited, interested in how they're gonna pull this off. Though for others, they said it killed any hope they had for the movie. And people saying things like, the way the MCU has completely reduced itself to cash grabs and nostalgia with no sense of creativity has to be studied. As well as this has to be the saddest thing in American culture. One of my favorite comments being made all across social

media is people replying, till you're 90, which will make sense if you watch Deadpool and Wolverine. But for now, we'll have to wait to see if Robert Downey Jr. coming back is a win or a loss. But who wins here? Definitely Robert Downey Jr. I can't even imagine how many zeros are in that check they're writing for him. But then, y'all, let's take a quick break from the news and talk about what really matters, me shilling some shit to you. Though luckily for you, it's the best shit.

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the unburdened tanks and teas, embrace change gear, as well as again, all the other goodness on the site. So yeah, beautifulbastard.com, PDS10 for the next 24 hours for 10% off, and that's it for a Shilip DeFranco. Back to your regularly scheduled news. And then Venezuela's socialist leader, President Nicolas Maduro just robbed an election. And that's according to an overwhelming number

of Venezuelans in governments around the world. You see, yesterday was Venezuela's presidential election, and it pitted Maduro versus little-known opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez. And officially, Maduro secured 51% of the vote, and this was both paradoxically both a massive shock and the expected result. You see, on one hand, early exit polls

and photos from ballot counters indicated that Gonzalez, he had a healthy lead. But on the other hand, most felt deep down that Maduro and his party, they weren't gonna let go of power. And while you'd think that after decades of stolen elections, Venezuela would be used to it, I mean, this time it was a particularly bitter pill

to swallow. That's because there was hope, right? And that can be infectious and powerful, but also devastating when it's ripped away. One of the reasons for the hope is there was this general sentiment that things would be different this time. There was this real air

that people were just done with Maduro. I mean, literally millions of Venezuelans have fled the country because of how bad things have gotten. And generally speaking, the only people still left are those who have no means to get out or who have the money to ignore the country's problem. I mean, people were so fucking fired up to get rid of Maduro that they lined up at the polls

before the sun was even out And again the exit polling indicated that it was gonna be a landslide victory for Edmundo Looked like the opposition had it in the bag despite previous attempts by the government to swing the election I mean for example The only reason the relatively unknown Gonzalez was even running was because the main leader of the opposition Maria Corina Machado was banned from doing so that also wasn't the only Election interference we saw there are widespread reports of Maduro aligned groups and gangs went around intimidating and disrupting voters.

In extreme cases, they even allegedly stole entire ballot boxes and refused to let people audit them, which is allowed under the law. Now, what normally works is that the central electoral commission, they get digital reports of each polling machine and use those to declare a winner. But anyone is allowed to check that their local results were correct by requesting a paper receipt

from their local machines, including on the election day itself. Big problem though, is that polling officials across the country, they weren't letting people audit the results. They just flat out refused to print them out. And so it's because of all this that no one was particularly shocked

that many hours after polls closed, the electoral commission, which unsurprisingly is chaired by an ally of Maduro, said that the president had won 51% of the vote. And as far as Gonzalez, they said he got 44% and the third party candidates got 4.6%, which also if you dabble in math and you know is over a hundred percent somehow.

So that also unsurprisingly got mocked online, but also a potential reason for that is the result apparently was based on 80% of all the votes being counted. So you had some saying, you know, there's some flexibility in the numbers based off of how widely things could trend. But again, all that said,

even if everyone knew that this was gonna be how the election played out, it didn't make it any easier to accept. With there being no shortage of Venezuelans online, absolutely furious with the results. Like for example, here's YouTuber Joanna Hausman, who is from Venezuela, reacting to the announcement that Maduro somehow got 51% of the vote.

And honestly, that's been the general sentiment all around. Although notably, world leaders, with their words, they're being far more diplomatic. You have leaders in Latin America refusing to recognize the results, including former fans of Maduro, like Chile's current far-left president. And closer to home, you have U.S. Secretary of State

Antony Blinken saying that America had, quote, serious concerns that the result announced does not reflect the will or the votes of the Venezuelan people. Some have also said that this looks bad for the Biden administration, which agreed last year to ease up on sanctions against the Maduro regime

and return for quote, free and fair elections. Critics at the time saying that it was obvious that was never gonna happen, and instead it just bought the regime some time. However, the reality is that those sanctions were already re-imposed earlier this year because Maduro wouldn't hold up his end of the bargain. So it's not like the US had high expectations

going into Sunday's election. But with all that said, you know, the big question now is what happens from here? Well, there, there's a widespread expectation that there's gonna be demonstrations in the streets over the election as the opposition's claiming it won the election. But also I say that where as of recording,

things almost seem too calm right now. With even many feeling like this is the calm before the storm. And with whatever happens, you just hope that it doesn't turn into a bloodbath because I mean, we're talking about a regime that has shown that it is more than willing to use deadly force. But that, my friends, is the end of your Monday evening,

Tuesday morning dive into the news. But of course, as always, you don't have to worry about missing my stupid face for too long, because I'll be right back here tomorrow. I love your faces, and I'll see you then.