The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.6 Reacting To Kanye West 2020, Vanessa Guillen Coverup Accusations and Updates, & More

Episode Date: July 6, 2020

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Sup you beautiful bastard, hope you've had a fantastic Monday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. Quick reminder, you have just over two days left if you want to snag yourself a limited edition bringer of sadness world tour 2020 tee, tank, or hoodie. That of course over at shopdefranco.com. But with that said, buckle up, hit that like button, and let's just jump into it.

And the first thing we're gonna talk about today, let's just knock this madness out of the way. So many people wanted me to talk about this over the weekend. Kanye West tweeting that he is now running for president. Specifically, if you did not see Saturday Night, he wrote, we must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision, and building our future.

I am running for president of the United States, hashtag 2020 vision. Among those supporting it, of course, you had his wife, Kim Kardashian West, as well as Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, who tweeted, you have my full support. And here's the thing, if you're familiar with Kanye, you know that running for president is actually an idea

that he's been throwing around for a while. Already made headlines back in 2015. I have decided in 2020 to run for president. And since then, we've also seen him suggest a 2024 run instead. But all of that said, given the current state of the country and the election, there was also a lot of backlash to this tweet.

We saw a lot of people criticizing Kanye over this, who has been very public about his support for President Donald Trump. Many saying this could be a barely veiled attempt to get Donald Trump reelected. This because they believe Kanye running could just be an attempt to pull votes, specifically black votes, away from Joe Biden.

Aside from that argument, there are also people who generally dislike Kanye for offensive things that he has said in the past, things like how he suggested that slavery was a choice. For 400 years? That sounded like a choice. Like, you was there for 400 years and it's all of y'all? And then of course, finally, there are people

who believe that this whole announcement is just a publicity stunt for a new project or new music. And that's because this announcement comes off of the heels of his new single, Wash Us in the Blood, and follows the announcement of his new album, God's Country. And so with all of that said, the next thing I'll touch on is could he actually do this?

Since the announcement, many people have pointed out that he hasn't even taken the necessary steps to run. According to reports, Connie would still need to register with the Federal Election Commission, present a campaign platform, and collect enough signatures to get on the November ballot, among other things. And according to Ballotpedia, he's already missed the deadline to file as an independent candidate

in states like North Carolina, Texas, New York, Maine, New Mexico, and Indiana. Though, he would still have enough time to file in a number of other states where deadlines are set for sometime in July and August, if not later. And in the places where he was too late, he could still technically run as a write-in candidate. Though rules for write-in candidates vary

from state to state. According to Ballotpedia, 33 states require a write-in presidential candidate to file some paperwork in advance of an election. In nine states, write-in voting for presidential candidates is not permitted. And in the remaining states, they do not require presidential write-in candidates to file special paperwork before the election. In nine states, write-in voting for presidential candidates is not permitted. And in the remaining states, they do not require presidential write-in candidates to file special paperwork before the election.

So a real presidential run is not impossible at this point. But as of now, there aren't any public filings that show that Kanye is really moving to do so. And even if he does, people feel like he might not be fully aware of what he could be getting himself into. For example, you had people like former Arkansas governor, Mike Huckabee weighing in on Kanye's announcement

while he was on Box and Friends. Look, it's a free country. He can certainly run. I think he's going to be surprised to find out all of the incredible limitations upon his entertainment career the moment he becomes an official candidate for president. All of the vast financial reporting that he's going to be required to do and all of the disclosures, some of which are not going to be pleasant for someone in the entertainment industry, and all of the limitations on the money he can earn and how he can spend it, I think it's going to be a rude awakening.

And, as of right now, Kanye has not made any further statements regarding a plan to run for president. Also, on the note of this announcement or tweet or whatever you want to call it, inviting scrutiny into his life, I mean, we're starting to see examples of that now. As we were recording today, we started seeing headlines like, Kanye West Yeezy Got millions in federal small business loans. Right, this reportedly a part of the paycheck protection program. Right, something that was put into place

to help small businesses during this time where we've also seen stories popping up of very large companies that had taken money, then getting a ton of backlash and being shamed into giving the money back. Right, so now you have people looking to these articles that claim Yeezy, an LLC formed by the musician and clothing designer,

received a loan between two million and five million, according to the SBA. And so people seeing that and then looking to the recent articles about how Kanye West is now a billionaire. So you're starting to see people outraged that they would even take this money. As far as my take on this, I'll kind of hit a few notes.

Regarding if he's gonna really push for people to vote for him, we're gonna have to wait and see. I'm personally more inclined to believe this is a promotional effort for his new album or any new products. But that doesn't inherently mean that he will not use our election cycle as a way to promote.

We've seen plenty of people doing that in the past, usually to promote some sort of book. And I will say, regarding the idea that it would take a big chunk of the black vote away, right, that maybe he's conspiring with Donald Trump, that to me, and here's the thing, I could be completely off base, that feels inherently disrespectful

to the black voter base. Right, like this idea that black voters were just going to mindlessly vote for Kanye West because he's good at music and he's also black, like they also don't understand the stakes of the 2020 election. And that thought process also works the other way around. Democrats are not inherently owed the black voter base.

And at the end of the day, every voter, especially voters in battleground states, need to understand the implications and the weight of their vote. The unfortunate situation is we live in a country that is very much a two party system with no ranked voting choice. And that means in an election where you have an incumbent,

you are ultimately deciding I am voting for more of the same or I'm voting for something different. Any vote at this level that is not for the main opposition leader is ultimately a vote for more of the same. That is the very unfortunate reality of our system. But I will say to a degree, I am bothered by this tweet and this announcement because the country is in genuine chaos and pain right now.

And I believe that 99% of us are on the same page, that Kanye West is not going to win the 2020 presidential election. So for me, regardless of Kanye's true intentions here, at the end of the day, no matter what it was, it feels like a billionaire selfishly taking advantage of that chaos for personal gain. But hey, that's the Philip DeFranco Show.

That's the story, some of my personal feelings and thoughts on it, and of course, now I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this situation? Let me know what you're thinking in those comments down below. And then, let's talk about this story around Vanessa Guillen.

We've gotten some major updates to this story over the weekend, but if you are unfamiliar, Vanessa was a 20-year-old army specialist who was posted at Fort Hood. On April 22nd, she went missing, having last been seen in the parking lot at Fort Hood, and for quite a long time, her family were calling for answers.

We saw social media campaigns started to find her, peaceful protests being held, but for a long time, there weren't a ton of substantial updates to her case, which has been a huge point of criticism, with many believing that the response to this case was incredibly slow. Back in June, the family called for a federal investigation,

and during this time was also vocal about the fact that Vanessa had claimed that she faced sexual harassment while at Fort Hood. Family's lawyer, Natalie Kawam, specifically saying that in one instance, a superior walked in while she was showering and watched her, but saying that Vanessa did not report these incidents, fearing potential retaliation.

Then next thing we see on June 21st, there's a search for her remains conducted by a river in Bell County around 20 miles from Fort Hood, but nothing was found. But then a massive update to this story came on June 30th when remains were found in pretty much the exact same area that investigators were looking earlier. There were people building a fence in the area

beginning to look around after smelling decomposition and then found hair, so they contacted authorities. And while the remains were believed to be Vanessa at that time, it was not confirmed as DNA tests still needed to be done. Also at this point, investigators had already spoken to Aaron David Robinson, a fellow soldier who was the last person who came in contact with Vanessa.

He appears to have texted her about delivering paperwork and her family believes that Robinson harassed her. Though, right now, investigators have not yet found that he did so, but in a press conference last week, Kawam said that she believed that he may have been the man who watched her in the shower. Though here, it is worth noting that while the family said that a superior did this, Robinson was not Vanessa's

superior, but reportedly he was still a main suspect in the case, along with a civilian by the name of Cecily Aguilar. Some reports having identified Aguilar as Robinson's girlfriend, she's also allegedly the estranged wife of a former Fort Hood soldier. And the day after these remains were found, on July 1st, they took Aguilar into custody.

And reportedly when they went to arrest Robinson, he then shot himself and died. Vanessa's family held a press conference after this where Vanessa's sister said that in the process of the investigation while on base, she actually met Robinson adding, "- Not knowing that he had something to do with it, I felt something was telling me that he did something

and I wasn't wrong apparently." Also adding that Robinson allegedly laughed in her face at one point and as for what happened, Aguilar told authorities the alleged details and just a warning, what we're about to describe is fairly graphic and disturbing. With a release from the Department of Justice US Attorney's Office in the Western District of Texas saying,

Robinson told Aguilar that he killed a female soldier by striking her in the head with a hammer while on Fort Hood on April 22nd, 2020, which is notably the same day that Vanessa went missing, and that release then continued. Robinson further admitted to Aguilar that he transferred the woman's body off of Fort Hood to a remote site in Bell County.

Subsequently, Robinson enlisted the help of Aguilar in disposing of the dead female's body. And going on to say the complaint further alleges that at a later time, Aguilar recognized the deceased, whom she helped Robinson mutilate and dispose of as Vanessa Guillen, with the reports also saying that they attempted to burn and cut up some of the remains and then disposed of them in separate holes in the area.

And all of that brings us to the major update to this case that we saw yesterday when the authorities confirmed that the remains found in Bell County belonged to Kee Ann. As of right now, as far as a motive in this case, the Washington Post says that one has not been identified, but you had the Post saying that Aguilar told investigators that Robinson claimed that Vanessa was going to report him

for adultery, which is a crime in the military. However, Vanessa's family does not believe this and claims that if she were to have reported Robinson for anything, it would have been harassment. But ultimately, as of where we are right now, you have Aguilar being charged with one count of conspiracy to tamper with evidence. With that, she faces up to 20 years in federal prison

if she is convicted, and she's expected to appear in court as soon as today. Also, as far as what actually happened, you have Vanessa's family and Kuam calling for a congressional investigation. This because they believe that the investigation thus far has been improper. With Kawam saying during a press conference last week. And we will never know what happened

ever until we get a congressional investigation because everything we were given was lies. It was evasive. They were not sincere. They were actually very disingenuous to us. I don't know who's covering up for who, but it doesn't matter. Right, and with that, you have many saying that this case is an example of sexual assault and harassment in the military that has not been taken seriously enough.

And in fact, Vanessa's case has prompted many women to speak up about their own experiences with the hashtag IamVanessaGuyen. We've also seen Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Jackie Speier writing a letter calling for an investigation into Guillen's case, noting that she quote, "'Did not report her harassment "'because she did not trust her leadership

"'to take her report seriously,' which fits a broader pattern of the military downplaying the severity of sexual harassment and assault in the ranks." And also saying they were concerned that the Army only seemed to amp up the investigation efforts after there was a large social media campaign into her disappearance.

With that letter continuing, "'We believe a thorough investigation by the Department of Defense Inspector General can help establish a number of crucial facts about Specialist Guillen's workplace disappearance and Army's response to Bull. We've also seen Representative Tulsi Gabbard calling for an investigation and for legislation

to protect military members facing sexual assault and harassment. But ultimately, that is where we are with this story right now. Obviously with this story, we're gonna keep our eyes on it. It's incredibly important. But with this, I do wanna pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this?

You know, with this story, especially for those that have been following this, many of which actually got us to talk about it today, do you feel like this was a coverup, at the very least a dragging of feet? Do you think that it is an indication of a much bigger problem? Especially as we hear more stories. Any and all thoughts on this, I'd love to know.

And then, let's talk about the 4th of July, the coronavirus, and a video from a beach in Fire Island Pines, New York, that just blew up over the weekend. Now, the star of that video is 27-year-old Corey Hannon. And in a Facebook post, beach in Fire Island Pines, New York that just blew up over the weekend. Now the star of that video is 27 year old Corey Hannon. And in a Facebook post, Hannon said that he started feeling ill on June 22nd. On June 30th, he gets tested for COVID-19.

He then appears to stay in his apartment until July 3rd. And then the next day, of course, the 4th of July, he goes to Fire Island 12 days after he became symptomatic. And there he posted this Instagram story. "'I want a Kiki, but my body says, nope, not yet. Thought the COVID was gone. Right, and so that post just takes off. I mean, almost instantly.

Are you people saying things like, so this guy has COVID sitting on the beach on fire island. Great. Others saying they really need to charge people like this with something knowingly going out like that is ridiculous. We then see Hannon seemingly respond on Instagram in this video. You know what?

I did have COVID. Everyone knows I COVID. And you know what I did? I sat in my bed, quarantining myself for 18 f***ing days. And suffered through COVID. And now I'm out celebrating. So go f*** yourself. I hope all of you get f***ing COVID. You nasty, nasty troll. Which, spoiler alert, did not make the situation any better. Alright, the story blows up even more. You see multiple people sharing the video,

some saying things like, "'Eight Whole Days'? Why no one in the world has ever stayed home that long. What a hero, what a tower of strength. People who share the story of the man who stayed home for eight days during a pandemic for generations to come. Others taking a less than joking tone, asking wouldn't him being at the beach

whilst having COVID be classified as bioterrorism, since he's most likely infecting others with the virus when he should be quarantined and at home. And I mention the questions and claims like that because in a response on Facebook yesterday, which I can't show you for copyright reasons, Hannon stresses that he would never maliciously go out and infect people, and then also saying,

I am not a murderer, I am not a bad person. In that video, Hannon also apologizes for even going to Fire Island in the first place and potentially infecting people. Also in that video, we see Hannon claim, one, that he deleted his original video about 10 minutes after it was posted because he meant to send it to a friend

instead of his story, and two, that his test results still haven't come back yet so he actually doesn't know if he tested positive for COVID-19. Though, still here you had him apologizing. Now, a point that I do want to hit on, according to the Centers for Disease Control, you can be with others after three days with no fever

if your respiratory symptoms have improved and 10 days since symptoms first appeared. But look, even though Hannon got most of the attention over the weekend, it wasn't just him. In fact, on Saturday, Fire Island was packed. Reportedly, police were called to the beach twice on Saturday, this for reports of people not social distancing, many not wearing masks.

Though, on that note, they also didn't actually issue any citations. Though, this morning we did see the Island Pines Property Owners Association telling local news outlets that police have agreed to shut down any beach party going forward. And regarding reactions to events like this, on Sunday for example, we saw this caught the attention of Jonathan Van Ness, who boasted on Twitter saying, Please y'all, as things continue to open up, spiral out of control, be responsible with yourself. If you're partying, you are risking every single last one of our health.

You know, with this situation in particular, you had a lot of people pointing out that it happened in New York. It's a state that, at one point, had one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the world, which has also led to a lot of people worrying that in New York and other places that we saw people congregating, that this will lead to a spike in a couple of weeks. And notably, this is all happening while county officials are planning to move

from phase three to phase four on Wednesday, a move that will open up colleges and non-essential businesses such as aquariums, though it'll still keep things like malls, gyms, and movie theaters closed. And also, keep in mind, I said elsewhere for a reason. It wasn't just Fire Island. There were plenty of examples.

In Virginia Beach, you had people showing up in droves even after the city canceled its fireworks show. At a beach in Delaware, we saw similar crowds, many not wearing masks. This, even though the local government there amended its mask policy ahead of the weekend to include boardwalks in the sand. On the West Coast in California,

we saw people taking to the beach in San Diego. This, as many other beaches in Southern California were closed over the weekend, also as COVID cases in California continue to climb. And just yesterday, for example, the state recorded almost 11,800 new cases. Florida coming in just behind with 11,500 new cases. In fact, yesterday we saw more than 49,000 cases

across the country being reported. And while that didn't break the single day US record of 54,000 new cases, according to the reports that we're seeing, the number of COVID cases being recorded each day has been and is still climbing in most states. But ultimately, that is where this story ends for now. Obviously, it's not ending. This is a situation that we're all living through

and I don't think that it's gonna end anytime soon. Also, if it sounds like I don't have a lot of energy at this moment, I'm just, I'm kind of exhausted on this. I have a sense of hopelessness about people actually playing on the same team. Right, like if we just can't at the very least agree on masks, is there really any hope that we can all work together?

Sorry to end on such a downer, but you know, sometimes that's the way the world works and the news works. And that is where I'm going to end today's show. And hey, as always, thank you for being a part of these daily dives into the news, where you're watching, you're sharing with friends and family, you're liking the video,

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