The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 9.16 Weird Trump Assassination Attempt Updates, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT” Fallout, MrBeast vs Lunchables, &
Episode Date: September 16, 2024This is getting messier by the minute... PDS Debt is offering a free debt analysis. It only takes thirty seconds. Get yours at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco YOUR NEW https://BEAUTIFULBASTARD.com DR...OP is LIVE! 45% OFF New Core Long Sleeves 2-Packs! Plus New Graphic Tees and Hoodies; BAMF, Villains, Honestly I'm Killing It, Bearly Alive, & More. 20-60% OFF Site-Wide 50 Days Until Election Day! Make Sure You Are Registered to VOTE: https://Vote.org – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - New Beautiful Bastard Drop is Live! 01:15 - Suspect in Apparent Trump Assassination Attempt Faces Gun Charges 06:41 - JD Vance Doubles Down on Baseless Rumor About Haitian Immigrants Eating Pets 11:16 - São Paulo Mayoral Candidate Slams Opponent With Chair During Debate 13:01 - Sponsored by PDS Debt 13:53 - CO Teen Shot by Councilman While Asking to Take Homecoming Pics on Property 15:49 - Trump Tweets That He “Hates” Taylor Swift After Harris Endorsement 17:23 - Netflix’s Biggest Rival Isn’t Disney or HBO, It’s YouTube 19:03 - MrBeast, Logan Paul, and KSI Collab For Lunchly 20:17 - Election is Officially Underway As Ballots Get Sent Out in Several States —————————— 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 #MrBeast #Trump ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Sup, you beautiful bastards.
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show,
your daily dive into the news.
We've got so much that we have to talk about today.
But first, I'm very excited to announce
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with discounts left and right while supplies last. So get what you want while you can. With all that said, we've got a lot of
news to talk about today. So let's just jump into it. And of course, first up today, we have to talk
about the second apparent assassination attempt on Donald Trump in just over two months. But as
you may have seen, according to law enforcement officials, the incident took place at Trump
International Golf Club
in West Palm Beach, about four miles away from Mar-a-Lago.
And reportedly at around 1.30 PM,
between the fifth and seventh holes,
a Secret Service agent who was securing the course
ahead of Trump saw a man with a rifle and scope
in the tree line and opened fire.
But the Palm Beach County Sheriff saying that Trump
was about 300 to 500 yards away, but remained uninjured
and was quickly rushed to a holding room.
And reportedly after the initial encounter,
the gunman fled in a black Nissan, leaving behind an AK-47-style
rifle with the serial number partly scratched off, two bags, and a camera mounted to a fence.
Though he was quickly arrested around 40 miles from the golf course after a witness saw him
fleeing in that black Nissan. And with all this, just this morning, a criminal complaint was
released that revealed that the gunman had actually been hiding in the woods around the
vicinity of the golf course for nearly 12 hours before a Secret Service agent spotted it.
Right in that, according to data from his cell phone.
Though the complaint also didn't make any mention
of whether he fired his weapon,
which has also remained unclear so far.
And while as of recording,
officials haven't publicly released a motive,
we do know some details about him.
We know that he was a 58-year-old former roofing contractor
from Greensboro, North Carolina.
And according to reports,
public records show that he previously faced criminal charges
for two separate incidents in 2002 for possession of a weapon of mass destruction,
with a court docket filing showing that he pled guilty to the first charge in April of that year,
although there were no other details widely available to the public. Then, that December,
he reportedly faced separate charges after he barricaded himself in a United Roofing building
in Greensboro for three hours while armed with a machine gun. The authorities there saying that
incident started after he was pulled over for a traffic stop
and he was ultimately arrested without incident.
Though also with that is currently unclear
how those charges against him were resolved.
Beyond that, it's also been reported
that he was intensely fixated on Russia's war with Ukraine,
sometimes expressing violent rhetoric regarding the conflict.
With for example, the New York Times specifically pointing
to posts that he shared on X
in the weeks after the invasion.
With that, including one where he expressed a desire
to fight and die in Ukraine.
Also very notably, he was actually interviewed
by the Times back in 2023 for an article
about Americans volunteering to help the war effort
in Ukraine.
And during that interview, which took place
when he was in Washington, he told the outlet
that he traveled to Ukraine after Russia's invasion
and wanted to recruit Afghan soldiers to fight there.
But the Times, going on to add,
"'He spoke with the self-assuredness
"'of a seasoned diplomat who thought his plans
"'to support Ukraine's war effort
were sure to succeed,
but also adding he appeared to have little patience
for anyone who got in his way.
And writing, when an American foreign fighter
seemed to talk down to him
in a Facebook message he shared with the New York Times,
the gunman said, he needs to be shot.
And in addition to that,
the Washington Post also reported
that the gunman apparently wrote a 291-page book last year
about the disillusionment surrounding Ukraine.
With that, according to an Amazon listing that was selling it for $2.99.
And very significantly, the Post also found a section of the book that focused on Iran where he wrote,
he must take part of the blame for electing a brainless president, with that being an apparent reference to Trump and then declaring to readers,
you are free to assassinate Trump as well as me for that error in judgment and the dismantling of the deal.
So all of that could offer some insight into a potential motive for this maniac.
Also online, part of the reason you're seeing people saying,
"'Oh, he was a Trump supporter.
"'Oh no, he was a Democrat.'"
Well, that is because as Axios explained,
in addition to that line in the book that he wrote in 2023,
before X suspended his account on Sunday,
he had posted online statements
that indicated he was a Trump supporter in 2016,
but then noting he turned against
the former president by 2020.
Also in 2020, he shared several posts expressing support for former representative Tulsi Gabbard, but then more he turned against the former president by 2020. Also in 2020, he shared several posts expressing support
for former representative Tulsi Gabbard,
with him then more recently expressing support
for a ticket involving Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley.
Now with all that said,
as far as how Donald Trump himself has responded,
friends and aides have said that he was shocked
about the attempt on his life,
but that he was cracking jokes about it later in the day.
With Trump also thanking local law enforcement
and the Secret Service for keeping him safe,
saying they had done an absolutely outstanding job.
But Trump also tried to blame Biden and Harris
for this latest attempt in an interview
with Fox News Digital this morning.
With him saying that Biden and Harris' rhetoric
is what is causing him to be shot at,
claiming that the gunmen acted on
highly inflammatory language of Democrats.
With Trump also insisting that he doesn't use
highly inflammatory language.
Which unfortunately, of course, is a complete lie.
But he has repeatedly used violent rhetoric
and threats against his political opponents
in mere language used by dictators.
He has downplayed violence against Democrats.
And literally in this same Fox News interview,
he said that Democrats, quote,
"'Want to destroy our country'
and calling them the enemy from within and the real threat."
And this is Biden, Harris, and Walz
unequivocally condemned the violence.
With Harris saying in a statement
that she was deeply disturbed
by the possible assassination attempt of Trump. And continuing, we all must do our part to ensure that this incident does not lead to more violence. With Harris saying in a statement that she was deeply disturbed by the possible assassination attempt of Trump. And continuing, we all must do our part to ensure
that this incident does not lead to more violence. And reiterating that she is thankful that former
President Trump is safe. A sentiment that was also echoed by Walls and Biden, who also told
reporters this morning that the Secret Service needs more help and that Congress needs to respond.
Also on the note of political violence, another notable response that we saw came from Elon Musk.
With Musk responding to a user who had questioned
why the gunman wanted to kill Trump in writing,
and no one is even trying to assassinate Biden slash Kamala.
The post unsurprisingly getting a ton of backlash,
many accusing Musk of inciting violence.
With all that prompting him to delete the post,
but not before it got nearly 40 million impressions.
He then also later repeatedly attempted to walk it back
as a joke in later posts.
But with all that said, you know,
as far as what happens from here,
I mean, just this morning,
the DOJ charged the gunman with one count
of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon
and another of possessing a firearm
with an obliterated serial number.
But all of this is the investigations remain ongoing
and officials have told reporters
that the charges might just be preliminary
and more could be brought in the coming weeks.
So as of recording, it's pretty much everything we know,
though of course, keep in mind,
this is a developing situation
and one that I'll keep an eye
on and not only about the gunman,
but also the response from the secret service and local law
enforcement officials,
especially given the fact that the suspect had been lurking
near the golf course for almost 12 hours before he was
spotted, which seems to suggest that both failed to detect
him in their perimeter sweeps.
But for now we'll have to wait to see what comes out.
And of course, in the meantime, I'd love to hear from you.
And then we got to talk about how JD Vance and company are
just doubling down on these racist lies about Haitians in the meantime, I'd love to hear from you. And then, we gotta talk about how JD Vance and company are just doubling down on these racist lies
about Haitians in Springfield, Ohio.
And this in part because he's still doing it
after a wild few days in Springfield
that a lot of people say is kind of his fault.
Right, and as you probably know,
if you've been keeping up with this,
this all goes back to earlier this month.
Right, because that is when Vance posted on X
that he had been seeing reports of people in Springfield
having their pets abducted and eaten by quote,
"'People who shouldn't be in this country.
And then with that, it wasn't long before that lie
was being spread by right-wing influencers,
Republican lawmakers, and even Donald Trump himself
during last week's debate.
But also of course with that, and I need to stress this,
there is no proof of any of it.
Ohio police and other officials have again and again
said they've received no credible reports
of Haitian immigrants harming pets.
And the so-called evidence that's been presented
to the contrary, it's been extensively
and exhaustively debunked. For example, the woman behind an early Facebook post that spread this claim,
she's now come out and said she had no first-hand knowledge of any pets actually being stolen or eaten.
And then there was actually a woman accused of killing and eating a cat,
but she was a US citizen living in a completely different city in Ohio.
And then finally, you know this viral photo of a man walking down the street holding two geese?
That was also from another city in Ohio and the guy was just taking roadkill off the street.
And actually on top of all that,
we now have evidence that a neo-Nazi group
helped fuel the rumors to begin with.
There being a group called Blood Tribe
and they started sharing it on Gab
and Telegram back in August.
And in fact, when Trump went off the rails
and he brought it up in the debate,
they were celebrating it with one writing on Gab,
the president is talking about it now.
This is what real power looks like.
But despite the lies and reality being what it is,
the first domino has fallen
and there's seemingly no stopping.
And tonight you have Haitians in Springfield
fearing for their safety as they've already been
on the receiving end of threats and harassment.
And the threats, they've just been getting bigger and bigger.
Right, last Thursday, City Hall was forced to close
because of a bomb threat.
And last Friday, two elementary schools were evacuated
for the same reason.
Also that same day, a video surfaced
showing the right-wing extremist group
known as the Proud Boys marching through town.
Finally here on Saturday,
you had two local hospitals being forced into lockdown
due to bomb threats.
And with all this, you had the mayor of Springfield
referring to some of the threats
as a hateful response to immigration in our town.
Then with that, Vance went on CNN yesterday
and he rejected the idea
that his lies had anything to do with it.
The American media totally ignored this stuff
until Donald Trump and I started talking about cat memes.
If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do.
You just said that you're creating a story.
We ought to be talking about public policy.
Sorry, you just said that you're creating the story.
What's that, Dana?
You just said that this is a story that you created.
So the eating dogs and dogs thing is not, we are creating, we are Dana. It comes from firsthand accounts
from my constituents. I say that we're creating a story, meaning we're creating the American media
focusing on it. I didn't create 20,000 illegal migrants coming into Springfield. Thanks to
Kamala Harris's policies, her policies did that, but yes,
we created the actual focus that allowed the American media
to talk about this story and the suffering caused
by Kamala Harris's policies.
Now with that clip, whether you see that as a,
oh, that was an accidental mask off situation,
he admitted to creating the situation and story,
or you buy his explanation about creating the focus
of the issue, that's a you decision.
I'm not gonna tell you what to think. But I do need to be clear that what he is saying just isn't true. or you buy his explanation about creating the focus of the issue. That's a you decision.
I'm not gonna tell you what to think.
But I do need to be clear that what he is saying
just isn't true.
And it's not just the nonsense about eating pets.
For one, estimates of the number of Haitians
who have arrived in Springfield over the past few years
range from 12,000 to 20,000.
Second, a huge thing here is that the majority of them
are here legally thanks to something called
temporary protected status,
which is something that they got
because if they were back in Haiti,
they'd have to deal with the constant threat
of gang violence and the absolutely horrific conditions there.
And with all this, I think it's important to hear
the response from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine,
who, to be clear, is a Republican.
And in this interview, he actually reiterated
that he is supporting Trump
as the Republican candidate for president,
but also we saw this interaction.
Do you see any evidence as governor of the state
that Haitian immigrants are eating pets?
No, absolutely not. That's what the mayor said. That's what the chief of police has said. These
people are here legally. They're here legally. And they want to work. And they are, in fact,
working. And when you talk to the employers, what the employers tell you is, you know,
we don't know what we would do without them. They are working and they are working very hard. And
they're fitting in with our native people from Springfield. So while you have a huge chunk of the Republican party trying to
other and villainize these Haitian migrants who are here legally, you have the Republican governor
who's actually seeing what's happening on the ground saying there's so many lies being said
about these people who are actually fantastic. They're an integral part. Of course, like
everything, it's not a black and white situation. DeWine also acknowledged that there were challenges.
I mean, Springfield was a city of around 60,000 people and bringing in 12 to 20,000 everything, it's not a black and white situation. DeWine also acknowledged that there were challenges. I mean, Springfield was a city of around 60,000 people
and bringing in 12 to 20,000 more,
that's not easy to adjust to just like that,
no matter where you're from.
But having an actual discussion about policy
is very different from spreading hate-fueled lies
and historically racist tropes.
But then in international news,
with as much of a clown show
as our presidential debate was last week,
it is also important to remember
that it could have always been worse.
We got a great example of that last night,
thanks to a mayoral debate for Sao Paulo, Brazil.
It's the largest city in the Western hemisphere
with 12 million residents going to the polls
to choose their mayor early next month.
And the race there has been getting heated
with us seeing among other things,
third place contender, Pablo Marçal,
an Instagram influencer and self-help guru,
going after Jose Luis de Tena,
who's a news anchor who's polling at only 6%,
seemingly in an effort to push him out of the race.
And his line of attack was to dig up allegations
made to police by a female reporter in 2019.
They're saying that de Tena frequently made
sexually suggestive comments about her.
Though the reporter later retracted those allegations
and de Tena now says that they put his family
under significant emotional duress.
So with that, he demanded that Pablo take back his comments
about the incident, but instead he just shot back
that he has all bark and no bite,
saying, you once came over to me during a debate
to give me a slap,
but you're not even man enough to do that.
And to Tena, he did not like that at all.
So he, I'm not making this up, as you'll see in a second,
he picked up a metal chair
and tried to win the debate that way.
You're not a man to do that.
You're not a man.
No, Tena.
Go.
No.
And so the TV station cuts to a commercial,
and when they came back,
neither of the guys was in the studio.
Detainer, for obvious reasons, and Pablo,
because he was in the back of an ambulance,
complaining of painful breathing.
It was then reported that he suffered a fractured rib
and a dislocated finger from the assault.
He also then went on to compare his chair attack
to the assassination attempts on Donald Trump
and Jair Bolsonaro.
And as for Detainer, he said to reporters
that the sexual harassment allegations
had been especially painful
because he believes they caused his mother-in-law's stroke
and eventual death.
And I'm saying with this, unfortunately, I lost my head.
I could have simply left the debate, gone home,
which would have been much better.
But just as I cry a human reaction,
this was a human reaction that I couldn't contain.
So yeah, that was a thing.
But then, you know, getting into credit card debt,
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And then in generally what the fuck news,
we need to talk about how a Colorado teenager
trying to find a spot to take a homecoming picture
ended up getting shot in the face.
Right with this news actually starting last Tuesday
at around 3.30 in the afternoon.
Because that is when according to local law enforcement,
a 17 year old picked up his friend from Dakota Ridge High
School in Littleton, Colorado.
And after driving for a while, they came across a house
with a lake and a dock that they thought looked pretty nice.
So they decided, hey, let's go ask the homeowner,
hey, can we come back here and take homecoming pictures?
But to do that, they hopped a fence,
walked up the driveway to the house and knocked on the door.
Then when there wasn't an answer,
they walked around the property a bit
trying to locate a homeowner.
Until finally, they can't find anyone,
so they go back to the car and they grab a piece of paper.
With the figuring, let's leave a note.
But what they didn't know is that the homeowner
was a guy by the name of Brent Metz,
who owned the place along with his girlfriend.
And Metz, he's 38 years old,
he's actually a town councilman
for a place called Mountain View,
a small town of about 550 people near Denver.
While he and his girlfriend weren't home at the time,
they saw the two teenagers thanks to a surveillance system.
So the girlfriend called 911 to report the boys
as trespassers, but Metz, he ended up getting there first.
Right, while the boys were writing the note,
he reportedly pulled up behind them in his pickup truck
and blocked them in.
With the men getting out, walking toward the front
of the car, pulling a gun from his holster
and firing around through the windshield,
hitting the driver in the face, according to police.
Notably, I should say that may not have been his intention.
Metz reportedly said,
"'Oh shit, my gun went off,' after he fired.
And then when the other boy ran around the driver's side
to apply pressure to his friend's gunshot wound,
Metz actually tried to help.
Though the teen reportedly pushed him away,
asking why he had shot his friend.
Now with all that, the one that got shot,
he's reportedly okay, suffering serious injuries,
but surviving, and he was released from the hospital,
and he's recovering at home. And as far as Metz, he is also at home, but he has also been
charged with four felonies. While he was allowed to leave jail by promising to return for future
court appearances, he does face decades in prison if convicted. But as far as what's going to happen
here, you never really know. The laws vary from state to state, as we've seen with past situations.
These cases really can go a lot of different ways depending on where they happen. But while we wait to see what happens in actual court,
I'll pass the question off to the court of public opinion.
What are your thoughts here?
But then, I hate Taylor Swift.
Also, Swifties, no, do not come after me.
You can stop typing, hit backspace.
Those are not my words.
Rather, it is a quote from former president Donald Trump
who posted that on Truth Social yesterday,
with this seeming to be his reaction
to Taylor Swift endorsing Kamala Harris.
And you know, obviously you have a lot of people
cracking jokes about all this,
but you also have some arguing that Trump's words,
they're not just funny and unhinged,
they could actually have serious consequences.
Right with the likes of Teen Vogue's editor-in-chief
saying that his words will only embolden
his most threatening and hateful supporters against her,
a key reason why she didn't wanna speak out
in the first place.
Right with others noting that all of this is happening after her concert in Vienna was canceled over a
planned terrorist attack and three people were killed during a stabbing at a Taylor-themed
dance class in the UK. There's a lot of talk about there already being a heightened concern
about people targeting events related to her, which is also why you had another viral TikTok
saying. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye
sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door.
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Regardless of his intention, this is incredibly dangerous behavior.
Donald Trump has a track record of whipping people into a frenzy.
Regardless of the lies he wants to peddle,
he is responsible for the insurrection that took place on January 6th at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump tweeting something like this is literally dangerous
for the remaining heiress tours in the United States.
But also with this whole situation,
you have others saying,
this is really just a smoke screen, it's a distraction.
With Pete Buttigieg, for example,
looping in several of these weird stories and tweeting,
"'Cats, dogs, geese, Laura Loomer.
"'Look, now he's attacking Taylor.'"
Like the last season before a show gets canceled
for getting over the top and at the same time boring,
this election is about jobs, wages,
climate, healthcare, abortion.
Not his show, your life.
And that's not to say that both of the points
that people have been making here
can't be right at the same time,
but I think it is interesting to consider.
But then in entertainment news,
is YouTube beating Netflix in the streaming wars?
Right, that's a question Variety asked in a recent report
because it noted that while people have often tried
to compare the likes of Netflix to Disney Plus and Hulu and Apple and so on, YouTube is actually its major competitor.
Because, you know, if you look at the straight viewing time, YouTube beats Netflix both in
streaming time on TVs and smartphones. And even though YouTube is a very different platform,
those are the eyeballs Netflix should really be after. With Variety even saying that the
subscription streaming wars is transitioning into the engagement wars, especially since apps like TikTok
also pose a threat to Netflix in terms of watch time.
And if you've watched this show before,
you know this isn't a new topic,
but it is the evolution of it.
I mean, just looking back to last year in 2023,
YouTube was the top streaming platform,
with reports then noting that watch time
on MrBeast videos actually rivals the watch times
of some Netflix shows.
Also over the summer,
you had consumers kind of ranking YouTube platforms
above Netflix.
Or like when a survey asked
what entertainment services
were must-haves, Spotify took the number one spot,
but the rest of the top five went to YouTube services
like premium TV and so on,
with it even bumping Netflix from the top five.
And now it seems all but confirmed
that Netflix sees YouTube as its competitor,
because this weekend, we got reports
that they're trying to snag one of the biggest series
from the platform, Hot Ones.
So apparently Netflix doesn't want the Hot Ones
as we know it, instead they want live editions of Hot Ones.
Which I will say, actually a great idea.
It's like a super low stakes but entertaining version
of like what's gonna happen live content.
Where instead of seeing if that guy
that's trying to tight rope across the Grand Canyon,
if he's gonna fall to his death,
if someone's gonna be the next DJ Khaled.
Though honestly, I don't know if anyone will ever do
as poorly as DJ Khaled did on Hot Ones.
But reportedly if this deal does come to fruition,
Sean Evans would host these live versions exclusively
for Netflix.
And while I'm extremely biased,
because I am a Sean Evans fan,
I think this would be very cool to see.
Then in quick creator news,
MrBeast, Logan Paul and KSI are collabing.
And they're doing so in a way
that's gonna affect a lot of kids' health,
because they are bringing their Feastables
and Prime Hydration brands together to launch Lunchly,
which is a Lunchables competitor.
And reportedly, there'll be a few different kinds
of Lunchlys, all of which come with a Prime Hydration drink
and a Feastables candy bar.
One is a pizza style, another is nachos,
and the last is turkey and cracker stack-ems.
And based on the Lunchly website,
it seems like they're trying to position the brand
as a healthier option than Lunchables,
comparing the nutrition information
and saying Lunchly products have fewer calories and sugars
and have more electrolytes.
With Logan Paul even telling the Hollywood Reporter
that the grab-and-go lunch market has, quote,
been dominated by Lunchables since we were kids ourselves,
and it's time to provide a better option
for those looking for a convenient, healthier choice.
So this, of course, as many have pointed out,
that Prime has been criticized in the past
for potential health concerns
or people arguing that kids shouldn't drink it.
Though notably, that's at least about the energy version.
But the brand also facing its fair share of legal troubles.
But that said, I do not doubt
that these will be incredibly successful.
Given their previous successes in the marketplace
and their different categories,
I think the big box stores are very open to this.
And given scandal or no scandal,
a Mr. B's video getting more viewership
than like a Superbowl commercial,
it feels like they'd really have to drop the ball
for this to fail.
But hey, you also never know how the market's gonna react.
So we'll see.
And then, so election day is in 50 days,
an amount of time that feels both very far away
and very soon.
But the election is actually already officially started.
Because while last week,
Alabama started sending out
the nation's first absentee ballots,
a number of other states have followed suit,
including with those key battleground states.
With, for example, municipalities in Wisconsin,
they need to start sending out mail-in ballots by Thursday.
Carson City, Nevada is also set to send absentee
and mail-in ballots this week for residents
who will be out of state on election day.
With other counties in the state expected to do the same
in the coming days.
Meanwhile, counties in Pennsylvania are mandated
to start processing applications for mail-in ballots today.
Though those won't go out
until the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decides a handful
of outstanding cases.
Because federal law requires all states
to send military ballots by this Saturday,
Georgia and North Carolina are set to send those out
by tomorrow and Friday respectively.
While Georgia won't be sending most mail-in ballots
until next month, North Carolina officials say
that they expect to send other overseas ballots next week.
Right, and this is super significant
because in addition to officially kicking off the election,
experts have predicted that many of these mail-in
and absentee ballots will be the ones
that decide the election.
Hell, even the Republican National Committee Chairman
told reporters earlier this year that he believes
that more than half of all voters will cast their ballots
before election day, which is especially notable
because as we talked about last week,
there are ongoing concerns about widespread problems
with the US mail system that could disrupt voting.
And this also is Trump and his Republican allies
have done a complete 180 on mail-in voting.
Are they famously in the past demonized mail-in voting,
which usually skews more Democrat,
also using it to perpetuate the big lie back in 2020.
But now you have the party and its leader
embracing the practice with Trump repeatedly calling
on Republicans to vote by mail this year.
And this, even as he continues to call it corrupt.
But of course the main thing here is if you haven't already
go to vote.gov or vote.org.
If you think you're registered to vote, double check.
If you're not registered to vote, get registered
because the game is officially on
and there's so many things to vote for at a national
and a super local level that will affect you
and those you love.
That my friends is the end of your Monday evening,
Tuesday morning dive into the news.
As a friendly reminder, remember, grab what you want
while you can over at beautifulbastard.com.
Get in on that drop.
Yeah, otherwise that's it.
Feel free to turn your brain off until, hey, you come back here tomorrow and we parse through the state of the world together.
But at least we have each other to do so.
I love your faces and I'll see you then.