The Philip DeFranco Show - Taylor Swift MAGA Nazi Scandal, What Really Happened, & Today’s News

Starting point is 00:00:00 Wait to see if there's a long-standing impact here or it's just a blip. And then I've got more news for you in a second, but do you ever wonder how many subscriptions you're actually paying for? Because if you're like me, it's more than you think. Right, and thanks to today's sponsor, Rocket Money, I found subscriptions I totally forgot about, like the random app I hadn't touched in months. And Rocket Money, it's the personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions, monitors you're spending, and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings.

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Starting point is 00:01:12 We dive into Trump's past 48 hours of crashing out. This McDonald's AI scandal just caused an internet meltdown. We're talking about all of that and even more. On today's brand new Philip DeFranco's show, you daily dive into the news. It is Wednesday. I hope you have a fantastic one. I'm feeling great.

Starting point is 00:01:26 All things considered, I'm a homebody and I've got home-based lockdown for a bit. I've seen a lot of y'all's comments saying, why is the background changing every other show over the past two weeks? And the answer to that is I've just been seeing family and friends. I'm actually just coming back from, oh yeah, Austin, Texas, where I got this bad boy. Just as a disclaimer, this is not a midlife crisis. I went to one of my good buddies' weddings,

Starting point is 00:01:45 he's marrying an amazing woman, and their dress code was cowboy cash war. And so went down there, went into a store to hold the guy, hey, just don't make me look like fucking Ben Shapiro. Or just don't make me look like the nerdiest loser who's larping what he thinks a man looks like, and also like he would maybe buy one piece of a guy Wood from Home Depot. And I gotta say to the people that wear cowboy hats and boots, I kind of get it. In Georgia, I'm walking around six foot.

Starting point is 00:02:04 In Texas, I look like I'm six five. Cowboy boots are like man heels, like built-in lifts. The cowboy hat had inches of the top, I felt. But alas, I am now home. The hat comes off and we have a lot of news we need to talk about today, starting with this. Donald Trump's been crashing out over and over the past 24 to 48 hours and we should talk about it. But with it starting out with this interview that he gave political on Monday, though it went up on Tuesday. And there, I need to highlight a couple of moments for you.

Starting point is 00:02:30 The first being, we'll call it, this testy exchange about the Venezuelan president, Nicholas Maduro. So how far would you go to take Maduro out of office? I don't want to say that, but, uh. But you want to see him out? His days are numbered. Can you rule out an American ground invasion? I don't want to rule in or out.

Starting point is 00:02:50 I don't talk about it. Why would I talk to you an extremely unfriendly publication, if you want to call it, Politico, that got $8 million from Obama to keep it afloat. Just perpetually playing victim, but there was also this moment when the interviewer asked him about the state of the American economy.

Starting point is 00:03:06 I wonder what grade you would give A plus. A plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus, plus. Which there, rather than saying he's lying or he's living in another reality, I'd say, I really wish that Donald Trump was my teacher growing up, because this dude apparently grades on a crazy curve. With a consensus among relevant experts being

Starting point is 00:03:23 that what Donald Trump's saying here is just not true, among other things saying that his tariffs are just not working. I mean, just yesterday we talked about Trump trying to bail out farmers who have just been decimated because of his tariffs. And as far as how the people are, at the very least, people who vote in this country are seeing things, they don't appear to be fans of what Republicans are doing. They've been suffering some surprising electoral losses in several states and cities. I mean, even yesterday, Miami elected its first Democratic mayor in three decades. All of which is why you're seeing reason reports that White House aides have been trying to get Trump to refocus his attention on affordability and start taking people's concerns seriously.

Starting point is 00:03:52 They're apparently showing him surveys from his own pollsters, social media posts from his fans. Apparently, every senior White House official is involved in the effort. But seemingly, despite weeks of being pushed and prodded, Trump's resisted any kind of, I feel your pain messaging. Instead, it looks like he's doing what Democrats previously did and kind of just like going, no, it's not really that bad. Though, with it being Trump, he's opted to believe that the affordability discourse is just a democratic trap.

Starting point is 00:04:14 And that's exactly the point that he tried to hammer down at his rally in Pennsylvania yesterday. Because reportedly, his aides have organized a tour all across the country that will focus on the economy and then stretch into early next year, and it began last night. They have a new word, you know, they always have a hope. The new word is affordability. They say, affordability. And everyone says, oh, that must mean Trump has high prices.

Starting point is 00:04:36 No. They cause the high prices, and we're bringing them down. It's a simple message. Lower prices, bigger paychecks. We're getting inflation. We're crushing it. And you're getting much higher wages. I mean, the only thing that it's really going up big,

Starting point is 00:04:53 it's called the stock market and your 401Ks. It's really quick, if he is saying affordability is a hoax, him call in the Epstein files a hoax. I mean, it's gotta make you see it in a different light a little bit, right? And there, just to be clear, I'm not really asking you, I'm asking your conservative uncle you might have sent this to. But hey, you know, I guess we'll have to see if him simply repeating that message over and over again for the next 10 months is gonna make a dent in public sentiment. Because it's very likely gonna be a huge part of the midterms, but also here, I'll say, Trump, he frequently veered off course. Right, Trump calls it the art of the weave going in and out of topics. Others saying it seems more like sundownings.

Starting point is 00:05:29 You know, all the focus should have been on economic topics, affordability, prices. You had him, you know, claiming the past three elections were rigged. He talked about how tariffs just his favorite word. He crusaded against windmills, thank God. Someone protect us from those evil, evil windmills. And then also he did whatever this is. Transgender for every member in your family. If they're not feeling well that night, let's just change their sex.

Starting point is 00:05:50 Which is better? Sleepy Joe or Crooked Joe? Typically, Crooked Joe wins. I'm surprised. Because to me, he's a sleepy son of a bitch. I'm being judged by these bad people back there, the fake news. And then in this speech, where he had Donald Trump finding more of his happy plays, not with how he's going to help people economically,

Starting point is 00:06:09 but rather, you know, let's stow culture war issues, let's other people. He took aim at one of the right-wing's favorite targets right now, Somali immigrants. Do we have any individuals from Somalia in the group? Please raise your hand. I love this, Eli, Omar, whatever the hell, her name is, with a little chum, the little turban.

Starting point is 00:06:28 I love her. She comes in, there's nothing but bitch. She's always complained. She comes from her country where, I mean, it's considered about the worst country in the world, right? They have no military, they have no nothing, they have no parliament. They don't know what the hell the word parliament means. They have nothing. They have no police. They police themselves. They kill each other. all the time. I love it. She comes to our country and she's always complaining about the Constitution allows me to do this. The Constitution, we ought to get her to hell out. She married her brother in order to get in, right? She married her brother to get in. Therefore, she's here

Starting point is 00:07:11 illegally. She should get the hell out, throw it a hell out. She does nothing but complain. The Trump then going on for another hour before then wrapping it up and going home. Meanwhile, Ilhan, not Elon, I think he had his jilted lover on his mind. but Ilhan Omar responded to this call out on blue sky writing. Trump's obsession with me is beyond weird. He needs serious help. Since he has no economic policies to tout, he's resorting to regurgitating bigoted lies instead.

Starting point is 00:07:33 He continues to be a national embarrassment. And instead of getting some rest after a long day, because, you know, he's gonna nap in his meetings. Trump then continued his crash out on truth social. And there, he apparently got triggered by this New York Times op-ed that talks about his personal health, highlights the cabinet meeting where he apparently fell asleep and writes. Just how run down must a raging narcissist be

Starting point is 00:07:51 to snooze through tributes to his own greatness. Are Trump's baffling non sequiturs, herky, jerky syntax, and fantastical misrepresentations of fact, just a wholly unleashed, fully emboldened version of who he has always been, or is his focus blurring? What was up with his swollen ankles and the discoloration, partly concealed by makeup on the back of one of his hands? And how to solve the mystery of the MRI that he had at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in October? So then in response to that, our president composed a nearly 500-word essay, which he posted to Truth Social, and just buckle up, here we go. Trump declared there has never been a president that has worked as hard as me, my hours are the longest, and my results results are among the best. I've stopped eight wars, saving millions of lives in the process,

Starting point is 00:08:27 created the greatest economy and the history of our country, brought business back into the United States at levels never seen before. Rebuilt, our military created the largest tax cuts and regulation cuts ever, closed our open and very dangerous southern border, when previous administrations were unable to do so and created an aura around the United States of America that has led every country in the world to respect us more than ever before. And then adding, in addition to all that, I go out of my way to do long, thorough, and very boring medical examinations of the great Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, seen and supervised by top doctors, all of whom have given me perfect marks. Some have even said they have never seen

Starting point is 00:09:02 such strong results. I do these tests because I owe it to our country. In addition to the medical I have done something that no other president has done on three separate occasions, the last one being recently by taking what is known as a cognitive examination, something which few people would be able to do very well, including those working at the New York Times, and I aced all three of them in front of large numbers of doctors and experts, most of whom I do not know. I have been told that few people have been able to ace this examination, and in fact, most do very poorly, which is why many other presidents have decided not to take it at all. Despite all this, the time and work involved, the New York Times and some others,

Starting point is 00:09:35 like to pretend that I am slowing up and maybe not as sharp as I once was or am in poor physical health, knowing that it is not true and knowing that I work very hard, probably harder than I have ever worked before. I will know when I am slowing up, but it's not now. After all of the work I have done with medical exams, cognitive exams, and everything else, I actually believe it's seditious, perhaps even treasonous for the New York Times and others to consistently do fake reports in order to libel and demean the President of the United States. They are true enemies of the people and we should do something about it. They've inaccurately reported on all of my election results and in fact we're forced to apologize on much of what they wrote.

Starting point is 00:10:09 The best thing that could happen to this country would be if the New York Times would cease publication because they are a horrible, biased, and untruthful source of information. And then after that you had Trump posting several screenshots to people praising him, promoted Charlie Kirk's book, and then for good measure, retruth his own truth about the treasonous New York Times before finally signing off. And all of that, it makes me two things. One, someone needs to put more fiber in this man's diet. These are very obviously poop posts.

Starting point is 00:10:32 And it is horrifying that he's on that toilet for that long, that he can write out a full manifesto. And secondly, while I know most of us are numb to it, it is very important to highlight that the President of the United States is calling those against him the true enemies of the people. He's using words like seditious and treasonous. But especially as more and more he uses these words and references to penalties that could involve death. And there, one, because not only could it go to a place like that, but two, whenever they kind of clutch their pearls. When they say the other side, oh, the other side needs to lower the temperature.

Starting point is 00:11:00 They need to calm down. You know, words matter. Yeah, words matter. Do you listen to your fucking self? Yeah, anyway, I guess in the meantime, this is, I'm going to put out a plea out there. It's any organizations. Can you please follow FIFA suit and just keep this man busy. Give him as many fake peace awards as you possibly can.

Starting point is 00:11:14 Or just like, keep grandpa busy, please. And then there's more we're going to dive into in just a minute, but first let me say, you know, if you're looking for holiday gifts that keep on giving our sponsor, Raycon and their everyday earbuds classics, that's your move. And right now, they're up to 20% off for the holidays, so definitely grab them while you can. You know, I've owned a lot of earbuds, but most end up in the drawer, you know, I'll swear I'll use them one day, but Raycons actually reach for it. And everyday earbuds classics are loaded with upgrades. Active noise cancellation, multi-point connectivity, so I can bounce between devices and a comfy ergonomic fit that doesn't wiggle loose mid-workout. There are a few things that make me rage more than that. Colors, you know, my default's black, but they've got something for everyone with premium sound at half the price of big brands.

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Starting point is 00:12:11 Right, and Raycon audio products are up to 20% off right now. So just click that link below or go to buy raycon.com. Slashed Franco to save site wine. And hey, order by December 15 to guarantee delivery by Christmas because great gifts, you know, if they shouldn't show up late. But then, next up in the news, this is crazy.

Starting point is 00:12:25 Taylor Swift is a Trump-loving Nazi. That is what you saw a decent chunk of social media shouting just two months ago when her new album came out. But now it actually turns out that those understanding, false claims may have been part of a coordinated attack. Though of course not universally or exclusively,

Starting point is 00:12:38 and I'll break it down. So if you're online at all in the first two weeks of October, you know that there was a ton of discourse around the life of a showgirl and some of it was just, you know, your usual, pop music criticism. Love did it. I hate it. It was mid. You know, that stuff. But also,

Starting point is 00:12:50 some of it was varying levels of extreme. I mean, some people accusing Taylor are being Maga. Right. And so what a song about her fiance, Travis Kelsey? She says she wants to have a couple of kids and have, quote, The Whole Block looking like you. And people try to say that she was pushing a trad wife, white supremacist agenda. Also, she sold lightning bolt necklaces, a nod to a line in her song, Opelite, with people then comparing that to Nazi imagery. And you just had tons. It takes flying left and right. And it was largely framed as a far left critique of Taylor Swift. You know, it was something that got tons of attention. It spread all across the internet.

Starting point is 00:13:17 And so then with all that, you had the behavioral intelligence firm, Gidea, looking at over 20,000 posts about the album from over 14 social media platforms. And they said that they found a polarized online environment shaped by a mixture of organic cultural discourse, symbolic reinterpretation, and targeted inauthentic activity. And that inauthentic activity, it ended up being the subject of the report, which said that it found that while most social users behaved normally, 3.7% did not, and they accounted for 28% of the conversation volume, which suggested coordinated influence. What they found were a lot of the conversations started on more.

Starting point is 00:13:46 fringe platforms like 4chan and Kiwi Farms before they then made their way to mainstream apps like Twitter and TikTok. Right and then once they made their way there swifties and normal users began seeing them and responding. So with that you had the report saying this demonstrates how a strategically seeded falsehood can convert into widespread authentic discourse reshaping public perception even when most users do not believe the originating claim. Right because once real everyday people begin seeing these posts some end up agreeing and they prop up the accusations. But then also tons of people slammed them and they created this massive backlash cycle and they argued that seemingly left-wing accounts had lost the plot.

Starting point is 00:14:17 Right, saying things like, what do you mean, or wanting her children to look like her fiance as eugenics? Making bad faith, wildly unfounded, sociopolitical TikTok critiques of a pop album is such a profoundly misguided use of political energy right now. And pushing an agenda that a woman who has never done anything but support left-wing movements and ideologies as a white supremacist is one of the reasons Trump won.

Starting point is 00:14:35 But then also you have the report noting that that ended up actually just helping the claim spread. Or with the outrage cycle inadvertently boosting the networks and their narratives, and so you had the CEO of the company behind this study, telling Rolling Stone. That's part of the goal for these types of narratives, for whoever is pushing them, especially with these inflammatory ones that's going to get rewarded by the algorithm. And with the report, it wasn't able to identify exactly who was behind it. What they did find was what they called

Starting point is 00:14:57 a significant user overlap between accounts trying to paint Taylor as a Nazi and accounts that participated in attacks against Blake Lively. And so then with all that, you know, one of the questions people have people that are responsible for this gain from this happening. And there, you have experts speculating that could really be for just a number of reasons. Or one of the researchers saying when we put our doomsday hat on, I think we can see that reality that that there might be other nefarious actors, not US-based, who have reasons to see if I can move the fan base for Taylor Swift

Starting point is 00:15:21 and Icon who is this political figure in a way, does that mean I can do it in other places? Where some speculating, it could be competitors in our space. Some speculating that there's an economic incentive. If you make this a big thing that's happening, people can make content and make money off of that. Then others speculating, this is meant to cause political chaos. Or whether to cause chaos for the artists themselves

Starting point is 00:15:38 or to cause infighting among the left. But then also with this now getting some attention, you had people saying things like, can't tell what's worse. the fact it was intentionally orchestrated, or that it worked because many people were unable to think critically and form an opinion outside of viral posts. But then also as far as the public discourse, you had some saying, you know, they just don't believe the report. Right. Among other theories saying they believe that malign celebrities, they're just paying news outlets to publish fake reports, claiming that the criticism of them, they're just bot attacks. You know, yeah, for me personally, as someone that's been doing this for about 20 years now,

Starting point is 00:16:07 as far as whatever the public reaction is, I never really know what's real or not these days. It feels like so much is fake or botted and hopes that, you know, people will just go, oh, look at those numbers, I guess that is a popular opinion or take, and I'll just follow suit. Just like the sheer amount of botted astroturfing and manufacturing consent, it's very scary. It feels like why it's more important than ever to just like actually interact with human beings in person. Whether bad actors or businesses, whether for political gain or monetary gain, everyone is kind of just fighting for your attention. And one of the best ways to get that is through just something that pisses you off.

Starting point is 00:16:40 Right, but then, next up of the news, we need to talk about McDonald's and more getting a lot of hate right now. Right, and for McDonald's, it stems from this ad they just released. It's the most terrible time of the year. So, well, comments for that ad were turned off. What we ended up seeing was that the general feeling was along the lines of, the song is poorly written, almost certainly written by AI, because it doesn't fit the original. rhythm at all and at the end it just makes up a passage. And the visuals are pointless because it's just random nonsense like most AI videos. There's no weight to anything despite the focus being human failures. They're not shot well and more so not real so it leaves no impact. And understand those were kind of the tame more specific pointing things out critiques rather than just fuck you McDonald's which I saw a lot of right. And ultimately what you saw was the backlash got so bad that McDonald's took down the ad. However, you also saw the company behind the ad trying to defend it saying in a post that they spent weeks working on this and that quote, we were working right on the edge of what

Starting point is 00:17:47 this tech can do. And while AI filmmaking might divide opinions, we want to pull back the curtain to show you the sheer human craft and skill behind it. And saying the tools were different, the process wasn't. Claiming the man hours poured into this film were more than a traditional production. But also with that, I'll say to McDonald's not the only one taking shots right now. Right, Amazon recently had to take down an entire program to add dubs to anime. And the results there, they loved a lot to be desired or resulting in stuff like.

Starting point is 00:18:10 Hurry, this way, come on. After him. I read all your moves. All your move, I saw right through you. And... All I need from you is your head. The rest can rot in the dirt. Like the youthless scrap metal that you are.

Starting point is 00:18:27 Kianontraud. Then also in addition to that, you had Disney abandoning attempts to add more AI into its workflow over concerns about copyright and public perception. But, I mean, we are seeing this consistent push forward and now you have CEO Bob Eiger considering it again. And of course, that's despite just example after example

Starting point is 00:18:41 of people just not being that into AI. Though also, you know, I gotta stress, it is not universal. You did have tons of people praising the McDonald's ad and claiming that you would be perfectly fine on TV. And, you know, if you're a fan of YouTube, this might not be something you can avoid. Because YouTube, they've been making a fuss over how they're rolling out more AI creation tools. Also, that might be something that you really haven't seen on YouTube if you mainly use YouTube for long-form videos. Most of the stuff that we're seeing for AI or for the vertical content.

Starting point is 00:19:04 But, you know, with all this, I'd really love to know your thoughts, not only as far as your opinion on the use of AI here. But also, what do you think we are going to see moving forward? Are people that are against this? Are they trying to fight the tide, essentially? Like, is this something that you feel like, yes, I'm against it, but it also feels inevitable? Or do you think that there is going to be enough of a market impact that it stops? Any all thoughts, opinions, and predictions here? I'd love to hear from you.

Starting point is 00:19:27 But then, next up from that, this is a wild bit of news. The Trump administration now wants five years of your social media history to go on vacation here. The Trump administration is now planning to review the social media accounts of foreign tourists from dozens of countries as a requirement for granting them entry to the United States. And that's even though these targeted groups don't need visas. And so this plan, it was outlined in a new proposal filed in the Federal Register by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. So you've got the CBP saying it'll allow a 60-day period for public comment, and specifically here the proposal targets foreign tourists who are eligible for the Visa Waiver Program,

Starting point is 00:19:55 which allows people from 42 countries to travel to the U.S. for up to 90 consecutive days without a visa provided that they get electronic authorization. And a really huge thing is that the 42 countries that are targeted here, which includes much of Europe, I mean, they make up a ton of U.S. tourism. Where these visa waiver program nations, they make up more than half of the top 20 nations whose citizens visit the U.S. the most. So that includes the UK, which is the third biggest tourists for the U.S., after Canada and Mexico as well, is Japan, Germany, France, and South Korea, which all rank among the top 10. So that's also likely in part

Starting point is 00:20:24 because, at least until now, it's been relatively easy for the people there to visit the United States. But under the current system, they apply through the electronic system for travel authorization or Esta. And during that process, they pay $40, provide some basic identifying information, and then once approved, the authorization, it's just generally valid for two years and allows those people to enter multiple times during that period. But under this Trump proposal, as to applicants would be required to provide their social media from the last five years. Now, very notably here, the current proposal doesn't actually give any more information like how the fuck people are supposed to give the U.S. government five years of social media.

Starting point is 00:20:56 Or like, are they just going to ask for handles? Do they want PDFs printed out? Also, is it only posts or like if you like to fill up DeFranco show, is that a red flag? And then with all this, you have people wondering, well, how are they going to go through this? I mean, it's probably going to be AI. But then also, it's really notable because the social media review isn't the only new dramatic information request that's outlined in the proposal. Ornesta applicants would also have to provide other information. Phone numbers used in the past five years, email addresses used in the past 10, IP addresses, metadata from electronically submitted photos, key biometrics like facial fingerprint, DNA, and iris data. And then beyond that, they'd also be required to provide a ton of hyper-specific

Starting point is 00:21:28 personal information about their family members and spouses. And so, well, yes, this proposal is now open to the public and thus subject to change. Experts say that it could have a dramatic impact on tourism in the states. Right, for one, it could just be an enormous amount of stuff to go through, which could result in longer wait times for travelers to get authorization. You've also had immigration and digital rights attorneys arguing that the proposal could chill free speech, exacerbate civil liberties, harms, and undermine travel with one explaining. Basically, people will self-censor and they avoid coming to the U.S. altogether, and that affects tourism, business, and America's global reputation. And well, of course, this would be a dramatic change. It's also just a further escalation of what we've been seeing from the administration. But also, like, the timing here couldn't be more key, that the World Cup is about to be hosted. And then there's even more we're going to dive into in a minute, but first let me say, you ever sit down to work and your brain's like, cool, but what if we think about everything except the things we actually need to do? Because that, it was my daily chaos until I tried Brain.fm, today's sponsor, the only app that gets my brain to behave. You see, brain.fm, it makes science-backed music that literally syncs with your brain patterns to help you focus,

Starting point is 00:22:25 relax, or finally sleep like a functional adult. And yes, it works way better than those lo-fi-chill beats playlist that tricky end up viving instead of working. Right, and they've got modes like deep work, creative, motivation, and even ADHD mode built specifically for ADHD brands. Like ADHD mode, it feels like someone pressed the alignment button on my brain. And Brain FM is the only music company funded by the National Science Foundation to help people focus. Like not a joke, an actual government-approved stop being distracted button. They also published a study in nature, communications, biology, showing their tech boosts attention and performance, especially for people with ADHD. You know, I use it for daytime focus,

Starting point is 00:22:56 nighttime for sleep. And the difference, I think it's unreal. It's like someone took all the noises in my head and just turn the volume down to something actually manageable. Hey, unlock your brain's full potential free for 30 days by going to brain.fm slash defranco or just scan that QR code. That's brain.com slash defranco for 30 days free. But then next up in the news, we need to talk about how Republican leaders, they're like giving everyone whiplash over whether they actually want an investigation or not into the alleged war crimes that the U.S. might be committing in the Caribbean. I mean, you had Representative Mike Rogers, who's the head of the House Armed Services Committee just yesterday telling reporters, hey, no investigated needed because it's done. I've got all the answer

Starting point is 00:23:29 as I needed. But just last month, he was promising Representative Adam Smith that there would be rigorous oversight over the so-called double-tap missile strike that happened on September 2nd, saying they're taking the report seriously and that they're taking bipartisan in action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question. But it really doesn't look like there was rigorous oversight. All that really happened is there was a classified meeting between the House and Senate Armed Services and Intelligence panels alongside Southcom Leader Admiral Frank Bradley. And then connected to that, you had committee members getting to see the footage of what happened, but that also really hasn't helped much. Right, and that seems to be because across party lines, people have very different narratives over what they saw. Right, you had Republican Senator Tom Cotton agreeing that the video lines up with the Trump administration's narrative,

Starting point is 00:24:02 right that the strike on shipwreck survivors was justified because they were allegedly still capable of carrying on. But then you've got Democratic Representative Jim Himes saying that the footage, it clearly shows something wrong happened. And then actually speaking to Representative Himes, I learned that not only is he concerned that we might have some serious crimes on our hands, but that Congress as a whole really wasn't being involved in any of the decisions. And also, again, you don't need to spend a ton of time in law school to know that Congress should debate and authorize this kind of action. It says so in the Constitution, and as you just articulated, killing people without any due process, without, you know, super well-veted intelligence and targeting processes, at a minimum that should be debated by the Congress.

Starting point is 00:24:40 If it is not a legitimate war, then it becomes a legal issue, a law enforcement issue. And yes, if a cop walked up in New York City and shot a drug dealer on the street, that cop would be tried, convicted, and would go to jail, which is one possible analogy. for what is happening here. If you believe that this isn't a legitimately approved military action, then yes, the word is murder. If it is an approved military action, is this a violation of the laws of war?

Starting point is 00:25:11 And Himes, you know, he's not the only one. And despite some Republican leaders saying that the footage shows that the strikes were justified, there are a lot of House members who, you know, they want to see it for themselves. And in fact, it's why they added a provision to the upcoming defense spending bill that would compel Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegsef to release the exact orders that were given and the footage unedited to Congress or basic, 25% cut to his travel budget. And so while normally defend spending bills,

Starting point is 00:25:31 they're really not worth talking about there, they're fairly routine, this one it stands out. And not only for the reason I just mentioned, but also because in many ways, it's fairly pro-Trump. Where you had Trump's puppet and House Speaker Mike Johnson praising the bill because it, quote, helps advance President Trump and Republicans

Starting point is 00:25:44 peace through strength agenda by codifying 15 of President Trump's executive orders, ending woke ideology at the Pentagon, securing the border, revitalizing the defense industrial base, and restoring the warrior ethos. Apparently included in the things to end woke ideology, you're talking about cuts to DEI and climate initiatives. But also, I'll say at the same time,

Starting point is 00:26:02 it's not a completely pro-Trump wish list. Though there, I'm talking about things like authorizing billions more in defense spending than even Trump wants it. Though also, I will say it includes $400 million in military assistance for Ukraine, which theoretically puts Trump in a tight spot. But for now, we're gonna have to see how all this plays out,

Starting point is 00:26:16 including whether a 25% budget cut to Hegseth will actually be enough for him to release the footage. But then finally, from that, as we wind down today's show, I wanna do two final things. Put out a congratulations and then, you know, there's one more thing. Starting with a congrats to Quora D, Seekykeek's latest weekly winner who just snag $500 in tickets to catch a bad omens concert. And for the rest of y'all, that's right.

Starting point is 00:26:34 Seekek is still given away $500 in tickets and you should definitely enter today if you haven't already. I mean, you could be the next winner and snag $500 towards seeing your favorite artist, sporting event or play. I mean, there's like over 70,000 events to choose from. And all you got to do is just add Code DeFranco to your Seatkeek app profile for a chance of the weekly $500 prize. No purchase necessary. Then finally today, the last thing is part Philip DeFranco's show, part palette cleanser. Because this week on the text line, 813, 213, 2423, go text me there, as well as on social media and in comments. There were a lot of people saying, Phil, what did you think about Donald Trump saying that American football is not real football?

Starting point is 00:27:05 And actually, today on my other podcast, crashing out with myself and Alex Perlman, which went out this morning and you can watch the full thing and the links below. You know, we covered it. And I think it actually gave us a little bit of insight here. You know, Phil, I don't want to go into the if Biden did this or if Obama did this that they would spend. The media would spend the rest of the year talking about it, even though we don't have much left. in the year. But the one thing that did happen during the Trump FIFA Peace Prize moment is he had a whole little speech he gave about how the NFL shouldn't call itself football and that actually

Starting point is 00:27:37 when you look at it, soccer's the real football because all they use his feet. So that's why they should be. And it was there was a moment there where I actually, I actually got my, my back went up. My hackles got hacked. I got full on. I just started scream, what are you talking about? Like at the screen? What are your thoughts on this?

Starting point is 00:27:56 What are your thoughts on we're done with soccer? It's now football and the NFL needs to call. I guess the National Concussion League, the NCL is maybe what we should go with. I was surprised he said it, but also not. Because anytime we get into a moment where someone's like awarding him with something, I think we get to see a little bit of what Donald Trump is like behind the scenes where everyone's like, oh, he's so like, he's so open and he's like so cordial. And he's actually a great guy to be with where he just.

Starting point is 00:28:23 They gave him an award, and he's like, football's not real, or the NFL's not real. I'm going to talk about hand egg. Sequin Barclay, who? I've never heard of him. I hate Sequin Barclay now. I'm a Ronaldo guy. Instantly. Instantly.

Starting point is 00:28:39 It was so crazy. And that, my friends, is where today's show and this video ends, but you've got more even just to click away. You can check out my brand new award-winning podcast crashing out with myself and Alex Perlman. The new episode actually just went up right before this show. It's available on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcast. And or if you've missed yesterday's crazy.

Starting point is 00:28:53 see Philip DeFranco show. I got you covered right here. As always, there's also links in the description. But hey, no matter what you do, let me just say, thank you for watching. I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.

The Philip DeFranco Show - Taylor Swift MAGA Nazi Scandal, What Really Happened, & Today’s News

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