The Philip DeFranco Show - The Trump Venezuela Maduro Problem is Worse Than You Think

Episode Date: January 5, 2026

Check out Odoo and try the full suite for free for 14 days here: https://www.odoo.com/r/f1d New https://BeautifulBastard.com Signature Collection Restock! LISTEN TO THE SHOW iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2VWATCH CRASHING OUT w/ PHILIP & ALEX Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCergKLoy-Yv9zlPk3XQYK7Q?sub_confirmation=1 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DkU87umhGH9mH1z24Bi9w?si=6sSdjhVNQjyVeBQDLiXcyg Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crashing-out-with-philip-defranco-and-alex-pearlman/id1843429519 WATCH/LISTEN TO MY NEW PODCAST w/ KYLA SCANLON Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2CePXwDrvdQTes844wflKp?si=55a6b6049c4841ed Youtube: https://youtube.com/acw?sub_confirmation=1 iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-good-faith-with-philip-defranco/id1827016835 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY 📸Instagram: https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco  🐦Twitter: https://twitter.com/phillyd  🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco  TODAY’S STORIES 00:00 - Maduro Pleads Not Guilty As Venezuela Fallout Gets Worse 14:14 - Sponsored by Odoo 15:23 - Mamdani’s First Weekend In Office Is Already Nuts 22:41 - New Beautiful Bastard Signature Collection Restock! 23:22 - 10 Found Guilty of Cyberbullying Brigitte Macron 25:34 - Grok Used to Make Sexually Suggestive Images THE TEAM 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 #Venezuela #Maduro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm so sorry. I know it's probably not me, but also maybe it is me. Every time we go on holiday break, just craziness happens in the world. But with this being the first Philip DeFranco show of 2026, we are now officially on our everyday grind. I will see you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and starting next week, Friday. We have a lot to dive into and break down, starting with this. Donald Trump attacked Venezuela, captured Maduro, and now wants American companies to take back the oil that he says was stolen from them. But even if Trump's finally being honest about what he's really after, he's still still not telling the whole truth. Oh wow, the way that he's talking, it looks like this is just the start of a new era of American

Adventurism abroad. Now, of course, you know, especially if you watched a show last year, this isn't coming out of nowhere. There's been a lot of building up to this moment. For the Pentagon of mass troops, aircraft and warships in the Caribbean, US attacks killed at least 115 people on boats that the administration claimed without providing evidence were transporting drugs. And at the end of last month, it actually carried out a drone strike on a port facility in Venezuela itself. And it turns out all the while there was a CIA team spending months in the country undetected gathering intelligence about Maduro's movements. And that including help from a source in Maduro's government, and all of that leading to 10.30 p.m. last Friday, when Trump reportedly gave final approval from Mar-a-Lago for a mission. A mission were more than 150 military aircraft,

including drones, fighter planes, and bombers took off from 20 different military bases and Navy ships. With them then, early Saturday morning, striking at radar and air defense batteries across Caracas, clearing the way for helicopters that carried Delta Force commandos right to Maduro's doorstep. And all of this, it went crazy fast.

About five minutes after entering the building, they reported that they had Maduro and his wife in custody. And then by 4.29 a.m. local time, the pair were transferred to the USS Iwo Jima, which is an American warship that had been stationed about 100 miles off the coast to Venezuela. And this whole operation reportedly took just two hours and 20 minutes, killing at least 80 people, including civilians and soldiers, according to a Venezuelan official. Right, and as far as Maduro, he's now being held in New York City. And he pled not guilty today to federal charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy,

cocaine importation conspiracy, and possession of machine guns and destructive devices, saying, I am innocent, I am a decent man, I am president. And with that, you've got the updated and unsealed. indictment alleging that he headed a corrupt, illegitimate government that for decades has leveraged government power to protect and promote illegal activity, including drug trafficking. And this indictment also charges Maduro's wife, his son, two other high-ranking Venezuelan officials, and an alleged leader of Tren de Iaragua. Right, that gang of the Trump administration designated as a terrorist organization last year,

and that Trump has also claimed worked hand in hand with Maduro's government, although notably, U.S. intelligence agencies have said otherwise. Right, there is reportedly evidence that Maduro has benefited from the drug trade to stay in power, including by using profits from drug trafficking to secure the loyalty of military officials and leaders in his party. But experts have said there's little evidence that Maduro or Venezuela had a role in the drug trade that directly contributed to overdose deaths in the United States. Fentino, which Donald Trump is always talking about, it's almost entirely produced in Mexico using chemicals from China, and Venezuela really plays no role in its trade. In fact, if you actually look into it, when you compare, Venezuela is not considered a major drug producer at all. Or with experts often calling it a minor cocaine transit country, with most of the cocaine also flowing through it, heading to Europe not

United States. So one of the big things with that, what it points to is that this was really never about drugs. And I think we always kind of knew that. And even Trump, he's barely held up that charade. Trump has made it very clear that his primary interest is oil. We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money for the country. We're going to be taking out a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground, and that wealth is going to the people of Venezuela and people from outside of Venezuela that used to be in Venezuela. And it goes also to the United States of America. So then with that, among the reactions, you had the

likes of Democratic Senator Chris Murphy saying. The message that they sent was that this wasn't about regime change. When they came to Congress and they literally lied to our face, they said, this is just a counter-narcotics operation. This seems to be mostly about oil and natural resources. Donald Trump's entire foreign policy is corrupt. Russia, the Middle East, and now Venezuela is all about making money for his friends. And Wall Street, the oil industry, they can make a lot of money off of Venezuela if they run it. You saw within hours of the invasion, the announcement of a group of Wall Street investors, energy industry investors, planning a trip to Venezuela to make money off of this invasion, off of this ouster. But that said, you know, if there is an

America first play or argument to all this, it's that the U.S. is only taking back what rightfully belongs to it, which is a claim that Trump has repeatedly made over and over, that Venezuela stole America's oil. But to be very clear here, U.S. companies never owned oil or land in Venezuela, and officials didn't kick them out of the country. And that's why you're seeing things like a Venezuelan economist at the University of Denver saying, Trump's claim that Venezuela has stolen oil and land from the U.S. is baseless. But of course, that claim does come from somewhere, and we should talk about it. We going way back, there was a military dictator who ruled Venezuela from 1908 until 1935. grant and concessions that left three foreign oil companies to control and 98% of the Venezuelan market.

Right in the country became the world's second largest oil producer and largest export. Then we jumped to 1976 and the Venezuelan government took control of the country's petroleum industry, nationalizing hundreds of private businesses and foreign-owned assets, including projects operated by the American company's Exxon and Mobile. And overall, American oil companies lost roughly $5 billion in assets, but were compensated just a billion dollars each. And then they took even greater losses in 2007 when President Hugo Chavez nationalized some of the last privately run oil operations in the country. Major American companies, with the exception to Chevron, which is the only U.S. oil company operating in Venezuela today,

they refused to accept the terms offered to them. And in that case, the companies later actually won billions of dollars from Venezuela in international arbitration, technically, because the country is yet to actually pay those full amounts. So now you've got Trump and his administration, reportedly telling oil execs in recent weeks that if they want compensation for C's property, then they've got to go back to Venezuela now and invest heavily. You know, the potential upside there, it's huge. Venezuela is known to have the largest proven crude oil reserve in the world. And very notably, the country produces the kind of heavy crude oil that's needed for diesel fuel, asphalt, and other fuels for heavy equipment.

But even with its massive reserves, it's been producing less than 1% of the words crude oil supply, way less than a few decades ago, thanks to corruption, mismanagement, and US sanctions. So, you know, there's been a lot of hesitancy to get involved. For example, one industry official telling Politico, the infrastructure currently there is so dilapidated that no one at these companies can adequately assess what is needed to make it operable. And another expert saying, the issue is not just that the infrastructure is in bad shape, but it's mostly about how do you get foreign companies to start pouring money in before they have a clear perspective on the political stability, the contract situation, and the like. And on that, no, we're not really getting a whole lot of clarity from the White House.

Were you with Trump saying at a news conference after the attack that the U.S. would run the country until a safe, proper, and judicious transition of power could be arranged? A statement that pretty much freaked everyone the hell out. Right? And Trump, he didn't say whether U.S. forces would occupy the country, but he did say he wasn't afraid of boots on the ground. With that, I'll say right now there are no signs of a continued U.S. military presence in Venezuela and Maduro's government is still in power. In fact, as Vice President, Delci Rodriguez, she's been sworn in as interim president.

You had her saying in a national address on Saturday that the U.S. had invaded her country under false pretenses and insisted that Maduro is still Venezuela's rightful leader. Though there, you had some speculating that might be more politics than a genuine display of loyalty. A U.S. officials reportedly settled on Rodriguez as an acceptable candidate to replace Maduro weeks ago. With Trump, even saying at the news conference that Marco Rubio had spoken to Rodriguez and determined that she's essentially willing to do what we think is necessary to make Venezuela great again. And that is, he said that the country's exiled opposition leader, Maria, Karina, Machado didn't have the support or respect to lead the country. And that being said, surprised a lot of people for a lot of reasons, including, I mean, international observers said that the candidate that she supported after being disqualified, beat Maduro in the 2024 election by a wide margin. In fact, the Biden administration and the second Trump administration both recognized that candidate as the legitimate winner. And since then, Machado has openly supported the U.S. military campaign in the Caribbean and gone out of her way to appeal to Trump, calling him a champion of freedom, echoing his talking points on election fraud and even dedicating her Nobel Peace Prize to him.

You know, all of that, it appears it may have been for nothing, especially because you now have Rodriguez striking a more diplomatic tone, saying that she's willing to work with Trump. Though that also, notably, coming as you had Trump, warning in an interview, if Rodriguez doesn't do what's right, she is going to pay a very big price, probably bigger than Maduro. With Trump then also claiming again last night that the United States was in charge of Venezuela. And then when asked what he needed from Rodriguez, he replied, we need total access. We need access to the oil and to other things in their country that allow us to rebuild their country. But then with that, you had Rubio, some saying walking back, some saying explained the administration's plan, saying that it's to keep a military quarantine in place of the country's oil exports, preventing oil tankers on a U.S. sanctions list from entering and leaving the country.

And the Venezuelan government would likely have to open up the state-controlled oil industry to foreign investment, and likely giving priority to American companies in order for the quarantine to end. You know, for now, there's just, there's a lot of unknowns. Right, what will the continued response be from Venezuelans, both in the country and abroad? Well, you had a lot of people celebrating the end of Maduro. You have a lot of people going, well, isn't this the same regime? Though also, it's going to take time to see how stable and how compliant the Venezuelan government's going to actually be, and if it'll be enough to reassure U.S. companies.

Also, in the meantime, you have many asking, well, what are the international reactions here? What are the potential ramifications that go beyond just Venezuela? Well, there, you've had France, Germany, Mexico, Brazil, China, Russia, Chile, and Colombia condemning Trump's abduction of Maduro. You also had people like Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, making some points that we've heard from a lot of people. Saying that efforts by the U.S. to prove it's no longer a colonial power in the Americas has been all thrown out now. Saying that Trump's actions could potentially turn the whole region against us.

And then also arguing that the administration's aim of dominating the Western Hemisphere, including forcibly seizing leaders in the region could spur China and Russia to try to do the same in their perceived spheres of influence. It's saying there's an extraordinarily high risk that adversaries around the world will use the same theory of the case to act with further impunity. Right, and that's an interesting case to hear out, especially because you have Team Trump suggesting that Venezuela may be only the first country on this side of the globe that he takes action against. In fact, just in the couple of days following the operation in Venezuela, Team Trump has pointed to several countries as the possible next target, including Greenland, Colombia, and even Mexico. Right, Trump again, reigniting his previous threats to annex Greenland, despite all the pushback he received from Greenland itself and Denmark the first time he brought it up. And with that, you had Trump telling reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.

We need RELIN from a national security situation. It's so strategic. Right now, Riedland is covered with Russia and Chinese ships all over the place. We need Ritalin from the standpoint of national security. And Denmark is not going to be able to do it, I can tell you. Trump also reiterating that to the Atlantic, saying that the U.S. absolutely needs Greenland for national security. It seems very much to be in the mind of those in Trump's orbit, including Stephen Miller's his wife who posted soon with the image of an American flag draped across a map of Greenland.

And so with all this, you had the leaders in Denmark and Greenland just not happy. The Prime Minister of Denmark met to Fredrickson noting again that the US has no right to annexed Greenland, also whose people made it very clear that it's not for sale. All while, I think a lot of people don't realize this. The US already has wide access to Greenland because of a NATO defense agreement. So among other things, you know, Trump's national security argument really doesn't appear to hold water. And with that, you had Fredrickson adding, I strongly urge the United States to stop the threats against a historically close ally. With Greenland's prime minister also echoing that, but then also adding,

when the president of the United States talks about we need Greenland and connects us with the Venezuela and military intervention, it's not just wrong, this is so disrespectful. And this has gotten to such a crazy place that Denmark and Germany have had to promise to defend Greenland against any invasion. But of course, that's not where it ends for Trump, because there's also Colombia with Trump taking aim at President Gustavo Petro. Trump saying he better, quote, watch his ass and calling him a sick man who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States.

So with that promising, he's not going to be doing it for very long. And Trump, he's had beef with Petro for a while. He's placed sanctions on him, his family, and a member of his government back in October. He also slashed U.S. assistance to Colombia after adding them to a list of countries that had failed to cooperate with the war on drugs. And actually, when asked if the U.S. would carry out an operation on Colombia, similar to what was done in Venezuela, Trump responded, it sounds good to me. Though again, that is not where it ends because we have to talk about Cuba with Trump telling

reporters, I think Cuba is going to be something we'll end up talking about because Cuba is a failing nation right now. And there, specifically, he said that Cuba's economy, which in part has already been struggling, thanks to a years-long embargo from the U.S. is only going to get worse now that Maduro is out of the picture. Because Maduro provided Cuba with subsidized oil in exchange for Cuban security, helping him maintain power. But you also had Trump saying to Fox News that he doesn't think that the U.S. will need to take action in Cuba because, quote, I think it's just going to fall. It's going down for the count. Though, I will say that in stop secretary of state Marco Rubio, whose parents fled from Cuba,

from saying that the Cuban government should be, quote, concerned at least. Additionally, I'll say it's worth mentioning that Trump has threatened to take action in the Middle East as well. And specifically there, he exchanged threats with top Iranian officials over the way that the government's handling protests about the plummet and the local currency, saying that if Iran violently kills peaceful protesters, that the U.S. will come to their rescue. But with that, we are seeing reports of dead there, so we'll see if Trump does something with that. But then finally, that brings us to Mexico, with Trump telling Fox and Friends on Saturday morning, something's going to have to be done with Mexico and saying that Mexican President Claudia Shum, is allowing the drug cartels to run the country.

She's very frightened of the cartels. They're running Mexico and I've asked her numerous times, would you like us to take out the cartels? No, no, no, no, no, please. So we have to do something. There's something of note here. Most of the countries that we've talked about, they've denounced the operation in Venezuela

and the abduction of Maduro. With officials from Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia, all arguing that Latin America and the Caribbean are peaceful in describing the US's involvement with Venezuela as, quote, cowardly, criminal, and treacherous. Also, here at home, we've seen many Democrats and some Republicans in Congress outright condemning the operation. Some, like Senator Tim Kane looking to force votes on preventing what Chuck Schumer called a humanitarian geopolitical disaster. You know, with all that said,

one of the big key things here is that none of this is over. This is just the start. And I say that to everyone, not just the people who are doing like a George Bush cosplay on that aircraft carrier with a mission accomplished banner. We're going to have to keep our eyes on this for the coming days, weeks, months, and maybe even years. Especially because it seems like we're hearing very, very different things from Donald Trump and Marco Rubio at times. But for now, with all this, I'd love to know your thoughts, your reactions, and maybe even some of your predictions. I mean, what a way to start the new year.

And I've got more for you in just a minute, but first let me say, if you're running your business, it feels like you're playing whack-a-mole with deadlines, you need today's sponsor, Odu, the all-in-one business software that stops the chaos before it wax you. You see, Odo, it gives you a full suite of integrated apps, CRM, sales, inventory, project management, accounting, all talking to each other like adults for once. Less chaos, more control. And no tab hopping through a dozen tools. Odu keeps everything in one clean, customizable dashboards.

Send quotes and clicks, drag and drop your pipeline, use predictive lead scoring, and close deals faster with built-in e-signatures. Right, and never run out of stock again. Odu can automatically trigger purchase orders, replenish inventory, and follow up with vendors so you don't have to. And their MRP system, it covers planning, scheduling, quality check, shop floor management,

basically everything except running the factory for you. Right, and Odo auto creates invoices, uses tools to read receipts with 98% accuracy and integrates with 28,000 plus banks. I mean, yeah. And, I mean, only pay for what you need. Pick the apps that you want, leave the rest, no bloated software graveyard. So, hey, dive in and try Odu's full suite free for 14 days, no credit card,

and even get one app free forever, like emotional support software. So if you're ready to run your business like someone who isn't held together by caffeine and panic, hit that link and start your free Odu trial today. New year, new ERP, better business. But then getting back into the news, is everything's been going down with Venezuela. We heard from a voice. It's really huge on the left right now, and that is Zoron Mamdani. Because the new mayor in New York City was officially swore.

on Thursday, and it only took two days before he had his first public clash with Donald Trump as mayor. I called the president and spoke with him directly to register my opposition to this act and to make clear that it was an opposition based on being opposed to a pursuit of regime change, to the violation of federal international law, and a desire to see that be consistent each and every day. Well, many on the right were very critical of that. their clash with them, it really started the moment that he was sworn in. Right, because in his inauguration speech, he explicitly promised to govern expansively and audaciously as a democratic socialist. And it appeared that it was this line in particular that really triggered conservatives.

We will draw this city closer together. We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism. If our campaign demonstrated that the people of New York yearn for solidarity, then let this government foster it. With many on the right interpreting or saying they interpreted that the warmth of collectivism, it was really just an open announcement that it was some sort of Stalinism that was about to be imposed on New York City. There, you had the mayor's defenders being like, no, no, no, the word that you're thinking of is collectivization. Right, collectivism is a general idea that focuses more on the group or community than on an individual. And with that, they argue that if anything, this puts him more in line with FDR and MLK, not Joseph Stalin.

So some have also speculated that he used that term specifically to provoke a hysterical meltdown from the right, kind of a Trump political playbook move. But really, I'll say with that, if you, if you took a quick glance at the cesspool that is social media, he really didn't need to do anything to get that sort of reaction. For some, just him existing as a Muslim, that was enough to just cause a fear of imminent Islamic takeover. For example, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville proclaiming the enemy is inside the gates. As well as Trump advisor and actively melting candle or a loom are just losing her mind posting, this is 100% an homage to Hamas and the globalized the Intifada movement.

He is signaling the beginning of his Islamic conquest from a tunnel. And adding, it was not only an homage to Hamas, but it's also an homage to our first Muslim president who was also born in Africa, Barack Hussein Obama. Though to be clear in putting her Obama derangement syndrome aside the tunnel that Mamdani was inside of when he got sworn in is a historic decommission subway station that's beneath City Hall that's known for its gorgeous architecture. And in fact, you had Mamdani telling Streets blog NYC that it was a physical monument to a city that dare to be both beautiful and build great things that would transform working people's lives. But still, you would loomer and the like continuing or fear-mongering, boosting nonsense about it. an Islamic Dith column led by the Muslim Brotherhood that's executing a long-term plan to take control of Congress. And even going as far as to say it should be illegal for Muslims to hold office in America. But, you know, putting the scree-screeing of some bigots aside, we should also talk about what he's actually done so far as mayor.

Right in there, we'll start with his executive orders, which have been described as kind of a bit of authority trap. Because you see, Eric Adams, he signed a bunch of them on his way out. And on his first day, Mom-Dani could either reaffirm them, revise them, or rescind them. Momdani, he went with option number three, though, I will say with one little caveat. Mamdani rescinded every orders that Adams made after September of 2024, the month that the former mayor was indicted on federal corruption charges. It was a day at which many New Yorkers started to doubt even more than they did the motivations behind any executive order or executive action that was going to be taken. And that did a number of things. It eliminated the office of rodent mitigation. It deleted the crypto office and removed federal immigration officials access to the Rikers Island jail complex.

But easily, the two orders that got the most attention concerned Israel. One, codified a controversial definition of anti-Semitism proposed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and the other it banned city agencies are boycotting Israel. With Mamdani resending, both of those in saying that the IHRA's definition conflates criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism and reaffirming his long-standing support for the BDS movement. A move that sparked a fair bit of blowback with the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the United Jewish Appeal Federation of New York issuing a joint statement saying, Singling out Israel for sanctions is not the way to make Jewish New Yorkers feel included and safe,

and it will undermine any words to that effect. But then also, the Israeli foreign ministry jumping in to say, on his very first day as New York City mayor, Mamdani shows his true face. This isn't leadership, it's anti-Semitic gasoline on an open fire. But the Mamdani camp, they predicted that there was going to be this kind of reaction, and they had a few different responses. First of all, Mamdani was always clear that his intention was to rescind these orders. He didn't reveal some hidden agenda on day one. Second, he actually kept Adams' order establishing the office to to combat anti-Semitism and he promised to increase funding for the office for the prevention of hate crimes. And third, it was widely seen that Adams was clearly signing these orders last summer

as a way to plant landmines that Mom Dani would have no choice but to step on as soon as he entered office. Right, but then with all that said, let's talk about Mumdani jumping into his policy agenda, starting with housing. Because yesterday, named the woman who's going to head the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Dina Levy. Right, in Levy, she was once an assistant to the state attorney general and she just served as senior vice president at the state's housing agency where she oversaw a development of single family and manufactured homes and ran the state's mortgage agency. But really, to many New York City renters, she's best known as a fearsome tenant rights activist. In fact, the apartment complex where Mom Dani announced her appointment was infamously neglected by its private landlord back in 2008.

But Levy, she helped organize its residents to secure a $5.6 million loan from the same agency that she's about to lead and sell the building to new owners who renovated it. Dina will no longer be petitioning HPD from the outside. She will now be leading it. from the inside, delivering the kind of change that can transform lives. So now Lidi is going to be heading his effort to build 200,000 new affordable housing units over the next decade. And to that end, Mamdani created one task course that'll identify city-owned land for housing by July and another that'll identify and remove barriers like permitting that slow down building projects.

Also, Mamdani's administration won't hold so-called rental rip-off hearings where tenants can come voice any and all housing-related grievances that they have. We will hold these rental rip-off hearings across all five boroughs within the first hundred days of this administration. I want these hearings to expose the ugly underbelly of our city. The rats that scurry through hallways, the children that shiver in their beds in the dead of winter because the heat is off, the fees imposed on pregnant mothers because of the fear that their babies may be too loud. Homes where you can peel flimsy tiles off the walls, homes where the pipes drip and rust, homes where roaches scuttle across the floor. I want New Yorkers who have long

been ignored by their landlords to finally be heard by our city government. And then, based on those hearings, his administration will draft a report to guide his housing policies. Also, as for his big campaign promises, he's still planning to push for a rent freeze on nearly a million rent-stabilized apartments. Though I will say that may prove difficult since Adams appointed new members to the Rent Guidelines Board last year to hamstring Momdani's efforts. Regardless of that, you have Mamdani insisting that he'll be able to pressure them into action. The next step, Mamdani wants to make buses free, which would require support from state lawmakers and costs somewhere around $800 million per year.

And then finally, he wants to provide free universal child care. And he promise that one way or another, all three of these policies will be in place by the time his first term ends. So we're ultimately in this position where it feels like everyone is holding their breath, supporters and critics alike. To see whether Mamdani can actually defy gravity in New York

or if you'll inevitably fall back to Earth like past idealistic mayors. And then there's more you need to know, more we need to dive into in just a minute, but first let me take a second to sponsor myself because right now over a beautiful back We are restocked with our signature collection and revamped prints. Right over the break, we were working with our manufacturers,

not only to make sure that, you know, the shirts and the hoodies, they were top notch, but also that the prints on them were even better. Really vibrant, longer lasting, even when you don't follow the washing instructions like I don't. So right now, you can snag our new thriving gear. For me, it's a sarcastic wear. Along with our emotionally exhausted line, God is testing me and I refuse to study, a silly goose in this economy, and even more. And to celebrate the new year our first week back, if you use coupon code 2020,

At checkout, you'll get 26% off. All, of course, at beautiful bastard.com. But then, getting back to the news, write more news you need to know. A Paris court is handing out jail time to people who falsely claim that France's first lady was a man. Right, 10 people were just found guilty of cyberbullying Brigitte Macron, with one, planning a six-month jail sentence, several others getting suspended sentences up to eight months, and five being temporarily banned from using Twitter. Also, everyone's going to have to pay fines and attend online harassment courses, though I will say there was one defendant who notably apologized, who was spared from jail time. And again, all of this is tied to the big right-wing.

conspiracy that Brigitte was actually born a man. And the 10 people who were convicted here, they spread that theory online, and they also accused her of being a pedophile due to the 24-year age gap between her and President Emmanuel Macron. And while three were tried in abstentia, the seven who did face trial in person, they denied wrongdoing and insisted that the posts were either satire or part of a legitimate debate. But the court did not see it that way, calling the comments degrading, insulting, and malicious. All while, Brigitte has repeatedly pushed back on these claims. And yesterday, she told French media that she launched these legal proceedings to set an example in fighting against online harassment. And with that, notably, that is not where the McCrone's legal action ends. Because one of the reasons most of us are even aware of this conspiracy is because it's been amplified by Candace Owens. And Owens, right, she's facing a defamation lawsuit from the McCrone. But that suit has in no way stopped Candace from continuing to make those claims. And she, in fact, responded to today's news by calling Brigitte Dangerous, suggesting she did sinister stuff in the military and saying, she wakes up every day, puts on a fake wig, lipstick, and mascara, and declares war on those who know his true identity. Where to these claims, these conspiracy theories, they're obviously not going to go anymore.

We live in a time where there's major distrust of major institutions, politicians, even the news media. And while skepticism and distrust, it can be very important, this is also one of the other ways things can play out. And to that point, while it might seem strange and random to accuse the French first lady being trans, she is by no means the only or even first one, right? People have been saying this about Michelle Obama in the past, plenty of other people in power, specifically women often get transvestigated. But as far as this specific case and how it's going to play out and how maybe it continues in the moral court of opinion, you had at least one of those people convicted, planning on appealing the rule. And with that, saying this shows just how far French society is drifting toward less freedom of speech, saying freedom of speech no longer exists. So that is, of course, others have said

they're just fucking around and finding out, saying they push false claims, they harassed, and so they were held accountable. But then also, next up to date, this is crazy. Elon Musk's AI, Grock, it's taking images of people and addressing them regardless of whether they consented or were even minors. Right, and that's the new meta on X right now. If you go to almost any image on X, especially of women. You'll see replies like, hey, Grock, make her wear a transparent bikini. It didn't matter if it was some random person or Swedish deputy prime minister, Ebba Bush, after users asked Grock to make images of her in a bikini, which you dig. Or take, for example, Julia Yukari, who was a Brazilian musician, she posted this image with her cat, and her replies,

were just flooded with people making requests. With then Yucari, obviously not happy about it, and her indignation was enough to actually make some waves, and it led to X and Grock to take action. Or you started seeing accounts that requested content, having their post deleted, and Grock said, hey, I understand the indignation, there was a failure in GROC's safeguards that allowed improper manipulations of images, as in the case of Julia Yucari. This was quickly fixed, and I don't generate or share explicit content. Sources, G1 and BBC, confirm the incident and the resolution. You know, that reply, which was made this morning, it makes it seem like GROC won't share or generate explicit content anymore. However, posts from this morning show that it's still happening at least some of the cases of both users requesting it for images of themselves and of others requesting it.

Also, notably, a bikinis and lingerie, it was kind of just the tip of the iceberg. A lot of people trying to game the system by requesting things like covering the subjects in clear tape in order to show more. And, you know, while making non-consensual lewd and sexual images of adults is bad enough, where you saw a lot of people speaking up is when it started involving children. Now, obviously, I'm not going to show anything here, but actress Nell Fisher who plays Holly in the last season, A Stranger Thing, she was on the receiving end of this in particular. Everything from lewd images to even creeps having Grock, putting her on the laps for a kiss were being made. But then, the backlash getting so big that Elon Musk had to chime in saying,

Anyone using GROC to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content. With then angry users pointing out that this response avoids any culpability on X's part, despite its tool being the one actually generating the content. And one of the big things is that must response is unlikely going to calm regulators such as Opcom in the UK, which wrote this morning, we have made urgent contact with X and XAI to understand what steps they've taken to comply with their legal duties to protect users in the UK. Based on their response, we will undertake a swift assessment to determine whether there are potential compliance issues. issues that warrant investigation. But legal repercussions or not, this whole situation it's led to many women really considering what they post on the platform. Some taking

down images of themselves doing innocent things like just going to Disneyland. Others are understandably leaving the platform outside of official announcements, in which case they're limiting their replies. Though also with this, you had people noting that not every AI generated image by Grock was unconsensual or crossed a sexual line. Right, in many cases the people requesting the images were those depicted often as a form of promotion for their only fans. In other cases, you had people making silly or dumb requests like like when Musk had grok at his face to this image, or things like dressing Bush and a burqa

since you was pushing for a burqab ban. You know, ultimately for many, this is kind of a wake-up call that like it or not, legal or not, this type of AI content, it is here and increasingly realistic and easy to use. And at a time when you're seeing many governments pulling back the guardrails, pulling back, or holding back regulation,

because many of them have a fear of falling behind in the AI race, you have many wondering, is it worth posting anything if people can just do this? And you know, with that, I love to know your thoughts, opinions, and reactions in those comments. But that, my friends, you beautiful bastards is where today's Philip DeFranco show is going to end. Thank you for watching.

It feels good to be back here to dive through all of this together with you. And, of course, I'll see it right back here tomorrow for another Philip DeFranco show. There's even more just a click away, if you'd like. Cuba's being run by senile old men with a collapsing economy. Said that right with Trump, right behind him. Right behind him. He bombed Nigeria over Christmas.

The United States runs Venezuela now? Rubio, should we maybe call him like the resource rapist? Is that too much? Do we need to edit that one out? No. Well, we're going to, We're not going to edit this thing.