The Philip DeFranco Show - Trump AI Jesus Scandal is Crazier Than You Think

Starting point is 00:00:00 Donald Trump is punishing Iran for refusing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by closing the Strait of Hormuz. Also, Iran is threatening to retaliate with more attacks across the region, and the United States is also considering launching new strikes of its own. And while there's other craziness in this whole thing, including the Trump-Jesus scandal, this is where we are less than halfway through the two-week ceasefire that went to effect last week. With the latest chaos and confusion coming after the first in-person talks between the two sides ended this weekend with no deal. And so let's actually start there.

Starting point is 00:00:24 Because American and Iranian officials met on Saturday in Islamabad, which is the capital of Pakistan, whose government has emerged as the, the primary mediator and negotiations between the US and Iran. On the US side, you had Vice President J.D. Vans, along with special envoy, Steve Wiccoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. And on the Iranian side, you were the country speaker of parliament and its foreign minister. And it was the highest level face-to-face meeting between the two countries since diplomatic relations were cut off after Iran's 1979 revolution.

Starting point is 00:00:47 And before, and even as negotiations were underway, you had Trump weighing in on social media claiming that Iran had no cards to play and is losing and losing big. He also suggested that the US was starting the process of clearing out mines that Iran's believed to have laid in the strait-hor moves. And your report suggesting that two American ships actually entered the waterway during the talks, destroying an Iranian surveillance drone in the process, although their mission was apparently to get ready for future mine sweeping operations while also showing commercial ships that you could get through the waterway safely. Though, notably, American officials also reportedly believe that one reason the straight hasn't been open to more traffic is that Iran isn't able to find all the mines that it placed or laxability to remove them.

Starting point is 00:01:20 Whatever the case may be there, after almost a full day of nearly non-stop talks, as Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attended a UFC fight in Miami, Vansencove, they left the room empty-handed. at it now for 21 hours and we've had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians. That's the good news. The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement. And I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America. Now, Vance didn't say whether the two-week ceasefire with Iran would remain in effect, what would happen with the straight of her moves, or if Trump would now follow through with his threat to destroy an entire Iranian

Starting point is 00:01:52 civilization. But Vance did suggest that the biggest sticking point was the lack of what he called an affirmative commitment from Iran that they will not seek a nuclear weapon and they will not seek the tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon. And similarly, you had Trump claiming in a social media post. The meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered nuclear was not. But also to be clear here, while Trump and his administration they've explicitly argued that Iran's nuclear ambition includes the development of a nuclear weapon, Iran has said for decades that it has no intention of building one. Instead, you've got them insisting that it has a right to maintain nuclear enrichment capabilities for civilian purposes.

Starting point is 00:02:24 That said, though, it has enriched uranium to levels beyond what's needed for civilian purposes. But then also, even intelligence assessments that have been presented to Trump have concluded that it wasn't actively pursuing a weapon or close to actually being able to do so. And so the main issue doesn't seem to be whether Iran will agree to not pursue a nuclear weapon, but rather whether it'll stop enriching uranium, give up its stockpile of the material and shut down its main nuclear facilities. Though also a very big thing is that's not the only issue preventing it deal. There are also questions about the fate of Iran's proxy groups in the region, including Iran's continued support for them and Israel's continued war against Hezbollah and Lebanon.

Starting point is 00:02:53 Because the US and Israel, they said that Lebanon isn't actually included in the ceasefire, and the IDF has actually ramped up their attacks there. You've got the Lebanese government reporting that the Israeli military has killed more than 2,000 people over the course of the current war, including 100 since the ceasefire began. And while the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the U.S. are expected to meet in Washington this week for talks, those don't seem any more likely to actually yield results in the ones between the U.S. and Iran. Though, I will say Iran, Speaker of Parliament, previously claimed that those talks couldn't

Starting point is 00:03:15 even get underway without the ceasefire extending to Lebanon first. So that ends up being just one of the many examples showing that, especially in this conflict, what leaders on either side say in public is not always what they really mean or what is happening. But then also with that said, according to reports, another issue in the talks is Iran's demand that billions of dollars in frozen assets be released. And then, of course, there's the Strait of Hormuz. And with that, after the talks ended with no deal, you had Trump announcing, effective immediately, the United States Navy will begin the process of blockading any and all ships trying to enter or leave the Strait of Hormuz and adding, I have also instructed our Navy to seek

Starting point is 00:03:45 and interdict every vessel in international waters that has paid a toll to Iran. No one who pays an illegal toll will have safe passage on the high seas. And then, even though he just said effective immediately, claim that the blockade would begin shortly and then also claiming other countries will be involved with this blockade. And then he also had Trump repeating that claim on Fox News afterwards saying that he thinks that numerous countries are going to be helping us with this and also saying, we're putting on a complete blockade. We're not going to let Iran make money on selling oil to people that they like and not people that they don't like or whatever it is. It's going to be all or none and that's the way it is. And it'll be, you saw what we did.

Starting point is 00:04:21 with Venezuela, it'll be something very similar to that, but at a higher level. But then, as we're usual, his claims, they've been contradicted by himself as well as just reality. Because you later had him explaining that the blockade would actually only apply to ships entering or exiting Iranian ports and also revealing that it would begin today at 10 a.m. And then you had the Defense Department further clarifying that its forces would not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports. So Trump's same here as to weaken Iran's economy by cutting off one of its major sources of revenue, right, oil exports, while potentially being less risky than trying to escort vessels through the

Starting point is 00:04:54 strait. And actually with this, you would have retired Navy rear admiral arguing that it might work, telling the Washington Post. Even if Trump was shooting from the hip here, it was a pretty good shot. I think Iran will feel the pinch for this. But then he also said he doesn't think that it's actually going to be enough to get Iran to return to negotiations and adding, he's probably going to do strikes on their nuclear program, things like that to get them to the table. And on that note, Trump's reportedly considering resuming limited strikes of the blockade doesn't work, and war crimes are apparently still on the table. Because you have Trump saying that attacks could target the same types of civilian infrastructure that he threatened to take before the ceasefire was announced.

Starting point is 00:05:23 I could take out Iran in one day. In one half of a day, they wouldn't have one bridge standing, they wouldn't have one electric generating plant standing, and they're back in the Stone Ages. We've wiped out their whole country, essentially. The only thing left, really, is their water, which would be very devastating to hit. I would hate to do it. But it's their water, their desalienization plans. their electric generating plants, which are very easy to hit. And while with all this, Trump said they predicted that Iran would come back and give the administration everything that it wants, I mean, we've heard that before.

Starting point is 00:05:57 And in the meantime, there might even be a chance that Iran is the one that decides to resume strikes in response to efforts by Trump to enforce his blockade. Or with a military spokesman claiming today that if Iranian ports were threatened, no port in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman will be safe. But with that, there does seem to be a chance, at least, of the two sides striking a deal.

Starting point is 00:06:12 After this weekend's meeting, you had Iran's speaker of parliament, writing that the opposing side ultimately failed to gain the trust of the Iranian delegation in this round of negotiation, which you know isn't super promising, but it does imply that the US could win their trust in later rounds of talks. But now, Pakistani, along with Egyptian and Turkish mediators, are continuing talks with the US and Iran

Starting point is 00:06:28 to try to bring them both back to the negotiating table. And according to reports from Axios, all parties still believe that a deal is possible. They're just hoping that one can be reached before the ceasefire expires on April 21st. But also while that plays out, a lot of questions remain about if, how, and how quickly Trump's blockade

Starting point is 00:06:40 could be effectively enforced. Especially because despite Trump's claims, it doesn't appear that anyone's lining up to help. The UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Greece have all ruled out sending naval forces to support the effort with Spain's defense minister arguing that Trump's proposal just Makes no sense and adding since this war started Nothing makes sense. This is another episode in the downward spiral the world has been dragged into and you've got at least one expert arguing that Trump is undermining his own efforts by claiming that other countries are gonna help without saying which ones Saying this habit of saying that people are on board with him while not naming them diminishes his credibility and that does not work well for US standing international and that same expert argue that Trump's overestimating how effective the economic pain of a blockade will be in changing Iran's position, saying Iran is already hurting and they have shown

Starting point is 00:07:19 that they are willing to take more than a couple of hits, saying the Iranian regime is not one that cares for the well-being of its citizens, and there is no civil society that can raise its voice against the regime in the face of economic calamity. And while the blockade could potentially lead to more suffering for the Iranian people, they could also just make worse the already massive economic and humanitarian fallout from the war globally. Right this morning, oil prices were back up to $100 a barrel after having previously dropped thanks to the ceasefire news. And you now have the UN Development Program morning that more than 32 million people people worldwide could fall into poverty thanks to the war.

Starting point is 00:07:47 And while the US might not be the most affected country, the impact, it is very real and it is very significant, especially for those already struggling. We're getting a glimpse about how some of this is playing out. In Asia, which is extremely reliant on Middle Eastern oil, we've seen protests and even violence. And actually now you're seeing the fallout from the war causing major chaos over in Ireland,

Starting point is 00:08:03 where the Prime Minister just announced 505 million euro tax cuts on motor fuel amid nationwide protests over gas prices. Because over the last week, protests have erupted across Ireland, led primarily by farmers, truckers, and drivers hit hardest by soaring fuel prices. And these weren't just marches. You had protesters using tractors and trucks to form blockades on major motorways, including one of Dublin's busiest streets. You also had vehicles blocking tankers from entering or leaving Ireland's only oil refinery for several days.

Starting point is 00:08:26 Similar blockades also shut down at least two ports and multiple fuel terminals. And the impact was immediate. Around a third of Ireland's gas stations ran out of fuel and you had government officials warning of the protests and shortages could prevent emergency services from responding. Over the weekend, you ended up seeing instances where police and in some cases the military moved to clear protest sites. Which then brings us to the government's response, which included yes, the Prime Minister, are announcing that 505 million euros in motor fuel tax cuts, also he condemned the protesters for making the fuel scarcity worse. The government also postponed a planned carbon tax increase and are gonna introduce fuel subsidies for farmers and fisheries.

Starting point is 00:08:56 But also a huge thing is that this is coming just weeks after the government enacted a separate 250 million euro tax break. So that means that Ireland has now committed over 750 million euros in fuel relief in a matter of weeks. Now that said, the new proposal still needs parliamentary approval. Also, multiple protesters told reporters that it does not go far enough. So smaller protests and traffic disruptions continued today, and key protest leaders

Starting point is 00:09:15 to be able to keep targeting major infrastructure. But then also, it's not just protesters who think that the government is falling short. Members of parliament from across the opposition have accused the PM in his ruling party of failing to listen to or adequately help working people. And in fact, the largest opposition party announced that it's going to introduce a vote of no confidence

Starting point is 00:09:29 in the ruling government tomorrow. So if that passes, the prime minister and his government are gonna be forced to step down. As far as why this matters or why we're talking about it today, it's not just because we have a surprising number of beautiful bastards in Ireland that watch the show. In fact, the Irish, oddly have my back more than most people. Rather, because Ireland is a country of five

Starting point is 00:09:45 million people, thousands of miles from Iran, with no involvement in this war. And they, just because they exist, are now facing fuel shortages, refinery blockades, military deployments to clear protest sites, a three-quarter billion euro emergency response, and a potential government collapse, all because of the global energy crisis triggered by Trump's war. This is what the ripple effects look like, like not in the abstract, not in economic projections, in a country where farmers are blocking refineries with tractors because they cannot afford to fill their tanks and the government may fall apart because

Starting point is 00:10:12 the relief that they've offered is still not enough. And if this is happening in Ireland, it's happening elsewhere. And perhaps most importantly, it's going to keep happening as long as this rate remains effectively closed and global oil supply stays 10% offline. And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute. But first, let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, figuring out dinner every night, it's already rough enough.

Starting point is 00:10:30 Then you throw kids into the mix and now you're basically mediating a domestic dispute-starring meatloat. And it's not that you don't want to cook, it's that coming up with something new every night, it's where the creative block kicks in. You know, those were our nights until today's sponsor, Hello Fresh came into our life. Or with HelloFresh, you can cook meals and actually feel interesting again without turning it into a giant ordeal.

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Starting point is 00:11:16 Free meals applied as a discount on the first box, new subscribers only, varies by plan and a disclaimer must order the third box by May 31st, 2026. Now that it's like home cooking. This episode is brought to you by Tell Us Online Security. Oh, tax season is the worst. You mean hack season? Sorry, what? Yeah, cybercriminals love tax forms.

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Starting point is 00:11:56 Trump just attacked the Pope on Truth Social, took credit for him being the Pope, shared an image of himself depicted as Jesus Christ, and then told reporters, I am not a big fan of Pope Leo. And while I can't wait to dive into that picture with you, where I'll start is with Trump's rant. because he posted this aggressive rambling attack on Pope Leo on truth social last night.

Starting point is 00:12:13 He accused the Pope of being weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy and said he likes Leo's brother better because he's all MAGA. He also wrote, I don't want a Pope who condemns U.S. actions against foreign nations like Iran and Venezuela. And I don't want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I'm doing exactly what I was elected in a landslide to do. With him then, like I said, taking credit for Leo being Pope in the first place, saying Leo should be thankful because as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise. He wasn't on any list to be Pope and was only put there by the church,

Starting point is 00:12:39 because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican. And Trump closes up by telling the Pope to get his act together, use common sense, stop catering to the radical left and focus on being a great Pope, not a politician. And then, shortly after that rant, Trump shared an image depicting himself as Jesus Christ. And actually, a nearly identical image was posted by diehard loyalist Nick Adams back in February. But Trump's decision to share it now, in the middle of an active feud with the Pope over whether God endorses war was a completely different thing. And in fact, even on truth social, his own platform,

Starting point is 00:13:11 a large number of the replies asked him to take it down and they called it inappropriate. And then over on Twitter, the reaction was even worse. You had Marjorie Taylor Green saying that it looks like Trump's trying to show himself replacing Jesus and adding, I completely denounce this and I'm praying against it. The Marge was really the least of it. Like even active current supporters of Trump were calling him out,

Starting point is 00:13:28 which then maybe part of the reason why Trump did a very non-Trump thing and he actually deleted the post. Though I will say he didn't back down. Right, one regarding Pope Leo when speaking to reporters after getting off air four years, One, he said, I don't think he's doing a very good job. He likes crime, I guess. We don't like a Pope that's going to say that it's okay to have a nuclear weapon. We don't want a Pope that says crime is okay in our cities.

Starting point is 00:13:51 I don't like it. I'm not a big fan of Pope Leo. He's a very liberal person, and he's a man that doesn't believe in stopping crime. And two, regarding the now deleted image that he posted of himself depicting Jesus Christ, he said, I did post it and I thought it was me as a doctor. So yeah, Trump said that this image right here is actually him as a doctor in a flowing white robe with glowing hands, healing the sick, while bald eagles fly overhead next to fighter jets. And also, if you were offended or you think that he was depicting himself as Jesus, you are fake news. And so once again, it seems like President Trump is either lying or sundowning.

Starting point is 00:14:26 But also, going back to Trump's attack on the Pope, it came after 60 minutes aired an interview with three American Cardinals. And they all echoed the Pope's criticism. Right on Iran, one said it's an abominable regime and it should be removed. But this is a war of choice that we went to, and I think it's embedded in a wider moment in the United States that's worrying, which is this. We're seeing before us the possibility of war after war after war. And on immigration, one double down

Starting point is 00:14:47 on his previous comments calling ICE a lawless organization saying, when people act in this way, when they have to hide their identities to terrify people, when they can actually violate our guarantees of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, well, I think somebody's gotta call that out and I'm not the only one. Generally, Catholics all the way up the ladder,

Starting point is 00:15:02 they've been taking a firm stance against Trump. And really, very few have seemed worried about whatever retaliation comes their way. And actually, at least of all, would be Pope Leo himself. Right, and he responded to Trump's attack while boarding a plane to Algeria to begin a 10-day tour of Africa. I have no fear on the end of the Trump administration nor are speaking out loudly about the message of the gospel.

Starting point is 00:15:20 And that's what I believe. I am called to know what the church is called to do. We're not politicians, we're not looking at big foreign policy as he falls in with the same perspective that he might understand it. But I do believe that the message of the gospel lesson of the peacemakers is the message of the world needs to hear today. Now the tour is gonna cover 11 cities and over 11,000 miles with 25 planned speeches on topics,

Starting point is 00:15:44 including exploitation of natural resources, Catholic Muslim dialogue, and the dangers of political corruption. And notably, I'll say, up to this point, Leo's largely avoided calling out Trump by name informal speeches. And so one of the questions now is whether that restraint ends up holding, because, you know, from where he's stand and it looks like the Pope's decided that he's done being diplomatic about it. And I will say, as far as my opinion here, I think that would be a welcome change. Because while over the past year and a half, people have been, you know, trying to hide and wait things out, the only way that you kind of get rid of a bully is by standing up to them. And now you're seeing a lot of religious people that also elected Trump going,

Starting point is 00:16:13 why is he posting this blasphemous stuff? Though there with that, I do want to know, like, this is not coming out of nowhere. This is a president whose claim that God is on his side, whose spiritual advisor compared him to Jesus, whose defense secretary credits divine providence for military operations and whose administration reportedly told a Vatican envoy that the U.S. military can do whatever it wants and the church should get on board. Yes, now also with this latest thing, you have some religious Trump supporters going, oh my God, is he the Antichrist? And then as far as Trump's response, he's just doubled down on the attacks on the Pope. And if you were offended by the photo, it's because your fake news. And also because he was just a doctor in traditional doctor clothes with traditional doctor glowing hands.

Starting point is 00:16:49 And honestly, with him posting this, maybe TDS actually stands for Trump devotion syndrome. But then actually to go from that disturbing situation to a very different kind of disturbing situation, we've got to talk about California. Because California's top Democratic candidate for governor just dropped down. over accusations of sexual assault and rape. And then in addition to that specific situation, there are also other ripple effects that many people are wondering about, but where we should start is with Eric Swalwell

Starting point is 00:17:10 taking to social media yesterday to officially announce that he is dropping out of the race, saying, I am suspending my campaign for governor, to my family, staff, friends, and supporters, I am deeply sorry for the mistakes and judgment I've made in my past, and saying I will fight the serious false allegations that have been made, but that's my fight, not a campaign.

Starting point is 00:17:24 Brain that, coming after CNN and the San Francisco Chronicle reported the allegations on Friday. And I guess to some degree at least, he was right because his reporter spoke with ex-staffer, as things did seem worse than his campaign could handle. You had one sang it in 2019 when she was 21. She and Swallow were driving to an event together. And she said he then unzipped his pants

Starting point is 00:17:40 and told her to give him oral sex, which she did. Again, I felt incredibly uncomfortable. And I stopped. And I said to him, this feels really uncomfortable and anyone could see us right now. And he said to me, you're right. It's probably not good for a congressman

Starting point is 00:17:56 to be caught with his pants down. Did he ask you to send him lewd photos? Yes. And did he ever send him lewd photos? Yes. He would send short Snapchat videos of him rubbing his penis through his pants while on the airplane. Well, that accuser stayed anonymous. We saw a total of four victims coming out with stories that were similar to this. Different accuser than the one you heard from in the clip said that Swalwell also sent her nude images on Snapchat in 2021. She accused Swalwell of sending her inappropriate text just three months after his wife gave birth to her third child as well.

Starting point is 00:18:26 The allegations, they just kept getting worse as we heard more. The five of us were having some drinks. At some point it was time to go home. I got in an Uber. I was taken to the aloft Dublin Pleasanton where he was staying. And I don't remember what happened that night. But I know that we, there was sexual contact. Because when I woke up in the morning, I could feel that there was.

Starting point is 00:18:55 and he said as much too. What did he say? That last night was great. It didn't feel great to me because I didn't remember it. Without getting too graphic, the CNN report even mentioned this alleged victim waking up with bruises and bleeding after a blacked out night in Swallow's New York City hotel room. They're saying the next day, she saw flashes of the previous night with him on top of her, her pushing him off, him grabbing her. It was aggressive. Did you say no?

Starting point is 00:19:24 Yes. I said no. He didn't stop. He didn't stop. And you woke up the next morning. I woke up the next morning, naked, alone in his hotel room. In now the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is investigating the allegations, also a video services weekend that didn't help his case. Right actually before dropping out, on Friday, Swallow posted a video to all this. These allegations of sexual assault are flat, false. They're absolutely false. I do not

Starting point is 00:19:49 suggest to you in any way that I'm perfect or that I'm a saint. I have certainly made mistakes in judgment in my past. But those mistakes are between me and my wife. And to her, I apologize deeply for putting her in this position. You also had Swalwell's lawyer telling the times that this was a coordinated effort to undermine his candidacy saying we believe these allegations are baseless and continue to seek the truth. And then also on top of all those allegations, you have Homeland Security also announcing an investigation against Swalwell for employing a Brazilian nanny without a lawful work authorization.

Starting point is 00:20:17 But with all that said, in response to these mounting allegations, more than 50 of his former staff members, along with Democratic officials like Nancy Pelosi, called for Swalwell to suspend his run. You-Pelosi saying that it's clear the investigation is best done outside of a gubernatorial campaign. House Democrats also issued a joint statement calling for Swalwell to drop out, and some people have even said that he should give up

Starting point is 00:20:34 his seat in Congress as well. And this is a pretty big fall from Grace because Swalwell had made a pretty strong name for himself in the Democratic Party. He'd be an incumbent for his seat back in 2012. He had a short run for president in 2019 before then becoming a vocal critic of Donald Trump. And despite the race in California being pretty crowded,

Starting point is 00:20:47 Swalwell received a lot of support from other elected officials and California unions, which helped him stand out from the rest. However, many of those supporters, like Senator Adam Schiff, withdrew their endorsements, calling for him to step down from the race. And so now while we wait to see what else is learned, what comes from the investigation,

Starting point is 00:21:01 you have many looking going, okay, well, now that he's out, where does that leave California Democrats? Because there are actually seven more Democratic candidates, including former elected officials, a former member of Biden's cabinet, and also people have their eye on billionaire Tom Steyer. And so now you have many wondering, well, where does the Swalwell vote go?

Starting point is 00:21:14 Because one of the issues is that none of these candidates matter if they do not get more votes than Chad Bianco or Steve Hilton, the Republican candidates who now lead the pack in recent polling. Because in a jungle race, that's the reality. And the stakes here are incredibly high because, I mean, just talking about the two Republicans. While Hilton, he seems willing to work with California's Democratic-led legislature,

Starting point is 00:21:32 Bianco plans to go scorched dirt saying you want to know how I'm going to work with the Democratic legislature? I'm not. I'm going to get every single one of them unelected. Every single day, I'm going to stand on the steps of the Capitol. And I'm going to tell the California voting public about the idiots in Sacramento that are ruining their lives. If either candidate wins, the state legislature could work to block their agendas, but also the candidates, they could reshape their executive agencies leading California. into a gridlock. And both of the Republican candidates plan to maintain a better rapport with Trump than Newsom did during his time in office.

Starting point is 00:21:58 For now, at least on this front, we need to see what happens with the polling. And of course, the election, it's just around the corner. It is set for June 2nd. So that's really just leaving a small window for the candidates to either go, okay, I'm gonna be one of the top two or drop out and consolidate their vote to one of the other Democrats. Then from that as we start to wind down today's show, I've got two more things for you, a congratulations and one more really important story. So first up, congratulations to Kevin T. See Geeks Weekly winner who just scored toward $500 in tickets and is planning to watch the Denver Nuggets and the playoffs. For the rest of y'all, that's right. Seekeek is still giving away $500 in tickets and you should definitely

Starting point is 00:22:29 interest 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. There's like over 70,000 events to choose for. And all you gotta do is just add code to Franco to your Ckeek app profile for a chance of the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. But then from that, we jump to our final piece of news today and it's just this huge news out of Europe that we've got to talk about. Of course, I'm talking about Hungary whose people just kick King Orban off his thrown after 16 years of practically unchallenged And that somehow went down, even though JD fans, he lent his glittering star power and rock-solid popularity toward campaigning in Hungary last week. Mr. President, you are on with about 5,000 Hungarian patriots, and I think they love you even more than they love Victor Orban.

Starting point is 00:23:08 Well, I'll tell you, he's a fantastic man. We've had a tremendous relationship. Man is so little charisma. He accidentally might be one of the biggest members of the resistance. But hey, even assuming that he helped rather than hurt, it still wasn't enough. When the news broke on Sunday night that Orban had conceded the race, the scene in Budapest, it was electric. Tens of thousands of people pouring into the streets, car horns blaring, anti-regime music, bill in the air. You had people dance and scream and waving flags, popping off fireworks, kissing, hugging, crying, it was just pure jubilation. We are glad to feel some sense of hope finally. Yes!

Starting point is 00:23:52 Yes! After it! And I'm glad hunger is free now! You know, it is hard to communicate exactly what this moment felt like for so many Hungarians. Because even with just how horrific Trump off it is, we still have a relatively pre-press and opposition party and some surviving checks and balances. And Hungary, they really haven't had those things, at least until now. So for young people there, all they've really known for most of their lives is Victor Orban. It would be like for us if instead of Obama winning back in 2008,

Starting point is 00:24:23 Trump did, and then he and the Republicans held the entire country in a vice grip until they completely got wiped out in 2024. Also I'll say a big thing is in Hungary's case, Orban, He didn't pull at January 6 last night and instead he said, yeah, I lost. With the New York Times even calling his concession speech surprisingly early and gracious, though he did promise never to give up fighting for his political vision. So now as far as, you know, who's taken his place, let me introduce you to Petter Majara, a 45-year-old upstart who campaigned on fixing the economy and in corruption and restoring democracy. We won not small, but big, very, very big.

Starting point is 00:24:58 Together we changed the Orban regime. Together, we liberated Hungary. We took our homeland back. Even echoed JFK saying we won because Hungarians didn't ask what their homeland could do for them. They asked what they could do for their homeland. But also, I do want to be clear here. It's not like he's some liberal or progressive firebrand. He is still a conservative.

Starting point is 00:25:19 In fact, he came from inside of Orban's own Fidesz party, but he defected in 2024 and he formed a new party known as TISA, which is center-right, not far-right like Fidesz, belonging to the same group of leaders who already governed 12 of the EU's 20s. So you know, it's still an open question on exactly how much of Majjar is actually going to differ for more Bonn when it comes to policy, especially on things like immigration and LGBTQ rights. But for the Hungarians who, you know, would have preferred a more left-leaning candidate, they didn't have much of a choice but to stomach their disagreements and just vote for Majer.

Starting point is 00:25:46 Because with the way that Hungary's elections work, voting for one of the other candidates, it would have been like voting for a third party here in the States for a national election. And that's to say, unfortunately, a complete waste of time. You can actually thank Orban himself for that, because his party rewrote the Constitution and election laws right after taking power in 2010. And then they gerrymandered legislative districts, purged the courts, monopolized the media, crackdown on civic organizations and funneled state contracts to Orban's wealthy allies. And so as a result, Fidesz won a two-thirds parliamentary majority in every election since then, even though they got as little as 44% of the vote. So that also it gives you an idea of just the insane uphill climb that Majar and Tisa had to manage just to even have a fighting chance. But also to his credit, for the past two years, Majar has campaigned incredibly hard.

Starting point is 00:26:24 You got him out there touring the countryside where Fidesz drew most of its core support, visiting up to six towns a day at some points. I mean, this guy would give two hour-long speeches and backwater areas where just a few thousand people live. It was genuinely impressive. Though, I'll say he was helped along the way just as much by Orban's own failure to govern the country effectively. Hungary's been ranked the most corrupt in one of the poorest countries in the EU. And so for many people, they didn't vote for Majaar as much as they voted against Orban. But that fact, it doesn't appear to have dampened voter turnout, which clocked in at nearly 80%, which is an all-time record for Hungary's post-communist history.

Starting point is 00:26:53 But still, as far as the support they needed, Tisa, needed roughly 5% more votes than Fidesse, just to achieve a simple majority in Parliament. And really, they needed a two-third supermajority to pass fundamental reforms and roll back the anti-democratic laws imposed by Fidesz. So even though the polls were looking good leading up to the election, people were still holding their breath on Sunday. But then, when the results came in, they fucking blew Fidesz out of the water. TISA won 138 out of 190 seats, a clear supermajority. In fact, they got more votes and more parliamentary seats than any party ever had before. So with all that power, Maja promised to restore the rule of law, make agencies independent again, and hold people accountable for pillaging the state's coffers.

Starting point is 00:27:27 And that's in addition to creating new ministry, focused on acute problems in areas like public health, environmental protection, and education. But with all that said, it's also not going to be just so easy to uproot the whole regime overnight. And Orban installed loyalists and key institutions from the media authority to the public prosecutor's office and the constitutional court, and many of those appointments, they're locked in place for years. But also, if Madshod wants to unlock the billions of euros and subsidies that the EU has withheld over corruption concerns, he's going to have to pass certain reforms by August of this year. And by the way, he's promised to bring Hungary back into the European community.

Starting point is 00:27:55 I mean, his supporters even chanted Europe at his victory speech. And so with all this, you had presidents, prime ministers, and other officials across the continent, both congratulating Majar and celebrating the win for themselves. Because also a huge thing here is that Orban, he vetoed a lot of EU resolutions, including sanctions on Russia and aid to Ukraine. And for years, he relentlessly stoked anti-EU and anti-Ukraine sentiment on radio, television, and social media. There were even publicly funded billboards with AI-generated images of the Ukrainian president flanked by European officials holding out his hand as if demanding money.

Starting point is 00:28:26 And most recently, Orban accused Ukraine of deliberately holding back Russian oil deliveries through a key pipeline, which Ukraine denies, saying that it was damaged by a Russian drone strike. And then also, leading up to this election, the fearmongering got more and more intense with Orban deploying soldiers to defend Hungarian energy infrastructure from an imaginary Ukrainian attack. I mean, he even accused Ukrainians

Starting point is 00:28:43 of plotting physical attacks on his family. And as absurd as this may sound, he claimed that Majdars Tisa party was cooked up by European conspirators in Brussels to topple his government, and stall a puppet regime, bankrupt the country and forcibly conscript Hungarians into the war. And you know, if you're hearing all that,

Starting point is 00:28:56 and you're like, wow, that sounds exactly like Russian propaganda, yes. And in fact, you have the Washington Post reporting that a Russian embering official regularly holds meetings with pro-government Hungarian journalists to give them tasks and instructions. Where with the outlet also reporting that during breaks at EU meetings, Hungary's foreign minister would routinely call Russia's foreign minister and update him on discussions of potential solutions. But then also here's the real kicker. Russian intelligence agents had reportedly proposed staging an assassination attempt on Orban as a way to shore up his support going into the election. With a secret intelligence report reportedly reading, such an incident will shift the perception of the campaign out of the rational realm of socio-economic questions into an emotional one, where the key themes will become

Starting point is 00:29:33 security, and the stability and defense of the political system. You know, if you're unfamiliar with this guy, you're probably just beginning to see why, you know, so many people called Victor Orban, Putin's most valuable asset in Europe. But really, he was also more than that. He was a global icon for the far right nationalist movement across the Atlantic, even here in the United States. Orban, he's hung out at Mar-a-Lago in the White House, he's spoken at CPAC, MAGAFolks often tout Hungary as a model for America. And of course, you had the Trump administration throwing its weight behind him as well. He has my complete and total endorsement as a matter of fact. But now with this historic upset in Hungary and Democrats routinely try to in the announcing Republicans in special elections over the past several months,

Starting point is 00:30:05 you have many predicting that the US midterms this November, they're gonna be a bloodbath. But there, I would remind Democrats and independents or just anyone that's not pro-Trump and pro-Maga to remember that none of it matters if you don't vote. And in fact, that's part of the lesson we see in this hungry story. But that my friends, you beautiful bastards brings us to the end of today's Philip DeFranco show.

Starting point is 00:30:22 Though really, you actually, you got two videos today. And I'll link to it in the description or the outro card, depending on where you're watching. But in addition to this video, I also did a video about something going down in Georgia right now. It's really important if you're in Georgia or you know someone from Georgia, check it out, share it, because we really need to talk about the Jason Estabed situation. Okay, 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.

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