The Philip DeFranco Show - TRUMP IS FREAKING OUT! Greg Bovino Out, BUT MAGA Bootlickers Double Down After Alex Pretti Murder

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

Join & Support @ https://DeFrancoForFulton.com Kickstart your passion project with a free trial today: https://www.Squarespace.com/Phil  & enter offer code “Phil” to get 10% off your first purchase!  Go to http://brain.fm/defranco to get 30 days of free access to science-backed music that really works. Learn more & join Lindsay's newsletter @ https://LindsayForFulton.com  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/ MAXINOMICS 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 - Bovino Out in Minnesota, Will be Replaced by Border Czar Homan  09:38 - MAGA Influencers Dig Heels in to Justify the Killing of Alex Pretti  12:07 - Sponsored by Squarespace 13:10 - Trump Resumes Deportations to Iran 19:21 - First Wrongful Death Suit Filed Over Trump’s Caribbean Boat Strikes   21:49 - Sponsored by Brain.fm 22:50 - Newsom Investigating TikTok Over Censorship Claims  25:59 - Tens of Thousands of Kaiser Permanente Healthcare Workers Go on Strike  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 #MegynKelly #ICE Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news. I hope you having a great Tuesday and there's a lot we need to dive into today. But first, let me very proudly say here at the top, you know, I always say that change starts local, but my better half, Lindsay, she's actually doing that and is running for our local school board to look out for all our kids. And it's more important than ever since we have a government that seems to want to fail them with cut after cut to basic but vital resources and a desire to censor history and politicize the curriculum rather than create a strong, safe, supportive place for kids to learn with empowered teachers that actually sets them up to be successful Americans, which I know Lindsay will do. And so one, if you're local to

Fulton County in Georgia, I hope she can count on your vote when the time comes this year. And two, for the rest of the of age, Americans watching out there, in addition to supporting your own local candidates, because the elections this year, they really, really matter. If you would like to donate and support at DeFranco for Fulton.com, she would love that, and you can also learn more and get on the newsletter at Lindsay for Fulton.com. Personally, I'll be helping with my own donations, obviously, then helping get the word out, and then I'm getting out of the way because she is a force of nature. With that said, I've got a job to do. The world is on fire and there's a lot we need to dive into, starting with this. In this war between Donald Trump and Minnesota, it looks like

Minnesota's winning. Because in the wake of Alex Prettie's murder, we're seeing Trump chicken out or back off, or as the bootlickers like to spin it, it's yet another masterful display of the art of the deal with Trump apparently trying to tamp things down in Minneapolis. And that, after Minnesota Governor Tim Walls confirmed what Trump claimed before that their phone call yesterday went well. It was cordial. I think he understood this. I told him that this is unsustainable and I said, quite honestly, you know, no one wants this. Whether it was morality or bad optics and poll numbers, whatever has happened here, there is a definite change of tone.

There is definitely a more collaborative tone. With him then also saying that Trump agreed to let Minnesota conduct its own independent investigations under the killings of Alex Prattie and Renee Good. He said he would look into it. And he said, look into it. I hear you. We'll look into it. As well as saying that Trump would consider drawing down the federal presence in the state.

And I said we just have to reduce these numbers. We started out with that. And he pledged it, look, I'm going to say, and Tom Holman in will do things differently. Now, as of Monday, DHS said approximately 3,000 ICE and Border Patrol agents were in the Minneapolis area. And currently, it's unclear how many have left, if any, but reportedly some agents were expected to depart

with their tails between their legs, alongside the man who has been called the Provoker-in-Chief, the Little Napoleon and Gestapo Greg, Gregory Bovina. He's been the Border Patrol's commander at large in Minnesota. You probably saw him doing these press conferences, even personally throwing tear gas of protesters. And well, now, even though we're seeing some mixed reporting, according to the Atlantic, he's returning to his former post

in El Central, California, where he's expected to retire soon. And of course, this, notably after, he's been the phase of Trump's mass deportation policy on the ground for months showing up in Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans, and then Minneapolis. And of course, he's also one of the officials who's been spreading this utter bullshit about Alex Prattie. The agents attempted to disarm the individual, but he violently resisted. A Border Patrol agent fired defensive shots. This looks like a situation where an individual wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement. And then also with this, when CNN's Dana Bash pressed him on why he thought Predi intended to massacre federal agents, he actually blamed Democrats for putting the idea in Predtys head.

They're trying to portray border patrol agents and ICE agents as Gestapo, Nazi, and many other words, did this individual fall victim as many others have to that type of heated rhetoric? You know, on what's believed to be his way out of the state, you had Minnesotans giving him a farewell with protesters blowing whistles and banging pots and pans outside of the hotel where they believed that he was sleeping. Though there you had police saying that that eventually escalated with people damaging property and throwing objects at officers. I hereby declared that's an unlawful assembly. Leave the area completely peacefully. If you do not do so, you may be arrested or subject to under-sleevesant action. With reportedly some 26 people being arrested and everyone else dispersing by around 10 p.m., allowing the leader of the lollipop guild to sleep soundly after getting tucked into bed by his homies.

So perhaps he didn't get the most sound sleep because you had CNN reporting that DHS had suspended his access to his own social media accounts. So for many right now, they felt like it was unclear why, because his online jabs at democratic lawmakers were kind of relatively tame for a Trump official. But you know, while many critics, they're celebrating what they're seeing as a victory, you have others skeptical, arguing that it seems like he's just kind of the fall guy for the Preti shooting, if anything, right, and arguing that if that's the case, there are even worse figures who would keep their jobs. You know, people pointing to DHS secretary Christy Noem, vice president J.D. Vans, and of course you can't

forget FBI director Cash Patel. And actually on the note of Patel, in addition to the comments that he made about Alex Pretti, he just told Benny Johnson that, the Bureau, they're investigating protesters signal group chats in Minnesota. So there is now an open investigation into these chats and into this coordinated network. Yeah, what I can say. Some of them are fleeing. Some of them are very scared now. You can see their chats.

They're very, very worried now that they have been exposed. Well, they should be. If they broke the law, you should be worried. It's that simple. If you didn't break the law, there's really nothing to worry about. But again, with all this, you have many arguing at these high-profile figures. They're just kind of the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the rock within the Trump administration. People noting that government agencies have made dozens of posts over the past month on their official social media accounts that included far-right iconography.

Some of the more recent examples being the White House posting Which Way Greenland Man with some claiming that echoed the title of a 1978 neo-Nazi book, Which Way Western Western Man, which defends man, which defends Hitler and claims that Jewish people are plotting to destroy Western civilization. Also had DHS posting Which Way American Man with an ICE recruitment ad. Also the labor department posted an image with the words Trust the Plan, which is a notorious QAnon catchphrase. They also, of course, famously posted one homeland, one people, one heritage, which has Many have pointed out is eerily similar to the Nazi slogan, one people, one realm, one leader. And finally, at least for what we're talking about, today you had the White House and DHS, jointly posting an ad with the text, we'll have our home again.

Which you know, just so happens to be the name of a song written by a self-described pro-white fraternal order that has been adopted almost exclusively by white nationalist groups. And with that you had DHS spokesperson, Trisha McLaughlin, denying that it had anything to do with white nationalism saying, hey, it's just a coincidence.

But then you had the time to noticing that when you open the post on Instagram's mobile app, it plays audio, including the chorus of the white nationalist song. So a reporter pointed that out to McLaughlin, who replied that the Times was participating in a left-wing conspiracy theory. So then less than 40 minutes later, the Instagram post disappeared, but the same post on X and Facebook, where it doesn't include audio, it remained up. But continuing with Minnesota, a reporterly who had Trump meeting Christy Noem and her top aide, Corey Lewandowski for nearly two hours in the Oval Office. And while you had sources telling the Times that Trump never suggested either person's job was at risk,

sources also told the Atlantic the opposite, saying they were at risk of losing their jobs. So right now, it's unclear what Noem standing is with the president, but, He does seem to be pushing her aside to at least some extent in Minnesota. Because like we talked about a little yesterday, Trump sending his borders our Tom Homan in to replace Greg Bovino. And rather than going through Nome, Trump says that he'll report directly to the president. Also, and maybe it's just a coincidence, but you have many, including CNN, pointing out that the president seems like he may have actually gotten this idea from the same place that he gets a lot of his most impulsive ideas, Fox and Friends.

What I would do is just bring Tom Homan in it. He should go in there, me with the mayor and governor, and go in there and take charge. That was around 6.15 a.m. yesterday, and Brian Kilmead, who knows that the president often his morning show repeated the suggestion at 715 and again at 810. And then once again, could be a coincidence Trump then announcing 20 minutes later, I am sending Tom home into Minnesota tonight. But again, to many, this move has been taken as a signal that Trump is looking to now de-escalate the situation in Minnesota, which he set off. Or which, if true, could actually come as a relief to many ICE agents. Because privately, they've

reportedly been complaining journalists about long hours, ambitious arrest quotas, and hatred from the public, among other issues. I mean, you had over 20 current and former immigration officials telling the times that they were expressing anxiety that, that the White House was sending them into situations that are increasingly dangerous, both for them and local civilians. Some also worried that their agency's reputation were being dragged through the mud and others fear that the backlash would lead to the abolition of ice. You then also reportedly had half a dozen DHS, officers reaching out to the reporter Ken

Klippenstein to express their alarm at the killing of Alex Pretty. As much as I support this administration, there needs to be more common sense in situations like this, not a knee-jerk damage control narrative that does not line up with the evidence on video. As an ice agent, adding, they all carry belts and vests with 9,000 pieces of equipment on them, and the best they can do is shoot a guy in the back. Others also calling ICE's new wave of recruits, idiots, and honestly pretty sketchy, describing how some of them have what they called weird tattoos.

Meanwhile, you've got Minnesota's chief federal judge saying that ICE has failed to comply with dozens of court orders and declared yesterday the court's patience is at an end. With them now ordering Acting Ice Director Todd Lyons to appear personally in the courtroom on Friday, saying, the court acknowledges that ordering the head of a federal agency to personally appear is an extraordinary step, but the extent of ICE's violation of court orders is likewise extraordinary

and lesser measures have been tried and failed. With them also describing all the ways that immigrants' rights are being violated, saying the detention of an alien is extended or an alien who should remain in Minnesota is flown to Texas or an alien who has been flown to Texas released there and told to figure out a way to get home. And you know, these reports, they just keep coming out,

even Fox News reporter Bill Malusia and hearing from another half dozen immigration officials who say they've grown increasingly uneasy and frustrated with the lies about Alex Preddy. And the fact that even Fox is airing this criticism may not be random because other parts of the Murdoch Empire have followed suit as well. Or with a New York Post editorial board writing,

we're glad to see Homeland Security Chief Christy Noem elbowed aside, saying her performance in recent weeks as the situation in Minnesota escalated out of control did not serve the president or the country. Also adding, she should be wondering if she herself will eventually be deported from the administration. Though at least for now, she seems safe

with Trump telling reporters that Noem will not be stepping down and saying that she's done a very good job. But again, it doesn't end with her because you had the Wall Street Journal's editorial board arguing that Stephen Miller's undisciplined mass deportation and zero immigration policy is building distrust

and becoming a political liability. Right in that, after Stephen Miller called Alex Prattie a would-be assassin. And actually with that you have the federal government workers union that Prattie belonged to as a VA nurse demanding that both he and Nome resign or if they refuse that Trump fired them. But then on the other side, you have some MAGA voices

taking the opposite approach and bending over backwards to defend the killing. Or was some pretty callously arguing that Alex Priddy deserved to be shot with, for example, Megan Kelly saying, he was there with a loaded gun, looking to cause trouble for the Border Patrol agents, and that trouble came back on him.

Like, I know I'm supposed to feel sorry for Alex Prattie, but I don't. I don't. Do you know why I wasn't shot by Border Patrol this weekend? Because I kept my ass inside and out of their operations. Right, with her words, kind of getting the most attention out of the batch, people calling her cruel, disgusting, and evil. You also have the likes of Nick Fuentes saying, you are showing up to impede federal law enforcement with a loaded gun, concealed.

This is completely justified. 100%. And by the way, I don't care if he's a veteran. I don't care if he's a nurse. I don't care if he's a U.S. citizen. We have fucking laws in this country. Also over on Fox News, he had the likes of Jesse Waters, kind of doing more of a tightrope act, not doing a full finger point, but still saying things like. Resisting arrest with a loaded gun is incredibly dangerous. These are the types of things that happen unfortunately and sadly when you bring a loaded gun to a dangerous immigration raid, confront agents, and resist arrest. Though there, in addition to most kind of just disagreeing across the board with these people,

you'd many disagreeing with the argument that he was resisting arrest, instead saying he was just getting jumped. He tries to help a woman, he has a phone in one hand. When he's getting taken down, he tries to protect himself from falling. And of course, without deep diving like we did yesterday, he was disarmed and then fired on multiple times. Shot in the back by, in my opinion, murdering cowards. You know, while you have many people calling these commentators bootlickers for supporting what's happening,

you also have folks like Tim Poole responding to those criticisms by saying, So the argument right now is this, I'll put it simply. First of all, when these people come out and go, Tim's a bootlicker for defending us. I'm like, no, no, you misunderstand. It's my boots. It's mine. I voted for them.

I'm wearing the boot. I'm stomping on the ground. I ain't licking anybody. I'm clapping for these people that I said, please go out and enforce the law. You know, it's important to see all these reactions, see all these takes because as heartening as it has been for many people to see like a lot of normies,

people that are kind of middle ground or independence going, what the fuck is happening? Do not forget, there are also people that are actively cheering this on. And it shows you no matter really what happens, people will find a way to back the Trump administration's actions no matter what, even if there's also conservative backlash, even if there is video footage, some will not leave his side. And then there's more we're gonna dive into in just a minute, but first let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, New Year, fresh start and yes, I'm talking to you.

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him know we sent you. But then getting back into the news, Donald Trump is still weighing military action in Iran, but he now has more options for doing so and maybe one reason to think that it would lead to the end of the regime there. Right, because Trump, he already came close to Or ordering strikes earlier this month in response to the government's brutal crackdown on protesters. But what he saw is that he ultimately decided against it for at least two reasons. One, he was warned that the United States would need more firepower in the region to launch large-scale strikes against Iran while

also protecting American forces and allies such as Israel. And two, he was told that a large-scale strike was unlikely to actually make the government fall anyways. And as far as a lack of firepower, right? Because you think the United States were a big military power, that's partly because the nation's most advanced aircraft carrier, the USS Ford, it had been moved out of the Middle East and into the Caribbean to support his campaign against Venezuela. But now what you have is while that ship deals with a massive $13 billion toilet problem, the USS Lincoln, which was previously stationed in the South China Sea, that is arriving in the Middle East, carrying dozens of fighter jets and nearly 5,000 sailors.

Right, it's being accompanied by three destroyers, each carrying dozens of missiles and air defenses along with hundreds more sailors. And the strike group is still reportedly too far away to easily strike Iran, but it is expected to pull closer in the coming days, moving either to the Gulf of Oman or the North Arabian Sea. And with all that, you had one current and one former U.S. official telling the Washington Post that additional military assets are moving into the region as well, but they also won't be there for at least another week. Right, and in the meantime, Trump may have been given a reason to second

guess as advisors who warned that military action really wouldn't lead to regime change. Right, he's reportedly been on the receiving end of multiple intelligence briefings, indicating that the Iranian government is just growing weaker and weaker by the minute. In fact, according to the New York Times, the report suggests that the Ayatollah's hold on power there is at its weakest point since the Shah was overthrown in the 1979 revolution. And that's not only because of the protest, which seemed to have died down, it's also because the country's failing economy, which sparked the protest, that that is still getting worse, with the Iranian currency hitting a new record low just today. And even that's, without mentioning

that many of the militant groups across the region that make up Iran's self-described axis of resistance may also be as weak as they have ever been. Though, I'll say there, you did have two of those groups threatening to launch new attacks in recent days. With the Houthis in Yemen, suggesting they might resume attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Ketab Hezbollah and Iraq, warning that any attack against Iran would result in a total war in the region. And you've also got the Iranian government striking a defiant tone. This weekend, for example, it unveiled a new mural on a giant billboard in central Tehran, depicting a bird's eye view of an aircraft carrier with damage and exploding fire planes and bloody bodies strewn on the deck in the words, if you sow the wind, you will

reap the whirlwind. You're also seeing a senior official warning that Iran has placed its forces on high alert and adding, we are ready for a worst-case scenario, and they also contrasted the current moment with a 12-day war with Israel over the summer, saying, Iran tried to be very restrained, predictable, and measured in its responses to both Israelis and Americans. But adding this time, attack, limited, unlimited, surgical, kinetic, whatever they call it as an all-out war against us. And we will respond in the hardest way possible. And you know, with that, Trump hasn't backed down either. He's described the naval vessels arriving in the region as an armada and said that they're on their way just in case he decides to take action. And connected to that this week,

he said at an interview with Axios that the situation with Iran is in flux, while also claiming that they want to make a deal and adding, I know so, they called on numerous occasions they want to talk. And so with all that, you have some people in Trump's orbit, reportedly believing that the best path forward is using the regime's weakness to push for a deal. And you have officials telling Axios that any deal would have to include the removal of all enriched uranium from Iran and a ban on independent uranium enrichment in the country as well as a cap on Iran's long-range missile stockpile and a change in the country's policy on supporting proxies in the region. But that is others have reportedly been pushing for Trump to just take military action and finish off the regime

once and for all. And so you've had Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, saying he spoke with Trump recently and expected the president to follow through on his promise to help Iranians who had been protesting, saying to the times, the goal is to end the regime. They may stop killing them today, but if they're in charge next month, they'll kill them then. You know, Graham, he might have a point here. Trump claimed that Iran had halted executions of protesters following his threats. But you've got Iranian officials pushing back against that claim, saying that the judiciary never made a decision like that. And also, regardless of what happens next, what the Iranian government has done so far, it's horrifying.

Where the US-based human rights activist news agency says that nearly 42,000 people have been arrested since the protests began. And the total number of confirmed deaths, according to this group, it's more than 6,000. Though notably, the number of deaths still under investigation, that's at over 17,000, and on that note, there are estimates that the true death toll could actually exceed 30,000. Also, another big thing is that doctors have described injuries suggesting systematic killing and maiming of protesters as opposed to random shootings, saying that the most common were close-range gunshots and severe stab wounds, typically to the chest, eyes, and genitals. Some medical workers reporting that they had received bodies with close-range gunshot wounds while still hooked up to medical equipment,

suggesting that they were killed while under active medical care, likely in a hospital. And that's a possibility backed by photographs verified by an Iranian fact-checking organization which show dead patients and body bags wearing hospital gowns with catheters still attached and what appears to be gunshot wounds to the forehead. Also, testimony from morgues, graveyards, and hospitals around the country, they reportedly show a clear effort by authorities to conceal the full extent of the carnage, with witnesses saying that the government has transported the deceased in ice cream vans and meat trucks, as well as hastily burning piles of bodies.

And hundreds of the dead, they're apparently disappearing from the country's network of forensic facilities. And then with all this, you know, some of those who have risked their lives protesting in Iran, they say they feel betrayed by Trump's inaction so far, despite his claims to care about them. Though that, of course, is Trump's comments in Iran and their protesters and wanting to protect them. It seems kind of ironic when you consider how he's responded to the protests in the United States. But then also, they seem laughable to many when you consider the fact that his administration has now resumed deportations to Iran. Right, because if you didn't know, there has been an increased number of Iranians entering the United States in recent years, including many who fear persecution at home.

But then, several months ago, despite not having formal diplomatic relations with Iran, Trump struck a deal with the country to accept deportation flights. And actually, just this past Sunday, 14 Iranians were reportedly sent back on what's believed to be the first deportation flight to Iran since the protests began. Though that number is expected to go up, right? There were originally supposed to be dozens of people on that flight, but some were kept off after being exposed to measles. But it's widely believed this is just a delay, right? There are still plans to deport them, and there are concerns that they will just become the latest victims of this regime. I mean, two of the men, for example, according to their lawyer, they're gay and face an extremely high chance of being executed if they're forced to return.

You know, for now, they're alive, though, there are many that can't say the same. And that includes the people that were killed in Trump's attacks on votes that he claimed without giving evidence were carrying drugs to the United States. And actually, now some of their families have filed a wrongful death suit over those strikes, marking the first legal challenge to the administration's claim that the killings are lawful. And as far as the specifics of this suit, it was filed in a U.S. federal court. And it claims that Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaru were traveling from Venezuela back home to Trinidad and Tobago when the Trump administration struck their boat, alleging that it was smuggling drugs. But they are saying that neither of these men had any connection to the drug trade, and they had both been in Venezuela fishing and doing farm work and just needed a ride home. Also, the families say that the United States never even informed them, that their loved ones had been killed. And instead, both men, they just vanished after telling their families that they had found a boat to take home in mid-October,

with Trump then announcing the military had attacked such a boat, killing six. In this case is actually incredibly significant because it marks the first time a lawsuit's been filed in American courts, challenging Trump strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats off the coast of Venezuela. Right, and this specific strike in question was just the fifth of those attacks, right? There have been 36 that we know about and 125 people have been killed. Right, and this new landmark legal challenge, it was brought in federal court in Massachusetts on behalf of the families by the ACL, you and the Center for Constitutional Rights. Also, very notably here, the case doesn't name any specific individuals.

Instead, accusing the U.S. government as a whole of wrongful death and extrajudicial killings. And the suit, it challenges the administration's claims that the killings are legal and don't constitute murder because Trump has determined, all by himself, that the U.S. is in an official state of armed conflict with a secret list of drug cartels and gangs that he has decided are terrorists. The claim that's also been widely contradicted by numerous legal experts in the field who note that Congress hasn't authorized any such armed conflict, and the administration has repeatedly failed to provide any kind of legal explanation for why trafficking drugs to the U.S. can even be considered in armed conflict. And that's the same argument that the family members make in their lawsuit,

claiming that there is no legal state of armed conflict just because Trump decided there was. So the rules of war do not apply and the killings were simply murders. And the suit, of course, also going on to say that the two men were not engaged in activities that presented a concrete, specific, and imminent threat of death or serious physical injury and noting that there were other means besides lethal force that could have been used to neutralize such a threat. But then, even beyond that, the case argues that if the strike did occur, illegal armed conflict, which, to be clear, it did not, it would still be illegal because it was an intentional killing of civilians who had nothing to do with drug trafficking. Now, a very big thing that's

important to note here is that experts say that it is actually generally very hard to win a lawsuit against the government, especially for non-U.S. citizens abroad who aren't covered by the Constitution. But the lawyers for the Trinidadian families, they specifically pointed to a pair of 1920 statutes that make the U.S. government liable for alleged offenses at sea that results in wrongful death and allow family members to sue over those wrongful deaths. And these attorneys have also noted another 1789 statute that allows foreign nationals to sue the US government and federal court over violations of intentional human rights law, including deaths that took place outside of an armed conflict without judicial process.

And then there's more we've got to break down. But first, let me take a minute to thank a sponsor and say, you know, I love my work, but sometimes my brain needs like a gentle nudge that says, hey, we're focusing now. Thanks to today's sponsor, brain.fm, I can, right? It's not just music, it's audio specifically designed to help your brain lock in. You know, I used to throw on random playlist, but half the time I'd end up distracted instead of productive. But brain.fm, it's different. The sound is built using neuroscience to support focus, relaxation and sleep. They've got different modes depending on what you need, deep work,

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dot FM slash defranco for a free month of better focus. Then getting back into the news, more news you need to know, there are still a ton of people trying to post critical commentary on Trump and ICE arguing that they're being censored on TikTok. And now, Gavin Newsom's actually launching an investigation into those claims. Right yesterday, but a ton of people saying that their videos about ICE, either weren't getting posts. it or they were being suppressed and receiving zero views. And while TikTok said, hey, actually what's happening is there was a power outage, causing technical issues, preventing users from posting any kind of content.

There were a lot of people just not buying that, especially considering the timing, right? Because TikTok is now under new U.S. ownership in the United States. And you have some claiming that in addition to censoring content about ICE, TikTok was also blocking people from discussing Jeffrey Epstein and DMs. So you had people beginning to test that out, the verge sending a message out with the name Epstein and being told that the text may be in violation of our community guidelines and has not been sent. But then also they said that they got the same error when just sending the word. word test, suggesting that this is likely a larger technical issue with DMs and not just

about the word Epstein. But still, some users only having the problem with his name, right? I mean, one of the people on our team, they sent a bunch of politically charged names and only got blocked from saying Epstein. You also ended up having TikTok addressing the issues saying to NPR, we don't have rules against sharing the name Epstein and direct messages and are investigating why some users are experiencing issues. And as of this morning, our team was able to send Epstein's name in DMs without any issue.

But again, the timing of it all was a very bad look because the second that the app fell into the hands of the US joint venture has been plagued with technical issues and in this climate, many are quickly interpreting these glitches as political interference. So whether or not TikTok's doing this intentionally, it almost doesn't matter, right? The timing is a perfect storm and you have tons of people not trusting TikTok's US ownership and seeing this as pro-Trump censorship. And you even had California Governor Gavin Newsom announcing last night, it's time to investigate and saying I am launching a review into whether TikTok is violating Steve law by censoring Trump critical content. With his press office also saying they had independently confirmed instances

of suppression and he's also not the only lawmakers sounding the alarm here. You had one California state senator claiming that TikTok is now state-controlled media and Senator Chris Murphy writing, I know it's hard to track all the threats to democracy out there right now, but this is at the top of the list. So for their part, TikTok is saying that, quote, it would be inaccurate to report that this is anything but technical issues we've transparently confirmed. And that is, you have the White House saying that it is not involved in, nor has it made requests related to TikTok's content moderation. But with all that, for now, I'll say I'm split. I think so far what we've seen may have been technical issues.

I'm still waiting to see how things are playing out. Again, I mean, we were among the people getting zero views while this glitch or whatever it was was happening. But the bigger thing that I will say here is for the people that are skeptical, that are not trusting, I think it's healthy to stay that way. Because even if this is not manipulation, it's just a fuck up, which, again, I'm leaning towards that for now,

I think it's just kind of a matter of time. That's where my belief is. I think rather than them just flipping the switch, I think it's more of a boil the frog situation. Right, TikTok is now partially owned by Trump allies. I think it's more likely they're going to take the time to retrain the algorithm. Maybe we see the psycho button go off before the midterms.

Maybe we see the psycho button go off before, I don't know, something else big happens, or maybe even the 2028 election. And that's also why, if you are just a consumer, I highly recommend you follow all your favorite creators pretty much everywhere they post their content. Like just pick up all those shiny things. And as always, if you are a content creator,

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More than 30,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in California and Hawaii walked off the job yesterday in an open-ended strike for higher wages and staffing solutions. So it's also more than just nurses. We're talking pharmacists, midwives, physician assistants, rehab therapists, dieticians, and more. They're all represented by United Nurses Associations of California slash Union of Healthcare Professionals. Or with the unions president saying they're walking out because their employer, Kaiser Permanente, unilaterally stopped the bargaining process back in December. They shut down talks with the National Coalition of Labor Groups representing health care workers as well as all the local chapters. Though according to Kaiser, that was after the company offered what it described as its strongest national bargaining offer ever of 21.5% wage increase. And that was their counteroffer to the workers requested 25% wage increase over four years.

So here, you have the union arguing that Kaiser scrapped any discussion for finding solutions to address employee burnout and safety. Though Kaiser Permanente, Southern California, they said it was different. They said it, it has become clear that the national process is gridlock. And you had them filing a lawsuit last week, arguing that the union wasn't coming to the table in good faith. And specifically, they're accusing workers of attempting to coerce concessions by threatening to release a report of compiled allegedly unethical and unsafe Kaiser practices. So you have the senior vice president, adding that the strike is unnecessary and, quote, designed to disrupt the lives of our patients and adding, employees deserve their raises and patients deserve our full attention, not prolonged disputes.

And with that, the unions responded to the lawsuit by saying that it's without merit and claiming if the company is trying to use an illegal challenge to break down bargaining, adding that they remain, quote, committed to the process and getting a good contract, but the nursing strike problem, it's also not just limited to the West. Nurses in New York City, they've been striking for more than two weeks, some 15,000 workers represented by the New York State Nurses Association they've been striking against four hospitals in the city. Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Morningside and West, and New York Presbyterian. And they're demanding better pay, better staffing, and better protections against workplace violence.

Demands that the hospital is maintained are just unreasonable, with Mount Sinai insisting that the nurses are asking for wage increases that will hike the average salary to $275,000. So that, according to NYSNA, is a gross mischaracterization of their goal, saying that the strike is, more about their other demands than about their pay. And with that, you had one nurse on the picket line saying, if they were to move away from the money for just a second and look at the basic needs of human care, maybe they can see what we are fighting for. And other nurses on the picket line,

they've been specifically highlighting concerns about insufficient staffing to reporters, telling stories about the hospitals, leaving nurses with too many patients to care for all at once. And ultimately, as a now, there's no end in sight for this strike either with no negotiation scheduled as of Friday.

But I will say the nurses did get one substantial win, reaching an agreement with a couple of the hospitals to maintain healthcare benefits. So again, the road ahead could be with the New York nurses back on the picket line as it today after taking the weekend off because of the massive snowstorm that hit the city. But that, my friends, you beautiful bastards,

is where your Tuesday Philip DeFranco Show dive into the news is gonna end. Thank you for watching. Also remember, if you wanna be a part of some local change, you can support over at Francoforfulton.com and or support your local candidates in the primaries and the main races. Change starts local and one person at a time, but really no matter what you do,

I'll see you right back here tomorrow to dive into more news.