The Philip DeFranco Show - Trump's CounterTerrorism Chief Resigns, Calls Iran War a Lie

Episode Date: March 17, 2026

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When WestJet first took flight in 1996, the vibes were a bit different. People thought denim on denim was peak fashion, inline skates were everywhere, and two out of three women rocked, the Rachel. While those things stayed in the 90s, one thing that hasn't is that fuzzy feeling you get when WestJet welcomes you on board. Here's to WestJetting since 96. Travel back in time with us and actually travel with us at westjet.com slash 30 years. Getting ready for a game means being ready for anything.

Like packing a spare stick. I like to be prepared. That's why I remember 988 Canada's suicide crisis helpline. It's good to know just in case. Anyone can call or text for free confidential support from a train responder anytime. 988 suicide crisis helpline is funded by the government in Canada. So you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show.

You daily dive into the news. It is Tuesday and there is a lot to talk about. But I just want to start on a light note saying, I'm just so happy to be home. Yesterday, most of you saw because you were like, Oh my god, Phil has legs. I was stuck in Austin, Texas, because I think like 12,500 flights got canceled.

Because in addition to the situation where you have TSA employees working without getting paid or, you know, they're calling out and working other jobs, there were also just major storms where I was like, hey, we'd love to fly to Atlanta, but there may be a bunch of tornadoes. Luckily, we got show done, security cleared up by the time I wanted to go through.

I figured out some flights. I got the last seat out of Panama City, Florida. And so I got to cuddle with my wife last night and see my boys this morning. So I'm in a great move. It was just kind of the cherry on top of what was actually a good 24-hour Austin trip. Went out there, was nominated, and then actually won, boom. The Indy Pack Award for Best Independent News and Politics.

It's taken it home over some friends of the show as well as Fuckface Matt Walsh. So a quick but also a big thank you to my team across all the places. And a big thank you to all you beautiful bastards, especially those of you who have been with me since the webcam days. You supported and funded my show before anyone really even took it serious. But with that said, there's a lot we need to talk about today. with this. Israel claims to have killed Iran's de facto leader. Also, Trump's claiming he doesn't need NATO's help, even though he just asked for it, and an intelligence official that he appointed

has now resigned over his opposition to the Iran war, which he claimed came about thanks to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. But where we'll start is with his latest Israeli assassination in Iran. With the military claimed to have killed Iranian National Security Chief Ali Larijani, as well as besiege commander Holamreza Soleimani, with Israel's defense ministers saying in a statement, La Rejani and the besiege commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation program referring to the previous supreme leader, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil in the depths of hell. And as far as who these people are, the besiege, it's a volunteer paramilitary force affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that

has been repeatedly targeted by U.S. and Israeli strikes over the course of this war. And a key reason being the role that it played in suppressing dissent in the country, including, by taking part in several brutal protest crackdowns that killed thousands over the years. And with that, Salamani, he's long been under U.S. and European sanctions for his involvement. Although notably, La Rejani, he's believed to have played an even bigger part in the extraordinarily violent handling of the nationwide protests earlier this year. And actually since then, he had effectively been running the country sidlining even the president, according to the New York Times. And in addition to keeping a lid on dissent, he's been a key liaison with Iran's allies, including Russia,

as well as regional actors like Qatar and Oman. But he even oversaw nuclear negotiations with the United States, and as a trusted confidant of the Supreme Leader, he was among a select group of officials tasked with devising a plan to ensure that the regime would survive if the Supreme Leader were assassinated. But then with all that, La Rejani, he had also been seen as one of the more pragmatic voices inside of the regime. Right, way back in 2015, he played a key role in securing approval

for the nuclear deal negotiated under Obama. Which then of course Trump withdrew the United States from in 2018. And though his stance it hardened after the Trump administration broke off talks with Iran to take military action last June He seemingly remained open to some sort of agreement Last month for example when talks were back underway in Oman he described his country's position as positive With them arguing that the US had realized that the military option wasn't viable in saying resorting to negotiation as a rational path Though also with that he accused Israel of trying to sabotage the diplomatic track to ignite a war And so some have argued well he was proven right

So after talks again collapsed following the US and Israeli attacks La Rijani struck, maybe his most defiant tone yet, saying on social media, you will burn their hearts, we will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions. The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors. With that, he became Iran's de facto leader and he continued to vow defiance, recently rejecting media reports that he wanted new talks with the US and issuing a statement just yesterday, calling on Muslims around the world to support Iraq. And also, depending Iran's attacks on Gulf states that he accused of hosting American bases and Israeli interests.

But also, while he ramped up the rhetoric, it appeared he also didn't stop being a pragmatist. With him, for example, reportedly opposing the appointment of the deceased Supreme Leader's son as his replacement. Instead, lobbying for a more moderate option as a way of showing the public in the international community that Iran was changing direction. To have experts arguing that his death, it's just going to emboldened hardliners and enable security forces to tighten their grip, with one telling the times. Now that it seems everything is in the hands of the military elite, it's very difficult to imagine how and if they can come up with some ideas or if they can show enough flexibility to accept the ideas of the other side to end the war. And adding, the process of elite fitting. Every layer that you remove,

the next layer is going to be more hardline. And that also tracks with what US intelligence assessments have reportedly been saying even before La Rijani's assassination, which is that the regime is consolidating power and will likely remain in place for the time being weaker, but more hardline with a revolutionary guard exerting greater control. And according to reports, security forces

have been cracking down on dissent despite the war, arresting people suspected of collaborating with foreign powers and threatening would-be protesters with death to fend off any potential uprope And then you also have experts arguing that the hardliner is now with even more influence, they may be even more eager than ever to develop a nuclear weapon. The key point being that Iran is still hanging on to a believe 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium, although whether it can currently access that material and whether they'd be able to convert it into a bomb, that's still not known right now.

Now, notably, with all that, Trump was reportedly told about the likelihood of a more entrenched revolutionary guard before he gave the go-ahead to jointly launch the war with Israel. And you had one person familiar with the assessment telling the Washington Post, it wasn't just predictable, it was predicted he was told in advance. But Trump also reportedly warned that attacking Iran could trigger retaliation against American allies in the Gulf. But still yesterday you had him claiming that this came as a surprise. They hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait.

Nobody expected that. We were shocked. They fought back. Trabolson seemingly acknowledged yesterday that the US and Israel's own attacks on Iranian leadership were making the chances of a negotiated end to this war even slimmer. We don't even know their leaders. We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are.

But then also, So with everything here, Israel doesn't appear to be slowing down on its efforts to take out top leaders of the regime. Or with Netanyahu, again, suggesting that this is aimed at toppling the government once and for all, saying, we are undermining this regime in the hope of giving the Iranian people an opportunity to remove it, although you also had him conceding, this will not happen all at once, and it will not happen easily. And with that, you would have a military spokesperson saying that Israel's goal was maximum accomplishments in a minimum time frame, and adding that it was ready to operate as long as needed. So you have yet another sign that Israel is ready to just kind of keep this up for as long as it takes.

Though that's also is there's a question of, you know, will Trump remain on board as well? Because he's gone back and forth between claiming an end of the war is, you know, really close and suggesting that it could last much longer. Although you have some saying that he's really not the one calling the shots anymore and some saying that Israel is really the one of the wheel. And that apparently includes Joe Ken, who's one of the country's top counterterrorism officials who announced his resignation today, writing on social media, I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. But also with that, you know, whatever role, Israel played and starting this war, ending it, it's also going to depend on Iran. With even people

close to Trump, reportedly concerned that Iran's attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, it might be forcing him into a situation where escalating the conflict, maybe by putting American boots on the ground, might be seen by him as the only way to credibly claim victory. Or with one person, described as being close to the White House telling Politico, we clearly just kicked Iran's ass in the field, but to a large extent, they hold the cards now. They decide how long we're involved, and they decide if we put boots on the ground. And it doesn't seem to me that there's a way around it if we want to save face. And that may be especially the cases,

Trump's latest idea for securing the straight doesn't seem to be working out so well. As we talked about yesterday when I was stuck in that hotel room, Trump has asked NATO members in other countries to help unblock the Strait of Hermuz, but their response has been, we'll call it less than enthusiastic. So you've since had Trump suggesting that his requests

for help and reopening the Strait of Hermuz, it was actually a loyalty test with him claiming. I'm almost doing it in some cases, not because we need them, but because I want to find out how they react. Though at the same time, he claimed that numerous countries have told him that they're on the way.

But then when asked to name them, he responded, I'd rather not say yet, but we'll be announcing them. And today, he again suggested that this was a great test for NATO, warning that the United States would remember its inaction. And Trump, adding on social media that, because of the fact that we have had such military success,

we no longer need or desire the NATO country's assistance. So we then immediately contradicted himself, by saying that it's not just that the US no longer needs their help, but that it never did. And then he also had Trump telling reporters that he wasn't worried that putting American troops on the ground in Iran could turn into another Vietnam War is saying, I'm really not afraid of that, I'm really not afraid of anything.

While the scenario, it might seem unlikely, given the more limited ground options currently being considered, crossing that line, it would likely prolong the war and put troops to greater risk. Which obviously is a big thing to consider, because as of now, 13 American service members have died since the start of the war, according to the Pentagon. And that's as a number of troops have been wounded or injured. And ultimately, how much that number continues to go up? It may be determined by decisions that Donald Trump makes over the coming days and weeks. And actually, while we wait to see what happens there, he's already talking about the next

government that he wants to topple. Because Trump's threatening to take aim at Cuba, as they experience, he had another nationwide blackout that's left over 10 million struggling, and it sparked fiery protests across the island. I do believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking Cuba. That'd be good honor. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba. Taking Cuba. In some form, yeah.

Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I could do anything I want with it. You want another to think they're a very weakened nation right. It's just his latest threat of Ford intervention, and it comes as reports say that Cuba reported a total disconnection of the country's national electric system yesterday. With some residents saying, like, this blackout didn't even surprise them as they're getting used to living without power, while others, they're left scrambling to find alternatives to maintain basic needs like food. And as reports describe this as a looming humanitarian crisis, the U.S. has continued to keep Cuba cut off from Venezuela's oil

and has maintained the threat to spike terrorists for any country that offers help. And with that, you have Reuters saying that Cuba has received only two small oil vessels this year. The first one came into the Havanaport back in jail. January from Mexico, who is a regular oil supplier for Cuba before Trump's tariff threats. Also Mexican citizens have helped with food relief for Cuba, but they also know that with the US's pressure on the island, it's still not enough. Mexico is showing its solidarity, but we must not fool ourselves. It's a symbolic act and doesn't help the real problem on the island and its long-term solution.

And then in addition to Mexico, the next vessel came in February from Jamaica with liquefied petroleum gas known as cooking gas, but that's also been it. Right? That's as the United States has held a 65-year embargo on Cuba, effectively bleed in Cuba dry as Trump stands against their leadership. And so with all these factors at play, you had Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canal saying that they haven't seen a drop of fuel for their already dated power grid in three months. And so as millions of Cuban citizens have continued to struggle through this, rare protests have erupted and videos spread showing people attacking the Communist Party headquarters directly.

Right reports saying that every night for 10 days, they have gone out to protest in a different area of the country because of the blackouts, saying this is the first time they protested so many consecutive days in a row. And as these protests have raged on, President Diaz-Canel said last week that, he was in talks with the U.S. aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between the two nations. But we're also still not sure if Trump's actually on the same page. Cuba's a disaster, but I've been hearing so much about Cuba, but Cuba's in its last moments of life as it was it'll have a great new life, but it's in its last moments of life the way it is.

Also with this, a White House official told the Washington Post, as the president has stated, we are talking to Cuba whose leaders should make a deal, which he believes would be very easily made. And that in Cuba is a failing nation whose rulers have had a major setback with the loss of support from Venezuela and with Mexico ceasing to send them oil And also like this pressure on Cuba it's something that we all saw coming from a mile away after he started dropping hints that their government may face the same fate as Venezuela's Cuba's at the end of the line They're very much at the end of the line They have no money. They have no oil They have a bad philosophy. They have a bad

regime And since then he's also said that he'll be turning his attention to Cuba after the war in Iran's over. And as Trump closes in, Cuban officials haven't been quiet about the strain that they're under, even reportedly offering to allow Cuban nationals outside of the country to participate in the country's economic and social development. With Cuba's deputy prime minister and economics are reportedly saying, Cuban nationals outside the country would be permitted to invest in the country's small private sector and own businesses on the island. Which that alone is news, right, because the communist regimes don't usually take kindly to those who escape. The Cuban communist

leadership, they've often referred to those who fled during the revolution as scum and a slur meaning maggots. So with all that, right, the deputy prime minister's offer, it might be too little too late. Many Cubans outside of the island, they rejected it. Where you have groups like the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a Miami-based group of Cuban exile saying, the regime must be truly desperate to seek resources from the very people they once branded as scum and forced into exile. We know this administration despises free Cubans who refuse to be controlled by the Communist Party. And adding, it is vital to withhold investment now and wait for a truly free Cuba. You also have other U.S. residents in places with high Cuban population speaking out against the Cuban government

as well. The protest in Cuba is good, beautiful, beautiful for the people in Cuba. Also in Kansas City, which is roughly 2,000 Cuban residents, people with family still on the island, they've organized support and prayer gatherings for those suffering through the outages. And so overall, the sense of being a pretty sticky situation. On the one hand, you seemingly have a desperate one-party communist government structure in Cuba that's trying to make amends with people that they've ousted for so many years, while also still arresting those who are speaking out on the island.

And then on the other hand, you have our president who seems to be kind of a glutton for foreign intervention going into other countries and stumping out whatever leaders he doesn't agree with while driving Americans closer to a fascist regime every day. And so as per usual, it looks like it's the people who get the short end of the stick because neither government seems to be operating in their interest. And while with the power, you know, there have been small pockets of Cuba where power's been restored, the power crisis, it is still very much present and it seems only to be an occupational hazard for the leaders at play here. And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute. But first, let's take a quick break and thank a sponsor. You know, I think we can all agree that dinner. It shouldn't be a nightly episode of what's in the fridge and Why is it sad? You know, we've all been there when dinner becomes a daily boss fight. You know, what are we eating? Who's cooking? Why is everything expired?

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personal thing is I'm a fan because it gets us cooking at home with the boys you know more often without turning dinner into a second job It's the rare life upgrade that actually makes my cooking process easier so just go to hellofresh.com slash DeFranco 10fm or scan that QR code to get 10 free meals plus a freeze-willing knife on your third box But then diving right back into the news a war reporter in Israel got death threats because gamblers on polymers market had millions of dollars writing on whether an Iranian missile was intercepted or not. Or they wanted him to change his reporting and when he refused, they tracked down where he lives, they named his family members, and gave him a countdown to comply. And this is one of those stories that it sounds fake until you see the receipts. Right, so diving into the specifics, Emmanuel Mani Fabian, he's a 28-year-old war correspondent

for the times of Israel. And on March 10th, an Iranian ballistic missile hit just outside of a suburb of Jerusalem. Emergency Services found that it landed in a forest about 500 meters away from many homes, nobody was killed, nobody was hurt, and he had many putting out a routine live blog post saying exactly that and also sharing video footage of the explosion from the warhead. It was this minor update in the middle of a war and Then the messages started first you had an email in Hebrew asking him to correct his post to say it wasn't a missile that made contact But rather an interceptor fragment though you had many pushing back noting that the Israeli military had confirmed that it was a missile warhead and that the footage showed an explosion from hundreds of kilograms of Explosives saying normally a fragment does not produce such an explosion and then the next day there was another email

Same argument different person same request change the report saying if you could correct this tonight you would be doing me and many others a great favor. And then it moved over to Twitter with users jumping into his replies, asking him to confirm the missile was intercepted. And again, this is after he had already shared video of the warhead exploding on contact. And so Manny, he started digging and the people that were pressing him were all connected to Polly Market. And for those who haven't followed Polly Market, it's this prediction market where users bet on the outcome of news events. Election, sports, press conferences, active war zones, you name it, it's probably there. Billions of dollars in weekly trading and technically it bars U.S. users, but there are U.S. users. And the specific bet at the center

or this was titled, Iran strikes Israel on question mark. With more than $16 million being waged on March 10th, and the rule said that the market resolves yes, if, quote, Iran initiates a strike on Israeli soil on that date, but missiles or drones that are intercepted will not be sufficient for a yes resolution. And so Manny's reporting that the missile hit the ground, wasn't intercepted, it made contact,

it meant that people who bet no were about to lose big. And so they apparently decided that that was his problem to fix. And so with all this, you had Manny posting on Twitter, my message to you, gamblers, is simple, fuck off, stop harassing me and find a better hobby than falsifying journalistic reports for financial gain. But that, it really didn't stop anything. A colleague from another publication reached out,

a friend of his was asking him to convince Mani to change the article, called it a negligible update with a more favorable outlook. And when the colleague confronted that friend, the friend confirmed that it was about polymarket bets. He even offered the colleague a cut of the winnings so he got Mani to change the report. And then it goes from ridiculous to terrifying, right? After Mani still refused, someone reached out on WhatsApp.

First in Hebrew, then switching to English, saying, you have no idea how much you put yourself at risk, saying today is the most significant day of your career, you have two choices. I'd believe that we had the capabilities, and after you make us lose $900,000, we will invest no less than that to finish you, or end this with money in your pocket and also earn back the life that you had until now.

And when many didn't respond, the person started listing details about his home, his neighborhood, his parents, and his siblings. Saying it took them less than five minutes to find out exactly where you live, how often you see your lovely parents and exactly who your brothers and sisters are. And then there was a countdown, right?

There would be a fatal mistake if he didn't respond in 10 minutes. And then when he still didn't respond, they said, You have 90 minutes left to update the lie. If you decide not to correct it, you will discover enemies who will be willing to pay anything to make your life miserable.

And saying, as far as I know, there are also some people who don't really care about the law and you're about to make them lose about 50 times what you'll ever make. 86 minutes left, you are the only one responsible for your life. Many actually told the Washington Post that he almost gave in saying, I thought, do I just change it?

Because it doesn't really matter. But then I thought, if I do this now, they're gonna come back to me again and ask for other things to be changed. They would have probably never stopped doing that if they knew that they could make money this way. And so instead, he filed a police report and he published the whole story. Every message, every threat, hoping that the

publicity would deter better as from targeting other journalists in the future. But even he admits that that's unlikely. And it's even more unlikely that every journalist who gets this kind of pressure is going to have the same response. Now as far as Polly Market, they condemn the threat saying that they violate the terms of service and have no place on the platform and adding, prediction markets depend on the integrity of independent reporting. Attempt to pressure journalists to alter their reporting, undermine that integrity and undermine the markets themselves. And claiming that the accounts involved were banned and their information was passed to the authorities. But then also,

you know, one of the bigger questions is whether prediction markets should be allowed to operate on war events at all. And with that, you have senators Chris Murphy and Greg Casar, they're introducing the Betts Off Act. For the banning event trading on sensitive operations and federal functions act. With Murphy's office saying that the bill would put a stop to these corrupt wagers, crack down on prediction markets that flout the law with offshore platforms and reject the idea that we should commodify every part of our lives. So really, whether it has a shot to pass, it depends on what happens with the midterms. Whether the Democrats can get any power back and also what kind of Democrats wind up elected. You know, just adding my opinion here, none of this, if you've been watching the show, at the very least, none of this should be surprising.

Right, there are a lot of people participating because it's out there and, you know, if no one's going to do anything, some people are like, well, I might as well take part. But this is something that's going to happen when you let people bet millions of dollars on war. The truth, it becomes a liability, just another thing to be changed. Accurate reporting, it becomes a financial threat to people with resources and motivation to make that threat very personal. And the only thing without regulation that's standing between the integrity of the information and a payout is whether one reporter decides to hold the line. And while Manny appears to have held the line here, the next reporter might not. But then also, on the note of the elections and the midterms and the midterms and the politicians, we gotta talk about what's going down in Illinois right now.

Right, because Dick Durbin's retiring from the Senate and five more Democrats are retiring from the House. And so buying for that Senate seat are three Democrats. The current state lieutenant governor, Juliana Stratton. I'm Juliana Stratton, and I'm proud to have lived my whole life on the south side of Chicago. Representative Raja Krishna-Morthy. My opponents can call me whatever they want. You can just call me Raja. And Representative Robin Kelly.

I'm Robin Kelly, daughter of a grocer and a postal worker. The polls opening up today and so by tomorrow, if not tonight, we should know who the winner is. Right, and the Senate seat in question is safely blue, so it is presumed that whoever wins this primary, they're gonna win the general as well. But also with this, you have people watching it closely to see if it signals anything about the trajectory of the Democratic Party more broadly. Namely, whether or how much wealthy donors influence the outcome. Because on one side, cryptocurrency interests have thrown millions of dollars behind

Krishnamorty, leading to a fear is that he would be beholden to the industry. Then on the other side, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who's a billionaire, has thrown millions of thrown millions of his own dollars behind Stratton, leading to accusations that he's tipping the scales. And all the while, Kelly's trailing well behind both of our competitors who are neck and neck. And they also reflect differences within the party about the correct stand to take on ice and immigration.

Stratton's jumped fully on board, the abolish ICE movement. Christian Amorthy has proposed to abolish Trump's ice, and Kelly wants to dismantle ice in the Department of Homeland Security broadly. And then at the same time, in the House primaries, there's a lot of money floating around from crypto, AI, and dark money groups,

as well as, I mean, another big issue is Israel. Or because the American Israel Public Affairs Committee or APAC, they have poor over $20 million into several races, reportedly using shell packs rather than its main super pack to hide where the money is coming from. And interestingly, its ads made sure to focus on anything but Israel, likely because polling has shown that support among Democrats is declining. So we're gonna have to wait to see if their efforts there were, because last month, they tried the same thing in New Jersey, and it backfired spectacularly. With APAC there,

attacking a pro-Israel moderate who didn't support unconditional aid to Israel, but then in doing so, they accidentally handed the race to a progressive who's accused Israel of genocide. So now in Illinois, APAC started doing something similar. attacking Daniel Biss, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor who has criticized Israel in favor of their preferred candidate, Laura Fine. But that also appears to have maybe created an opening for Palestinian-American progressive Kat Abu-Guzale to gain some ground. And so seemingly, in fearing a repeat of New Jersey, APAC pivoted in the final stretch of the race, right, focusing its attacks on abguzale directly. And then, as we're waiting to see the results there, we're also seeing things heat up in the Senate primary in Maine. Right, because Democrats, they believe that they can mount a challenge to the state's Republican Senator Susan Collins, who's held her seat for nearly three decades now.

And while she won her last reelection bid in 2020 by 8.6 points, Trump lost Maine that year by nine points as well as 2024 by 7 points. So the dams you don't have many soft targets to pick from in the first place They might be able to flip Collins's seat. But of course there's a big debate around who is the best candidate to pull that off And so on one side you've got Maine's moderate sitting governor Janet Mills Fight back, Janet. I won't sit idly by while Maine people suffer and politicians like Susan Collins bend a knee as if this were normal My life's work has prepared me for this fight and I'm ready to win this election will be a simple choice. Is Maine gonna bow down or stand up? I know my answer. And then on the other side, there's the progressive challenger, Graham Platner, and

Oyster Farmer, military veteran, and former private military contractor. Why are grocery so expensive? Why are we still spending billions of taxpayer dollars to fund other countries wars? Why are electricity bills going up? Why are billionaires and corporations running DC? I'm Graham Platner and I approve this message because we deserve a government that takes down the oligarchy, not democracy. She is 78 years old, he's She's won statewide races before. He's never held office. She's an establishment insider. He's a populist outsider. She's got the endorsement of Chuck Schumer. He's got support from Bernie Sanders and the race It's tight. Though I will say some polls have shown Platiner in the lead and he's raised much more money than Mills. But Platner also has a background that he's been trying to overcome and now in the first attack out of the race we've seen mils Pouncing on that. Did you know Graham Platner wrote that women worried about rape need to quote

Not get so f*** up they wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to It's disgusting Platner wrote to avoid rape, women should quote, Act like an adult for f sake. Graham Platner, seriously. We blame the victim. That's a horrible thing to say. Disqualifying.

I have not seen this. He's a bully. This guy gives off a vibe. Just no way I could vote for you. No. Graham Platner, the closer you look, the worse it gets. And what's being referenced there are a handful of Reddit pose that Platner made around 2013 that are not great.

We're saying that women concerned about rape should not get so fucked up. They wind up having sex with someone. They don't mean to and should act like like an adult for fuck's sake. As well as appearing to say in today's current climate when every whisper of a misplaced hand brings down a feature plain film, anyone who actually thinks the military

is purposefully covering up rape to save the career of some goddamn captain is clearly both an idiot and junior enough in rank or life experience to think it matters. Right, and then in another post he asked, why don't black people tip? Then, around 2018, 2020, more posts appear to show him calling himself a communist

referring to cops as bastards and agreeing that rural white people are racist and stupid, which in many found to be a bit ironic, not only because he himself is a white, but also because it was revealed that he had a tattoo resembling the Nazi death's head on his chest. Now there in his defense he claims that he got the ink in 2007 during a drunken night out in Croatia with a few fellow machine gunners and saying that he picked the image at random from options displayed on the wall of the tattoo parlor. With him also since covering it up and he blames his older posts on his depression and PTSD after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The infantry was a very male-dominated place. But when I got out, I still had the crude humor, the dark

dark feelings, the offensive language that really was a hallmark of the infantry when I was in it. I made comments that I'm not happy about that I do not agree with, but they came from a time and place in my life. And so for those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don't recognize, I am deeply sorry. With all that, Mills, I mean, she's doing everything she can to make that scandal stick. and we should also expect to see similar attack ads leading up to June's primary. And at that point, it's up to Maine's Democratic voters, right? Some are gonna forgive his pass, like one local business owner who put it to Vanity Fair,

saying I'm a voter who wants to not fund genocide and to have universal health care. That matter is more to me than some old Reddit posts in a tattoo. And right now, at least according to the polling, it looks like more people are leaning that way. It's a tight race and anything could happen, but it does seem like there are a lot of people who just want new leaders. For now, while we wait to see what happens, I'd love to know your thoughts on what's happening in Illinois and in Maine. Especially if you live there and you could take part in those elections. And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute, but first, let me thank a sponsor and say,

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So do yourself a favor and go try it today at gusto.com slash DeFranco to get three months free when you run your first payroll. Just one more time, gusto.com slash DeFranco. Then, diving right back into the news, there is another maga war that's dropping, and this one is about whether a Nazi salute should be considered free speech. Because the University of Florida College Republicans chapter just sued the school after being shut down over photos of members doing the salute and group chat messages saying that Hitler didn't do enough. And it's all happening less than two weeks after a completely separate Florida college had its own conservative group chat. With those containing the N-word over 400 times, there were violent threats against black people in a chat Was renamed after a mythical white civilization promoted by Nazi leaders But regarding the UF situation late last week you had an activist posting a photo on social media

Showing two people doing a Nazi salute claiming that one of them was a leader of the uf College Republicans and then on Saturday the National Federation of College Republicans right the NFCR They shared that photo along with screenshots from a campus group chat where one person said Hitler didn't do enough and another joke about beating up women But the guy who made the Hitler comment told reporters that he was just joking that he wasn't being anti-Semitic. He also claimed that he was never part of the UF College Republicans, even though he appeared to confirm being in their group chat. And with all this, you had the NFCR saying it had actually revoked the chapter's charter the previous month over these incidents and was working with the university to formalize the decision, which is notable because it suggests that the school may have known about all this before I blew up online. All while, the University of Florida, which turns out to have the highest percentage of Jewish students of any public college in the country

announced that it would deactivate the chapter in compliance with university policies, but also help reactivate it under new leadership. And under the decision the group could lose access to campus spaces and funding until they reinstated. But the UF College Republicans, they didn't go quietly. Or they posted a statement claiming that the Florida branch of the National Federation didn't have any authority over their chapter because they're actually a part of a different student Republican organization. And they accused the Federation of lying to, quote, silence Christian conservative groups on campus and implied that they were targeted for hosting an event with a far-right gubernatorial candidate who's caused a rift among Florida Republicans.

But then the NFCR, they pushed back, writing on Twitter, multiple emails and texts refute this claim. The chapter certainly had no issue identifying itself as an NFCR chapter when it was time to request boxes or speakers. And then yesterday, the chapter filed a lawsuit against the university, alleging that it violated its First Amendment rights by punishing protected off-campus speech. With a suit, asking the federal judge to declare the university's actions unconstitutional, reactivate the group and award damages and legal fees. And their lawyer, Anthony Sabatini, accused the university of punishing the group for being part

of the new right or hard ride and alleged that the state Republican party targeted the chapter for promoting an aggressive America-first agenda, which then had some saying that it sounds like they're doing the quiet part out loud, saying that they want to openly argue that Nazi salutes are protected speech that's part of the MAGA agenda. And again, all of this is happening less than two weeks after a completely different Florida school blew up over leaked group chats that were somehow even worse. Right according to the Miami Herald, the chat was created for conservative students at Florida International University by the Secretary of Miami-Dade County's Republican Party who is himself a student at the school with the group including top conservative student leaders, including the now former TPSA chapter president and college Republicans recruitment chair. And within three weeks, the chat was full of racist slurs and active threats of violence. One person writing about dozens of ways to violently kill black people. People also mused about Hitler's policies and at one point the chat was renamed to honor a mythical civilization

promoted by Nazi leaders, which actually the college Republicans recruitment chair called Nazi heaven. Addition lady, NW was used more than 400 times. Women were regularly called horrors, slurs against Jewish and gay people. They were constant. And so with all this, FIU launched a criminal investigation and the TPP USA and College Republicans leaders both stepped down. But also the actual government official, right, the Miami-Dade County Republican Party secretary who created the chat, he has refused to resign despite calls from Republican leaders, right? He claims that he didn't see much of the until the Herald contacted him and said that he was shocked by some of the comments in the group chat that he created. But also, the thing is, like, there is a pattern here, right? This isn't really even new.

Last fall, Politico exposed to a telegram group chat between high-ranking leaders of young organizations across the country. And there, you had more than 2,700 pages of messages full of racist, anti-Semitic, and violent rhetoric. Like, you don't have to dig to find this stuff anymore. It's in private group chats, a politically active young conservatives who want to be the future leaders of the party. It's on what's left of Twitter. Top voices in MAGA in the far right, they use and encourage this language publicly. You know, as far as why this matter,

I think it's important to know that there are two things kind of happening here at the same time. The first is that this kind of rhetoric, Nazi salutes, Hitler praise, violent racism, slurs as casual conversation, it keeps showing up in places where young conservative leaders are organizing. It is not on the fringes, it is in the leadership pipelines. It is in the group chats between chapter presidents and county party officials. This is in a couple of bad apples and a bushel or, you know, the few poison M&Ms in the bowl. But then the second thing is when anyone tries to hold them accountable, and that includes their own party. There's been a shift, right? This is no longer like, oh, well, this is taken out of context or we condemn this behavior as far as like generally.

It's instead the argument that Nazi salutes are protected speech and punishing us for that is on America. You seemingly have this lawyer who's framing it as part of the America first agenda. So for the people out there that think after Trump like there might be some big magic return to normalcy seemingly at least a decent chunk of the movement. It's headed this other way. And on that Happy note, that brings us to the end of today's Tuesday Philip DeFranco Show dive into the news. Thank you for watching. I Love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.