The Philip DeFranco Show - Trump's Iran War is Worse Than You Think

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Starting point is 00:00:25 We'd love to talk, business. The war in Iran costs you, the American taxpayer, more than $11 billion in just the first week alone. It's also displaced more than 3 million people. We're now facing the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market. And while the pace of Iran's retaliatory attacks, they may have been slowing down, they definitely haven't stopped. And the havoc they've just continued to wreak across the Middle East, it is proof that Donald Trump is lying to you. Right, because while he claimed that this campaign-style rally in Kentucky yesterday, at the war, it's already been won, saying that the U.S. and Israel have virtually destroyed Iran. We're now almost two weeks into this whole thing.

Starting point is 00:01:00 and it remains entirely unclear when it's gonna end. And the reason I say Trump's lying rather than he's pushing a falsehood he believes in is because it seems like he knows what he's saying just isn't true. In the same speech, he acknowledged that the mission, whatever it is, remains incomplete, and the war, it has to go on. We don't wanna leave early, do we, huh?

Starting point is 00:01:17 We gotta finish the job, right? And with all that, just today, Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain, and Oman, they've all reported drones or missiles flying over their territory, with at least some making it through and hitting their target. Kuwait, for example, said that it's international airport, been damaged and in Iraq, an Italian military base was hit, with luckily Italy's foreign

Starting point is 00:01:34 minister saying that military personnel at the base had sheltered in a bunker and avoided any injuries. The same couldn't be said everywhere. Roughly 30 miles off the coast of Iraq, two oil tankers were set on fire, possibly by boats carrying explosives, and a person got killed and another 38 people had to be rescued at sea. And with that, you had Iran claiming responsibility for attacking one of the tankers, with the revolutionary guards, claiming in a statement that the ship had disobeyed and ignored warnings. And while the statement didn't mention the other ship, Iraqi officials apparently suspect that Iran was behind the attack on the other one as well. And then, actually, Iran's believed to have been behind yet another attack targeting a container ship

Starting point is 00:02:03 about 35 nautical miles off of the coast of the UAE, as well as three attacks on cargo ships yesterday in or near the Strait of Hormuz, although, again, Iran only claimed responsibility for one of those strikes. But in any case there, the number of commercial ships that have been damaged over the course of the war, it's now up to 19. And thanks to the latest attacks, Iraqi authorities suspended all oil terminal operations at Oman closed a key oil export terminal for what it said were security reasons. With that coming a day after the country's biggest port was struck by drones for the second time, and that last one, it stands out because Oman has some of the few ports that it's actually possible to keep shipping oil from,

Starting point is 00:02:33 since they're located beyond the Strait of Hormuz. Though another big standout is that Bahrain's energy facilities may be some of the hardest hit with an alleged Iranian strike today hitting fuel tanks in the north of the country. And that says the country's interior ministry said that it arrested four people for allegedly spying for Iran while a fifth person remained at large. Any of the ministry accusing all five of having used high-resolution photography equipment to photograph and record coordinates of vital and important locations, on behalf of Iran's revolutionary guard. You also had a British legal aid group reporting today that at least 21 people have been charged in the UAE for taking videos and photos of missile strikes. And that notably coming after the country's public prosecutors said last week that taking or sharing videos that document strikes and damage is illegal if it incites panic among the public spreads false news or harms public security and order.

Starting point is 00:03:14 Right, and then talking about back here in the States, if you live in California, it's being said that you could be Iran's next target. Or at least, that's according to a newly surfaced warning issued by the FBI to law enforcement agencies in the state last month. With that saying that Iran, quote, "... aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles, launch from a sea vessel against the state, in the event that the U.S. conducted strikes against Iran, with a notice adding, we have no additional information on the timing, method, target, or perpetrators.

Starting point is 00:03:38 Now, with that, I want to note that this was reportedly unverified intelligence, and there's no evidence as a now that this is actually a realistic threat. And as far as what others are saying, you had Trump telling reporters yesterday that he wasn't worried about Iran, ramping up its retaliation to include strikes on U.S. soil. And then you had California Governor Gavin Newsom saying that he was in constant coordination with security and intelligence officials to monitor potential threats to California, including those tied to the conflict in the Middle East and adding,

Starting point is 00:04:00 while we are not aware of any imminent threats at this time, we remain prepared for any emergency in our state. The width is, you know, while Iran may have a very hard time attacking the United States directly with weapons, it's already done it over the internet. Because it's apparently been a major cyber attack targeting a major U.S.-based manufacturer of medical equipment, which told its roughly 56,000 employees Wednesday, to disconnect from all networks and avoid turning on company-issued devices. Though, it also said that it had no indication of ransomware or malware and believed that the incident is contained, but also with this, you have experts saying it this could be part

Starting point is 00:04:28 of a troubling trend in cyberwarfare, with the head of a cyber threat intelligence firm telling the Wall Street Journal. Rather than targeting hospitals or frontline healthcare providers directly, adversaries may focus on critical suppliers and logistics providers where disruption can cascade across the entire healthcare system. Well, the company didn't say who it believed was behind the attack, you had a hacker group appearing to take responsibility for it, calling it retaliation for what's widely believed to have been a U.S. missile strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed 175 people.

Starting point is 00:04:52 That's now reportedly at the conclusion of even the Pentagon's own preliminary inquiry, and the Washington Post reporting today that it wasn't a case of the missile missing its target. Instead, the school was actually on the target list, but it may have been mistaken for a military site, which has now raised even more questions about whether AI was part of the decision-making process. Because AI has continued to be used to wage this war, including for target selection. And with that, you had U.S. Central Command reporting today that it had struck approximately 6,000 targets in Iran since the war began. For that, including 60 Iranian ships and 30 mine layers, which has been a major focus since we started seeing reports that Iran may have started mining the Strait of Hormuz. Sankham's also been posting clips today, suggesting that it's targeting Iranian aircraft as well as mobile missile launchers on land.

Starting point is 00:05:30 And with whatever they're hitting, we're also saying reports that some of Iran's most significant cultural sites have sustained significant damage. And then with all this, on the Israeli side, you have the military claiming today that it struck a site where Iran advanced critical capabilities and nuclear weapons. They also claimed to have taken out members of Iran's internal security forces in the capital with drones. But then inside Iran, notably, residents have reportedly said that security forces, have been increasing their presence on the streets, trying to show that they're still in control. And that says the reported death toll in the country has remained relatively steady, with Iran's representative to the UN claiming today at least 1,348 civilians have been killed since the war began. Though maybe the most shocking number coming out today may have been reports from the UN refugee agency

Starting point is 00:06:03 saying that up to 3.2 million people have been internally displaced inside Iran as a result of the ongoing conflict. Or with most of them fleeing from Tehran and other major urban areas towards the north of the country and rural areas to seek safety. But notably, with all this, if you factor in what's happening in Lebanon, the total number of displaced people, it may easily be as many as 4 million people. Where the latest count, but the number of people displaced by Israel's attacks on that country at around 800,000. But that number also may continue to rise as Israel is yet again ramped up its assault on the country, which is so far reportedly killed at least 680 people, including around 100 children. And in recent days, for example, Israeli forces have struck two hotels in or near Beirut,

Starting point is 00:06:37 including one that was housing displaced families and another where Israel claimed Iranian operatives were meeting. Also yesterday it hit an apartment building in the central part of the city, and today, airstrikes hit several cars along the seaside, reportedly, covering the sidewalk and bloodied sand and setting off panic in the neighborhood. And that strike reportedly killing at least eight people, injuring dozens more, and most of them displaced people. And then you also add the Israeli military issuing an evacuation order for central Beirut, though the first warning for an area within the city limits since the war began. And then within an hour, the Israeli military began carrying out a new wave of strikes on Beirut,

Starting point is 00:07:05 with Israeli officials saying the strikes were targeting infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah. And with that, what Israel's doing in Lebanon isn't the only thing being overshadowed by the war with Iran. There's also the matter of what it's doing in Palestinian territories. Because officials in Gaza, they claim Israel, Israel continues to violate the ceasefire on a daily basis. And in fact, just a few days ago, Israeli air and tank strikes killed six Palestinians there. Also more recently, you had a fire breaking out after a strike at 10 sheltering displaced Palestinians and a refugee camp. And then in the West Bank, we've continued to see an uptick in settler violence. But the key thing being that once

Starting point is 00:07:33 the war started, Israel's military blocked many West Bank roads and largely shut down crossings into Israel. And you now have Palestinians in remote villages saying the roadblocks, they've left them increasingly exposed to this violence, which has reportedly killed at least five Palestinians in the West Bank since the war began. With a six-man, dying after inhaling tear gas fired during an attack, according to an Israeli rights group. And last night, settlers reportedly graffit and attempted to set fire to a mosque.

Starting point is 00:07:54 And then also, while you have violence spreading across the region, the broader fallout is spreading across the globe. The cost of oil has surged again after Iran attacked three ships in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, with prices jumping to just over $100 a barrel this morning before dropping slightly. And then as a result, you had benchmark indexes in both Asia and the US, following by around 1% in reaction.

Starting point is 00:08:10 Gas prices have also gone up for the 12th straight days since the war started, with a national average jumping to $3.60 a gallon, is 20% up since the initial US Israeli strikes. But also diesel prices have increased even more quickly, rising nearly 30% in the last two weeks, with the current average being $4.86 as of today. And really what we're seeing now,

Starting point is 00:08:27 it could be just the beginning. I mean, gas prices usually trail oil prices by about a few days. So the crude oil cost pumps that we're seeing, they might not even be really reflected at the pump yet. And that's just with me talking about the United States. Things are also gonna be a lot worse in Asia and Europe, which rely more heavily on oil and natural gas

Starting point is 00:08:42 from the Middle East. It's even gotten so bad that you had Denmark's energy minister, literally telling citizens to cut back on energy use and stop driving unless it was totally necessary. And we're seeing all of this even after the International Energy Agency announced the largest ever release of oil stock in history. With 32 of the world's biggest economies agreeing to release 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves. But you have experts saying that the market reaction that we're seeing, it shows that the historic release didn't reassure traders. It actually had the opposite effect. Instead, just highlighted how far away we probably are from seeing the straight-of-hormoos open and fully operational again.

Starting point is 00:09:13 One of the biggest things is it looks like they're right to be worried. Even though the release of strategic reserves will help, it's a temporary measure that's really not going to do much if the war continues to drag on. With Trump constantly moving the goal pose, talking out of both sides of his mouth, the investors clearly thinking that this is how things are going to move forward. And in fact, with all this, in its monthly report, the IEA said that global supplies are expected to decrease by 8 million barrels a day. That's almost half of the roughly 20 million barrels that moved through the straight each day before the war broke out. They cannot overstate how major this is. The IEA says that the war has caused the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.

Starting point is 00:09:45 But experts saying that even if the war were to end and shipments were to resume, it could be months before the energy market goes back to normal. But then it's also not just the energy market. Experts say that we'll see prices rising in other areas as well, especially with food prices. For one, when oil prices go up, it becomes expensive to transport goods and services, which causes producers to increase their prices for consumers already struggling with high gas costs at a time when affordability is a huge issue. And then some businesses, they might not be able to keep up at all. I mean, you have experts saying that many of these businesses, they're already operating on thin margins because they're absorbed most of the cost to Trump's tariffs. So basically they're getting double fucked by Trump. And instead of lowering prices, the anti-war peace ticket president who ran on affordability,

Starting point is 00:10:23 he started a war that's gonna increase prices, further hurting American consumers and producers, who are already struggling to make ends meet because of his tariffs. But then wait, it gets worse. The affordability crisis that this war is already causing, it goes way beyond oil. Because the Strait of Hormuz is also a key shipping route for many other products, and the blockade is almost entirely halted container ship traffic in the waterway. Then on top of that, temporary closures and disruptions, and disruptions at multiple major international airports in the region have paused nearly one-fifth of global air freight capacity, which has caused disruptions to shipments of consumer electronics,

Starting point is 00:10:52 pharmaceuticals, and precious metals. But again, where experts say that Americans can see the biggest impact is with food prices and agriculture. Because in addition to oil, the strait is also a key passage for fertilizer, which is absolutely essential for global agriculture, with Bloomberg also describing this is a fertilizer crisis like never before. In that, it creates a chain reaction of events. When fertilizer supply is low, it makes farming costs higher and reduces crop yield, two factors that both mean higher food prices for consumers at the grocery store. But then that is only further exacerbated by the rising energy crisis. Energy is a huge input into the food supply chain.

Starting point is 00:11:24 It's used for everything. Farm machinery, producing fertilizers, transportation, processing. So when prices increase for almost every aspect of food production, those are also passed off to the consumer and food prices. But despite all of these very serious concerns, Trump has just continued to downplay the pending oil crisis while also making contradictory statements. Well, speaking at an event in Ohio, you had Trump claiming, I figured we'd be hit a little bit, but we were hit probably less than I thought. And we'll be back on track in a pretty short while.

Starting point is 00:11:48 Prices are coming down very substantially. Oil will be coming down. But then, literally at the same event, he also told local reporters that he would tap into the U.S.'s emergency petroleum reserves, with him then later confirming the release of 172 million barrels. But then also, after that, we saw Trump trying an entirely different strategy and he tried to paint high prices as a good thing, writing on truth social. The United States is the largest oil producer in the world by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. Now, a big thing, yes, it is true that the United States is a huge oil producer, but it also imports a ton of other oil products. And what's more, studies have shown that high oil costs only benefit wealthy oil producers

Starting point is 00:12:23 and their shareholders, while American consumers, regular people, end up footing the bill for higher prices. And also, while you have Trump and his administration paying the oil prices as a short-term pain for long-term gain in Iran, it's still unclear how short-term this will actually be. Or like we've talked about, Trump has repeatedly contradicted himself about when this war will end. And even if he did decide to end the war soon, doing so at this point also carries huge risks. But as you have places like the Wall Street Journal explaining, he's basically into deep now. Because if any remnants of Iran's regime, they're left in place, we would essentially just grant Tehran control over the world's energy markets while also sacrificing security in the region that

Starting point is 00:12:56 could make another more devastating regional war likely. Where the straighter removes, it's an incredibly valuable piece of leverage for Iran, one that they're not going to give up easily. And in fact, today, you had Iran's new supreme leader reportedly bowing to keep fighting while explicitly threatening to continue weaponizing the straight in his first statement since assuming power. Though, the reason I say reportedly there is because he didn't actually read the statement himself. And notably, he hasn't actually been seen publicly at all since his appointment, which is then raised speculation that he was killed or injured in the strikes that killed many of his family members. But still, in this statement, you reportedly had the new leader saying

Starting point is 00:13:24 Iran would not refrain from avenging the blood of its martyrs and claiming that he will activate new fronts if the war continues while also threatening to destroy enemy assets to the same extent that Iran's assets have been destroyed. With him then, reportedly going on to promise that he will continue to use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage. And so with all this, you have experts saying at this point, even if the U.S. did end its war, there's no guarantee that Iran would reopen the straight quickly, and there's also a risk that it'll continue targeting boats or launching strikes at oil-rich Gulf nations, with one explaining. If the regime holds on, even a brump regime, what is to stop its missiles and drones from threatening tankers

Starting point is 00:13:56 through the Strait of Hormuz and the energy infrastructure of America's Gulf allies at the time of their choosing? And currently, there are signs that the regime's holding on with, Reuters reporting that U.S. intelligence indicates that Iran's leadership is still largely intact and it's not at risk a collapse anytime soon. And you have analysts saying that if the U.S. wanted to forcefully reopen the it would likely require a ground operation that could escalate and is all the guaranteed to result in higher casualties. And so basically, at this point, Trump has made everything worse by going to war with Iran for no discernible reason. And right now it looks like even if he does pull out and declare victory, he's fucked everything up so much that future conflicts, including ones that the U.S. will get drawn into, they're almost inevitable.

Starting point is 00:14:31 But for now, that is where we are. And I'd love to know your thoughts, opinions, and reactions to just this, this full fucking dumpster fire. And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute. But first, let me take a minute to thank a sponsor and say, you know, I've messed around with this game enough to understand why it has a dedicated fan base. Like, for example, I like the strategy, team building, satisfying, and the champion collecting, it's weirdly addictive. And today's sponsor, Raid Shadow Legends is actually celebrating their 7th anniversary this month and their then versus now-glo-up, kind of wild. The games evolved a ton. The visuals are sharper, animation, smoother, and the whole experience feels more polished. Like, go look at the old graphics and apparently what I look like years ago.

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Starting point is 00:16:15 And it is over the Iran War. And the fault lines that we're seeing with this, they're kind of the same that we've seen for the other splits with the Maga Base, whether it be with the Epstein Files, the Kirk assassination, or the rise of Nick Fuentes. Which to some degree is to say, you have Ben Shapiro and his people on one side

Starting point is 00:16:29 and then pretty much everyone else on the other. This is not the United States' war. This war is not being waged on behalf of American national security objectives to make the United States safer or richer. This war is not actually even about weapons mass destruction. nukes, kembio. No, this war is waged purely because Israel wanted it to be waged.

Starting point is 00:16:48 If Tucker wants to claim that Donald J. Trump is a tool of the Jews, which is clearly what he wants to say, he should just say it. You also have Megan Kelly coming out to make an argument similar to Tucker's calling out Ben directly. No one should have to die for a foreign country. I don't think those four service members died for the United States. I think they died for Iran or for Israel. Our government's job is not to look out for Iran or for Israel.

Starting point is 00:17:12 to look out for us. And this feels very much to me like it is clearly Israel's war. Mark Levin wanted it. It's his war. Ben Shapiro, Lindsey Graham, Miriam Madelson. That's obvious. To that you had Ben countering that Donald Trump is responsible for the war, not Israel or the Jews, and arguing that if you have a problem with the war, you have a problem with Trump. She is such a coward. She is such an unbelievable coward. You don't like President Trump. You don't like what he's saying. Just say his name, you coward. You unbelievable. coward, Tucker and Megan both. Unbelievable cowardice. Say his name. You won't. You won't. And then he claimed that her cowardice extends beyond just her hesitation to call out Trump directly.

Starting point is 00:17:54 It's her entire politics. Some might point out that Megan's bravery stops precisely where the clicks end. That she was pro trans until the clicks turned against it. That she was pro-Israel until the clicks turned against it. That she was pro- Erica Kirk until the clicks turned against it, at which point she went totally silent on Candace Owens, slandering the widow of her supposed friend. The next step you had been going after Pierce Morgan giving this explanation for why he stopped going on Pierce's show. He kept bringing on actual Nazis and the Nazi adjacent and then treated them all too often as voices worthy of a large audience. Listen, it's Pierce's choice who he decides to have on his show and how he decides to conduct the kind of clown car battle royal that he does on a show every night. And it's my choice not to join that circus.

Starting point is 00:18:34 We all make our choices and we all live with them. He then played several clips from Pierce's show as examples featuring Nick Fuentes, Candice Owens, Norm Finkelstein, among others. So then in response to that, you had Pierce pointing out that he's also hosted numerous people who are pro-Israel and anti-Iran, including pundits from the Daily Wire. Plus, you had people saying for the interviews that Ben Cherry picked, he left out the parts where Pierce pushes back against his interviewees, even calling Quintez a Nazi. And with all this, you had Pierce claiming that ever since he started criticizing the Israeli government, Ben hasn't even politely replied to his occasional text messages. Ben Shapiro used to make a mockery of deplatforming when the person being de-platformed was Ben Shapiro. But his own compromising views on Israel and America's military and political sports. for Israel, have turned him into a cancelled culture of vulture, with the very same sneering intolerance

Starting point is 00:19:18 he used to loathe. If you disagree with him, you're a Nazi, he says. The difference between me and you, Ben, is that I'm heavily criticized by both sides, because I listen to both sides, and very often I criticize both sides, too, without fear or favor. You're only criticized by one side, because you choose to err only one side, and you choose to ignore or even silence the other. I'm a journalist. You are a propagandist. Oh, and facts don't care about your feelings. And then reacting to all of this, you had making Kelly piling on the fuck Ben dream. It's very sad to me as somebody who's known Ben forever and helped make Ben. 100%. He became a star on my show, The Kelly File. I'm very sorry to see this happen.

Starting point is 00:20:05 Truly, how many people must be called from the conservative movement in order to make Ben happy? And with all this, you've got both sides of this debate claiming to represent the majority of the conservative movement, painting the other as actually the minority. But at least on Iran, the truth ends up being kind of complicated and very interesting. Because before the war started, Republican support for a hypothetical strike on Iran, it was pretty weak with like 40% in favor, 25% opposed, and 35% unsure. But then after Trump just started the war, support for the actual strikes ballooned all the way up to 85% of Republicans. And you had three quarters saying that they believe that Iran has posed an imminent military threat to the United States,

Starting point is 00:20:38 and 6 and 10 saying that the president's action, are making the US safer. So basically, one Trump went from, I'm the pro-peace candidate, no more wars, and he went full neocon, all that so-called isolationist anti-war sentiment, it just fucking evaporated and the supporters fell in line.

Starting point is 00:20:51 Though interestingly, the party still split about 50-50 over putting boots on the ground. At least for now, until he does it, and then you see just everyone change their minds. And so it's going to be very interesting to watch what happens there, also how this Maga Civil War continues. But what I will say is, you know, putting all the infighting about the war aside,

Starting point is 00:21:06 Republicans, they can at least come together over their shared hatred for journalists. Because the Secretary of War, some call him the Secretary of War crimes, he's targeting photographers who just dare to take bad photos of him. With the Defense Department, reportedly banning press photographers from all future press briefings about the war that's not a war in Iran, because wait for it, they published photos of Pete Hegseth that were deemed unflattering. Now, the briefing of this whole thing was born from happened on March 2nd, just days after the joint military strike that killed Iran's former supreme leader. And it was actually the first time that Hexsath appeared from the briefing room podium since June to last year. But anyway, for this briefing, the Pentagon welcomed a bunch of photographers from from various sources, Bloomberg, the AP,

Starting point is 00:21:42 getting images, Reuters, and a bunch more. And so they snapped away and afterwards, those pictures were published in outlets around the world. But then, members of Heggseth's team reportedly told colleagues that they didn't like the way that the secretary looked. And so, you know, they took the only reasonable option and they blocked press photographers

Starting point is 00:21:56 from the next two briefings on March 4th and March 10. Only the Defense Department staff photographers were welcome at those. And you had the Pentagon Press Secretary, Kingsley Wilson saying in a statement, in order to use space in the Pentagon briefing room effectively, we are allowing one representative per news outlet, if uncredentialed, excluding pool.

Starting point is 00:22:10 And adding photographs from the briefings are immediately released online for the public and press to use. If that hurts the business model for certain news outlets, then they should consider applying for a Pentagon press credential. Which of course is a slap in the face

Starting point is 00:22:21 at the outlets that surrendered their Pentagon credentials and walked out after refusing to sign a policy prohibiting journalists from soliciting any information that the government doesn't expressly approve. Right, so punishing journalists for trying to do journalism. But with this new development, you know, press rights advocates,

Starting point is 00:22:33 they weren't exactly pleased with the development. The National Press Photographers Association condemned the decision, calling on the Pentagon to restore the photographer's access. And you had their president saying in a statement, excluding photographers from Pentagon briefings because officials did not like how published images portrayed them, shows an astonishingly poor sense of priorities

Starting point is 00:22:48 in the midst of a war and is for a public servant, not a good look. A free press cannot function if government officials decide that only favorable images of public officials may be created or distributed. And you had Charles Stadlander, a spokesperson for the New York Times echoing that, saying, as the Times has long said, there is a clear importance

Starting point is 00:23:03 in public service to allowing journalists to report fully on the US military. This includes, photojournalists who deserve access and credentialing to attend Pentagon briefing. But instead of pushing the Pentagon to allow photographers to do their jobs, the White House has chosen a more combative response to the whole situation. In the Washington Post article that initially broke this story, journalist Scott Nover wrote,

Starting point is 00:23:21 White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary, Anna Kelly, declined to comment on Hegset's decision to shut out reporters. But then Kelly herself pushed back on that, saying on Twitter, fake news reporter Scott Novers said we declined to comment for this story. Not true. He just didn't like my comment because it exposes how little the Washington Post cares about access for photographers. fake outrage. With they're sharing a photo of an email thread that appears to be her responding to Nover's request for comment with, quote,

Starting point is 00:23:42 didn't the Washington Post just fire all of its White House photographers? Which actually is true, just last month, the Washington Post laid off about 30% of all its employees. And that included 300 journalists and all of their staff photographers. And so you've seen some right-leading outlidding out just trying to stir up drama and outrage against Hegset, the Pentagon, and the Trump administration. But there, you had people pushing back,

Starting point is 00:24:01 noting that the Post article reporting on the photographer ban, didn't mention anything about their own staff getting shut out. Rather, citing their sources about the decision to ban Photographers and the reason for it with people saying this is just what a news outlet does and in fact You would have a lot of people responding to Kelly's tweet saying just that including from Dan Lamoth a Military Affairs reporter for the post who said whether we have zero photographers or 72 photographers This story about the Pentagon is still true But then from that I want to end today's show with a quick

Starting point is 00:24:24 Congratulations and one more piece of news we need to dive into it's starting with the congratulations Congrats to Ethan Kay see Geek's latest weekly winner who just scored $500 in tickets and is gonna watch the Bears versus Packers in the fall And for the rest of y'all that's right seekeek is still given away five $500 in tickets every week and you should definitely end today if you haven't already. You could be the next winner and snag $500 towards seeing your favorite artist, sporting event, play, just really whatever. There's like over 70,000 events to choose from. And all you got to do is add Code to Franco to your Seekek app profile for a chance of the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary.

Starting point is 00:24:53 Then with that said, the final thing that we need to talk about today, the final piece of news is we need to talk about how the House Oversight Committee just held a closed-door deposition with Richard Kahn, Epstein's former account. Or because we are again seeing both sides play the same spin game and create their own talking points about what was said and what we should believe. Now, Khan, he's the executor of Epstein's state, though he claims that he had no knowledge of Epstein's crimes, that he never observed any abuse or trafficking or heard any complaints, but that he still regrets he may have unknowingly assisted Epstein in any way. And according to the representatives there, he answered

Starting point is 00:25:21 every single question and named some of the clients who contributed to Epstein's absurd well, claiming that Les Wexner, Leon Black, Stephen Sinovsky, Glenn Dubin, and the Rothschild family all paid Epstein millions. Leaders in the committee also said that Khan admitted to impersonating Epstein in communications with banks and facilitating a fake marriage between two women and Epstein's orbit. And when it comes to other powerful people who may have had ties to Epstein's wealth, you had Representative Suha Subramanium telling MS now. We asked him about whether there are any financial transactions between Epstein and other heads of state or politicians. And he did mention the name Ahud Bahak. I remember Virginia

Starting point is 00:25:54 Jufre had mentioned that a former Israeli prime minister, which Ahuq is, had violently raped her. But you also have Republicans focusing on who Khan didn't implicate, especially Trump, again trying to use the deposition to clear the president's name with Chairman James Comer saying Kahn testified under oath that because the Democrats asked this question that he had never seen any type of transaction to Trump or anyone in his family. That makes the fifth witness now that's testified under oath that they've never seen any involvement by Donald Trump. As you can imagine, Democrats didn't see it the same way with them pushing back on a ton of Kahn's deposition. They're saying they flat out don't believe that Epstein's accountant and a state executor was clueless about his crimes. With Robert Garcia, the committee's Democrat lead,

Starting point is 00:26:37 writing that Jeffrey Epstein's massive sex trafficking ring would not have been possible without the consistent payments and services of his longtime accountant Richard Kahn. It's not credible that he had no knowledge of Epstein's activities and his testimonies today only raises more questions. And when it comes to Trump, you had Garcia specifically saying that Khan confirmed that Epstein spoke about Trump a lot. With Representative Su Bermanium adding it, the committee asked Khan about the settlement program that he's running for the estate and, you He was proud of this program he set up, but a lot of the survivors have said that it has not been distributed fairly,

Starting point is 00:27:06 that they've been trying to minimize the amount of distributions. We asked about specifically if one of Trump's accusers had actually gotten a settlement, he did confirm that. So once again, because this deposition didn't happen live in front of the public, we have two different narratives about what was said and what should come next, especially with Trump. But also, when it comes to the public's feelings on Trump's role in the files, well, you know, someone in DC, they made their thoughts very, very public because a statue depicting Trump, and Epstein and the Titanic King of the World Pose just went up at the National Mall. And it had a plaque with it saying,

Starting point is 00:27:35 The tragic love story between Jack and Rose was built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches. This monument honors the bond between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, a friendship seemingly built on luxurious travel, raucous parties, and secret nude sketches. With that being put up by a group of anonymous artists who got a permit allowing to be up in the mall through Friday. Though you also had the White House trying to deride it as a stunt by wealthy Democrat donors. And as far as what Trump thinks, well, he's repeatedly claimed that the files are a hoax,

Starting point is 00:28:00 but also that they exonerated. But then also with this, you have a ton of people now focusing on his choice to attack one of the Republicans who has led the charge and exposing the files, right, Thomas Massey. As we've all seen, Epstein's one of the issues that Massey's bucked Trump on over the last year. And so yesterday you had Trump going to his Kentucky district

Starting point is 00:28:14 and railing against him and endorsing his opponent. He's the worst person. He's disrespecting our country. He votes against everything. He's got one thing going, he went to a good college. But I know a lot of stupid people that went to a good college. We gotta get rid of this loser. This guy is bad. He's disloyal to the Republican Party.

Starting point is 00:28:34 He's disloyal to the people of Kentucky and most importantly He is disloyal to the United States of America. With Trump then bringing Massey's opponent on the stage to speak, which just as a quick aside on the note of people who joined Trump on stage in Kentucky You also had Jake Paul with Jake who by the way you own a fucking company that that makes deodorant How are you sweating that much? But that is besides the point Jake he spoke at the rally and Trump even encouraged him to step into politics I really to make a prediction that you will be in the not too distant future running for a political office. Okay. And you have my complete and total endorsement, okay?

Starting point is 00:29:12 Also, Trump and Jake Paul made a video where they were dancing together. You know, the kind of fun, chill vibes that totally makes sense when we're at war with another country and prices are going through the fucking roof. But anyway, a big thing with all this is that it looks like Trump's crusade against Massey, it might be working. Or because according to CBS news, conservative groups are spending over five million dollars. to try to oust Massey in the primary. While Massey, he's gotten some support from outside groups, it's not nearly as much as the money

Starting point is 00:29:36 that's going up against him. And that's a huge deal, because this is likely his toughest primary yet. Now that said, for his part, you had Massey shooting back at Trump by claiming that the president's team who was paying to bus people to that rally, arguing that Trump's voters in his district,

Starting point is 00:29:47 also support my work on the Epstein files, reining in spending, ending forever wars, draining the swamp and food freedom. And well, yes, there's gonna be polling from then till the primary. We won't know how this is gonna play out until May. And yeah, in the meantime, I'll just, I'll just,

Starting point is 00:30:00 I'll just keep thinking to myself, what a weird time we live in. Donald Trump just endorsed Jake Paul, and I'm rooting for fucking Thomas Massey to win an election. I don't know if this is the worst timeline, but it's definitely the dumbest. But that, it's where we're going to end today's Thursday, Philip DeFranco Show, dive into the news. Though if you're somehow not sick of my face and voice, yet,

Starting point is 00:30:18 there is more for you to watch. Whether it be that brand new crashing out episode between Alex Perlman and I, or that in good faith deep dive we did with John Favro this week. On YouTube, you can click or tab right here, or, of course, I just always have links in the description wherever I post. The main thing, thank you for watching. I love your faces,

Starting point is 00:30:33 and I'll see you right back here next time.

The Philip DeFranco Show - Trump's Iran War is Worse Than You Think

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