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Trump's Nicki Minaj Problem & Meltdown Exposes A Lot and The Brazil Election Scandal Explained

October 26, 20260 comments♥ 0
00:00And then there's more we gotta dive into in just a minute, but first let me thank a sponsor and say, you know,August is a great time for a reset before fall gets chaotic and my closet, it could use some adult supervision.That's where today's sponsor, Quince comes in.Quince makes fewer better pieces from premium materials, the things you'll reach for constantly.And I really like their staples like organic cotton teas and Mongolian cashmere sweaters at work all day and into the evening.Or basically, clothes that make you look put together without looking like you spend an hour planning it.Their denim and Taylor Chino start at 60 bucks with a fit, structure, and quality that you'd expect from a luxury designer brand.And then you've got things like the cotton silk short sleeve crewneck sweater.
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00:57So hey, upgrade your every day by scanning that QR code or going to quince.com slash defranco for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns.And they're now available in Canada and the UK as well.So that's QU-I-N-C-E dot com slash defranco.Quince.com slash DeFranco.For most of the history of professional sports, there was a wall between the game and gambling.Then suddenly it was everywhere.Ontario is all in on sports betting.Make every moment more with fandom.
01:27But that wasn't supposed to include the players themselves.Records for, Jonte Porter, is under NBA investigation.Athletes are the perfect gamblers.Understood. The Big Bet.Available now on Spotify.Trump's Nicki Minaj butt fixation situation and 1300-word freak,I'll just expose it a lot,but not as much as the new Epstein investigations
01:50connected to horrific allegations against Trumpthat you're going to see after the midterms.Lula's historic comeback in Brazil's elections crazier than you think.as Bolsonaro's son meltin down,and why Microsoft's new 60,000 employee buyoutis even bigger than you think.We're talking about all of that even moreon today's brand new Philip DeFranco show
02:07you daily dive into the news, starting with this.So Trump just had a very busy weekenddoing super presidential important things,like admiring Nikki Minaj's beautiful ass,his words at a Michigan rally,and lashing out at his pal turned enemy Bill Maherin a 1,300 word truth social post,just like a serial killer's manifesto.
02:24Now we've talked about Minaj's bizarre descentto Maga and how Mar he had this sort of change of heart about the president when he was invited to a White House dinner last year.But you've got some potentially very consequential shifts happening in Trump's relationship with both of them.And starting with Nikki, there were some rough moments when she joined about a Michigan rally to stump for Republicans,starting with Trump's weird introduction.By the way, I looked at one hell of a beautiful S before, Nikki Minaj, that's hard to miss.That's standout.That's hard to miss.
02:59Or so you, Trump, taking a quick break from commenting on men's bodies recently.if you've seen this to the point that there were even gay allegationsto make an equally inappropriate comment about hers.You know, as on brand as this stuff is for him,like, we should also not lose sightthat this is a crazy way for the presidentof the United States to talk.Like, I know that we're numb to 98% of shit these days,
03:17but could you imagine if Biden or Obama did this?It would be like wall-to-wall nonstop coverageon Fox News for months.But that's that, Benage, right?She didn't acknowledge that commentbefore she then launched into her usual Trumpis an amazing man routine.We love Trump.
03:30We love Trump.We love...We really need all of these great people to be electedbecause this is a major turning point for our country.And we're not gonna give upbecause we want our children to grow up in a placewhere we can be proud of.We don't want our children to be bombarded with sex changes, right?
03:54We don't want that for our children.We want people to leave the children alone.So President Trump, it is an honor to stand with youevery single time,and I will continue to support you forever and ever.If you run again, I will support you again.It's Minaj, right, she's got those Trump talking points down.And in fact, some members of the Trump administration were so thrilled with her performance
04:14that they appear to be throwing her name in the hat for the press secretary position.Or whether each were serious or not, you had White House communications director, Stephen Chung, tweeting.Ladies and gentlemen, I think we have found the new White House press secretary.If you have a man who's won three elections, you know, legacy media continues to attack him.and writes and what does he do?He wakes up at 4 o'clock the morning.He outworks people that, you know, are half his age.And you know, what does that say about his character?
04:41In the video, it almost seems like she's reciting linesfrom a script, like she's training for the position.And it wasn't just Chung who endorsed her, at least joking with.You also had a Trump advisor weighing in,replying, hey, Barb, what do we think about this idea?And you even saw Minaj herself respondingby sharing an American flag and grinning face with sweat emoji.So yeah, could be all joking,
04:57but also this is a clown show administration,so you never know what's a joke or not.Also on the other side of things, you had Gavin Newsom's press office, for example, reposting the TMZ article about it and tweeting,we can only pray. But also, while you have Benaj, pick-meying her way, I guess, to the top of the Maga train,you had another liberal-turned-friend to Trump in the doghouse.Or because earlier this month, Bill Maher went back to the White House for around two Trump dinner with Kid Rock and Stephen A. Smith.And initially, it appeared that everything went smooth. You had Trump telling reporters.It was a great dinner. It was very informative dinner. Smart people.
05:25Stephen A is great. Bill Maher, I tell you what, he likes to be a lot more than people.understand, and I actually like him.It was a good dinner.But his attitude on that dinnerhas completely changed since Friday.Right, because you had Marr sayingmixed things about the president during his monologue,right, he mentioned the dinner and he did say he enjoyed it.
05:44Yeah, I did it again, bitches.I know, I'm the bad guy because I go and sayface to face to the man the things you write in articlesthat he'll never read, but okay, I, you know what,I like these dinners.You also had Mar joking about Trump's low approval ratings,and his recent obsessing.with men's bodies.
06:03It's a little odd that Trump keeps gushing about men's bodies and how handsome they areand their drawlines and their asses, their physiques.I'm a little hurt.I was there for dinner for four hours last week, not a peep.And that appeared to really get Trump's blood boiling because on Saturday he got all that angerout on Truth Social in ages wildly long rant calling Marr a loser, a coward, and a pothead,among other things.Are you a Trump writing, let's talk about this complete and total loser Bill Ma.
06:31He's got a low-rated show on equally low-rated HBO.which was once long ago a network of quality and excitement.But that's all gone, it's not hot anymore.Also saying that Marr's business associate, Chuck Labella,was a gopher for his reality show The Apprentice.With that he claimed that over the last few years,Lebella's called him nonstop to beg him to meet with Mar.With Trump adding, when I became president,
06:50I agreed to meet after the first one and the last one,but never agreed to do his show,which he wants me to do desperately.It won't happen.With him then going on to reject the low approval rating,allegations, I guess he wants to call it,saying he has high ratings, particularly with Republicans.Also citing CNN polling that he said put him at 9,
07:04to 99% within the party.And then later on in the post,you had him making some observationsabout Marr's health and looks, writing.I wanted to tell Bill that he's a major pot head.He's gotta stop, it's very bad for his health.He looked like hell this time.Bill was drunk and had alcohol in his hand
07:18as he walked through the White House.I know, ew, who does he think he is?Pete Heggseth, but he did endby addressing Marr directly.Saying you're also a coward who is afraid to tell the truthabout how well our country is runningbecause of your few fansand how badly the Democrats have done,
07:31almost destroying the USA.Saying you're not transformative,you're a loser. I never watched your show much, but I will never watch it again because it isnothing more than fake news that America and the world is unfortunately subjected to. Right,and all of this was very interesting to watch because Bill Maher does apparently have this magicability to get people on the left and right to go, oh, I fucking hate this guy. Like it feels like hejust constantly comes off to everyone as a pompous self-righteous dick. Though I'm pretty sure withall of this, Mar is kind of getting what he wants, even if it is not actually that fantastically
07:58self-serving. Right, you'll probably try to spend this as look, look, I can take the dinner andhe'll still hate me because I'm just a person and I'm not married to any side or any whatever.But really, I think it to a lot of people just comes off that he is a two-faced grifter.Right, he whined and dined with the president, presented himself in a certain way.And then on his show from the safety of that, he does this other thing.But speak in a Trump drama, we're just one week away from the midterms and we might be about to witness something historic.The beginning of the end for Trump.Based off of what you've got out there right now, based off of what happens next week,
08:30he might be finally losing his iron grip on the Republican Party, and we might be finally seeingthe fall of the shittiest regime ever. And that appears to be in part because like literally everythingelse, Trump has made it clear that these midterms, they're about him. He has repeatedly told theAmerican people, time and time again, to pretend that he is on the bound. But that might not bethe best strategy given just how deeply unpopular Trump is and how so many people blame himfor the ongoing affordability crisis. Trump was re-elected in 2024 on promises to helpstruggling Americans and bring costs down to crack down on corruption and drain the swamp. But two years in,and even a lot of his own supporters admit,
09:01Trump's only made things worse.Driving at prices through his war or choicewith Iran and his pointless tariffs,gutting the social safety net through the big, beautiful billand corrupting the office of the presidentto enrich himself and his allies.And of course, the entire time,elected Republicans have aided and abetted him
09:14because they wanted his money and supportto keep their own seats of power.But meanwhile, based off of what they're doingand not doing affordability,has become one of these single biggest voting issuesthis cycle as many Americans just struggleto keep up with rising energy bills,surging fuel prices, increasing health care costs,
09:27and more.And so it ends up not being surprisinghis approval ratings fell to their lowest level ever in either of his two terms, which is insane becausethey were still polling after January 6th, but a bunch of big polls came out last week, and all of themshowed him hovering in the low to mid-30s. And just to give you some context there, that makes Trump'sapproval rating, the lowest of any president before a midterm election since Harry Truman in1946. And it appears that many people blame Trump directly, which makes sense. He's consistentlybypassed Congress, and that's a Republican-led Congress, and they've been more than happy to let him.
09:56So there is shared blame, but of course he is leading the party.And according to a New York Times-Cyana poll,nearly 7 out of 10 voters disapprove of his handling of the cost of living.65% disapprove of his handling of the Iran war.And it appears like those views are dragging down perceptions of Republicans across the board.You've got majorities of likely voters saying they believe Democrats are more understandingand able to fix the problems that Americans are facing.And they're saying that as most people don't even like the Democrats.
10:18They just dislike the Republican politicians and candidates more.And you now have more voters viewing the Democratic Party as the party of the working classand saying that they're more likely to keep their promises than Republicans.But of course, words or words, polls or polls, and the big question remains,will all of this actually be enough to sway voters in the battleground races that will determinecontrol of the House and Senate?And actually, today we got to talk to and hear a firsthand account from someone who is on the groundand in the thick of it.
10:39And that is a man we've actually talked about on the show a number of times, Troy Jackson.He's a Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine.He's running to replace Senator Susan Collins in one of the most closely watchedand tightly contested races the entire cycle.In this main election, it will be a deciding factor in whether Dems can flip the Senate.Right?When you had him talking with us, he said that while affordability is definitely a big voting issue,it's also just the tip of the iceberg, right? A symptom of a much deeper problem.
11:00Yeah, I do think it's a bit of a bunch about affordability, but it's also about change.I mean, you know, we need to have a government that works for people.This is not about going back to where we were before Trump.It's about going a lot further that we should have been, you know, government should have been doing anyways,having a Medicare for All system, prescription drugs, things like that.I mean, this should have been something the Democrats got done, you know, years ago.And I'm really excited that there's a group.people that wants that now. And you can see all across the state, people are fired up because they
11:31do see an opportunity here. Or there seems to be one thing that's universal across the country.No matter where you live, what party you vote for. People want change. Right, that's true, yes,now, but it was also true in 2024. You do not get a president Trump again if the system is workingfor people. But in order for there to be changed, it actually helps we the people, you need to havelawmakers who actually care about the people. But hey, and this is just my opinion, though I thinkmore and more people share it, given his polling now after he got elected again, you are not going toever get that from Trump. He ran as president seemingly to enrich himself in his family,to avoid possible criminal prosecution, and also I think because he's a narcissist whose ego
12:05was bruised after the 2020 election. And so it's unsurprising that with millions of Americansstruggling to make ends meet, you have many voters becoming increasingly concerned that politiciansare using their positions of power to just enrich themselves and their friends. In fact,in multiple polls, corruption actually narrowly overtook affordability as the number one concernamong respondents. And another found that nearly two in three Americans say that Trump is usingthis presidency to enrich himself, which may or may not.be connected to the fact that he has made more than a billion dollars off acryptocurrency while also dramatically increasing his net worth just in the first two years of
12:32his second term and really that only scratches the surface so it makes sense that his broadervibe of corruption would rub off on the republicans who have allied themselves with trump who haveused his brand and his pack money to hold on to power right not only have they allowed thiscorruption to run rampant with no consequences they have functionally condoned his actions by alwayscoming to heal because they know that as long as they scratch daddy's back he'll continueto use his influence in War Chess to scratch theirs as well. And you would Jackson saying,hey, that's true for Collins as well, arguing that she can't actually separate herself from him.And her record, it just proves that. Susan Collins is voting with Donald Trump 9, 6% of the time.
13:06She won't stand up against them. He knows that when he needs her, she's going to be there 100% of the time.I mean, you know, by his own admission, she's doing a great job. She caters to the billionaire class.And obviously, people in Maine are sick of that. I mean, they're watching their lives get upby someone that says that she has the most power in the U.S. Senate, don't, you shouldn't get rid of mebecause I have all this power, but she won't use that power to help everyday manors.And that's really a big thing here, right? Because Collins is among the growing list of lawmakerswho have now tried to distance themselves to Trump more recently, with many splitting with himover the Iran war. Because for years, Republicans, they've hitched their wagons to Trump,
13:43whether they really wanted to or not, because they knew it was the best chance to win and stayin power. They rode his coattails. They used his popularity to get elected and stay in powerwhen it benefited them. But now, you know, that things are looking down.they're turning tail and running like the cowardly dogs they are. But Jackson, he says,you, we can't let Collins or any others off the hook. We need to show them that we do not likethe world they've created and that there are consequences for their actions. And that's whatyou with Jackson saying this race will come down to. Do you like the world we're in right now?I mean, do you like how we're paying obscene fuel prices that, you know, we're in a trade war
14:15with our closest neighbor and ally Canada, that we've lost our health care system that, you know,She puts people, I mean, she lies to us about people like Brett Kavanaugh, knowing damn wellthat he's going to take away Roe versus Wade. I mean, do you want a, do you want a senator thatis just going to work for the billionaires? I mean, to me, that that is a race.It feels safe to say at least to some degree that these are the same general sentiments thatwill become the dividing lines for most key battlegrounds this November. But also, looking long-term,right, one of the big questions is, will it be enough to topple Trump once and for all?And the answer in that question, at least in part, is going to come down to how big this
14:50blue wave is. Though also I think maybe a better framing would be a red collapse. Because again,if and when Democrats get into the House and maybe the Senate, what they do is going to matter,or at least what they try to do. Because even in a world where Democrats over perform,Trump can veto a lot of stuff. But if Dems take over the House, if they take over the Senate,they do get different powers and different abilities. And unless Democrats want a repeat of whathappened after 2020, where all of a sudden Republicans, yes, they moved away from Trump, but thenthey came right back, they've got to do something meaningful because lives are busy, they're chaotic,and we all have very short-term memories.
15:22Right, and obviously, the difference this time is that Trump can't run for president again,but he can still be a kingmaker.Unless they lose so big that him endorsing someone's the equivalent of lighten a bag of shit on firein front of someone's doorstep.And then there's more we got to dive into in just a minute after a quick break with our sponsor.Because no amount of planning can guarantee tomorrow looks anything like the version of it you imagine today.And that's why I'm happy to share today's sponsor, Fabric by Gerber Life.Fabric by Gerber Life offers term life insurance for busy parents all online and on your schedule.
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17:47One of the key things here is that it includes a new allegation of rape against President Trump.Or with the report claiming that Trump was an active participant in Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse of young women during the mid to late 1990s,and saying the DOJ is doing everything they can to keep the American people in the dark about it.Now, mostly references previously released claims,or are saying that there are 11 women who have tied Trump to Epstein's trafficking in some way,including five who have directly accused Trump of assault.And you have the committee saying that for the first time in this report,Beatrice Kuhle is alleging that Trump raped her in 1990.
18:13during a pageant at the Plaza Hotel in New York City.And while this is not the first time that we've heard from Beatrice,right, she previously said that Trump groped herand claimed that Epstein used Trump's pageantsto recruit women. Now, in interviews with the committee,she said that when she was 24,she met Trump at a luncheon for his American Dream pageant,saying that in their introductory conversation,
18:29Trump promised to arrange a visa for herand to ensure her acceptance to NYU.And after meeting Trump, she says she met Epstein,who said, I'm Jeffrey, Don's best friend.And then later that day, one of Trump's representativesinvited her to go upstairs to meet with him,and she did, thinking that it would be about her NYU admission.But according to the report,
18:43Trump, quote, grabbed Kuhl from behind and forcibly raped her, in the process, tearing her dress and causingbleeding and bruising on multiple parts of her body, saying Kuhl described the rape as brutal.And after the alleged assault, Trump is said to have repeated his promises about her visa and schooling,made her promise to keep quiet and then said, the show must go on.Though she then also claims weeks later when she had returned to her home in Switzerland, Trump followed up aboutNYU and her visa, but she declined.Now, obviously, as with any allegation against Trump, there are going to be people who doubt it,who questioned the timing of it, who just straight up disbelieve it.
19:10And while the report does not offer any evidence to this claim, beyond theirinterviews, the committee says that there are multiple factors that reinforce her credibility,including the fact that multiple witnesses alleged that on that same day, Trump was seeminglyinterested in multiple other young women. And then on top of that, the report notes that the tacticof promising an NYU education was very similar to Epstein's own modus operanda. And you've got thereport claiming that Beatrice would have had little ways of knowing this when she first reportedthis part of her story in October of 2024, months before any public report of the connection betweenNYU and Epstein survivors had surfaced. And then for those that are hesitant to believe any allegation
19:40that comes this close to the midterms, you have the report also highlighted.lighting older ones as well.Or like the one from Jill Harth,who was one of the first womento accuse Trump of sexual misconduct.But she sued him back in 1997,alleging that he sexually assaulted her in 1993in Ivanka's bedroom during a Mar-a-Lago park.
19:53And he would Hart's former spouse claiming thateven though the party was full of models,Trump and Epstein appear to be the only two men in attendance.And with that suit later settled,but she also claims that Trump assaultedanother young model that night as well.Like I said, this report discusses five caseswhere women directly accused Trump
20:06of sexual assault in Epstein's presence.Because most were already in the filesor other public articles,we don't need to get in the details there,though the report knows,that these stories are united by time, place in the distinct factual similarities in howTrump and Epstein pursued, manipulated, and abused these women, saying these reports do notstand alone and they are not aberrations, saying they are remarkably consistent with the
20:24extensive public reports at Trump's sexual misconduct at the time. So committeeDemocrats said that a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Trump of the potentialEpstein accomplices in the DOJ's handling of these allegations and you with the reportadding, there is reason to believe that this administration's cover up of the Epsteinfiles is driven at least in part by a desire to prevent Donald Trump's own misconduct from everever coming to light. So in response to this, you had a White House spokesperson saying that all of these allegationspresented in the report are false and claiming this was, quote, desperate attempt by crazed Democrats todistract Americans from the surging Republican momentum driven by President Trump's historic achievements.
20:54And while it's going to be very interesting to see how this proceeds forward, if the Democrats takeover the House, it will also be interesting to see if this has any impact on the midterms.Because again, we are so close. Early voting started in a lot of places. Of course, people can votenow. Then there's, of course, November 3rd. But one of the things we've seen is Epstein being a majortopic and a lot of campaigns across the country. I mean, you've got hundreds of ads out there usingthe topic to mostly target Republicans. Or which makes sense. I mean, Trump's actions around theEpstein files was very strange to a lot of his supporters. I knew some making campaign promises aboutEpstein with, for example, Robert Garcia, the oversight committee's top Democrats say, the Epstein
21:25investigation is going to be one of our top priorities, saying there has to be real accountabilitythere and there has to be real investigation. This is one of the most bipartisan issues in the country.People are interested in this topic. People ask about it all the time. Even though it's notthe general public's top issue when they're casting their ballot, reports indicate thatThat doesn't mean that Epstein has vanished from their minds.Affordability, corruption, privacy, these things, they're up there.But the Epstein files of it all for a number of Republicans was kind of the first door,at least in Trump administration 2.0, where they thought, oh, he's actually a fucking liar.
21:55But time will tell soon regarding the election and if it goes the Democrats way,all of a sudden they have the power to lead impeachment efforts and other investigations.So this is going to be fascinating to watch.Right, and then while you've got the U.S. midterms just days away,you've got results from this international election somehow catching everyone off guard,but also giving a weird sense of deja vu.We're starting with the unexpected,because according to official preliminary results,
22:15Lula de Silva just won his fourth term as president of Brazilover his opponent, Flavio Bolsonaro.And the reason it was unexpected is because he had to pull offan extraordinary comeback to get to this point.Lula actually came in second place earlier this monthwhen he and Bolsonaro were forced into a runoff.He had 45% of the vote and Flavio had 47%and Brazilian elections, which are determined purely
22:32by popular vote, require more than 50% for an outright victory.And it wasn't looking great, especially dueto the global anti-incumbent sentimentin the wave of right-wing election victories you'd seen across Latin America recently.You had Colombia, Chile, Honduras, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Costa Rica,all seeing right-wing candidates winning presidential elections over the last 18 months.Not to mention a candidate in Brazil who came in second place in the opening round,he hasn't come back to win the election since democracy was re-established there in 1989,
22:57so nearly 40 years.And so you had very few pollsters predicting that Lula was going to get back into office.But he did it. In a matter of three weeks, Lula gained serious ground across the countryand won the runoff yesterday with 51.79% of the vote.Which was actually double the margin than his last victory four years ago.Except what you're saying is that his opponent, Flavio Bolsonaro, will not accept his loss with grace, or really even at all.Right at the news conference last night, Flavio just straight up refused to recognize the result and said that he was going to seek to have the entire election annulmentbecause of a Supreme Court justice's last minute order to extend voting by two hours.
23:27When I say last minute, I mean it, right?By the time that the announcement had come in, some polling locations had already shut down, which meant that they couldn't reopen.And so he would Flavio calling the extension a dirty trick and saying what happened today was not normal and was unacceptable.saying that there's a lot that needs to be cleared up before Brazil simply accepts this foul play that took place in these elections.But a huge key thing to note here is that one, yes, Lula's campaign team did request an extension about halfway through the day.Specifically, he accused public officials of deliberately slowing down public transportation in places where he won in the first round.But two, Flavio's team also requested that extension.Or you had Flavio saying that flooding and heavy rain was impacting voter turnout in places where he had strong support.
24:03And see, of that, likely going to seriously undermine his petition to have the election in all.And if all of this feels like a little deja vu, it's because we have been here before.Right back in 2022, Lula was running against Jaiyir Bolsonaro, who was actually Flavio's father.When Lula won that, 50.9% to 49.1%, Jaiur also refused to concede the race and cried fraud on the voting machines.His party also challenged the laws, but when they couldn't provide any evidence to back up their claims, they were then fined.And then, you actually saw Bolsonaro supporters storming government buildings and protest to the final result, and Jaya, he ended up being sentenced to 27 years in prison for organizing a coup to overturn his defeat.And that coup is said to have included plans to assassinate Lula, his running mate, and a Supreme Court justice.And then as far as Flavio Bolsanaro, he was essentially his father's successor for the party.
24:44But he ran on the promises to restore his father's conservative agenda while trying at least at first to paint himself as a little more moderate.But also, another of his big selling points for his supporters was his plan to seek amnesty for his dad and the rioters, impeach the Supreme Court justice, who locked them up, overhauled the judiciary itself, and changed the Brazilian constitution.And then on the flip side, a big part of Lula's campaign was the preservation of Brazil's democracy and keeping the Bolsonarofamily out of power. Because even setting aside the coup of it all, Jaiyar Bolsonaro's time in office between2019 and 2023, it's been called chaotic at best. He botched his country's response to the COVID-19pandemic. He pursued policies that alienated minorities and even earned the nickname CaptainChainsaw because of the devastation inflicted on the environment under his watch. So that's to say,he wasn't exactly winning the world's greatest president month. But as far as the younger Bolsonaro,
25:28it doesn't look like his petition's actually going to go very far. Because like I said,his campaign also requested the extension he's complaining about, but he also lostby a margin of roughly four million votes.So we're not looking at like a rounding error.But the real concern is like, you know,whether Flavio's refusal to concede,it could spark a wave of protest like what we saw four years ago.Faith in both the electoral system and judicial independence in Brazil,
25:48it's been strained ever since.And so there's a question of could they go through another round of like what we saw before?Plus, a big thing here is that when Lula goes back into office,he's going to be facing a conservative Congress,meaning that he might not have the backing to actually implement meaningful reforms,which then isn't actually going to inspire trust or love of this.And then of course, there's the Trump of it all, right? He may not have outwardly endorsed Flavio, but he did endorse Jayao Bolsonaro back in the day.And you had him come in hot with double-digit tariffs on Brazilian goods and retaliation for Bolsonaro's prosecution.
26:17Right, and Trump, he's reportedly been reinforcing this shift to the right-wing across Latin America with electoral endorsements,financial bailouts and millions of dollars in military aid.And so you've got people like Kenneth Roberts, a professor of government at Cornell University saying,the US is certainly putting its finger on the scale to try to help the more hardline right-wing elements in the region.So he's kind of been playing kingmaker down there.Lula, you know, him winning, that puts a damper, we'll call it on that.Especially because Lula has openly stood up to Trump in the past.Except I will say, even with all that defiance, we'll call it,
26:44Lula is seemingly willing to negotiate with the White House.Rebecca May made a visit to Washington to discuss trade and minerals and organized crime,which also, I guess, coincidentally, undercut the Bolsonaro's claim that they were the only ones who could work with Trump.And with this, you've got experts like Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations saying,Lula is pragmatic enough to work out some kind of modus operandi with the Trump administration, saying,I'm not sure anyone in the Trump administration beyond a few individuals will want to keep making the Bolsonaro is the central issue in the U.S.-Brazil relationship.But he knows that he needs to get stuff done and maybe working with Trump within reason is the way to do it.Then again, that may be easier said than done because it seems like Trump isn't too happy with this election, right?
27:21Even though he very much wants you to know that he personally does not endorse anyone.Well, it looked terrible to me. I thought it was a terrible looking. I didn't take sides, but it looked like another rigged election, frankly.I didn't take sides, but it was a terrible look for the world.It's another election.You know, elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me.I didn't take sides.I didn't endorse anybody or anything, but I watched the election.It looks so corrupt.
27:52But as far as what happens next, we're just going to have to keep her eyes on this and see how it plays out.And then there's even more that we got to dive into in just a minute after a quick self-promo break.Because one of the best ways you can support the show,is to wear your feelings by getting something overat Beautifulbastard.com.Or whether you want in on what's become a fan favorite,our latest drop, or which has teas and crewswhere I used to be on the honor roll,
28:11now I'm on a government watch list.Do not talk to me about AI and how many grams of proteinwill it take to restore the light in my eyes.As well as of course, our now classic bestsellers.Like yeah, no, I'm fine.God is texting me and I refuse to study,a silly goose in this economy and emotionally exhausted.With all of that and even more,
28:26now available at Beautifulbaster.com.And yeah, go snag your new favorite tea,wear your feelings and support the show.But then, Devin,into some final stories today, did Benjamin Netanyahu try to drag the Middle East back into a war just to survive an election?Because while many of you are scoffing and going, yes, of course he did.You also now have reports coming out that he tried to restart strikes on Iran earlier this month,with Israeli ministers and even Washington pumping the brakes.
28:49Or reportedly, even Donald Trump's administration refused to give the green light, asking Israel to hold off until the US is strategically positioned and ready for a broader campaign.It was also Trump doubled down that we have to finish the job eventually.And internally, it's said to have triggered chaos.You've got Israeli outlets reporting that the IDF chief of staff clashed directly with Netanyahu warning that launching an offensive right before the voteYou could force the Knesset elections to be postponed entirely with that spark an outrage from rivals at home and opposition figures asking the attorney general to open an inquiryEspecially since it seemed like domestic Israeli politics not military strategy was driving Netanyahu's push for an attackNow for his part in Nanyahu's office has blasted the reporting as total fake news and defense minister Katz insisted that Israel had zero intention of initiating preemptive strikes before voters head to the pollsBut whether or not this was an attempt to postpone elections or drum up support for Netanyahu, it probably doesn't matter
29:35Perceptions there and the fact that he's the type of guy that makes this situation believable is probably why his coalition is going to lose tomorrow to the more centrist block run by a former IDF chief.But again, polls are polls and we'll see how the actual election turns out.And then also in the news, we've got to talk about the tech world scrambling after Microsoft sent out buyout offers to 60,000 employees.That's like one-fourth of the entire company.This massive move is said to be targeting redundant roles across multiple divisions as the company's aggressively pivoting.resources towards next generation infrastructure and efficiency, aka more AI. And a key thing here is thatbuyouts of this scale, they're essentially unheard of and it's a balancing act for this company.But on the one hand, they want to heavily cut down on head counts and reduce payroll in the long run.
30:13But on the other hand, just conducting a mass layoff at this scale, it would be a PR nightmare.And of course, as nice as some people might see this, there is an underlying threat to everyone.If there aren't enough people that take the deal, mass layoffs are probably going to follow.And so this entire offer, it ends up being a gamble for the employees. Do they want the guaranteedmoney and transition support now or do you want to kind of gamble it that your role isn'tgoing to be the one that's redundant after the buyouts are finished so actually many you feel likethis isn't add enough especially as the tech space has been posting record revenue but also the devilis in the details while you're raking in a lot of money it is also incredibly expensive to build out
30:43AI computers and data centers and if the companies are doing this other departments also get squeezedfor their budget but a key part of why this is such big news is that there is a real fear thatmicrosoft is just the first domino and another industry-wide layoffs free that's to come and ifIf everyone is going to do that, where do all those workers go?Well, I guess that's more a problem for the people and not the companies, because usually theirstock price goes up when this happens.And that, my friends, you beautiful bastards, is the end of your Monday show.Thank you for watching, like, and share, and be and subscribe to these daily dives into the news.
31:10And actually, we can dive further into more news right here if you check out this video.But hey, no matter what you do, let me just say, I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back heretomorrow.