The Philip DeFranco Show - Tucker Carlson’s Apology Changed Everything & Why Deplatforming Isn’t Stopping Nick Fuentes' Rise

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Starting point is 00:01:04 Tucker Carlson is so, so, so sorry, and we're all about to read the Bible together. That is just a teeny taste of what we're about to dive into. But let's start with Trump's scheme to hold on to his majority in Congress, even though he is polling so horribly. And all of this, of course, stems from last summer. Trump urged Republicans to redraw the congressional maps for him half a decade ahead of schedule. We have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats. We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas. And I won Texas.

Starting point is 00:01:29 I got the highest vote in the history of Texas, as you probably know, and we are entitled to five more seats. So Texas kicked it off with Governor Abbott wanted to be good for his daddy Donald. We're giving themselves five more likely red seeds, but then you and California responding with its own map that was intended to add five more blue seats. And from there, it's just been a gerrymandering arms race with North Carolina, Missouri, and Ohio helping Republicans, while Utah's courts gave the downs an unexpected seat. And well, now today, Virginia is holding a referendum on whether to redraw its map as well. And if it happens, the Democrats could absolutely clean house. Because right now, Dems have six of the state's 11 house seats, but with the new map, they'd likely secure 10.

Starting point is 00:02:03 And so with just those four extra seats, they'd wipe out the two or three seat advantage that Republicans currently have in the past year's gerrymandering race. But also, if Florida redraws its map soon, as Ron DeSantis's promise, then the balance would likely tilt back towards the Republicans. And that's even before considering that the Supreme Court might strike down the part of the Voting Rights Act that effectively bans effectively gerrymandering, because then Republicans could really go wild. But regardless, in the here and now, this referendum in Virginia, it's being seen as incredibly consequential. Which is why Trump urging his people to vote against it, warning that a Democratic victory in the midterms, it would be a disaster for.

Starting point is 00:02:33 It's terrible, it is true, John. It's nobody's ever said anything like it. It's so unfair. They even say it's unfair. They say, oh, they'll do it once and maybe they'll go back to what it was. It's, the whole thing is ridiculous. If the Democrats, look, if they get additional house seats,

Starting point is 00:02:47 at some point, if they get these additional seats, they're gonna be making changes at the federal level. But also I'll say it's increasingly unclear how much his word even matters, even to his supporters. Right because one by one, we've seen some of his most ardent cheerleaders defecting. We're talking to people like Marjorie Taylor Green, Candice Owens, Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson. Also, speak to which, Tucker, who recently suggested that Trump might be the antichrist, he's now essentially calling the president a little bitch.

Starting point is 00:03:11 Maybe it's inevitable that you get, once the patriarchy has been overthrown as it has been. Yes. Do you get a president like this who's emotional, all about himself? Yeah. He's perpetually the victim. Right. So that's from his most recent episode with his own brother, Buckley, Carlson, who recently quit his job, is J.D. Vance is a deputy press secretary and is now speaking out against Trump.

Starting point is 00:03:29 This guy has failed in his responsibility. He is disdainful towards the American people. He's disdainful towards the people who put him in office. The only people he's been loyal to are the neocons and his donors. You and I and everyone else who supported him. You wrote speeches for him. I campaign for him. I mean, we're implicated in this for sure.

Starting point is 00:03:50 Yes. It's not enough to say, well, I changed my mind or like, oh, this is bad. I'm out. It's like in very small ways, but in real ways, you and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now. You know, we'll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And I want to say, I'm sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional.

Starting point is 00:04:13 That's all I'll say. Now, a big thing to remember with Cucker Tarleson is that while, you know, they're upset about a couple of issues that Democrats can get on board with. Or things like Iran and the Epstein files, their primary complaint seem to be that Trump is not extreme enough. They were saying that he didn't crack down hard enough on the BLM protest. He didn't stick up for the incarcerated January 6 defendants during the Biden years. He didn't prosecute corrupt Democrats aggressively enough. He didn't investigate who really shot Charlie Kirk and never jumped on board the anti-vax train. You didn't take the Vax.

Starting point is 00:04:38 But Trump did and encouraged everyone else to take it and then never apologized, even when it became clear that the Vax had killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world. It was poison. Look at the cancer rates. Look at the fertility rates. Like everything about it was a bioweapon aimed at us. Yes. And Trump didn't apologize for that. He to this day, we'll still talk about the success of Operation Warp Speed,

Starting point is 00:05:01 which allowed these things to come to market, which allowed the pharmaceutical company. You know what he said to me? I actually raised it with him because I'm so upset about it. But he did the same thing he did on the Iran War. When I talked about the Iran war, you say, well, like, this is hurting all these people. He's like, you don't believe in the polio vaccine? Like, that was a good vaccine, don't you think?

Starting point is 00:05:15 It's like, I guess I believe in the polio. I don't know. I mean, but that's not what we're talking about? It's like, what does it have to do with it? You mentioned Iran. He's like, do you think they should have nuclear weapons? No, I don't think, not for nuclear weapons in general, but it was a non-sequitur designed to shut down the conversation.

Starting point is 00:05:32 You also had Tuck and Buck take an issue with Trump's offensive words and behavior towards Christians, whether threatening war crimes on Easter, attacking the Pope, or most recently posting an image of himself as Jesus. And then actually touching on that, Trump now appears to be trying to get back into good graces with his Christian base by having an event called America reads the Bible. And it'll be a live-streamed week-long marathon in which nearly 500 Americans will take turns reading the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation,

Starting point is 00:05:53 to celebrate 250 years of the Bible in America. And as you'd probably expect, a number of the people doing the reading are overwhelmingly right-wing, including some cabinet members and politicians like Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, Susie Wiles, and Mike Johnson. Also, I might tune in, because I want to see whether Heggseth actually reads

Starting point is 00:06:07 from the Bible or he plagiarizes Pulp Fiction again. Though, by the way, at the very least, this is expected to carry a heavy Christian nationalist undertone. From the events announcement, claiming that the Bible is indelibly woven into the national identity and way of life. And actually Trump himself is supposed to read a passage from the Old Testament tonight from the Oval Office. Though also at that, I'll say,

Starting point is 00:06:23 say there is doubt whether any of this kind of song and dance that he's doing is going to meaningfully stem the bleeding that he suffered over the past year. With the newest NBC poll, for example, it puts his overall approval rating at just 37% with an overwhelming 63% disapproving. And so that's already horrible, but then it gets even worse for him when you break it down by how strongly people feel. Only 20% that they strongly approve and 50% strongly disapprove. And it used to be 40% strongly disapprove and 25% strongly approved. So that gap, it's now double the size widening from 15 points to 30%. And then also, when it comes down to specific issues, the numbers don't get any better.

Starting point is 00:06:56 Or with only 32% giving them good marks on the economy, either strongly or even somewhat, while 52% strongly disapprove. And then as far as the war in Iran, 33% approve and 54% strongly disapprove. And so now, compared to, you know, just one year ago, the percentage of folks who say that the country's on the wrong track, it's bumped up from 60 points to 67 points. But then also, interestingly, you know, while a lot of people are talking about Trump's popularity cratering, you're then also seeing people looking at one of his supporters now turned critic, who's ridden the anti-Trump wave to a surprising amount of wealth. than influence. Let's talk about Nick Fuentes. Because the Washington Post just published a pretty striking analysis of how Fuentes, one of the most extreme far-right figures online, has been able to make massive amounts of money despite being banned from nearly every mainstream and even some non-mainstream social media platforms. Right, because Fuentes has become one of the biggest streamers on

Starting point is 00:07:38 Rumble. Since joining, he's hosted more than 700 streams, gained nearly 700,000 followers, and racked up over 100 million video views just there. But because he has no sponsors and no traditional monetization, he relies almost entirely on super chats. Right, those paid donations that pop up on screen during a live stream. So the post, they analyzed over 1,400 hours of his streams, and they used AI to count those donations as they appeared in real time. And their findings were that since Trump took office in January last year, Puentes has received nearly $900,000 from roughly 11,000 donors just there. And since July, they say that he's been pulling in at least $60,000 a month. Though what was interesting to me is that nearly half of that revenue came from just the top 5% of donors.

Starting point is 00:08:10 Right, more than $400,000 came from just that small group. And then as far as the rest, it was smaller donor is mostly given $30 or less. Also, it is worth noting that, you know, most donors are anonymous, so you know, one person could actually be giving from multiple accounts or multiple donors could be sharing a username. But still, the pattern was clear enough. And notably, the donation spiked during moments of political crisis or violence. Right, they surged last summer during the protest over Trump's immigration policy, though, I will say that the single biggest boost came from his appearance on Tucker Carlson's podcast, right, which as we covered, ignited a full-scale mega-sive war. Some slam Carlson for platforming Fuentes, others defended the interview as

Starting point is 00:08:40 necessary because they argued Fuentes represents a real and growing faction of the political base there. And in the month after that interview, Fuentes' super chat revenue soared to $100,000. And you know, that was a big moment. He's still profiting. His average monthly donations are up 10% since that appearance. But then also, you know, Super Chats aren't his only income street. But he also runs $100 a month subscriptions to a private chat room where he interacts with fans and he sells merch. But really, this story stood out to me not because, you know, it's a story about one guy's bank account. But rather, you know, what's happening around him. Because for years, the assumption in a lot of mainstream conservative circles was that Fuentes' views, they were just so extreme that they'd isolate him. His audience would just fizzle out. The platform bans, the social stigma, would just push him into irrelevance. But that assumption, it's wrong. In addition to the left, you know, he's been shunned.

Starting point is 00:09:18 by mainstream conservatives and mega Republicans. Fuentes has also turned on Trump. He's told his fans that the GOP should be purged and burned to the ground and he's encouraged them to vote against Trump back candidates to pave the way for honestly something more extreme. And seemingly, despite all that, or maybe even because of all that,

Starting point is 00:09:32 his following's grown. It's why you have experts saying that the super chat numbers, they show he his real staying power and they also give him a financial incentive to keep building that audience. And you know, the idea that Fuentes represents a real voice within the American right, it's been validated by some pretty major figures.

Starting point is 00:09:44 Right Tucker Carlson hosted that interview that sent his numbers through the roof. Alex Jones had him on. earlier this year. Megan Kelly, who once called him crazy, has since said that she understands why people find his messaging valuable, calling him very interesting and very smart. And Elon Musk, you know, he reinstated him on Twitter, handing him a massive platform again. And while, you know, there's still plenty of opposition across the political spectrum and even the people who have given him platforms often try to distance themselves from specific views that he holds, the point is that

Starting point is 00:10:07 the door that was supposed to be shut, it keeps getting open. And then also every time it does, the numbers go up. And of course, connecting this to even more, all of this is playing out as another front in the ongoing mega civil war. On one side, you have more establishment Republicans, that letting figures like Fuentes set the agenda is going to alienate moderate voters and open the door to platforms that embrace explicit racism, sexism, and homophobia. But on the other hand, you have people arguing that Trump, he's already normalized extremism, that he's already cleared the path. So trying to wall Fuentes off is both too late and dishonest about where the base actually is right now. And the money that Fuentes is pulling in, the numbers that he pulls it, it's evidence that there is a

Starting point is 00:10:39 real faction of the base that can't be written off. So really to me, I think, the big question is, does this online following ever translate into actual political power? And there, you definitely have the experts split. Some argue that, you know, going viral and building a digital fandom, it doesn't automatically mean real world influence. The idea being that Fuentes is good at the internet, but that doesn't translate to elections or policy. But others, they strongly disagree. I mean, one researcher told the post, donating a superchat is the news showing up to a clan media media. It's a community builder. It shows you're involved and it's a financial form of keyboard warriering, a thing you can do for the cause. And internet culture researcher, Aden Walker argued that the money creates a deeper kind

Starting point is 00:11:11 of parasocial loyalty. Donors, they don't see Fuentes as a media personality. They see him as a truth teller whose approval they'll pay for. Newd Walker saying that the money marks a commitment, like they've got skin in the game and adding, they see him as their representative. These people don't have a platform themselves. And Fuentes himself has leaned into that dynamic. You can call me a Nazi. You better be careful. Because if I'm a Nazi, then there's millions of young people that are following a Nazi. So you better be careful about those words.

Starting point is 00:11:38 You're saying, I'm a Nazi. I'm a monster. There's a million monsters then. There's a million Nazis out there then. Because they love my show and they agree with me way more than they agree with you and they're pissed off and They'll follow me into battle right and that's the part that people should actually pay attention to because whether or not this base actually makes it out of the chat that the fact is that he is framing his audience this way and that they're paying him real money to validate that framing that is the story and even if he and his audience They don't become like the majority of the Republican Party you don't really need that many people to have a huge impact on the party You really just need enough to be able to play a foil to the Republican Party And that's likely part of the reason he's telling people not to vote Republican in the midterm, saying the Republican Party needs to suffer.

Starting point is 00:12:21 I mean, think about it. How many elections are decided by 5% or less of the vote? And if they can hurt the Republicans to a certain degree in the midterms, or even be perceived as hurting the Republicans in the midterms. There is a chance, and it's not a crazy one, that they will come groveling to his door. Because every fire, it starts with a spark. And then there's more that we've got to dive into in just a minute. But first, let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, you messed up Mother's Day when your gift dies before the weekend's over,

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Starting point is 00:13:41 the U.S. Iran ceasefire is almost over. It's not clear that talks are going to happen, let alone that a deal is going to be reached. And Donald Trump, who seemingly has no idea what's going on, says that he expects to be bombing Iran again very soon. Though notably, while he's now claiming that he's unlikely to extend the ceasefire, he may have already done it once. Trump announced the two-week ceasefire late on Tuesday, April 7th, and so outlets have been reporting since then that it would expire tonight, Tuesday, April 21st. But then yesterday, he told Bloomberg that the ceasefire would actually end Wednesday evening, Washington time. Effectively giving himself another 24 hours before he has to decide whether to make good on his threat to blow up every single bridge and power plant in Iran.

Starting point is 00:14:12 And that extra time, it might be so that a second round of talks could take place, although it's far from certain. Right because mediators? They reportedly said that they had gotten confirmation that both the American and Iranian negotiating teams would arrive in Islamabad tomorrow. Then there were reports today that the U.S. team would put their trip on hold after Iran failed to respond to its terms and Iranian officials never publicly confirmed their attendance. You've also had an Iranian lawmaker claiming that reports of an Iranian delegation presence in Pakistan are a complete lie, saying that Iran, quote, will not negotiate until the issue of the naval blockade is resolved. No, one possible explanation for the conflicting information is that Iranian officials disagree about how to move forward. With U.S. officials reportedly suspecting divisions existing between Iran's negotiating team and hardliners in the military and the government, which then raises questions about who's ultimately going to have the final say. So there you had one expert telling CNN, there's some level of distrust within the Iranian system between two factions. One faction is pro-d diplomacy represented by the country's parliament speaker and chief negotiator who sees some economic urgency to stabilize the situation.

Starting point is 00:15:02 And then adding the other camp is represented by elements of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that continue the resistance and the war who are quite ideological and not interested in getting a deal with the U.S. Then, of course, on the U.S. side, there's also been disagreement. Right in the first round of talks, for example, the U.S. delegation asked Iran to agree to a 20-year pause on all-nuclear enrichment. And while Iran would only agree to five at first, it's since reportedly offered to bump it up to 10 years. With it then, followed by another decade during which it had only enriched a levels well below weapons grade. But then also, Trump has said that he was against even his own negotiating team's initial 20-year offer, and he wants Iran to agree to a permanent ban. And he repeatedly claimed at the end of last week that Iran had caved.

Starting point is 00:15:35 Saying the other side, it agreed to an unlimited suspension of its nuclear program and the handing over of its stockpile of enriched uranium. You would Trump writing on social media that the talks should go very quickly and that most of the points are already negotiated and even telling some outlets that the talks would take place and a deal would be finalized by the end of the week. But you then had Iranian officials publicly rejecting Trump's claims. Very notably, some administration officials have reportedly said that Trump's comments have actually been incredibly counterproductive. Moving them further and further away from a deal that had seemed close. With one reportedly telling CNN, the Iranians didn't appreciate POTUS negotiating through social media and making it appear as if they had signed off on issues they hadn't yet agreed to and ones that aren't popular with their people back home. Then it also gets worse from there because apparently Trump not only doesn't know what the hell is going on with these negotiations.

Starting point is 00:16:14 He doesn't even know what country his chief negotiator is in at any given time. He told reporters on Sunday morning that JD Vans wouldn't participate in upcoming talks due to unspecific security concerns. For the same time, two different senior administration officials were appearing on TV and saying that Vance would be leading the delegation. And then yesterday you had Trump telling the New York Post that Vance was in the air and he'd be landing in Pakistan soon. But then just about an hour and a half later, Vance's motorcade with the vice president inside pulled up to the White House. Also, Trump's given conflicting answers about whether he would extend the ceasefire. In fact, last week, in a single round of Q&A's with reporters, he was asked five times whether he would extend the ceasefire. And he gave three different answers.

Starting point is 00:16:49 First responding, if there's no deal, fighting resumes, then answering, if we need to, I would do that. And finally saying, we'll see, I don't know that we'll have to. Ideally, we won't. Though today, I will say, he suggested that he was leaning toward the first option. I expect to be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with. But we're ready to go. I mean, the military is rare. to go. Trump also claimed that the military is, quote, loaded up and is actually much more powerful now than it was before the ceasefire.

Starting point is 00:17:14 And he was some arguing that Trump setting the U.S. barreling toward a situation where boots end up on the ground in Iran. Because despite the ceasefire, he's continued increasing the American military presence in the region. And by the end of the month, more than 10,000 additional troops will have been sent to the region since the fighting came to a hall. So you had one expert telling the Guardian, if we pay more attention to what President Trump does rather than what he says, then a ground invasion is quite likely. And adding, we have not seen him deploying significant military assets to any theater and ending up not using it. there is a clear risk of mission creep here. But Trump, he's now arguing that everyone just needs to chill out because other wars in the past, they've lasted longer.

Starting point is 00:17:45 I just looked at a little chart. World War I, four years and three months. World War, six years. Korean War, three years. Vietnam, 19 years, Iraq, eight years. I'm five months, okay? Five months. I would have won Vietnam very quickly.

Starting point is 00:18:02 And then with that yet, I'm claiming that he doesn't want to be rushed, saying that he wants to make a great deal, and he has all the time in the world, do it before then seemingly downplaying the loss of American life in this conflict. If you look at this, what we've suffered in terms of losses, we lost 13 men, and that's terrible. I wish we didn't lose one. But if somebody would have said, we've done this and obliterated that country, obliterated it, and we lost 13 men, people would have said, that's not possible to have done that. It's not possible. So we've done a great job, and I don't want to be rushed by people that are

Starting point is 00:18:34 really treasonous as far as I'm concerned. And as far as who he sees his treasonous. And as far as he sees his treasonous, he called out House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his opposition to the war. He's a totally low IQ person, and he's always ranting and raving, oh, this war is so terrible, they shouldn't be saying that when we're in the midst of a negotiation, because it does hurt us somewhat. It gives the other side some hope, and I don't want them to have hope. But also with that, besides Jeffrey's Democratic Senator Chris Murphy might actually be taking some of the most heat right now for his criticism of the war. Because Murphy, he's also been extremely vocal, and lately he's take an aim at Trump's blockade and seizures of Iranian-linked vessels, writing in one recent post.

Starting point is 00:19:08 We are spending billions to keep our entire Navy in the strait to fecklessly fail to open a waterway that wasn't closed until Trump's pointless war of choice closed it. He's just burning your tax dollars. And later, you had him writing, awesome in response to a post sharing an article that estimated that at least 26 Iranian shadow fleet vessels had bypassed the U.S. blockade. And there you had a number of accounts responding by accusing Murphy of being a traitor and rooting for the enemy. You even had a White House spokesperson speaking to Fox News and saying, It takes an insane level of Trump derangement syndrome to cheer for a terrorist regime that chanced death to America. But then you had Murphy defending himself in another post writing,

Starting point is 00:19:37 okay, Twitter, I can't believe I need to clarify this, but obviously Trump's bungled mismanagement of this war is not awesome. As I have said, a million times here, it's a disaster and he should end the war immediately. My tweet was something called sarcasm, which one, I'll say personal note, yeah, that is how I took it as sarcasm, but also two. You know, while stories like that one, they get a lot of attention, there are also others that are connected to the war that seem to fly under the radar. Right, because this was also this week, for example, you had Trump signing a series of memos invoking the Cold War era Defense Production Act to push fossil fuel production in the name of defense readiness.

Starting point is 00:20:07 And these memos refer back to his day one executive order declaring a national energy emergency, right, arguing that oil, coal, and natural gas production must expand to, quote, avert an industrial resource or critical technology item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability. So while Trump's already boosted fossil fuel production, blocked renewable energy projects, and stripped back environmental protections, he now may be using the war to go even further. And also in the meantime, as the U.S. economy is reeling, he might be really, start sending money to another country to help it deal with the impacts of that war. Or with Trump saying today that his administration is considering offering financial support to the UAE in the form of a currency swap,

Starting point is 00:20:37 similar to the $20 billion bailout given to Argentina tied to support for the country's far-right president. But it's also not clear right now how much the UAE really needs the help, right, since it's an oil-rich economy with trillions of dollars worth of sovereign wealth fund assets and no dollar liquidity problems according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg. And then also notably, you know, Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and member of the team negotiating with Iran, his investment firm has been backed with more than $1.5 billion in capital from sovereign wealth funds in the UAE, where a government-linked firms also invested in the Trump family's crypto company and the Trump organization is currently building

Starting point is 00:21:05 a luxury hotel in the country. So seemingly, you know, with whatever happens, with the ceasefire or anything that happens, the pain that's felt, the people that die are maimed. What seems to be clear is that the rich, they're just gonna keep getting richer. And then there's more that we've gotta dive into in just a minute, but first let me thank a sponsor

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Starting point is 00:22:19 Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Daremer just resigned after a months-long investigation into an alleged affair with a security officer, taxpayer-funded personal trips, drinking on the job, and creating a toxic work environment. She says that she's now headed back to the private sector with her lawyer saying that it's about serving the country and letting the Department of Labor do its work without distraction. But also, even though I know a lot of people weren't even aware of this person, the path to this resignation, it's worth looking at because it's been snowballing pretty quickly. Complaints against her started back in January and, you know, we can go through them. Regarding the travel, Labor secretaries are expected to be on the road. And last year, she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on more than 50 trips as part of her America at work tour, meeting with workers and employers across the country.

Starting point is 00:22:54 You know, that's the job. But reports say that she had personal ties to at least 10 of these stops. short work events and spending the rest of the time visiting family and friends or party. And while interagency investigators have reviewed evidence and spoken with witnesses, no conclusions have been publicly announced. Though at least her husband says that there isn't an ounce of truth to any of it. Then regarding the affair, complaints say that she had meetups with a mystery security officer toward the end of last year.

Starting point is 00:23:15 One, reportedly in Las Vegas while she was celebrating her niece's birthday. And while photos confirmed she was in Vegas, outlets like the New York Post said that they found no direct evidence of a hookup. And you had a White House spokesperson dismissing the allegations is coming from disgruntled former employees. Then regarding work environment, you had staffers, describing it as toxic with hostile a deeply demoralized staff.

Starting point is 00:23:32 She also allegedly kept a stash alcohol in her office and asked employees to bring her in another aid, wine at least one work trip. Though again, want to stress, nothing confirmed publicly yet. Whether or not any of this is ultimately proven, the fallout, I mean, it's already been substantial. Her chief of staff and deputy chief of staff were placed on leave when the allegations surfaced

Starting point is 00:23:46 and both eventually resigned. Also, the security officer that she allegedly had the affair with was placed on leave, and now she's out. Though her attorney insists that, you know, the resignation has nothing to do with any legal wrongdoing, that she's just stepping down to let the Department of Labor function

Starting point is 00:23:58 without distraction. You know, one of the things that really makes us notable is that Chavez De Rima really wasn't supposed to be a controversial figure. She spent 20 years in local politics. City council member, mayor, house representative. She actually won Democrats over with her stance on labor. Right after she lost her house seat last November, it was the president of the teamsters who nudged Trump to put her up for labor secretary, and she got bipartisan support. Enough Democrats crossed the aisle to confirm her that, you know, she was seen at least briefly as a rare win for labor advocates in this administration. But then things started to slip. You had reports saying that her pro-labor agenda didn't sit well with business leaders.

Starting point is 00:24:26 And so then she eased up on it. She started winning business support through deregulation, apprenticeship programs, and legal opinion letters at favored employers. So you saw that straining her relationship with most unions, though the Teamsters were still in her corner. Though other unions, they put it bluntly. Saying things like, we need a Labor Secretary who understands working people and will work to make our lives better, not just be a rubber stamp for corporations wish lists and got the protections we count on. And so with Her gone Keith Sunderling, the Deputy Secretary of Labor since last year, he stepped up. But then also, like, let's look at the big picture here.

Starting point is 00:24:53 This is the third cabinet member to exit, less than halfway through Trump's second term. And apparently, she was summoned to the White House and given an ultimatum or get kicked out. So, well, Chada is the Reamer wasn't fired like Pam Bondi or Kristy Noem, a resignation under investigation, that's still significant. Especially for a president who specifically stacked his cabinet with loyalists. But between Bondi's Epstein file scandal, Nome's ICE scandal, and now this, Trump's handpick leader is dropping at a pace that's really hard to ignore.

Starting point is 00:25:16 And of course, every exit, it means more time playing Tetris to find replacements, right? Rubio can't do every job, less time running the departments and a public that's just left holding the short end of a stick. And as far as Sunderling, he's now walking into a slow job market. with sluggish wage growth and creeping unemployment. That's something that's gonna take a lot of time and expertise to address. And you know, this musical chairs at the top of this cabinet, they're not gonna make anything easier.

Starting point is 00:25:35 But then also, while he tries to figure that out, you had yet another one of Trump's picks, Kevin Warsh, in the hot seat today. Right, and Kevin Warsh is Trump's choice for the chair of the Federal Reserve. And today, he went before the Senate Bank Committee for his confirmation hearing. And actually, for a Trump nominee, this guy does seem weirdly qualified for the job. He's an Ivy League graduate. He worked in financial services at Morgan Stanley before then serving as economic policy advisor under George W. Bush. From there, Bush appointed a president.

Starting point is 00:25:56 him to the Fed Board of Governors in 2006, where he served until 2011. So notably, that's before, during, and after the 2008 financial crash. But also, despite his resume, you know, going into this hearing, we kind of knew that his immediate confirmation was a long shot. Because Senator Tom Tillis, a key Republican on the committee, has said that he will not confirm Warsh until the DOJ drops the criminal investigation into the Fed and the current chairman Jerome Powell. Because while on paper, that case is about the renovations for the Fed's headquarters going over

Starting point is 00:26:20 budget, Powell has said, and many think, that this is a pressure campaign from Trump to try and the Fed to lower interest rates. It is also actually what a federal judge found as well, blasting it as an act of intimidation. And so during this hearing, you had Tillis sticking to his gun, saying, Somebody over in the DOJ didn't even check with the boss. The boss said on the same night that I said,

Starting point is 00:26:39 I can't go forward until this bogus investigation is done with, said he didn't know anything about it. We have got to end this investigation. Big DOJ didn't know about it. The president didn't know about it. Let's get rid of this investigation so I can support your confirmation. Now with that, Trump was asked this morning,

Starting point is 00:26:54 whether he dropped the investigation into Powell in order to get Warsh confirmed. And it resulted in a kind of a rambling rant. They ripped down the most beautiful ceilings. They'll never build them again. The most beautiful, thick, foot and a half thick walls of solid masonry. They're never going to be built again. They put up six inch sheet rock walls. And they say, sir, we have no insulation.

Starting point is 00:27:13 It's not in the budget. I would have fixed that building. Beautiful, quickly. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, gorgeous moldings. So that isn't, you know, give us a ton to go on. But what we do know is that without a vote from Tilly, the committee reportedly doesn't have the votes to advance his confirmation to the Senate. Right, Republicans, they have a slim majority here, and Warsh, he didn't really win over any

Starting point is 00:27:31 Democrats. And he would those on the committee lingering on a couple of points. Or with the first being that the guy has some serious investments that have sparked a lot of concern. Before the hearing, he disclosed more than $100 million worth of assets, which makes him significantly wealthier than any previous Fed chair. He also pointedly refused to identify the underlying holdings of some of his biggest investments. And you had him specifically citing confidentiality agreements. Right, you had the committee's ranking members, Senator Elizabeth Warren, hitting on that hard during her questions. And to that point, Warsh has said that he struck an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics to divest the majority of those assets.

Starting point is 00:27:58 We also really didn't satisfy Warren or other Democrats on the committee. With Warren, specifically asking Warsh how those assets will be sold and to whom? Or with the apparent concern being that Warsh's pockets were going to get lined and he'll be stuck in someone's pocket just before taking office. And in response, you know, Warsh kind of dancing around the question without really answering, which is worth pointing out. But also, you know, one of the biggest questions at hand was the Fed's independence and specifically the extent of Trump's influence over Warsh. Trump has specifically said he thinks Warsh is going to get him the lower interest rates that he wants. And those comments, they sparked a lot of concern because the big thing about the Federal Reserve is that it is supposed to be independent and removed from politics. And during the hearing, Warren really hammered the point home calling war, one, Trump's sock puppet, and two, her few minutes of questioning, it was a very heated exchange.

Starting point is 00:28:36 I need to know, I need to measure your independence and your courage. So let me ask you another question. In our meeting, you said you would be independent because you're, quote, a tough guy. Those were your words, tough guy. And you will be able to stand up to President Trump. So let's try it again. Name one aspect of President Trump's economic agenda with which you disagree. Well, Senator, the Federal Reserve in recent years has wandered outside of its remit,

Starting point is 00:29:06 wandered into other areas. I'm asking for something you disagree with Donald Trump on. We need a Fed chair who is independent. That's the only way we preserve the independence of the Federal Reserve. If you can't answer these questions, you don't have the courage and you don't have the independence. I agree with you on Independence Senator. With all that said, you know, it is just the beginning of the process. We're still looking at a long road before Warsh actually takes the oath of office.

Starting point is 00:29:30 But also a big thing is that Trump has said that if Warsh is confirmed by the end of Jerome Powell's term on May 15, he's going to fire Powell. And if with that you're getting a sense of deja vu here, it's because he's made that threat before, like a lot. So again, it's not clear whether he actually has that power. In fact, the Supreme Court's even expressed doubt regarding the case centered on Trump trying to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook last summer. So as far as, you know, what is next, from here, it's kind of just a matter of waiting to see how things shape up for Warsh following today's hearing. And so in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below, whether it be this story or really anything else that stood out to you today. Because yes, this is a news show, but I kind of really

Starting point is 00:30:01 live with a conversation. But then, my friends, you beautiful bastard is the end of you Tuesday, Philip DeFranco Show, dive into the news. And well, of course, we'll see you right back here, same time, same place tomorrow for another dive into the news. And you're getting a brand new episode of crashing out around noon tomorrow. In the meantime, if you missed yesterday's Philip DeFranco show click or tap i also got links in the description with that said thank you for watching i love yo faces and i'll see you then

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