The Philip DeFranco Show - Why Democrats Are Melting Down Over Hasan Piker & MAGA’s Iran War Anxiety is Getting Worse

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

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The Hassan Piker situation's gotten crazy as Democrats are divided and don't know what to do about him, and so we asked him. 8 million people marched against him as Trump didn't show up to CPAC and his approval just hit 36%. And every Trump-Iran deadline keeps getting moved as every Trump threat gets bigger and Iran says they're waiting to set troops on fire. We're talking about all that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show you daily dive into the news, but actually first, a very big announcement. Very excited about this. I just launched a substack for you at Philip DeFranco.com.

So that means a number of things. Every story that I cover on this show, it now gets its own full written break down with sourcing. Also, the daily dip goes out every morning, and I'm also putting out exclusive posts there, like my Friday Feelings article that I really, really think you'll love. All of that for free, subscribe to it right now. I also explain the reasons why we did this, because it is important. Because we hear from an increasing number of y'all every single day in comments, DMs, emails, the text line, people telling us that they're subscribed to this channel, notifications are turned on and YouTube's just not putting the show in front of you.

It happens when we cover certain topics more than others, but, you know, people have to go actively search for the show to find it. All while, the whole landscape's changing. I mean, on TikTok, after Trump's front of you. We've got it, we watched our views crater overnight on videos covering, again, certain topics. We're making content, we're adding coverage every single day trying to explain what's really happening out there while people are confused and it's not reaching the people who ask to see it because of suppression, bad algorithms, and at times just bad site design. We just have zero control over that.

So we built a place where that can't happen. When you subscribe at philip defranco.com, the content comes to your inbox. If you're a big substacker, that's fantastic. I love the ecosystem so far. I'm like having so much fun there. The biggest thing is that it goes directly to you, not to a feed that an algorithm, them ranks, right? Not to a platform that can decide that your video about the war or the FCC or the Epstein files today. It doesn't get distribution. Your inbox. That is it. And then also,

if you want to help support the show and also you want ad free episodes and a direct say and what we build next for everyone, like how we, you know, tried that special 35 minute deep dive into the economy that it took us like two and a half weeks to do. Paid memberships, they start at $6.67 a month. But even the free subscribe, it means that you never have to wonder if you're missing an episode again and you get so much more content. So philiptofranco.com, link in the description, you got a QR code there because if they don't want you to see it, it's probably worth reading and watching. So a big thank you in advance to the DeFranco Nation for joining me there. I'm very excited about it. But we have a lot to talk about today starting with this.

If there's anything that you can count on just being true year after year is at the conservative political action conference, right, CPAC, it's always so weird. Everything seems at times very fake and gay. I think a gay Ayatollah in charge of Iran is definitely mission accomplished. The Republican Party is the party of truck drivers and steel workers and cops and firefighters and waiters and waitresses and the men and women with calluses on their hands who go to work every day and provide for their families. There's a lot to talk about here. We've got more Magas of a war drama, more Iran war infighting, and even Hassan Pikers in the mix. But before we get into all the nitty-gritty, we need to talk about what happened over the weekend. I mean, it's being called the largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history, with more than 8 million people pouring out onto the streets for over 3,300.

no kings protests across all 50 states on Saturday. Though I will add an asterisk for now, because that's according to the events organizers and you have local authorities in some cities putting the number of people much lower, but either way, it was still massive. That's even compared to the first two No King's events in June and October last year, which drew five and seven million people. And again, you had people dressing up in costumes, waving signs and flags, banging drum, shouting through megaphones, dancing and singing.

Even had Bruce Springsteen performing a protest song in St. Paul. Who remember the names of those who died on the streets of many ads. As far as the Trump White House, they preemptively dismiss them as Trump derangement therapy sessions. But with that, I have to know, you know, while the common cause bringing all these people together with some grievance with the Trump administration, their reasons for being there were way more specific than Orange Man Bad. There's the war in Iran, the mass deportations, the economy's hurting, stuff's getting more expensive, the attacks on democracy, just to name a few things. So you had people like Bernie Sanders speaking to a crowd of tens of thousands in the Twin Cities.

No more kings! We not only say no to Trump's authoritarianism, we say no to Mr. Musk, no to Mr. Bezos and Mr. Zucker and Mr. Allison and all the other multibillionaires. You cannot have it all. We will create an economy that works for all Americans, not just the world. But also, down in Dallas, you saw what I guess you might call the Yes Kings protest, otherwise known as CPAC. Which just so we're on the same page is a generally pro-Trump event despite this moment of apparent confusion from the crowd there. How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings? No, that was the wrong answer.

We try it again. Now very notably, with all this, Donald Trump himself was actually absent from the event. In fact, it was the first annual CPAC since 2016 that he didn't go to. With many wondering if it's because he's too busy, retruthing AI slop, or drooling over his bathroom, or watching a wrong war footage like it's an action movie. You have to see it. It's very cool. Missiles launched, missiles launched, missiles launching. They're launching, okay, we're ready.

Then at seven seconds, uh, fire, fire, fire, fire, boom, fire, boom. And this is incredibly different from CPAC 2024 because back then, he blasted those who would quote, gorge themselves on the spoils of endless wars. But times have changed and so have the polls with the polls with the times have changed and so of the polls, the latest from Reuters putting Trump's approval rating at just 36%, the lowest point since he returned to the office or his second term. And the approval for the strikes on Iran, they were pretty much the same, just 35%. And we actually saw that reflected in the speakers who took the stage at CPAC, with, for example, former representative Matt Gates expressing reservations about the war.

I want President Trump to have every diplomatic tool at his disposal, and I do trust that he knows a great deal more than I do. but a ground invasion of Iran will make our country poorer and less safe. It will mean higher gas prices, higher food prices, and I'm not sure we would end up killing more terrorists than we would create. But also say there was plenty of pro-war sentiment on display as well, with panel discussions titled things like no nukes for jihad and MAGA versus Mullah Madness. Plus, you saw people like Ted Cruz getting a big reaction from the crowd with his war mongering. If you want an object lesson on what?

what a strong commander in chief looks like, take a look at the current resident of the Oval Office, President Donald J. Trump. Today we have a greater chance that in the next six months, we will see a new government in Venezuela, in Cuba, and in Iran. Though I will say, a lot of people gave the award

for the most pathetic bootlicker to RFK Jr. for this story that he told. Because according to RFK Jr., he and Trump were having McDonald's and Diet Coke aboard a plane, believable enough so far. This was during the campaign, and he said that Trump showed off his geopolitical expertise. And he got a place mad, and he turned it on its back, and then he took a Sharpie, and he drew a perfect map of the middies, and then he put the troop strength of every country on every border on that map, and it just challenged a lot of the assumptions that I had been

told about him. Now with that, I'll say there was at least one person who came at least somewhat remotely close to suggesting that Donald Trump's maybe not a world historical genius, and that was right-wing commentator Brandon Strauch. If you call yourself a patriot, but you believe that it is your obligation to only praise and only worship your president, then you must not be a patriot of this country because leader worship is how citizens behave in nations that aren't free. You can love your president, and you should. But it is your duty and your obligation as a free citizen. of the United States of America to challenge and question your government every day, regardless of who the president of the United States is.

But what I will say is what most CPAC speakers from Strock to Matt Gates to Steve Vannan agreed on was that as the midterms approach, Republicans need a ceasefire in this MAGA civil war. It's saying that the likes of Tucker Carlson and Megan Kelly, Ben Shapiro, and Mark 11, they need to put aside their differences at least for now and focus on the common threat of what they said was radical left Democrats. But even there, not everyone was on board with Josh Hammer arguing that Carlson, Kelly, Candace Owens, and the like, they're just simply too far gone to be given a space in the movement. The retard right denizens of podcastistan reject the fundamental essence, however, of MAGA.

Much like the neo-Marxist left, the retard right doesn't think America was ever great. They are therefore explicitly anti-Maga. In fact, they are actually just anti-American. The goal is to destroy the MAGA coalition and the current iteration of the American right. Like Hassan Piker and Howard Zinn, they want to make America great. by tearing it down. It's stupid. It's evil.

It's flaming, stinking garbage. So there was all of that, but also speaking of Hassan Piker, we've gotta talk about how Democrats, they're wrestling with a very similar question about whether or not he belongs in the party. Where you're seeing a divide, there's a big debate happening in the party right now with some candidates trying to embrace him in his platform,

to reach younger voters, and others thinking that he's just too toxic to touch. And that debate, it's getting pretty heated as we're in the primary season and with the midterms just around the corner. So one of the things that we've seen is that over in Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, race, one candidate, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, announced a college campus tour next week that would include

an appearance with Hassan. But then, he was quickly condemned by the Michigan ADL, who accused Hassan of amplifying violently anti-Semitic rhetoric. Right now, Syedad's two Democratic opponents, they also slammed him, with Michigan State Senator Mallory McMorrow saying Hassan says extremely offensive things in order to generate clicks and views and followers, which is not entirely different from somebody like Nick Fuentes. And then you had Representative Haley Stevens, also calling him the exact opposite of someone I'd be campaigning with. Right, and if you're new to this space and if you're wondering why Hassan's so controversial to these politicians, there have been a number of controversies, but in general, a lot of it appears to have to do with his very vocal opposition

to Israel and comments that he's made about what's been happening with Gaza. Because many of his critics have accused his criticisms of Israel of turning into anti-Semitism. And there you have people pointing to Hassan previously referring to some Orthodox Jewish people in Israel is inbred, many also feeling that he downplayed sexual violence that happened on October 7. They serve in the military and then they get their untrained inbred asses shipped into southern Lebanon. By the way, of which justifies Israel's actions. So it doesn't even matter. None of this justifies that Palestinians have a right to dignity, a right to emancipation,

a right to live free lives, free from this occupation. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if fucking rapes happen on October 7. Like, that doesn't change the dynamic for me even this much. Hassan also faced heat for saying that Hamas is a thousand times better than Israel, which he described as a fascist, settler, colonial apartheid state. And one of the things you see continuously pop up is that he previously said that Americans deserve 9-11. America deserved 9-11, dude.

But with that, he since said that the comment was inappropriate and that he never meant that the victims deserved to die. But these comments, they still come up any time a prominent Democrat appears alongside Hassan. And so in the last week or so, we've seen Politico running headlines claiming that some Democrats want to shut off Hassan piker's megaphone. The Wall Street Journal also ran an op-ed, claiming that some left-leaning politicians are getting too cozy with Hassan. But then also with this, you had Hassan speaking to a CNN correspondent over the weekend, and he defended himself saying... It's a heinous smear, first of all. I've spent my entire professional media career and far beyond that combating anti-Semitism.

I've been doxed, swatted by neo-Nazis, for my consistent advocacy against anti-Semitism. I just also happen to be an avowed anti-Zionist. That I think a lot of people cynically will say prominent critics of Israel are anti-Semitic. Are there critics of Israel that are anti-Semitic? Absolutely. I'm not one of them.

I oppose and abhor racism, ethno supremacy, racial supremacy of every, sort. I'm against it. I'm an anti-fascist. I'm unapologetic about it. And I'm not going to compromise on that. But also with this, the Michigan race isn't the only one where Hassan has caused tensions. Right, he just interviewed Effie Phillips Staley, who's running for a congressional seat in New York, and she then faced a ton of backlash from Democratic groups in New York for appearing alongside him again, arguing that he promotes anti-Semitism and bigoture. But there, you had Effie defending her choice to sit down with Hassan saying, by narrowing our tent and refusing to engage with platforms

that reach young people, we are effectively surrendering a generation of voters to apathy or the far right. While I don't align with every word Hassan Biker has ever said, we must recognize the massive value of a platform that engages millions of young people in democratic process and saying as Democrats, our job is to build bridges, not burn them. And on display, you've had other Democrats seeing the issue similarly. Just over the weekend, you had Bernie Sanders being asked about Democrats swearing Hassan off to what he said.

Well, I've talked to Hassan, and I think he's doing in many respects a very good job. And the bottom line is that we have got to communicate with people. It's fine to talk to everybody you know in your neighborhood, people agree with you on everything. I've been on Joe Rogan's show, as you understand. You got a lot of heat for that. Of course I did.

You know, and I disagree with Joe Rogan on this or that issue. But the last that I heard, you can disagree with me, right? Also, representative was like Roe Kahn, who's been on the show before he's previously embraced Hassan's platform with Kana recently telling Politico that Democrats, they need to build a wider coalition, and quote, that must include engaging with Israel critics like Hassan Pike or his pod save hosts have done and many progressive candidates have done. And doubting, of course, I disagree strongly with some of his statements and point that out, but canceling people or shaming people like

Asan Pike or Sean Ryan or Theo Vaughn is not the answer. Also, with all of this, you have some noting that when it comes to Israel, polling last year found that 77% of Democrats and 51% of independents think that Israel's committing a genocide. So that's a big chunk of people who see eye to eye with Hassan on certain points. But still, you have many thinking that Democrats should run away. And so with this whole situation and debate just growing by the day, we actually reached out to Hassan Piker himself and some of the politicians who have been speaking out against it.

And while we're still waiting to see if, you know, we can get one of those politicians on the books and hey, there's nothing shady here. It was short notice. It was this morning. But we did hear back from Hassan Piker today. And we tried to do on the PDS, especially with the time crunch we have. We put out questions for them to answer, so they're on the record. And then you can decide how you feel. And we'll get right to that interview after this sponsor.

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plus a freeze-willing knife on your third box. Offer valid while supplies last. Free meals applied as a discount on first box. New subscribers only varies by plan. And then diving right back into the news is promised. Here's our interview with Hassan. Hassan, Democrats are publicly split on whether you should be involved in campaigns, right? El-Sayed wants you on stage.

Stephen said you're the exact opposite of someone I'd be campaigning with. Slotkin said you sound deeply anti-Semitic. What is your response to elected Democrats calling you a liability? I have the same attitude that Bernie Sanders demonstrated after his rally yesterday. I think there's a major split within the corporatist side, the corporatist flank in the Democratic Party, the people that are constantly trying to appeal to this mythical, moderate, centrist voter. And that's been a demonstrable failure. And I think that the party's base actually understands it is a demonstrable failure, so they're demanding more. And these guys are, they're losing their relevance, they're institutional irrelevance, like a lot of these think tanks

like Third Way and certainly advocacy groups like, you know, A-PAC, ADL. So they're just kind of trying to create pressure wherever they can. And I think they're very boomer-minded because they think like when I go and stand next to a politician that actually benefits me, they don't realize that like politicians are coming to me because I can fundraise for them in a way that you really can't do unless in a way that you really can't do because it's like all individual donors

from all around the country right this is not like a like a closed door private dinner $50,000 a pop like this is like real people that appreciate what the candidate has to say and want to give $5 to you know $100

and then also on top of that I have a fairly active audience that makes up the door knocker base, as I like to call it, like a lot of activists, advocates, labor union leaders and, you know, lower level local politicians and the like who, when they get excited about a candidate, they want to do phone banking. Like there is a real grassroots momentum when candidates associate with someone like myself. And that's the reason why they do it because it's not, it doesn't give me any like significant legitimacy when I appear next to a candidate.

at least it doesn't work that way on the internet. No one really cares, right? And in the same way that, like, when I get favorable coverage from a legacy publisher, it's good for, you know, the managerial class. They read those papers. But it doesn't actually yield a real, massive amount of eyeballs and attention that translates to, like, viewership and an increase in, like, people tuning in to my broadcast as opposed to like Theo Von.

So they're both the old guard and desperately trying to maintain that old guard mentality by like trying to apply pressure to politicians that very clearly are more malleable, more persuadable. You know, you get a couple lobbyist phone calls or big donors that give a phone call. And then you release a statement like the one that Slotkin did, which was so crazy. Like she openly admitted that she doesn't know who I am. And then very clearly was like reading a talking point that was given to her. But maybe she didn't even like fully understand the talking about because she was saying the conflation. between Jews and Israel is anti-Semitism is like very anti-Semitic and it kind of seems like Hassan does that quite a bit and it's like no actually I do the exact opposite of that.

So it was that was like a funny angle. It wasn't even like quote mining to be like, well this quote seems crazy or whatever because like they all do that usually. There's like a couple of them flying around that the ADL disseminates. But but she didn't even do that where she just like went off on a tangent on something totally irrelevant and unironically. antagonistic to my worldview, something that I have for years in years pushed back against. Well, especially as we get closer to the primaries, though, I mean, we are going to see these things

coming out of like just people, you endorsing people or you being with people, people trying to use things that you've said and done. So we do have to talk about that while I have you on, right? Because, right, you've been accused of calling Orthodox Jews inbred, comparing Zionists to neo-Nazis, dismissing reports of sexual violence in October 7th, saying, I believe the quote. And once again, it could be a clip, so we'll get to that. It doesn't matter if rape happened on October 7th. It doesn't change the dynamic of me. And posting that Hamas is a thousand times better than Israel.

Which of those things would you say you stand by? Which of those things would you say you regret? And which of those things do you think are being misrepresented? I think the ones that are being misrepresented pretty egregiously are like the, it doesn't matter of rapes happened on October 7 or not because that was actually an argument that I was having fairly early on with a chatter who was denying sexual violence or the likelihood of sexual violence happening. I was telling him that this actually doesn't change the dynamic of genocide.

Like this doesn't justify genocide at all. But that one has been misrepresented pretty egregiously. As far as the inbred comments goes, there's like a massive compilation of this out there. Me like calling any kind of like ethno, religious, racial supremacist and inbred because a lot of these ideologies do revolve around genetic purity. But the idea that it's like directed at Orthodox Jews is ridiculous. it was specifically talking about like, you know, settlers and settlers destroying aid and things of that nature. But I do understand that it can come across as insensitive.

But so I will, as I told Politico, I believe, or in the New York Times, you know, I'll try to be a little bit more careful with my language there. As far as the differences between Hamas and Israel, I mean, that's that I do stand by. I don't have an issue when people point to that to say, how could you say such a thing? Because my counter always is, okay, well, then argue against it. Explain to me why Hamas is a larger danger to the world or larger danger to Palestinians or larger danger to Israelis than Israel is. Because Israel has committed a genocide. I think that's a, it comes across as like a statement that is out there because it's not one that you hear from any American commentator at all. But it's still a reflection of reality. It's not even a defense of Hamas at that. point. It's just a, and

it's a way to try to get people to understand, like, the severity of what Israel is done. And to also try to, like, make people understand that that these are, these are groups.

Like, Palestinian resistance is not operating out of a place of, like, anti-Semitism in the way that has been presented. It's operating out of a place of having an emancipatory need, right? This is 75 years of apartheid. It's a pretty brutal and pretty ruthless occupation that these people have been subjected to. You know, this is not an alien force that's like outside of the Palestinians.

I mean, they do have internal dynamics. They have, uh, Palestinians certainly are not all of them are fond of Hamas or anything, but it doesn't matter, right? Because like the, the much larger problem here right now is the genocide that Israel is conducted and the apartheid that it continues to maintain. And the last thing I'll get to regarding anything in the past because there's a lot of stuff happening now. I want to touch on, and I know that you're kind of limited on time. It popped up during everything with Mamdani, right? You said in 2019, America deserved 9-11. You later called it inappropriate. Do you still think that the underlying argument was right and that just the phrasing was off. And if so, what is that? Or have you moved off that position entirely? No, no. That was,

that was me talking about blowback, which is a concept that has academic consensus, right? And even in 2019 it had academic consensus. It's just that the way I, the language that I use was certainly not the best, especially because it can be misinterpreted and still is being cynically misinterpreted to this day. But I think at the end of the day, it's, again, it's people leaning into quote mining and to be like, oh, this person is not arguing in good faith. This is like an insincere person. It's a radical person. One thing I have noticed is that, as you probably also know, I collaborate with politicians quite frequently. Bernie Sanders, AOC, Rashida Teleb, Ilhan Omar. I have had Tom Steyer on the stream. Like, I collaborate with politicians, especially in the primary

season, but also in the offseason as well, Greg Kazar, someone who I was a big advocate to win the Congressional Progressive Caucus leadership role, right? Like, I understand the internal dynamics of the party. I talk to politicians all the time. I talk to analysts all the time. And yet, this issue only gets brought up when I'm campaigning or when I'm a lot you know when I'm working alongside Muslim candidates like the major blowups have only happened twice

first with Zaramam Dani where Andrew Cuomo was trying to associate me with like Islamic radical terrorism and then tie him back to that as well and now they're doing the exact same thing to Abdul al-Sayed so I think it's in some ways a not so subtle but certainly more subtle than like Randy Fine way of of terror jacketing

a candidate. Like to say like this candidate is is platforming a person who might be a dangerous radical, right? But it's ridiculous, especially because the issue that they're doing it on is Israel. And this ties back to the boomer mentality that I was mentioning earlier because Israel's a 90-10 issue, especially in the Democratic Party, Democratic Party's voter base. Right. So they are weirdly aligning themselves on the opposite side of an issue that's a 90-10 issue. They're siding with a 10%. And I think, I guess the point I'm trying to make is like no matter how much quote mining they can engage in or no matter how much they try to say like, oh, I'm a radical person. I think most people, especially after the last two and a half years, kind of understand that

this happens to anyone who puts themselves out there and says, you know, free Palestine, says they're on board with Palestinian emancipation that Palestinians deserve statehood, dignity, sovereignty. There's always a barrage of hatred, down to the likes of Ms. Rachel, who is an immensely kind person, like an impossibly kind person, who just simply says things like,

I don't think children deserve to die, right? So it's, it's, ironically, another thing that I talk about quite a bit as far as, like, the dilution of the term anti-Semitism, which is a severe crisis regardless. But this kind of dangerous conflation, this false conflation between Zionism and Judaism, paired up with like this barrage of attacks against people

who are advocating for Palestinian emancipation and consistently calling them anti-Semites, pairing people like myself up with morally repugnant worldviews like Nick Fuentes. I think that is a spectacular failure in terms of combating anti-Semitism. I think it actually leans into anti-Semitism. It makes people no longer take anti-Semitism allegations seriously. And it also legitimizes the likes of Nick Fuentes rather than de-legitimizes someone like myself. So I was going to ask you, right?

Because Mallory McMorrow, she compared you to Nick Fuentes in that you are someone who says offensive things to generate clicks and attention. That's a paraphrase of what you said. What's your reaction to be compared to a white nationalist by a Democrat? And do you think that comparison is being made in good faith? Or what do you make of it? No, I don't think that comparison is being made. in good faith. I will to be as charitable as possible,

I don't think Mallory McMurrow knows who I am. I think she just got talking points and thinks that this is like a viable way to draw a line in the sand between herself and Abdul al-Said, because they're both in like the anti-Zionist lane. They're competing for votes in the anti-Zionis lane where the votes are,

but then all the donations are on the pro-Israel lane, right? And Stevens is actually the pro-Israel candidate. She's the APAC candidate in this race. So it's very clearly, you know, position is already established, right? Everybody understands it. But I think this was Mick Morrow looking at the, you know, the three-way race that's taking place. It's within a margin of error and deciding maybe I can be the viable, you know, Israel curious candidate here and try to moderate

and maybe get some, and maybe get APEC off my back, which, you know, we'll see if it even happens. Because these are the types of things we have to pay attention to. Now it's really strange. It's not even about policies necessarily. It's more so about like what kind of subsidiary corporations is APEC going to set up that will not have the word Israel in it at all and how they're going to launch unlimited amounts of money because sometimes they are going to boost McMorrow. And sometimes they might even boost Abdullah Al-Saiad a little bit if they feel like there's a, there's a battle between McMurro and Abdul al-Said where like Stevens can win out at the end. So it's this complex machinery that I think undermines the principle of democracy, but we'll be paying close attention to it.

Do you think that might be connected? I mean, you have AOC, Rokana, other prominent progressives, right, appearing on your show, people like Bernie Sanders backing candidates on the campaign alongside you. But when many of them are pressed on specific comments, whether it be about Jews and Israel, most of them won't address those comments directly. Like, do you, do you think that the elected officials who associate you with, associate with you publicly, but won't defend specific things you've said? Like, does that stand out to you? Do you think that's just playing the game? What's your take there?

I think I should never be the conversation. So I think it's totally appropriate for these politicians to be like, guys, you know, there's going to be things that we disagree with. And there are things that we disagree with, not on the issue of quote, quote, Jews, obviously. But, like, there are going to be differences in opinions. It's healthy. It's normal. It's understandable.

right. So I think they're just covering their bases by being like, it doesn't matter if we have disagreements. I'm going to talk to this person. I think they're just trying to signal it in a way that is like the most appealing to the broadest base. I don't expect politicians to just like run around and defend every clip out of context. They're not, you know, they're not my fans, right? These are these are people that I work with. These are people that I want to fight for an agenda. And they are fighting for an agenda. So I support them. And if they stop fighting for furniture and I will stop supporting them. But at the end of the day,

this is an insincere conversation. So I do appreciate any kind of, any kind of defense, because I understand, or at least they understand, that this battle is for who gets to retain control over the party, right?

And I think they are just using me as an entry point. So when they're yelling at me and they're saying, I'm radical, they're actually yelling at the, the base because I do have a lot of fans, but I also am a megaphone for a lot of people who don't even know who I am, right? Like, these are people that I meet on the streets when I go to these protests, these are people that are totally outside of my demographics that are also expressing the same anger and discontent towards the Democratic Party's ineptitude, it's

factless nature against the growth of fascism in this country. So they've arrived at my position without hearing my commentary at all. So I'm not this like singular being that is you know, hypnotizing the base of support into demanding more radical things. I'm just a megaphone. I'm just one person, right? So for them to highlight me like this, I think boost my profile. It's rather flattering. It's definitely annoying that I have to like deal with all these, you know,

clips out of context or just I hate being misunderstood. I don't think anybody likes being misunderstood professionally. But at the end of the day, I think a lot of politicians also recognize that this is more so, an ideological battle that's taking place in the Democratic Party. Are we going to have a left flank Democratic Party that represents the interests of the working class? Or are we

going to have a Democratic Party that continues along with this aesthetic posture against Trump if it that, that places the interests of corporations over the interests of people? And I think that's the real battle here. It's not me. Well, on the note of your fans, and this will be the last

question for you, you know, there are millions of young people who watch you. They align with your politics, they feel deep, like completely locked out of the Democratic Party. If Democrats decide that your radio act, that they cut ties, they keep pushing you, what do you think happens to those voters? Where do they go? What do they do? I think we, I mean, we just go back to square one, right? I mean, that was like how it was in 2016. I don't care if if politicians in general are just like, oh, I don't want to be a long, I don't want to, I don't want to appear alongside this person. My commentary is not going to change, right? Like, this is not about my own person.

feelings. Will it signal to me in some ways that like they are running scared, which I do think is a big problem with even some of our best candidates so far? Sometimes I think they are too conciliatory, too conceding to these, these groups that apply a tremendous amount of pressure by way of both the media and through, you know, direct phone conversation that they have with candidates. Absolutely. But at the end of the day, beyond that, it says nothing to me. I always repeat to my audience as well. I will have disagreements with even someone like Zoron who I admire, who I love, who, you know, I talk to with regular frequency, but there's going to be disagreements there, right? But at the end of the day, it's just all about putting the policy

in the bag, little bro. Just put the policy in the bag. I don't care. We don't have to be friends. It's great. He's a wonderful guy, but we don't have to be friends. As long as you are fighting for the working class, I'll be there. I'll defend you. when you are doing defensible things, and if you're doing indefensible things, I'll criticize you. Asan, thank you for the time, man. Of course. Thank you for having me. And so with all that, I'd love to know your thoughts, opinions, reactions,

what did you agree with? What did you disagree with? Why? And of course, looking forward, if we get a response from any of the politicians that have said things on the record, would love to get their comments and reactions as well. Right, and then from that, we've got two final things today. Congratulations and one more piece of news we've got to dive into. So first, I'll say congratulations to Elizabeth Kay, seekeek's latest weekly winner,

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with us and actually travel with us at Westjet.com slash 30 years. But then finally today, we need to talk about this Pete Hegseth situation, which will then also bring us into Iraq. Because everyone from rank and file Pentagon staff all the way up to Pope Leo, they are speaking out against Pete Hegset and his latest calls for violence in the name of Christianity. Because, you know, US military leadership has historically been very aware of the potential danger of invoking any one specific religion during wartime. There are several examples of prominent people in history, pointedly calling on spirituality rather than one religion or even trying to separate their public position from their personal religion as much as possible. But Pete Hegg said he's thrown all that to the wind,

pushing Christianity out the Pentagon and the military in a way that some people are calling unconstitutional and even dangerous. And the big one being implementing unprecedented monthly worship sessions of the Pentagon during his tenure. But he's actually brought in members of his own denomination to preach, notably including a prominent pastor who says that women shouldn't have the right to vote. And every single one of these prayer sessions, at least to this point, has been presided over by evangelicals. He's also done some heavy remodeling to the Chaplain Corps, cutting down its religious affiliation codes from 200 different faiths down to 31 and switching the visible rank on a chaplain's uniform to their religious insignia. And you had Hegzeth accusing previous administrations of injecting the Corps with

political correctness and secular humanism and reducing them to nothing more than therapists. And you had a retired Army Major General reporting dozens upon dozens at acts. of duty chaplain saying they're being marginalized, they're being cut out of communications, they can't voice their concerns, and their work as advocates is being threatened. Heg said has also scrapped the Army's spiritual fitness guide because he said it was more focused on self-care than what he called the truth. And all of that, it was brought to light thanks to his most recent prayer session making headlines, and it's the first since the war in Iran began. Almighty God who trains our hands for war and our fingers for battle, you who stirred the

nations from the north against Babylon of old, making her land a desolation where none dwell. Hold now the wicked who rise against your justice and the peace of the righteous. Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision. Endurance for the trial ahead. Unbreakable unity and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy. And so all of this, it's not sitting right with a lot of people and it's led to some major pushback.

For example, a senior army civilian who's worked in the Pentagon for decades saying that Hegeseth proselytizing like this, it's terrifying. Saying, if American troops believe, quote, God is on our side, then what precludes us from doing anything we want to win? Saying the strength of our military is our people and their sense of belonging to their unit and their service. Then as you had another member of a leadership team

within the Pentagon saying that this is a clear diversion from the historical rule of keeping religion out of the military as much as possible. Saying the point was it didn't matter and it shouldn't have mattered who you worship or whether you worship at all. What mattered was doing the job and being mindful that you represent all Americans no matter what they believe.

And adding, I don't approve of cramming a religious faith down people's throats, and when the top of the chain couches these operations and this hyper-Christian tone, it flies in the face of the freedom of religion that the Constitution enshrines and that are men and women in uniform sign up to defend. And you're even seeing criticism from devout Christians as well, including arguably the most devout. During his Palm Sunday Mass yesterday, Pope Leo shot down the idea that God justifies war at all, though notably he didn't mention Hegseth directly. Saying brothers and sisters, this is our God, Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war. He does not listen to the prayers of the

those who wage war but rejects them. With Pope Leo then going on to quote the Bible saying, even though you make many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood. With of course, this likely a reference to both war at Iran and Russia's ongoing campaign in Ukraine. Which notably, the Russian Orthodox Church is called a holy war against a Western world

it considers as fallen into evil. You know, the timing of this, especially the specific mention of rejecting the prayers of those waging war, it's worth mentioning here. Now that said, the Pentagon was quick to defend Hegeseth here with Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson saying their office is proud to host these services, will continue to do so, and then adding,

Prayer services at the Pentagon are 100% voluntary and are not mandated whatsoever. It is not against the law to worship Christ voluntarily anywhere in the United States. The Secretary's prayer services undoubtedly improve morale for those who choose to attend and are constitutionally protected. Claiming no special treatment or punishment

is given as a result of one's choice to attend these prayer services. But there, you'd a lot of people pushing back for a number of reasons. And one of the ways we're seeing that play out is you have Americans united for the separation at church and state suing the DOD for not turning over

public records requests about these services. With them arguing that they are obviously a way for Hegseth to abuse his position and taxpayer funds to impose his preferred religion and writing. Even if these prayer services are presented as voluntary, there is pressure on federal employees to attend in order to appease their bosses, especially since these services occur amidst the Trump administration's campaign to punish anyone who doesn't comply with its Christian nationalist agenda. While Hexeth's hard at work, building theocracy in the US and invoking religion to wage war in the Middle East, he has in the past slammed Iran for being led by religious fanatics hell-bent on America's destruction. Except now you've got Donald Trump claiming it those same people. are actually, in his words, very reasonable, and they're going along with his administration's demands, even though they continue to deny that, and even while Trump is making bigger, more dangerous threats to target civilian infrastructure in the country.

Do you remember when it was sometimes hard for me to fill an entire show with crazy stuff? Okay, so to start here, it has been more than a week since Trump threatened to obliterate Iran's power plans if the straight-ahor-mooz wasn't open within 48 hours. Or with Trump then delaying that deadline by five days, claiming very good and productive conversations were underway, which he expected might lead to, in his words, a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East. And he then had the US sending a 15-point peace proposal to Iran through Pakistan, but Iran publicly rejected Trump's terms and they countered with five conditions of their own. And then even as you had Trump repeatedly claiming that Iran was begging, again, his words, to make a deal

he suggested that they weren't taking the process seriously, writing in one post, they better get serious soon before it's too late because once that happens, there is no turning back and it won't be pretty. And then with that you also had White House Press Secretary Caroline Leveck claiming that if a deal wasn't reached, the US would hit Iran harder than they have ever been hit before, saying, President Trump does not bluff and he is prepared to unleash hell. Then Trump postponed the deadline again all the way to April 6th writing. Talks are ongoing and despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the fake news media and others They are going very well. But then also of course with that American or Israeli airstrikes kept up over the weekend Including with a string of attacks on Iran's critical infrastructure that hit power plans of water reservoir and steel production

And even Iranian state media outlets reporting that US and Israeli strikes even hit several research and educational buildings at the Iran University of Science and industry Which a foreign ministry spokesperson claimed was among many universities and research centers deliberately attacked since the war began. Right, and then you had the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warning that it may retaliate against American University campuses in the Middle East. And with that, well, American and Israeli officials have said that strikes in Iran are aimed at military or what they call dual-use targets. Many have taken place in densely packed residential neighborhoods with high-rise apartment buildings, meaning spillover, it's just unavoidable. You've got tens of thousands of residential units across the country having been destroyed since the

start of the war, according to the Red Crescent. And then with that over this weekend, you had the U.S.-based human rights activist news agency reporting that 70% of recorded attacks over the previous 24 hours had taken place in Tehran, particularly in residential areas. And you're the organization reporting that more than 1,500 people, including at least 236 children have been killed in Iran over the course of the war out of more than 3,000 total deaths, counting military and unclassified fatalities. And that is, on the flip side, Iranian strikes have also hit civilian targets. Rait and oil refinery in Israel was struck during an Iranian missile attack today, for example, sparking a fire. And yesterday you had a power and water

desalination plant in Kuwait. That was attacked, killing a worker from India. And then also this weekend the US suffered what's been described as one of the most serious breaches of American air defenses yet, but with an Iranian strike injuring roughly two dozen American service members on an air base in Saudi Arabia with most suffering traumatic brain injuries and two suffering injuries described as serious. And the strike also reportedly damaged a key aircraft use for monitoring enemy movements and coordinating operations, which may reportedly cost more than $700 million to replace while affecting operations in the meantime. With the retired Air Force colonel telling the Wall Street Journal, it's a huge deal. It hurts the U.S.'s ability to see what's happening in the

golf and maintain situational awareness. And then, in other big news, the Houthis enter the fight by launching a ballistic missile at Israel on Saturday. And while Israel intercepted the missile, a hootie spokesperson claim that the group's attacks would continue until the aggression ends against all the fronts of the resistance. And meanwhile, what we heard from Trump has just continued to be all over the place. Right, yesterday, you had him telling the financial times that his preference would be to take Iranian oil sources saying. Be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the U.S. say, why are you doing that? But then later, you had Trump happily saying that Iran had agreed to,

let 20 more cargo ships to oil through the Strait of Hormuz and what he said was a tribute to the U.S. and a sign of respect. But with that, sounding similar to last week, when Iran allowed around 10 ships to transit the Strait and Trump described it as a present to the U.S. But of course, this is only a fraction of the ships that normally pass through, and it's just proof of Iran's ability to control the traffic through the waterway. And actually, on that note, Iran has recently moved to formalize control over shipping through the strait with the country's parliament considering legislation to impose tolls on ships

that passed through the waterway. But Trump, he's continued to insist that Iran's been giving in, suggesting that it had agreed to most of the 15 points of the state that. had been asking for. But then very notably, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman recently commented again on the 15-point plan, calling it excessive, unrealistic, and unreasonable. And even while that guy seemingly represents the regime, Trump claimed that regime change has, in fact, already been accomplished in Iran because so many leaders have been killed. We've had regime change. You look, already, because the one regime was decimated, destroyed, they're all dead. The next regime is

mostly dead. And the third regime, we're dealing with different people than anybody's dealt with before it's a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change and frankly they've been very reasonable. Right and then you had trump doubling down on the idea of there being a new and more reasonable regime and power in iran on social media this morning and saying serious discussion was underway and a deal would probably be reached shortly. The we then also added we will conclude our lovely stay in iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their electric generating plants oil wells and cargoyle and possibly all desalinization plans which have been purposefully not yet touched. But also despite Trump's claim, Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps in some ways that the backbone

of the regime, they remain in power. And the guy who's reportedly leading indirect talks on Iran's side is the Speaker of Parliament who's been in that position since long before this war began, previously serving as a commander in the Revolutionary Guard. And in fact, you had him responding to Trump's threats by saying that his country was waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever. And he made that claim after suggesting that Trump's claims about negotiations are just meant to provide cover for a U.S. ground operation. And actually with that, thousands of U.S. troops reached the Middle East. over the weekend, including several hundred special operations forces, and you have members of the

82nd Airborne also on their way. With Axios in the Wall Street Journal also reporting in recent days that the administration is considering deploying yet another 10,000 ground troops to the region. And you also have the Wall Street Journal reporting today that Trump is still open to the idea of an operation to extract nearly a thousand pounds of uranium from Iran, which would not only be an extremely complex and dangerous operation, but also a potentially lengthy one. You're seeing experts saying it could take days or even weeks to complete. And that seems to be true for other options under consideration including potential ground operations to seize Karg Island, capture other key islands, or raid coastal areas nearby to find and destroy weapons that can target commercial and military shipping.

You had one source telling the Washington Post that the objectives under consideration would probably take weeks, not months to complete, and another putting the potential timeline at a couple of months. So we're hearing a lot of different things. And then with that, as these troops arrive, the Pentagon's already reportedly preparing for weeks of ground operations. So that definitely remains a possibility. And then in Lebanon, it's already a reality. Or with it being Israeli troops that have invaded and continue to advance, And you actually had the defense minister recently saying that Israel intended to control Lebanese territory all the way up to the Latani River, which amounts to nearly a tenth of the country's land.

And with this yesterday, you had Netanyahu saying that he had ordered his forces to increase the territory that the control in southern Lebanon, claiming that Israel was, quote, determined to fundamentally change the situation on the Israeli-levenous border. And while that happens, airstrikes deeper inside of the country have continued to wreak havoc. One Israeli strike this weekend reportedly killed three Lebanese journalists. With it being said that they worked for a network owned by or seen as supportive of Hezbollah and the Israeli military admitted to targeting one that. it accused of being an intelligence operative for Hezbollah. Meanwhile, three UN peacekeepers have also been killed in Lebanon in separate attacks over the past couple of days. And overall, Israeli strikes and ground operations have killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, including children, women and medical personnel, according to the Lebanese health ministry. And today, you also had the Israeli military also reporting that it had destroyed more than 100 high-rise buildings that it said were being used by Hezbollah in the Beirut area since launching strikes there earlier this month.

But then the last thing that I'll say with this story is just there's so much that we do know and also don't know. I have some educated guesses, but Trump keeps extending deadlines and claiming progress. Iran keeps denying talks and calling the proposals unreasonable. The strikes haven't stopped on either side. The Houthis are also now involved. Lebanon's invasions expanding. You've got the Pentagon preparing for ground operations that could take weeks or months. That's also a big difference.

And the president's backup plan is obliterating an entire country's power grid, oil infrastructure, and possibly even its drinking water. But then also something that we do know is that even if a deal somehow happens in the next week, the damage has already been enormous. So many dead, so many injured, billions of dollars damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes destroyed oil above $100 gas is up 33% and the war is entering its second month with no end date in sight and also i feel like i feel like i just have to say this so you don't feel crazy the gap between a deal will probably be reached

shortly and we will fucking obliterate all of their electric generating plants oil wells and desalination plants that isn't diplomacy that is a threat part of which includes i believe a threat of a war crime dressed up as a negotiation and all the while we've lost american troops and the people living in the blast radius and Tehran's residential neighborhoods and Lebanon's high rises on American air bases in Saudi Arabia, they're the ones that are paying for it while the deadlines just keep moving. And so in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts, whether it be this story or really anything else we'd be covered or talked about today. Let me hear from you in those comments down below. But then, my friends, you beautiful bastards, is the end of your Monday, Philip DeFranco show, dive into the news.

But again, quick reminder, if you haven't gone already on a second device, go to philiptofranco.com. There's a link in the description. You also have the QR code. You get full written breakdowns with sourcing on today's stories. Sometimes there'll even be stuff that I wasn't able to fit into today's show. Also, the daily dip goes out every morning, and you get exclusive posts like my Friday feelings. Which that's also a link in the description. It was kind of me wanting hope going into the weekend, and it was very well-liked.

And then, of course, if you want to support your favorite news show or even your third favorite news show, you can get ad-free episodes at Rex A and what we build next. And it's a great time. For that said, thank you for watching. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.