Trump's CounterTerrorism Chief Resigns, Calls Iran War a Lie

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1:04we'll fix it guaranteed. One last big number. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit lifelock.com slash podcast for the threats you can't control term supply. Some beautiful bastards welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show you daily dive into the news. It is Tuesday and there is a lot to talk about but I just want to start on a light note saying I'm just so happy to be home. Yesterday most of you saw because you were like oh my god Phil has legs. I was stuck in Austin Texas because I think like 12 and a half thousand flights got canceled because in addition to the situation where you have TSA employees working without getting paid or you know they're calling out and working other jobs. There were also just major storms where I was like hey we'd love to fly to Atlanta but there may be a bunch of tornadoes. Luckily we got show done security cleared up by the time I wanted to go through. I figured out some flights. I got the last seed out of Panama City Florida and so I got to cuddle with my wife last night and see my boys this morning so I'm in a great mood. It's just kind of the cherry on top of what was actually a good 24 hour Austin trip went out there was nominated and then actually won boom the indie pack award for best independent news and politics.

2:06This is taking it home over some some friends of the show as well as a fuck face Matt Walsh. So a quick but also big thank you to my team across all the places and a big thank you to all you beautiful bastards especially those of you who've been with me since the webcam days like you supported and and funded my show before anyone really even took it serious but with that said there's a lot we need to talk about today starting with this. Israel claims to have killed Iran's de facto leader also Trump's claiming he doesn't need NATO's help even though he just asked for it and an intelligence official that he appointed has now resigned over his opposition to the Iran war which he claimed came about thanks to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. But where we'll start is with this latest Israeli assassination in Iran where the military claimed to have killed Iranian national security chief Ali LaRijani as well as besiege commander holamrez salamani with Israel's defense ministers saying in a statement LaRijani and the besiege commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation program referring to the previous supreme leader and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil in the depths of hell. And as far as who these people are the besiege it's a volunteer paramilitary force affiliated with the Iran's Islamic revolutionary guard corps that has been repeatedly

3:09targeted by US and Israeli strikes over the course of this war. And a key reason being the role that it played in suppressing dissent in the country including by taking part in several brutal protests crackdowns that it killed thousands over the years. And with that salamani he's long been under US and European sanctions for his involvement. Although notably LaRijani he's believed to have played an even bigger part in the extraordinarily violent handling of the nationwide protests earlier this year. And actually since then he had effectively been running the countries side-lining even the president according to the New York Times. And in addition to keeping a lid on dissent he's been a key liaison with Iran's allies including Russia as well as regional actors like Qatar and Oman. But even over saw nuclear negotiations with the United States and as a trusted confidant of the Supreme Leader he was among a select group of officials tasked with devising a plan to ensure that the regime would survive if the Supreme Leader were assassinated. But then with all that LaRijani he had also been seen as one of the more pragmatic voices inside of the regime. Right way back in 2015 he played a key role in securing approval for the nuclear deal negotiated under Obama. Which then of course strumped with Drew the United States drum in 2018. And though it stands it hardened after the Trump administration broke off talks with Iran to take military action last June he seemingly remained open to some sort of agreement.

4:12Last month for example when talks were back underway in Oman he described his country's position as positive. With the arguing that the US had realized that the military option wasn't viable in saying resorting to negotiation as a rational path. Though also with that he accused Israel of trying to sabotage the diplomatic track to ignite a war. So some have argued well he was proven right. So after talks again collapse following the US and Israeli attack, LaRijani struck maybe his most defiant tone yet saying on social media you will burn their hearts we will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions. The brave soldiers and the great nation of Iran will deliver an unforgettable lesson to the hellish international oppressors. With that he became Iran's de facto leader and he continued to vow defiance. Recently rejecting media reports that he wanted new talks with the US and issuing a statement just yesterday calling on Muslims around the world to support Iran. And also defending Iran's attacks on Gulf States and the accused of hosting American bases and Israeli interests. But also while he ramped up the rhetoric it appeared he also didn't stop being a pragmatist. With him for example reportedly opposing the appointment of the deceased supreme leader's son as his replacement. Instead lobbying for a more moderate option as a way of showing the public and the international

5:14community that Iran was changing direction. To have experts arguing that his death it's just going to embolden hardliners and enable security forces to tighten their grip with one telling the times. Now that it seems everything is in the hands of the military elite it's very difficult to imagine how and if they can come up with some ideas or if they can show enough flexibility to accept the ideas of the other side to end the war and adding. The process of elite betting every layer that you remove the next layer is going to be more hardline. And that also tracks with what US intelligence assessments have reportedly been saying even before La Rijani's assassination. Which is that the regime is consolidating power and will likely remain in place for the time being weaker but more hardline with a revolutionary guard exerting greater control. And according to reports security forces have been cracking down on dissent despite the war resting people suspected of collaborating with foreign powers and threatening would be protesters with death to fend off any potential uprising. And then you also have experts arguing that the hardliners now with even more influence they may be even more eager than ever to develop a nuclear weapon. The key point being that Iran is still hanging on to a believe 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium although whether it can currently access that material and whether they'd be able to convert it

6:16into a bomb that's still not known right now. Then notably with all that Trump was reportedly told about the likelihood of a more entrenched revolutionary guard before he gave the go-ahead to jointly launch the war with Israel. And you would one person familiar with the assessment telling the Washington Post it wasn't just predictable it was predicted he was told in advance which are also reportedly warned that attacking Iran could trigger retaliation against American allies in the Gulf. But still yesterday you had him claiming that this came as a surprise. They hit Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shot. They fought back. Trump also seemingly acknowledged yesterday that the US and Israel's own attacks on Iranian leadership were making the chances of a negotiated end to this war even slimmer. We don't even know their leaders. We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are. But then also with everything here Israel doesn't appear to be slowing down on its efforts to take out top leaders of the regime. Or with Netanyahu again suggesting that this is aimed at toppling the government once and for all saying we are undermining this regime and the hope of giving the Iranian people an opportunity to remove it. Although you also had him conceding this will not happen all at once

7:17and it will not happen easily. And with that you would have military spokesperson saying that Israel's goal was maximum accomplishments in a minimum time frame and adding that it was ready to operate as long as needed. Do you have yet another sign that Israel is ready to just kind of keep this up for as long as it takes? So that's also as there's a question of will Trump remain on board as well. Because he's gone back and forth between claiming an end of the war is really close and suggesting that it could last much longer. Although you have some saying that he's really not the one calling the shots anymore and some saying that Israel is really the one at the wheel. And that apparently includes Joe Khan who's one of the country's top counterterrorism officials who announced his resignation today writing on social media. I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby. But also with that whatever role Israel played in starting this war ending it, it's also going to depend on Iran. With even people close to Trump reportedly concerned that Iran's attacks on oil tankers in the straight of Hormuz, it might be forcing him into a situation where escalating the conflict maybe by putting American boots on the ground might be seen by him as the only way to credibly claim victory. Or with one person described as being close to the White House telling Politico,

8:19we clearly just kicked Iran's ass in the field but to a large extent they hold the cards now. They decide how long we're involved and they decide if we put boots on the ground. And it doesn't seem to me that there's a way around it if we want to save face. And that may be especially the case is Trump's latest idea for securing the straight doesn't seem to be working out so well. Or as we talked about yesterday when I was stuck in that hotel room, Trump has asked NATO members and other countries to help unblock the straight of Hormuz but their response has been we'll call it less than enthusiastic. So you've since said Trump suggesting that his requests for help in reopening the straight of Hormuz, it was actually a loyalty test with him claiming. I'm almost doing it in some cases not because we need them but because I want to find out how they react. Though at the same time he claimed that numerous countries have told him that they're on the way. But then when asked to name them he responded, I'd rather not say yet but we'll be announcing them. And today he again suggested that this was a great test for NATO warning that the United States would remember its inaction. Right and Trump adding on social media that because of the fact that we have had such military success we no longer need or desire the NATO countries' assistance. But we then immediately contradicted himself by saying that it's not just that the US no longer

9:20needs their help but that it never did. And then he also had Trump telling reporters that he wasn't worried that putting American troops on the ground in Iran could turn into another Vietnam war. Saying, I'm really not afraid of that. I'm really not afraid of anything. While the scenario it might seem unlikely given the more limited ground options currently being considered, crossing that line it would likely prolong the war and put troops to greater risk. Which obviously is a big thing to consider because as of now 13 American service members have died since the start of the war according to the Pentagon. And that's as a number of troops have been wounded or injured. And ultimately how much that number continues to go up, it may be determined by decisions that Donald Trump makes over the coming days and weeks. And actually while we wait to see what happens there, he's already talking about the next government that he wants to topple. Whereas Trump's threatening to take aim at Cuba as they experience yet another nationwide blackout that's left over 10 million struggling and it sparked fiery protests across the island. I do believe I'll be the honor of having the honor of taking Cuba to be good on. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba. Taking Cuba in some form. Yeah, taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it,

10:21take I could do anything I want with it. You want another to them a very weekend nation right now. It's just as latest threat of Ford intervention and it comes as reports say that Cuba reported a total disconnection of the country's national electric system yesterday. But some residents saying like this blackout didn't even surprise them as they're getting used to living without power while others they're left scrambling to find alternatives to maintain basic needs like food. And as reports describe this as a looming humanitarian crisis, the US has continued to keep Cuba cut off from Venezuela's oil and has maintained the threat despite tariffs for any country that offers help. And with that, you have readers saying that Cuba has received only two small oil vessels this year. The first one came into the Havana port back in January from Mexico, who is a regular oil supplier for Cuba before Trump's terror threats. Also, Mexican citizens have helped with food relief for Cuba, but they also know that with the US's pressure on the island, it's still not enough. Mexico is showing its solidarity, but we must not fool ourselves. It's a symbolic act and doesn't help the real problem on the island. And it's long-term solution. In an addition of Mexico, the next vessel came in February from Jamaica with liquefied petroleum gas known as cooking gas, but that's also been it. And that's as the United States has held a

11:2565-year embargo on Cuba, effectively bleeding Cuba dry as Trump stands against their leadership. And so with all these factors at play, Cuban President Miguel Diaz Canal saying that they haven't seen a drop of fuel for their already dated power grid in three months. So as millions of Cuban citizens have continued to struggle through this, rare protests have erupted, and videos of spread showing people attacking the Communist Party headquarters directly. Ray reports saying that every night for 10 days, they have gone out to protest in a different area of the country because of the blackouts, saying this is the first time they protested so many consecutive days in a row. And as these protests have raged on, President Diaz Canal said last week that he was in talks with the US, aimed at finding solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences between the two nations. But we're also still not sure if Trump's actually on the same page. Cuba is a disaster, but I've been hearing so much about Cuba, but Cuba is in its last moments of life as it was. It'll have a great new life, but it's in its last moments of life the way it is. Also with this White House official told the Washington Post as the President has stated, we are talking to Cuba whose leaders should make a deal, which he believes would be very

12:26easily made. And that in Cuba is a failing nation whose ruler has had a major setback with the loss of support from Venezuela and with Mexico ceasing to send them oil. And also like this pressure on Cuba, it's something that we all saw coming from a mile away after he started dropping hands that their government may face the same fate as Venezuela's. Cuba's at the end of the line, they're very much at the end of the line, they have no money, they have no oil, they have a bed, philosophy, they have a bed regime. And since then, he's also said that he'll be turning his attention to Cuba after the war in Iran's over. And as Trump closes in, Cuban officials haven't been quiet about the strain that they're under, even reportedly offering to allow Cuban nationals outside of the country to participate in the country's economic and social development. Or with Cuba's Deputy Prime Minister and economics are reportedly saying, Cuban nationals outside the country would be permitted to invest in the country's small private sector and own businesses on the island. Which that alone is news, right? Because the communist regimes don't usually take kindly to those who escape. The Cuban communist leadership, they've often referred to those who fled during the revolution as scum and slur-meaning maggots. So with all that, right? The Deputy Prime Minister's

13:27offer, it might be too little too late. Many Cubans outside of the island, they rejected it. For you groups like the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a Miami-based group of Cuban exiles saying, the regime must be truly desperate to seek resources from the very people they once branded as scum and forced into exile. We know this administration despises free Cubans who refuse to be controlled by the Communist Party. And adding, it is vital to withhold investment now and wait for a truly free Cuba. You also have other U.S. residents in places with high Cuban populations speaking out against the Cuban government as well. Also in Kansas City, which is roughly 2000 Cuban residents, people with family still on the island, they organized support and prayer gatherings for those suffering through the outages. And so overall, the sense of being a pretty sticky situation. On the one hand, you seemingly have a desperate one-party communist government structure in Cuba that's trying to make amends with people that they've ousted for so many years, while also still arresting those who were speaking out on the island. And then on the other hand, you have our president who seems to be kind of a glutton for foreign intervention going into other countries and stomping out whatever leaders he doesn't agree with while driving Americans closer to a fascist regime every day. And so as per usual, it looks like it's the people who

14:30get the short end of the stick, because neither government seems to be operating in their interest. And while with the power, you know, there have been small pockets of Cuba where power has been restored, the power crisis, it is still very much president, and it seems only to be an occupational hazard for the leaders at play here. And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute, but first let's take a quick break and thank a sponsor. You know, I think we can all agree that dinner. It shouldn't be a nightly episode of what's in the fridge and why is it sad? You know, we've all been there when dinner becomes a daily boss fight. You know, what are we eating? Who's cooking? Why is everything expired? Today's sponsor? Hello, Fresh. It makes home cooking way easier. Just pick your meals. They send the ingredients and you end up looking wildly more put together than you feel. You can also choose from 100 plus recipes every week with tons of varieties, so you're not stuck in a permanent chicken again, Luke. If I also got 35 plus high protein recipes weekly, including Mediterranean and other whatever you're doing, friendly options. And I'm talking quality upgrade stuff too. Three times a seafood for no upcharge plus options like grass fed steak rib eyes when you feel like, you know, you want to feel fancy on a Tuesday. And I love that they use wholesome ingredients like sustainably sour seafood and antibiotic free chicken. Big proportions also mean fewer people do end the show. Is there more stare after dinner?

15:30And you know, a personal thing is I'm a fan because it gets us cooking at home with the boys, you know, more often without turning dinner into a second job. It's the rare life upgrade that actually makes my cooking process easier. So just go to hellofresh.com slash defranco10fm or scan that QR code to get 10 free meals plus a free Zwilling knife on your third box. But then diving right back into the news, a war reporter in Israel got death threats because gamblers on polymarket had millions of dollars riding on whether an Iranian missile was intercepted or not. Are they one of them to change his reporting? And when he refused, they tracked down where he lives, they named his family members and gave him a countdown to comply. And this is one of those stories that it sounds fake until you see the receipts. So diving into the specifics, Emmanuel Mani Fabian, he's a 28 year old war correspondent for the Times of Israel. And a March 10th and Iranian ballistic missile hit just outside of a suburb of Jerusalem. Emergency services found that it landed in a forest about 500 meters away from many homes. Nobody was killed, nobody was hurt. And you had Mani putting out a routine live blog post saying exactly that. And also sharing video footage of the explosion from the warhead. It was this minor update in the middle of a war. And then the messages started. First, you had an email in Hebrew asking him to correct his post to say it wasn't a missile that made contact, but rather an interceptor fragment.

16:34So you had Mani pushing back, noting that the Israeli military had confirmed that it was a missile warhead and at the footage showed an explosion from hundreds of kilograms of explosives. Saying normally a fragment does not produce such an explosion. And then the next day, there was another email, same argument, different persons, same request, change the report. Saying if you could correct this tonight, you would be doing me and many others a great favor. And then, they moved over to Twitter with users jumping into his replies, asking him to confirm the missile was intercepted. And again, this is after he had already shared video of the warhead exploding on contact. And so Mani, he started digging and the people that were pressing him were all connected to Polymarket. And for those who haven't followed Polymarket, it's this prediction market where users bet on the outcome of news events, elections, sports, press conferences, active war zones, you name it, it's probably there. Billions of dollars in weekly trading and technically at bars, US users, but there are US users. And the specific bet at the center of this was titled Iran Strikes Israel on question mark. With more than $16 million being waged on March 10th, and the rule said that the market resolves yes, if quote, Iran initiates a strike on Israeli soil on that date, but missiles or drones that are intercepted will not be sufficient for a yes

17:34resolution. And so Mani's reporting that the missile hit the ground wasn't intercepted, it made contact him and that people who bet no were about to lose big. And so they apparently decided that that was his problem to fix. And so with all this, you had Mani posting on Twitter, my message to you gamblers is simple. Fuck off, stop harassing me and find a better hobby than falsifying journalistic reports for financial gain. But that it really didn't stop any of it. A colleague from another publication reached out, a friend of his was asking him to convince Mani to change the article called it a negligible update with a more favorable outlook. And when the colleague confronted that friend, the friend confirmed that it was about polymarket bets. He even offered the colleague a cut of the winnings he got Mani to change the report. And then it goes from ridiculous to terrifying right after Mani still refused someone reached out on WhatsApp. First in Hebrew, then switching to English saying you have no idea how much you put yourself at risk, saying today is the most significant day of your career, you have two choices. I believe that we have the capabilities and after you make us lose $900,000, we will invest no less than that to finish you or end this with money in your pocket and also earn back the life that you had until now. And when Mani didn't respond, the person started listing details about his home, his

18:35neighborhood, his parents, and his sibling. Saying it took them less than five minutes to find out exactly where you live, how often you see your lovely parents and exactly who your brothers and sisters are. And then there was a countdown, right? There would be a fatal mistake if he didn't respond in 10 minutes. And then when he still didn't respond, they said, you have 90 minutes left to update the law. If you decide not to correct it, you will discover enemies will be willing to pay anything to make your life miserable. And saying as far as I know, there are also some people who don't really care about the law and you're about to make them lose about 50 times what you'll ever make. 86 minutes left, you were the only one responsible for your life. Mani actually told the Washington Post that he almost gave in saying, I thought, do I just change it because it doesn't really matter. But then I thought, if I do this now, they're going to come back to me again and ask for other things to be changed. They would have probably never stopped doing that if they knew that they could make money this way. So instead, he filed a police report and he published the whole story. Every message, every threat, hoping that the publicity would deter better is from targeting other journalists in the future. But even he admits that that's unlikely. And it's even more unlikely that every journalist who gets this kind of pressure is going to have the same response. Now, as far as polymarket, they condemn the threat saying that they violate the terms of service and have no place on the platform and adding, prediction markets depend on the integrity of

19:38independent reporting, attempts to pressure journalists to alter their reporting, undermine that integrity and undermine the markets themselves, and claiming that the accounts involved were banned and their information was passed to the authorities. But then also, you know, one of the bigger questions is whether prediction market should be allowed to operate on war events at all. And with that, you have Senator Chris Murphy and Greg Kassar, they're introducing the Betz Off Act, or the banning event trading on sensitive operations and federal functions act. With Murphy's office anger, the bill would put a stop to these corrupt wagers crack down on prediction markets that flout the law with offshore platforms and reject the idea that we should commodify every part of our lives. The really, whether it has a shot to pass, it depends on what happens with the midterms. Whether the Democrats can get any power back and also what kind of Democrats wind up elected. You know, just adding my opinion here, none of this, if you've been watching the show at the very least, none of this should be surprising. Right, there are a lot of people participating, because it's out there, and you know, if no one's going to do anything, some people are like, well, I might as well take part, but this is something that's going to happen when you let people bet millions of dollars on war. The truth, it becomes a liability, just another thing to be changed. Accurate reporting, it becomes a financial threat to people with resources and motivation to make

20:39that threat very personal. And the only thing without regulation that's standing between the integrity of the information and a payout is whether one reporter decides to hold the line. And while many appears to have held the line here, the next reporter might not. But then also, I'm a note of the elections and the midterms and the politicians, we got to talk about what's going down in Illinois right now, or because Dick Durban's retiring from the Senate and five more Democrats are retiring from the House, and so buying for that Senate seat are three Democrats. The current state lieutenant governor Juliana Stratton. I'm Juliana Stratton, and I'm proud to have lived my whole life on the south side of Chicago. Representative Raja Krishna Morthy. My opponents can call me whatever they want. You can just call me Raja. And Representative Robin Kelly. I'm Robin Kelly, daughter of a grocer and a postal worker. The poll is opening up today, and so by tomorrow, if not tonight, we should know who the winner is. Right, the Senate seat in question is safely blue, so it is presumed that whoever wins this primary, they're going to win the general as well. But also with this, you have people watching it closely to see if it signals anything about the trajectory of the Democratic Party more broadly. Namely, whether how much wealthy donors influence the outcome. Because on one side, cryptocurrency interests have thrown millions of dollars behind

21:40Krishna Morthy, leading to fear is that he would be beholden to the industry. Then on the other side, Illinois governor JB Pritzker, who's a billionaire, has thrown millions of his own dollars behind Stratton, leading to accusations that he's tipping the scales. And although out, Kelly is trailing well behind both of her competitors who are neck and neck. Right, and they also reflect differences within the party about the correct stand to take on ice and immigration. Stratton jumped fully on board. The abolished ice movement, Krishna Morthy, is proposed to abolish Trump's ice. And Kelly wants to dismantle ice in the Department of Homeland Security broadly. And then at the same time, in the house primaries, there's a lot of money floating around from crypto, AI, and dark money groups, as well as another big issue is Israel. Or because the American, Israel Public Affairs Committee, or APAC, they have poured over $20 million into several races, reportedly using shell packs rather than its main super pack to hide where the money is coming from. And interestingly, its ads made sure to focus on anything but Israel, likely because pulling is shown that support among Democrats is declining. So we're going to have to wait to see if their efforts there were, because last month, they tried the same thing in New Jersey, and it backfired spectacularly. Or with APAC there, attacking a pro-Israel moderate who didn't support unconditional aid to Israel, but then in doing so, they accidentally handed the race to a progressive

22:42who's accused Israel of genocide. It's now an Illinois APAC started doing something similar. It's acting Daniel Biss, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor who is criticized Israel in favor of their preferred candidate, Laura Fine. But that also appears to have maybe created an opening for Palestinian-American progressive, Kat Abuguzale, to gain some ground. And so seemingly, in fearing a repeat of New Jersey, APAC pivoted in the final stretch of the race, refocusing its attacks on Abuguzale directly. And then, as we're waiting to see the results there, we're also seeing things heat up in the Senate primary in Maine. Or because Democrats, they believe that they can mount a challenge to the state's Republican Senator, Susan Collins, who's held her seat for nearly three decades now. And once she won her last re-election bid in 2020 by 8.6 points, Trump lost Maine that year by nine points as well as 2024 by seven points. To the dams, they don't have many soft targets to pick from. In the first place, they might be able to flip Collins's seat. But of course, there's a big debate around who is the best candidate to pull that off. And so on one side, you've got Maine's moderate-sitting governor, Janet Mills. Fight back, Janet. I won't sit idly by while Maine people suffer. And politicians like Susan Collins bend to knee as if this were normal. My life's work has prepared me for this fight. And I'm ready to win.

23:45This election will be a simple choice. Is Maine going to bow down or stand up? I know my answer. And then on the other side, there's the progressive challenger, Graham Platner, and oyster farmer, military veteran, and former private military contractor. Why are groceries so expensive? Why are we still spending billions of taxpayer dollars to fund other countries' wars? Why are electricity bills going up? Why are billionaires in corporations running DC? And I'm Graham Platner, and I approve this message because we deserve a government that takes down the oligarchy, not democracy. She is 78 years old. He's 41. She's won statewide races before. He's never held office. She's an establishment insider. He's a populist outsider. She's got the endorsement of Chuck Schumer. He's got support from Bernie Sanders. In the race, it's tight, though. I will say some holes have shown Platner in the lead, and he's raised much more money than Mills. But Platner also has a background that he's been trying to overcome. And now, in the first attack out of the race, we've seen Mills pouncing on that. Did you know Graham Platner wrote that women worried about rape need to quote? Now get so f***** up. They wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to. Disgusting. Platner wrote to avoid rape. Women should quote.

24:46Act like an adult for f***** sake. Graham Platner, seriously. We blame the victim. That's a horrible thing to say. Just qualify. I have not seen this. He's a bully. This guy gives off a vibe. Just no way. I could vote for you. No. Graham Platner, the closer you look, the worse it gets. What's being referenced there are a handful of Reddit posts that Platner made around 2013 that are not great. They're saying that women concerned about rape should not get so f***** up. They wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to and should act like an adult for f***** sake. As well as appearing to say in today's current climate, when every whisper of a misplaced hand brings down a feature playing film, anyone who actually thinks the military is purposefully covering up rape to save the career of some god damn captain is clearly both an idiot and junior enough in rank or life experience to think it matters. Right and then another post he asked why don't black people tip. Then around 2018, 2020, more posts appear to show I'm calling himself a communist referring to cops as bastards and agreeing that rural white people are racist and stupid, which then many found to be a bit ironic not only because he himself is a white oyster farmer, but also because it was revealed that he had a tattoo resembling that Nazi deaths

25:48had on his chest. Now there in his defense he claims that he got the ink in 2007 during a drunk a night out in Croatia with a few fellow machine gunners and saying that he picked the image at random from options displayed on the wall of the tattoo parlor. With him also since covering it up and he blames his older posts on his depression and PTSD after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The infantry was a very male dominated place, but when I got out I still had the crude humor, the dark, dark feelings, the offensive language that really was a hallmark, hallmark of the infantry when I was in it. I made comments that I'm not happy about that I do not agree with, but they came from a time and place in my life. And so for those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don't recognize, I am deeply sorry. The widow that mills, I mean she's doing everything she can to make that scandal stick and we should also expect to see similar attack ads leading up to June's primer. And at that point, it's up to Maine's Democratic voters, right? Some are going to forgive his past like one local business owner who put it to vanity fair, saying I'm a voter who wants to not fund genocide and to have universal

26:50healthcare. That matter is more to me than some old reddit posts in a tattoo. And right now, at least according to the polling, it looks like more people are leaning that way. It's a tight race and anything could happen, but it does seem like there are a lot of people who just want new leaders. But for now while we wait to see what happens, I'd love to know your thoughts on what's happening in Illinois and in Maine, especially if you live there and you could take part in those elections. And then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute, but first let me thank a sponsor and say a payroll is the word that instantly ruins your mood. Congrats. You run a small business. And thankfully today's sponsor, Gusto, exists, right? It's online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses, simple remote friendly and actually easy to use. It's basically the stop duct taping your business together button payroll, hiring, onboarding and team sport all in one place. And it automates the headache stuff like taxes and direct deposits so you're not spending your Friday and spreadsheet prison. You can also set up benefits like health coverage, commuter perks, workers comp and even 401k options. As your business can be legit without you having to become an HR wizard. Plus you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price. No, oops, you paid people too many times fee. Also built-in tools for offer letters and onboarding

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29:56digital distraction, forced by tragedy to truly see one another and come together. Starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell. The Madison. New series streaming now, only on Paramount Plus. Then, diving right back into the news, there is another mag-a-war that's dropping and this one is about whether a Nazi salute should be considered free speech. Because the University of Florida College Republican chapter just sued the school after being shut down over photos of members doing the salute and group chat messages saying Hitler didn't do enough. And it's all happening less than two weeks after a completely separate Florida college had its own conservative group chat sleeve. Or with those containing the N word over 400 times, there were violent threats against black people and a chat was renamed after a mythical white civilization promoted by Nazi leaders. But, regarding the U.F. situation, late last week, you had an activist posting a photo on social media showing two people doing a Nazi salute, claiming that one of them was a leader of the U.F. College Republicans. And then on Saturday, the National Federation of College Republicans were at the NFCR. They shared that photo along with screenshots from a campus group chat where one person said Hitler didn't do enough at another joke about beating up women. But the guy who made the Hitler

30:57comment told reporters that he was just joking, that he wasn't being anti-Semitic. He also claimed that he was never part of the U.F. College Republicans, even though he appeared to confirm being in their group chat. And with all this, you had the NFCR saying it had actually revoked the chapters chartered the previous month over these incidents and was working with the University to formalize the decision. Which is notable because it suggests that the school may have known about all this before it blew up online. All while the University of Florida, which turns out to have the highest percentage of Jewish students of any public college in the country, announced that it would deactivate the chapter in compliance with university policies, but also help reactivate it under new leadership. And under the decision that group could lose access to campus spaces and funding until they reinstated. But the U.F. College Republicans, they didn't go quietly. Are they posted a statement claiming that the Florida branch of the National Federation didn't have any authority over their chapter, because they're actually a part of a different student Republican organization. And they accused the Federation of lying to quote, silence Christian conservative groups on campus and implied that they were targeted for hosting an event with a far-right gubernatorial candidate who's caused a rift among Florida Republicans. But then the NFCR, they pushed back, writing on Twitter, multiple emails and texts refute this claim. The chapters certainly had no issue identifying itself as an NFCR chapter when it was time to request boxes or speakers.

32:00And then yesterday, the chapter filed a lawsuit against the University alleging that it violated its first amendment rights by punishing protected off-campus speech, with a suit asking the federal judge to declare the University's actions on constitutional reactivate the group and award damages and legal fees. In their lawyer, Anthony Sabatini, accused the University of punishing the group for being part of the new ride or hard ride in alleged the state Republican Party targeted the chapter for promoting an aggressive America-first agenda, which then had some saying that it sounds like they're doing the quiet part out loud, saying that they want to openly argue that Nazi salutes are protected speech, that's part of the mega agenda. And again, all this is happening less than two weeks after a completely different Florida school blew up over leaked group chats that were somehow even worse. According to the Miami Herald, the chat was created for conservative students at Florida International University by the Secretary of Miami-Dade County's Republican Party, who is himself a student at the school, with a group including top conservative student leaders, including the now-former TPUSA chapter president and college Republicans recruitment chair. And within three weeks, the chat was full of racist slurs and active threats of violence. One person writing about dozens of ways to violently kill black people. People also amused about Hitler's policies, and at one point, the chat was

33:01renamed to honor a mythical civilization promoted by Nazi leaders, which actually the college Republicans recruitment chair called Nazi Heaven. Additionally, the N-word was used more than 400 times. Women were regularly called whores, slurs against Jewish and gay people. They were constant. And so with all this, if I you launched a criminal investigation on the TPUSA and college Republicans leaders, both stepped down. But also, the actual government official, right, the Miami-Dade County Republican Party Secretary who created the chat, he has refused to resign, despite calls from Republican leaders, right? He claims that he didn't see much of the content until the Harold contacted him and said that he was shocked by some of the comments in the group chat that he created. But also, the thing is like, there's a pattern here, right? This isn't really even new. Last fall, Politico exposed a telegram group chat between high-ranking leaders of young Republican organizations across the country. And there, you had more than 2700 pages of messages, full of racist, anti-Semitic, and violent rhetoric. Like, you don't have to dig to find this stuff anymore. It's in private group chats, politically active young conservatives who want to be the future leaders of the party. It's on what's left of Twitter. Top voices in MAGA and the far right, they use and encourage this language publicly. You know, as far as why this matters, I think it's important to know that there are two things kind of happening here at the same time.

34:01The first is that this kind of rhetoric, Nazi salutes, Hitler praise, violent racism, slurs, casual conversation, it keeps showing up in places where young conservative leaders are organizing. It is not on the fringes. It is in the leadership pipelines. It is in the group chats between chapter presidents and county party officials. This is in a couple of bad apples and a bushel or, you know, the few poise and M&Ms in the bowl. But then the second thing is when anyone tries to hold them accountable and that includes their own party. There's been a shift, right? This is no longer like, oh, well, this is taken out of context or we condemn this behavior as far as like generally. It's instead the argument that Nazi salutes are protected speech and punishing us for that is on America. And you seemingly have this layer who's framing it as part of the America first agenda. So for the people out there that think after Trump like, there might be some big magic return to normalcy. Seemingly, at least a decent chunk of the movement. It's headed this other way. And on that happy note, that brings us to the end of today's Tuesday Philip DeFranco Show dive into the news. Thank you for watching. I love you faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.