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

you 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. was stuck in Austin, Texas because I think, like 12,500 flights got canceled. records in addition to the situation where of TSA employees working without getting paid or, you know, they're calling out and working other jobs, there were also just major storms where it 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 seat out of Panama City, Florida. so I got to cuddle with my wife last night and see my boys this morning. So I'm in. I'm in a great mood. just kind of the cherry on top of what was actually a good 24 hour, Austin trip. out there, was nominated and then actually won. Boom. Annie Pack award for best independent news and politics. his taking it home over, some friends of the show, as well as, fuckface 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. I used, supported 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 we're 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 besieged commander whole Reza Soleimani. with Israel's Defense Ministry saying in a statement, Larijani and the besieged 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 Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that has been repeatedly targeted by U. S. 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 protest crackdowns that have killed thousands over the years. and with that Soleimani, he's long been under U. S. 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. actually since then, he'd effectively been running the country, sidelining even the president, according to the New York Times. 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 Atar and Oman. even oversaw 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, Trump withdrew the United States from in 2018. the withstands that 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. last month, for example, when talks were back underway in Oman, he described his country's position as positive. him arguing that the U. S. had realized that the military option wasn't viable and saying resorting to negotiation is a rational path. the also it 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 collapsed following the U. S. and Israeli attack, Larijani struck maybe his most defiant tone yet, saying on social media, will burn their hearts. We will make the Zionist criminals and the shameless Americans regret their actions. 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 U. S and issuing a statement just yesterday calling on Muslims around the world to support Iran. And also defending Iran's attacks on Gulf states that he 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 community that Iran was changing direction. do you 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. process of elite fitting, every layer that you remove. The next layer is going to be more hardline. that also tracks with what U. S. intelligence assessments have reportedly been saying even before Larijani assassination. Which is that the regime is consolidating power and will likely remain in place for the time being, weaker but more hardline with the Revolutionary Guard exerting greater control. according to reports, security forces have been cracking down on dissent despite the war, arresting people suspected of collaborating with foreign powers and threatening would be protesters with death to fend off any potential uprising. then you also have experts arguing with the hardliners now with even more influence. They may be even more eager than ever to develop a nuclear weapon, a key point being that Iran is still hanging on to, I believe, 440kg of highly enriched uranium, although whether it can currently access that material and whether they'd be able to convert it

into 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. you had one person familiar with the assessment telling the Washington Post, wasn't just predictable. It was predicted. He was told in advance. with Trump 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 shocked. they fought back. trip also seemingly acknowledged yesterday that the U. S. and Israel's own attacks on Iranian leadership were making the chances of a negotiated end of 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. with Netanyahu, again, suggesting that this is aimed at toppling the government once and for all, saying are undermining this regime in 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, and it will not happen easily. and with that, you would a 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. you have yet another sign that Israel is ready to just kind of keep this up for as long as it takes. that's also is there's a question of, you know, will Trump remain on board as well? because he's gone back and forth between claiming an end to the war is, you know, 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 Kent, who's one of the country's top counterterrorism officials who announced his resignation today, writing on social media, cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran pose 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, you know, 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 Strait 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. with one person described as being close to the white House telling Politico, clearly just kicked Iran's ass in the field. But to a large extent, they hold the cards. Now decide how long were involved, and they decide if we put boots on the ground. it doesn't seem to me that there's a way around it. If we want to save face. that may be especially the case is Trump's latest idea for securing the street doesn't seem to be working out so well. As we talked about yesterday when I was stuck in that hotel room, Trump has asked NATO members in other countries to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz, but their response has been, we'll call it less than enthusiastic. as you said, Trump suggesting that his request for help in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, it was a 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. 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. today he again suggested that this was a great test for NATO, a warning that the United States would remember its in action. Ryan 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, that we then immediately contradicted himself. Right. By saying that it's not just that the US no longer needs their help, but that it never did. then you 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, really not afraid of that. I'm anything. well, that's an area 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 at greater risk. obviously is a big thing to consider because as of now, 13 American servicemembers have died since the start of the war, according to the Pentagon. that's as a number of troops have been wounded or injured. 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. actually while we wait to see what happens there, he's already talking about the next government that he wants to topple. because Trump is 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. That'd be good. That's a big undertaking. Cuba taking him in some form and taking care of them. And whether I free it, take it. Think I could do it? Anything I want with it. You'll want to know the truth. A very, weakened nation right now. just his latest threat of foreign intervention. And it comes as reports say that Cuba reported a total disconnection of the country's national electric system yesterday. some residents saying like, this blackout didn't even surprise him as they're getting used to living without power, while others, they're left scrambling to find alternatives to maintain basic needs like food. Reyna's reports describe this as a looming humanitarian crisis. The U. S. has continued to keep Cuba cut off from Venezuela's oil, and has maintained the threat to spike tariffs for any country that offers help. with that, you have Reuters 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 tariff threats. also Mexican citizens have help 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 it doesn't help the real problem on the island

and its long term solution. then in addition to Mexico, the next vessel came in February from Jamaica with liquefied petroleum gas known as cooking gas. But that's also been it. Right. That's as the United States has held a 65 year embargo on Cuba, effectively bleeding Cuba dry as Trump stands against their leadership. so with all these factors at play with Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel 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 are spread showing people attacking the Communist Party headquarters directly. reports saying that every night for ten 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 U. S. aimed at finding solutions through dialog 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 will 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 easily made, that in Cuba is a failing nation whose rulers have 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 hints that their government may face the same fate as Venezuela's. Cuba is at the end of the line there, very much line. They have no money. They have no oil. They have a bad philosophy. regime. since then, he's also said that he'll be turning his attention to Cuba after the war. And Iran's over. 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. right with Cuba's deputy prime minister and economic czar reportedly saying Cuban nationals outside the country would be permitted to invest in the country, small private sector and owned 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 a slur, meaning maggots. the with all that right, the deputy Prime Minister's offer. It might be too little, too late. many Cubans outside of the island, they rejected it. you? Groups like the Assembly of the Cuban Resistance, a Miami based group of Cuban exiles saying regime must be truly desperate to seek resources from the very people they once branded as scum and forced into exile. know this administration despises free Cubans who refuse to be controlled by the Communist Party. 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. in their protest in Cuba. It's good. Beautiful, beautiful for the people and good also on Kansas City, which is roughly 2000 Cuban residents, people with families still on the island. They organize support and prayer gatherings for those suffering through the outages, and so overall, this ends up being a pretty sticky situation. 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. 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 stamping out whatever leaders he doesn't agree with while driving Americans closer to a fascist regime every day. so, as per usual, it looks like it's the people who get the short end of the stick, because neither government seems to be operating in their interest. and with the power, you know, there have been small pockets of Cuba where power has been restored. power crisis. It is still very much present, 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, HelloFresh. It makes home cooking way easier. 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So just go to hellofresh. com/defranco ten FM or scan that QR code to get ten free meals. Was 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 Polly Market had millions of dollars riding on whether an Iranian missile was intercepted or not. they wanted 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. Right. So diving into the specifics, Emmanuel, Manny Fabian, he's a 28 year old war correspondent for The Times of Israel. and a March 10th, an Iranian ballistic missile hit just outside of a suburb of Jerusalem. emergency services found that it landed in a forest about 500m away from any homes.

Nobody was killed, nobody was hurt. And you had many putting out a routine live blog post saying exactly that. 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. they had many pushing back, noting that the Israeli military had confirmed that it was a missile warhead. And I thought footage showed an explosion from hundreds of kilograms of explosives. normally a fragment does not produce such an explosion. And then the next day there was another email, same argument, different person, same request, changed the report saying if you could correct this tonight, you would be doing me and many others a great favor. and then it 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 many he started digging. And the people that were pressing him were all connected to Poly Market. for those who haven't followed Poly Market, 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 it bars U. S. users, but there are U. S. users. and the specific bet at the center of this was titled Iran Strikes Israel on Question mark. 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 resolution. so many reporting that the missile hit the ground, wasn't intercepted. It made contact. It meant that people who bet know we're about to lose big and so they apparently decided that was his problem to fix. so with all this, you had Manny 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 anything. a colleague from another publication reached out. A friend of his was asking him to convince Manny 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 poly market bets even offered the colleague a cut of the winnings. So he got Manny to change the report. then it goes from ridiculous to terrifying. Right after Manny 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 do 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. when many didn't respond, the person started listing details about his home, his neighborhood, his parents and his siblings. 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. then there was a countdown. Right. There would be a fatal mistake if he didn't respond in ten minutes. and then when he still didn't respond, they said, you have 90 minutes left to update the lie. you decide not to correct it, you will discover enemies will be willing to pay anything to make your life miserable. 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 will ever make. 86 minutes left. You are the only one responsible for your life. many actually told the Washington Post that he almost gave in saying I thought, do I just change it because it doesn't really matter. 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 Poly Market, they condemned the threat, saying they violate the terms of service and have no place on the platform and dating, prediction markets depend on the integrity of independent reporting, attempts to pressure journalists to alter their reporting, undermine that integrity and undermine the markets themselves. claiming that the accounts involved were banned and their information was passed to the authorities. then also, you know, one of the bigger questions is whether prediction markets should be allowed to operate on war events at all. without your senators, Chris Murphy and Greg Casar, they're introducing the bets off act. the banning of any trading on Sensitive Operations and Federal functions act. Murphy's obvious hang of 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. 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. 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 that threat very personal. and the only thing without regulation that standing between the integrity of the information and the payout is whether one reporter decides to hold the line. and. Well, Manny appears to have held the line here. The next reporter might not. But then also, on the note of the elections and the midterms and the politicians, we going to talk about what's going down in Illinois right now. or because Dick Durbin is retiring from the Senate and five more Democrats are retiring from the House. And so vying for that Senate seat are three Democrats. current state Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton I'm Julianna Stratton, and I'm proud to have lived my whole life on the South Side of Chicago. representative Raja Krishnamoorthi. My opponents can call me whatever they want. You can just call me Raja.

Representative Robin Kelly. I'm Robin Kelly, daughter of a grocer and a postal worker. with the polls opening up today. And so by tomorrow, if not tonight, we should know who the winner is. in 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, your 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 Krishnamoorthi. Leading to a 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. all the while, Kelly trailing well behind. Both of her competitors were neck and neck. And they also were, like differences within the party about the correct stand to take on Ice and immigration. Stratton jumped fully on board the abolish Ice movement. Krishnamoorthi is proposed to abolish Trump's Ice, and Kelly wants to dismantle Ice. And 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, I mean, another big issue is Israel. Because the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, they have poured over $20 million into several races, reportedly using shell PACs rather than its main super PAC to hide where the money is coming from. interestingly, its ads made sure to focus on anything but Israel, likely because polling has shown that support among Democrats is declining. So we're gonna 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. with a PAC, they're attacking a pro-Israel moderate who didn't support unconditional aid Israel. But then in doing so, they accidentally handed the race to a progressive who's accused Israel of genocide. and so now in Illinois, apex started doing something similar attacking. Daniel Biss, the grandson of a Holocaust survivor who has criticized Israel in favor of their preferred candidate, Laura Fine. but that also appears to have maybe created an opening for Palestinian-American progressive cat Abu Ghazali to gain some ground. and so seemingly in fearing a repeat of new Jersey, a PAC pivoted in the final stretch of the race. right. Focusing its attacks on Abu Ali 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. right. 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 what you want. Her last reelection bid in 2020 by 8. 6 points. Trump lost Maine that year by nine points, as well as 2024 by seven points. so the Dems, they don't have many soft targets to pick from in the first place. They might be able to flip Collins a 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 the knee as if this were normal. My life's work has prepared me for this fight and I'm ready to win. This election will be a simple choice. Is Maine going to bow down or stand up? I know my answer. then on the other side, there's the progressive challenger, Graham Plattner, an 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 and corporations running DC? I'm Grant Plattner and I approve this message because we deserve a government that takes down the oligarchy, not democracy. 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 polls have shown Plattner in the lead, and he's raised much more money than Mills. But Plattner 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 Latimer wrote that women worried about rape need to, quote, not get so fucked up. They wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to. It's disgusting. Plattner wrote to avoid rape, women should, quote, act like an adulterer. Say Graham Plattner. Seriously, we blame the victim. That's a horrible thing to say. Disqualifying. I have not seen this. He's a bully. This guy gives off a vibe. Just no way I could vote for, you know, Graham Plattner. The closer you look, the worse it gets. what's being referenced? There are a handful of Reddit post that Blatner made around 2013 that are, not great. He's saying that women concerned about rape should not get so fucked up. They wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to and should act like an adult. For fuck's sake. well as appearing to say in today's current climate, when every whisper of a misplaced hand brings down a feature length film, anyone who actually thinks the military is purposefully covering up rape to save the career of some goddamn captain is clearly both an idiot and junior enough and Ranger life experience to think it matters. And then in another post, he asked, why don't black people tip? then around 2018, 2020, more posts appeared to show him calling himself a communist, referring to cops as bastards and agreeing that we're all 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 death had on his chest. now there, in his defense, he claims that he got the ink in 2007, during a drunken 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, 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 of the infantry when I was in it. I made comments that I'm not happy about, but 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, seen someone that you don't recognize, I'm deeply sorry. with all 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 primary. 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 health care that matters is more to me than some old Reddit post and 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 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. payroll is the word that instantly ruins your mood, congrats. You run a small business. thankfully, today's sponsor gusto, exists, right? Its online payroll and benefits software built for small businesses. Simple, remote friendly, and actually easy to use. basically the stop duct taping your business together button payroll, hiring, onboarding, and team support all in one place. and it automates the headaches, stuff like taxes and direct deposit. 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Gusto. com/defranco. 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 a University of Florida College Republicans chapter just sued the school after being shut down over photos of members doing the salute and group chat messages saying that Hitler didn't do enough. it's all happening less than two weeks after a completely separate Florida college and its own conservative group chats leaked with those containing the N-word over 400 times, there were violent threats against black people in a chat was renamed after a mythical white civilization promoted by Nazi leaders. but regarding the you have 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 UF College Republicans. and then on Saturday, that National Federation of College Republicans. Right. The nphcda, they shared that photo along with screenshots from a campus group chat where one person said Hitler didn't do enough, and another joked about beating up women. to the guy who made the Hitler comment, told reporters that he was just joking that he wasn't being anti-Semitic. He also claimed that he was never part of the you have college Republicans, even though he appeared to confirm being in their group chat. with all this other nfkrz saying it, it actually revoked the chapter's charter the previous month over these incidents and was working with the university to formalize the decision, which is notable because it's address at the school may have known about all this before it blew up online. oh, wow. 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, the group could lose access to campus spaces and funding until the reinstated. the you have college Republicans. They didn't go quietly. where they posted a statement claiming of 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, they accuse the Federation of lying, to, quote, silence Christian conservative groups on campus and imply that they were targeted for hosting an event with a far right gubernatorial candidate who's caused a rift among Florida Republicans. then the NASCAR. They push back writing on Twitter, multiple emails and texts refute this claim. The chapter certainly had no issue identifying itself as an nfkrz chapter. When it was time to request boxes or speakers, 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 a federal judge to declare the university's actions unconstitutional, reactivate the group, and award damages and legal fees. their lawyer, Anthony Sabatini, accuse the university of punishing the group for being part of the New Right or hard ride, and alleged that 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 MAGA 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. right, according to the Miami Herald, that Jarvis created for conservative students at Florida International University by the secretary of Miami Dade County Republican Party, who is himself a student at the school, a group including top conservative student leaders, including the now former TPU, S. A. 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 buy when we kill black people. People also mused about Hitler's policies, and at one point the chat was renamed 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 others about you launched a criminal investigation and the TPU, ASA and college Republicans leaders both stepped down. but also the actual government official, right. That Miami-Dade County Republican Party secretary who created the chat. he has refused to resign despite calls from Republican leaders, where he claims that he didn't see much of the content until the Herald 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 is 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. there you had more than 2700 pages of messages full of racist, anti-Semitic and violent rhetoric. you don't have to dig to find this stuff anymore. It's in private group chats of 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 encourages 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. the first is that this kind of rhetoric, Nazi salutes Hitler, praise violent racism, slurs is casual conversation. It keeps showing up in places where young conservative leaders are organizing. 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 an a couple of bad apples in a bushel. Or, you know, the few poison. Eminem's in the bowl. 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. instead the argument that Nazi salutes are protected speech and punishing us for that is un-American. and you seemingly have this lawyer 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 yo faces. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow.