The Trump Tucker Carlson Situation Is Insane & The Iran War Is Making It Worse

the first thing that we've got to talk about is we are now more than two weeks into the U. S. and Israel's war in Iran. death toll is rising. The filed is growing. And Donald Trump. he is asking for help from allies. And he has continuously insulted, bullied and threatened. as he continues to make threats, at least some are now refusing to get roped in. And the president, he might be considering another option. U. S. troops on the ground. And so let's start there. because it's believe it. Any potential ground operation, it's likely to target a place called Kharg Island. and the military actually just attacked it for the first time during this war on Friday, with Trump announcing operation on social media and claiming United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East and added, reasons of decency, I have chosen not to wipe out the oil infrastructure on the island. However, Shiite Iran or anyone else do anything to interfere with a free and safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. I will immediately reconsider this decision. with that, the next day, Centcom confirm what was described is a large scale precision strike, saying U. S. forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets while preserving oil infrastructure. now has ports key because Kharg Island. or which is located roughly 15 miles off the coast of Iran. It is home to facilities that export 90% of the country's oil. taking other infrastructure. It would be a massive blow to the regime. There. but it would also very likely throw the markets into even more chaos. it could cripple whatever hypothetical new government would take power. If that's a thing that actually happens. And it would make it harder for the U. S. to benefit from Iran's oil and, Venezuela style scenario that Trump has reportedly pushed for. with all that, you still had Trump telling NBC on Saturday that the strikes there had totally demolished most of the island, and that the U. S. may hit it a few more times just for fun. you then also had a senior white House official telling Axios, no one should read into anything more than what the president announced, and that the president has made no decisions on Car Island. but that official also said that could change if the effort to clear the strait drags on. saying the president is not going to wait around and let the Iranians dictate the pace of the conflict. And so with that, we're now seeing reports that Trump is seriously considering trying to seize Car Island. he's reportedly drawn to this idea because it would constitute a, quote, economic knock out of the regime, essentially defunding the Iranian government without all the downsides of destroying the oil infrastructure there. of course there are still downsides. one. The move would require U. S. boots on the ground. There. until we could still push Iran to launch even more aggressive strikes against oil facilities and pipelines across the region, especially in Saudi Arabia. despite the risks, the U. S. is now deploying 25,000 more Marines to the Middle East, adding to the 50,000 already there. and while officials declined to say what their mission actually is, they were broadly equipped to join a potential operation to seize the island. notably, that's not the only boots on the ground scenario being considered. U. S. and Israel have also reportedly discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, two American officials told NBC news last week that Trump has privately expressed a serious interest in deploying troops inside Iran. for an operation like that or one aimed at enabling the US to benefit from Iran's oil production. Like what came out of the operation in Venezuela. Trump also claimed in that NBC interview this weekend that Iran is ready to negotiate a ceasefire, but he's not ready to make a deal. Iran's foreign minister then told CBS news that his country was ready to defend ourselves as long as it takes, and denied Trump's claim that Iran wanted to make a deal, saying never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for a negotiation. with that, you know, despite Trump's threats. insisted that Iran would continue to lock down the Strait of Hormuz as long as necessary, saying the strait is open but close to our enemies, to those who carried out this cowardly aggression against us and to their allies. and with that you've now had several non Iranian oil tankers, including from India, Pakistan and Turkey, getting permission to go through the street, which is actually very notable because until now, Iran had been fully blocking Gulf countries from exporting their oil while only allowing tankers picking up Iranian oil to pass freely, keeping its own supply flowing to American adversaries, including China, which is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil. you have many experts saying that as long as the blockade holds, Trump may not be able to end the war even if he wanted to. Iran starting to pick and choose who they're letting through, it might actually give them more leverage. especially if traditional U. S. allies decide that negotiating with Iran directly is the better move. rather than having to rely on Trump. And actually, on that note. would Trump, claiming in a social media post over the weekend that the US and several other countries will send warships to the Gulf to reopen commercial shipping. with that he also called on China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK and others to send ships so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated. And adding the meantime, the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline and continually shooting Iranian boats and ships out of the water. One way or the other. We will soon get the Hormuz Strait open, safe and free, the men following up a few hours later, saying the countries of the world to receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help a lot. US, will also coordinate with those countries so that everything goes quickly, smoothly and well. should have always been a team effort. And now it will be. will bring the world together toward harmony, security and everlasting peace. But then you had Trump demanding that NATO countries help the US secure the strait, while telling the Financial Times it would be very bad for the future of NATO if they refuse, words that were seen by many as a threat. with that, well, you know, he claimed that he was getting a good response. so far, at least as of me recording this, no country has publicly committed. in fact, some of them outright rejected the idea, Germany's defense minister, for example, saying, this is not our war. We did not start it. does Donald Trump expect from, say, a handful or two of European frigates in the Strait of Hormuz? needs them to achieve what the mighty U. S. Navy cannot manage on its own. There. Is that it? That's the question I'm asking myself. also had a spokesperson for the government confirming that there would be no German involvement, and pointing out that Trump started this war without them saying, would also like to remind you that the U. S.

and Israel did not consult us before the war, in that Washington explicitly stated at the start of the war that European assistance was neither necessary nor desired. With all that said, the UK is, apparently considering sending ships and mine hunting drones to help out. also had Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying that he urged a swift resolution to the conflict and insisted that his country would not be drawn into wider war. well, France has previously said it would be willing to escort once the security situation stabilizes. that just doesn't seem to be the case yet. you've actually had the country, along with Italy, asking to talk with Iran about allowing their ships to pass through the strait. shows that, you know, some countries are looking for ways to protect their shipping and their energy without Trump. but also, of course, in the meantime, the war just continues. overall, more than 21 of their people have reportedly been killed so far, including 1300 Iranian civilians, 850 people in Lebanon, 13 American service members and at least 12 people in Israel. today, U. S and Israeli forces have continued to bombard Iran, while Iranian counterattacks across the region have kept up as well. notably with all this, you had an Israeli spokesperson telling reporters there are detailed operational plans for the war with Iran for the next three weeks, along with additional plans extending further, although what the timeline is actually going to be, that still remains unknown right now, Or with Trump saying that the war will end when he feels it in his bones, as experts also warn that he's risking getting trapped in a cycle of escalation that might not end anytime soon. then also, regardless of what happens with Iran. Israel's war in Lebanon that might continue independently. today, officials said they were yet again expanding their offensive against Hezbollah. They're saying that the military was moving into new areas without giving new details. although there are also fears that it's really just laying the groundwork for occupying large parts of the country. then also as we've talked about before, the near perpetual violence in Palestinian territories, that's not let up during all of this either. fact. Just over the past few days, Israeli forces killed at least 12 Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza. Refers to a group shooting and killing four members of the same family, including two young children, in the West Bank, with Israeli authorities claiming their vehicle had accelerated toward the troops, who feared for their safety and opened fire. then in Gaza, an airstrike killed eight police officers affiliated with the Hamas controlled government, according to the Gaza and Interior Ministry. and then well well, the growing fallout with Trump's war in Iran and continues to take lives. the war inside of his own party is growing as well. And when I say that it's gotten messier. even involves Trump weighing in on micro penis allegations. the two main players, they are being Megan Kelly and Mark Levin. Ryan, you know, Megan Kelly is a former Fox News host or an independent conservative commentator who really wanted to share that she cares about the nuance in the definition of pedophile. then Mark Levin is a conservative radio host and Fox News host, and Trump actually appointed him to a homeland Security Advisory Council last year. but Mark and Megan, they have very different ideas about this war. Right. Megan's been very critical of it. saying that we are fighting this war for Israel, that U. S. troops are dying for foreign interests. mark. On the first day of the war, he praised Trump and our, quote, wonderful Israeli allies for fighting a righteous and monumentally important battle for freedom, security and humanity. while notably like this is not the first issue, they had clashed on. things really took a turn over the weekend when Mark took issue with some of the content that Megan was reposting. Including one tweet claiming of the man who attacked a Michigan synagogue and lost family members in a recent Israeli attack in Lebanon. just for context sake, the New York Times since back that up saying that the man's brother was a Hezbollah commander killed in an airstrike, and three other relatives were reportedly killed in the attack as well. Mark, he was not happy about Meghan's choice to retweet that. so. He shared a post condemning Meg and claiming that she was using her platform to imply that the Michigan attack was excusable or justified. or with and calling her evil, diabolical and gone. To which Megan shot back, I'm sorry, you have a micro penis, Mark, but don't drag the rest of us into your drama, with things just kind of devolving from there. Mark calling Megan an emotionally unhinged, lewd and petulant Rick who has completely revealed and destroyed herself, saying she's everything people say she is, but much worse. and so, Megan. Then just double down on the micro penis stuff, dubbing a micro penis mark and claiming he tweets about me obsessively in the crudest, nastiest terms possible. Literally more than some stalkers I've had arrested. doesn't like it when women like me fight back because of his micro penis with her, then going on to claim that Mark has shit posted about her over 100 times since November. but she's only responded six times at first, asking him to tone it down before he gets someone killed. then you also had Mark calling her a harlot who wakes up and has micro penises on her mind. and so then also, a ton of people responding to what was happening. right. Everyone weighing in, but easily the biggest name was Donald Trump himself. With Trump coming to the defense of Mark Levin, calling him a truly great American patriot who is somewhat under siege by other people with far less intellect, capability, and love for our country. the president and adding, he is a true conservative and intellect, far smarter than those who criticize him. you hear others unfairly attack Mark, remember that they are jealous and angry. Human beings who sway is much less than the public understands and will, now that they know where I stand, rapidly diminish. Those people that speak ill of Mark will quickly fall by the wayside, as do the people whose ideas, policies and footings are not sound. They are not MAGA. I am, and MAGA includes not allowing a sick, demented and violent terrorist regime to have a nuclear weapon to blow up the United States of America. and so Mark then thank Trump for the post saying that he was humbled and honored by the message. But then you had Megan seemingly not believing that it was an authentic message, writing that micro penis mark is such a small man, he had to go beg the president for a pat on the head in the middle of a war to make himself feel better about, well, you know, just like all feckless weakling bullies, micro can dish it out, but he can't take it. He ran crying to daddy. and well Mark has denied asking Trump to make that post. regardless, that post itself has generated that a lot of reactions. because it showed Trump weighing in on the MAGA civil war and acknowledging the power that he has in it.

Yes, it seems like it's about Mark and Megan, but it's really more than he's trying to send a message to anyone that dares oppose anything that he does. and notably, it's not like it's the only time Trump has done this recently. We're just over a week ago, he slammed Tucker Carlson. He's been a focal point of the MAGA Civil War and a critic of the war in Iran, Trump telling an ABC news reporter that Tucker has lost his way. He's not MAGA. MAGA is saving our country. MAGA is making our country great again. MAGA is America first, and Tucker is none of those things. and Tucker is really not smart enough to understand that. and now you've got Tucker Carlson making headlines because he's claiming that his stance on the war has proven so controversial that the CIA has been reading his texts to frame them for a crime. So the other day, I found out that the CIA is preparing some kind of criminal referral against me. A crime report to the Department of Justice on the basis of a supposed crime I committed. What's that crime? Well. Talking to people in Iran before the war. They read my texts. So the crime under consideration apparently would be the foreign agent act or something like that. Acting as an agent of a foreign power. now there. He didn't provide any evidence to prove that there is an investigation or pending charges. he did deny that he is an agent of a foreign power. he suggested that any alleged investigation into him would be politically motivated. countries tend to become more authoritarian in wartime. It's just the nature of war. there's much less tolerance for any kind of dissent in the homeland. while there were then a lot of different reactions to that there was also a lot of support for him, including from Candace Owens. saying that if they come for Tucker, we ride at dawn. Really nothing else to say here. for now, that is where we are. And this is going to continue to be an area that we should watch. right to see how Trump's words affect the MAGA infighting here. where these aren't politicians. So him condemning a personality, does that actually affect their livelihood or their audience? or, you know, are the people that are watching those personalities that are willing to call the president out different from those that would, you know, support lab and Trump kind of unconditionally. then kind of in respect of that, is he losing more and more of his base, even if it's kind of like slow and incremental. if you've had book a doctor on your mental To-Do list so long it's basically paying rent. This is your sign. Dental cleaning, annual checkup, that weird thing that you're calling? Probably nothing. All of it. that's why today's sponsor is doc is actually useful and ridiculously easy to use. 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This message is sponsored by Zoc doc. But then getting back into the news, let's talk about Trump and his lackeys. Just go and censorship crazy. Over the weekend, FCC chair Brendan Carr threatened to revoke the licenses from broadcasters that the agency deems as fake news or those operating with a liberal bias, saying in a post on Twitter, broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions, also known as the fake news, have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up. The law is clear broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not. he was specifically responding to a post on social by Trump complaining about the coverage of the war in Iran. even called for charges of treason over it. well as Pete Headset's open criticism of CNN in their coverage. thanks for calling CNN fundamentally unserious and adding, the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better. just full mask off. we're trying to take over the news. And what truth is for Trump. specifically they're he's talking about the attempted takeover of Warner Brothers discovery, which includes CNN. to take over by Paramount with Trump's billionaire ally, David Ellison owns. and all of this. It's been telegraphed. It's been a long time coming. The claim of bias in the media has been a major Trump talking point for years and years. even popularized the term fake news. but this time around, one of the biggest concerns is it's gone from rhetoric to actions. in fact, Trump's Truth Social post that Carr was responding to was part of a wider posting spree about the media and the impact his administration has had on it since coming back to office. one point, Trump shared an infographic titled President Trump is Reshaping the Media, which highlights the defunding of PBS and NPR, the doing away with fact checking on media platforms and the mass layoffs over the Washington Post. Now with all this, with the FCC and Carr, some saying that they don't think that it's going to go past just threats. noting that the FCC hasn't denied a license renewal in decades. you have CNN saying that any government action against someone holding a license would likely result in a lengthy, First Amendment centered legal battle. public interest lawyer, even arguing Chairman Carr's threats are hollow, saying he poses no genuine danger to any broadcasters licenses based on his unhappiness with their content. that was also echoed by the only Democrat commissioner on the FCC, Anna Gomes, who said FCC could issue threats all day long, but it is powerless to carry them out such threats violate the First Amendment and will go nowhere. Broadcasters should continue covering the news fiercely and independently without fear of government pressure. that's also not to say that the threat should just be shrugged off.

there are still places that the FCC holds a lot of sway. especially when it comes to acquiring or transferring a license. is why you're seeing companies uniquely vulnerable to government pressure while trying to complete a merger. media advocacy groups have also argue that the threat itself does hold a lot of power, saying Carr's goal is more about pressuring news outlets. And this admission and self-censorship. the legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression saying in a statement again and again, Carr's tenure as FCC chairman has been marked by a shameless willingness to bully and threaten our free press. and all of this actually has raised alarm bells for people on both sides of the aisle. I'm not going to say equally, but we have seen it on both sides. even as Trump's a plotting cars move. You have a number of Republicans telling people to pump the brakes. for example, Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin saying that he's not a fan of the government trying to exert control over a private enterprise or meddle with freedom of speech, and adding, I'm in big support of the First Amendment. I do not like the heavy hand of government, no matter who's wielding So no, I would rather the federal government stay out of the private sector as much as possible. federal government's role is to protect our freedoms, protect our constitutional rights. obviously you're seeing more Democrats taking stronger stances. With California Governor Gavin Newsom, for example, calling Carr's threats flagrantly unconstitutional and Senator Elizabeth Warren saying that it is straight out of the authoritarian playbook and adding It's illegal for the government to censor free speech. It just doesn't like about Trump's Iran war. then you got Senator Chris Murphy adding, we aren't on the verge of a totalitarian take over. We are in the middle of it. Act like it. right. So it seems like with every insane and or just even out of pocket choice that the Trump administration is making. pushing even their allies in Congress further and further away. but then also with all of this, we've got to talk about how one and eight members of Congress are not going to run for their seat again. just leaving it. That is the second highest number in the last century. 60% of them are Republicans, which is a record for their party. you know, when the people in power, they are running for the exits at a record pace. in a way that we haven't seen for a generation, it tells you, yes, the state of things right now, but also lets you know what they things going to happen in November. But according to NPR's tracker, 13 senators and 56 House members are either retiring or running for a different office. three of those senators running for governor. But they'll only resign if they win. where their seats aren't up this year. If they lose, they can stay put. if all three leave. 2026 would tie in 1996 for the most Senate retirements ever recorded. and the combined total across both chambers, it's 69. that's just three short of the all time record of 72 that was set in 1992. and again, the Republican side of this, it really stands out, to a certain degree it does follow a trend. the president's party tends to see more retirements ahead of the midterms because their party loses more often during the midterms. 2018, during Trump's first term, 34 House Republicans chose not to run, which is nearly double the 18 Democrats who left ahead of the blue wave. It flipped the House, then under Biden in 2022. It was almost the mirror image. 31 Democrats were tired compared to 18 Republicans before the GOP takeover. you know, a lot of these Republicans, they're looking at the same polling that you are and they're making calculations about November. which then brings us to the reasoning, which is kind of more of a mixed bag. some are just leaving politics. Right. They're running for other office. 15 are running for governor. 16 or trying to move from the House to the Senate. and one of them is running for Texas attorney general. but a majority 37 of the 69 parties. You're just leaving politics entirely. No age. That's a big part of it. nearly half the members in their 80s are heading out, including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi and former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. though, that also means that half of the 80 plus crowd, they're staying there. Love and politics. includes three who will be in their 90s by the end of the year. can also have others weren't quite that old saying, you know, it's time to pass the torch. Some citing health or family, others putting it more bluntly, saying that the job just sucks. you have all this is you have experts saying this is part of a deeper trend increasing Partizan gridlock, polarization, safety threats, and an environment that's become genuinely toxic for anyone trying to govern rather than reform. for Republicans specifically. Obviously, Trump is a huge part of the equation. also in the opposite direction. Or last time in 2024, he was a big part of the resurgence. Right. This a lot of this big energy, a lot of Republicans. They rode those coattails. The victory. now Trump's approval cratering right. The gravitational pull is going in the opposite direction. I do also want to stress it's not just because Trump is unpopular. it's also that distancing yourself from Trump. It's almost pretty much just as dangerous. good chunk of these departing Republican lawmakers, they have publicly broken with the president. And so that includes moderates who refuse to fall in line. And former MAGA loyalists like Marjorie Taylor Greene. and so many feeling like, okay, I'm just stuck. can stay close to Trump. But then you lose the independence. or maybe you break from him and then you lose the base. so a lot of Republicans are doing the calculus and they're like, okay, I'm just out. I'm done. then also there's a whole redistricting mess. Trump pushed several red states into unprecedented mid-decade map redraw gained more Republican seats then also blue states counted. And now you have some members sitting in districts that they barely recognize or don't think they can win. and so with all this, even though, you know, there is a lot of distance from now until November, lot of this is looking really good for the Democrats. In condense, whether Republican or Democrat, there is usually an inherent advantage there. Name recognition. Institutional fundraising. Establish networks, it's open seats are easier to flip. and so then there's also this compounding effect. as one political scientist explained it, it creates a little bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy. the exits themselves also make the losses more likely. and to quickly add a personal note to this, I think part of this is kind of why my wife, Lindsay DeFranco, a phenom. Amazing. Very excited for her. she was presented with this opportunity and the nudge to go for a House seat in Georgia. it's a state House seat in a relatively red area, but you don't do these things just because it's easy. know, you hope people jump into the space because they want to be a part of really positive change, the change

you want to see in the world, especially when a lot of the people that are in those positions are running for those positions, seem more inclined to care about, you know, Culture war base rather than, you know, electricity being affordable, you having health care like you getting paid properly. Schools being safe and funded, like the things that actually matter. so I'll end on actually two things here. one for the personal bit. If you want to find out more about Lindsay running or donate to her campaign, you can go to Lindsay virga. com. I love that the initials for that is LFG. Because that is 100% the energy we got to have going into November. is it. Yeah. Lindsey is trying to flip an open seat. If you're in Georgia's District 47, check your district. Definitely. Wherever you are, check your local elections as well. especially in Georgia, there's a record number of Democrats running in Georgia this year. and to for the rest of the races in this midterm, we'll see what happens. Right. Because again, there's a lot of distance from now till November. The more people drop out, does the polling change in which direction? There's a lot of ways this could go. But the next step from that. If you're flying anytime soon, it's very likely going to get worse. With the partial government shutdowns past the one month mark, over 300 TSA agents have quit, and the one still showing up, they're not getting paid. So lines are already getting longer at airports across the country. There's no deal in sight. And the people that are working at TSA, they're draining their retirement accounts. They even have them to make rent, right. Have you hopped on pretty much any social media? You've seen people just waiting in these crazy, crazy long lines and, well, yes, you're seeing it in places like Austin, Texas. That's a little bit different because South by Southwest is happening. You're also seeing it across the country because you're seeing TSA employees call out sick. And that's in addition to DHS announcing on Friday that more than 300 TSA agents had quit during it. This is the third time in six months that these workers are being forced to work without pay, and the timing also really, really matters. Union reps say that this latest shutdown is hitting workers who never financially recovered from the longest shutdown in history. Last fall, that one lasted 43 days, and even though those agents, they eventually received back pay for many, it was too late. TSA agents make, on average, $50,000 a year. A lot of them, they are living paycheck to paycheck. So waiting for backpay once the shutdowns over. For a lot of them, that's not feasible. That's not real. If you have to pay rent or buy food during that last shutdown, you had agents taking on second jobs, burning through savings, surviving on credit card debt that they're still paying off. Even just looking at October and November alone of last year, he has a data show roughly 1100 officers left the agency. And even though we have the 300 number this time, this is just the beginning. And workers also have fewer resources to fall back on. Last time, some got short term no interest loans or banks. Nonprofits hosted events to hand out groceries and supplies. But this time the support seems to have dried up. That said, some airports like Denver, Seattle, Las Vegas, they these are requesting donations were impacted. Workers leave agents telling reporters they're having to pull thousands of dollars from their retirement account or borrow from family. And you have industry experts saying there were actually still a few weeks away from a real crisis point at the airports. But every day without a deal, it gets closer. And right now it doesn't look like a solution's very close, right? On Thursday, even Senate Democrats blocking DHS funding legislation for the fourth time since the shutdown started. But Democrats saying the Republicans still won't agree to meaningful restrictions on Ice and saying that Republican leaders rejected one of their proposals to fund TSA separately while negotiations continue, or the Democrats are trying to carve out a specifically so that these TSA workers and others can get paid. But you have the Republicans saying the Democrats won't negotiate in good faith. And all the while, you have tens of thousands of TSA workers just working without pay, and you're going have millions of Americans still showing up to the airport wondering, why are these lines so long? Why is it wrapped around the terminal? Why is it outside? As this impacts real people in real time? There is also the question of what does this mean for the midterms? What does it mean moving forward? Who do people blame and how do things move from there? That, my friends, is the end of your Monday Philip DeFranco show. There was a lot to talk about. There's going to be even more to talk about. I'm just glad we got the show out for you today. Thank you so much for watching. I love your faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.