Taylor Swift Has a Bigger Problem Than Bad Reviews

And then there's more we got to dive into in just a minute. But first, let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, August is a great time for a reset before fall gets chaotic and my closet, it could use some adult supervision. That's where today's sponsor, Quince, comes in. Quince makes fewer, better pieces from premium materials, the things you'll reach for constantly. And I really like their staples like organic cotton tees and Mongolian cashmere sweaters that work all day and into the evening, or basically clothes that make you look put together without looking like you spent an hour planning it. Their denim and tailored chinos start at 60 bucks with a fit structure and quality that you'd expect from a luxury designer brand. And then you've got things like the cotton silk short sleeve crew neck sweater. I've been wearing that thing everywhere. Though even that is when I'm not living in their performance tanks. Both are incredibly soft, they're comfortable, but also polished enough that I still feel, you know, put together without trying too hard. And personally, as someone that just, I love a deal. I love that everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen, so you're paying for quality, not brand markups. And hey, while you're at it, they have hotel quality bedding, bath essentials, cookware, luggage, and travel must-haves. Basically, Quince is the affordable elevated one-stop shop. Hey, upgrade. You're every day by scanning that QR code or going to quince.com slash DeFranco for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. And they're now available in Canada and the UK as well. So that's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash DeFranco. Quince.com slash DeFranco. Tammy regularly hauls stuff to her kids at college. That's why she shops at BJ's Wholesale Club, saving up to 25% off grocery store prices. Beef jerky, microwave meals, laundry pods, even they can't screw up. Have you met my kids? And with BJ's gas, she gets there for less. They call me the road warrior. This is your home, road warrior mom. Home of the save. Join for just $20 at BJ's dot com slash Mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. Limited time offer. New members only. BJ's. Home of the save. This Taylor Swift encore backlash actually exposed a much bigger growing problem for her and others. Republicans just embarrassed themselves in a way I didn't even know was actually possible while grilling Jack Smith today, and now they're trying to lie right through it with help from Charlie Kirk's team. And while this weird Sarah Huckabee Sanders welfare ad has her MAGA base crying reverse racism at her, we're talking about all of that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news starting with this. Today was just another day in the kangaroo court that is the Republican controlled U.S. Senate. Do you believe in the tooth fairy? I do not. How about, how about the Easter bunny? I no longer believe in the Easter bunny. You make me want to throw up in my mouth. Javert from Les Mis. Would look at you with astonishment. So that, unfortunately and embarrassingly, is real footage of former special counsel Jack Smith testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee today, right where he was grilled by Republicans who want him criminally prosecuted. And of course, all of this connected to Smith being the special prosecutor who charged Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his mishandling of classified documents. But then, of course, after Trump assumed power again, his lackeys in Congress, they're dead set on using their power to go after the man who is just this close to actually holding the president accountable. Right, and you've had Republicans long arguing that Smith's investigation, was politically motivated to benefit the Biden administration. Which is one, insane to say, because I think everyone outside of the Trump world realizes how useless Merrick Garland was. And two, it's just incredibly ironic given that Trump has repeatedly weaponized his DOJ to go after his perceived political enemies, and he's literally doing the exact same thing with Smith now. And also, as far as specifics, Republicans have accused Smith of lying to Congress in a closed door deposition before the House Judiciary Committee last year, with Representative Jim Jordan asking the DOJ to prosecute him this summer. And at the time, you had a spokesperson for the Justice Department saying that the agency would investigate all evidence of criminal conduct. But Smith, he's firmly denied the allegations and in his opening statement before the committee this morning, he fiercely defended his investigation and his decision to bring charges against Trump. I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump. I made those decisions without regard to President Trump's political association, activities, beliefs or candidacy in the 2024 presidential election. Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in serious crimes against our nation. If asked whether to prosecute a former president today based on the same facts, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat. Rather than accept his defeat in the 2020 presidential election, President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme. I stand by my decisions as special counsel and in his opening statement before the committee this morning. I stand by my decisions as special counsel and in his opening statement before the presidential election. I stand by my decisions as special counsel and in my opening statement before the presidential election. I think you've already perjured yourself, but did you or your office. Can we see it? Can we see it? Did you or your office seek. This is my time. Senator, can we see. If you want to use your time to criticize my question, go ahead. With Schmidt then going on to ask Smith about the toll records and adding. You have weaponized the Department of Justice against political enemies to an extent that has never happened in the history of this country. You will go down as a total dirtbag. And then after that, you had Democrat Amy Klobuchar asking Schmidt's staff if they can hold up the poster with the alleged text for more than one second. And once he actually sees it, Smith says he can now respond to the question about the Hawks. Here you go. I recall going to a University of Maryland basketball game where Caitlin Clark was playing right around that time. And the Marshal Service was there with me. You could check if that was the exact date. It was Maryland playing Iowa. Could it then be that University of Iowa is the Hawkeyes? Could that be it? And maybe before we show. This kind of thing. I know. But if he was at an Iowa game, is that correct? It was because Caitlin Clark was coming to Maryland to play. Uh-huh. I know. But that might be the confusion over the names of the team. But perhaps you should have looked at it more carefully. Right. And then you had Schmidt going absolutely ballistic and screaming at Klobuchar for clearly proving him wrong while also then still doubling down. Whose questioning is this, by the way, Mr. Chairman? Are you using your time, Senator? Is this what this is? No. Are we just having like an open session here? I will begin my questions. I just. I'm just in shock that. Well, I'm glad you're trying to rehabilitate the witness, but it's not your time. When you are calling a witness a dirtbag. I presented him with text messages about him wanting to meet with people that could have obviously been related to the prosecution that was coordinated with his office in Atlanta. Well, I'm going to begin my questions now, but I think that people should have their facts straight before they accuse someone of being a dirtbag and not get the team wrong. I stand by that statement. And not long after that, Klobuchar confirmed that the Iowa Hawkeyes had indeed played Maryland on the date in question. But even then, Schmidt still refused to back down. When reporters asked if he still thought Smith had perjured himself after learning the details of the game, Schmidt responded, We'll find out. That's going to be up to a prosecutor to determine. Saying, my job here today was to ask questions and get answers. And then while that clip was going viral with everyone just dunking on Schmidt for being a total fucking clown, you had the absolute chuds on the Charlie Kirk show gassing him up and making it seem like he actually. He actually got this huge gotcha moment instead of totally embarrassing himself. And Schmidt just played into it. You caught him out on this NBA game, too, by the way, in Atlanta. I want to make sure we get to everything we're supposed to get to here, Senator. But it was a great moment. So good for you on that. Great job. So got to give you some flowers here, sir. You had text messages from his team confirming that he was going to a Hawks game. And he sat there acting dumbfounded and completely clueless. It was the only NBA or NCAA men's game. going on at that time in Atlanta. He claimed later that he was at another game. I don't, you know, here's the thing. My job is to ask the questions. He's already, and if that's what his answer is, then that's what his answer is. These guys are lying or misleading cucks, though also I wouldn't expect anything less from TPUSA grifters and chuds. You blatantly misrepresenting a situation, trying to rewrite history, and you fucking wonder why people are open to Candace Owens' version of events. Like, poor Charlie having dumb, dumber, and dumb as being the ones that carry on the flame. Also, like, I'm sure the people that work with him already know Schmidt is such a fucking dumb guy, but imagine having to go back to work after outing yourself as the biggest fucking dumbest idiot on the team in the Senate. There's even this slow zoom on Senator Katie Britt, who's just looking on as Schmidt is making a fool of himself. And I just love it so much, and so I had to share it there. But yeah, you know, that whole interaction, it also then ends up totally overshadowing any actual substance from the hearing. Though also at the same time, like, a lot of Schmidt's testimony was exactly what you'd expect, right? A lot of what we would expect. We've already seen before when Smith's talked to Congress in the past. But then, from that, jumping into very different news, we should talk about this Taylor Swift encore backlash and the whole situation, because it's bigger than a lot of people realize. Because while the wave of backlash is a critique of the music itself, it's also part of this broader, more complicated critique of her billionaire, apolitical, so-called regressive bubble. That's what you're seeing a lot of people saying, and you have a lot of people saying that it's getting harder and harder for fans to ignore in an age where our political reality is so kind of bleak. And as far as the specifics, you had Swift releasing a deluxe version of her The Life of a Showgirl album, titled The Life of a Showgirl, The Encore. Which, for many, was kind of an ironic title for an album that wasn't received that well upon its original release just under a year ago. And you had, I mean, you had some people calling it the worst songwriting of her career. Right, and the reaction to these four new tracks, for the most part, it was similarly intense and negative. Pitchfork gave The Encore version a brutal 4.0 out of 10 rating. You saw The Telegraph review being titled, I'm a Swifty, and even I think these new songs are terrible. And then The Guardian described the new work as flashes of humanity and bafflingly vindictive love songs. And a huge thing is it. It wasn't just the critics. One of Swift's biggest fans, the Swiftologist, had this to say in his reaction video. It's so hard to be the Swiftologist at a time like this. Well, all four of these new songs, Patient Zero, Cleveland, Pink Clouding, and Babylon, they're being debated and roasted to some extent. The most controversial award, that definitely goes to Cleveland. Where the song where Swift laughs at her haters on her way to Cleveland. And you had her singing in the first verse, she's not as hot as she was, but she was only a four, and with all of that money, why she dressed like trash. And then you have the chorus that's basically, I don't give a fuck about the haters because Travis, Kelsey, and I are in love. He took me to Cleveland. And so with that, you had a lot of people saying, one, it feels like an odd choice to focus so much on online trolls when writing about your happy relationship. And two, people were noting that she was only engaging with the very shallow and just mean criticisms about her fashion looks and dance moves. And so then that puts a bigger spotlight on her refusing to meaningfully engage with criticism about her artistry, and more importantly, her politics, which we'll get to more in a minute. And throughout the Showgirl original and deluxe versions, we've seen Swift choosing to focus on feuds, celebrity friends getting canceled, her haters, and yes, her dreams of sharing a white picket fence with Travis. None of that is evil or anything, but that didn't stop when she released the album last fall, there being this weird coordinated online disinformation campaign trying to align the music with Nazi and right-wing values. You could say what you want about Taylor Swift and Showgirl, but that had nothing to do with Nazis. But also, you had a lot of legit criticism saying her music is starting to feel more and more out of touch, lacking depth, lacking maturity. An increasing number of people saying as her celebrity has grown, it doesn't seem like she has grown with it. And you've had no shortage of people arguing, it's great that Swift has pushed back against ageism. Reminding us in her music, and by example, that you don't need to lose your romantic side or your lust for life as you get older. But it's also equally important to grow and become a better version of yourself as you get older. And with all this, for example, you had the Atlantic Review saying, The singer's music once put a clever twist on ideas about aging and adulthood. Now, she just seems to be going backwards. And while, of course, there are going to be plenty of stans that will be thrilled with whatever she puts out and whatever she does, what you're seeing is a lot of Swift's audience, like the review says, seems restless to grow up. Which feels like it means a few different things. They want music that feels a little less petty and insolent. And a little more grounded and an evolved, wiser perspective. And, you know, they want their favorite artist to be a person that they can look up to. Someone who wants to make the world a better place. Which is then where we and them and everyone get into the politics of it all. Because one of the things you've seen for a number of years is Swift being criticized for being mostly apolitical. Of course, she did endorse Kamala Harris in 2024. And she did have a brief political era in 2019 where she got loud about LGBTQ plus rights and women's rights. Something you might remember if you ever watched her documentary or saw clips from Miss Americana. And while this particular line of criticism, it's just intensified. The last few years as her platforms reached unprecedented heights. And she officially became a billionaire in 2023. And so now you're seeing people tie their feelings about the new music to this narrative about Swift embracing the billionaire lifestyle and failing to use her platform in a meaningful way. And so you've got people on Twitter making jokes like, Taylor Swift these last few years feels like when the Capitol got PETA. As well as the life of a showgirl felt like when Trump beat Hillary. The encore felt like when he beat Kamala. And so with all this, you've got people saying her silence or her received silence on Trump, Palestine, and more. It feels deafeningly loud right now because of what's happening with her peers. Because the timing of all this is massively important. I mean, it wasn't too long ago that we were talking about Swift's best friend, Ed Sheeran, a lot. And obviously not in a complimentary way. Because he recently chose his stadium tour and his Netanyahu loving buddy, Robert Kraft, over being a decent person and standing with Macklemore, his other openers, and the Palestinian people. Because apparently saying free Palestine and children shouldn't be genocided was a road too far for some people. And then when Ed Sheeran came back out, you had a lot of people saying he was playing victim. He was crying on stage about it. And so then with all that, you've got a lot of people making comparisons because Sheeran, like Swift, has done a lot. To remain apolitical recently. And while both of them, you know, they're so big that even if they lose fans, they have so many. It does seem like a number of music fans, they're just not having it anymore. And I've seen an increasing number of people saying the approach that these singers and others are making, it feels like a relic of the early 2010s Obama optimism era. The thinking that you can just make your bag. You don't have to put yourself out there. Things will figure it out and it'll work itself out. But then where it appears like a lot of people are being more and more drawn to are artists who seem in touch and use their voices for good. You've got people like 23-year-old Olivia Rodrigo, for example, launching an annual all-women musical festival that benefits organizations supporting reproductive rights, maternal health, and women's safety. Also, you've got more and more artists, not just Macklemore, saying Free Palestine on socials and on stage. And so all of this, you know, it seems like an inflection point for Swift. And we're going to have to see where it goes from here. What, what reactions, are there any movements? Are there any changes? You know, with all this, I do have to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts, opinions, and reactions here? Especially if you are a Swifty or you're someone that you generally fuck with Taylor Swift or her music. And well, of course, you know, I want to know everyone's take on this. As far as her career and where things go, like it's her fans' opinions that are going to be the ones that matter. And then there's even more we got to dive into in just a minute. But really quick, let's thank a sponsor. You know, my dogs could care less what's in their food as long as it tastes good. 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And so it happened back in 1995 at the University of Tennessee, though Pike was not actually a student there. Instead, you had her attending the Knoxville Job Corps Center, a program for low-income adults to get career and education training. And while there, she met her boyfriend, Daryl Shipp, but then also at some point she became convinced that another girl, Colleen Slemmer, was trying to steal Shipp from her. And so then what she did is that Pike and Shipp lured Slemmer into the woods on the pretense that they'd be smoking some weed and then they tortured and murdered her. And the way it was described is just brutal. They used a meat cleaver and a box cutter and then finished her off with a chunk of asphalt, with Shipp then also really carving a pentagram into her body, which then turned this already shocking story into a satanic panic thing. A pentagram, a five-pointed star, a symbol of Satan, was carved into her chest. Rituals and symbols are part of the worship. So are sacrifices, often animals, rarely humans. Police say satanic activity is not widespread in this area, but it does occur. When it does, it's usually done in secret. They get more drawn into it, and there is real power in this stuff. The devil has power to give people things, but they eventually begin to lose control of themselves. Also, you had Pike later bragging to another student that she had kept a piece of Slemmer's skull as a souvenir, and so a local paper took that and ran with it, writing, Satanists believe the body has to be whole for the soul to escape, said one source. By keeping this, they had the soul captive. And then you had the report going on to add that the Knoxville police chief Phil Keith said a preliminary investigation has revealed eight to twelve students at the center have some level of involvement in the occult, including satanic symbols in their rooms. Adding others involved in the probe estimate the number of people involved in the occult at the job corps is as high as 25 to 50. And adding police don't know if there have been other slayings in the area associated with satanic worship. Right, and so all of that, it adds to the idea of, you know, what the atmosphere was at the time that these murderers were sentenced. And while you had Chip actually getting off with a life sentence because he was only 17 years old, Pike, who was 18, she got the death penalty. - It is therefore ordered that you shall be put to death by elective human, and you will be prescribed by law, - I love you. - and that you shall be transferred. - And that you shall be transferred to custody for one year. - Please, let me just let me off. - I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. - All right, and so all of this, it makes for a very unique case for a number of reasons, including not only that was she young, but she was a woman. I mean, just looking at the data, less than 2% of death row cases over the past half century have actually been women. And one consequence of that was that Pike was totally isolated. Right, for all but three years, she was the only woman on death row in Tennessee, and even during those three years, she wasn't allowed physical contact with the other woman. And apart from that, actually only one other exemption came in 2001, when there was a fire and Pike had to be evacuated to another part of the prison with two other women. And actually, at that point, the other women began fighting and Pike used a shoelace to choke one of them out. And so then you had that incident adding an attempted first degree murder conviction to her record, not that I guess it really mattered. But Pike and her lawyers, they say that since being medicated and attending therapy, she's never been disciplined for violence, and she's expressed remorse for what she did to Slimmer. And then in 2024, after 28 years of solitary confinement, she was allowed to socialize with other inmates, and some of them have said that she's completely different now. But with all that said, as of tomorrow at 10:00 AM, the now 50-year-old Pike is scheduled to be given a lethal injection in Tennessee, which is actually the first execution of a woman in 200 years there. And among the people who are looking forward to this, saying this gives us justice, is the victim's mother, who says she's been waiting decades for this moment. Or because in her view, the media, they've been too focused on Pike and not the actual victim. Or where they're saying Slimmer, her daughter was a vibrant, generous girl who volunteered for the Special Olympics, loved bowling and roller skating, and was pursuing a career in computers. And so she argues that if anyone thinks the execution of Pike is unfair, well, so is her daughter being ripped away from her, which is why she's driving nearly nine hours from Florida to Nashville just to watch Pike's execution. And in hand, she has a photo of her daughter. - I will sit there with her picture in my hand, and as she gets hooked up to a needle to go to sleep, she can look at the picture. - But then with all this, you have Pike's attorney arguing that, well, yes, what Pike did was awful, and yes, she takes responsibility for it, and yes, nothing can justify it, and yes, nothing can justify her actions, she still shouldn't be executed. Right, arguing for one thing, she was just 18 years old, which on its own arguably does not mean much, but with that, they said that she had an extremely traumatic past as well. And with the attorneys rolling out evidence that her mother drank heavily during pregnancy, which could have contributed to her bipolar disorder. Then between the ages of two and five, Pike says that she was sexually abused by her mother's boyfriend, and then she was raped by a neighbor at age 11, and then raped again by another stranger at age 17. And so then years later, a psychologist who was asked by Pike's attorney to review the case concluded that her trauma is almost impossible to grasp, because it is so severe. And you had her lawyers arguing that she only intended to fight Slimmer, but because of her mental illness, she was unable to put the brakes on, and ended up killing her in a frenzied attack. And I guess during her trial, Pike's former court-appointed lawyers, they didn't tell the jury about her past, or even mention her age as a consideration, which ends up actually being a common story. Researchers have found that 96% of women on death row, they were either raped, sexually abused as children, or subjected to domestic violence prior to their arrest. And then with that, what experts say, we found that prosecutors were minimizing those experiences or dismissing them outright. But then also, it's not just about the trial, it's also about the manner of execution as well. Because you had advocates of sexual trauma survivors telling the courts they believe the likelihood Pike will quote, "involuntarily relive her rapes during her execution" is extremely high. Saying quote, "she will likely believe she is being raped to death." So then at the very least, you have her lawyers requesting an all-female lethal injection team, though she'd prefer hanging, or better yet, not to be executed at all. Or with Pike writing, "I was a mentally ill 18-year-old kid. It took me numerous years to even realize the gravity of what I'd done. Even more to accept how many lives I affected. I took the life of someone's child, sister, or friend." Saying, "it sickens me now to think I had the ability to commit such a crime." With Pike then also telling the Times of London she feels a kinship with Lindsay Clancy, explaining, "we are both females who got into trouble because of uniquely female issues." So adding, "one thing is different. Times have changed a lot on awareness of women's issues since I was put on trial." And adding, "I am pleased she received a mistrial and is getting the help she needs." Saying, "there are so many women who don't get the help they need, me and others." And likewise, you had her attorneys arguing, "Christa was broken, not evil. She was broken by a mental health system, juvenile system, and a criminal justice system that ignored misdiagnosed and mistreated her at every turn." And then with this, you had the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center telling local media, - I think that if Christa was tried today, her jury would not sentence her to death. - But then with all that, the Tennessee Supreme Court, they declined to stop her execution, and Republican Governor Bill Lee, he refused to grant her clemency yesterday. So now really her last chance is the US Supreme Court, but that clock is ticking down. And I think it's doubtful whether the conservative majority would be sympathetic here anyway. And so you have Pike now writing a letter saying, "whether my clemency is granted or not, I am at peace." Saying, "I am not afraid to die. I'm only nervous about the process." And all in all, I will say at the very least, this situation, it feels like something we are going to continue to see more of. With the massive divide and debate we've seen around Lindsay Clancy, the fact that there was a mistrial in that case, even though it was only because of one juror, I think a lot of people have gone, "Oh, there's an opportunity here." Or whether they genuinely believe in that defense and argument, that is a completely other thing to, "It has worked, so why not try it again?" Right, but then for today's show, we should jump from that to another controversial topic, though a very different one, and that is AI. And a lot of it centers around the idea that the rest of the world wants to pump the brakes, but Trump, he wants to bring forward AI as a so-called golden age. And actually with all this, this morning he unveiled America.gov, which is a new AI-powered site that's meant to serve as a one-stop shop for all government resources. And so if you ask it questions about things like veterans' resources or how to change your address with the postal service, it'll give you instructions similar to how ChatGPT would. Of course, with people being people and the internet being what the internet is, people are already goading it into admitting that the election wasn't stolen and seeing if it'll dodge questions about the Epstein files. Interestingly, reports say that it was made in partnership with both Gemini and Grok. And you know, given the climate around AI right now, it's not surprising to see that the site puts a lot of emphasis on privacy and safety. But also when Trump tried to touch on it himself, he really didn't do it with a ton of confidence. - And everything stays totally private. Cannot, in theory, be hacked into. And when they figure a way to do that, we'll end it. Because they always figure a way, right? They always figure. You know, when you have 197 IQs looking to do things, they can do, take it, but we can also, you know, counteract them if anything does happen. We think it might not happen, actually. - And then also one of the big things that we're seeing is that Trump's been spending a lot of time on his effort to rebrand artificial intelligence as super intelligence, calling it SI. Which feels a little bit crazy. When he was at the UN, he said, you know, artificial intelligence, it makes it seem fake, but it's not fake, it's amazing. And myself and Alex Perlman, while we've been on the "Crashing Out" tour, we were like, why don't you just call it amazing intelligence? You don't even have to change it to SI. It's, it would still be AI. And also the name is the least concerning part about it. The conversation around AI, it's not all one thing. We've seen and heard amazing stories about it being used in the healthcare industry, or with it, among other things, being used to help identify cancer and screenings that maybe a doctor might've missed. But no, Trump, he says, you know, it's the name. Artificial seems too sinister, and so super, it just sounds nicer. - Because when you say artificial intelligence, it's artificial. This isn't, this is extreme intelligence. It's superior intelligence. It's supreme, also, intelligence. But the word super is the best word. - The best word of all. - And then of course he also just really hammered how important it is to win the AI race. - Whoever wins super intelligence wins. You're gonna have a winner and a loser. And you're probably not gonna have a second place. You're gonna have a winner or you're gonna have a loser. We're leading now over China and everyone else and I wanna keep it that way. We do not surrender to fears about what technologies will do to us. - And while Trump's saying, you know, we want these tools and the people running them to behave honestly, he also really didn't dive into that and just said that the DOJ and FBI would handle it if something goes wrong. Notably, he delivered those remarks as he's also hosting a lunch with a slew of tech leaders, including the CEOs of Meta, NVIDIA, Palantir, Google, Anthropic, and more. And you've got many wondering, you know, how much they're gonna discuss issues within the industry. Because like we talked about yesterday, these tech leaders themselves are the ones that have been sounding the alarm the most. Many want government intervention and regulation to keep this tech in check. Seemingly agents are going rogue, even sites belonging to the US government are being impacted and this tech, is growing faster than our ability to keep it safe. And so it's gonna be very important to keep an eye on, you know, as pressure increases on these companies to keep things pushing forward, does the government add guardrails? And as far as what we have, you had Trump giving us the seeding chart, which puts him between Elon Musk and NVIDIA's Jensen Wang, while he's across from Mike Johnson and JD Vance. And you've seen a lot of people, you know, trying to read into all this with, for example, one Bloomberg reporter claiming that this could end up being one of the most pivotal meetings in human history if AI worriers are correct. And adding that this chart appears to give an advantage to AI accelerationists. Also, you had people noting that during a press briefing, he just seemed out of touch with other AI-related issues when he touted data centers instead of regulation. - This is a group that loves local communities. They love our country. And they're gonna work with local communities for the data centers in particular. And they're gonna work to make the community happy. Data centers are gonna be very popular. - But again, even as Trump wants to forge ahead with AI, some companies are still making the call for things to slow down. OpenAI, for example, just yesterday, they canceled the release of their newest model over safety concerns. It's known as GPT 6.1 Astra, and it was set to debut in October. So in just a few weeks or even days. But you've got the Wall Street Journal reporting that researchers, they found concerns during internal testing. And they're saying this is one of the clearest signs so far that agent misbehavior could stymie the industry's rapid progression. And this new GPT model apparently regressed in a few ways by not abiding by what humans wanted it to do and showing high levels of deception. Not telling its users what actions it took or did not take. And it would also just go forward with tasks without asking user permission and reach for tools that might be unsafe. And so you had OpenAI's head of safety system saying, "For anything regarding safety and alignment, there's a trade-off." Saying the new model didn't quite meet the bar in terms of staying within the scope and authorization and how it communicates back to the user about the type of work it's done. So now you've got the company trying to figure out what was causing these issues with Astra, and they're gonna later still try to use it as a base that will later create future GPT-6 models. But then also with this, you're seeing a debate over how we're supposed to handle the very real threats that this technology poses. Right, and if you ask the American public, they seem to be on just the slow down side. Or with the recent Reuters poll finding that 73% of people worry that AI companies, they haven't done anything to prevent the tech from causing serious harm. And 55% saying that it would be good to ease the pace of development. And then there's even more we're gonna dive into in just a minute, but really quick, a quick thanks to our sponsor. You know, debt's a common problem in this country. When you're juggling credit cards, personal loans, collections, or medical bills, it can be hard to even know what your best next move is. So if debt is something that you've been meaning to look into, today's sponsor, PDS Debt, they're an option. You can start with a free, roughly 30 second assessment at pdsdebt.com/defranco. And then they look at your individual situation and help identify debt relief options that may be available to you. And depending on your situation and the program you choose, that can mean simplifying what you're paying each month and potentially lowering your monthly payment. But I also wanna be clear here, debt relief is not the right fit for everyone. So make sure you understand how the program works, what it costs, and how it could affect your credit before deciding if it makes sense for you. Also, there's no minimum credit score required for the free assessment. And for whatever a BBB rating's worth to you, they've got an A plus. And a big thing with stuff like this, it's important not to pressure anyone into signing up, but it's to give you another option to look at if debt's become something that you're struggling to manage. And so if that's worth a look for you, there's a free personalized assessment at pdsdebt.com/defranco or just scan that QR code. Owning a home's amazing until your house decides to have a problem at the worst possible time, right? Like at the time that our water heater failed, I walked into our garage, water was everywhere, it damaged the walls. And this was around the time I was trying to sell the place. It was like, oh yeah, another curve ball. And it wasn't just, oh, it's a mess. It's finding someone available, figuring out the repair, realizing these problems don't care about your schedule or your bank account. 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So hey, join the millions of customers who trust HomeServe. And for 50% off your first year, just go to HomeServe.com/DeFranco. - Hank joined BJ's Wholesale Club the day he became a father of 30. - I coach football. - Now Coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices, 30 pounds of pasta, three cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. - And that's just pregame. - He knows teamwork and BJ's knows savings. This is your home, coach, home of the save. Join for just $20 at bjs.com/mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon, limited time offer, new members only. BJ's, home of the save. - And then for your final block today, I'm gonna cram in some more news you need to know before you go. Starting with the news that Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has her voter base completely pissed off about an ad she just put out. - Meet Brad. Brad has turned relaxing into a full-time profession. But you, you actually work hard. You pay taxes to cover welfare for guys like Brad who just choose not to work. - Why? - That's why I launched a welfare-to-work requirement. - Almost there. - Now, more Arkansans are working than ever before. - Whoa. - Even Brad. - Now, while on the surface, this seems like everything you'd expect from a Republican ad, right, they're trying to appear like they're on this crusade to make sure that people aren't taking free handouts and soaking up your tax money. But apparently, for many of her people, the messaging was not the issue, it was the guy they used to deliver it. - You are demonizing white men inappropriately when they are not the primary Democrats. - It's a demographic that is engaged in welfare fraud. We are really, really tired of anti-white racism, especially coming from our own people. - Right, so with the guy in the ad being seen as this loser freeloader riding on government benefits, you had people claiming that, hey, she just made young white men the face of welfare. And you had chuds like Matt Walsh claiming, hey, this is another example of Republicans shitting on them at every possible opportunity, although they're the party's voter base. Even arguing that, quote, Republicans don't have the balls to do this ad with Shaniqua as the villain. And while it seems obvious to many that Matt Walsh is just a bigot, this whole situation, it then got a lot of people looking at the specific numbers. And as far as Arkansas, as of 2024, white people, they made up about 57% of Medicaid recipients, while black people only made up about 20%. And in 2023, 54% of SNAP recipients were white, while about 34% were black. And while obviously for like a deep dive into this topic, you have to account for how their overall population plays into that, as well as how racism has historically put different people at different backgrounds into different starting positions and how that has played out over years and years and decades. The bottom line for many is that if Sanders was paying attention to the numbers, Brad actually made sense to use for the ads. You had a lot of people clapping back there. - What they're mad about is that they didn't put a black person in the set. Let's just be clear about that for a second. They want to cast all black people in America as lazy and living off the government teat. It's absolutely disgusting stuff. Now they're seeing it reflected in their own face and the way that they look, and they're very upset about it. - But then also, even if you look past the numbers, Sanders is running for reelection against a black man by the name of Fred Love. So you had a number of people saying, hey, if she ignored the stats for the sake of a few angry white guys, that would have led to a whole other set of problems for her. And so with all that, you had Sanders just standing her ground, focusing on the core message of the ad saying, next thing you know, they'll say I should have used cookies instead of cheese balls. But as far as if this is gonna bite her in the midterms, we'll see, it's still Arkansas. Also in the news, the Senate just did something very rare. In a vote of 77 to 22, both parties mostly agreed on a thing. And that thing could actually change college sports forever. You've got the Protect College Sports Act, and it's the sweeping attempt to bring order to what everyone's been calling the Wild West of college athletics. And so in it, you have schools being allowed to roughly double what they pay their players, up to about $50 million a year per student. For school. Also, athletes get to keep more of their name, image, likeness money, because agents can now only take 5%. And for the first time, athletes in women's and Olympic sports get a guaranteed cut of that pool. But then also, there's a trade-off. Athletes can only transfer once without a penalty, and they get a tight five-year window to play. So seemingly, one of the biggest winners here is actually the NCAA, right? 'Cause the bill hands them something that they've wanted for years, a shield for the lawsuits that have been slowly tearing its rule book apart. And then that is where you're seeing critics come in, right? Because you've got them arguing that the protections for women's and Olympic sports expire in nine years, but the NCAA's legal shield never does. And then while there's a cap on how much the player's gonna earn, there's no cap on what the coaches make. But ultimately, we won't know if this is gonna pass until after the midterms, 'cause the House has to pass it, and they're not in session right now. And then, your final bit of news today is that America's military leadership is about to get gutted. We're with Pete Hegseth announcing a 20% reduction across generals and admirals. And of course, that brings up a question for you. Is he trimming it because of bloat, or is he cutting valuable leadership experience? By the way, this is really one of the most aggressive leadership shakeups at the Pentagon in modern history. And in total, dozens of top leaders across the Army, Navy, Air Force, and other branches are gonna be called as part of a directive to trip what Hegseth thinks is a top-heavy bureaucracy. And instead, the Pentagon will focus on, quote, "war-fighting readiness." And you've got supporters arguing that the top brass has grown unnecessarily bloated, and it created chains of command that weren't streamlined. And in times of war, convoluted chains can be a problem, but politicians across both parties are skeptical if we're really at that point yet, because the US military does have a significantly higher ratio of officers to troops today than during major conflicts like World War II. But also, basing it off that ratio kind of misses a key fact: the draft. Right, being an officer requires a degree which can defer your service in times of war, whereas, everyone else has to go, so of course, the ratio is lower. And then add in the fact that being an officer is a big career move, and of course, people wanna stay in the service. And then with this, you've got critics adding that purging top brass so quickly, it risks politicizing leadership and stripping away vital institutional experience at a time when we're in an active war and global tensions are very, very high. And that's before remembering this isn't the first cut. Right back in 2025, Hexeth already ordered that at least 20% of the National Guard's general officers be purged while general and flag officers were cut by 10%. Hexeth also blocked the promotion of officers slated to become one or two star generals, saying that such promotions are not guaranteed and that they serve at the pleasure of the president. And then also, regardless of if this ends up being a good move or not, or it kind of doesn't matter, it seems like just the optics, they're not great. Right, if Trump hadn't started this war of choice with Iran, this would probably be a much smaller story. With active fighting and fears that it'll escalate, you have people wondering, is this really the hill that Hexeth wants to die on? And that, my friends, you beautiful bastards, brings us to the end of your Tuesday Philip DeFranco show, another daily dive into the news in the books. And well, of course, we'll see you right back here tomorrow as we dive into the news this weekend. A quick reminder, if you're in or around or want to go to DC and/or Pittsburgh, myself and Alex Perlman are gonna be doing our final two live shows of the year. You can get your tickets at crashingouttour.com. They want us to add some more shows, but I just need to 100% be here for Lindsay and the family as she finishes her run for this seat. And we've got a lot going on, but it is all good things. So on that note, let me just say thank you for watching. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.