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. And 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 cottonties and mongoli and cashmere sweaters at work all day and into the evening. Or basically close it, make you look, put together without looking like you had spent an hour planning it. They're denim and tailored, you know, started 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 next 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 price 50 to 80% less than similar brands. Or they work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen so you're paying for quality and 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 your everyday by scanning that QR code or going to quince.com/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.com/defranco. Quince.com/defranco. Federal agents just rated Ilhan Omar's home weeks before the midterms, but it's also bigger than you think. James Tylerrico missed nine days with the flu and mag is spun into him being secretly checked into a mental hospital, though it's crazier than it even sounds there. We also had a man just being molded up by a tiger after jumping into its enclosure. And we've got to talk about the wild updates and attacks on Lindsey DeFranco. 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. You just had federal DHS agents raid, representative Ilhan Omar's DC area home this morning. Well, as of recording, we're still waiting for more details. This is a fluid developing situation. Shortly after Fox News broke the story, you were the DOJ confirming that Homeland Security Investigations, which is a branch of DHS that handles criminal investigations, had quotes executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation. But the department did not say whether the warrant was related to Omar nor did it provide any additional information about the nature of the investigation. And while there is lack of details here, it has been widely circulated that the search may have had something to do with her immigration record. Because if you don't know the backstory, Omar fled Somalia when she was a child of the peak of the country's civil war later, immigrating to the United States as a young teenager and eventually becoming an American citizen. But also a key thing is that ever since she was elected to Congress in 2018, she's been a regular target for Trump. And with Trump continually lashing out at her and also going after Somali immigrants as a whole. Among other things, calling her garbage last year saying that Somali should go back to where they came from. But then also, for years now, you've had many Republicans repeatedly pushing this unproven claim that Omar's ex-husband is actually her brother in that she married him so that he could become a US citizen. And to be clear here, there is absolutely zero public evidence to support that claim. And Omar has strongly denied it time and time again. But then in a way, his stop Republicans were repeating it, including Trump himself who said back at a rally in December. We ought to get her to hell out. She married her brother in order to get in, right? She married her brother. Can you imagine if Donald Trump married a sister beautiful, she's a beautiful person. If I married my sister to get my citizenship, do you think I'd last for about two hours or would it be something less than that? She married her brother to get in. Therefore, she's here illegally. She should get the hell out, throw the hell out. And notably Trump seems to have gotten a pack word there. But the allegation is usually that she married her brother to help him become a US citizen, not the other way around. And that claim has been echoed by many on the right, including top Trump administration officials. Or just a few days later, you had borders our Tom Homan saying that investigators were reviewing her immigration files again and claiming that he had no doubt that Omar had committed fraud. Pulling the records now, pulling the files, and we're looking at it. But this fraud investigator who I know personally and one of the best fraud investigators in HSI homeless security investigations said there's no doubt. And actually, when people like Benny Johnson asked shady fans about the marriage allegation on his podcast back in March, Vance had this to say. - Yeah, so we actually think that Elyon Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America. And I talked to Steve Miller about this actually recently. We're trying to look at what the remedies are. That's the thing that we're trying to figure out is what are the legal remedies now that we know that she's committed immigration fraud? Of course, with that, Vance provided zero evidence for that claim. And I will say you also had him appearing to kind of walk it back a bit and make. But when a reporter asked if he anticipated an indictment against Omar for immigration fraud you advance framing the situation as an ongoing investigation into reports instead of a definitive conclusion that had already been reached. - I don't want to pre-judge an investigation. I mean, you read the things about Elyon Omar and about who she married and whether she didn't marry this person or that person. It certainly seems like something fishy is there. But everybody's entitled to equal justice under the laws. So we're going to investigate it. We're going to take a look at it. If we think that there's a crime, we're going to prosecute that crime. And that's something the Department of Justice is looking at right now. But then last month, you had DHS Secretary Mark Wayne Mullin telling Benny Johnson. - Something's going to happen. (laughing) - And this is an ongoing investigation. We know that she married her brother to try to bring him in the United States. There's even more to this, the whole family, migration and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with. But all of us in the best, we're investigating. And if we can prove it that you shouldn't be here in the first place, we'll deport you. - Rick, when Fox News asked Homan about those remarks, he said that he didn't want to comment on an ongoing criminal investigation, but then he added. - If someone committed immigration violation, someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they're a congressman or not, no one's above the law. So I'll leave it at that. We'll let HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, continue the investigation. - Okay, so you're confirming that there is an investigation into Congressman Omar. - I'm confirming that ISIS, yeah, like I said months ago, that is something that's been reported and needs to be looked at. - But Omar, she told reporters that she was not aware of any criminal investigations into her, reclaiming that she hasn't been made aware of anything and that DHS has not reached out to her about any pro. And again, to be clear, we still do not know the exact focus or the scope of the investigation that prompted the search this morning. But you did have sources telling Fox News that the raid stems from a criminal fraud investigation into Omar's immigration paperwork, which was filled out by her father when she was a child. And you with the New York Times also reporting that the search warrant lists a series of potential immigration crimes under investigation, including false statements and fraud and immigration paperwork as well as a general conspiracy charge according to a source familiar with the document. And then with that, adding that in recent months, federal investigators had opened an investigation into Omar's immigration, including whether her father lied or omitted certain information while seeking legal status in the US before becoming a citizen. And then going on to say that investigators were looking into whether Omar derived her own citizenship from a father who might not have been eligible for naturalized status. Right, and that is an incredibly important key thing you're right, key takeaway. And that's because even though Trump and his allies have continued to push this story about her ex-husband, supposedly being her brother, as ridiculous as that sounds or whatever your opinions are there, experts have noted that that could be a non-starter because felony marriage wrong, that is a five year statute of limitations in Omar formerly divorced that husband in 2017. And actually, even then, some have also said it's not a deportable offense. But as you have the times explaining, if there is conclusive evidence that she derives citizenship improperly, the Justice Department could pursue a criminal or civil denaturalization case against her. And adding that if she was successfully denaturalized and stripped of her citizenship, she could face deportation proceedings. Now, of course, with this, Omar has repeatedly denied allegations that she or her family did not immigrate to the US legally. And actually, in a statement following the raid, she hit back at the Trump administration, accusing the president of weaponizing law enforcement to target his political enemies and going on to say, "For 10 years, Trump has targeted me with baseless lies and smear campaigns." And saying, "This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced." And that's something you've seen echoed by more and more people. And actually there, you even have others noting it, the timing here is especially suspicious, because it comes just three weeks before the midterms at Omar's running it. And that stands out for a number of reasons, including that the DOJ literally has a longstanding policy that instructs officials to avoid taking public steps like executing search warrants or making indictments in political cases 60 days before an election. Right, the entire point is to avoid getting the department embroiled in cases that could be perceived as politically motivated and could affect election results. So there, I'll also know that there is not a blanket rule that explicitly prohibits the department from acting within six days before an election. The policy has been broken before. Right, and actually the most famous is connected to the first election of Trump because you had then FBI director James Comey deciding to publicly disclose new developments in the email probe of Hillary Clinton just 11 days before the presidential election. Right, but the DOJ does have a written rule that bans officials from specifically timing certain investigative steps or public statements to influence an election. But ultimately, here you're saying, a lot of people accusing the Trump administration of once again, not only shadowing norms to target and harass the president's perceived enemies, but taking it to a completely crazy place. Right, arguing that it's clear that they're intentionally doing this right before the election. And with that, accusing Trump of abusing his power and using federal agencies for racist political intimidation. And with this, you know, while you have a lot of people arguing, this is just a clear attempt to distract from just how deeply unpopular Trump and his policies are heading into the election and just how bad the situation is for Republican politicians. You also have to think that there is a chance that this could backfire. Right, and there you even have people like Senator Chris Murphy tweeting. We all see what's happening here. And it's not going to scare people into silence, saying it's going to cause more people to vote. And hey, time will tell if that turns out to be true. But of course, you also saw plenty of Republican celebrating the news. So some appear to maybe have taken it a bit too far. Or with, for example, Stephen Miller's wife, Katie Miller is saying the quiet part out loud, sharing an article about the raid and writing on Twitter, "Promise made, promise kept." It's seeming to imply that Trump was keeping some promise to go after Omar, which at the very least is not the best look if you're trying to convince the American people that this is not a politically motivated stunt from a president who is vowed to target his enemies. And so with that, it seems like Katie Miller realized that because she deleted that post. Right, and then actually jumping from that to another crazy bit of news, we've got to talk about Maga's crazy attempt to spin James Tallerico's flu into a secret pencil breakdown and treatment stint in Ohio. So what happened is that Tallerico was off the campaign trail for nine days to recover from the flu. Then with that, you would, a lot of Republicans just lying and calling it 12 days or two weeks and it just gets bigger and bigger. Or like a bunch of guys that are 5, 10, but say they're 6-1 online. And you know what, if we're at 6-1,
We might as well say 6'4." And then also during this time, you're then brewing up these conspiracy theories and they were encouraged by Tyler Rico's opponent Ken Paxton or Ken tweeting on Saturday. Games, Tyler Rico claims he was missing for 13 days because of the flu. Who actually believes that? And then with that, the conspiracy theory that you saw really take off was the one centering around the Lindner Center of Hope in Mason, Ohio. You know, that boosted by the likes of reality star and failed L.A.M., or O'Canada, it's meant to spread. Naturally, Megan Kelly. "Truly, we need proof of life. Where is he? Let's see a photo with today's newspaper. Let's see video. Let's hear him talk. Let's find out what facility he's in." This guy had a mental breakdown. Weeks before the vote, the people of Texas deserve to know. The people of the United States deserve to know. But then from that, we're this reaching new heights when maggot influencers Nick Sorter and Rayna Mocker claim that during a Saturday night phone call, the Lindner employee confirmed that Tyler Rico had been released from the Ohio facility that night. "It looks like he was discharged this evening, that's why I don't have it." They did it. But then, you'd be very, very quick to notice some of the obvious holes in the investigation. A huge thing is, like, Tyler Rico had already returned to the campaign trail on Friday and attended a Casey Musgrave's concert on Saturday. You know, unless he had a time machine, very confusing how that would be possible. So even if you were buying the very random Ohio part of this, the timing just doesn't add up because he was out and about before they said he was discharged. And then, there's a tiny little issue that appears that these guys reportedly edited the phone call recording to cut out the parts where the employee repeatedly denies anyone named James Tyler Rico's in their system. But with the whole thing actually being six minutes long, it was obtained by the bulwark. And so with all this, after they posted the misleading clip, you had a spokesperson for Tyler Rico, quick to call the story, a lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory. Also, at the Lindner Center, saying in a statement, "Representative James Tyler Rico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope," then Tyler Rico even retweeting that and adding a laughing emoji, saying, "I've never even been to Ohio." Well, the pretty much clears up the conspiracy. He's still then is also having to talk about this because lies spread so fast. And so even Adam reacting to the conspiracy theory during an interview yesterday. That's not true. I just had the flu, and I feel much better. But it's a good reminder that you can't believe everything you read on the internet. I think it's mysterious that Ken Paxton hasn't responded to a request for a debate in 85 days. I hear that people are getting really concerned about the Attorney General. And, you know, I've heard rumors that he has a rare medical condition that causes clinical levels of cowardice. So I know Ken Paxton has asked for proof of life for me. I'm asking for proof of spine from him. It's a theory of Tyler Rico alluding to the reason why people might want to try to invent an October surprise. It's because things are not looking good for Paxton, a guy who has a famously lengthy resume of fuck-ups, including an impeachment trial, securities fraud charges, cheating on his wife. It was on and on. It's even in a bad polling year for Republicans, like this is still Texas. He is a uniquely unpopular candidate. I mean, he's behind Tyler Rico in the polls, and we're talking about a state where a Democrat has not won a Senate race since 1988. You even have the likes of Megan Kelly, saying that Paxton's not a charismatic or particularly likeable candidate. Right, making it clear why she leaned into the Linder Center theory. And also just again, if you think about it, it's genuinely insane that she's saying this. This is a woman who was publicly attacked and humiliated by Donald Trump, and she carries water for him every day. Even she's like, ah, fucking Paxton's the worst. So even after everything was proven wrong, she decided to double down, writing in what many are calling one of her more pathetic tweets, "Could you please clarify Linder Center hope?" As James Tyler Rico been to your facility at all at any point in the last nine days. And two, was the facility operator who said he had been there mistaken? Will you allow her to speak publicly? And she wasn't alone, right? You also saw other desperate responses from other Paxon allies, including a tweet from Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Colvin, and while he hadn't tried to downplay the whole disaster, he dismayed it worse, saying, "It genuinely doesn't matter if it was a mental health hospital or the flu. Bailing on the biggest job interview of your life by disappearing for two weeks is damning enough all by itself." And a key thing that I want you to remember here is this whole doesn't matter if it's true or not thing. This is a huge part of the current right wing infrastructure. We even have people like Grant Cardone saying shit like this. Whether it's true or not, people deserve to know the potential of this. Wait, what do you mean whether it's true or not, doesn't it matter if it's true? It is true because Ryan. But you've seemingly got people out there going, "Hey, it doesn't matter if you slander someone." As long as you change the focus, as long as you change the narrative, the conversation. Again, because yes, this cycle Republicans are unpopular, but also Ken Paxon is uniquely a bad candidate. Someone even argue a uniquely just bad human being. And then with all this, it's going to be important to keep our eyes on it because you have some saying, "Hey, Talarico and Linda Center of Hope, they might have legal cases here." For now, we're going to have to wait to see how this plays out both legally and with the election. Yes, the midterms or November 3rd, make sure you're voting, but also in a number of states, early voting's already started. Here's your little cheat sheet for the states and the dates where early voting starts. Texas, for example, it starts 17 days before the election. In Georgia, I'm actually going to be out there voting tomorrow. I'm so excited all the, also, I'll be voting for my wife, which is just amazing. Awesome. And really just blew this cycle. And hey, in addition to your cheat sheet, you can go to vote.org, see your polling locations, make a plan. Get out there and be a part of the change you want to see. And then actually from that, let's talk about, this has been one of the most requested things over the past two weeks. People have been asking for updates because my fantastic wife, Lindsey DeFranco, is running for a state house seat in our home state of Georgia. It's HD 47. If you're in Georgia, that means it's in Milton, parts of Elfreddin, Roswell, Mountain Park, and the Freedom Area of Cherokee County. And when it initially started as this long shot bid has now turned into this insane, crazy situation, where through this seat and the promotion of others, it might actually flip the state house. Instead of break down the update as well as the new attack ads, I give you Lindsey DeFranco. Hey, me again, when we first entered this race for Georgia's House District 47, we weren't even on the map. They didn't really even consider us able to flip it. But after all the hard work that we've put in and all the generous contributions from y'all, we are now listed as the number one most flippable open house seat in the state. All of your contributions have enabled us to run an extremely thorough, well-rounded campaign because from the very beginning, I promised myself and everybody else that I would not take any outside money, no corporate money, no PAC money, no dirty money, nothing like that, just from individuals. And it's worked so far. And Georgia, early voting starts tomorrow. I cannot believe we're here. I have not been sleeping. I have just been a wreck, but like a good wreck in a way, I guess you could say. This is the final push. And we need more help because what our polls have shown is that once people learn about my background and my policies, they completely ignore the R next to my opponent's name and they switch immediately because they know that I'm in this for the right reasons and that my policies are good. But getting that information out in front of people is incredibly expensive. Let me show you what I'm up against because it shows you just how scared my opponent and the entire Georgia House Republican caucus is not only have they filed a bogus state ethics complaint against me. They've tried to manipulate AI to make people think that I have shut down my campaign. My opponent backed out of our virtual debate 10 minutes before it was supposed to happen. It's up on Apple News. We still did the debate anyway without him. What really shows you how scared they are are the mailers that they have put out against me and I want you to notice that on these mailers, they don't talk about my policies at all. They talk about me. They inform me on minutes, Lindsey DeFranco, bring in the California nightmare to Georgia. They made up all these dumb things about me on the back and then this is the second one that they sent. Lindsey DeFranco says the darnest things with stuff I never said and then on the back they say how I have advocated or sexually explicit content to be available to kids. Just crazy. And they say vote no on Lindsey. They don't even say vote for the other guy. They just say vote no, which is not even an option. So anyway, if they're not attacking my policies, they're attacking me because they know that I am a threat and that people like my policies and they're trying to make them question who I am as a person, but good luck with that. So here's the thing. We have almost 4,000 individual donors with the median donation being $25 and I am so proud of that because it shows that you believe in me and you're not expecting anything in return. Well, my opponent only has 85 donors and most of them are corporations, packs, lobbyists, developers, people with something to gain. Why would they do this for a 24 year old with no life experience, no legislative experience if they didn't expect him to just be a rubber stamp on whatever they wanted? This man has collected so much money from corporate packs, developers, AI data center special interests, the insurance lobby, organizations that want to defund public schools. His boss, who just so happens to be the mayor of Milton, he works for him in his private wealth management firm. His boss and his family have donated over $16,000 to getting this kid elected. The fix isn't. And here's the biggest kicker. The gambling lobby has spent over $200,000 trying to get this kid elected. I don't know what's coming next, what's coming towards me. It could be more of this BS, who knows, but at the end of the day, I know that I'm the better candidate. And we just have to get my name out there because when people know about me and they know about my policies and they know about my experience, they switch. So that's what we need help with. That's what we need money for. Pretty much cleared out our savings, trying to do this and there's still more and there's so much reform that needs to be done, but I am wasting your time right now. If you can't contribute, there are other ways you can help. We're going to have phone banking trainings. If you want to do some phone banking, just email
[email protected] to sign up. You can also just share my social media posts, whatever they are. Just share them because we need to get the word out to people in the district. And we will win because we are the real representatives of what we need in this district. Just a few weeks left. And I hope that the next time I'm sitting here and talking to you will be me saying, "Thank you so much. I am your new state house representative." So if you do want to donate, please go to linceyforga.com/donate. Okay, love you so much. Bye. Bye. I'll see you on the other side. And that was a fantastic Lindsay DeFranco everyone round of applause. Why are you clapping? You're watching a YouTube video. Also, it's a side thing. I think whoever is putting out these hit piece mailers, I think secretly has a crush on my wife. Those are some bomb ass photos they're using. But with all that said, there's a lot more we got to dive into today. But first, a quick break with a sponsor. Your October is the month where you leave the house dressed for one season, and you come home, have an experience three. Then you add in with sidewalks, crowded commutes, and somehow you're still out of dinner. Or which is exactly why I keep reaching for today's sponsor, Vessi, this time of year. And for me, their new match sneakers, they are my go-to. Or like, I've worn Vessi for years, but this shoe, this specific one, it is my favorite. And also having worn them for a while. I can tell you the whole water.
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So, hey, scan that QR code, or head to vesey.com/franko to get 15% off your first door. And with that, you get a 1-year warranty and 30-day hassle-free return. So, do it. I genuinely love these. I thank you all too. Go to vesey.com/franko. Only know I'm 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 curveball. And it wasn't just, oh, it's a mess. It's finding someone available, figuring out the repair, realizing, you know, these problems don't care about your schedule or your bank account. And that's why I'm very happy to share today's sponsor, HomeServe with you. We're at a lot of people assume that their homeowner's insurance covers every repair, but every day wear and tear, like plumbing failures, HBAC breakdowns, and electrical issues, they're often not covered. Right, in HomeServe, they offer plans that help cover different home systems, giving you another option when unexpected repairs happen. So, choose a plan based on your needs and budget. When something goes wrong, HomeServe helps connect you with local reliable professionals. Instead of scrambling to find a contractor during stressful situation, call HomeServe's 24/7 hotline and start the repair process. They've helped homeowners for over 20 years with a national network of 2600 local contractors and nearly four and a half million customers. And looking back, I definitely would have appreciated having something like HomeServe Dan when my water heater broke down. Say, join the millions of customers who trust HomeServe. And for 50% off your first year, just go to HomeServe.com/deferenco. And then, right back into the news, despite his officials doubling down on the face of serious backlash, it does seem like Trump is second-guessing the plan for a live-streamed execution. Because for a quick recap, Army Major Nadal Hassan shot and killed 13 people and injured more than 30 at Fort Hood in Texas back in 2009. And with that, you had him convicted by a military jury in 2013, which found guilty on 13 counts of premeditated murder in 32 counts of premeditated attempted murder. And you would have, then sentenced to death with an announcement coming early last week that he would be executed by firing squad this December. Right, and that in and of itself, that was already big news. It was worth noting because it's both the first approved execution by firing squad since World War II and the first military execution since 1961. But then the thing that grabbed a lot of people's attention was Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth saying this. We know what it is. It was a radical Islamist attack in uniform inside the ranks. And so he's going to get a firing squad of soldiers as it should be. And we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that this is their serious consequences for these types of things. So a public execution, the first in the United States, and nearly a century. But also not just your classic town square public execution, the Pentagon then followed up Hegseth's promise with a statement saying that the execution will be live stream. A move that even had a number of people who support capital punishment, saying that that sounds barbaric and dystopian. And as far as Trump, you know, at first, he gave it a stamp of approval. "It's a execution, the live stream is a execution of the board who did you work?" "Absolutely." However, what you saw was that after the backlash and pretty much everyone started roll again, he changed his tone a bit. And he told reporters that he would be the one to make the final call about just how public this execution would be, saying. "There are two thoughts. Don't show it and show it, because you know, by showing it, maybe other people won't be doing what he did. So I'll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we'll make a decision." And right now, if it's to be believed, it would seem like he's leaning the other direction, with Axis reporting that Trump has privately expressed some serious concerns about the whole idea. Reportedly telling his confidants that the live stream may not happen at all, with sources then telling Axio said he doesn't seem "particularly enthusiastic" about it. And that appeared to be JD Vance's read of the situation as well, telling reporters that he doesn't know if the live stream is actually going to happen. And then also adding that even if it does, Vance himself is not going to be watching it. And it seems like what could be causing the White House's shift in position here is the optics. And maybe not just because it's barbaric, but also, you know, they want this guy to pay for what he did, but they also don't want to accidentally make him a martyr in the process. You've had one of Axio's sources saying, "This is an old dude in a wheelchair we're shooting. We want to live stream that." Which is actually what Margaret Brennan from face the nation as the DHS Secretary of Mark Wayne Mullin over the weekend, right? Has the administration thought about the risk of making this guy a martyr to his cause? The short answer at least from Mullin was no. I think people need to understand if you attack America, we will come after you, and we will make sure that the punishment fits the crime. And in this case, he killed 13 individuals on Fort Hood. I have no sympathy for him, and I give absolutely zero thought to the way that this man dies. With Mullin also adding that he's going to follow Trump, and if you don't want to see the execution, don't watch the live stream. But this risk of bringing the wrong kind of attention to Hassan, it was definitely something that we saw in all the backlash. Right in the waves and waves of the criticism, you've got people saying things like, "If the Fort Hood mass killer isn't already a celebrated martyr to jihadists, live streaming his execution will make him one." And there is no doubt Hassan deserves to die. A broadcasting is execution is beneath the dignity and decency of our nation, saying Americans will use violence if and when justified, but we do not rejoice in it. Arguing kill him swiftly and silently, streaming his execution is not just a stain on a morality, it also gives the terrorists free propaganda that they will use to radicalize and recruit more terrorists like Hassan. And it's not just everyday people or people online, you've even had Republicans in Congress all but begging Hegseth and Trump to reconsider. And so you had, for example, John Curtis, a Republican senator from Utah saying, "Seneca warned that Rome's bloody spectacles corrupted the people who watched them, saying a civilization erodes when it cultivates an appetite for executions as a form of entertainment, and adding Secretary Hegseth's plan to live stream the Fort Hood execution risks feeding that appetite. Broadcasting a death diminishes us and is not an effective deterrent." And then you had several others including outgoing Senator Tom Tillis, Georgia representative Austin Scott and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski saying broadcast executions are something, quote, "appressive dictatorships and terrorists do." And I mean, you didn't have victims' families speaking up. Or with, for example, Keeley Vannecker, the daughter of 62-year-old Michael Grant Keehill, who was killed that day in 2009, saying, "Live streaming and taking joy in a tragedy that has deeply affected our family doesn't bring back my dad." Saying, "This is a serious event, and it's not there for people's entertainment." Regardless of the fact he did horrific things that affected our family, making this something we can all watch stabs us in the back. Saying Hegseth is putting more attention on the killer rather than the families in the wounded. And he with the father of George Draven III, a teenager who also died that day, adding that while he believes they should have, quote, "put Hassan down a long time ago, the idea of a live stream execution is kind of morbid, and he doesn't think he'd watch it." Then you're also seeing experts pouring in with several raising questions about the legality of the situation, because there's really no precedent here. Saying that with this, there's a chance that Hassan could challenge a public display of his execution in court. Or he could even go to federal civilian court for a hideous corpus petition, which could add years to the whole situation. And then also, heading on to another aspect of this, you have people like retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hurtling, telling MSNOW that it goes beyond what we can reasonably ask soldiers to do. Shooting of fellow citizens, even if they have committed a heinous crime like Major Hassan does, is not something we should ask soldiers to do in a firing squad. So for now, we're going to have to wait to see what comes from the coming days and weeks. But then, jumping from that, we've got to talk about how Elon Musk has quietly spent over a quarter of a billion dollars to support Republicans in the midterm since just July. Meaning that in total this election cycle, he has spent over $360 million, which is well ahead of what he spent for the 2024 campaign. And if that at all is surprising to you, it might be because you remember Musk last year saying, "In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future." And why is that? I think I've done enough. Well, if I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it. I don't know, currently see a reason. Ritsu is either lying, he found a reason or a little bit of bold. Because according to The New York Times, he is the largest known donor in these midterms, and it's not even close. Right, he is what Republicans say George Soros is. He is spending money like a man who has done some bad, bad things and needs to stay out of jail. And, or staying in a position where he's allowed to extract enormous amounts of wealth from those beneath him. But you can come to your own conclusions. But the difference between this cycle and the last cycle is that he's been doing it a lot more quietly this time. He's been taking more of a backseat in campaign events and just letting the money do the work. And one of the key things here is he is not the only ultra wealthy person funneling insane amounts of cash into who we elect. Just last week, you would CNBC reporting that the top 20 largest donors and donor groups this cycle have contributed about $1.2 billion. That is around one eighth of what's been raised this cycle. And 14 of those 20 largest donors are backing Republican candidates in groups. And so this money gives Republicans an upper hand with a VP at one Democratic think tank explaining, "We don't have the kind of donors they've got, doubting the advantages that the Republicans have are enormous and no amount of donor enthusiasm on our side is going to close that gap." Right, and then you could also see how this spending plays out when it comes to advertising. Or because just since the start of September, Republicans have made more than $700 million dollars worth of advertising bookings and congressional races compared to just $430 million from Democrats. Meaning that the Senate races, nearly seven out of every 10 newly booked advertising dollars, are coming from the Republican. And there is a reason that Republicans likely feel the need to spend so much money. Are you just at the Cook political report saying that the GOP is on track to lose the House and just shifted 15 House races towards the Democrats? So even rating the Senate is a true toss-up, which just a year ago seemed impossible. And so then with this, you got places like the Washington Post saying, "These midterm elections maybe remembered as the year the wealthy dominated in political spending for congressional and state elections to questionable results." So that's likely where we're seeing people like Musk coming in which is massive, massive amounts of money. And even a major chunk going to the main super PAC, trying to maintain the Republican Senate majority. In fact, he gave $158 million to that fund alone, which is one of the largest political donations in our country's history. And it is more than the Democratic equivalent of that group raised all quarter. And as you've had that heated Texas Senate race playing out, Musk is also spending a lot of money on Paxton. Or which makes sense for a number of reasons, including it's now Musk's current home state, and Talarico is actually outspending Paxton. And so on the right, you're seeing plenty of people celebrating Musk's own nation, seeing it as a lifeline in the midterms. But also, there's an argument here that Democrats can use Musk's money against him, right? Though the more political influence he's gotten, the less people in the country seem to like him.
Right just last year you had an AP poll finding that only one third of U.S. adults view Musk favorably and the majority believe that he just has too much power. And so the Democrats, they should highlight how he's spending record-breaking amounts of money on the Republicans to show who's benefiting from Musk's power. And actually, we're starting to see that happen. But this big New York Times report on just how much money Musk has spent who was published this morning and already you have major Democratic voices like Bernie Sanders say. Elon Musk spent $290 million to elect Trump. It paid off. And adding since his election, Musk got $696 billion richer and became the world's first trillionaire. But adding that's not enough. Now, Musk is spending $366 million to keep Republicans in control of Congress. Stop Musk. Stop oligarchy. Right, this taps into a sentiment that exists for big money in general, whether it's coming from Musk or any ultra-ultra-rich person. Right, voters do not like seeing insane sums of money spent on super PACs in the middle of an affordability crisis. And so there's effective messaging here on how much billionaires like Musk are spending that could end up hurting the Republicans. Because as one government ethics expert noted, having money matters, but it isn't always about who has the most added. Having tons of money doesn't guarantee victory, but the contrary is true. Not having enough does guarantee defeat and adding no one ever really knows what enough is. And so in some of these races, it is likely to come down to whether or not Democrats have enough in the races where it really matters. The also what we're going to be seeing is definitely an amazing test case in what are the caps of how much you can move the needle with even insane amounts of money. Can you fear a monger, culture war, and get people to not believe their lying eyes when they're at the gas pump, repaying their bills, or doing insert bad thing from the last two years. That's what you have a lot of the Republican establishment and Musk doing right now. And we will see after November 3rd how it all plays out. And then I've got three more news stories we got to talk about today, but first a quick self promo. In times as crazy as these, there's never been a better time to wear your feelings. And right now over at BeautifulBesides.com, there are new ways to wear your feelings. Right, T's and Cruz, like I used to be on the honor roll. Now I'm on a government watch list. Also do not talk to me about AI, also how many grams of protein will it take to restore the light in my eyes? Which I have to release eventually on a tank top. Like I want that on a tank top because this show I'm working out really the only things keeping me sane these days. Of course, that's an addition to our other bestseller is like, yeah, no, I'm fine. God is testing me and our refuse to study in a silly goose in this economy. With all of that and even more available at BeautifulBesides.com. So go snag your new favorite T's and wear your feelings. And then diving right back into the news, we've got to talk about how a man was mulled to death this weekend after climbing into a tiger enclosure at a UK wildlife park. Specifically, it was Saturday at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and according to witnesses, you do this man happily enjoying his visit, dancing around and even asking someone to take his photo with the tiger behind him. But then for reasons that still aren't clear, you had him climbing into the enclosure as other visitors tried to pull him back. With witnesses saying that once he was inside, he got down on all fours, appeared to be prang, looking up at the sky. One person described him as seeming almost in a trance like he wasn't fully connected to reality. He also reportedly even tried to communicate with the tiger, telling it to stop being naughty and using what looked like sign language to people. And all this led to people speculating that he might have been autistic and deaf, but also as a recording police have not identified him yet, so none of that's confirmed. What we do know is that the tiger attacked, and by the time that emergency crews reached him, it was too late. He was pronounced dead at the scene. And while the park has stayed closed while police investigate what led to all this, they've confirmed that the tiger, whose name is Al Thayee, is safe and is not going to be put down. And then also today, you've got a good news bad news situation coming out of Russia and Ukraine right now. Or with a good news being that Trump announced a historic energy ceasefire, though it has agreed to by Russian Ukraine. But the bad news is that he never actually talked to Ukraine about the deal, and it contradicts a 2022 law banning Russian fuel imports. And as far as the deal would be for both countries to stop bombing each other's energy grids, although it's probably not for altruistic reasons. But as Trump also made a deal to lift sanctions on Russia and buy Russian diesel to lower U.S. gas prices out of the midterms, and it's a lot easier to actually get the diesel if Ukraine is not blowing it up. And so understandably, Ukraine is pissed. First, it looks like Trump made a deal for them and didn't tell them about it, and secondly, this means that the U.S. would be directly funding the Russian war effort, which is a stab in the back. It mattered because Russia wasted no time and just continued to bomb Ukrainian energy targets so the deal was dead in the water. But still, despite that, you would Trump blasting Zelensky and saying that Ukraine needs a president who can make a deal. And you then add Zelensky saying, bet, and claim that Ukraine would be happy to hold elections if Trump could guarantee a 60-day total ceasefire first. Or so something that seemingly Trump could just could never accomplish. And you've got Trump feeling like these attacks, they're going to hurt him in the midterms, but also it's actually more than he realizes. Ukraine has also targeted Russian bot farms and engagement on political spaces such as subreddets or PECs. They've plummeted. These troll farms looking like they've essentially been silenced after the strikes. And well, not at all, a lot of the pro-Trump rhetoric kind of went out the window. And so for the past 48 hours, you've seen peace deals that don't exist, and air strikes apparently given us a political detox. And then finally today, you've got another Kalashy scandal this time. It's actually about Trump's new press secretary, because you've got them now launching an investigation into some suspicious trades that predicted that he would choose conservative commentator Katie Zechariah. And that's because Zechariah, she was nowhere near a frontrunner in the lineup to replace Caroline Lev. And how she specifically, she was seen as reportedly having a 1% chance at the position. But then reportedly at around 10.43 last Thursday night, someone bet $19 that she'd get it. And then you had two more bets for her coming in around 141 Friday afternoon, one for $74 and the other for $80. With then, at around 2pm, that same date, less than an hour after those last bets went in, we started seeing reports that she got the job. So that $19 turned into 1900, the other two, they're now worth $3,400 and $4,000 respectively. So those tight timelines, they raised some red flags, which also makes sense given what we've been seeing happening with these prediction marks in Washington lately. But you just had Trump's teleprompter operator getting fired after he pocketed more than $100,000 from betting on his speeches. And the White House has also had to send out warnings to staff members when some conveniently time bets started coming in about the war in Iran as well. And while we'll see what happens, it's wild that someone that said they were going to drain the swamp, has made it seemingly swampier than ever. Also, why are you committing crimes for $19,000? You're possibly committing crimes by being so close to very, very important privileged information, and you're like, I'm going to risk it all for a half a month rent in San Francisco. Like, my advice is, you know, don't commit crimes at all, but this is crazy. And that my friends, your beautiful bastards is the end of your Monday, Philip DeFranco shit. Thank you for watching, liking, subscribing to these daily dives into the news. Also, if you want to subscribe for a free daily morning news letter, go to PhilipDeFranco.com sign up there. You can also upgrade that membership, get a fully ad free Philip DeFranco show delivered right to your mailbox. Okay, no matter what you do, stay safe out there, stay sane out there, and we'll see you right back here tomorrow.
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