Dave Chappelle Slams Trump & Republicans

0:00 Dave Chappelle just called out Republicans for, in his words,

0:02 weaponizing his transgender jokes.

0:04 that's just one of the things that's blown up

0:05 today with this whole new NPR interview we did.

0:07 let's start with this trans jokes controversy,

0:09 which was sparked by his Netflix special,

0:10 The Closer, though definitely not limited to that.

0:12 then the special, among other things,

0:13 he Reverend JK Rowling saying gender is a fact, then added himself.

0:17 I'm team Terf.

0:17 I agree, gender is a fact.

0:19 that and other parts resulting in Netflix

0:21 employees actually holding a walkout in protest, and the backlash was huge,

0:24 Reddit became one of the defining moments

0:25 of the culture war around comedy and transgender rights.

0:27 with it then also being something Dave

0:29 returned to and other specials and other places.

0:32 in this NPR interview,

0:32 you had Dave saying the whole thing was just blown out of proportion.

0:35 so much of that was a media phenomenon.

0:37 What what was happening in actual life,

0:41 versus how the media was reporting on my show.

0:45 And I feel like the way they were put

0:47 on this show was rage baiting to some degree.

0:50 they almost reported on it,

0:51 as if I was doing something other than a comedy show.

0:55 then you had Chappelle going directly at the Republican Party.

0:57 I did resent that, that the Republican Party ran on transgender jokes, you know,

1:03 that I felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing.

1:09 I didn't, I didn't it's not what I was doing.

1:11 Chappelle then also told the story of being

1:12 on Capitol Hill and saying, you know, he was taking photos with whoever asked

1:15 dozens of people without knowing their politics.

1:17 And then.

1:17 here comes the, Boebert and she said, can I get a picture?

1:21 And I had already taken 40 pictures.

1:23 I didn't want to say no to everybody,

1:25 but I didn't know the phrase I respectfully decline.

1:27 So I just took the picture.

1:29 And then she posed the picture before I could even get from there to the show,

1:33 and says something to the effect of just

1:35 two people that knew that is just too generous.

1:38 She instantly like weaponized or politicized.

1:41 So I got to the arena and I lit her ass up for doing that.

1:45 and that post from Boebert is actually still up.

1:47 And at the time, you know,

1:47 a lot of people seeing Dave smiling with her and assuming that he'd gone MAGA,

1:50 but at least based on what he's saying now,

1:52 he's saying that was never his intent.

1:53 while we've seen a decent amount of people celebrating him going

1:55 after Republicans though a lot of Republicans are not loving that.

1:58 you also people pushing back on Chappelle here,

2:00 saying that he's rewriting history,

2:01 that he's kind of trying to manipulate the narrative.

2:04 and then also with that arguing that he

2:05 was already using Republican talking points in his material,

2:08 so he shouldn't be surprised by the audience that followed.

2:10 then you also saw people defending Dave's argument,

2:11 saying that there is a difference between the comedian working through ideas

2:14 on a stage in a political party

2:15 that's turning those ideas into campaign messaging.

2:17 that also wasn't the only controversy that he addressed.

2:19 There was also the backlash over performing

2:21 at the Richard Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia,

2:23 where critics accused him and other comedians of turning

2:25 a blind eye to human rights abuses for a paycheck.

2:27 the United States government does business with the Saudis.

2:30 Netflix does business with Saudis.

2:32 Everyone.

2:32 The Saudis financed tons of movies.

2:34 All these I know.

2:35 I see them financing boxing matches and all these things.

2:39 And none of these things were an issue until I went there.

2:43 And why is that?

2:44 As soon as a black man can make money off the plantation,

2:47 they tried to tell you there was.

2:49 The money is dirty.

2:50 Well, okay, I'll go home and spend the money with actual slave owners on it.

2:55 Where is this clean money?

2:56 Chappelle also argued that exporting comedy to audiences who can't always speak

2:59 freely is actually one of the most positive things American culture can do.

3:02 It must have felt incredibly cathartic.

3:05 If you can't say everything you want to say,

3:08 but you see somebody model their behavior, oh man, he's going to want it.

3:13 So.

3:14 So if you think of all the the violence

3:16 and all the things we export to the Middle East,

3:19 I think our culture's the biggest export.

3:22 We've got.

3:22 again, you saw people split.

3:24 some saying that his defense, it makes sense.

3:26 What?

3:26 Others saying they felt like it was weird

3:28 that he mentioned that he was a black man.

3:29 He was trying to turn this into a situation about race,

3:31 because a lot of people were angry at other comedians, regardless of their race.

3:34 Others arguing that it's very weird that he's trying to act like

3:37 a hero for bringing comedy somewhere when he's getting such a big paycheck.

3:40 actually, on the note of gaining wealth from this Ortiz we then get to Trump.

3:43 record, Chappelle was also asked about Trump,

3:45 specifically the idea that some people find him funny.

3:47 Maybe if he wasn't president.

3:50 I think that was funny.

3:52 Or maybe at times.

3:53 I mean, I do think you know that.

3:57 That's where then, there are funny things about him.

4:01 Like, if I were to talk about him, I could, I could it would be funny,

4:06 but but I think what he does is so consequential, So essentially,

4:10 Chappelle is saying there is a line

4:12 and humor requires some distance from consequences.

4:14 this idea seeming to be when consequences are real things like wars,

4:17 constitutional crises, people's lives being destroyed.

4:19 The isn't he funny framing stops working.

4:21 then the final thing I'll say that as popped

4:23 and spread from this interview so far, is that NPR noted that Dave,

4:25 he's been I'm digging shows by telling audiences

4:27 to stay sane together and take care of each other.

4:30 you had him explaining why and clips

4:31 that have been getting shared around Information

4:33 and the types of things we're hearing every

4:35 day in the news and seeing around us, it's almost like a psychological torture.

4:42 Well, what we're collectively going through,

4:44 the amount of animosity we have for one another It

4:47 takes so much courage sometimes just to come see a show.

4:50 And they come and and we're together.

4:53 And I feel like the exercise of doing

4:56 that shows like people actively trying to stay sane together,

4:59 like, let's just stay at it.

5:02 Like, remember how good it feels to be together, take care of one another.

5:06 Right.

5:06 And then on the broader question of free speech and comedy,

5:08 whether a stage should make room for every voice,

5:10 even ones that you disagree with.

5:11 You had Dave saying this.

5:13 I don't silence your champions.

5:16 I, in fact, I make space for your champions to have a voice.

5:22 But but I'm not your champion, and I am someone else's.

5:26 You can't.

5:26 You can't silence the team that you don't like.

5:30 What they're saying.

5:32 But you do have the opportunity to go on after them.

5:36 Say your piece.

5:38 if I see these same people throughout my life,

5:40 then clearly they're part of my community.

5:42 And everyone's in it is, you know, trans stand up comedians.

5:46 There's there's, every sexuality, every kind of identity.

5:51 And we support one another.

5:52 you know, with all that, I got to ask you, what are your thoughts here?

5:56 What are your reactions, your opinions?

5:57 Oh, that.

5:58 I'd love to see it in the comments down below.

5:59 especially because depending on where you go on the internet,

6:02 very different reactions.

6:03 because there are the Dave Chappelle defenders,

6:05 but also he has pissed off people on the left and right with his interview.

6:08 you've got many on the right saying, what is this?

6:11 Why is he going, whoa, why is he throwing Republicans under the bus?

6:14 right?

6:14 A number of them saying things like, he's a coward or a hypocrite.

6:17 and then on the left while.

6:18 Yes, you have people liking that he's taking a shot at Republicans.

6:20 have plenty of people saying that he's trying

6:22 to one either rewrite history or to he's being disingenuous.

6:25 you seeing people say things like Dave Chappelle,

6:26 not understanding how his jokes against trans

6:28 people contributed to our current political hellscape,

6:30 illustrates how so many of y'all are dumber than you think.

6:33 Another is saying that Chappelle is doing

6:34 the same thing Republicans were doing at the time.

6:36 just instead of gaining power in office,

6:37 he was making money hand over fist with more Netflix deals.

6:40 but again, I really would love to know your thoughts here.

6:42 then we're also seeing the political divide play out in schools,

6:45 because Turning Point USA now has nearly

6:47 3400 high school chapters across the country.

6:49 And Republican governors in at least

6:50 eight states are actually partnering with them.

6:52 If you're not super familiar.

6:53 Turning point USA started on college campuses back in 2012,

6:55 is a hub for students committed to conservative values.

6:58 Kirk built it into one of the most

7:00 influential conservative organizations in the country,

7:02 championing what be framed as free speech on campuses.

7:04 but critics, they saw it differently,

7:06 arguing that TP USA was hostile toward the LGBTQ community.

7:09 Non-Christians and non conservatives generally.

7:11 right now, TP USA is expanded into high schools under the name Club America.

7:15 as I mentioned, there are nearly 3400 chapters and they're growing.

7:18 And you have Republican governors in Nebraska,

7:20 Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Florida, Tennessee, and Indiana.

7:23 Having formerly partnered with the organization.

7:25 a big thing for a lot of people is

7:26 that the language surrounding the expansion is heavily religious.

7:28 if you are a chapter leader or you're part of a chapter and you are

7:33 a believer in Christ and you are

7:35 getting persecuted for your faith in your values,

7:38 are being persecuted because you believe in Jesus Christ.

7:41 let anyone disenfranchize you because you're a young man,

7:45 especially a young white male man.

7:47 God has created you for a purpose and a reason

7:50 far greater than you and I will ever know.

7:52 On this side of heaven.

7:53 and these partnerships would take this from, you know,

7:55 a student club issue to a constitutional one.

7:57 governors like Sarah Huckabee Sanders,

7:58 they're not just allowing these chapters to form,

8:00 they are actively endorsing It's the exact type of civic

8:04 engagement that we want to see at schools across our state.

8:08 It's never too early to learn the values

8:11 of faith and freedom that power our country.

8:15 if school administrators try to suppress students freedom of speech,

8:20 as we have seen in other states.

8:22 Let me assure you that conservatives have just as much

8:26 of a right to speak their mind as anyone else in the country,

8:30 and we will stand up for you.

8:32 you have many critics saying this just crosses

8:34 a line with one student just putting it simply saying, we're a public school.

8:37 We shouldn't be a school or a state.

8:38 Even that is telling people what they should believe also the ACLU of Arkansas

8:42 says that Sanders support demonstrates differential

8:44 treatment based on the content or viewpoint,

8:46 which they argue is a First Amendment violation.

8:48 you would Nebraska's largest teachers union,

8:49 saying if a Democratic governor made similar moves backing a left leaning group,

8:53 Republican leaders would be running to the press

8:55 to talk about how awful that is.

8:56 so they're asking, how is this any different other than you benefit?

8:59 the with all this, you have a turning

9:00 point pushing back on that framing with the organization,

9:02 saying state of Arkansas is not forming our chapters,

9:05 they're not doing our jobs or our students jobs for us,

9:08 nor are they saying other groups can't be formed.

9:10 and they argue governors are simply stating

9:12 that students cannot be blocked from forming

9:13 a Club America or a college chapter when students want to start one.

9:17 all that is technically to say is official

9:19 mission focuses on what they say is fiscal responsibility,

9:22 free markets and limited government, not religion.

9:24 were the language surrounding the organization

9:26 is saturated with Christian messaging.

9:28 The stated mission.

9:29 The official thing is secular enough to make the legal case complicated.

9:32 And then also there's another aspect at play.

9:34 Some club American students say that they have faced genuine hostility.

9:37 faced opposition from teachers and students.

9:39 They organized online and at school, trying to cancel the club,

9:43 tearing down our posters, disrupting meetings,

9:45 meetings, pressuring people to quit.

9:47 Adults in the community amplified this position online.

9:51 Ultimately, the police needed to become involved for my safety.

9:53 and yesterday it was reported that Erica Kirk

9:55 dropped out of a UGA event with J.D.

9:56 Vance due to safety threats.

9:57 the ones with that you had some people skeptical or pushing back.

10:00 some saying that if there was a threat and the venue wasn't safe.

10:03 And so Erica Kirk didn't show up,

10:04 then why would it be safe enough for the vice president?

10:06 and.

10:06 Well, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts there.

10:08 Really?

10:08 With the rest of the story.

10:09 Once we're done.

10:09 Here's what I will say.

10:10 obviously no one should be threatened for their political beliefs.

10:13 That's not up for debate.

10:14 but that is a completely separate issue from whether state government should

10:17 be officially partnering with an organization that sounds like this at events.

10:20 Charlie wasn't impactful because he was great.

10:24 He was impactful because God is.

10:27 And Charlie allowed him to use him and work through him.

10:33 And each of us have that opportunity.

10:35 we can take the lessons that he taught us

10:38 and allow God to use us just as Charlie did,

10:42 Or the same leaders who want to restrict

10:44 speech around sex education and LGBTQ issues

10:46 in schools are now easing up when it

10:48 comes to conservative clubs with heavy religious overtones.

10:51 after Kirk's death, it was heavily covered.

10:52 His critics, they've been fired, investigated.

10:54 They faced retaliation.

10:55 And so the free speech line here, it only seems to run in one direction.

10:58 right.

10:59 Conservatives.

10:59 They get governors back in their clubs,

11:01 but everyone else, they get told they're grooming children.

11:03 If they mention that gay people exist.

11:05 you know, here's how close it is, starting with the legal reality.

11:07 There is probably nothing illegal about Club America existing in schools.

11:10 Student clubs are protected.

11:12 Governors endorsing civic engagement.

11:13 That's normal.

11:14 And USA official nation is technically

11:16 secular enough to dodge Establishment Clause challenges,

11:19 even if their rhetoric actually in action

11:21 at events is just drenched in Christian theology.

11:23 but the broader question, it goes beyond legality or when a governor says it's

11:26 never too early to learn the values of faith and freedom,

11:29 she's not talking about all faiths Roman a speaker

11:31 does a roomful of high schoolers not to be,

11:33 quote, disenfranchized because you're a young white man,

11:36 that's not civic engagement, that's identity politics dressed up as patriotism.

11:39 when the same state's banning books

11:41 and restricting classroom discussions about race, gender,

11:43 sexuality or actively partnering with a group whose event feature speakers

11:47 say you are being persecuted because you believe in Jesus Christ.

11:50 The inconsistency is not subtle.

11:52 Free speech is free speech, or at least it's supposed to be.

11:54 And Club America has every right to exist.

11:56 But the party that spent years screaming about indoctrination in schools is

12:00 now partnering with an organization

12:02 that opens its event with Christian theology,

12:04 tells white boys, hey, you're being persecuted, you're a victim,

12:07 and has the explicit backing of eight Republican governors.

12:09 So for me, the question is and whether it's legal,

12:11 the question is whether anyone on that side

12:13 of the aisle would actually tolerate it for a second.

12:15 If the shoe were on the other foot.

12:16 Because you and I, we already know the answer to that.

12:19 then also as we're talking about what our representatives are doing,

12:21 we should talk about how in Congress,

12:23 lawmakers are trying to house even more representatives after pressuring

12:25 Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzalez to resign earlier this week.

12:28 because it looks like they're going for yet another two for one,

12:31 one Republican, one Democrat.

12:32 first up, you've got the Ethics Committee

12:33 investigation into Republican Corey Mills of Florida,

12:35 covering a staggering range of allegations.

12:38 that including sexual misconduct accusations

12:39 that stemmed from two separate instances.

12:41 Last year, DC police investigated mills for misdemeanor assault after

12:43 his girlfriend accused him of attacking her in his home.

12:46 Though she later recanted.

12:47 then on October, a Florida judge issued a restraining

12:49 order after a different ex-girlfriend accused Mills of revenge porn,

12:51 threatening to leak nude photos and try to harm her future partners.

12:54 After she ended the relationship.

12:55 But also the misconduct allegations are just the beginning,

12:57 the Office of Congressional Ethics found what they said was

13:00 substantial reason to believe Mill's

13:01 misrepresented information on his financial disclosures,

13:03 accepted campaign contributions beyond the legal limit,

13:06 and illegally enriched himself from federal contracts.

13:09 the OSCE report specifically noted that since 2024, 94,

13:12 federal contracts have been awarded to companies owned by Mills.

13:15 and that includes federal weapons contracts worth nearly $1 million that went

13:17 to a company that he had an ownership stake in, mills.

13:19 He's denied the claims and has refused to cooperate with the OSCE investigation.

13:22 so, in addition to the claims laid out in the OCP report,

13:25 the ethics panel is also looking

13:26 into whether Mills misused congressional resources,

13:28 leveraged his position to get special favors,

13:30 and improperly solicited or received gifts.

13:32 so now with Gonzalez and Swalwell zags expression, everyone's minds.

13:35 There's a growing movement to add Mills to the list.

13:37 so with that, you had AOC saying I'm glad that Eric Swallow is leaving.

13:41 I'm glad that Tony Gonzalez is leaving.

13:44 Frankly, I think that Cornell's probably be on that list.

13:48 it's not just Democrats supporting this move.

13:49 You had Lauren Boebert, for example, telling reporters.

13:51 We're going to see what's going on.

13:53 I mean, there was an ethics investigation.

13:54 I mean, obviously, Republicans have,

13:57 been covering to, I don't know, protect people firms from.

14:02 I don't know what.

14:02 Listen, if you have,

14:04 restraining orders because you're accusing women, and that's true.

14:08 Like, you have no business being here.

14:09 I'm tired of protecting these people with, horrible past and, who are,

14:15 really victimizing women right?

14:17 That is Lauren Boebert saying that she is

14:18 tired of protecting members of her own party.

14:20 And when you when you take into account

14:22 everything Boebert when she's the one calling for accountability,

14:24 things have gotten pretty bad.

14:25 also there's reportedly bipartisan support from both

14:28 leadership and rank and file members

14:29 to hold off on any action until the ethics committee finishes its investigation,

14:32 which could take a while.

14:33 But that note then brings us to the situation with the Democrat,

14:35 because it is more advanced and more clear cut.

14:37 Right.

14:37 Because the ethics panel has already found Democratic Representative Sheila,

14:39 as your full as McCormick of Florida,

14:41 guilty of 25 charges of violating House rules and ethical guidelines.

14:44 the core allegation is that she illegally misused $5 million

14:47 in FEMA disaster funding to finance her own congressional campaign.

14:49 which, yeah, a fucking yikes.

14:51 then on top of that, she's been criminally indicted

14:52 by a federal grand jury over the same allegations.

14:55 got the ethics panel scheduled to meet

14:56 on April 21st to announce recommended sanctions, which could include expulsion.

14:59 House speaker Mike Johnson,

15:00 fresh off the heels of definitely not seeing whatever Trump just posted,

15:03 said that he believes that there will be a consensus to expel her in the House.

15:06 know, one of the notable things here is

15:07 that the accountability push is genuinely crossing party lines.

15:10 At least I'll say in rhetoric.

15:11 Democrats are calling for Mills to go or saying

15:13 the same standard should apply to their own side.

15:15 so, for example, when AOC was asked if sure,

15:16 Phyllis McCormick should be expelled, if she doesn't resign, she said yes.

15:19 If the Ethics committee found her guilty,

15:21 then I would vote in accordance with that.

15:22 that is significant.

15:23 That is important because, you know,

15:24 it's one thing to call for the other party's members to be expelled,

15:27 but it's a whole other thing to say.

15:28 The same thing about your own.

15:29 especially because expulsions are extremely rare.

15:32 It requires a two thirds majority.

15:33 of course it does happen.

15:34 You had Congress expelling George Santow's under similar circumstances, right?

15:37 There was that devastating ethics report,

15:38 but it was also combined with a federal indictment.

15:40 so there is precedent.

15:41 There.

15:41 and then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute.

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16:48 but then diving right back into the news,

16:50 Trump is once again claiming that the war is almost over in Iran,

16:54 but he's also sending thousands more troops to the Middle East.

16:57 and as his blockade takes effect in the Strait of Hormuz,

16:59 Iran's threatening retaliation that could

17:01 send energy prices spiraling even further,

17:03 netting oil companies billions more on top

17:04 of the profits that have already been staggering, according to a new analysis.

17:08 But let's start with the latest deployment

17:09 of American service members to the region.

17:11 because that number is reportedly around 10,000

17:12 with that, including 6000 troops aboard the USS George H.W.

17:16 Bush.

17:16 which, along with several warships escorting the carrier,

17:18 are expected to arrive as a two week ceasefire is set to expire on April 22nd.

17:21 then another 4200 Marines are expected to arrive near the end of the month.

17:25 it's that would bring the total number of troops in the region to around 60,000,

17:27 while the total number of aircraft carriers deployed would be three,

17:30 each with dozens of fighter jets accompanied by several warships.

17:33 this continued buildup of American military forces in the region.

17:35 It's meant to ramp up the pressure on Iran

17:37 to agree to the White House's terms for a peace deal.

17:39 but, you know, for that to work, of course,

17:41 Iran has to actually believe that the US

17:42 would consider putting those troops to use.

17:44 well, the Trump administration,

17:45 they're reportedly considering the possibility of additional strikes

17:47 or ground operations of the current cease fire.

17:49 Doesn't hold that a deal isn't reached.

17:50 now, it comes to a ground operations.

17:52 As we've talked about, the administration has discussed everything from going

17:54 after Iran's uranium to seizing Kharg Island

17:57 to landing Marines and other key islands

17:58 and coastal areas in order to reclaim the strait.

18:01 having a greater presence in the region

18:02 would also give the military more flexibility.

18:04 and we thought you had a retired Navy admiral

18:05 who's now dean at the center for Maritime Strategy, telling the Washington Post.

18:08 more tools you have got in your kit,

18:10 the more diversity of options that you have.

18:11 the men going, the new forces arriving,

18:13 a reserve capacity in the event that things go south.

18:15 also had the white House press secretary, Caroline Leavitt,

18:17 saying in a statement that Trump has wisely

18:19 kept all options on the table in the event

18:21 that the Iranians will not forego their nuclear ambitions

18:23 and make a deal that is acceptable to the United States.

18:25 the with that Iran has long said that it

18:27 has no intention of building a nuclear weapon.

18:29 in fact, the country's previous supreme leader issued

18:30 what's known as a fatwa against building one.

18:32 And American intelligence assessments have consistently

18:34 said that before the war began,

18:35 Iran had been undecided over whether to pursue one.

18:37 that is, unless its enrichment sites were

18:39 attacked or its supreme leader was killed.

18:41 but also despite the fact that the U.S.

18:42 and Israel have now crossed both of those lines,

18:44 the country's current leaders still seem willing,

18:46 at least to say that they won't build a bomb.

18:48 do say that they don't want to give up their civilian nuclear program,

18:50 which they've used in the past to enrich uranium

18:52 to levels beyond what it's needed for any civilian purpose.

18:55 but in any case, their talks between

18:56 the two sides reportedly fell apart this weekend,

18:57 in large part due to Iran's rejection of the administration's

19:00 demand that it suspend all nuclear activity for 20 years.

19:03 Because Iran, they're apparently only willing to agree to five right now.

19:06 there's also, as we've talked about,

19:07 any deal letting Iran get back to enrichment at some

19:09 point in the future could be seen as a failure

19:11 by Trump to live up to his promise to keep

19:13 the country from ever being able to have a nuclear weapon.

19:15 and it would make whatever deal he gets closer

19:17 to the 2015 deal that was negotiated under Obama,

19:19 which he withdrew the United States from and repeatedly

19:21 dismissed as one of the worst deals ever made.

19:24 And then after the news broke about

19:25 his negotiating team's request for a 20 year suspension,

19:27 he told the New York Post that he wasn't happy with that offer, saying,

19:30 I've been saying they can't have nuclear weapons, so I don't like the 20 years.

19:33 I don't want them to feel like they have a win.

19:35 the of course, is anyone who's kind of lived long enough to see

19:37 a successful negotiating is often letting both sides feel like they got to win,

19:40 at least in some way.

19:41 No one's ever fully happy.

19:42 that's also an especially big ask with Trump.

19:44 And with that you had a former secretary of the U.S.

19:46 Army who now heads the Nuclear Threat Initiative, explaining.

19:48 a big challenge for the administration is that for the Iranians,

19:51 their nuclear program has been so central to their cause for so many years.

19:54 it's part of the whole regime identity, a source of national pride.

19:57 And it's been held up as one of the reasons

19:58 why the public has to endure economic privations.

20:01 then with that, she added,

20:02 the concern she has had since the latest war began is that the administration's

20:05 pressure will convince the Iranians of the necessity to rush for a bomb.

20:08 but then with all this and maybe despite all of that, Trump on Fox Business said

20:12 that he thought that the war in Iran is very close to over and then added.

20:15 If I pulled up stakes right now?

20:17 It would take them 20 years to rebuild that country.

20:21 And we're not finished.

20:23 We'll see what happens.

20:24 I think they want to make a deal very badly.

20:26 Trump also re-upped his threats to perpetrate

20:27 what experts say would just be war crimes,

20:29 with attacks on Iranian civilian infrastructure.

20:31 we could take out every one of their bridges in one hour.

20:35 We could take out every one of their power plants,

20:38 electric power plants in one hour.

20:40 you know, the main way that the US is applying pressure right

20:42 now actually appears to be Trump's blockade on the Strait of Hormuz.

20:45 you had U.S.

20:45 Central Command saying yesterday that more than 10,000 U.S.

20:47 sailors, Marines and airmen along with over a dozen warships

20:50 and dozens of aircraft are involved in the blockade and then

20:53 also claiming that American forces had already confronted six merchant

20:55 vessels departing an Iranian port and forced them to turn back.

20:58 notably with that, according to officials,

20:59 none of those six encounters required the use of force.

21:01 and they clarified that blockade only applies to ships that were

21:04 in an Iranian port or pulled into one after 10 a.m.

21:07 eastern time on Monday.

21:08 Which explains why two ships that had been in Iranian ports

21:10 before then were allowed to pass after the blockade went into effect.

21:13 also had one official explaining to the Washington

21:14 Post that American naval forces enforcing

21:16 the blockade aren't hanging around Iranian ports

21:18 or in the Strait of Hormuz itself, instead saying, our net is the Gulf of Oman.

21:22 There's one way in and one way out.

21:24 We've got the whole thing on lockdown.

21:25 then later last night, you had some commanders saying in a statement

21:28 that the blockade has been fully implemented,

21:29 and adding an estimated 90% of Iran's economy is fueled by international trade,

21:33 by sea, claiming that in less than 36 hours since the blockade was implemented,

21:37 US forces have completely halted economic trade

21:38 going into and out of Iran by sea.

21:40 there were also at the same time more than a dozen ships

21:43 without links to Iran moved through the strait on Monday and Tuesday,

21:45 according to a maritime tracking company.

21:47 but also now you have Iran threatening to clamp down on trade again,

21:50 not just in the Strait of Hormuz,

21:51 but elsewhere, or with the head of joint military

21:53 command that oversees the Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Army,

21:55 claiming that if the blockade creates

21:57 insecurity for Iran's commercial and oil vessels,

21:59 they will consider it a prelude to violating the cease fire and adding,

22:02 Iran's powerful armed forces will not allow any

22:05 exports or imports to continue in the Persian Gulf,

22:07 the Sea of Oman and the Red sea.

22:08 and well, that sounds so alarming to most people.

22:10 There are also some who are rubbing their hands together and licking their lips.

22:13 I'm talking about the people who make money when oil prices go up,

22:16 I especially wanted to hit on that because of a new analysis

22:18 from The Guardian that's really put into perspective

22:20 just how much money we're talking about.

22:21 Reportedly, the world's top 100 oil and gas

22:24 companies banked more than $30 million every hour,

22:27 an unearned profit in the first month of the Us-israeli war in Iran.

22:30 if the price for a barrel of oil continues to average around $100,

22:33 they will collectively make an extra $234 billion by the end of the year.

22:37 and those profits, they come as ordinary people are paying more

22:39 and more just to fill up their tanks and power their homes.

22:42 and in fact, all of this, it's led to dozens

22:43 of countries cutting fuel taxes to help struggling consumers,

22:45 meaning that these governments are also

22:47 now raising less money for public services.

22:49 and this has actually led to the finance ministers of Germany, Spain, Italy,

22:51 Portugal and Austria to ask the European Commission

22:54 to implement a new windfall tax on energy profits.

22:56 Writing in a joint letter.

22:57 it would make it possible to finance temporary relief, especially for consumers,

23:00 and curb rising inflation without placing additional burdens on public

23:03 budgets and adding It would also send a clear message

23:05 that those who profit from the consequences of the war must

23:07 do their part to ease the burden on the general public.

23:10 also with us, you have others arguing

23:11 that everything that we're seeing right now,

23:13 it's clear evidence of the need to move away

23:15 from oil and gas and to invest in renewables.

23:17 Are you the head of investigations at Global Witness,

23:19 which was involved in the analysis, saying Moments of global crisis continue

23:21 to translate into bumper profits for oil majors,

23:24 while ordinary people pay the price

23:25 until governments kick their fossil fuel addiction,

23:27 all of our spending power will be held hostage to the whims of strongmen.

23:30 actually on the subject of strongman,

23:32 I'll point out one in particular, Vladimir Putin.

23:34 or because among the companies that may make

23:36 the most money at all this three are from Russia.

23:38 they reportedly stand to make an estimated $23.9 billion

23:41 in Iran related war profits by the end of the year.

23:43 and it's as Russia already earned $840 million a day from oil exports in March.

23:48 that's 50% more than in February.

23:49 then to get back to the U.S.

23:50 war with Iran, there are reports of progress in talks between the two sides,

23:54 which are currently being facilitated by Pakistani,

23:56 Egyptian and Turkish mediators.

23:57 you had one U.S.

23:58 official telling Axios that Trump's negotiating team continued making

24:00 calls and exchanging draft proposals with Iranians and mediators yesterday.

24:03 you had another claiming we want to make a deal.

24:05 And parts of their government want to make a deal.

24:07 Now, the trick is to get the whole of government over there to make the deal.

24:10 with that, a new round of direct in-person talks are expected

24:12 to take place at some point before the cease fire expires.

24:15 But it's not yet clear exactly when,

24:16 and these talks would likely only land some kind of framework agreement at best.

24:20 which would then require an extension to the cease fire.

24:22 So a more long lasting deal could be made.

24:24 then also speaking of ceasefires,

24:25 we're now surprisingly seeing reports that Israel is

24:27 considering a short term cease fire in Lebanon.

24:29 Or with the country's high level security cabinet reportedly

24:31 set to discuss the possibility when it meets tonight.

24:33 this, of course, is coming after the two

24:34 sides met for historic talks in Washington, DC yesterday.

24:37 so for now, we're gonna have to wait to see

24:38 if anything comes from either of these separate but connected negotiations.

24:41 then there's more that we've got to dive into in just a minute.

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25:45 The final thing that I want to talk about today, it is just a weird one.

25:47 company best known for making wool sneakers for Tech Bros.

25:49 Is now pivoting to artificial intelligence.

25:52 Allbirds, which was once valued at over $4 billion, but then dropped 99%.

25:56 they just announced that they're rebranding as New Bird Eye,

25:58 and they're getting into the GPU leasing business.

26:01 and, well, you might be confused or even scoff at that news,

26:04 the stock price jumped 330% when that news came also as part of the pivot,

26:08 they're asking shareholders to vote to remove

26:09 the company's environmental conservation mission from its charter.

26:12 is the other shoe company that said that it existed to save the planet,

26:14 and it's now stripping that purpose from its

26:16 founding document so that it can lease computer chips.

26:18 and it's why you're seeing some people saying, you know,

26:19 this is the AI bubble all in one story.

26:21 or if you don't know, Allbirds have started back in 2015 by Tim Brown,

26:24 who's a former pro soccer player, and Joey Zwilling,

26:26 or who came from a background in renewable materials.

26:28 the idea was to just build a shoe company around sustainability,

26:30 replacing synthetic materials with things like merino wool.

26:33 and the first product, which you've probably seen if you've ever seen

26:34 a picture of a tech bro is their wool runner.

26:36 And it took off immediately,

26:37 especially with the California's Silicon Valley crowd.

26:39 It had this comfort meets sustainability pitch though

26:41 some people said it was just virtue signaling.

26:43 They also they weren't just e-com DTC they, they opened stores.

26:46 They built a whole brand.

26:47 They went public in 2021 at a valuation above $4 billion.

26:50 then things took a turn.

26:52 They went from a darling to a loser.

26:53 The market moved on to bigger brands,

26:55 starting to copy their playbook and the cost of finding new customers.

26:58 It just kept going up and up.

26:59 the revenue, it plunged over three years,

27:01 dropping from $298 million in 2022 to $152 million by 2025.

27:06 again, the stock price drop more than 99% from its IPO high.

27:09 Ready.

27:10 Made my YOLO investment into peloton during the pandemic

27:12 look like not maybe not the worst decision.

27:15 with that collapse, you saw their stores

27:16 closing back in February, and last month,

27:18 Allbirds actually sold their brand intellectual property and remaining

27:21 assets to American Exchange Group for $39 million,

27:23 which, yeah, is just a crazy fall from a company

27:26 again that was worth more than $4 billion.

27:28 now we're seeing that shell, that corpse of a company becoming an AI company.

27:32 his new Allbirds announcing that it's pivoting to quote,

27:34 I compute infrastructure with a plan to become

27:36 a fully integrated GPU as a service.

27:38 And AI native cloud solutions provider.

27:40 and they're planning to raise $50 million in convertible debt,

27:42 though they haven't said who's putting up that money.

27:44 regardless of who is with the deal is expected to close in Q2 of 2026.

27:47 so with that, the company plans to rename itself New Bird.

27:50 I.

27:50 right as far as people who still had their money in this worthless new company,

27:53 they woke up this morning and the stock price quadrupled,

27:56 all seemingly because a press release came out with the word

27:59 AI in and if that part wasn't telling enough,

28:00 the, the whole destruction of the mission

28:02 charter that tells another part of the story.

28:04 because Allbirds was incorporated as a public

28:06 benefit corporation focused on environmental conservation,

28:07 it was literally part of the legal DNA of the business.

28:10 but you've got shareholders being asked to vote on May

28:13 18th to remove all references to environmental conservation from the charter.

28:15 the SEC filings saying the anticipated electronics infrastructure business would

28:18 be less focused on the public benefit of environmental conservation,

28:21 which less focus is.

28:22 Yeah, sure.

28:23 One way to put you know, if any of this, it feels familiar.

28:25 Yeah.

28:25 It should there is now a long history of struggling companies

28:28 pivoting to whatever Wall Street's excited about at that specific moment.

28:31 during the bitcoin boom, you had random companies just slapping blockchain onto

28:34 their name or announced some kind of a crypto initiative.

28:36 And the stock would just spike overnight.

28:38 mean, Long Island Iced Tea renamed itself Long Blockchain Corp.

28:41 in 2017.

28:41 The stock price tripled.

28:43 and so now we're seeing this Allbirds parallel.

28:44 It's doing the same thing with AI,

28:46 company with no experience in computing infrastructure, no existing hardware,

28:49 no technical team that's been at least

28:51 disclosed and no track record in the space.

28:52 They're telling investors, hey,

28:54 we're going into one of the most capital intensive,

28:56 technically complex industries on the planet.

28:58 the stock price jumped 330% because people

29:01 in the market heard what they wanted to hear.

29:03 so ultimately, I wanted to talk about this because

29:04 this isn't a story about shoes or really even about I.

29:07 It is a story about what happens when a market

29:09 gets just so overheated over whatever the buzzword is with it.

29:11 Right now being I.

29:13 publicly traded company, albeit pretty much a dead publicly traded company,

29:16 essentially just got body snatched.

29:18 also don't get it twisted.

29:19 It could work.

29:20 $50 million in funding.

29:21 It sounds like a lot until you consider that that specific market is huge.

29:24 Nvidia has a market cap approaching $5 trillion.

29:27 their plan, which is essentially to buy hardware and rent it out,

29:30 that actually it might work because GPU demand,

29:32 it is real in the market for compute leasing.

29:34 It is growing.

29:35 but it's also wild that the vehicle that they're using

29:37 to do this is essentially what it was 100% against.

29:40 But for now, that is where we are.

29:42 And in the meantime, I'd love any of your thoughts, opinions, reactions.

29:45 And actually, whether it's to this or anything

29:46 else in today's show that stood out to you.

29:48 But then my friends, you beautiful bastards,

29:50 is the end of your Wednesday Philip DeFranco show.

29:52 Though it is not the end of the fun.

29:54 Let's be honest, though, today's show wasn't never.

29:56 None of these shows are ever fun.

29:58 Their informative.

29:58 But also, if you want something informative and cathartic, but also fun,

30:02 you should definitely check out today's brand

30:03 new episode of Crashing Out that dropped,

30:05 if you've never watched the podcast, just,

30:07 just give the first 90s of today's show, a swing.

30:09 not going to even give you a trailer at the end of today's show.

30:12 You just need to experience it.

30:13 So click or tap.

30:14 I got links in the description as well,

30:15 but no matter what you do, thank you for watching.

30:17 I love yo faces.

30:18 And I'll see you right back here tomorrow.