American Christianity Is Being Twisted on Purpose

0:00 Pete Hegseth just used a fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction.

0:03 And a prayer at the Pentagon to justify the war in Iran.

0:06 So on brand, and all of this is

0:08 potentially complicated by data showing that young Republican men,

0:11 people who likely look up to hacks that are flocking

0:13 to the church trying to find holy inspiration for their political beliefs.

0:16 no.

0:16 HEXO claims it.

0:17 This verse comes from a military source who

0:18 used it during combat search and rescue missions,

0:21 saying it meant to reflect Ezekiel 2517.

0:23 right.

0:23 Do you have a mask in the crowd to pray with him?

0:25 Except the verse that he ends up quoting is almost

0:27 verbatim to Samuel Jackson's monologue at the beginning of Pulp Fiction,

0:30 right as Jackson's character is gearing up to kill a guy.

0:32 The path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides

0:36 by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men.

0:40 Blessed is he who, in the name of camaraderie and duty,

0:43 shepherd the lost through the valley of darkness.

0:46 For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children.

0:52 And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger.

0:55 Those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother.

1:00 And you will know my callsign is Sandy one.

1:04 When I lay my vengeance upon thee just see, you know what?

1:07 Ezekiel 2517 actually says it's I will

1:09 execute severe vengeance against them with furious rebukes.

1:12 They will know that I am the Lord when I take my vengeance on them.

1:15 and so it doesn't mention anything about an aviator or camaraderie and duty.

1:18 And it definitely doesn't say anything about Sandy.

1:20 One which is a rescue mission commander.

1:21 Call sign.

1:22 most of that is Quentin Tarantino,

1:23 along with a few riffs from Heads Out to make it

1:25 sound more military so that ended

1:26 up receiving some pretty embarrassing backlash.

1:28 but also aside from how weird or how hilarious it is to a lot of people,

1:32 it speaks to the bigger issue of this administration's

1:33 weaponizing of Christianity to justify the war.

1:35 Grant this task force clear and righteous targets for violence.

1:41 Let every round find its mark against

1:43 the enemies of righteousness and our great nation.

1:45 and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.

1:49 right.

1:49 One of the concerns here is that this violent version of Christianity,

1:51 it could be spreading to younger minds across the country.

1:53 Reason studies show that 42% of men under 30.

1:55 They now say that religion is very important to them,

1:58 compared to only 28% in 2023.

1:59 young men have even started to grow more religious in young women,

2:02 which hasn't happened in decades.

2:03 you have Bible sales rising along with church membership and attendance.

2:05 As men look for purpose in life, they say the church can provide.

2:08 right in studies say that the men

2:09 who are flooding the pews are largely Republican,

2:11 whose numbers are double those of the men on the left.

2:13 though I will say that only tells part of the story,

2:15 because all this is happening is American.

2:16 Religiosity is still generally on the decline.

2:18 which is actually why you have researchers

2:20 also saying that this influx of Republican

2:21 men in church suggests political dynamics could be playing a role in all this.

2:24 and so all that together.

2:25 It's something to keep an eye on as you have the top warmonger using

2:28 the Bible to justify things like bombing

2:29 schoolgirls and threatening to cut water supplies.

2:31 the it's also not just limited to that.

2:33 because headsets also invoking the Bible to attack

2:35 the media for its coverage of the conflict while

2:37 near simultaneously repeating threats to commit what experts say

2:39 would very likely be war crimes if Iran doesn't,

2:41 quote, choose wisely and reach a deal with the United States.

2:44 and that's even as he's now had articles of impeachment filed against him,

2:47 in part for war crimes.

2:48 The Democrats say that he is responsible for.

2:50 then in the meantime,

2:50 the Pentagon's ratcheting up the pressure by expanding its blockade

2:53 to apply to almost every Iranian like vessel anywhere on Earth.

2:56 And Israel and Lebanon have, according to Trump, agreed to a ten day ceasefire.

2:59 so there's a lot that we're gonna be diving into here.

3:01 But as we've covered on the show, you know,

3:02 Hegseth has repeatedly cast the war in explicitly Christian terms.

3:05 had him literally arguing that American troops

3:07 are fighting for military victory in Iran.

3:09 Quote, in the name of Jesus Christ.

3:11 then a press briefing this morning that I'm comparing the rescue of the crew

3:13 members of two downed fighter jets inside of Iran to biblical miracles,

3:16 and likening reporters in the Pentagon press

3:18 corps to the Pharisees who criticize Jesus.

3:20 note to the press, to the press corps, to the American media,

3:25 as I just can't help but notice the endless stream of garbage,

3:31 the relentlessly negative coverage.

3:34 You cannot resist pedaling.

3:36 Despite the historic and important success of this effort

3:41 and the success of our troop troops,

3:45 sometimes it's hard to figure out what side some of you are actually on.

3:49 It's incredibly unpatriotic.

3:52 our prayers are just like these Pharisees.

3:54 Not all of you.

3:57 Not all of you, but the legacy Trump hating press.

4:02 you know, there is one notable figure who, based on recent events,

4:04 would probably disagree with his interpretation, and that is Pope Leo, with Leo.

4:08 Having already said in remarks last month that God ignores the prayers

4:11 of leaders who wage war and have hands full of blood,

4:13 which is widely been seen as a veiled criticism of heads up.

4:16 and actually this week he used a speech in Cameroon to again criticize

4:18 leaders who use religion to justify spending billions of dollars on war, saying.

4:22 woe to those who manipulate religion and the very

4:26 name of God for their own military, economic or political gain,

4:31 dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.

4:36 The masters of war pretend not to know

4:39 that it takes only a moment to destroy it.

4:42 Often a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild.

4:48 They turn a blind eye to the fact

4:51 that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation.

4:55 Yet the resources needed for healing, education,

4:59 and restoration are nowhere to be found.

5:03 really, whatever you think about that, I will say he's not wrong.

5:05 That war is really fucking expensive.

5:07 there's also a problem with that is that at least with the Iran war,

5:10 we have no idea just how expensive.

5:12 you have the Defense Department telling Congress at the first

5:14 week of the conflict cost more than $11.3 billion,

5:16 but that number doesn't even include

5:18 many costs that are associated with everything.

5:19 since then, we haven't gotten any updates.

5:20 Although you recently had one Harvard academic estimating

5:23 that the total cost will ultimately amount to $1 trillion.

5:26 actually, in a House hearing yesterday,

5:27 white House Budget Director Russell Vought was unable to dispel those concerns,

5:30 saying that he just couldn't give an estimate.

5:32 only then also claim that health care,

5:34 education and low income energy assistance

5:36 programs were just riddled with fraud.

5:38 He defended Trump's request for a massive $1.5 trillion military budget,

5:42 even though the Pentagon is the only federal

5:44 agency that has never actually passed an audit.

5:45 again today, he just kept declining to provide even a ballpark figure saying

5:49 that cost estimates were fluctuating due to factors

5:51 including the length of the war Well, yeah, technically, that is a real unknown.

5:54 We're more than halfway through this two week ceasefire between the U.S.

5:57 and Iran.

5:58 And there are a lot of different ways things could play out.

5:59 with that this morning before attacking the president Hegseth,

6:02 making it clear that one way is the continuation of fighting.

6:05 with headset sharing what he said was a message to Iran's military leadership,

6:08 reminding them that they had been defeated and repeating threats

6:10 to target civilian infrastructure if they didn't give in to Trump's demands.

6:13 we are locked and loaded on your critical dual use infrastructure,

6:18 on your remaining power generation, and on your energy industry.

6:22 if Iran chooses poorly,

6:24 then they will have a blockade and bombs dropping on infrastructure,

6:30 power and energy, you also my general Dan Kaine,

6:32 the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

6:33 saying that he'd like to emphasize that the United States Joint Force remains

6:37 postured and ready to resume major

6:40 combat operations at literally a moment's notice.

6:43 he then went on to claim that U.S.

6:44 military commanders all around the world will now actively pursue any Iranian

6:49 flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran.

6:56 as far as exactly what that means you,

6:58 the Navy clarifying that all Iranian vessels,

7:00 vessels with active sanctions against them and vessels suspected of carrying

7:03 contraband will now be subject to boarding, search and seizure.

7:06 In saying that contraband items include weapons, ammunition,

7:08 combat aircraft, military electronics,

7:10 but also petroleum products and lubricants.

7:12 Due to their essential role in military operations

7:14 and their contribution to Iran's war sustaining economy.

7:16 and so this appears to be part of a broader

7:18 effort to ramp up the economic pressure campaign on Iran.

7:20 especially as in lockstep with these announcement,

7:22 you had the Treasury Department announcing new

7:23 sanctions on more than two dozen individuals,

7:25 companies and vessels that it said were operating

7:27 within the network of an Iranian oil shipping magnate.

7:29 but at least so far, the pressure really hasn't yielded any obvious results.

7:33 you have a spokesperson for Pakistan's Foreign Ministry saying

7:35 that a second round of talks between the US,

7:37 Iran was expected to take place in Islamabad, but he didn't say when,

7:39 actually neither American nor Iranian officials have confirmed as a recording,

7:42 although both sides have said that indirect negotiations are continuing.

7:45 actually yesterday had a Pakistani delegation arriving

7:47 in Tehran to meet with Iran's foreign minister.

7:49 but also, even if there is a real desire to end this through diplomacy,

7:52 it doesn't seem clear right now if either is actually prepared to compromise.

7:55 J.D.

7:55 Vance, who's been leading the talks for the US,

7:57 said this week that Trump wanted to reach a grand bargain in which the U.S.

8:00 would treat Iran economically like a normal

8:03 country if it acted like a normal country, and added, doesn't want a small deal.

8:06 you then also have an official formally involved

8:08 in Trump's negotiations with Iran telling the new

8:10 York Times that Iran will only make a deal they see as being in their interests,

8:13 which he argued will most likely be small and transactional.

8:16 they added that the Iranian regime just

8:18 would not capitulate to the administration's demand,

8:19 just as they did not on the battlefield.

8:21 In claiming that Trump is unlikely to succeed in trying to force

8:24 transformational change on a system that feels like it just won a war.

8:27 trying to get a deal between Israel and Lebanon,

8:28 maybe similarly challenging, although there is apparent progress.

8:31 Earlier this week, the two countries held

8:33 their first direct in-person talks in decades,

8:34 and after the U.S announce that the two sides

8:37 had agreed to launch direct negotiations to end the fighting.

8:39 then last night you had Trump saying on social media

8:40 that Israeli and Lebanese leaders would speak to each other today.

8:43 But that conversation never took place.

8:45 and in the meantime, an Israeli airstrike reportedly destroyed the last bridge

8:48 connecting southern Lebanon to the rest of the country.

8:49 but then you had Trump announcing on social

8:51 media today that he had spoken with each

8:53 respective leader and said that they have agreed

8:54 that in order to achieve peace between their countries,

8:56 they will formally begin a ten day cease fire at 5 p.m.

8:59 eastern.

9:00 them, then adding in another post that he had

9:01 invited both leaders to the white House for talks.

9:03 now, at least as of recording,

9:04 the Lebanese Prime Minister has welcomed the ceasefire.

9:06 But there's also been no comment from Israel yet.

9:08 and soon enough, you had Lebanon and Israel confirming the cease fire.

9:10 But Netanyahu saying that Israeli troops would remain in Lebanon

9:13 in what he described as an expanded security zone,

9:16 saying, this is where we are located.

9:17 We are not leaving.

9:18 And then it's also unknown how Hezbollah is going to respond.

9:20 and then even if this does move forward, as we've seen with the U.S.

9:23 and Iran getting a more long lasting deal,

9:25 that ends up being a whole other challenge.

9:26 you know where I want to end this kind of first

9:28 section before we get into even more news is just this.

9:31 This part's opinion.

9:32 and I've written a little about this on my Substack and Philip defranco.com.

9:34 Lovely.

9:35 Subscribe there.

9:35 you know, growing up, I don't know if this was the same

9:37 for you when when people would talk about Iran.

9:38 When we were told about Iran, it was always this cautionary tale.

9:41 Right?

9:41 it was often described as this backwards country where religious leaders,

9:44 they decided what was moral, where the government wrapped itself in Scripture

9:47 to justify whatever it wanted to do.

9:49 Bomb a neighbor, crackdown on dissent, silence the press.

9:51 we're we're clerics.

9:52 They're the ones who tell you what God thinks about your foreign policy.

9:55 Iran was this place where were the state and the pulpit?

9:57 They weren't just holding hands.

9:58 It was the same hand.

10:00 That was the boogeyman, the big bad.

10:01 That was the regime that we were supposedly so much better than.

10:03 understand this isn't a defense of or an absolving

10:06 of Iran's supreme leader or the government in the leadership there,

10:09 but can someone fucking explain to me what's

10:11 happening in our own damn country right now?

10:13 because as someone that's been revisiting his faith, I was born Catholic.

10:15 I'm not practicing.

10:16 I'm figuring my stuff out now.

10:18 you know, I'm watching the secretary of defense,

10:19 though he renamed himself the Secretary of war.

10:21 Stand in the Pentagon and lead prayers

10:23 asking for God for righteous targets, for violence.

10:26 watching him justify bombing another country in the name of Jesus Christ.

10:29 He's quoting Pulp Fiction, calling it scripture.

10:31 and then I'm watching the president pose I images of himself as Jesus.

10:34 And also he's attacking the Pope, like the actual pope for suggesting that war.

10:39 It's not great.

10:40 seeing reports at a Pentagon official essentially

10:42 threatened to kidnap and kill the Pope.

10:44 We're watching the vice president of the United States,

10:46 who is so disgusting that many Catholics are noting

10:48 that they are crib Catholics so that they're not putting

10:51 the same frame as the president telling the head

10:53 of the Catholic Church to stick to matters of morality,

10:56 as if that's not exactly what he's doing when he calls out war.

10:58 we're all watching this.

10:59 Targeted at and landing on a generation of young men.

11:02 Who are being handed by this administration and those who enable it.

11:05 A version of Christianity that looks less like the sermon

11:07 on the Mount and more like a recruitment pitch.

11:10 version of Christianity, and just faith in general.

11:11 That's not about loving thy neighbor.

11:13 It's about identifying your enemy where God

11:15 doesn't ask you to turn the other cheek, he asks you to lock and fucking load.

11:19 a lot of the ways a number of people

11:21 in power of our government are trying to operate.

11:23 Sounds a lot like a country that we were told to be afraid of.

11:26 a huge fucking thing to remember is

11:28 that every authoritarian religious state in history,

11:30 it started with people who genuinely believe that they were the good guys.

11:33 believe their violence was holy, that their enemies were demonic,

11:36 that those who question them were probably an enemy.

11:39 really, whether you're religious or you're not, whether you're Christian,

11:41 Muslim, Jewish or nothing at all, you should care about this.

11:44 to someone that covers the news to make kind of your everyday

11:46 person care about a situation that's happened in over wherever there is.

11:50 lot of the time, you have to point out to how it's going to impact them.

11:53 In the case of Iran, for some people,

11:54 that ends up being gas is expensive, stuff is expensive, affordability.

11:58 these are people that are just trying to survive.

11:59 You lose the human element when you hear hundreds

12:01 or thousands or however many people are getting killed.

12:03 but understand if you have leaders in the government or the government

12:05 itself claiming that God is telling it to bomb people, it doesn't stop there.

12:08 It never stops there.

12:10 Eventually it will get around to telling

12:12 you what God thinks about what you're reading,

12:14 what you love, how you live, whether you dissent, if that counts, is heresy.

12:18 yeah, I'm with you.

12:18 I'm laughing at the Pulp Fiction thing going, what the fuck is this?

12:21 This is this is a joke.

12:22 do not let the fact that it is ridiculous

12:23 and outlandish distract you from what it is actually revealing.

12:26 the guy running the most powerful military in human

12:28 history is using fake scripture to bless real violence.

12:30 We were told that theocracy was the enemy.

12:32 But it is a whole hell of a lot closer

12:34 to home than a lot of people want to admit.

12:35 and then there's more we've got to dive into in just a minute.

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13:35 but then diving right back into the news.

13:36 We've got to talk about how former Virginia

13:38 Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax and his wife, Serena,

13:39 were just found dead in their home early

13:41 this morning in what police say was a murder suicide.

13:43 according to Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis,

13:45 the former Democratic official shot his wife multiple times

13:48 in the family's basement before then

13:49 running upstairs and fatally shooting himself.

13:51 at the time, both the couple's teenage kids were at home

13:53 and their son was actually the one who called 911,

13:55 in a press conference outside of the home,

13:57 you had Police Chief Davis saying the couple

13:58 was undergoing a divorce and had already separated.

14:00 But were still living together, and then added.

14:04 beyond that, at least for now,

14:05 we really don't have much more information as a recording.

14:07 but we do know is that if Fairfax sounds familiar,

14:09 it's because he had a troubled and tumultuous political career.

14:12 he was elected as Virginia's lieutenant governor back in 2017.

14:14 And he served alongside Governor Ralph Northam until 2022.

14:17 but then in 2019, both of those leaders were rocked by a series of scandals.

14:20 First with a racist photo depicting one person

14:22 in blackface and another in a KKK robe.

14:24 Surfacing from in 1984.

14:25 Medical school yearbook page dedicated to Northam.

14:27 one Northam actually initially apologized for appearing in the picture.

14:30 He later walked it back,

14:31 saying that he actually wasn't either of the people depicted in that photo,

14:34 while also then admitting that he had done

14:36 blackface before as part of a Michael Jackson costume.

14:38 so.

14:38 With the sweeping calls for Northam to resign,

14:40 Fairfax was next in line to take over as governor.

14:42 but as his chances of taking that top spot started to become likely,

14:45 two women came forward and accused him of sexually assaulting them.

14:47 In 2000 and 2004.

14:49 and well, Fairfax denied the allegations, he too faced calls to resign,

14:52 though ultimately both he and Northam served out the remainder of their terms.

14:55 But still, that scandal hurt his future political career.

14:57 right in 2021, he entered the governor's race.

14:59 But he then lost the Democratic primary by a huge margin,

15:01 coming in fourth with just 3.6% of the vote.

15:03 as far as this tragedy in Virginia, you know,

15:05 we're going to have our eyes on it, see if more information comes out soon.

15:07 But let me say something in the meantime,

15:09 you or someone you know is in a dangerous relationship.

15:11 The National Domestic Violence Hotline is one 807 997233.

15:15 Or you can text start to 88788.

15:18 let me take this opportunity to say,

15:19 if you are supporting someone that is going through a divorce or anything,

15:22 you see warning signs, take them seriously.

15:24 Resources exist.

15:25 They're out there.

15:26 Reach out before it becomes an emergency.

15:28 but with that said, there are also a few more

15:29 pieces of political news we got to hit on today,

15:31 starting with Trump allegedly telling Marjorie Taylor

15:33 Greene that it would be her fault if her son were killed as a result

15:36 of death threats that the president's own rhetoric instigated.

15:38 Rigby's, during an interview with Piers Morgan that aired yesterday,

15:40 you had Greene talking about how Trump

15:42 repeatedly called her a traitor and threatened

15:43 to destroy her because she pushed for the release of the Epstein files,

15:46 something that he literally campaigned on.

15:48 when asked if she and Trump had spoken since she left office, she said.

15:51 only time I reached out to him was, via text message after,

15:56 I had resigned and he had been attacking me, and I was receiving it,

16:02 and I just I can't even count how many death threats

16:06 and, but the death threats escalated on one of my children.

16:11 was so upset over death threats on my children

16:13 because of him and the the, you know, the quotes and the death, right?

16:17 Were from what the president had been calling me a traitor.

16:21 And I'm not a traitor to my country standing

16:24 up for rape victims doesn't make me a traitor.

16:26 And I reached out to the president

16:28 and and to let him know this is what's happening.

16:32 Because what you're saying about me and, he

16:36 was very unkind about these death threats.

16:39 And so that was that was our last exchange.

16:42 What did he say to you?

16:45 He he basically blamed me.

16:48 He had no compassion for death threats on my children.

16:52 He blamed me, basically, that if my son were to get killed,

16:55 it would be my fault.

16:57 Really?

16:58 Yes.

17:01 Wow.

17:01 Yeah, it was, it was.

17:04 And I said back to him, I said,

17:07 no one's children should ever be the victim of death

17:11 threats or have any kind of political violence brought on them.

17:15 Because because of our politics,

17:17 because of our disagreements, he had no compassion whatsoever.

17:21 with Greene going on to speculate that Trump's

17:22 mentally unwell and repeating her claims that he

17:24 should be removed from office over his post

17:26 threatening to wipe out all civilization in Iran.

17:28 and, of course, you know,

17:28 this isn't the first time that Greene spoken out about the death

17:30 threats that she's received because of her falling out with Trump.

17:32 started getting serious death threats, serious death threats,

17:35 and a pipe bomb death threat on my home,

17:38 pipe bomb death threat on my family construction business,

17:41 and then direct death threats on my youngest child, my son.

17:45 And those started coming in and it was dealt with so many death threats.

17:50 I've we reported, I think, 700 and nearly 773 official death threats,

17:56 well, obviously this is horrifying on its own.

17:59 At the individual level.

18:00 It also speaks not only to the incredible

18:02 power that Trump has to incite violence and threats,

18:04 but also his sheer willingness to do so.

18:06 I know, understandably, we're always focused on the news of the day,

18:08 but this is a man who incited a violent insurrection

18:11 and then functionally condoned and normalized

18:13 the violence by pardoning the perpetrators.

18:14 he himself has openly made death threats against

18:17 Democratic lawmakers and encourage others to do the same.

18:19 I mean, Greene isn't alone here.

18:20 Many other political figures that he's targeted

18:22 have also faced death threats as a result.

18:24 it is a known thing that his election lies have

18:26 led to acts of violence and threats against election workers,

18:28 and yet he keeps spewing them, actively undermining the democratic process.

18:31 and the fact that he is continuing and in some ways

18:33 ramping up his violent rhetoric and election lies ahead of the midterms,

18:36 it's absolutely fucking terrifying.

18:37 because at this point it goes beyond just modeling dangerous behavior.

18:40 A number of his supporters have made it clear time and time

18:42 again that they view his words as a call to action.

18:44 then also this other bit of political news I want

18:46 to hit on is the situation with the Supreme Court,

18:49 because we're talking personal attacks.

18:50 Apologies.

18:50 More criticism, retirement rumors, successors already handpicked by Trump.

18:54 That's barely scratching the surface.

18:55 and actually with this, let's kind of just go down the line,

18:57 justice Sonia Sotomayor just issued an incredibly rare public apology

19:00 to Justice Brett Kavanaugh for a personal attack against him last week.

19:03 Ritchie was speaking at the University of Kansas Law School,

19:05 and she was asked about Trump's

19:07 immigration crackdown and specifically her scathing dissent

19:09 to the temporary ruling back in September

19:11 that allowed for immigration related stops in LA.

19:13 Because in their dissent, she wrote that with that policy,

19:15 the Trump administration has all but declared all Latinos,

19:17 US citizens are not who work low wage jobs,

19:19 are fair game to be seized at any time, taken away from work,

19:22 and held until they provide proof

19:23 of their legal status to the agents satisfaction.

19:25 so when this question popped up, she had a pretty strong response.

19:27 And though she didn't mention him by name,

19:29 she did reference Kavanaugh's concurrence and suggested that he was out of touch

19:32 with what it means to be a working class citizen in America.

19:35 saying there are some people who can't

19:37 understand our experiences even when you tell them,

19:38 adding this is from a man whose

19:39 parents were professionals and probably doesn't really

19:41 know any person who works by the hour or the piece like I do.

19:44 that comment sparking a fair amount of backlash,

19:46 including a Wall Street Journal op

19:47 ed titled Sonia Sotomayor Profiles Brett Kavanaugh.

19:50 but that then led to yesterday when she was being grilled by journalists

19:52 about those comments and she actually walk them back and even apologized,

19:55 writing, a recent appearance,

19:56 I referred to a disagreement with one of my colleagues in a prior case,

19:59 but I made remarks that were inappropriate.

20:01 I regret my hurtful comments.

20:03 I've apologized to my colleague, know,

20:04 that sort of public apology from a Supreme Court justice is incredibly rare.

20:07 But so is, you know,

20:08 the sort of comment that she is apologizing for Supreme Court.

20:10 Justices have a long history of maintaining public friendships and collegiality,

20:13 even between those with the biggest ideological differences.

20:16 you've some saying in this whole situation,

20:17 it highlights the deteriorating relationships in the court

20:20 that we are in different times.

20:21 even with this apology, you know,

20:22 it doesn't look like that's a problem that's going to go away anytime soon,

20:25 especially because others on the court are absolutely not pulling any

20:28 punches when it comes to criticizing their fellow justices, justice continue.

20:31 Brown.

20:31 Jackson's maintaining pressure on her conservative colleagues over

20:33 their abuse of emergency orders to benefit Trump.

20:35 even going so far as to call those orders back of the envelope.

20:37 First blush impressions of the merits of the legal case.

20:40 saying the even bigger problem is that the court

20:42 insists those scratch paper musings be applied by lower courts.

20:44 In other cases.

20:45 which yeah, is very different from the previous stance that the court took.

20:47 They used to be very reluctant to step

20:49 in on cases too early on in the legal process.

20:51 as you know, Jackson saying there is

20:53 value in avoiding having the court continually

20:54 touching the third rail of every divisive

20:56 policy issue in American life and adding,

20:58 recent years, the Supreme Court has taken

21:00 a decidedly different approach to addressing emergency stay applications.

21:02 it has been noticeably less restrained,

21:04 especially with respect to pending cases that involve controversial matters.

21:07 it's also unlikely that we're going to see anything different for a long time.

21:10 that's because you have Trump reportedly excited

21:12 about the idea of appointing yet another justice,

21:14 as there are rumors out there around Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas.

21:17 because well, neither has expressly said anything about stepping down.

21:19 There's been speculation running wild,

21:21 especially after Alito was hospitalized back in March.

21:23 there have since been back to work, actively participating in oral arguments.

21:27 then as far as Clarence Thomas, there have been fewer rumors.

21:29 But, you know, he's getting older.

21:30 He's 77 years old.

21:31 and so even with that little bit to go on, you had Trump telling Fox News

21:33 that he is ready and willing to appoint someone to replace one or both of them.

21:37 possible, you know, in theory.

21:39 In theory, it's 2 or 3.

21:40 They tell me if you just read statistics,

21:42 it could be two, it could be three, could be one.

21:45 I don't know.

21:46 I'm prepared to do it.

21:47 that was also something that was echoed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune,

21:50 who said this week that the Senate Republicans would quickly fill

21:52 a Supreme Court vacancy if one opens up before the midterms.

21:55 and actually on that note and the idea of the timing,

21:57 you had Trump in that same interview pointing

21:59 to Ruth Bader Ginsburg kind of as a cautionary tale,

22:01 saying that her refusal to step down while there was

22:03 a Democrat in office allowed for Trump to pick her replacement.

22:06 mean, it's why we have conservative Amy Coney Barrett on the court today.

22:08 And so you had Trump saying.

22:09 Ginsburg could not do it.

22:11 And she really hurt herself.

22:14 Within the Democrat Party,

22:15 people are very angry at her because I got to appoint people instead of, Biden.

22:21 in fact, Alito or Thomas retiring now would

22:23 be very much in line with how justices

22:25 have handled stepping down in the past making

22:26 the choice of either party as the presidency.

22:28 So their replacement is generally pretty like minded.

22:30 we don't know who exactly is on Trump's shortlist to fill a seat,

22:33 he reportedly seemed interested in naming Ted Cruz.

22:35 Trump pointing to Cruz as a potential pick earlier this year,

22:37 even joking that he'd get unanimous support from the Senate

22:39 because they want to get him out of their.

22:40 at least right now nothing was confirmed One direction or the other.

22:43 And so we're gonna have to keep our eyes on then my friends.

22:45 You beautiful bastards, is the end of your Thursday Philip DeFranco show.

22:48 but I'll also tell you, while you're leaving a funny and angry,

22:51 whatever your reaction is to one of the stories that stood out to you,

22:53 they comment, remind you that there's more to watch right now,

22:56 whether it's the brand new crashing out episode,

22:58 which there's gonna be a trailer for.

22:59 or if you missed last night's Philip DeFranco show.

23:00 I got links in the description or on YouTube.

23:02 You can click or tap here.

23:03 as always, thank you for watching.

23:04 I love yo faces.

23:05 And I'll see you right back here next time.

23:07 The president is committing blasphemy.

23:09 It's blasphemy.

23:10 The president just attacked the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics.

23:13 Because the Pope said war is bad and don't kill civilians.

23:16 I've been yelling that this man is the Antichrist for quite some time now.

23:19 Trump asked, what does teleport mean, and was he kidding?

23:23 The first lady of the United States just showed up and she just went.

23:26 I have never been friends with Jeffrey Epstein.

23:28 He got slapped up so hard.

23:30 His authoritarian ass was like, good game.

23:32 And that's not a sketch, everyone.

23:33 That's just the world we fucking live in.

23:35 Out.