The Moment Tucker Carlson Finally Broke

0:00 Trump's big power grab.

0:00 It might actually backfire spectacularly tonight,

0:02 but it's really close right now.

0:04 Tucker Carlson is so, so, so sorry.

0:06 And we're all about to read the Bible together.

0:08 that is just a teeny taste of what we're about to dive into.

0:11 But let's start with Trump's scheme to hold onto his majority in Congress,

0:14 even though he is polling so horribly.

0:16 all of this, of course, stems from last summer.

0:18 Trump urged Republicans to redraw the congressional

0:19 maps were half a decade ahead of schedule.

0:21 we have an opportunity in Texas to pick up five seats.

0:24 We have a really good governor, and we have good people in Texas.

0:28 And I won Texas.

0:29 I got the highest vote in the history of Texas,

0:31 as you probably know, and, we are entitled to five more seats.

0:36 so Texas kicked it off with Governor Abbott.

0:38 Want to be good for his daddy, Donald.

0:39 giving themselves five more likely red seats.

0:41 But then you had California responding with its own

0:43 map that was intended to add five more blue seats.

0:45 and from there, it's just been a gerrymandering arms race with North Carolina,

0:48 Missouri and Ohio helping Republicans while Utah's

0:50 courts gave the Dems an unexpected seat,

0:51 and well now today, Virginia is holding a referendum

0:53 on whether to redraw its map as well.

0:55 And if it happens, the Democrats could absolutely clean house.

0:58 Because right now Dems have six of the state's 11 House seats.

1:01 But with the new map, they've likely secure ten.

1:03 and so with just those four extra seats, they wipe out the 2 or 3 seat advantage

1:06 that Republicans currently have in the past year's gerrymandering race,

1:09 also if Florida redraws its map soon as Ron DeSantis has promised,

1:12 then the balance would likely tilt back towards the Republicans.

1:15 and that's even before considering that the Supreme Court might strike down

1:17 the part of the Voting Rights Act that effectively bans racial gerrymandering,

1:20 because then Republicans could really go wild.

1:22 regardless, in the here and now,

1:24 this referendum in Virginia, it's being seen as incredibly consequential.

1:27 Or which is why you have Trump urging his people to vote against it,

1:30 warning that a Democratic victory in the midterms,

1:31 it would be a disaster for him.

1:32 It's terrible.

1:33 It is true, John.

1:34 It's nobody's ever seen anything like it.

1:36 It's so unfair.

1:37 They even say it's unfair.

1:38 They say, oh, they'll do it once and maybe they'll go back to what it was.

1:42 It's the whole thing is ridiculous.

1:44 If the Democrats look, if they get additional House seats at some point,

1:48 if they get these additional seats,

1:50 they're going to be making changes at the federal level.

1:53 but also, I'll say it's increasingly unclear how much his word even matters,

1:56 even to his supporters.

1:57 Because one by one, we've seen some of his most

1:59 ardent cheerleaders defecting talking to people like Marjorie Taylor Greene,

2:02 Candace Owens, Alex Jones, Tucker Carlson.

2:05 also speaking of which, Tucker,

2:06 who recently suggested that Trump might be the Antichrist,

2:08 he's now essentially calling the president a little bitch.

2:10 maybe it's inevitable that you get once

2:13 the patriarchy has been overthrown, as it has been.

2:16 Yes.

2:16 You get a president like this who's

2:19 emotional all about himself is perpetually the victim.

2:22 Right.

2:22 So that's from his most recent episode with his own brother, Buckley Carlson,

2:25 who recently quit his job as JD Vance,

2:27 as a deputy press secretary and is now speaking out against Trump.

2:29 this guy has failed in his responsibility.

2:32 He is disdainful towards the American people.

2:34 He's disdainful towards the people who put him in office,

2:37 The only people he's been loyal to are the neocons and his donors.

2:43 you and I and everyone else who supported him, he wrote speeches for them.

2:46 I campaign for him.

2:47 We were implicated in this for sure.

2:50 Yes.

2:50 It's not enough to say I changed my mind or like, oh, this is bad.

2:55 I'm out.

2:56 It's like it's very small ways, but in real ways.

3:00 You and me and millions people like us

3:02 for the reason this is happening right now.

3:04 You know, we'll be torn on the by it for a long time.

3:07 I will be, and I want to say

3:09 I'm sorry for misleading people and was not intentional.

3:13 That's all I'll say.

3:14 now.

3:14 A big thing to remember with Tucker Carlson is that while, you know,

3:16 they're upset about a couple of issues that Democrats can

3:18 get on board with things like Iran and the Epstein files,

3:21 their primary complaint seem to be that Trump is not extreme enough.

3:25 We're saying that he didn't crack down hard enough on the BLM protests.

3:27 He didn't stick up for the incarcerated

3:29 January 6th defendant during the Biden years.

3:31 He didn't prosecute corrupt Democrats aggressively enough.

3:33 He didn't investigate who really shot Charlie Kirk

3:35 and never jumped on board the anti-vax train.

3:37 You didn't take the vaccine,

3:39 But Trump did and encouraged everyone else to take it and then never apologized.

3:44 Even when it became clear that the vaccine

3:45 killed hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

3:47 It was poison.

3:48 Yeah.

3:49 Look at the cancer rates.

3:50 Look at the fertility rates.

3:51 Like everything about it was a bioweapon aimed at us.

3:54 Yes.

3:55 And Trump didn't apologize for that.

3:57 He to this day will still talk about the success of Operation Warp Speed,

4:01 which allowed these things to come to market,

4:03 which allowed the you know what he said to me?

4:04 I actually raised it with him because I'm so upset about it.

4:07 But he did the same thing he did

4:08 on the Iran war when I talked him with Iran more,

4:10 you say, well, like this is hurting all

4:11 these people like you believe in the polio vaccine.

4:13 Like that was a good vaccine, don't you think?

4:15 It's like, I guess I believe in polio, but I don't know.

4:18 I mean, but that's what we're talking about.

4:19 It's like, what does it have to do with it?

4:21 You mentioned Ronnie.

4:22 So do you think they should have nuclear weapons?

4:24 No, I don't think not for nuclear weapons in general.

4:28 But it was a non-sequitur designed to shut down the conversation.

4:32 you also talking about taking issue

4:33 with Trump's offensive words and behavior towards Christians,

4:35 whether it's threatening war crimes on Easter, attacking the Pope,

4:38 or most recently, posting an image of himself as Jesus.

4:40 then actually touching on that, Trump now appears to be trying to get back

4:43 into good graces with his Christian base

4:44 by having an event called America Reads the Bible.

4:47 and it'll be a live streamed week long marathon in which nearly

4:50 500 Americans will take turns reading

4:51 the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation,

4:53 to celebrate 250 years of the Bible in America.

4:56 as you'd probably expect,

4:56 a number of the people doing the reading are overwhelmingly rightwing,

4:59 including some cabinet members and politicians like Pete Hegseth,

5:02 Marco Rubio, Susie Wiles and Mike Johnson.

5:04 the also I might do an because I want to see whether

5:06 hex that actually reads from the Bible or he plagiarized is pulp Fiction.

5:09 Again.

5:09 the way, the way at the very least

5:10 this is expected to carry a heavy Christian nationalist undertone.

5:13 the events announcement claiming that the Bible is indelibly

5:16 woven into the national identity and way of life.

5:18 actually, Trump himself is supposed to read a passage

5:20 from the Old Testament tonight from the Oval Office.

5:22 the ones with that I'll say there is doubt whether any of this, you know,

5:26 kind of song and dance that he's doing is going

5:27 to meaningfully stem the bleeding that he suffered over the past year.

5:29 with the newest NBC poll, for example,

5:31 it puts his overall approval rating at just 37%,

5:34 with an overwhelming 63% disapproving.

5:37 and so that's already horrible.

5:38 But then it gets even worse for him when

5:40 you break it down by how strongly people feel.

5:42 only 20% say they strongly approve and 50% strongly disapproved.

5:45 ran.

5:45 It used to be 40% strongly disapprove and 25% strongly approve.

5:49 So that gap it's now double the size widening from 15 points to 30.

5:53 and then also when it comes down to specific issues,

5:55 the numbers don't get any better.

5:56 Right.

5:56 With only 32% giving him good marks on the economy,

5:58 either strongly or even somewhat, while 52% strongly disapprove.

6:02 then as far as the war in Iran, 33% approve and 54% strongly disapprove.

6:06 so now, compared to, you know, just one year ago,

6:08 the percentage of folks who say the the country is on the wrong track,

6:10 it's bumped up from 60 points to 67 points.

6:13 but then also interestingly, you know,

6:14 while a lot of people are talking about Trump's popularity cratering,

6:17 you're then also seeing people looking at one of his supporters.

6:19 Now turn critic who's ridden the anti-Trump wave

6:22 to a surprising amount of wealth and influence.

6:24 let's talk about Nick Fuentes.

6:25 Because The Washington Post just published

6:26 a pretty striking analysis of how Fuentes,

6:28 one of the most extreme, far right figures online,

6:30 has been able to make massive amounts of money despite being

6:32 banned from nearly every mainstream

6:34 and even some non-mainstream social media platforms.

6:36 Right.

6:36 Because when does is become one

6:37 of the biggest streamers on Rumble Since joining,

6:39 he's hosted more than 700 streams,

6:41 gained nearly 700,000 followers and racked up over 100 million video views.

6:44 Just there.

6:44 But because he has no sponsors and no traditional monetization,

6:47 he relies almost entirely on super chats Those pay

6:49 donations that pop up on screen during a live stream.

6:51 so the post they analyzed over 1400 hours of his streams,

6:54 and they used AI to count those donations as they appeared in real time.

6:57 and their findings were that since Trump took office in January of last year,

7:00 Point has received nearly $900,000, or roughly 11,000 donors just there.

7:04 since July, they say that he's been pulling in at least $60,000 a month.

7:06 that what was interesting to me is that nearly half

7:08 of that revenue came from just the top 5% of donors, Right.

7:10 More than $400,000 came from just that small group, and then as far as the rest,

7:14 it was a smaller donors, mostly given $30 or less.

7:16 also, it is worth noting that, you know, most donors are anonymous.

7:19 So, you know, one person could actually be giving

7:20 from multiple accounts or multiple donors could be sharing a username.

7:23 still the pattern was clear enough.

7:24 and notably the donation spike during moments of political crisis surveillance.

7:27 where they surge last summer during

7:28 the protests over Trump's immigration policy, though,

7:30 I will say that the single biggest boost

7:32 came from his appearance on Tucker Carlson's podcast.

7:34 Right.

7:34 Which is we covered ignited a full scale MAGA civil war.

7:37 some slammed Carlson for platforming.

7:38 Fuentes.

7:39 Others defended the interview as necessary because they argued,

7:41 Fuentes represents a real and growing faction of the political base.

7:44 There.

7:44 in the month after that interview, Fuentes,

7:46 the super chat revenue soared to $100,000.

7:48 you know, that was a big moment.

7:49 He's still profiting.

7:49 His average monthly donations are up 10% since that appearance.

7:52 but then also, you know, super chats aren't is only income stream.

7:54 he also runs $100 a month subscriptions to a private

7:56 chat room where he interacts with fans and he sells merch.

7:59 but really, this story stood out to me.

8:00 Not because, you know, it's a it's a story about one guy's bank account,

8:02 but rather, you know, what's happening around him, because for years,

8:05 the, the assumption a lot of mainstream

8:07 conservative circles was that Fuentes, his views,

8:08 they were just so extreme that they'd isolate audience,

8:10 it would just fizzle out.

8:12 The the platform bans, the social stigma, would just push him into irrelevance.

8:15 But that assumption, it's wrong.

8:16 addition to the left, you know,

8:17 he's been shunned by mainstream conservatives and MAGA Republicans.

8:20 Fuentes is also turned on Trump.

8:21 He's told his fans that the GOP should be purged and burned to the ground,

8:24 and he's encouraged them to vote against Trump

8:26 backed candidates to pave the way for, honestly, something more extreme.

8:29 and seemingly despite all that, or maybe

8:31 even because of all that his followings grown.

8:33 it's why you experts saying that the super chat number is a show.

8:35 He has real staying power,

8:36 and they also give him a financial incentive to keep building that audience.

8:39 you know, the idea that Fuentes represents a real voice within the American.

8:42 Right?

8:42 It's been validated by some pretty major figures.

8:44 Right.

8:44 Tucker Carlson, host of that interview that sent his numbers through the roof.

8:47 Alex Jones had him on earlier this year.

8:49 Megan Kelly, who once called him crazy,

8:50 has since said that she understands why people find his messaging valuable,

8:53 calling him very interesting and very smart.

8:55 and Elon Musk, you know,

8:56 reinstated him on Twitter handing him a massive platform again.

8:59 while, you know, there's still plenty of opposition

9:00 across the political spectrum and even the people

9:02 who have given him platforms often try

9:04 to distance themselves from specific views that he holds.

9:06 The point is that the door that was supposed to be shut,

9:08 it keeps getting opened.

9:09 then also every time it does, the numbers go up.

9:11 and of course connecting this to even more all of this is

9:13 playing out as another front in the ongoing MAGA civil war.

9:16 on one side, you have more establishment Republicans

9:18 worried that leading figures like Fuentes set the agenda

9:20 is going to alienate moderate voters and open

9:22 the door to platforms that embrace explicit racism, sexism and homophobia.

9:26 but on the other hand,

9:27 you have people arguing that Trump he's already normalized extremism,

9:29 that he's already cleared the path.

9:30 So trying to wall Fuentes off is both too late

9:33 and dishonest about where the base actually is right now,

9:35 and the money that Fuentes is pulling in, the numbers that he pulls at, it's

9:38 evidence that there is a real faction of the base that can't be written off.

9:41 the really to me, I think the big question is,

9:42 does this online following ever translate into actual political

9:45 power and there you definitely have the experts split.

9:47 some argue that, you know, going viral and building a digital fandom,

9:50 it doesn't automatically mean real world influence.

9:52 the idea being that Fuentes is good at the internet,

9:54 but that doesn't translate to elections or policy.

9:56 But others, they strongly disagree.

9:57 I mean, one researcher told the post,

9:59 donating a super chat is the new showing up to a Klan meeting.

10:01 It's a community builder.

10:02 It shows you're involved and it's a financial form of keyboard warrior ring,

10:05 I think you can do for the cause.

10:07 internet culture researcher Aiden Walker argued that the money

10:10 creates a deeper kind of parasocial loyalty donors,

10:12 they don't see Fuentes as a media personality.

10:14 They see him as a truth teller whose approval they'll pay for.

10:16 you'd Walker saying it.

10:17 The money marks a commitment.

10:18 Like they've got skin in the game and adding see him as their representative.

10:21 These people don't have a platform themselves,

10:23 and Fuentes himself is lean into that dynamic.

10:25 You can call me a Nazi.

10:27 You better be careful.

10:29 Because if I'm a Nazi,

10:30 then there's millions of young people that are following a fucking Nazi.

10:34 So you better be careful about those words.

10:38 You're saying I'm a Nazi?

10:40 I'm a monster.

10:41 There's a million monsters and there's a million Nazis out there.

10:46 Them because they love my show.

10:48 And they agree with me way more than they agree with you.

10:52 And they are pissed off and they'll follow me into battle.

10:56 right.

10:56 And that's the part that people should actually pay attention to whether

10:58 or not this base actually makes it out of the chat,

11:00 that the fact is that he is framing his audience this way

11:03 and that they're paying him real money to validate that framing.

11:05 That is the story.

11:06 and even if he and his audience, they,

11:08 they don't become like the majority of the Republican Party.

11:10 don't really need that many people to have a huge impact on the party.

11:13 You really just need enough to be able to play a foil to the Republican Party,

11:16 And that's likely part of the reason he's

11:18 telling people not to vote Republican in the midterms,

11:19 saying the Republican Party needs to suffer.

11:21 mean, think about it.

11:21 How many elections are decided by 5% or less of the vote?

11:24 if they can hurt the Republicans to a certain degree in the midterms,

11:26 or even be perceived as hurting the Republicans in the midterms.

11:30 There is a chance.

11:30 And it's not a crazy one, that they will come groveling to his door.

11:34 Because every fire starts with a spark.

11:36 then there's more that we've got to dive into in just a minute.

11:38 But first, let me thank a sponsor and say, you know,

11:40 you you messed up mother's Day when your gift

11:42 dies before the weekend's over like flowers on day three.

11:44 also, every year it ends up feeling the same flowers,

11:47 brunch, last minute car that you grabbed while panicking.

11:49 if you want to win this year is what today's sponsor or frames is an awesome

11:53 digital picture frame that lets you upload

11:54 unlimited photos and video straight from your phone.

11:56 for gifts, preloading the photos is the move, right?

11:58 When I gave one to my parents, it was already full of memories,

12:00 so it just felt like two gifts and one.

12:02 I also, even if you don't upload, no worries, set up takes like two minutes.

12:04 Even for people in your life who still print directions.

12:06 the display, it actually looks like real photos.

12:08 And it auto adjusts to the room, so it always looks great.

12:10 plus you can send new photos any time from anywhere.

12:13 So it just keeps getting better.

12:14 Instead of just sitting there collecting dust.

12:16 this is a true upgrade from the usual thanks for everything.

12:18 Gifts.

12:18 also was named number one by Wirecutter.

12:20 say, hey, save on a gift that moms love

12:22 by scanning the QR code or going to aura frames.com/bill.

12:25 And then use code fill and get $25 off their bestselling Carver mat frame.

12:29 a you aura frames.com/fill.

12:32 Code fill.

12:32 You save and you support the channel by mentioning us at checkout.

12:35 Terms and conditions apply.

12:36 Seriously.

12:36 I mean, skip the flowers this year.

12:38 Give something that actually lasts.

12:39 but then diving right back into the news.

12:41 The Us-iran ceasefire is almost over.

12:43 It's not clear that talks are going to happen,

12:44 let alone that a deal is going to be reached.

12:46 And Donald Trump, who seemingly has no idea what's going

12:48 on, says that he expects to be bombing Iran again very soon.

12:50 though notably, while he's now claiming

12:52 that he's unlikely to extend the cease fire, he may have already done it once.

12:55 Trump announced a two week cease fire late on Tuesday, April 7th.

12:58 And so outlets have been reporting since then that it would expire tonight.

13:00 Tuesday, April 21st.

13:02 then yesterday he told Bloomberg that the cease

13:03 fire would actually end Wednesday evening, Washington time,

13:06 effectively giving himself another 24 hours before

13:07 he has to decide whether to make

13:09 good on his threat to blow up every single bridge and power plant in Iran.

13:12 and that extra time,

13:12 it might be so that a second round of talks could take place,

13:14 although it's far from certain.

13:15 Right.

13:15 Because mediators.

13:16 They reportedly said that they had gotten confirmation that both

13:19 the American and Iranian negotiating teams would arrive in Islamabad tomorrow.

13:22 then there were reports today that the US team had put

13:24 their trip on hold after Iran failed to respond to its terms,

13:27 and Iranian officials never publicly confirmed their attendance.

13:29 you've also had an Iranian lawmaker claiming that reports

13:31 of an Iranian delegation presence in Pakistan are a complete lie,

13:34 saying that Iran, quote,

13:35 will not negotiate until the issue of the naval blockade is resolved.

13:38 no one possible explanation for the conflicting information is

13:40 that Iranian officials disagree about how to move forward.

13:43 U.S.

13:43 officials reportedly suspecting divisions existing between Iran's negotiating

13:46 team and hardliners in the military and the government,

13:48 which then raises questions about who's ultimately going to have the final say,

13:50 and so there you had one expert telling CNN there's

13:52 some level of distrust within the Iranian system between two factions.

13:56 faction is pro diplomacy,

13:57 represented by the country's parliament speaker and chief negotiator,

14:00 who sees some economic urgency to stabilize the situation.

14:02 then adding the other camp is represented by elements of the Islamic

14:05 Revolutionary Guard Corps that continue the resistance and the war,

14:07 who are quite ideologically not interested in getting a deal with the U.S..

14:10 then, of course, on the US side, there's also been disagreement.

14:13 In the first round of talks, for example, the U.S.

14:14 delegation asked Iran to agree to a 20 year pause on all nuclear enrichment.

14:18 while Iran would only agree to five at first it's since

14:20 reportedly offered to bump it up to ten years with it,

14:22 then followed by another decade during which it

14:24 would only enrich two levels well below weapons grade.

14:26 But then also Trump has said that he was

14:27 against even his own negotiating team's initial 20 year offer,

14:30 and he wants Iran to agree to a permanent ban.

14:32 and he repeatedly claimed at the end of last week that Iran had caved,

14:35 the other side had agreed to an unlimited suspension of its

14:37 nuclear program and the handing over of its stockpile of enriched uranium,

14:40 you Trump writing on social media that the talks should go

14:43 very quickly and that most of the points are already negotiated,

14:45 and even telling some outlets that the talks would take place

14:48 and a deal would be finalized by the end of the week.

14:49 you then add Iranian officials publicly rejecting Trump's claims.

14:52 and very notably, some administration officials have reportedly

14:54 said that Trump's comments have actually been incredibly counterproductive.

14:57 moving them further and further away from a deal that had seemed close,

15:00 with one reportedly telling CNN the Iranians didn't appreciate police

15:03 negotiating through social media and making it appear as if

15:05 they had signed off on issues they hadn't yet agreed

15:07 to, and ones that aren't popular with their people back home.

15:10 then it also gets worse from there,

15:11 because apparently Trump not only doesn't know what

15:13 the hell is going on with these negotiations,

15:14 doesn't even know what country his chief negotiator is in at any given time,

15:18 told reporters on Sunday morning that J.D.

15:20 Vance wouldn't participate in upcoming

15:21 talks due to unspecific security concerns.

15:23 at the same time, two different senior administration officials were appearing

15:26 on TV and saying that Vance would be leading the delegation.

15:29 then yesterday, you had Trump telling the New York Post that Vance

15:31 was in the air and he'd be landing in Pakistan soon,

15:33 then just about an hour and a half later,

15:35 Vance's motorcade with the vice president inside pulled up to the white House.

15:39 also Trump's given conflicting answers about

15:41 whether he would extend the cease fire.

15:42 in fact, last week, in a single round of Q&A with reporters,

15:44 he was asked five times whether he would extend the cease fire,

15:48 and he gave three different answers.

15:49 first responding.

15:50 If there's no deal, fighting resumes,

15:51 then answering if we need to, I would do that.

15:54 And finally saying, we'll see.

15:56 I don't know that we'll have to.

15:57 Ideally, we won't.

15:58 though today I will say he suggested that he was leaning toward the first option

16:01 I expect to be bombing because I think that's a better attitude to go in with.

16:05 But, you know, we're ready to go.

16:07 I mean, the military is raring to go,

16:09 and Trump also claimed that the military is,

16:11 quote, loaded up and is actually much more

16:12 powerful now than it was before the cease fire.

16:14 And he was, arguing that Trump setting the U.S.

16:16 barreling toward a situation where boots end up on the ground in Iran.

16:18 right.

16:19 Because despite the cease fire,

16:20 he's continued increasing the American military presence in the region.

16:22 and by the end of the month,

16:23 more than 10,000 additional troops will have been sent

16:25 to the region since the fighting came to a halt.

16:26 so he had one expert telling the Guardian,

16:28 if we pay more attention to what President Trump does rather

16:30 than what he says than a ground invasion is quite likely,

16:33 adding we have not seen him deploying significant military

16:34 assets to any theater and ending up not using it.

16:37 There is a clear risk of mission creep here.

16:39 Trump he's now arguing that everyone just needs to chill

16:41 out because other wars in the past they've lasted longer.

16:44 I just looked at a little chart.

16:46 World War one for years and three months.

16:48 World War two, six years, Korean War three years.

16:52 Vietnam 19 years Iraq eight years.

16:56 Five months.

16:57 Okay.

16:58 Five months.

16:59 I would have won Vietnam very quickly.

17:02 then with that, him claiming that he doesn't want to be Russia,

17:04 saying that he wants to make a great deal and he has all the time

17:06 in the world to do it before then seemingly

17:08 downplaying the loss of American life in this conflict.

17:11 if you look at this, what we've suffered in terms of losses,

17:15 we lost 13 men and that's terrible.

17:17 I wish we didn't lose one.

17:18 But if somebody would have said,

17:20 we've done this and obliterated that country, obliterated it,

17:23 and we lost 13 men, people would have said,

17:27 that's not possible to have done that.

17:29 It's not possible.

17:31 Right.

17:31 So we've done a great job, and I don't want to be rushed by people

17:34 that are really treasonous as far as I'm concerned,

17:36 as far as what he sees as treasonous.

17:38 He called out House minority Leader Hakeem

17:39 Jeffries for his opposition to the war.

17:41 is a totally low IQ person and he's always ranting and raving,

17:44 oh, this war is so terrible.

17:46 They shouldn't be saying that when we're in the midst of a negotiation,

17:50 because it does hurt us somewhat.

17:52 It gives the other side some hope, and I don't want them to have hope.

17:55 But also with that.

17:56 Besides Jeffries, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy might actually be taking some

17:59 of the most heat right now for his criticism of the war.

18:01 Because Murphy, he's also been extremely vocal.

18:03 And lately he's taking aim at Trump's

18:05 blockade and seizures of Iranian linked vessels.

18:07 Writing in one recent post.

18:08 are spending billions to keep our entire Navy in the strait to recklessly fail

18:11 to open a waterway that wasn't closed

18:13 until Trump's pointless war of choice closed it.

18:15 He's just burning your tax dollars.

18:16 then later you, Adam writing.

18:17 Awesome.

18:18 In response to a post sharing an article that estimated

18:20 that at least 26 Iranian shadow fleet vessels had bypassed the US blockade.

18:24 and there you had a number of accounts responding by accusing

18:25 Murphy of being a traitor and rooting for the enemy.

18:27 even had a white House spokesperson speaking to Fox News and saying takes

18:30 an insane level of Trump Derangement Syndrome to cheer for a terrorist regime,

18:33 to chance death to America.

18:34 then you had Murphy defending himself in another post, writing, okay, Twitter,

18:37 I can't believe I need to clarify this, but obviously

18:39 Trump's bungled mismanagement of this war is not awesome.

18:42 as I have said a million times here, it's a disaster.

18:45 And he should end the war immediately.

18:47 My tweet with something called sarcasm.

18:49 which one?

18:50 I'll say personally.

18:50 Yeah, that that is how I took it as sarcasm, but also two,

18:53 know, all stories like that one, they get a lot of attention.

18:55 There are also others that are connected

18:56 to the war that seem to fly under the radar.

18:59 Because this was also this week, for example,

19:00 you had Trump signing a series of memos invoking the Cold War era

19:03 Defense Production Act to push fossil fuel

19:05 production in the name of defense readiness.

19:07 these memos refer back to his day

19:08 one executive order declaring a national energy emergency.

19:10 right.

19:10 Arguing that oil, coal and natural gas production must expand to, quote,

19:14 avert an industrial resource or a critical technology

19:16 item shortfall that would severely impair national defense capability.

19:19 so Trump's already boosted fossil fuel production and blocked

19:21 renewable energy projects and stripped back environmental protections.

19:24 He now may be using the war to go even further.

19:26 also, in the meantime, as the U.S.

19:28 economy is reeling.

19:28 might start sending money to another country to help

19:30 it deal with the impacts of that war.

19:32 Robert Trump saying today that his administration

19:34 is considering offering financial support to the UAE

19:36 in the form of a currency swap similar

19:38 to the $20 billion bailout given to Argentina,

19:40 tied to support for the country's far right president.

19:42 it's also not clear right now how much the UAE really needs the help.

19:44 Britain's is an oil rich economy with trillions of dollars

19:46 worth of sovereign wealth fund assets and no dollar liquidity problems,

19:49 according to sources who spoke to Bloomberg.

19:51 then also notably, you know, Jared Kushner, Trump's son in law and member

19:54 of the team negotiating with Iran his investment firm,

19:56 has been back with more than $1.5 billion

19:58 in capital from sovereign wealth funds in the UAE,

20:00 where a government linked firms also

20:01 invested in the Trump family's crypto company.

20:03 And the Trump Organization is currently building a luxury hotel in the country.

20:06 so seemingly, you know, with whatever happens with this ceasefire,

20:09 anything that happens, the pain that's felt,

20:11 the people that die or maimed, what seems to be clear is that the rich,

20:15 they're just going to keep getting richer.

20:16 then there's more then we've got to dive into in just a minute.

20:18 But first, let me thank a sponsor and say, you know,

20:20 imagine getting a message that says someone you love was just in an accident.

20:22 then one click later.

20:24 Your entire phone's compromised.

20:25 Because seriously, that is a real scam right now.

20:26 cybercriminals are sending fake accident alert messages.

20:29 And when you click the image,

20:30 it installs malware that can access your apps and drain your bank account.

20:32 yeah, maybe, you know,

20:33 don't click everything that gives you a mini heart attack.

20:35 unless, of course, that thing is a Philip DeFranco show.

20:37 But really, all of this.

20:38 It's yet another reason to have today's sponsor, NordVPN.

20:40 Nord is not just about privacy anymore.

20:41 It also helps protect you from this exact kind of stuff.

20:44 their threat protection feature.

20:45 It can block malicious links,

20:46 shady downloads and dangerous websites before they even hit your device.

20:49 if something sketchy shows up,

20:50 like a random urgent message trying to get you to click

20:53 Nord can help stop it before it becomes a problem.

20:54 also also helps you keep your data private, hides your IP address,

20:57 and secures your connection, especially when you're on public Wi-Fi.

21:00 which is great because at this point,

21:01 scammers are getting way too good at making things look real.

21:03 if you want to protect yourself and your data,

21:04 just scan that QR code or go to nordvpn.com/fill

21:07 to get an exclusive discount on a two year plan,

21:09 plus four extra months free when you use my link.

21:11 that's nordvpn.com/real.

21:13 It's risk free with Nord's 30 day money back guarantee.

21:15 but then diving right back into the news,

21:17 a now third Trump cabinet members out labor Secretary Lori Chavez.

21:20 Dreamer just resigned after a months long investigation

21:22 into an alleged affair with a security officer.

21:24 Taxpayer funded personal trips,

21:25 drinking on the job and creating a toxic work environment.

21:28 And she says that she's now headed back to the private sector with her lawyer,

21:31 saying that it's about serving the country and letting

21:32 the Department of Labor do its work without distraction,

21:34 also even though I know a lot of people weren't even aware of this person,

21:37 the path to this resignation,

21:39 it's worth looking at because it's been snowballing pretty quickly.

21:41 Complaints against her started back in January.

21:43 You know, we can go through them, regarding the travel.

21:45 Labor secretaries are expected to be on the road.

21:46 And last year, she spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on more than 50 trips

21:50 as part of her America at Work tour

21:51 meeting with workers and employers across the country.

21:53 you know, that's the job reports say that she

21:56 had personal ties to at least ten of these stops,

21:58 scheduling short work events and spending the rest

22:00 of the time visiting family and friends or partying.

22:02 and while interagency investigators have

22:03 reviewed evidence and spoken with witnesses.

22:05 No conclusions have been publicly announced.

22:07 the release her husband says that there isn't an ounce of truth to any of it.

22:10 then regarding the affair, complain, say that she had meet ups with a mystery

22:13 security officer toward the end of last year,

22:15 one reportedly in Las Vegas while she was celebrating her niece's birthday.

22:17 while photos confirm she was in Vegas, outlets like the New York Post said

22:20 that they found no direct evidence of a hookup.

22:22 you had a white House spokesperson dismissing

22:23 the allegations is coming from disgruntled former employees.

22:26 then regarding work environment, you had staffers describing it as toxic

22:29 with hostile aides and a deeply demoralized staff.

22:32 she also allegedly kept a stash of alcohol in her office and asked

22:34 employees to bring her and another aide wine and at least one work trip.

22:37 again want to stress nothing confirmed publicly whether

22:39 or not any of this is ultimately proven the fallout.

22:42 I mean, it's already been substantial.

22:43 chief of staff and deputy chief of staff were placed

22:45 on leave when the allegations surface and both eventually resigned.

22:47 also the security officer that she allegedly

22:49 had the affair with was placed on leave,

22:51 and now she is out her attorney insists that, you know,

22:53 the resignation has nothing to do with any legal wrongdoing,

22:55 that she's just stepping down to let

22:56 the Department of Labor function without distraction.

22:58 you know, one of the things that really makes this notable is that Chavez,

23:01 the reamer really wasn't supposed to be a controversial figure.

23:03 she spent 20 years in local politics.

23:04 City council member, mayor, house representative.

23:07 She actually won Democrats over with her stance on labor.

23:09 Right after she lost her House seat last November,

23:11 it was the president of the Teamsters who

23:13 nudged Trump to put her up for labor secretary, and she got bipartisan support.

23:16 enough Democrats across the aisle to confirm her that, you know, she was seen,

23:18 at least briefly, as a rare win for labor advocates in this administration.

23:21 but then things started to slip.

23:23 You had reports saying that her pro-labor

23:24 agenda didn't sit well with business leaders.

23:26 and so then she eased up on it.

23:28 She started winning business support through deregulation,

23:30 apprenticeship programs and legal opinion letters of favorite employers.

23:33 so you saw that straining her relationship with most unions,

23:36 though the Teamsters were still in her corner.

23:37 the other unions, they put it bluntly, saying things like,

23:40 we need a labor secretary who understands working

23:41 people and will work to make our lives better,

23:43 not just be a rubber stamp for corporations wish list

23:46 and got the protections we count and so with her gone,

23:48 Keith's underling, the deputy secretary of Labor since last year,

23:50 he steps then also like, let's look at the big picture here.

23:53 this is the third cabinet member to exit

23:55 less than halfway through Trump's second term.

23:56 And apparently she was summoned to the white House

23:58 and given an ultimatum quit, or get kicked out.

24:00 So we'll try that as a Rimmer wasn't fired like Pam Bondi or Kristi Noem.

24:03 A resignation under investigation.

24:05 That's still significant.

24:06 especially for a president who specifically stacked his cabinet with loyalists.

24:09 but between bonds.

24:10 Epstein files scandal, gnomes, ice scandal.

24:12 And now this.

24:13 Trump's hand-picked leaders,

24:14 they're dropping at a pace that's really hard to ignore.

24:16 of course, every exit, it means more time playing Tetris to find replacements.

24:19 Right.

24:19 Rubio can't do every job, less time running the department in a public that's

24:22 just left holding the short end of a stick.

24:24 as far as underling.

24:25 He's now walking into a slow job

24:26 market with sluggish wage growth and creeping unemployment.

24:28 That's something that's going to take a lot of time and expertise to address.

24:31 And you know this musical chairs at the top of this cabinet.

24:34 They're not going to make anything easier.

24:35 but then also while he tries to figure that out.

24:36 You had yet another one of Trump's picks, Kevin Walsh in the hotseat today.

24:40 And Kevin Marsh is Trump's choice for the chair of the Federal Reserve.

24:42 And today, he went before the Senate

24:44 Banking Committee for his confirmation hearing, actually, for a Trump nominee.

24:46 This guy does seem weirdly qualified for the job.

24:49 an Ivy League graduate.

24:50 He worked in financial services at Morgan Stanley before

24:52 then serving as economic policy advisor under George W Bush.

24:55 there, Bush appointed him to the Fed Board of Governors in 2006,

24:58 where he served until 2011.

24:59 so notably, that's before, during and after the 2008 financial crash.

25:03 but also despite his resume, you know, going into this hearing,

25:05 we kind of knew that his immediate confirmation was a long shot,

25:08 because Senator Thom Tillis, a key Republican on the committee,

25:10 has said that he will not confirm Warsh until

25:12 the DOJ drops the criminal investigation into the fed.

25:14 And the current chairman, Jerome Powell.

25:16 because well, on paper,

25:17 that case is about the renovations for the Fed's headquarters going over budget.

25:20 Powell has that.

25:21 And many think that this is a pressure campaign from Trump

25:23 to try and get the fed to lower interest rates.

25:26 which is also actually what a federal judge found as well,

25:28 blasting it as an act of intimidation.

25:29 and so during this hearing, you had Tillis sticking to his gun, saying.

25:32 somebody over in the DOJ didn't even check with the boss.

25:36 The boss said on the same night that I said,

25:38 I can't go forward until this bogus investigation is done.

25:42 What said he didn't know anything about it.

25:43 We have got to end this investigation.

25:45 Big DOJ didn't know about it.

25:47 The president didn't know about it.

25:48 Let's get rid of this investigation so I can support your confirmation.

25:52 now with that, Trump was asked this morning whether he

25:54 drop the investigation into Powell in order to get Warsh confirmed.

25:57 And it resulted in a kind of a rambling rant.

25:59 They ripped down the most beautiful ceilings.

26:01 They'll never build them again.

26:02 The most beautiful thick footing.

26:04 They have thick walls of solid masonry.

26:07 They're never going to be built again.

26:08 They put up six and sheetrock walls and they say, so we have no insulation.

26:13 It's not in the budget.

26:14 I would have fixed that building.

26:15 Beautiful.

26:16 Quickly.

26:17 beautiful beautiful beautiful, gorgeous moldings so that is a, you know,

26:20 give us a ton to go on.

26:22 But what we do know is that without a vote from Tillis,

26:24 the committee reportedly doesn't have the votes

26:25 to advance his confirmation to the Senate Republicans,

26:27 they have a slim majority here.

26:29 And Warsh he didn't really win over any Democrats.

26:31 he would those on the committee lingering on a couple of points or the first

26:34 being that the guy has some serious

26:35 investments that have sparked a lot of concern.

26:37 before the hearing, he disclosed more than $100 million worth of assets,

26:39 which makes him significantly wealthier than any previous fed chair.

26:42 also pointedly refused to identify the underlying

26:44 holdings of some of his biggest investments.

26:46 you had him specifically citing confidentiality agreements.

26:48 Anyway, the committee's ranking member, Senator Elizabeth Warren,

26:50 hitting on that hard during her questions

26:52 and to that point where she said that he

26:54 struck an agreement with the Office of Government

26:56 Ethics to divest the majority of those assets.

26:57 we also really didn't satisfy Warren or other Democrats on the committee.

27:00 Warren, specifically asking Warsh how those assets will be sold and to whom.

27:04 with the apparent concern being that, worse,

27:05 his pockets were gonna get lined and he'll

27:06 be stuck in someone's pocket just before taking office.

27:08 in response to Warsh kind of dancing

27:10 around the question without really answering, which is worth pointing out.

27:13 but also, you know, one of the biggest questions at hand was

27:15 the Fed's independence and specifically

27:17 the extent of Trump's influence over Warsh.

27:19 Trump has specifically said he thinks Warsh is

27:20 going to get him to lower interest rates, that he wants those comments,

27:23 they sparked a lot of concern,

27:24 because the big thing about the Federal Reserve is

27:25 that it is supposed to be independent and removed from politics.

27:28 during the hearing, Warren really hammered the point

27:30 home calling worst one Trump sock puppet.

27:33 until her few minutes of questioning, it was a very heated exchange.

27:36 I need to know.

27:37 I need to measure.

27:38 Sure.

27:38 Independence and your courage,

27:39 So let me ask another out of monetary policy in our meeting,

27:44 you said independent because you're quote, a tough guy.

27:47 Those were your words, tough guy.

27:49 And you will be able to stand up to President Trump.

27:53 So let's try it again.

27:54 Name one aspect of President Trump's economic agenda with which you disagree.

28:00 Well, Senator, the Federal Reserve in recent

28:03 years has wandered outside of its remit.

28:05 Wandered in.

28:06 I'm asking you for something that's not something Donald Trump on.

28:10 we need a fed chair who is independent.

28:13 That's the only way we preserve the independence of the Federal Reserve.

28:17 If you can't answer these questions,

28:19 you don't have the courage and you don't have the independence.

28:22 I agree with you on independent Senator.

28:24 with all of that said, you know, it is just the beginning of the process.

28:27 We're still looking at a long road

28:28 before Warsh actually takes the oath of office.

28:30 also a big thing is that Trump has said that if Warsh

28:32 is a confirmed by the end of Jerome Powell term on May 15th,

28:35 he's going to fire Powell.

28:36 and if with that, you're getting a sense of deja vu here.

28:38 It's because he's made that threat before, like, a lot.

28:40 again, it's not clear whether he actually has that power.

28:42 in fact, the Supreme Court's even expressed doubt regarding the case

28:45 centered on Trump trying to fire Fed Governor Lisa Cook last summer.

28:47 and so as far as, you know, what is next from here,

28:49 it's kind of just a matter of waiting to see how things shape up.

28:52 For warsh.

28:52 Following today's hearing.

28:53 and so in the meantime,

28:54 I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below,

28:56 whether it be this story or really anything else that stood out to you today.

28:59 Because yes, this is a news show,

29:00 but I kind of really live for the conversation.

29:03 then my friends, you beautiful bastard, is the end of you.

29:05 Tuesday, Philip DeFranco show.

29:06 Dive into the news.

29:07 Well, of course I see you right back here.

29:08 Same time, same place.

29:09 Tomorrow for another dive into the news.

29:10 and you're getting a brand new episode of crashing out around noon tomorrow.

29:13 the meantime, if you missed yesterday's Bill DeFranco show, click or tap.

29:16 I also got links in the description.

29:17 with that said, thank you for watching.

29:18 I love yo faces.

29:19 And I'll see you then.