The Truth About Mark Rober Tesla Crash & Trump Accused of Going "Full Dictator" Over Biden Pardons
PDS Published 03/17/2025
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Can you fool a self-driving car?
Or, can you fool your YouTube audience?
Those are the questions being asked amid this big Mark Rober scandal as he is being accused of misleading viewers in his recent video involving a Tesla crash.
Right, the video is titled “Can You Fool A Self Driving Car?”
And in it, he’s testing Tesla’s camera detection system vs the LiDAR laser scanning technology in Luminar vehicles.
And he put both cars through various tests, first having them approach a test dummy of a child, and both the LiDAR car and the Tesla, with autopilot turned on, stopped for the dummy.
He then added obstacles, like the kid entering the road at the last second, fog, water, and bright lights.
And while the LiDAR stopped for all of them, the Tesla with autopilot on ended up hitting the dummy when faced with fog and water.
But the test generating the most conversation was a sort of old-cartoon Wile E. Coyote style wall that looked like a continuing road, with Mark trying to see if that fake road would trick the cars, or if they would recognize it as a wall and stop.
And the LiDAR car stopped, but the Tesla drove right through it.
But that is where a lot of the backlash is coming in, right, because Mark said he was running all these tests using Tesla’s autopilot feature and you can see it appears to be engaged leading up to the wall, indicated by that rainbow road,
But if you look at the moment it actually crashed, it does not look like it was on.
Then, on top of that, some argue that if you wanted to accurately compare Tesla’s self-driving technology to LiDAR’s, autopilot was not the right feature to use, right.
Because while autopilot has tools like traffic aware cruise control and autosteer, many Teslas now have a newer tech called Full Self-Driving, or FSD, which has all those tools and many more. []
So you have outlets like Forbes saying:
“Frankly, few are interested in tests on the old Autopilot, so that makes Rober’s tests fairly meaningless, even if it is the case that the newest FSD system would have made the same errors--we unfortunately don’t know.”[]
In the description of the video, Mark also says that while there was no compensation given and the video was not a paid promotion, Luminar did provide the vehicle so they could test the LiDAR technology.
And of this, Forbes added:
“While Rober may not have known about the software versions available for his car, the crew at Luminar, the LIDAR company which assisted with the tests, provided the LIDAR car and system, and has done these tests before, would surely have been aware of them, and should have informed Rober.”
And there is a ton of outrage online as well, people writing things like:
“FSD was never engaged, and nothing was on when he crashed into the wall. The whole video was designed to bash Tesla and promote Luminar, a LiDAR company.”[]
“Mark Rober is a fraud.”[]
“I truly don’t want to believe Mark did this intentionally, but I mean the car isn’t even on autopilot when it crashes. This is disappointing Mr. Rober.”[]
Some also saying that Luminar was previously advertising Mark’s video on its website, though it appears that is no longer the case. []
And that has prompted some to question how involved LiDAR and Luminar were in the video.
Right, it appears that while Mark drove the Tesla, someone from Luminar drove the Luminar, right, they have the company’s gear on.
He also has Lidar links to his Crunchbar products in the description.
And even though Mark said it was not sponsored and they just provided the gear, not everyone seems to be buying that. [][][]
With some also noting that Luminar’s stock went up after the video was posted over the weekend.[]
And so you have some arguing that Tesla should take legal action here, with the creator Meet Kevin putting out a video saying Mark defrauded the company and a lawsuit could be filed, adding:
“He promotes his own product using this, frankly defamation against Tesla, to promote his own product, while also promoting Luminar tech. Whether or not Luminar paid Mark Rober here or not many not matter.” (16:16-16:30)
“He creates negative brand for Tesla by implying that the technology that he’s showing is Tesla’s full self-driving technology. He literally writes, ‘can you fool a self-driving car?’ But he does not actually use the self-driving technology in his experiment.” (17:11-17:30)
“This is really problematic because if the test was done more fairly, it would be tough for Tesla to have an argument here.” (17:43-17:52)
For his part, Mark responded to some of this backlash by posting the raw footage of the wall test:
“Here we go! Here we go! Holy Shoot! [crash] ohhhhh!” (0:06-0:15)
Right, and just like in the YouTube video, you can see that autopilot engages at one point, and then goes off just before the crash.
And Mark seemed to acknowledge that by writing:
“Not sure why it disengages 17 frames before hitting the wall but my feet weren’t touching the brake or gas.”[]
But his response also generated more criticism, right, some alleging that the clip he posted there was a different take than the one in the YouTube video.[]
So we actually reached out to him to address all this backlash, and I talked to him for a bit about the biggest claims and accusations going on.
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Donald Trump is trying to undo Biden’s pardons so he can go after his political enemies.
And his reason? Biden used the wrong pen.
Right, so you may remember that Biden pre-emptively pardoned members of the January 6 House committee just hours before he left office. [Headline, image and Image]
Saying he did it to protect them from unjustified and politically motivated retaliation by his successor, Donald Trump. [Quote same link, find “honor”]
Which, to put that decision in context, Trump had previously said about “everybody on that committee:”
[Clip, 01:02 - 01:06] Caption: “For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail.”
With him later accusing them of “MAJOR CRIMES,” emphasizing how serious he was by putting that in all caps. [Quote]
But now, Trump has taken the further step of suggesting he can reverse those pardons, writing on Truth Social: [Image]
“The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen.” [Post]
Now for context, an autopen is just a device that presidents sometimes use to sign documents instead of doing it by hand. [Image]
Right, it’s often used when the president is somewhere else but directs a subordinate to give it their signature on their behalf.
So anyway, Trump continues, without evidence:
“In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime. Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level. The fact is, they were probably responsible for the Documents that were signed on their behalf without the knowledge or consent of the Worst President in the History of our Country, Crooked Joe Biden!” [Same post]
Now it’s unclear whether he thinks simply inserting the word “hereby” somehow automatically makes his Truth Social posts the law of the land, but let’s be clear: there is no apparent legal precedent for this whatsoever.
Right, the U.S. Constitution gives the president the unique authority of issuing pardons, and there is no indication that future presidents can rescind past pardons for any reason, even the type of pen that was used.
In fact, Bush’s White House Office of Legal Counsel advised way back in 2005 that presidents can sign official documents with an autopen. [Quote, find “2005”]
Which is why both Biden and Obama did so during their time in office. [Same quote]
So that raises the question, where did Trump get the idea that it’s invalid?
And the claim appears to have come from Libs of TikTok, who wrote on X that if “Biden’s cognitive mental decline allowed unelected officials to make decisions without his knowledge or approval,” then “Biden’s executive orders, pardons, and other actions, may be unconstitutional and void.” [Post]
With the Oversight Project, an offshoot of the right-wing Heritage Foundation, responding to that by pointing out that Biden used an autopen and adding: [Post]
“For investigators to determine whether then-President Biden actually ordered the signature of relevant legal documents, or if he even had the mental capacity to, they must first determine who controlled the autopen and what checks there were in place.” [Post]
But legal experts say that argument’s gonna have an extremely hard time convincing a judge, and the people Biden pardoned don’t seem too concerned either.
With some of the nine current or former Representatives who sat on the January 6 committee condemning Trump’s post, saying they’re not afraid of his threats.
And Adam Kinzinger had a very unique response, which, I sincerely can’t tell if he just smoked a blunt or became a full-on dude bro.
[Clip, 00:16 - 00:49] Caption: “He’s obsessed. He’s more obsessed with like me and Liz Cheney than his friggin golf score. Hey Trump, bring it on dude. You weak, whiny, tiny man who, by the way, I saw a picture of you this weekend. You’re hiking up your pants now to really just below your manboobs and you’re sweating so much. Like eh, looking pretty bad there. Bring it, man! Like stop with all the big mouth talking stuff. You’re a grown man. You don’t talk like one, but you’re a grown man.”
You uh … you okay, Adam?
Anyway, the weirdness of all this aside, Trump’s threat represents yet another avenue by which he’s testing the limits of his executive authority.
And if he escalates from social media posts to actual investigations, we could see him lock horns with the courts.
Speaking of which, we’ve got a lot more Trump news to get through today, so let’s keep it going.
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The Trump administration has deported hundreds of people despite a judge ordering their removals to be stopped.
With there arguably being just enough grey area that it can deny being in open defiance of the order – even as officials claim the judge doesn’t have the authority in the first place.
And with that, this all goes back to Trump invoking something called the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.
It’s a law that allows the government to deport certain nationals in times of war without trial.
And it’s a law that has – until now – only been used three times in the country’s history:
The War of 1812, World War One, and World War Two – when it was employed to justify the internment of people of German, Italian, and most of everyone who was of Japanese descent.
And in this case, it is being invoked to order the deportations of alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (PRONUNCIATION).
Right, the US formally designated it and seven other Latin American criminal groups as “foreign terrorist organizations” last month.
Which in itself is unusual because the terrorist designation is normally reserved for groups that use violence for political ends – not those that are aimed at making money.
And now the White House is making it official that it sees itself at war with these groups.
With the proclamation announcing the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act claiming:
“Evidence irrefutably demonstrates that TdA has invaded the United States and continues to invade, attempt to invade, and threaten to invade the country; perpetrated irregular warfare within the country; and used drug trafficking as a weapon against our citizens.” []
But of course, many say the evidence is in fact very refutable, the characterization of migrant criminal activity as an invasion or the claim is at best misleading, and by extension, the idea that Trump could claim wartime powers is ridiculous.
And with that, you had groups suing the government, and on Saturday, you had a U.S. District Judge issuing an order temporarily blocking the deportation –
Noting that the law has never before been used outside of a congressionally declared war and that plaintiffs may successfully argue Trump exceeded his legal authority in invoking it. []
But at that point, two planes reportedly carrying 261 deportees had already taken off.
With 137 of them reportedly being deported on the basis of the Alien Enemies Act.
While the basis on which the other deportees were removed remains unclear. []
Although, notably, according to a review of flight records by The Washington Post, a third flight reportedly left shortly AFTER the written order was issued.[]
With Axios also reporting that the administration had made a concerted effort to fast-track the deportations so that they took place before a judge would have a chance to block them.
Right, saying Trump signed the order invoking the Alien Enemies Act on Friday night, but intentionally did not advertise it.
And on Saturday morning, when word of the order leaked, there was a “mad scramble” to get planes in the air. []
But in any case, with all that, the judge gave a verbal order for the flights to turn back…
But notably, according to some, that directive did not make its way into his official written ruling. []
And so they just kept flying, arriving in El Salvador in the middle of the night.
With Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele (Nah-yeeb Boo-keh-leh) announcing their arrival and claiming there were 238 members of Tren de Aragua and 23 members of the Salvadoran gang MS-13.
And with that, sharing a video of shackled men being dragged off the plane, struggling to walk as officers pushed their heads down, and loaded into vehicles to be taken to a prison.
Once there, being forced to kneel, having their heads shaved and being shoved into cells (BROLL: 0:42-0:45, 1:31-1:33, 1:54-1:59, 2:06-2:10, 2:51-2:54)
With Boo-keh-leh adding that they and future deportees would join the 40,000 inmates at the country’s so-called “Terrorism Confinement Center” and would be engaged “in various workshops and labor” under the “Zero Idleness program” –
Which would help make the country’s prison system “self-sustainable.” []
And of course, all this has been celebrated by those in the Trump camp.
With Elon Musk simply responding “Much appreciated.”
Marco Rubio thanking the Salvadoran President for his “assistance and friendship.”
And Donald Trump himself also expressing his gratitude on social media.
As well as of course, that video and other images otherwise making the rounds online, being celebrated by some, and absolutely horrifying by many others.
Right, because here’s the huge, big, massive thing to keep in mind here:
As of recording, the Trump administration hasn’t identified the immigrants deported -
And it also hasn’t provided any evidence they are in fact gang members or have committed any crimes in the U.S. at all.
And in general, based on the fact that the Alien Enemies Act was invoked, there’s no indication that these deportees received any sort of due process.
And on that note, several relatives of men believed to be among their deportees are already claiming their loved ones don’t have gang ties.
Which may not be surprising since we know for sure ICE raids have swept up tons of people with no criminal records.
And with all that, the fear is that Trump could simply declare anyone a gang member and remove them from the country.
With Adam Isacson of the Washington Office for Latin America, which is a human rights group, warning on X:
“Basically any Venezuelan citizen in the US may be removed on pretext of belonging to Tren de Aragua, with no chance at defense.” []
And of course, on top of that, there’s the whole issue of seemingly ignoring the order of a federal judge.
With people like a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center claiming that even if the judge's verbal directive to turn around the planes was not technically part of his final order the Trump administration clearly violated the “spirit” of it, adding:
“This just incentivizes future courts to be hyper specific in their orders and not give the government any wiggle room.” []
And with that, another law professor, this one from NYU, saying:
“Now that Congress has shown itself subservient to the wishes of the White House, the judiciary is the last check against the exercise of autocratic power in the president”
“The question before the country is whether the judges will use their contempt and other powers to resist the elimination of checks and balances in order to protect the rule of law.” []
And finally, Patrick Eddington, a homeland security and civil liberties legal expert at the Cato Institute, which is a libertarian think tank, claiming the White House was in “open defiance” of the judge, adding:
“This is beyond the pale and certainly unprecedented.”
Also reportedly calling it the most radical test of America’s system of checks and balances since the civil war. []
Now with all that, as far as the administration’s response, Trump himself defended the deportations while sidestepping questions about its legality, saying:
“I don’t know. You have to speak to the lawyers about that.”
And adding: “I can tell you this. These were bad people.” []
But then you had White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (Lev-it) claiming the judge lacked the authority, saying:
“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft ... full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from US soil,”
And adding: “The administration did not ‘refuse to comply’ with a court order. The order, which had no lawful basis, was issued after terrorist TdA aliens had already been removed from U.S. territory.”
But with that, in a court filing Sunday, the DOJ did reportedly say it wouldn’t respect the judge’s order []
With two senior Trump officials reportedly telling NBC News they expect the legal battle to ultimately head to the Supreme Court, where they believe the administration will win. []
But on that note, with all that said and out of the way, here’s the thing.
That is not the only deportation that went ahead this weekend despite a judge saying no.
Right, meet Dr. Rasha Alawieh (RAH-sha AH-lah-wee-eh).
She’s a Lebanese citizen, she’s a professor at Brown University’s medical school, and she’s lived in the U.S. legally for several years
On Thursday, she was detained after getting back from visiting her family in Lebanon –
Where she also reportedly received her new H1-B visa from the American consulate –
A visa which allows highly skilled foreign citizens to live and work in the United States.[]
Right, notably, with that, there is a shortage of American doctors working in her area of specialty, which is basically like kidney transplants.
And in fact, her patients reportedly included individuals awaiting transplants and those dealing with the complex conditions that can occur after a transplant.[]
But in any case, her cousin filed a complaint after she was detained.
And on Friday, a judge ordered the government to provide the court with 48 hours’ notice before deporting her.
But despite that, she was put on a flight and sent away, and she’s now reportedly back in Lebanon.
And so in a second order filed Sunday morning, the judge said there was reason to believe U.S. Customs and Border Protection had willfully disobeyed his previous order.
Adding that he had followed “common practice in this district as it has been for years,” and ordering the agency to respond to what he called “serious allegations.” []
And with that, CBP has now responded in a court filing, claiming they found, quote, “sympathetic photos and videos" of Hezbollah leaders on her cell phone.
As well as "various other Hezbollah militants" in the deleted photo folder of her cell phone. []
And alleging:
"With the discovery of these photographs and videos CBP questioned Dr. AH-lah-wee-eh and determined that her true intentions in the United States could not be determined."
As such CBP canceled her visa and deemed Dr. AH-lah-wee-eh inadmissible to the United States." []
But as far as why they defied the court order?
Well, the judge has said that he had received testimony that “Officers at [the airport] weren’t informed of the order until she had already been deported.
And that ‘[a]t no time would CBP not take a court order seriously or fail to abide by a court’s order.’” []
So we’ll have to see where all this goes, but of course, it’s not the first time the Trump administration moved to deport someone who was in the U.S. legally.
It’s been just about one week since the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil (Mawk-Mood Kah-Leel — “Mawk” like “hawk”), a Palestinian activist and legal permanent resident not charged with any crime.
And also, another person's been arrested, and others have had visas revoked, with more to come, according to Marco Rubio.
Go to ZipRecruiter to try ZipRecruiter for free.
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Over 40 people died after roughly 970 storms swept across more than two dozen states this weekend.
Starting last Thursday, we saw a major storm over Southern California.
Couple the heavy rainfall with the major fires earlier this year and it’s not a shock that there were also mudslides from it all.
(Right, the plants help keep the top soil together, so when they burn and die it’s more susceptible to rain).
But possibly the craziest thing was when residents in the Pico Rivera area -- which is a bit east of LA proper -- were awoken by a tornado at like 3:15 am on Thursday.
Compared to some of the monsters other parts of the country get the Pico Rivera tornado was relatively minor,
But tornados in LA are EXTREMELY rare due to the area’s normally consistent weather alongside the mountainous terrain.
Thankfully no one seems to have been hurt by the storm, although multiple homes, vehicles, and trees were all damaged.[] [local news broll]
Speaking of tornados, over 100 were reported across Friday and Saturday in the southern US.
Covering all the damage would take an hour because that’s literally how bad it was.
Like in Poplar Bluff, Missouri over 500 homes were destroyed.
And Alabama had property in 52 of its 67 counties damaged.
Stories like this are repeated across multiple cities in the region, and it will likely be days or even weeks before we know the full extent of the damage.
The wind that helped fuel these tornados also led to fairly large wildfires in the Central US.
Out in Oklahoma, residents of various cities were forced to flee their homes, some of which burned down.
And Texans similarly had to deal with this past weekend and even into last week as strong, dry winds fueled fires.
(Source: I was forced to evacuate my home this weekend).
The wind was actually just a massive problem in general, even when it wasn’t fueling fires or tornadoes.
There’s at least 12 road deaths in the Midwest that have been attributed to dust storms blocking vision and pushing cars. []
And it doesn’t look like the crazy weather is going to get much better.
As storm systems move out of areas, others are expected to roll in right behind them.
In particular there’s a real concern of wildfires in the western part of the Midwest, leading to more than 36 million Americans being under a red-flag warning as of this morning.
So stay safe out there, and let us know if any of this has affected you in the comments down below.
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For your daily dose of good news, I bring you an inspiring tale of hope and endurance from Peru.
With this 61-year-old man by the name of Maximo Napa setting sail on December 7 for what’s supposed to be a two-week fishing trip. [Screenshot, 00:03]
But two weeks go by and there’s no sign of Napa, so his family realizes something went wrong.
With them ringing the alarm to authorities, and then Peru's maritime patrols scouring the Pacific Ocean for weeks, but turning up nothing. [B roll, 00:22]
Now Napa’s mother tells local media that her relatives are still optimistic that he’ll return, she’s begun to lose hope. [Quote, find “lose hope”]
With her telling TV Peru:
“I told the Lord, whether he's alive or dead, just bring him back to me, even if it's just to see him. But my daughters never lost faith. They kept telling me: Mom, he'll come back, he'll come back.” [Quote]
And then on Wednesday, 95 long, dark days after Napa set sail from Peru, his mother’s prayers were answered.
With an Ecuadorian fishing patrol reportedly spotting a small boat adrift some 680 miles off the Peruvian coast. [Image]
And inside they found the 61-year-old man everyone had been looking for, still very much alive but hanging on by a thread. [B roll, 00:27 - 00:32]
With Reuters reporting that he was heavily dehydrated and in critical condition. [Quote, find “heavily”]
And he explained what happened all those months ago.
Saying that 10 days into his trip, stormy weather threw his boat off course, and with no radio beacon, he was stranded. [Quote same link, find “ten days”]
So he started rationing what food he had left from his two-week supply, but inevitably that ran out and he got desperate.
With him saying he drank rainwater he collected on the boat and ate whatever he could scavenge — insects, birds, sea turtles — but eventually that ran out too.
So for the final 15 days of the trip, he says he starved.
Which is just amazing; I mean, two weeks and a day? Y’all if I don’t get my lunch by 1:30 I start getting hangry.
But Napa says he stayed strong thinking about his family, including his then two-month-old granddaughter. [Quote, find “stayed strong”]
Hell, he even knocked out an infected tooth with an ice skate, became best friends with a volleyball named Wilson, and … wait, that’s the wrong story.
Anyway, after he was rescued, Napa was taken to a coastal city for medical treatment, where he had this emotional reunion with his brother. [B roll, 00:03 - 00:07]
[Clip, 00:07 - 00:16]
[Clip, 00:16 - 00:20, 00:04 - 00:16, 00:20 - 00:26, 00:30 - 00:39] Caption: “I ate roaches, birds – the last thing I ate was turtles. … I’m thankful to God for giving me another chance. I was with him. God. I did not want to die. It was 95 days. … I didn’t want to die. My mother, my mother is alive, and I said I didn’t want to die because of my mother. … I thought about my mother every day. I had no water. I lived on rainwater.”
So then over the weekend, he was flown back to Lima, where he had another emotional reunion with his daughter at the airport.
And reportedly she welcomed him home with Peru's national drink: a bottle of pisco [Pronounce]. [Quote, find “Pisco”]
With neighbors and relatives telling local media they decorated the streets of his hometown in celebration. [Quote same link, find “decorated”]
And now his niece says they also plan to celebrate Napa’s birthday, which passed while he was gone. [Quote same link, find “birthday”]
So happy birthday my boy Napa, and to the rest of y’all, just hang in there.
Because I know that for many of us as individuals, as a country, as a species, it kind of feels like we’re lost at sea right now.
Our family isn’t quite sure we’re gonna make it back, and neither are we, but I’ll be damned if we die before eating every last cockroach on this rickety ass boat.
And with that, let’s get to some comment commentary.
Go to Saily and use the code “phil” to get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! ⛵
