The Joe Rogan Theo Von Situations Expose BIG Problem For Trump, ICE Shooting & Jimmy Kimmel Updates
PDS Published 09/24/2025
-
Jimmy Kimmel is back.
[Clip, 02:34 - 02:39] Caption: “I’m not sure who had a weirder 48 hours, me or the CEO of Tylenol.”
And before we jump into this, I’ve gotta give Joe Rogan some credit. [Continue B roll]
Because before we actually knew Kimmel was coming back, he predicted this. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 21:38 - 21:41, 21:49 - 21:55] Caption: “My suspicion is they suspend him for a short amount of time, … he comes back to a standing ovation, Donald Trump tweets mean shit about it, and then the world moves on.”
And that’s exactly what happened, minus the “moving on” part, with Trump posting on Truth Social yesterday:
“I can’t believe ABC Fake News gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back. The White House was told by ABC that his Show was cancelled! Something happened between then and now because his audience is GONE, and his “talent” was never there. Why would they want someone back who does so poorly, who’s not funny, and who puts the Network in jeopardy by playing 99% positive Democrat GARBAGE. He is yet another arm of the DNC and, to the best of my knowledge, that would be a major Illegal Campaign Contribution. I think we’re going to test ABC out on this. Let’s see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 Million Dollars. This one sounds even more lucrative. A true bunch of losers! Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad Ratings.” [Post]
But while Trump stewed in his own resentment, Kimmel returned to his stage last night to a standing ovation and delivered a historic, nearly 30-minute monologue that’s sure to go down as one of the most memorable in late night television. [B roll with light audio, 00:54]
[Clip, 01:54 - 01:58] Caption: “Anyway, as I was saying before I was interrupted …”
Though if you live in a long list of cities including D.C., New Orleans, Richmond, Columbus, Portland, Seattle, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Nashville and much of upstate New York, you couldn’t watch it live. [Same B roll and list, highlight cities]
And that’s because the broadcasters Sinclair and Nexstar refused to air the episode on nearly 70 ABC affiliate stations they own.
But if you missed it on TV, you could still watch the monologue on YouTube, where, as of this recording, it’s racked up over 11 million views in just as many hours. [Show view count (Phil: update these numbers when you record)]
Which, to put that in context, his political monologues typically get just a couple million views, and even the one that got him cancelled last week only got around four million.
So we’ll see how long that boost lasts; obviously it’s a short-term thing, but it’s possible some people who didn’t tune in before are Kimmel fans now.
Either way, I should add that Rogan predicted this as well.
[Clip, 21:24 - 21:30] Caption: “For Jimmy Kimmel, all this does is help him. It makes his show bigger, much more support.”
Anyway, onto the monologue, Kimmel thanked all the people who expressed support for him during the past week, naming a long list of fellow talk show hosts. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Phil: if you want, these are the names: Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, John Oliver, Conan O’Brian, James Corden, Howard Stern, David Letterman]
But then he added some names that were less expected. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 04:47 - 04:54, 05:01 - 05:09] Caption: “I want to thank the people who don’t support my show and what I believe but support my right to share those beliefs anyway. … Like Ben Shapiro, Clay Travis, Candice Owens, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, even my old pal Ted Cruz.”
With him saying that even though he disagrees with them on most things, and some of what they say makes him wanna vomit, speaking out against this White House takes courage and they deserve credit for that. [Continue B roll]
And he also reserved some very kind words for Erika Kirk, who forgave the man who murdered her husband. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 00:38 - 00:41, 00:46 - 01:03] Caption: “On the cross our savior said, father forgive them, for they not know what they do. That man, that young man. I forgive him.”
With Kimmel breaking up just talking about that moment. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 17:34 - 17:51, 17:57 - 18:02] Caption: “If you believe in the teachings of Jesus as I do, there it was. That’s it, a selfless act of grace, forgiveness from a grieving widow. It touched me deeply. … And if there’s anything we should take from this tragedy and carry forward, I hope it can be that.”
But that wasn’t the only moment he showed such vulnerability, because he finally commented on this original line that apparently got him cancelled last week.
[Clip, 02:04 - 02:14] Caption: “With the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”
With him now clarifying what he meant for the first time.
[Clip, 06:35 - 06:25] Caption: “But I do want to make something clear because it’s important to me as a human, and that is, you understand it was never my intention to make light of the murder of a young man. I don’t think there’s anything funny about it. I posted a message on Instagram the day he was killed sending love to his family and asking for compassion, and I meant it, and I still do. Nor was it my intention to blame any specific group for the actions of what was obviously a deeply disturbed individual. That was really the opposite of the point I was trying to make, but I understand that to some that felt either ill-timed or unclear, or maybe both. And for those who think I did point a finger, I get why you’re upset. If the situation was reversed, there’s a good chance I’d have felt the same way.”
But after addressing the controversy, he made sure to stress that this? None of this is about him. It’s really about freedom of speech.
[Clip, 08:14 - 08:23] Caption: “This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.”
With him saying that he’s heard from comedians and talk show hosts from Russia and the Middle East who said they would get thrown in prison or worse for making fun of those in power. [Continue B roll]
And adding that he took his own freedom to speak his mind for granted, but now the government’s going after not just him and Colbert, but also Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers.
So Kimmel called that “crazy,” “un-American,” and a “direct violation of the First Amendment,” as well as hypocritical. [Lead B roll into clip]
[Clip, 10:28 - 11:11] Caption: [Jimmy Kimmel:] “There was an FCC commissioner back in 2022 who worked under Joe Biden who was spot on. He wrote, ‘President Biden is right. Political satire is one of the oldest and most important forms of free speech. It challenges those in power while using humour to draw more people into the discussion. That’s why people in influential positions have always targeted it for censorship.’ You know who wrote that? FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who later was appointed chairman of the FCC by this former crusader for free speech.” [Donald Trump:] “If we don’t have free speech, then we just don’t have a free country. It’s as simple as that.”
And then, while making it clear that he strongly disagreed with the decision to pull him off the air, Kimmel commended Disney for putting him back on, and said it put itself at risk of retaliation by doing so.
And since last night, we’ve seen a variety of reactions to Kimmel’s comeback.
With some, like Ben Stiller, calling it “brilliant,” and others saying that pulling off this monologue was a feat in itself.
Right, he had to apologize for his mistakes, defend the principle of free speech, extend an olive branch to some of his political enemies, criticize the White House and speak about his boss Disney, all while being sometimes funny, sometimes heartfelt, and sometimes righteous.
And if you ask many who watched it, they say he performed that balancing act flawlessly, but there are also some others with a much different opinion.
With Andrew Kolvet, Kirk’s executive producer and a Turning Point USA spokesperson, writing:
“Not good enough. Jimmy, it’s simple. Here’s what you need to say: ‘I’m sorry for saying the shooter was MAGA. He was not. He was of the left. I apologize to the Kirk family for lying. Please accept my sincere apology. I will do better. I was wrong.’” [Post]
As well as conservative commentator Dana Loesch [Low-sh] adding:
“No apology. He wasn’t making a joke. He outright lied about the killer because he hated the politics of the victim. Jimmy Kimmel can pound sand.” [Post]
And then you had Piers Morgan, among others, honing in on the moments Kimmel broke up, writing:
“Hard to feel sympathy for Jimmy Kimmel and his crocodile tears given how gleefully he has always gorged on the career entrails of conservative stars who lost their jobs like Tucker, Roseanne etc.” [Post]
So there’s no shortage of opinions here, but where I want to end is with Joe Rogan.
Because while he hasn’t reacted to the latest monologue yet, he did make his feelings about Kimmel’s cancellation very clear in his most recent podcast episode.
And one word sums it up: crazy.
[Clip, 01:23 - 01:32, 01:40 - 01:50; Clip, 22:02 - 22:10] Caption: “First of all, I definitely don’t think that the government should be involved ever in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue. That’s fucking crazy. … And if people on the right are like, ‘yeah, go get ‘em!’ Oh my God. You’re crazy. You’re crazy for supporting this. … How do you have time, while you’re running the world, to be tweeting that you don’t like talk show hosts? That is so crazy.”
So it’s gonna be very interesting to see whether Rogan, not to mention Ben Shapiro, Ted Cruz and these other big names on the right keep up their criticism of the White House as things unfold.
Because remember, Trump promised to retaliate against Disney and ABC for this, and he doesn’t seem willing to give up the fight that easy.
But with now this and the Epstein scandal, he may have an ever-worsening Joe Rogan problem on his hands.
-
DHS is in a LOT of hot water right now with Pokémon and Theo Von.
God, what a cursed sentence that also somehow describes 2025 perfectly…
Right, so this whole ongoing saga kicked off earlier this week when DHS posted a now-viral video on their socials that shows multiple dramatic ICE raids and arrests set to the original Pokémon theme song, intercut with clips from the show.
You know, “I wanna be the very best, like one ever was. To catch them is my real test… to train them is my cause!” [Phil, bonus points if you sing it!!]
And, to really hammer the point home, the video ends by flashing several mock versions of Pokémon trading cards — but instead of Pikachu or Charizard, they feature mug shots of some of the migrants that ICE has arrested.
With DHS also making sure to share those cards in separate posts so everyone could see the details in full.
Which included descriptions of their alleged crimes, information on their arrests, and even listed their “weakness” as the ICE.
And that isn’t where the Pokémon references ended.
You also had Customs and Border Protection replying to the post on X by sharing a gif of Detective Pikachu dancing and writing: “Border Patrol’s newest recruit.”
Right, and so while we saw plenty of conservatives applauding the posts, unsurprisingly, it got a TON of backlash.
With many people questioning whether Nintendo and The Pokémon Company gave DHS permission to use its IP.
Others also noting that both those companies are famously litigious, while many called on them to take legal action against the Trump administration.
But you did have some people arguing that the video falls under fair use laws because it’s satire and has been modified from its original form.
Though, of course, others pushed back against that as well.
But all the backlash only got bigger yesterday when a former Chief Legal Officer for The Pokémon Company told IGN he didn’t think the company would go after DHS for a few reasons, saying:
“First, think of how little you see [The Pokémon Company International]'s name in the press. They are INSANELY publicity-shy and prefer to let the brand be the brand.”
And adding: “Second, many of their execs in the USA are on green cards. Even if I was still at the company I wouldn't touch this, and I'm the most trigger-happy [Chief Legal Officer] I've ever met. This will blow over in a couple of days and they'll be happy to let it.”
With that article also getting community-noted on X to clarify that it was the FORMER Chief Legal Officer who made those remarks after many people appeared to think that it was an official response from the company.
But then, just this morning, we finally saw The Pokémon Company responding to the DHS campaign, with a spokesperson telling the Daily Beast that they were aware of the video DHS posted and adding:
“Our company was not involved in the creation or distribution of this content, and permission was not granted for the use of our intellectual property.”
But, VERY notably here, the company declined to comment when the outlet asked if it intended to take legal action against the Trump administration.
So we’ll have to keep an eye on that situation, but that wasn’t the only reason DHS got backlash for using someone else’s content without permission.
We also saw Theo Von — who was widely credited with helping him turn out young voters — slamming DHS after it posted this video on X:
VON: “Heard you got deported dude. Bye!”
TRUMP: “They simply stopped coming. They’re not coming anymore. We’re getting a lot of credit but they’re not coming anymore.” 00:01 - 00:31
Right, and that original clip of Von, it was recorded back in January when a fan allegedly asked him to send a message to her boyfriend, who couldn’t come to his show because he had been deported.
With that video being widely received as a joke.
Right, and so you had Von going after the administration for using that clip of him, writing:
“Yooo DHS i didnt approve to be used in this. I know you know my address so send a check. And please take this down and please keep me out of your ‘banger’ deportation videos. When it comes to immigration my thoughts and heart are alot more nuanced than this video allows. Bye!”
With Von also responding to another comment applauding him for speaking up, saying:
“it’s crazy to me that they would think this is OK. What if someone attacks me tomorrow because they think I’m some final boss of deportatins or somethin”
Now, notably here, Von didn’t specifically say what his views on immigration are and how they differ from the Trump administration’s actions.
But you did have some pointing to comments he made on the topic during an episode of his podcast back in June:
“Obviously, there’s a lot of deportations going on— it’s sick when you see children crying and people being taken from their parents, it’s heartbreaking. You know, it's — anybody thinks that that’s heartbreaking. Now, there’s also, in the country, you have rules, you have laws, you have like, these are the rules, right? Some people are here, they’re illegal. They're illegal by the letter of the law, technically, they're undocumented.” 3:11 - 3:42
With him going on to blame the Biden administration for letting a huge influx of illegal immigrants into the country, and adding:
“So, you know, when Trump is a — he's heavy-handed, that's who he is, right? We've also had a broken system for a long time. So when the hammer starts to come down, or the guillotine, as this is, it's not going to be comfortable.” 4:19 - 4:38
But he also went on to say that he believes “undeniably” that there should be amnesty or a pathway to citizenship for people who are “productive citizens.”
But, in regard to the DHS video, we also saw a similar debate playing out about whether or not it was fair use.
With some people arguing that wasn’t a huge leap for the Trump administration to think Von would be okay with them using him to promote their message, writing things like:
“But you did, in fact, say what's in that video. And you DID, in fact, endorse Trump basically. And you DID, in fact, attend his inauguration, even though his entire Campaign was ‘deport everyone.’ So, spare us.”[]
But you did have others pushing back on that, saying it was a joke and that people should be allowed to change their minds when it comes to supporting Trump and his policies.[][][]
Which is something Von has actually done on several fronts recently.
With others also arguing that, regardless of his views, it’s just morally wrong to make Von the face of this campaign without his permission.
But literally as I was recording this show, DHS deleted the video from X.
But, on that note, I’d really love to know what you make of all this — both the Pokémon debacle and the situation with Theo Von.
Visit: Mint Mobile to get 12 months of Unlimited wireless for just $15 a month.
-
ICE is under attack, literally.
That’s what it looks like after the Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office was shot up this morning.
Considering this all just happened information is still a little sparse but here’s what we do know:
Three people at the facility were hit.
A tweet by local police confirmed that AT LEAST one victim had died on the scene and two others were taken to the hospital.
And for a while it was unclear if another died on the way or while there, because some outlets say that one victim died and two were wounded, while others say it’s a 2-1 split and cite a DHS spokesperson.
(Normally that would be the end of that confusion, but considering this administration’s history releasing info too early, outlets are taking their time updating information).
However everyone agrees that the killer also made sure they weren’t captured and is no longer with us, if you catch my drift.
Authorities are also saying that it looks like it was a sniper-style attack, meaning that the shooter was a few hundred yards away from the facility.
And as of recording no information about the shooter’s identity has been released.
And from here things aren’t any more clear.
Considering it was an attack on an ICE facility you’d assume that obviously the shooting was anti-ICE in nature and that the victims were members of ICE.
However the initial reports from outlets are saying that all the victims were detainees…
The FBI itself kind of answered the confusion by saying:
“While I’m not releasing the identity of any victims at this time, what I can confirm to you is that no members of law enforcement were hurt in this attack.” @1:22:15
At that same conference the official also said:
“What I can also share with you is that early evidence that we’ve seen from rounds at the scene near the suspected shooter are anti-ICE in nature.” @1:21:46
FBI Director Kash Patel backed this up with a photo allegedly from the scene showing a stripper clip of large-caliber bullets with one that says “ANTI-ICE.”
(I know it’s a large caliber but I’m unsure if it’s .308 or 30/06 without a better reference point).
He also wrote:
“These despicable, politically motivated attacks against law enforcement are not a one-off… It has to end and the FBI and our partners will lead these investigative efforts to see to it that those who target our law enforcement are pursued and brought to the fullest extent of justice.”
(Considering Patel’s history of jumping the gun, a lot of people doubted this photo was legit. But it at least lines up with what local agents are saying).
At the news conference Senator Ted Cruz pleaded for political violence to stop:
"This needs to stop. Violence is wrong, politically motivated violence is wrong."
Vice President JD Vance similarly called for an end to violence towards law enforcement, writing:
“The obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop. I'm praying for everyone hurt in this attack and for their families.” []
Vance’s post was actually shortly after the attack -- which some found to be an issue because at that time it was really unclear who was being targeted.
Right, an ICE facility was shot but detainees were the victims?
Leading to questions about how Vance could push a narrative when evidence at the time didn’t seem conclusive in any direction.
However Vance has come out swinging against the people who criticized him, such as by replying to one with:
“The gunman had anti-ICE messaging carved on the bullets he used. What, precisely, did I get wrong, dipshit?” []
And it’s entirely plausible that since the shots were from a few hundred yards away -- with victims describing many shots being fired -- accuracy wasn’t the biggest concern and detainees weren’t the intended targets.
Either way, what’s really concerning is that this attack isn’t an isolated incident in Texas.
It’s the third time this year an Immigration facility has been targeted. Two others were hit in July.
Couple that with things like the assassinations of Melissa Hortman and Charlie Kirk and it’s clear more and more Americans are okay with political violence.
And that’s a scary thought that we might be living through a time that will be in history books for all the bad reasons.
-
With all that is going on in the world, MAGA has found a new enemy: an escalator at the United Nations building in New York.
Right, you may have seen the video, when Trump was arriving to the U.N. yesterday, as he and the First Lady went to step on an escalator going up, it froze and stopped working.
But, thankfully, what is a broken escalator if not a staircase, so they just walked up.
But even though there was an easy solution, it still outraged people like Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who wrote:[]
“If someone at the UN intentionally stopped the escalator as the President and First Lady were stepping on, they need to be fired and investigated immediately.”
With her then sharing a screenshot from a U.K. newspaper claiming that U.N. staff members had previously joked about turning the escalator off on him and saying they ran out of money.][
Though, right now, reports say there is not any evidence supporting that they actually did this.[]
Still, Leavitt had more shit to talk about this escalator, as well as a teleprompter glitch Trump dealt with during his speech, so she went on Fox News to say:
“First it was the escalator, then it was the teleprompter, and then Katie Pavolitch from Town Hall who we invited to the press pool to cover the president’s historic speech today noticed that the audio inside of the room was much lower for the President than it was for previous speakers. So when you put all of this together, it doesn’t look like a coincidence to me. And I know that we have people, including the United States secret service, who are looking into this to try to get to the bottom of it, and if we find that these were U.N. staffers who were purposefully trying to trip up, literally trip up the President and First Lady of the United States, well there better be accountability for those people.” (0:33-1:13)
And she was not alone, in the Fox News crowd, other hosts agreed with this narrative, with Jesse Watters saying on The Five:
“They sabotaged him. And they could have hurt the First Lady. Trump would have fallen and gotten back up.” (11:56-12:03)
“I mean, this is an insurrection, and what we need to do is either leave the U.N., or we need to bomb it. It is in New York though, right? Could be some fallout? Maybe gas it? But we need to destroy it? Can we demolish the building?” (12:10-12:31)
“No, this is absolutely unacceptable and I hope they get to the bottom of it.” (12:45-12:49)
And even though he was seemingly kidding about bombing the U.N. building, those comments did spark backlash online from those who argued they were worthy of a resignation, that on any other network, hosts would get punished for saying something like that.[][][]
For Trump’s part, he seemed annoyed by the ordeal, but not as outraged as people like Leavitt and Watters.
Right, he made kind of passive aggressive remarks about these U.N. mishaps during his speech, saying:
“I can only say that whoever is operating this teleprompter is in big trouble.” (0;45-0:50)
“All I got from the United Nations that on the way up stopped right in the middle.” (9:15-9:20)
“And then a teleprompter that didn’t work.” (9:32-9:35)
But then on Truth social, he wrote that “those events probably made the speech more interesting.”[]
And as for what actually happened, why did the escalator stop?
Well, the U.N. looked into it, and in a Knives Out plot twist, found that the culprit might have been close to Trump’s circle and acted in plain sight.
With a statement pointing to… a videographer who was filming the U.S. delegation, because he got on the escalator right before Trump and Melania, explaining:[]
“A subsequent investigation, including a readout of the machine's central processing unit, indicated that the escalator had stopped after a built-in safety mechanism on the comb step was triggered at the top of the escalator. The safety mechanism is designed to prevent people or objects accidentally being caught and stuck in or pulled into the gearing. The videographer may have inadvertently triggered the safety function.”
And if you do look at the video of the ordeal, you can see a videographer filming them, you can’t see his feet or what he is stepping on but he was walking backwards rather quickly.
Then, as for the teleprompter error, well, the U.N. told CBS News that the White House was actually operating the prompter, so just add that to the list of things they have messed up in the last nine months. []
And that is where we are on that, though we apparently have a Secret Service investigation to look forward to on this front at some point, and we will wait with baited breath.
Head to Equip Foods use code PHIL to get 20% off your first order, or 35% off your first subscription!
-
Forget about a peace deal, Donald Trump is now saying Ukraine can win the war, take back the territory it’s lost, and maybe even a little bit extra.
With him writing on social media yesterday:
“After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine/Russia Military and Economic situation and, after seeing the Economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form.”
“Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years a War that should have taken a Real Military Power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia.”
“Ukraine would be able to take back their Country in its original form and, who knows, maybe even go further than that! Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act.”
And, of course, this is a complete one-eighty from just a few weeks ago, when you had Trump rolling out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska (0:27-0:33)
With Trump coming out of that meeting and saying Ukraine would have to face reality and make a deal that involved giving up some of its territory.
And so now it’s not clear why Trump has had this change of heart, how long it will last, or what it really means.
Right, there are signs the Russian economy is really starting to feel it, but the situation on the ground remains fundamentally unchanged.
With one senior NATO military officer reportedly noting that Ukraine wasn’t even able to gain ground when American aid to the country was at a peak.
And it’s not like Trump is offering to bring back American military aid – although, notably, he seemed to reaffirm his commitment to a relatively new arrangement that involves NATO members buying U.S.-made weapons on behalf of Ukraine.
With Trump simply saying:
“We will continue to supply weapons to NATO for NATO to do what they want with them.”
And so with all that, what you have many pointing out is what wasn’t in Trump’s post.
And that’s any mention of a diplomatic effort to try to end the war – leaving the world wondering if he’s deciding to stop away.
And notably, with all of this, it seems more than possible that Trump blindsided even his own administration with this post.
With it just being a short time after that Secretary of State and Acting National Security Advisor Marco Rubio seemed to contradict Trump– saying the war in Ukraine “cannot end militarily” and “will end at the negotiating table.”
And that’s as Rubio also seemed to be at odds with Trump on the issue of Russian incursions into NATO airspace.
Right, that’s been an ongoing issue, but it’s really heated up in the past few weeks.
Earlier this mon th, for example, NATO forces shot down Russian drones that crossed into Poland – an incident Trump suggested at the time may have been a mistake.
And then last week, Russian fighter jets flew over Estonian airspace for 12 minutes.
While on Monday, airports in Norway and Denmark were forced to close for several hours due to drone sightings – with the Danish PM saying Russian involvement couldn’t be ruled out.
And with all that, you had NATO issuing a statement yesterday saying it would use “all options” to defend itself.
With the Secretary General saying the specific decision as to whether to shoot down Russian aircraft would depend on “available intelligence on the threat posed by the aircraft, including intent, armament, potential risk to civilians and infrastructure.”
And along with that, you had an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday focusing on the issue, with the Polish foreign minister putting it even more bluntly, saying:
“If another missile or aircraft enters our space without permission, deliberately or by mistake, and gets shot down and the wreckage falls on NATO territory, please don't come here to whine about it.”
"You have been warned."
But notably, Rubio? He argued that NATO allies shouldn’t shoot down Russian planes “unless they’re attacking” — only to have Trump say soon after they should.
Though, I will say, when pressed by reporters on the extent to which he’d back up his allies on this, you just had him saying it would depend “on the circumstances.”
But with that, you also had Trump meeting with Zelensky yesterday – a meeting the Ukrainian president described as “constructive.”
With him also responding to Trump's post that came afterword, saying:
“This post of Trump is a big shift, it’s a big shift, very positive.” (0:43-0:50).
But again, words are words, actions are actions, and we still have to see if this amounts to anything – particularly in the form of increased economic pressure on Russia.
Right, last week, Trump published a letter accusing NATO member states of weakening its negotiating position by continuing to purchase Russian oil and gas.
WIth him saying the US would impose "major sanctions" on Russia but only after NATO countries had stopped these purchases.
Though, notably, that’s something that could be a challenge with countries like Hungary and Slovakia refusing to find alternative suppliers.
But nonetheless, it’s a point he brought up again in his speech at the UN yesterday – a speech where you also had him admitting he thought ending the war would be easier because of his relationship with Putin.
Along with that, he claimed the US is “fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs” which he believes would “stop the bloodshed…very quickly” – but only if European nations adopt the exact same measures (BROLL: 21:00-21:10)
And so we’ll have to see where that leads but so far, we know that the the European Commission is working on a new tariff proposal in response to the pressure from Trump.
And it also proposed a 19th package of sanctions against Russia just a few days ago.
But in the meantime, the war is raging on, and we’re only learning more about some of the human rights violations that have taken place away from the battlefield.
And specifically, just yesterday, you had the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine presenting findings that Russia has systematically tortured Ukrainian civilians in over 100 detention centres in every region of occupied territory as well as dozens of regions inside the Russian Federation.
With the report detailing abuses including mock executions, severe beatings and electric shocks, threats of death and violence to them or their loved ones, sexual violence, and the use of prolonged stress positions.
And the head of the mission saying her office has so far confirmed 36 deaths from torture as well poor conditions or lack of access to medical care.
But yeah, that’s where we’re at right now, that is the situation, and time will tell if and what might come of all this.
-
and yesterday you all comments really focused on the,
Comment Commentary
the Tylenol Trump situation as well as lesser. So with Kimmel the with that I do want to start with Kimmel because there were a number of people that were kind of like torn
between giving Disney credit and also saying, I don't know about them. I am personally on the I don't trust them at this moment.
I'm waiting to see what they they do next, though I am mainly thinking if they don't do more.
I'm of the mindset of Bob Iger. and again I'm waiting to see how things continue to play out. Because I'm like, okay. Yeah Kimmel's back on the air.
But I feel like Iger exposed himself is not being built for this moment. If he doesn't do more from here I mean this country, it's become so filled
with greedy fucks, cowardly fucks and power hungry fucks is the pinnacle of power or attention and influence
that I feel like the rest of us were just left hoping, hey, maybe we can make enough of a stink that they'll actually stand up
to an aggressive, power hungry narcissist who wants to be, but also clutches his pearls when you call him an authoritarian.
When he does authoritarian things. and I mean, you've got guys like Steve Smith out here, given what I think he thinks are motivational speeches
about shut the fuck up to survive a Trump presidency, all while it really feels like the only reason Disney put Kimmel
back on the air is because enough he has said, go fuck yourself, Bob, and start canceling Disney Plus and Hulu subscriptions.
Right? As they were announcing a price increase. then also top of mind is, yeah, I want people with audiences to speak up more, and I was happy to see what I saw,
but especially if they were one of these like self-proclaimed free speech warriors. Oh, you can't just say anything anymore, motherfuckers.
but also at this time, I think it's more important than ever that if you're a small voice, a new voice, or you don't even have one yet
to speak up You're actually freer, or at least can think of in a way that is freer than a lot of the people that I'm talking about,
the people that are big in entertainment, whether it be social media space or mainstream or the people that are at the top of these companies.
because we've got a world filled with haves that are scared to be coming the next have not. And they're often more than willing to bend the knee
and sell out your freedoms to pay for their yacht. they're not going to have a spine. And even if some of them do, the real power has to come from the
groundswell of everyday people that shoots up, that's my little mini rant there. And as far as the other comments, like I said, a lot of them
and it was the majority were around Trump and Tylenol. Right. Some saying. Phil skipped over the whole purpose of the Trump autism grift, saying that the government told people to stop using Tylenol
and instead buy a product sold by Doctor Oz. they're I say Oz is reportedly sold at shares and resigned from his positions in the company selling that product.
but also, that company said it sold out its in-house brand of the product yesterday. So who knows? and either way, while it feels like
everything has at least a sheen of grift if not being a complete grift. I do want to look more into the treatments that are being talked about,
because I have seen a number of doctors that I do respect saying there is something there, but more studies need to be done.
The again, that's a comment on the look of Warren aspect of this and not the Tylenol situation. I think that also brings us
to one of the core issues that a lot of people have, and that is what about the data? if you're cherry picking studies and the results or even just parts
of the study and ignoring other things, even other concerns. that's not science. then also in those comments, some of y'all were joking, saying
joking, an entire bottle of Tylenol to level up my autism stat. the lyric so also added in a follow up reply.
all seriousness, this shit fucking sucks. This is basically the MMR vaccine scare, but with Tylenol. also add some saying, as a man with autism, this is completely bonkers
saying my mother was allergic to Tylenol, so it was impossible for her to take it. The inmates are running the asylum. right. And all of this, as many in the comments were just kind of blown away at,
well, I'll just read the comment. The best part was Trump trying to pronounce a said a benefit. a sedative. Well, let's see how we say that.
As I said, many often Itachi adding If Biden tripped over a word, it would be front page news.
Trump and RFK simultaneously sound like they're having a stroke, and no one seems to care. and really, with all this, I'm just kind of left wondering, what are the
the long and short term impacts we're going to see with this, would that be? You know, what does a pregnant woman do moving forward, when she has a fever
while she's pregnant, which, you know, like we talked about yesterday, that can be very concerning for the child. Right. Now that you have RFK junior and the president coming out
and saying this, then, of course, also all the other things that are that are being destroyed or, or touched on.
What does that look like in five, ten, 20 years? that, my friends, it brings us to the end of this video that you have even more.
Just a click away. Become a brand new podcast with Ed Ellison from Prophecy Markets. it was a really, really interesting conversation around, just the U.S.
economy, the world economy, and also just Gen Z. then also have the newest Philip DeFranco show they haven't seen yet. Right here.
and I even got links in the description for both of those on Spotify, Apple Podcast and YouTube or really wherever else
you want to get filled main thing. Thank you for watching. I love your faces and we'll see you right back here tomorrow.
Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “DEFRANCO” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! Seatgeek
