WHO IS LYING?! Spotify Wrapped ICE Scandal, TPUSA Challenges Candace Owens, & Today’s News
PDS Published 12/04/2025
-
Turning Point USA has “thrown down the gauntlet!”
At least, according to Candace Owens.
Right, after nearly 3 months of wild allegations about Charlie Kirk’s death - including insinuating tons of people in the group he founded were somehow in on it - Turning Point USA has finally responded to Candace Owens.
With Blake Neff, the producer of the Charlie Kirk Show, jumping on during yesterday’s episode to list some of the accusations that Candace has thrown at them in recent weeks and dispute them.
[“Candace has effectively tarred everyone here with complicity in Charlie’s death by repeatedly saying he was, quote, ‘betrayed’ by, quote, ‘everyone.’ She has said that Charlie’s murder, quote, ‘had to be approved by Charlie’s friends.’ And then suggested that those friends may have her murdered too for, quote, ‘knowing the truth.’” 2:13-2:34]
He went on to say that their silence up to this point has been to respect Charlie’s friendship with Candace as well as adhere to his rule of, quote, “don’t feed the trolls.”
Right, saying that they didn’t engage because they didn’t want to divert energy or attention away from their mission to give air to Candace’s insanity. [B Roll 4:45-5:30]
But, Blake said, after weeks of their inbox being flooded with accusations of cowardice or complicit agreement and demands to respond, they decided to say something.
Specifically, their plan is to host a livestream to go through each point brought against Charlie’s family, friends, and the TPUSA organization and respond.
And they even expressly invited Candace to participate in that livestream in person at the studio in Phoenix.
Which Candace, in her latest episode, readily agreed to.
[“Have you no shame? We’re going to find out. You can pick the place, you can pick a time. We can do it tomorrow. We don’t need to plan this, we don’t need lawyers in between us, lawyer statements between us. That’s not how I roll. Okay? I don’t care about any of that. I want it to be authentic. Like I said, you can take the money. We can raise money live for this conversation - that is how badly the world is demanding it. So I accept it - with whistles, bells, everything. I fully accept. I say, let’s do it tomorrow.” 34:10-34:38]
She also went through Blake’s response to her allegations - “debunking” or poking holes in his answers.
[“Blake: ‘She has suggested Charlie’s security team intentionally denied him first aid after the shooting to ensure that he died.’ Candace: ‘When you say suggested, it means that they are interpreting my words. What I said is another fact. They did not issue him first aid when he fell down. There was nobody who pulled out any gauze to try and stop the bleeding. And they’ve admitted to that in a sit down with Sean Ryan - Brian Harpool said it was because of the severity of the injury. I’m sorry again that we noticed something that stood out as unusual given the expertise and the amount of money he was paying that, supposed to be, an elite team.” 8:34-9:18]
And she even blatantly accusing Blake and TPUSA of lying here - like this moment regarding Charlie’s wife Erika Kirk,
[“Blake: ‘She has accused us of lying about Charlie wanting Erika to take over for him if he died.’ Candace: ‘Never happened. That is not a quotation. That is just them saying that. So, uh, let’s keep rolling.’” 8:20-8:34]
But because Erika is the head of TPUSA now, people still interpret any attack on the organization as an attack on her.
And because so much of this back and forth is rooted in Charlie and his legacy, it is worth noting that Erika herself feels she is the one who can carry out his legacy the best.
With her saying at a New York Times Summit that her grief kind of morphed itself into purpose, adding:
“Charlie was very good about creating and intentionally building a machine where it turns from founder-led to vision-led, and he shared everything with me. I knew his goals, I knew what his vision was for things, so this is not out of my orbit, this is not uncomfortable for me. It’s not, because I’m picking up a mantle that I understand.” []
So it will be interesting to see how her role shapes this whole saga.
But back to Candace, she agreed to make an appearance on TPUSA’s livestream.
Which Blake later announced would be held on December 15th - saying,
“We’ll be live-streaming from Charlie’s Phoenix studio. Our offer from yesterday holds: If Candace wishes to join us in person in Phoenix, she is welcome to do so.” []
Which raised a lot of red flags for Candace fans - with people asking why they are so adamant that she appear in person rather than digitally?
Especially when they could do this much sooner than 10 days from now if they did so.
With some even genuinely concerned for Candace’s safety and well-being if and when she meets them.
And that post from TPUSA was notably made in the middle of the night - which is something Candace noted when responding, saying,
“Kind of weird how you didn’t e-mail or call me to ask about times or availability and chose to instead tweet this confirmation out at midnight. Why am I learning about this on X? ”
Before going on to say that she can’t do in-person on that day and noting that it was, according to her, deliberately scheduled for the same time she does her live podcast.
Even still, she offered to cancel her show that day and make a virtual appearance.
So we’ll definitely have to wait and see how this plays out - whether this confrontation will actually happen and, if it does, what it’s going to look like.
In the meantime, I would love to know your thoughts about this.
The whole Candace bit, TPUSA’s response, the upcoming livestream - all of it.
Let me know what you’re thinking in those comments down below.
-
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth put troops at risk by sharing sensitive military information on Signal.
And you may be saying “no shit Phil.”
But the reason it’s worth talking about again is because that is now the finding of a monthslong inquiry by a Pentagon watchdog.
Which produced a classified report sent to Congress on Tuesday night.
And an unclassified version that is set to be publicly released today – it may already be out by the time you’re watching this. []
And if you need a refresher, this all goes back to March when Hegseth and other top officials were discussing plans for U.S. airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Not in a secure conference room, not using encrypted D.O.D. communication systems — but on the commercial messaging app Signal in group chats including Hegseth’s wife, brother, and personal lawyer as well as editor of The AtlanticJeffrey Goldberg.
With Hegseth sending precise information about aircraft, targets, and timing.
And I mean so specific that you literally had him writing:
“This is DEFINITELY when the first bombs will drop.” []
And so of course at the time you had experts and current and former officials all slamming this as an unacceptable security breach.
WIth Acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins then launching what was described as an "evaluation" – notably, in response to a request from Roger Wicker and Jack Reed –
Respectively the top Republican and top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
But with that, over the past several months, Hegseth reportedly only handed over a few of his Signal messages.
And, as a result, the IG had to rely mostly on screenshots of the chat from The Atlantic. []
Also, Hegseth reportedly refused to sit for an interview with investigators – agreeing only to provide a written response.
And, in that response, he claimed that as defense secretary he had the authority to declassify information – which the IG said is true.
That said, it’s not clear whether he had declassified information in the chat by the time it was shared – which the IG did not determine. []
Though, notably, he found that the plans disclosed by Hegseth were taken from a US Central Command document that was marked classified at the time. []
And the question remains: even if Hegseth has the power to declassify information at will, why would he declassify this?
Right, because the IG also found that if a foreign adversary got hold of the intelligence shared in the chat it would have endangered both U.S. troops and the mission at large.[]
Beyond that, the report details how he failed to preserve those communications – as required under federal law. []
And it unsurprisingly concludes that Hegseth violated Pentagon policies about using personal phones for official business.
Even detailing how Hegseth used Signal from his office in the Pentagon – in an area where personal devices aren’t allowed—by having staff hardwire the app so he could access it without physically having his phone. []
But with all, the Trump administration is trying to play this off as a win.
With a Pentagon spokesperson claiming the report’s findings absolved Hegseth of any wrongdoing – saying:
"The Inspector General review is a TOTAL exoneration of Secretary Hegseth and proves what we knew all along — no classified information was shared. This matter is resolved, and the case is closed."
But of course many won’t be satisfied.
Especially since this is coming as Hegseth is under pressure, even from many Republicans, over the administration's campaign to strike boats allegedly carrying drugs to the U.S. from South America.
Right, those strikes, according to experts?
1) they’re probably illegal
and 2) they’re unlikely to have an effect on illegal drugs entering the country.
And adding to that, if recent reporting from the Washington Post is to be believed, Hegseth kicked all this off with an order to “kill everybody.”
Which allegedly led to a follow-up strike aimed at killing two survivors clinging to the wreckage created by the first strike – a move that military experts say could constitute a war crime.
That is, if the administration's claim to be at war with “narcoterrorists” is to be accepted.
If there’s no conflict, the laws of war don’t apply, and that strike, like all the others, would just be murder.
Of course, as far as the second strike, the White House has defended it as legal, downplayed Hegseth involvement, and claimed it had actually been meant to take out the boat, not the remaining crew.
So we’ll have to see what happens there, and if adding this reminder of Hegseth’s “Signalgate” fuck-up to the mix actually leads to any consequences.
-
The New York Times is suing the Pentagon!
Accusing the agency of violating the constitutional rights of journalists by implementing restrictions on those covering the country’s military.
Right, because a few months ago, you had Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth demanding that reporters sign a 21-page document agreeing to various new rules or else lose their press credentials and access.
With most major news organizations – including even Fox News and Newsmax – condemning the policy as infringing on the freedom of the press, surrendering their badges and walking out of the building rather than sign.
And then quickly being replaced by pro-Trump influencers and outlets happy to kiss the ring – including those run by Laura Loomer, Tim Pool, and the my fucking pillow guy Mike Lindell.
And only now that she has a friendly audience has Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson held what was reportedly her first on-camera press briefing (BROLL: 31:54-32:02) []
Right, that just happened a couple days ago, and among those asking questions was Matt Gaetz – the former Republican Congressman who’s faced all sorts of allegations and is now credentialed to cover the Pentagon for One America News (BROLL: 15:02)
But with all that, back to this lawsuit, you have the Times arguing this policy violates the First and Fifth Amendments.
With one key argument being that, under the new policy, “reporting any information not approved by department officials” could lead to punishment…
“....regardless of whether such news gathering occurs on or off Pentagon grounds, and regardless of whether the information at issue is classified or unclassified.” []
And getting even more specific, the suit points to one provision of the policy that enabled the Pentagon to deem a journalist “a security or safety risk…”
“...based solely on a journalist's or news organization's receipt, publication, or ‘solicitation’ of any ‘unauthorized’ information, regardless of secrecy classification.” []
And with that, it also argues that “lawful, routine newsgathering techniques” like “asking questions of government employees and interviewing them for stories” could be considered "solicitation" under the new policy – basically making their work impossible. []
And, of course, it’s a long document, there’s a lot more to it than that, but you’ve had press organizations coming out in support of the Times.
And the Trump administration? It’s been pretty quiet as of recording.
With a Pentagon spokesperson saying:
“We are aware of the New York Times lawsuit and look forward to addressing these arguments in court.”
And so ultimately, we’ll just have to wait and see how this case plays out.
Kickstart your passion project with a free trial today: Squarespace & enter offer code “Phil” to get 10% off your first purchase!
-
Fuck your Spotify Wrapped!
That is what people who are boycotting the streaming service are saying, as they launched a campaign to get people to ditch the platform in protest of the ICE ads it runs.[]
This movement is called Spotify Unwrapped, and it was launched by progressive grassroots groups like the Working Families Party and the Indivisible Project.
And these ICE recruitment ads have been controversial for a few months now.
Right, these ads describe undocumented immigrants as “predators” and encourage listeners to “join the mission to protect America.”[]
And while tons of streaming services have been playing ads like this, Spotify is getting the bulk of the backlash.
And a boycott movement has been bubbling up for a while.
People on Spotify community forums saying they are leaving the service, calling the ads unacceptable, saying they don’t want to support fascism.
Groups like the Indivisible project saying:
“streaming hate is not neutral. It’s a choice. We refuse to fund it. We refuse to ignore it.”[]
For its part, Spotify has said that:
“This ad is part of a wider campaign from the U.S. government running across multiple platforms, including television, streaming, and online channels. Users can provide feedback on ads — such as liking or disliking them — to help manage their ad experience.”
But that just has not been a satisfactory response for a lot of people, and last month you even the New York City Comptroller writing a letter to Spotify’s CEO expressing:
“concerns about recent developments that may violate Spotify’s advertising policies and impact long-term shareholder value.”
Asking the company to explain how it assessed these ads, including regarding policies:
“prohibiting advertisements that promote stereotypes or negatively portray or attack an individual or group on the basis of race, religion, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, nationality,” and more.
And as for why this big boycott movement is making headlines today, well, they timed a big push to coincide with Spotify Wrapped.
Right, everyone and their mother is talking about Spotify right now, sharing their listening age, their top artists and songs, you can’t look at Instagram without seeing it.
And it is a big kind of PR day for the artists, because the top stars are making tons of headlines.
Right, tons of outlets covering the fact that Bad Bunny dethroned Taylor Swift as the top global artist.
Some artists even delivering messages on Spotify to their top listeners, thanking them for using the streaming service to listen to their music.
Then you also have the podcasts charts, which Joe Rogan topped.[]
And all this hype pays off, right, in its first 24 hours, Spotify Wrapped reportedly engaged 200 million users, which is a nearly 20% increase from last year. []
So between the social media posts, the big artists making headlines, this is a major day for Spotify.
And that is why this Unwrapped movement is trying to use that momentum, sharing alternative graphics that look like Spotify’s that people could post that discuss the ICE ads on the platform.
With Indivisible’s co-founder writing that:
“A fun look back on the year in music hits different when it’s paired with propaganda for Trump’s deportation machine. Remember: don't use Spotify while the platform runs recruitment ads for ICE.”[]
So I would love to know your thoughts on this one, right, if you use Spotify and were unaware of these ads, if you have left the platform as a result of this, anything at all.
-
but then next up today, this is really interesting news.
what might come as a shock to a lot of people.
Rent prices have actually, once again, dropped across the month of November,
leading the average apartment costing $1,367 in the United States.
then on top of that, vacancies actually rose to 7.2%, which is a record high.
and then when you look into it, falling
rent prices have been a trend since mid 2023.
And they were fueled by a building boom across much of the United States.
actually with that,
the rent prices will likely continue to drop and vacancy rates
remain high as more buildings are still in the works.
now let's add the amount of new units being worked
on has slowed down substantially, but it is expected that until the
well of currently being built ones dries up, prices will continue to drop.
so with all that,
I will say on the surface, rent prices dropping at historic rates,
it might seem like a good thing for everyday people, but.
you actually have experts saying that it's a sign
that younger people are really struggling to start new homes.
according to Grant Montgomery, the national director
for costars, multifamily analytics, that 18 to 34 year old group,
I think it's up to 32.5% of those now living with family.
And that's the highest it's been in a while.
saying, I think it reflects high rental costs
that have risen over the years, as well as the tougher job
market for young folks just coming out of college.
and so rent prices falling aren't
just because there's an abundance of supply,
but also because the core group that targets rentals
just aren't even trying because it's still too expensive.
especially when you consider that
in many markets it's still super expensive to buy a home compared to local incomes.
right.
So renting a place and saving for a home, it's just out of the question.
also talking about this stat on a nationwide level,
it doesn't make sense in some ways because so much of the US lives in metro areas.
also like even there, the trend largely holds true.
we're so over in Vegas, tourism's way down, which kills jobs.
And thus people leave the area,
like in Boston, federal funding cuts across
many of its key industries have similarly affected work.
and then there's also the factor of how many multifamily units are being built.
In Austin, Texas, rents have plummeted as the city had a massive building boom.
You're seeing, according to Zillow rentals, rentals
in Austin being $2,300 at the start of 2024.
but then just a year later, they plummeted to about $2,000.
And now they're around 1950.
also over in L.A., rentals have still gone down despite a notable lack of building.
although there is a much more modest 1% month to month.
then also like if you ever lived in LA, you know that
rent going down, it's almost unheard of. right.
And then another sign that things are rough across the U.S
still is that renters are searching for more affordable
markets like Cincinnati, Atlanta, Kansas City and Saint Louis.
the largely it's expected that things will stabilize next year.
Is there still units being built?
also say, you know, rent prices falling would seem like good news for consumers
if it wasn't for the fact that everything else appears to have gone up.
Food prices continue to rise across the states.
And while it doesn't seem like much year on year, it does add up.
Considering this has been a trend for years.
not to mention, at least as I'm recording, who knows what the hell's happening.
Like anything shipped to the US, it's facing like an 18% tariff on average.
also inflation.
It's still at a semi reasonable 3% ish.
But as the effect of the tariffs compound and the inventory of pre tariff
items runs out, there's an expectation that prices will rise across 2026.
you know, with rising prices and inflation though the silver lining here is that
experts are optimistic that at least won't reach the 9%
that we saw during the height of the pandemic.
that's also a pretty crazy bar to compare anything to.
know, this is the situation we're talking about the numbers, the trends.
And so I'm also interested to know, you know, how has this been affecting you?
Like, what's your experience been with, renting right now?
Trying to, to buy a house or buying household goods.
-
Here’s a new one for you: a group of school staffers in New Jersey are being accused of hosting “dress as your favorite pedophile” parties.
That’s what was alleged in a lawsuit filed by Melissa Pomphrey, a former special education teacher in the Pinelands Regional School District.
And specifically, Pomphrey alleges that a school paraprofessional and other staff members participated in more than one of these parties around August 2023.
So Pomphrey said she brought the matter to school officials, telling them about the party, and also raising concerns that the SAME paraprofessional who attended the pedophile parties ALSO had an “inappropriate” relationship with an underage student.
Alleging that the male paraprofessional “would frequently invite this underage student to hang out with him after school.”
But Pomphrey claims that not only did district officials fail to take proper action, they also demoted her from the high school to a middle school special needs classroom.
With the suit alleging that the administrators conducted a “sham” investigation and then “intentionally” reassigned her “in pure retaliation for her complaints of the unlawful, unsafe, and neglectful environment fostered by Defendants.”
And, as a result, the complaint says that Pomphrey began suffering anxiety, depression, severe nausea, and uncontrollable vomiting from the stress.
But she still says that she continued to repeatedly ask administrators to take her complaints about the paraprofessional seriously, but the district ignored her.
With Pomphrey claiming that her health got so bad that her doctor and psychiatrist placed her on a disability leave of absence, which she took unpaid.
Then, in May of 2025, while still on medical leave, Pinelands administrators told Pomphrey that they weren’t renewing her contract for the next school year — a move that she believes was also in retaliation for the fact that she reported the pedophile parties.
So, as a result, she is seeking reinstatement, back pay, legal fees, and court-ordered training for district officials on discrimination and retaliation.
Now, as far as how the district has responded, an attorney for Pinelands Regional has denied the allegations in court documents.
With the Pinelands Regional School District also calling the suit “baseless” in a statement to the media.
-
But then from that, as we're winding things down
today, I want to end with a little self promo.
And one more thing.
as far as the self promo right now,
if you go to Beautiful bastard.com, I've got pretty much everything at 60% off.
but that also means that a lot is sold out so if you want one of our fantastic
graphic hoodies, especially on maroon, we have those as well as some
in Navy and select sizes.
then as far as black, we have some available still in small and medium. yeah.
Get what you want while you can.
-
Because the warehouse almost been emptied out.
know, that aside, we've talked about what appears to be Trump's brazen corruption.
whether it be with what seems too many like bribes.
The pardons, the, what appears to be obvious corrupt business deals.
but it also got me wondering how this kind of corruption impacts
the larger economy and the president, but also the long term future.
you've even seen it
calling things like that the third world ification of America, though.
That's definitely a loaded term.
know, to break that down for me and really so much more.
I had the plain bagel on the In Good Faith podcast this week.
full episode actually went up today. I highly recommend you watch it.
I'm going to I include a full link down below. right.
He's a finance creator and an actual certified financial analyst,
and he really broke it down from a fundamental standpoint.
There was a 17% long term impact on GDP per capita.
So there's a meaningful impact on just output alone.
And that's not the only gauge that matters for an economy.
But it goes to show that even just on that pure
measure of performance, corruption can have a negative impact.
And the reason for that is, well, there's a number of reasons.
Some of it is that, it can lead to inefficient output.
So when it comes to governments having favoritism with the companies,
they select what that means as you move away from merit based decisions
to suddenly, you know, whoever you're in favor with,
and that means you can have some suboptimal outcomes.
You might have a infrastructure project that fails
and all this money wasted because you hired someone that wasn't,
qualified to do so based on corruption and things like that.
So you have a lot of wasted tax dollars that come from that as well.
And part of it, too, is, is the research report that showed that
the impact of the standard deviation change in that index level.
It also showed that the reason you typically see that impact on economic
output is because it feeds into a decrease in foreign direct investment,
which makes sense because suddenly foreigners who have money
to invest in your economy will second guess whether to invest in your system.
If they don't have faith that the rule of law will be upheld,
if they don't believe there's an even playing field, if they believe
their money will be, taken or perhaps beat out by some,
industry incumbent that has a solidified position
with the government. So it discourages
foreign direct investment and it also increases inflation.
And that can be because of the wasteful projects,
the inefficient production, you see, and things of that sort.
So and, you know, finally and you can see this in
some countries is it can lead to just less competition overall.
And you can get this oligarchy of companies and insiders and the like
that end up commanding most business activity.
So it's all those reasons that,
from an economic standpoint, there tends to be this view that corruption is bad.
You know, it's funny to argue that,
but that, my friends, is where this video ends.
But, of course you got more just to click away.
you can check out that full in good Faith podcast right here or in the links
down below.
and or if you missed last night's Philip DeFranco show, definitely catch you up.
There was a lot we talked about there.
hey, whatever you do, let me just say thank you for watching.
I love yo faces. And I'll see you right back here on Monday.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x513:1001x515)/spotify-wrapped-listening-ages-120425-4ce27f2a69184a0ea9e34da7dedf46d9.jpg){kind=link}
