Exposing The Dark Side of Kids TV, The Truth About Kate Middleton & King Charles & Todays Sheep News

- 'Sup, you beautiful bastards. You're watching "The Philip DeFranco Show," and we got a lot of news to talk about today. So just hit that like button to let YouTube know you love these big daily dives into the news, and let's jump into it. Starting with, we should talk about everything getting exposed, and the backlash, and the controversy surrounding Nickelodeon in the '90s and 2000s. Because among the numerous things happening with the situation, you have the cast of "Ned's Declassified Schoo

l Survival Guide" facing backlash for mocking the serious allegations laid out in the new "Quiet on Set" documentary. Which, if you're unfamiliar, this new documentary explores the utterly horrifying reality of what was happening behind the scenes at Nickelodeon. I mean, some of it is literally so disturbing, I can't talk about it in this video. It'll get the video removed or just suppressed, and no one sees it. You know, some of this has been known for quite some time. Jeanette McCurdy's memoir

, for example, bringing it to the forefront of discussion. Which, if you haven't read it, I recommend it. It's very interesting for a number of reasons. But this new documentary showed that it was potentially even worse than anyone knew. And unsurprisingly, a lot of the allegations come back to producer and writer Dan Schneider, who was pretty much like the king of Nickelodeon in the '90s and 2000s. You had two female writers alleging sexism, saying that when they were hired, they were forced to

share a single salary. With them also having to deal with degrading pranks and treatment, including one incident where Schneider asked one of the women to lean over the table and pretend to be sodomized. People also pointing out to instances where he put some of the child actors in sexualized situations. You know, like those clips where Ariana Grande squeezed a potato and poured water over herself while lying upside down on the side of a bed. Also, another All That actor named Leon said he had

to wear a costume for a fake superhero called Nose Boy, wearing a very phallic-looking nose that would shoot snot onto a female co-star. Another cast member also saying that they dealt with racist remarks and was cast in sketches to play on racist stereotypes. And overall, there was this environment where no one felt comfortable speaking out about any of these issues. You also had another child actor from "All That" saying she was body shame, explaining, "One day, the producers called my house "

and spoke to my parents and said, "Hey, Katrina's getting too fat. "We already have a fat one. "She can't be the fat one." And saying she felt like she was later replaced by Amanda Bynes. And saying Dan Schneider was very much in charge of her career and rise, as well as her personal life. At one point, allegedly helping her in an attempt to emancipate herself from her parents. But then in addition to all that come the incredibly disturbing allegations about child abuse. Which again, in this vid

eo, we cannot lay out every detail. We have things like one production assistant named Jason Handy accused of sending a child actor an explicit photo. Police later searching his home in 2003 to find tons of CP, as well as a journal where he identified himself as a pedophile. Drake Bell also revealed that he was sexually assaulted by dialogue coach Brian Peck, who later pleaded no contest to charges pertaining to the assault and was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Also other concerning and weir

d details came out about Brian Peck, including the fact that he was pen pals with a notorious pedophile and serial killer, John Wayne Gacy. And the details of both these cases are just horrifying. All these allegations are very disturbing. And so we've seen people reacting to this online just devastated by how horrible it all is. But then also we saw members of the cast of the old Nickelodeon show, "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide" going live and seemingly making jokes about it. - [Spea

ker] I told you. - Daniel, we told you never to speak about that. Get back in your hole, Daniel. And give me your holes. Sorry, we shouldn't joke about this. We really shouldn't. - Yeah, this is awful. - Why are we doing this? - 'Cause this is about us. Listen, our set was not like that. And no, it's awful. The Drake Bell (censored) is a, like, that's crazy to hear. That is (censored), man. Guys, we can't joke like this, Jesus. Guys, sometimes humor helps us move through things, you know? - Yeah

, 100%. - And a lot of people were just horrified about how they were responding. The likes of Alexa Nicholas, who was an actor on "Zoey 101" and a source in the doc saying, "Really sad and disturbing to see some other Nick stars "joking around and cracking jokes "around child sexual abuse on TikTok." With also Drake Bell responding, saying, "Neds Declassless, this is wild. "Laugh it up, guys, laugh it up. "Give me your holes, really?" And that's not where the fallout ended, because the Hollywoo

d Reporter just published a sit-down interview with Dan Schneider about the documentary, where he was interviewed by Boogie, who had a role on "iCarly," and he notably did appear on "Dan's Sign." Well, he wanted to help clear his name, so it was very much all in Dan's court. But he did address some claims, and regarding anyone who had a negative experience on his set, he said, - I would snap at people sometimes. I would be snarky when I could've given them a nicer answer. I would not give people

the time that they needed. I would be in too big a hurry to get on to the next thing I had to do. And watching that show, it made me, there were so many times I wanted to pick up a phone and call some of those people and say, "I'm so sorry, and let's talk about it, "and I wish you'd had a better time, "and I wish I could've shown you a better experience." - He also discussed Drake Bell revealing that he was a sexual assault victim, and to that, Dan said, - And he told me what had happened. I wa

s more devastated by that than anything that ever happened to me in my career thus far. And I told him, "I'm here for you. "What do you need?" - But there was also some denials and distancing himself from a variety of issues. Saying there were adults and parents present on set that could've spoken up if they found jokes to be inappropriate. Him saying he didn't have as much control. But with all this, we're still seeing everything play out online. And so in the meantime, I gotta ask you, what ar

e your thoughts on the allegations in this documentary, the reaction, the backlash, any and all things? And then, this is the dumbest, craziest news I've seen in a bit. And it starts with the question of how much would I have to pay you to chop off your own legs? And I ask because for this young guy in Taiwan that we're talking about today, it was $1.3 million, right? And he goes by the name Zhang, and in high school, he befriended possibly the worst person imaginable. His name's Liao. Though th

is story happens after graduation when they're both 23 years old. But apparently, they reconnect, and Liao has some bad news. Saying that gangsters are coming for him, and Zhang believes him. But with this, Liao's like, "Don't worry though, I got a plan." And so the first thing they do is they buy several expensive policies for life insurance, travel insurance, and accident insurance. And then, just days later, 'cause you know, that is not suspicious at all, they ride around on a motorbike at ni

ght, allegedly to lend some credibility to the alibi that Zhang got frostbite from the cold air. This notably, even though the temperature that night never dipped below 42 degrees Fahrenheit. But eventually, you know, they get home, and that is when the insane part of this story fully begins. Because Liao allegedly restrained Zhang to a chair using cable ties, with him then submerging his friend's feet into a plastic bucket filled with dry ice. And there he sits from 2 a.m. until afternoon, endu

ring this pain for over 10 hours. So by the end of it, he removes his legs, or I guess what used to be his legs, out of this bucket, and they're necrotic, they're swollen, they're a frostbitten nightmare. But of course, that is exactly what they were hoping for. With him then rushing over to the emergency room, as if they just simply lost track of time, riding on their motorbike. And this is gonna shock you. Immediately, the doctors are like, "None of this makes sense. "You are the most suspicio

us bastards on the planet." First of all, we're in Taiwan, a subtropical country. You do not get frostbite here. Second, his legs show no shoe or sock marks. And third, his injuries appear oddly symmetrical. Almost as if he, I don't know, this is crazy, left his feet in a bucket full of dry ice. And so they report the case to the authorities. But also, they still have to amputate his legs below the knees, because he genuinely needed it. Except that big insurance payout that he and his friends we

re hoping for, it never pops up. Because unfortunately for these geniuses, when the police searched their place, they found the plastic bucket, insurance documents, a white polystyrene box for dry ice, eight mobile phones, and a tablet computer. Also, remember those gangsters going after Liao? Allegedly, that's not even true. He just lost money trading crypto. But apparently, it was an effective lie. Because he was able to convince Zhang into signing a legal note, obligating him to pay out $800,

000 after he got the insurance payout. Though of course, they didn't get that money, 'cause fraud. And as is often the case, the main point of this story is don't be stupid, stupid. And then, King Charles is dead. Except he's actually not, he is alive. But for a second, you maybe believe me, because a lot of people have been convinced that might be the case. Especially because over the last month or so, the royal family has lost absolute control over narratives and rumors surrounding them. There

's mass speculation about Kate Middleton's whereabouts and health, and that has just kind of extended onto Charles, people being convinced that some kind of news or update is incoming. Because Charles was recently diagnosed with cancer, people assume that the update was that he was dead or dying. But it turns out, at least for now, he's kicking it. With outlets like Forbes noting that any claim that BBC is holding onto some major announcement about the family is unconfirmed. Notably, the fire wa

s still fueled after there was a fake Russian report claiming Charles was dead. That rumor getting shared on major Telegram channels, including one used by a respected Russian newspaper. The rumor also made its way to a pro Kremlin channel where there was a document made in a similar style to the one announcing Queen Elizabeth's death. This one simply saying, "The King passed away unexpectedly yesterday afternoon." And that claim just made the rounds until the channel sharing it edited their pos

t to know that the claim was not confirmed by official sources. At that point, the news had already gone viral. So you had to have the UK's embassy in Ukraine later releasing a statement debunking it and saying, "The news about the death of King Charles III is fake." Buckingham Palace also shutting it down by giving the press a statement saying that Charles is continuing with official and private business. I'm just gonna assume they mean not from beyond the grave. But then also for further confi

rmation, they shared a photo of him meeting Korean War veterans at Buckingham Palace this morning. But even just the fact that any of these hoaxes claiming that he was dead got so big in the first place just shows how much control the Royals have lost. That the family has completely lost control over their PR and that they have fumbled at every turn to get here. Because you got people still waiting to learn what the hell's going on with Kate Middleton. She's been MIA family saying she's had surg

ery, internet not believe in that, won't believe that. There's been weeks of speculation, people just saying things like, "Oh, she got stabbed, she's dead, she's divorced, "she's getting a BBL, she's with Pete Davidson now." You know what, with Pete's track record, there's a non-zero chance that's true. But then with all this, we saw yesterday TMZ sharing a video of her and William leaving a farm shop. That video apparently being taken over the weekend. While that seemed to be enough for some, n

ot for the whole internet. 'Cause the internet just went into conspiracy overdrive. There are people saying that's not her, that's her stand-in. There are people saying the video's too low quality, they want an up-close 4K move-in video that Middleton did in Photoshop. And even then, with the state of AI these days, could you trust it? And I'm just left kind of wondering, is there anything that could be done to put the genie back in the bottle? 'Cause they have mishandled this at so many turns t

hat there's just really not that much good faith there. Because there is a chance that the reality of this situation are some of the most boring truths imaginable, but they've handled things where they've just let people's imaginations run wild and given them reason to let them run wild. Like once again, I am not interested in the royal family. I think it's all just nothing. Unnecessary, over-romanticized pageantry. With this, I still gotta say, there may not be a fire, but you can't just attack

anyone for thinking that there is a fire when apparently someone in your fucking house left the smoke machines on. Does that land? I don't know. And then, (clears throat) ♪ What would you do with a billion dollars ♪ ♪ What would you do with a billion dollars ♪ ♪ What would you do with a billion dollars ♪ ♪ Would you give it to Trump ♪ ♪ Please, and by please, I mean you motherfuckers ♪ That is essentially what a definite sane person, Mark Levin, tweeted yesterday. Saying, "Why are there no Repu

blican multi-billionaires "offering to lend President Trump the funds "to file his appeal in the outrageous case in New York State? "Are none of them liquid enough to help "or join with others to help? "This is an outrage." Because if you don't know the details right now, Trump's in a little bit of a trouble. 'Cause among other things right now, he could have his assets and real estate property seized in a matter of days. With Trump's lawyers yesterday saying they can't get any company to pay th

e $454 million bond in a civil fraud case in New York while he appeals his judgment. Which notably was brought against him by the judge overseeing the case after finding that Trump had defrauded banks for years by falsely inflating the value of his real estate assets to get favorable loans and other benefits. And so in their legal filing, Trump's lawyers said that securing the full bond was a practical impossibility. Noting that they approached 30 different companies that provide bond deals and

all of them refused. Right, 'cause in order to get that bond, the company that would provide it would basically have to agree to pay that massive penalty if Trump lost his appeal and was forced to cough up. So in exchange, he has to put up over $550 million in cash and other liquid assets as collateral, as well as paying a fee that could be as much as $20 million. But apparently Trump doesn't have enough liquidity, especially because he just finalized another $91.6 million bond in the defamation

case he lost to E. Jean Carroll. Right, so with this, we know that most of his money is in real estate holdings, which bond companies usually won't accept as collateral. And that appears to especially be true here because literally the whole reason Trump owes money in the first place is because he fraudulently overvalued his real estate assets. So you've got people asking why the fuck would anyone actually agree to take those real estate assets as collateral? So with this, Trump's lawyers are a

sking an appeals court to pause the collection of the $454 million judgment while he appeals. With him also preemptively asking to appeal to the state's highest court if the lower level appellate doesn't rule in his favor there. But it's also unclear when that lower court would make a ruling here. And more specifically, whether it would make a ruling before this coming Monday. Because that is the end of the 30-day grace period that New York's attorney general gave him to come up with the bond mo

ney. And also with that, it's unclear if the AG will give Trump extra time when that deadline hits. Right, technically, she could have started seizing his assets as soon as the judgment came down, but she decided to give him that extra time. Now a big thing here is even if the lower appeals court strikes down Trump's request, he still has some other options. Right, in addition to preemptively asking to appeal to the state's highest court, he could also move to quickly sell off a big asset or try

and get help from a super rich supporter. Right, hence the Mark Levin plea. You know, all of this is coming as Trump's scrambling to raise money, especially after the E. Jean Carroll ruling dried up key reserves. Reportedly, his campaign's also currently facing some major funding shortfalls. With the PAC that's been funding his legal fees set to run out by this summer if the current rate of spending holds. Meanwhile, his legal bills continue to mount as the four criminal trials he faces inch cl

oser and closer. And this desperation for money could also explain why we got the news yesterday that Trump is suing ABC News and George Stephanopoulos for defamation. Claiming that the host repeatedly said that Trump had been found liable for raping E. Jean Carroll when the jury had actually found him liable for sexually abusing her. Though notably here, the judge in that case did explicitly clarify that because New York has such a narrow definition of rape, the jury's findings didn't mean that

Carroll, quote, "failed to prove that Mr. Trump raped her "as many people commonly understand the word rape." But that is where we are right now. We're gonna have to wait to see what happens. Will A or several billionaires come out of the woodwork and do something here? Whether as some sort of fealty test or as a way to try to own a possible president. Who knows, but all of this is playing out in real time, especially as we get closer and closer to the general election. And then, okay, so does

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doctor today. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C.com/Phil. Zocdoc.com/Phil. And then in a historic and unexpected move, the Environmental Protection Agency just banned the last legal forms of asbestos. Which I'll say, I also found surprising that this was even done. Because I had incorrectly thought that this had already happened. Because it's been known for a long time that not only is asbestos really dangerous, but there's an established connection with cancer. 40,000 people in the US are believed to have di

ed yearly because of exposure to this stuff. But it's used and just completely stopped. What actually happened is we've been phasing it out over a very long time across many industries. Although notably the EPA said that was stalled after serious delays during the previous administration. As far as this last ban, that'll largely go into effect after it hits the federal register. But then a handful of industries having a bigger six month window to transition off of it. Like with the auto industry

, which uses it for anything that has friction. So brakes, lining, gaskets, stuff like that. With the longest exception being for a subsect of the wastewater industry that needs asbestos to make chlorine. And notably that's chlorine that's used to clean wastewater and disinfect drinking water, both of which are vital to local communities. Which is why the EPA says it's giving them five years to transition to other existing methods. Although with that, the trade associations that represent those

plans, they say five years isn't enough. They want 15 years. Now with this ban, of course, there are a number of questions. Things like, does this ban mean that deaths from asbestos will be a thing of the past? Well, yes, but likely not for a long time. Or because asbestos related diseases and cancers can actually take decades to manifest. And while there have been longstanding bans in many industries, it's still all over the place. You know, which makes sense. It was seen as this amazing thing.

It was cheap and amazingly resistant to corrosion, electricity, and heat. Also later found out, it kills you. Bad thing. One of the most common places that everyday people would run into asbestos is where they work or they live because it's common to find in older buildings. Though also, I don't want you to freak out too much 'cause it's only super dangerous if it's disturbed and particles fly into the air. Which means the most likely way to be exposed after this is for people repairing those b

uildings. And it's because of that ongoing threat that the EPA is now looking at how it can tackle so-called legacy asbestos. Though that may be years down the line and even the EPA is urging Congress to act. Right, because without a clear law in place, it's entirely possible that down the line another administration will just take over and decide, hey, we wanna reverse the ban or just not enforce it. But in the meantime, hey, this is objectively good news. So I don't know how good 'cause we're

gonna die from something else. I think most Americans these days are made up of like 17% microplastics. And then as we get closer and closer to the general election, of course, there are a lot of eyes on Joe Biden and Donald Trump. And that makes sense. There is a lot at stake, whether it be policy-based or just democracy in general. But there are also a lot of other races at play that day. And what specifically I'm talking about today will affect 10 million Americans. Because what we're looking

at right now is North Carolina. But not only will be voting in one of the most consequential presidential elections of a lifetime, but also one of the most consequential gubernatorial elections as well. Right, because on Super Tuesday, North Carolina Republican voters selected current Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson as their nominee to lead the state. And that name might sound familiar 'cause you might've seen some clips of him online in the aftermath of the primary. But beyond just these ran

dom clips, I think it's important that we do a deep dive. That we look into this man who it turns out is insanely dangerous and the beliefs he holds are absolutely fucking crazy. And with that, I mean, it's hard to even decide where to begin with this guy 'cause there's so much. But you know, let's start with the antisemitism because that has gotten the most attention. And that's also probably in part because his Democratic opponent is North Carolina's current Attorney General, Josh Stein. Who a

ctually, when he won that seat in 2016, became the first Jewish person to win statewide office in North Carolina. And would be the state's first Jewish governor if he wins the election. Right, and a lot of Robinson's antisemitism was perfectly summed up in this ad by his Republican opponent for governor during the primary campaign. - Mark Robinson, he suggested the Holocaust wasn't real. Downplayed the Nazis, promoted Hitler propaganda. That's just plain wrong. I'm Bill Graham. The Holocaust was

real. Hitler was evil. - Right, and those are things that Robinson said in Facebook posts that are still up and available to the public. With the bulk of these posts coming to light this past summer, largely thanks to the work of Jewish Insider. And while his past posts degrading various groups and spreading conspiracies has been dredged up before, these newer finds also got a ton of attention. Especially this one from 2018 where Robinson wrote, "This foolishness about Hitler disarming millions

of Jews "and then marching them off to concentration camps "is a bunch of hogwash." With the outlet also finding numerous posts over the years downplaying Nazism and complaining about the fact that we still talk about Nazis today. Arguing instead we should be focusing on the threats posed by communism. And writing in one post, "So sick of seeing "and hearing people still talk about Nazis and Hitler." But also beyond that, Robinson has spread antisemitic conspiracies, stereotypes, and Yiddish sl

urs. Like this 2018 post where he implied "Black Panther" was an evil Jewish scheme. Claiming that the movie was created by an agnostic Jew and a satanic Marxist to take money from black people. Though notably, instead of money, he said shekels. And instead of black people, he used an offensive Yiddish slur. But that same slur also used in a post where he made similar claims about how Hollywood media is controlled by Jews. And he echoed that in another post where he cast doubt on the fact that s

ix million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. And in 2019, he went on a podcast hosted by an alleged cult leader and endorsed the host belief that Jewish bankers are one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, along with Muslims, China, and the CIA. Right, and for months, Robinson refused to apologize. But then shortly after the Israel war began in October, he finally responded though, by downplaying his remarks while also literally declaring a week in solidarity with Israel. And he still

refused to apologize even when he was explicitly asked by reporters. - We've already dealt with those things, moved past them, and we're ready to move on to the new topics that are here today. - [Reporter] When you say you've dealt with them, to be clear, do you apologize for writing what you wrote? - I apologize for the wording. Not necessarily for the content, but we apologize for the wording. - Right, and so it's not surprising that just days later, Jewish Insider published even more anti-Sem

itic Facebook posts from Robinson, including one from 2014, where he literally quoted Hitler. And another from 2017, where he argued that it would be better for humanity to go back in time and kill baby communists than baby Hitler. Also, I gotta know, this is not all his anti-Semitic remarks. Like, that would take up its own show. And instead, I wanna make sure that we hit all his other comments. Because they span a ton of different demographics that will also be directly impacted if Robinson wi

ns. Starting with the black community, which makes up one in every five North Carolinians. Right, this guy, who would be the first black governor of North Carolina if he wins, has repeatedly said he does not view himself as a member of the black community. Writing, "Why would I wanna be part of a 'community' "that devalues its fathers, overburdens its mothers, "and murders its children by the millions? "Why would I wanna be part of a 'community' "that sucks from the putrid tit of the government

"and then complains about getting sour milk?" He's also made other posts and remarks echoing that sentiment, accusing the black community of creating the problems that they face. And this, while also promoting white pride and downplaying white privilege and white nationalism. Though again, this is just the tip of the iceberg. He's also called black people monkeys and apes and a bunch of other shit I'm not gonna even try to repeat on this show. Also, for a guy that is tired of people talking abou

t Hitler, he likes to compare people to Hitler. Right, comparing Al Sharpton to Hitler. Also making some time to degrade major black leaders, saying the 1960s civil rights movement was crap, that MLK Jr. is a communist. He's also repeatedly referenced slavery to make his claims. Comparing prominent black leaders and artists to house slaves who kept the masses of slaves compliant and in control. Right, calling black Democrats slaves who don't know or care who their masters are. And again, like th

ere's just some super crazy stuff. Like saying that the descendants of black slaves are the ones who should be paying reparations to white people. Or Robinson joking that Black History Month is held during the shortest month of the year because it is, quote, a history of people who have achieved so little. And again, I could go on and on here, but that would be a whole video. I'm gonna try and get a bunch of links for you in the description down below. 'Cause again, he's firing at a lot of diffe

rent groups. Right, according to posts viewed by Talking Points Memo, he's also mocked Asians, Muslims, Mexicans, Haitians. And then of course there are his comments about the LGBTQ+ community and women. In 2014, he said that homosexuality would lead to pedophilia and quote, "The end of civilization as we know it." Also in 2021, he said in a sermon that gay people are inferior to straight people and that gay people are equivalent to cow shit, maggots, and flies. He also made multiple comments ba

ck in February disparaging trans people. Saying at one event that trans women should be arrested for using the ladies room. Then going even further at another event and saying trans people should just find a corner outside somewhere. And then also in a shocking turn of events, his views on women are no more progressive. And shortly after he won his primary, we saw this clip from 2020 going viral. - I absolutely wanna go back to the America where women couldn't vote. Do you know why? Because in t

hose days we had people who fought for real social change and they were called Republicans. - Beyond that, he's repeatedly said that a woman's place is the home and condemned feminists and feminism, which he claims were created by Satan. Saying at one point that feminists are just as bad, if not worse, than racists. He's also just said some absolutely despicable shit about women in politics and media. There is a running list that I'm gonna link down below. 'Cause again, I'm trying to condense al

l this. There is more. We haven't even touched the conspiracy shit. Like with a lot of this, he's not hiding it. He is proud. Saying during a speech last year, "I'm gonna tell you right now, "conspiracy theorists are 42 and 0. "We're undefeated right now, folks." And in addition to the anti-Semitic conspiracies we've already touched on, which seems like a lifetime ago, Robinson has also promoted some of the timeless classics. Like saying he wouldn't be surprised if the moon landing was faked and

the 9/11 was an inside job. But then also you got your lesser knowns, but still honorable mentions, like the music industry is being run by Satan and the Illuminati. Also saying the Boko Haram schoolgirl kidnapping in Nigeria was orchestrated by George Soros. He also pushes the New World Order stuff a lot. Also with that, claiming that shows like American Idol and Chopped, that those are signs of the New World Order, because they have a judgment format, I guess. But that dovetails into the fina

l deepest level of crazy, which is the really dangerous shit and active inciting of violence. Like Robinson's claims that media coverage of mass shootings is part of the conspiracy to bring about the New World Order. Or his implication that the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting that killed 50 people may have been fake. Or his false accusations that Parkland shooting survivor, David Hogg, was just a paid actor. With him also going even further and calling Parkland survivors spoiled, angry, know-it-all

children. Spoiled little bastards and media prostitutes. His rhetoric here also directly veered towards violence, like justifying the Kent State massacre. Or saying that the pipe bombs sent to Obama and Clinton, but intercepted by law enforcement in 2018 were fake and manufactured. But also writing, "If you can't beat 'em, bomb yourself." And again, we're just touching on his personal views and stuff that he said. We haven't even talked about his policy views. Climate change, he says it's junk

science. Abortion, he says it should be totally banned. And this guy has a legitimate shot of becoming North Carolina's governor. Right, yeah, North Carolina currently has a Democrat governor. But their legislature is red and Republican presidential candidates have won the state in the last three elections. And also more importantly, Robinson still won the GOP primary, even though a lot of this information was literally already out about it. But for now, we'll have to wait and see how things are

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ping. That's MeUndies.com/defranco for 20% off plus free shipping. MeUndies, comfort from the outside in. And then, in just objectively bad international news, the West African nation of The Gambia is looking to make history as the first country to ever roll back protections against female genital mutilation. Because if you don't know, the practice was originally banned there in 2015 after an unexpected decree from the past president. And unfortunately, one, there wasn't really an explanation gi

ven for it, and two, it wasn't really enforced until last year when three men got hefty fines, which is when a prominent imam then took up the cause to get it back, claiming that it was an important cultural practice and religious obligation. Now, the latter of those two is hardly a consensus with fatwas or religious rulings from Islamic scholars, giving a wide range of opinions on the practice despite never being mentioned in the Quran. But it is undoubtedly a staple of life for many women in T

he Gambia who face the practice, which often happens between the ages of 10 and 15. The details of which are just absolutely horrific, with the FGM usually taking the form of having their clitoris and labia minora removed. And sadly, what we saw were lawmakers agreeing with the imam, and 42 out of the 47 who voted on the issue said they wanted it back. And their arguments included things like, if people are being arrested for practicing FGM, then that means they are being deprived of their right

to practice religion. Which also, just like, do you realize how wild that is? Like, the politician is openly acknowledging that it is genital mutilation and still wants it. He didn't even try to rebrand it. Also, that's not a translation either, as they speak English in their government. Also, other supporters of this argue that it's supposed to make women cleaner, which just is not true. And others saying that it's important to curb their sexual appetites, something that they also argue is nec

essary as husbands can't keep up otherwise. And this is the handful against the law argued things like, "Let's protect our women. "I am a father and I can't support such a bill." And religion says we should not harm women. And to be clear here, it's not like this is just a cosmetic thing or an easy procedure. In addition to all the other ways that this is a horrible situation, it's extremely dangerous and can actually kill someone. It can also lead to many complications throughout life. And outs

ide the direct dangers of things like excessive bleeding, it can cause psychological impacts from both enduring the procedure and a lack of satisfaction in their sex lives. Now, technically speaking, there are more legal hurdles that the bill needs to go through before it becomes a law, such as a review process by the government where it can recommend amendments. The reality here is that with so many lawmakers voting in favor, it is widely believed that the writing's just on the wall. Just furth

er adding salt to the wound is the fact that despite this conversation being about mutilating women's bodies, they have almost no say. Literally only five of their lawmakers are women. But despite that, we've seen activists still taking to the streets to show their displeasure with the decision, both men and women protesting in front of parliament. They've also called the imam spearheading this movement a hypocrite. And that because when the past president banned FGM, this imam was actually his

head spiritual leader and he said nothing. Also, I just need to know, this is not an endorsement, right? Despite banning FGM, that president was not a good person. He was a massive dictator. He was a massive dickhead. He was also known for killing people with hit squads on a whim. And as far as what else we're gonna see, internationally, this is likely gonna get condemned, especially as many countries that used to do this have moved to ban the practice outright. It's still not nearly enough. But

they're reportedly still widely practiced in many parts of Africa, the Middle East, and some parts of Asia. And then US troops are getting kicked out of Niger with a spokesperson making the announcement on state television this weekend, ending a military agreement that had allowed American forces in the country and saying. - [Translator] The American presence on the territory of the Republic of Niger is illegal and violates all the constitutional and democratic rules. - But also with that, it i

s important to note that the West African nation's been ruled by a military junta since a coup last July. And the United States has been in talks with the junta for several months. With US State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, saying this weekend's announcement followed frank discussions at senior levels and that the US remains in touch with Niger's leaders. But this, as Niger's spokesperson put it a little bit differently, saying that US officials had been condescending, and saying tha

t their government had only met with the US delegation out of courtesy, and saying that the delegation did not respect diplomatic practices, such as providing information regarding the date of its arrival, the composition of the delegation, and the purpose of the visit. And whether that's true or not, it's clear that the American presence in Niger has long been way more than just a few diplomats. At the end of this military agreement, somewhere between 650 and 1,000 American troops stationed in

Niger will have to leave. And a lot of the US military buildup has come in the last decade. In these satellite images, for example, you can see how the US spent $100 million turning this patch of desert into a fully fledged drone base in the middle of Niger. And along with the physical presence, the US has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in training Niger's military. Notably, some of those forces being involved in the July coup. And all of this was to support Niger and other West Africa

n countries in fighting against extremist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. And notably, it's not like that fight's over. It's just that instead of working with Western countries, Niger and many other countries in the region are now turning to Russia for support. Actually, with that, you had General Michael Langley warning Congress about Russia's efforts to counter American influence in the region earlier this month. - I would say the Russian Federation's narrative drowned out the

US governments in the past years. They were accelerating. The Russian Federation, not just through Wagner, stoked a lot of the instability across the Sahel. They did this through misinformation, disinformation campaigns. - And to that point, it's not just the US that's alleged Russian meddling has affected it. Until recently, France actually had more troops than the US did in Niger. But after the coup, protests broke out against the French presence in the country with protesters actually waving

Russian flags. Eventually, like military rulers in neighboring Mali and Burkina Faso, Niger kicked out French and other European forces. And notably, around the same time French troops were departing Niger, the junta-approved prime minister was in Moscow to talk about military and economic cooperation with Russia. And so the statement this weekend just reinforced Niger's growing ties with Russia, with a spokesperson saying the country is working with Russia to, quote, "acquire military equipmen

t necessary to its fight "against the terrorists who have claimed thousands "of innocent Nigerian victims under the indifferent eye "of much of the international community." Actually, with all this, you had CNN correspondent Larry Maduwo explaining on air some of the reasons why countries like Niger might choose to partner with Russia. - The US approach to dealing with the military junta leadership has always been that we're open to cooperating with you as long as you commit to a return to civil

ian rule. The Russians don't do that. Secondly, the Russians can sell weapons and other equipment to Niger much faster to tackle the terrorism issue that they're facing, and they don't have the same restrictions about human rights or a return to a civilian rule in the country. - Right, so when you're a military government in power because of a coup, those probably sound like more favorable terms. But as far as what happens from here, we're gonna have to wait and see. And then, you know, I made a

goal this year, and I'm finally gonna move on. By the end of 2024, "The Philip DeFranco Show" will be the number one internet news source for all things sheep, sheep controversy, and sheep drama. We're going niche. And what better way to start this journey than with possibly one of the just generally weirdest stories of the year? 'Cause while much of the mainstream media is focused on the election and Donald Trump and the potential end of democracy, what's being missed by many is the DOJ just n

ailed an 80-year-old Montana man for illegally importing rare sheep parts into the US. And as far as why he was doing this, it was so he could make a massive hybrid clone to sell to hunting ranches between 2013 and 2021. And so essentially, this guy's master plan was to get rich as a massive science experiment. So he'd buy parts of the Marco Polo Argali sheep, arguably the world's largest sheep from Kyrgyzstan. He would then send them off to a cloning lab where they would give him 165 functional

embryos with those then implanted into different sheep to produce a single pure genetic Marco Polo Argali named Montana Mountain King or MMK. And MMK's semen was then used to impregnate a bunch of different sheep breeds. Most of which are also notably illegal in Montana with the hopes of making the undisputed largest sheep ever to then sell to places that hunt exotic game. And apparently some of his efforts work because he was selling sheep to captive hunting ranches for years. Also making matt

ers worse for himself is that he also forged vet documents to make it seem like MMK hybrids were illegal. And he also shipped his semen across state lines to breeders across the US, which just raises the risks that come with hybridization. But here are the biggest issues that he faced. The sheep involved in this project are mostly illegal in Montana as they fear for both the impact on domestic sheep as well as what could happen if the hybrids got out. Because these aren't like the domestic sheep

that we're used to. They are massive wild animals. The thing that really screwed this guy over it was the importation of animal parts from abroad. Because beyond just not declaring the parts to customs, the Marco Polo Argali sheep is endangered and protected by both US law and international treaties. So you can't just buy parts of them. And the US actually has another law on top of this called the Lacey Act. But that's specifically prohibiting interstate trade in wildlife that has been taken, p

ossessed, transported, or sold in violation of federal or state law. Which is actually what the guy ended up pleading guilty to last week. While his two felonies have a possible five-year sentence per count, because this guy pleaded and it doesn't look like he's been in much trouble before, it'll likely be way less than that under the federal sentencing guidelines. But we won't know until July. So, hey, just make sure you hit that subscribe button for "The Philip DeFranco Show" and we'll keep yo

u in the loop on all things sheep. The most important news of a news cycle. And then finally today we have community news and yesterday today. For community news, there is a subsection of the audience that has gotten oddly into this whenever we do Beautiful Bastard drops. People end up wanting to know like what sold the best. And with yesterday's big drop taking four things out of the vault, it wasn't even close. The Emotionally Exhausted color swirl destroyed everything else. Everything did wel

l, but Emotionally Exhausted sold almost two to one to the closest thing. And that was the oldie but goodie, sports. The main thing, thanks to everyone that's been supporting this drop or will get it in the future. But then as far as those comments on yesterday's show, there was no shortage of people pointing out my mistakes. I think that's your guys' favorite thing to do. Which I gotta ask as an only child, is that more older sibling or younger sibling behavior? But among those comments, we had

Libra1022 saying, "Whoever was holding the highlighter today, "going berserk." People saying, "I thought my eyes were messed up. "I thought I was having a damn stroke. "I thought I was losing my mind and seeing things." Phil did say they have new people on the team learning curve I'm sure. Then we had Luna Rev saying, "I was chuckling to myself and thinking "I sure hope somebody was fired for that blunder." Luna, I love you. Are you insane? I'm gonna fire somebody 'cause the highlights on the l

ast segment of the show were off. I will not try and tell you I am a good boss. I will say I am a much better boss than I used to be. The idea of firing someone over accidentally giving me like some Bowie highlighter around my eyes, that is crazy behavior. And understand Luna, this is not me going after you. I feel like you are maybe of this mindset because you have had horrible bosses. And so I'll just leave you with a good luck out there. Also, as far as other comments on the stories yesterday

, we had Tyler saying, "On the Medicaid taking your house story, "after my grandma died, "the state sent a letter saying "they were going to take her house. "My great-grandpa, her dad, was living in the house "and had been for the last six plus years "helping to take care of her. "He made multiple seven foot signs "that he placed in the yard, "shaming the state. "That they were okay making an almost 80 year old man "with serious health issues homeless. "We took care of her in our home for years,

"only needing help with hospital coverage "and the occasional home health aid. "I don't know all the nitty gritty "because I was a teen when she passed, "but we kept the house. "I'm still so proud of him for standing up "to a stupid rule that wasn't clearly stated "when she was enrolled." And The Precipice of Reason saying, "That Medicaid repo story is so much worse "when you know that procedural medical costs "are all made up and don't actually correlate "to real charges. "Imagine losing your

house "because the hospital charges you "for too many $80 aspirins." And then regarding other news, we had Alyssa Southeast saying, "I'm so glad you addressed the degree requirements. "I was fortunate enough to find a job "within my specific field straight out of college, "but I lost it after a hit and run accident "left me without a way to make the commute. "I had to move back in with my parents "and the area that I'm in has plenty of jobs "that fit my degree, "but almost all of them require "f

ive plus years experience. "And I only have one due to my car being total. "I wish companies would realize "there are plenty of people willing "to put in the work to learn something "they'll be using their entire career." And Ryo Khael sharing, "I was a supervisor at a company for nearly six years "and was turned down time and again "for manager positions purely and explicitly stated "because I didn't have a degree "and others either did "or were currently in school to get a degree. "This was in

spite of me being "a demonstrably more skilled employee "with consistently better performance "and having made tools to significantly improve data "and performance track. "It was so bad, I decided to make a lateral move instead "before eventually leaving the company." But that is where today's show is gonna end. But don't worry, I'll see you soon. 'Cause of course, remember as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been Phil'd in. I love your faces and I'll see you right back here tomor

row. ♪ You on my mind a lot ♪ ♪ Don't need no time, watch ♪ ♪ I don't know how I got ♪ ♪ You in my pockets, but ♪ ♪ Yeah that's bae, miss you every day ♪ ♪ You like my oxygen ♪