Philip DeFranco

Trump & Biden Both Working To Stop TikTok Ban #usa #america The Biden administration and Donald Trump are now reportedly considering stopping the TikTok ban, which I would say to the Biden administration, you're the ones who wanted this, and you for some reason waited till there was 30 seconds till the final buzzer.

The Race To Ban RedNote #usa #america You can bet there is a race to ban Red Note, the new TikTok replacement that has Americans and Chinese talking online for the first time in nearly 20 years. Chinese law calls for RedNote to split off the app so that foreigners and Chinese can’t interact like they did with TikTok. With RedNote now scrambling to hire English content censors. But if the app splits into two, it can be banned in the U.S. like TikTok. That’s the paradox of the superpowers. China can’t allow Chinese to freely speak to Americans because the biggest threat to the communist party is the validation of alternatives and America won’t let China own a social media platform because they don’t want China to have American data but also because they don’t believe they’re being a fair broker with the algorithms. One editor of a Chinese newspaper pointed out that Chinese know to self-censor but Americans refuse to self-censor so that’s already a redline for Communist party. RedNote really did not try to be the TikTok back up which is why this kind of communication is even possible.. They went out of their way to market the app only to Chinese and theIr diaspora. Look even the logo, the app page, and the app itself are in Chinese! So one professor says it’s like they inadvertently created a tunnel underneath the great firewall. RedNote may try to stick it out to see if American users hang around before splitting, and some Chinese users are getting pretty sick of them. One user said it was refreshing to speak to Americans but now they’re tired of the language and cultural barriers. Saying that this app is a Chinese cultural circle, and by having foreigners join it decenters that.

Trump Disrespects Jimmy Carter For Inaugural Ego Play #usa #america The flags will be lifted to full-staff for Trump’s inauguration, ending the mourning period for the late President Carter. Speaker Johnson gave the order today that the US Capitol will fly the flags at full staff in honor of Trump. Now Johnson says that they’ll be lowered down the next day for Carter but the lifting breaks the precedent set by Nixon and ends the Presidential mourning period early. Trump also raised the flags at Mar-A-Lago despite the mourning period. The reactions to this have been all over. One reporter said “At Trump's request, Republicans will temporarily halt a symbol of mourning for Jimmy Carter so that Trump can enjoy a better visual backdrop for himself. About as succinct a summation of the incoming president's instincts as you can find.” Republicans have had mixed reactions - some are thanking Johnson for raising the flags, others have said “this is a mistake, stick to tradition, it looks partisan and petty” Moderates seem to generally be saying that this is setting a standard that Presidential funerals are now partisan affairs instead of unifying events. The democratic reaction is one of outrage, with a lot of Dems saying that when Trump dies, the flags will not be going down at all.

Trump Wants To Punish Seth Meyers Over Joke #usa #america Trump wants to punish Comcast because Seth Meyers told a joke about him last night. Alright so this is what Seth said last night: “He watches TV and then he screen posts about what he just saw on TV. He's basically an intellectual Roomba. He goes in one direction until he bumps into something, and then he just goes off into another direction. The only way we'll ever get a health care plan from Trump is if someone sneaks in and switches his TV from Fox News to Gray's Anatomy.” With Trump then posting last night at 1:24am: “How bad is Seth Meyers on NBC, a “network” run by a truly bad group of people - Remember, they also run MSDNC. I got stuck watching Marble Mouth Meyers the other night, the first time in months, and every time I watch this moron I feel an obligation to say how dumb and untalented he is, merely a slot filler for the Scum that runs Comcast.” Then finishing with “These are not shows or entertainment, they are simply political hits, 100% of the time, to me and the Republican Party. Comcast should pay a BIG price for this!” On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to revoke the broadcast licenses of quote “fake news” media outlets like NBC. As we know from Trump’s first term, when he attacked the late night hosts - they just made fun of him more which made him even madder – and this escalated to the point where Trump tried to get the justice department to declare that Kimmel, Colbert, and other late night shows were illegal.

Trump Is Furious Over The Flags At His Inauguration #usa #america The fight over flags at Trump’s Inauguration is now beginning. Currently, the flags will be at half-staff because President Carter died and the law states that they must stay that way for 30 days from December 29th. But Trump tweeted that “The Democrats are all 'giddy' about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at 'half mast' during my Inauguration.” Adding “Nobody wants to see this, and no American can be happy about it,” The precedent on this was set in 1973 by President Nixon. Truman died in December of 1972, and Nixon ordered the flags down and they remained down during his second inauguration. Now Texas has ordered the flags to be flown at full-staff in honor of Trump’s inauguration. So far no state has followed them in this but a Republican congressman asked Speaker Johnson to raise the flags. Trump can’t change this until he’s President & he doesn’t become the President until the end of the ceremony. Generally the reaction around this has been exhaustion because it’s not like Carter decided to die… the flags stay down, that’s the law and that’s the precedent, and that’s how we’ve always done it.

The Presidents Meet & It’s Drama All Around #usa #america You just missed America’s greatest reality show. It all starts at Jimmy Carter’s funeral, and the Presidents are seated in the order they were President with the first lady between them and their predecessor. So Trump comes in, and he sees Mike Pence for the first time since he attempted to kill him on January 6th. It’s a weird handshake and Pence’s wife outright refuses to shake Trump or Melania’s hands. Michelle was in Hawaii so Obama and Trump have to sit next to each other, and I’m not sure any two men in American politics hate each other more. So we’ve been crowd sourcing lip reading here all day and we’re like semi-sure they are talking about golf. Then Bush comes in and he hits Obama in the stomach, a classic buddy move. Bush also completely ignores Trump. Then Gore and Bush have a conversation, but it’s been 25 years so it’s all good. Now we cut back, and Obama and Trump are now giggling together. The Clintons come in and Hillary appears to ignore the Bushes but my understanding is that they’re pals so.. Who knows. But we cut back again, and they are still talking to each other! Now Harris enters, she doesn’t greet anyone else and then she looks back as Obama and Trump continue to talk to each other. Now I wonder if everyone else in the row can hear what they’re saying? Because everyone else looks kind of annoyed but also it’s a funeral? Then Joe and Jill enter, and they don’t even acknowledge Kamala and Doug and that concludes today’s episode of the real housewives of 1600 Pennsylvania avenue.

America Gets Condemned For Trump's Imperialist Threats #usa #america America is being condemned around the world after Trump laid out his plan to invade America’s allies. The Mexican President mocked him, saying that they’re going to call America’s West “Mexican America” while using a historical map showing that most of the American West used to belong to Mexico. Ontario’s premier called for Canada to buy Alaska and Minnesota in a rebuff to Trump’s demand. A leader of one of Canada’s parties called for California, Washington, and Oregon to secede and join Canada for free healthcare. France’s foreign minister warned that they won’t let Trump attack Greenland, saying that the EU isn’t going to let countries attack its borders. Germany’s Chancellor warned that borders must be respected and that they don’t get what his problem is. Russia’s state propaganda said “The 'Donroe Doctrine' has landed & it's way more ambitious than the Monroe original… Is any US neighbor safe?” One Western security official told us “Everything that comes out of his mouth is nonsense, Mexico didn’t pay for the wall and Greenland won’t be America.” The European Union confirmed that American military action against Greenland would activate the Union’s mutual assistance clause which essentially puts more or less the entire continent at war with the US. But then it got testy, because the EU was like we won’t comment any further, and a reporter asked: “So you’re not going to comment on a pretty naked threat from the incoming president of the United States. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that, I mean, what are you waiting for? Are you waiting for American marines to land in Greenland or what?”

Trump Leaves US Allies For Dead #usa #america Trump has reportedly canceled the entry of 1,500 Afghans to the United States, some are saying that he’s sentencing them to death. These Afghans were supposed to come to the US to start new lives but then Trump canceled their flights and blocked their entry. They had assisted the US military during the 20 year long war and put themselves and family at great risk - under the explicit promise from Republicans that they would be brought to America. They have all gone through extensive background checks and have been cleared by the FBI, CIA, and US military. These people put their trust in us, they bought into our ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and now those who served in Afghanistan are saying President Trump is just handing them over to the Taliban. It’s not just them though, all refugee resettlement has been suspended indefinitely. So you have some people saying “America used to be a beacon of life in a dark world, especially for those suffering at the hands of dictators and autocrats” - and to them it seems like that light has been put out today.

Trump Renames Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali #usa #america Trump has ordered the Gulf of Mexico and Mount Denali be renamed.The Gulf of Mexico is now named the Gulf of America to the federal government only. With Trump saying “What a beautiful name. And it’s appropriate. It’s appropriate. And Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country.” Mount Denali is also now named Mount McKinley to the federal government only. With Trump saying “They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people. Now, he was a great president, very good president. At a minimum, he was a very good businessman. He was a businessman, then a governor, very successful businessman”. Trump’s McKinley obsession is well documented. McKinley was a huge tariff guy, and he also expanded the United States territory, two things Trump says he will do. But a lot of historians believe Trump has missed the point on McKinley, because McKinley was a huge tariff guy but then he realized that they don’t work so he became a huge free trade guy at the end. If he’s signing executive orders that are ridiculous, maybe he could give us a federal four day weekend starting this Thursday? why not, who cares, just do it.

Roughly 1500 J6ers who were charged were just pardoned, 14 had their sentences commuted, and Donald Trump signed an executive order to delay the TikTok ban 75 days. #america #trumpnews #executiveorder

Did Elon Musk just…umm… well you be the judge. #usa #america

Trump Is Becoming A Dictator?! #usa #america Germany’s ambassador to the US reported back to Berlin that Trump is becoming a dictator. With him writing in a confidential cable that the Trump administration will rob U.S. law enforcement and the media of their independence and hand big tech companies "co-governing power”. And then warning of “maximum disruption" that will bring about "a redefinition of the constitutional order - maximum concentration of power with the president at the expense of Congress and the states." They also warn of Trump using the military against civilians & an attempt to redefine the first amendment by two methods - 1) using lawsuits, threatening criminal prosecution and revoking licenses, and 2) manipulating algorithms and blocking accounts. They finish out by saying that “Basic democratic principles and checks and balances will be largely undermined, the legislature, law enforcement and media will be robbed of their independence and misused as a political arm.” No one knows how this goes better than the Germans and if the embassies are already writing home about it.. that’s definitely not great.

Why TikTok Is Back For Americans #usa #america TikTok is back and live again in the United States. Breaking news. It's actually happening. You're not just hallucinating and swiping on a blank phone screen, but the service is returning to some before others and TikTok saying in a statement “in agreement with our service providers. TikTok is in the process of restoring service. We thank President Trump for providing the necessary clarity and assurance to our service providers that they will face no penalties, providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive” with him adding “it's a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States” and this notably after Donald Trump posted this morning, “I'm asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark” with him adding, “I will issue an executive order on Monday to extend the period of time before the laws prohibitions take effect so that we can make a deal to protect our national security. The order will also confirm that there will be no liability for any company that help keep TikTok from going dark before my order, with Trump then getting into some more specifics, saying I would like the United States to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture and saying by doing so, we save TikTok, keep it in good hands and allow it to stay up without US approval. There is no TikTok. With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe trillions.”

Trump Moves Inauguration Inside #usa #america Trump’s Inauguration has been moved indoors to the Capitol rotunda. Trump made this declaration on his social media today. This move caught the people putting together the inauguration off guard because they learned the news at the same time as the rest of the world while they were doing a walkthrough of Monday’s inauguration. So they will now scramble to put together an indoor inauguration over the weekend… after they just finished assembling the outdoor inauguration. Congress also seems confused as to how it’s going to work. The high on Monday is supposed to be 24 degrees, which is extremely cold, at least to my weak Californian skin. People have been saying that Obama and JFK did it in colder weather but Trump is also super old, and they were 43 and 47. So I’m not sure that’s a fair jab at him. We don’t need another William Henry Harrison. But the upside of doing it in the Capitol rotunda is that Trump’s supporters already know how to get there.