WHO IS LYING?! Spotify Wrapped ICE Scandal, TPUSA Challenges Candace Owens, & Today’s News

Sup, you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, your daily dive into the news. I hope you're having a fantastic Thursday. And I just wanted to start today's show by saying, thank you.

Over the last 48 hours, I've just been inundated with emails and stories and tweets and just everything of people sharing their YouTube recaps and their Spotify rap, which is actually one of the stories today. It's been wild and heartening not only to see, you know, how the Philip DeFranco show, In Good Faith, crashing out

is among many of y'all's top shows and podcasts, but also just the sheer number of minutes and hours you allow me into your lives. It's one of those things that you know that it's happening, but like just seeing the numbers, it's crazy. So I know I normally just dive into the numbers, it's crazy. So I know I normally just dive into the news, but I just wanted to say thank you for being a part

of just this weird thing that I've done for about 20 years now, whether you're new here, you've been here for a few years, or even more than a decade. All that said though, we have a lot that we need to talk about today,

so I'm gonna hit you with some nostalgia, and then we're just gonna jump into it. This is a show. This is a show. This is a show. This is a show. This is a show. This is a show. This is a show. This is a show. This is a show. This is a show. of speculation and wild allegations following the death of Charlie Kirk, including what appeared to be insinuating

that tons of people in the group that he founded were somehow in or involved with it, Turning Point USA has 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 Charlie's murder, quote, had to be approved by Charlie's friends

and then suggested those friends might have her murdered too for quote, knowing the truth. He then went on to say that their silence up to this point has been about respecting Charlie's friendship with Candace as well as him saying that it was to adhere to his rule of not feeding the trolls.

Right, and generally saying 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. But then with that, you would like saying after weeks of their inbox being flooded with accusations of cowardice or complicit agreement and demands to respond, they decided to say something. And specifically, their plan is to host a live stream and go through points that are being brought up

against Charlie's family, friends, and the TPUSA organization, and then respond to them. And they even expressly invited Candace to take part in that live stream in person in Arizona. Right, and then Candace, in her latest episode, readily agreed to that.

Have you no shame, you can pick the time. I say we do it tomorrow. We don't need to plan for this. We don't need lawyers in between us, lawyer statements. It'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. You can, we can raise money live for this conversation.

That is how badly the world is demanding it. So I accept it with whistles and bells, everything. I fully accept. I say let's do it tomorrow. Also, in addition to that, you had Candace going through Blake's response to her allegations. She has suggested Charlie's security team intentionally denied him first aid after the shooting to ensure that he died. 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 and tried to stop the bleeding. And they've admitted to that. In a sit down with Sean Ryan, Brian Harpole 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 that he was paying that supposed to be an elite team. Right, and then Candace also accused Blake and TPUSA of lying. She has accused us of lying about Charlie

wanting Erica to take over for him if he died. Never happened. That is not a quotation, That is just them saying that. So let's keep rolling. But also with this, you have some saying, because Erica is now the head of TPUSA,

that people will interpret any attack on the organization as an attack on her. And with all that said, for now, we have to see what's gonna happen with this live stream, which apparently is gonna be December 15th, and also what's gonna happen in the lead up to it. For some wondering if TPUSA will end up pushing or canceling it, others wondering if Candace

is actually gonna show up, especially as in response to TPUSA's date announcement, you had Candace saying, kind of weird how you didn't email 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 then going on to say that she can't do in person on the 15th and noting that it was, according to her, deliberately scheduled for the same time she does her live podcast. But even still, she offered to cancel her show that day and appear remotely. Which also on that note,

a lot of Candace's fans are kind of concerned. Right, many asking why TPUSA is so adamant that Candace show up there in person. They're saying that they could do this digitally, and then sooner if they did it digitally. Some even seeming genuinely concerned about Candace's safety. But for those who have been watching and or on this ride with me, what are your thoughts here?

But then next up today, we've got to talk about how Secretary of War Crimes Pete Hegseth is back in hot water. Right, because he put troops at risk by sharing sensitive military information on Signal. And I know some of y'all are like, we've talked about it. You getting Trump brain on us, Phil? No, or at least probably not, maybe, I don't know. But that's unrelated to the here and now

because the reason we need to talk about this today is because that is also now the finding of a months long inquiry by a Pentagon watchdog, which produced a classified report that was sent to Congress on Tuesday night and an unclassified version was released publicly today.

And in case secure conference room, not using encrypted DOD communication systems, rather on the commercial messaging app Signal and group chats, including Hegseth's wife, brother, and personal lawyer, as well as editor of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg.

And you had 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. So of course, I mean, you had experts and current and former officials slamming this as an unacceptable security breach. With acting inspector general, Stephen Stebbins, even 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 then with that, over the past several months, Hexeth reportedly only handed over a few of his signal messages. So as a result, the IG actually had to rely mostly on screenshots of the chat from the Atlantic.

Also, Hexeth reportedly refused to sit down for an interview with investigators, when agreeing only to provide a written response. And then in that response, he claimed that as defense secretary, he had the authority to declassify information,

which the IG just did not determine. Though also notably, he found that the plans disclosed by Hegseth were actually taken from a US Central Command document that was marked classified at the time. And so then even with all of that,

there is another question that remains. And that is that even if Hegseth has the ability to just 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 that chat, it would have endangered both US 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.

It even detailed 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 you know, with all that, despite the alarm bells blaring, I can't even hear myself, the Trump administration,

they're trying to play this off as a win. With the Pentagon spokesperson claiming the reports finding 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, for many who their news diet isn't being baby birded propaganda, they're not happy with or agreeing with that assessment. 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. Which to many is a reasonable concern.

Because those strikes, among other things, according to experts, one, they're just probably illegal. Two, they're actually unlikely to have an effect on the drugs coming into the country. And then three, if reason reporting for the Washington Post is to be believed,

Hegseth kicked all of 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. It was far as that second strike, you have the White House defending it,

saying that it was legal, downplaying Hegseth's involvement and claiming that it had actually been meant to take out the boat, not the remaining crew. For now, we'll have to wait to see if that or any of the fallout from Signalgate actually results in anything meaningful. There is pressure there. There are people that normally kind of toe the line that seem concerned and trying to get more information,

but we really don't live in a world where I would hold my breath in anticipation of people doing the right thing or even their job. But that's also not where the Hegseth connected news ends because the New York Times is now suing the Pentagon or with them accusing the Pentagon of violating the constitutional rights of journalists by implementing restrictions

on those covering the country's military. Because a few months ago, you had Hexeth demanding that reporters sign a 21-page document, agreeing to various new rules or else lose their press credentials and access.

And you then saw most major news organizations, including Fox News and Newsmax, condemning the policies infringing on the freedom of the press, surrendering their badges and walking out of the building rather than sign. Right, and then they were replaced by the best of the best. And by that, I mean, pro-Trump influencers that are more than happy to kiss the ring.

And so that included the likes of Laura Loomer, Tim Pool, and fucking Mike Lindell, the pillow guy. He's got his own news thing, apparently. Which I don't even know if it would be appropriate to be like, news thing, it's maybe also spelled in wingdings. And with that, only now that she has a friendly press audience, as Pentagon Press Secretary Kingsley Wilson

held what was reportedly her first on-camera press briefing. And that happened just a couple of days ago. And just to give you an air of what the hell this is looking like, among those who were asking her questions was Matt Gaetz, the former Republican congressman

who faced all sorts of allegations and is now credentialed to cover the Pentagon for One America News. But you know, with all that, going back to the lawsuit, you have the New York Times saying that the First and Fifth Amendments were violated.

Right, 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 then getting even more specific, the suit points to one provision of the policy that enabled the Pentagon to deem a journalist a so-called security or safety risk. And this quote, based solely on a journalist's or news organization's receipt, publication, or solicitation of any so-called unauthorized information,

regardless of secrecy classification. And then with that, it also argues that lawful, routine news gathering 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 with that, you've had no shortage of press organizations showing support.

And then as far as the Trump administration, at least as I'm recording this, they've been largely quiet, though you did have a Pentagon spokesperson saying, we are aware of the New York Times lawsuit and look forward to addressing these arguments in court. And yeah, as do I. And so yeah, it's gonna be important to have eyes there,

but also I guess on this so-called Pentagon propaganda core that's there now. And then there's more we've got to dive into in a minute, but first let me say, listen up. You with the passion project, the side hustle, the list of business ideas just rotting away

in your notes app. the day, the day that you commit to making that thing real. Cause I get it. I procrastinate on pretty much everything that's not Philip DeFranco show. And I procrastinated on building my book club website forever, but I kid you not, the DeFranco book club, it went from someday to launched and under an hour with today's sponsor, Squarespace. And it just couldn't be easier to build a site

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Just remember that when it's ready to go live, use code Phil and you get 10% off and let them know we sent you. fuck you Spotify wrapped. Right, that is what a lot of people who are boycotting Spotify are saying right now is they've launched a campaign to get people to ditch the platform in protest over ice ads that have run. And 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, I mean, they've seen this boycott movement just kind of bubbling up for a while now,

with people on Spotify community forums saying they're leaving the service, calling the ads unacceptable, and saying they don't want to support fascism. And specifically, the Indivisible Project said, streaming hate is not neutral. It's a choice.

We refuse to fund it. We refuse to ignore it. Instead, for their part, you had Spotify saying, this ad is part of a wider campaign from the US government running across multiple platforms, including television, streaming, and online channels. And saying users can provide feedback on ads, such as liking or disliking them to help manage their ad experience.

But what you're seeing are a lot of people saying, well, there are other ways we can let you know we dislike these ads. And last month, you even had the New York City comptroller Spotify CEO expressing concerns about recent developments that may violate Spotify's advertising policies and impact long-term shareholder value. And with that, 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.

Right, and then with all that, one of the big reasons that we're seeing headlines about this today is that Spotify wrapped, just launched. Or you've got everyone and their mother talking about Spotify right now. You know, a lot of people sharing their listening age, their top artists and songs.

I mean, you can't look at Instagram without seeing tons of that right now. And so with that, it's also kind of a big PR day for a lot of big artists out there. Taylor Swift is 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. And then of course you also have the podcast charts,

which Joe Rogan topped once again. And you know, all this hype, it really ends up paying off for Spotify. I mean, just in its first 24 hours, Spotify Rap reportedly engaged 200 million users, which is nearly a 20% increase from last year. as you know, trying to take advantage of all that momentum. And even 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 and music hits different when it's paired with propaganda for Trump's deportation machine. Saying, remember, don't use Spotify

while the platform runs recruitment ads for ice. For now, as we wait to today, this is really interesting news. And 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. And 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. And actually with that, the rent prices will likely continue to drop

and vacancy rates remain high as more buildings are still in the works. And that said, 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. And 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. And according to Grant Montgomery, the National Director for CoStar's Multifamily Analytics,

that 18 to 34 year old group, 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? And so renting a place and saving for a home, it's just out of the question. And we'll also say, 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. But also like even there, the trend largely holds true. Where it's over in Vegas, tourism's way down, which kills jobs and thus people leave the area. Or 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. Right, in Austin, Texas, rents have plummeted as the city had a massive building boom. Right, and you're seeing, according to Zillow Rentals, rentals in Austin being $2 down despite a notable lack of building. Although there, it's 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 US still is that renters are searching for more affordable markets like Cincinnati, Atlanta, Kansas City, 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. Right, 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. 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. So you know what, rising prices equaling inflation, the silver lining here is that experts are optimistic

that it at least won't reach the 9% that we saw during the height of the pandemic. Though that's also a pretty crazy bar to compare anything to. You 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 buy a house, buying household goods, any and all of it. But then next up today, here's maybe a new one for you. A group of school staffers in New Jersey are being accused of hosting dress as your favorite pedophile parties. Right, that is what's being alleged in a lawsuit that was filed by Melissa Pomfrey,

a former special education teacher in the Pinelands Regional School District. And specifically, you have Pomfrey alleging that a school paraprofessional and other staff members participated in more than one of these parties around August of 2023.

And so Pomfrey, she says that 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. Right, and with that, alleging that the male paraprofessional would frequently invite this underage student

to hang out with him after school. But then, Pomfrey 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. So with that, you have 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. So then as a result, the complaint says that Pomfrey 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.

And with that, you had Pumphrey claiming that her health got so bad that her doctor and psychiatrist placed her on a disability leave of absence, which she took unpaid. With then in May of 2025, while still on medical leave, Pineland's administrators told Pumphrey

that they weren't renewing her contract for the next that she reported these so-called pedophile parties. So now as a result, she's seeking reinstatement, back pay, legal fees, and court order training for district officials on discrimination and retaliation. Now, all that said, as far as how the district has responded an attorney for Pinelands Regional

denied the allegations in court documents. And the Pinelands Regional School District also calling the suit baseless in a statement to the media. It's definitely a situation where we're gonna have to keep our eyes on it. But then from that, as we're winding things down today, I wanna end with a little self-promo and one more thing. As far as the self-promo, right now, if you go to beautifulpastry.com,

I've got pretty much everything at 60% off, but that also means that a lot is sold out. we have those, as well as some in navy and select sizes. And then as far as black, we have some available still in small and medium. But yeah, get what you want while you can, because the warehouse has almost been emptied out. You know, that aside, we've talked about what appears to be Trump's brazen corruption.

Whether it be with what seems to many like bribes, the pardons, what appears to be obvious corrupt business deals. corruption impacts the larger economy in the present, but also the long-term future. You've even seen it called things like the third worldification of America, though that's definitely a loaded term. You 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 gonna include a full link down below. And he's broke it down from a fundamental standpoint. There is 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 is you move away from merit-based decisions to suddenly, you know, whoever you're in favor with and that means you can have sub-optimal 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 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. Uh, 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, uh, the inefficient production you see and things of that sort. So and you know finally and you can

see this in some countries as 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's 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 up.

There was a lot we talked about there.