- Hello, I'm Dr Claire Poche.
I'm a general pediatrician
and also a senior health advisor here
at the Oregon Health Authority.
And we thought we'd start by giving you
a quick update on where we are as a state with COVID-19.
As of today, there have been 38,160 cases
of COVID-19 in Oregon,
with 390 new cases being reported today.
Sadly, we are also reporting three deaths today,
bringing the statewide total
for COVID-19 related deaths to 608.
- Maybe don't be dressed like a clown for that part.
Like what The actual f--
'Sup, you beautiful bastards,
hope you're having a fantastic Thursday.
Welcome back to the Philip de Franco show.
Buckle up, hit that like button,
and let's just jump into it.
And first up today,
let's talk about an update and also insight regarding
celebrities and the election.
And this is a conversation we have,
and sometimes multiple times every election cycle,
about celebrities getting involved with politics.
We constantly see that debate of,
"If insert celebrity endorses whoever,"
does that move the needle?
Does it maybe change minds?
Does it activate people who have the same opinion?
And/or does it get someone that was maybe apathetic
or just wasn't involved before
and motivate them to get involved, choose a side?
It's always an interesting debate to look at.
I also think that a number
of the responses do seem hypocritical.
It feels like the more that I actually look,
the more you find someone that
when insert celebrity supported this candidate,
they're like, "Shut up, no one cares."
but then when a different celebrity supports their side,
they're like, "See some of them get it."
And you see examples in different versions
of this on both sides.
With the most recent version of this focusing
of Jack Nicklaus and Jay Cutler,
who came out and endorsed Donald Trump.
But as far as the question at the center of this story,
does a celebrity's endorsement mean anything?
We look today to a survey that was conducted
by Whitman insights Strategies, and MRC Data.
They polled likely voters across the US
from October 8th to the 13th,
to examine the intersections of entertainment,
influence and politics ahead of the election,
with researchers asking voters
to specify whose opinion they trusted most,
as well as name the issues
they wanted celebrities to address.
Things like COVID-19, racial justice,
healthcare, climate change, and more.
And what they found is that overall 12%
of people surveyed reported that an entertainer
or athlete influenced their thinking regarding the election.
You know, that 12% is a really standout percentage
because that means that a massive majority of people say,
"No, we are not affected by entertainers
"or athletes when it comes to politics."
But as far as elections are concerned,
12%, 12 points, is a huge number.
That is a change the results of an election number.
Also, interestingly, the survey found
that influence was reported higher
among specific groups,
with 28% of black voters saying they were influenced
by a star regarding the election,
20% of Hispanic and Latino voters,
17% LGBTQ voters, 17% of Gen Z and Millennials.
And when it comes to parties,
17% of Democrats surveyed said they were
in comparison to only 9% of Republicans.
And as far as people, among those surveyed 36% said
that LeBron James has done the most to raise awareness
and motivate people regarding voting,
followed by Taylor Swift with 13%,
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at 9%,
Oprah Winfrey with 6% and so on.
Also, as far as who voters trust
the most regarding political and social issues in America,
Tom Hanks was in first place with 49%,
followed by The Rock, Winfrey, and then James,
with Democrats trusting those four the most.
And then for Republicans,
it was greatly different,
ranked as the most influential voice
for Republican voters at 46%, you had Kid Rock,
followed by Ted Nugent and then Tom Hanks and The Rock.
The answers to these questions also differed by age,
for Gen Z voters specifically,
Zendaya was named the star with the most trusted opinions,
and in terms of issues, 75% of people said they wanted
to see entertainers use their platforms
to address social and political issues,
specifically addressing the COVID 19 pandemic,
voting and racial justice in America.
So for me, the survey is just interesting to get
into other people's heads for a moment.
And to bring it back to the point,
I think that while for a lot of people,
a celebrity endorsement does not matter,
apparently it matters to enough people.
Though on the note of influence, actually,
I just wanna talk about something else for a second.
If you see this woman or this man
on Twitter or Facebook or wherever,
please know that these are comedians
and not actual Trump supporters,
otherwise you will look as silly
as so many people have these past few months,
including Michael Moore, who was among many who got tricked
by Blair Erskine yesterday.
She did a skit as a woman who was stranded
at that MAGA rally in Omaha.
- I think he did this to teach us a lesson, I really do.
What was that lesson?
Well, that's not really for me to know.
And that's actually pretty nasty of you to ask.
- Literally, any research whatsoever would let you know
that this is a joke.
If you just click her name,
it says, "I'm doing my little skits, Black Lives Matter."
And same for Brett Terhune, who constantly,
even though his videos constantly go viral,
gets mistaken as an actual Trump supporter in his video,
and who's bio reads "Comedian, you're here
"because you thought that video was real."
But it still keeps happening.
Almost every time there's at least one
or two people that are like,
"Can you believe this person?"
So yeah, hopefully I just saved some people
from looking stupid in the near future,
though that is sometimes what makes those posts so fun.
But that said, to bring this back
around to the full main story.
The question I want to pose to you is,
has there been any celebrity or person online
or in entertainment or whatever that has spoken up
or done something and it made you go,
"Yes, I am now going to vote,"
or "I'm going to switch who I'm voting for,"
or "I'm going to register to vote
"and maybe vote for the first time."
Based off of the numbers we're seeing,
the answer should almost be an overwhelming "No."
But to the, maybe it turns out to be 12%, of people,
I'd be very interested to know who, what, when, where, why.
Especially as someone over the past few months who's gotten
a lot of messages from people saying,
"This is my first time voting.
"I watch the show, I figured I have to register."
I feel like that's probably the more likely scenario
that people are getting pushed off
of the sidelines rather than people
actually having a change of heart.
Yeah, let me know, I'm very interested.
But from that, I want to share some stuff I love today
and today in awesome brought to you by KiwiCo.
And KiwiCo, if you don't know,
is a company that is aimed at inspiring young innovators
and defining the future of play
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They make these really awesome hands-on projects
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And overall, they are a fantastic resource
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Each monthly crate is designed by experts,
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Basically KiwiCo wants kids to be fearless innovators
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And huge to me, the crates include everything you need.
So there's no you get this,
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And I absolutely love how the crates provide hours
of entertainment for the kids.
And selfishly provide an opportunity
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Also not to mention KiwiCo is
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You can inspire a lifetime curiosity
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And best of all, if you want to,
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where you can get 50% off your first month of any crate.
And the first bit of awesome today is
and it's kind of random, shout out to Paul Rudd
for just being a cool human being.
This morning he was passing out cookies
to people waiting in line to vote in Brooklyn.
And actually, side note,
if you want to do something awesome
while at the same time being lazy,
what an amazing combination that sounds like,
there are initiatives you can support right now,
like "Pizza to the Polls" at poles.pizza.
They deliver free food for all to polling places
with long lines, which is great because I mean,
if you've been watching the show for the past week,
you've seen some of these lines.
The we had HBO giving us
a behind the scenes of Lovecraft Country.
We got the trailer for "Alice in Borderland."
We've got Sam Smith on "Hot Ones,"
as well as BTS watching fan covers on YouTube.
GQ gave us 10 things Leslie Odom Jr can't live without.
If you wanna see the full version
of anything I just shared,
the secret link of the day,
really, anything at all,
links as always are in the description down below.
And then because this is
the second to last "Philip de Franco Show"
before Election Day,
let's talk about election news that may actually impact you.
So to start off here, one of the weirdest stories
that we're seeing involves Florida governor, Ron DeSantis.
This because when he went to vote on Monday,
he was temporarily delayed from voting
after a clerk told him that there was
a problem with his address.
With that clerk telling DeSantis
that his address had been changed
from the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee
to a random home in West Palm Beach.
And it was strange because he doesn't have
a vacation home there or anything,
he doesn't know this address.
So immediately people start questioning this,
is this a technical glitch?
Is it something more malicious?
And as it turns out, in now unsealed court documents,
investigators said the DeSantis' address had
actually been changed illegally without his knowledge.
And those investigators said they arrested someone for this,
arresting 20 year old Anthony Guevara
and charging him with two 3rd degree felonies,
including voter fraud, with Guevara admitting
to having changed DeSantis' address to that
of an unnamed YouTube personality.
According to investigators,
Guevara also accessed voter information
on Senator Rick Scott,
as well as LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
Though, unlike DeSantis, he didn't change their records.
Also, with the story as far
as how he changed DeSantis' address,
it turns out it was actually very easy.
In some counties in Florida,
it turns out you only need to know someone's birthday
to be able to change the address they have listed
on the Department of State's website.
And around this, you had Mark Earley,
an election supervisor in Florida,
saying that the system is actually deliberately convenient,
citing college students who tend to move around a lot.
Though, you also have Earley saying,
"What is abnormal is for the change
to be done fraudulently."
And adding, "This is not a hard thing to do,
"but there are pretty severe penalties for doing this."
But of course, being now five days out of the election,
this has raised serious questions
about voter security in Florida.
Though, of note here, you did have Earley saying
that any fraudulent changes
or outdated information can be fixed quickly
at any polling place.
Also noting that those changes do not prevent voters
from casting their votes.
So something to keep our eyes on,
but also I guess where this part
of this story ends is to Guevara.
I hope this little troll was worth
two felonies, you fucking dumb-dumb.
Then of course, regarding voting and the election,
we should talk about the news coming
from the US Supreme Court.
Because the Supreme Court has now rejected to hear
two GOP led efforts that sought to restrict the date
in which mail-in ballots could be received
by election officials.
And if you're wondering where the newly minted justice,
Amy Coney Barrett fell on this decision,
she actually didn't participate.
This reportedly because of the need for a prompt resolution,
and because she had not had the time
to fully review written arguments submitted to the court.
But as far as those cases go,
they come from Pennsylvania and North Carolina,
Pennsylvania's extension allowing election officials
to continue collecting mail in ballots until next Friday,
so long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
And in North Carolina,
election officials can collect ballots until November 12th.
But again, they must be postmarked
no later than Election Day, Tuesday.
Now with this, it seems like a big win for democracy.
A big win for voters who were concerned that
the mail might be delayed,
that their vote may be invalidated
due to no fault of their own.
However, it is not that simple.
While yes, these extensions will remain in place for now.
We might still end up seeing a post-election decision made
with Justice Alito writing in a statement,
"There is simply not enough time."
to issue a pre-election decision.
And Pennsylvania officials
also seem to be prepping for this
with them telling election officials
in the state to segregate ballots received
after 8:00 PM on Tuesday.
And that is incredibly notable
because this isn't the first time that
the Pennsylvania case has come before the Supreme Court.
There last week, the court was deadlocked four to four.
So we saw the lower court decision,
granting that extension, stay.
And so if this case did come back
with Barrett now there to cast a vote,
we're not gonna see that deadlock.
And all of this is a very big deal.
This type of decision could potentially affect
the outcome of an election in some states.
In fact, according to the US Elections Project,
a nonpartisan site tracking early voting,
as of today more than 39 million,
out of the 90 million mail ballots requested
by voters across the state,
have not yet been returned.
This including key swing states like Florida,
where over 1.7 million requested ballots have
not yet been returned as well as 1 million in Pennsylvania.
And while experts say it is possible
that many people who requested ballots have
since decided to vote in person instead.
Those numbers are still notable
and give us a potential range of impacts
because for many of those millions
of people who have not yet returned their ballot,
their options are now much more limited.
And so I will say what I said in Tuesday's show again,
and I really cannot emphasize this enough,
if you live in one of the roughly 30 states
that require ballots to be received by Election Day
and have not yet voted,
it is too late to mail in your ballot.
Even the USPS says that people need to mail in their ballots
a full week ahead of the deadline
of counting set by their state.
Though, and this is part of the concern,
experts say that it could actually take
even longer in some places.
And the reason I am saying this again is
because even though we've seen
a lot of officials warning people
in places with Election Day deadlines,
not to send in their ballots if they have not already,
we are still seeing mixed messages being sent
in some key states.
For example, in Michigan, despite the fact that
the Michigan Secretary of State told people on Tuesday,
it was too late to use the Postal Service.
The next day, the postmaster
for Grand Rapids told people they "should trust
"the post office to deliver their ballots on time,"
saying that he himself mailed his ballot
the same day he received it,
which was a day later than the USPS recommendation.
But even there, I mean, the fact that he received his ballot
less than a week before the deadline to mail it in,
is also a cause for alarm.
If the city's postmaster didn't get his ballot until then,
how many others also didn't.
And that's not just limited to Grand Rapids
or even Michigan as a whole,
plenty of voters are having issues all over the country.
And in some places that's not an accident,
it's literally part of the plan.
For example in Texas, election officials have outright said
that mail in ballots are still being sent
to voters through this week.
This, despite the fact that
the votes will not be counted in Texas,
unless they are postmarked by Election Day
and arrive no later than one day after.
With the elections administrator in Bexar County,
which includes San Antonio,
saying that some voters will not get
that mail in ballot until Halloween.
But they're acknowledging, yes,
this is a "tight window," but also saying,
"We're pushing it, but that's how it works."
But I mean, here's the thing, that's just how it works is
a completely unacceptable argument,
especially in a state that limits
absentee requests to people who are genuinely limited
in their ability to vote in-person, like the elderly,
people with disabilities and overseas voters.
It is also a totally unacceptable answer in general,
given the fact that the USPS is
still experiencing slowdowns as a result
of the changes that postmaster,
and Trump loyalist Louis DeJoy, implemented over the summer.
According to reports before DeJoy took office in June,
the USPS delivered upward of 90% of first-class mail,
which the election mail falls under, on time.
But then after DeJoy gets in there,
he implements his so-called cost cutting measures in July.
Those numbers immediately plummeted,
and they still remain alarmingly low even
after DeJoy's policies were rolled back.
And despite the fact that DeJoy has promised to make
election mail his main priority
and supply additional resources,
the data seems to indicate that he has not followed through.
With the agency repeatedly missing its goal to have more
than 95% of first-class mail delivered within five days.
And according to Postal Service data filed in court
as part of a lawsuit and accessed by the Washington Post,
as of Tuesday, exactly one week before the election,
the agency reported that only 69.8%
of mail was on time nationally.
But also understand that is just the national average,
key postal districts in a lot
of swing states failed to reach even that mark.
And according to reports, 17 postal districts
that represent 10 battleground states reported
"the average on-time delivery rate
"for first-class mail was just 64%."
Which, math, is nearly 30% lower
than the delivery rate at the beginning of the year.
And in fact in some parts
of these absolutely key battleground states,
the Postal Service reported that delivery rates fell
below 60%, with one of the most extreme examples,
being the Philadelphia Metro Postal District,
where only 43% of Tuesday's mail was delivered on time.
With the Los Angeles times also reporting
that in some parts of the country,
it has dropped to levels lower than in July
when millions of Americans went days,
even weeks without mail.
So with all of this, if you're also wondering what
the hell is DeJoy actually doing to prioritize mail?
To that point and on at least
a sort of, a kind of, good note,
on Tuesday we did see a federal judge
in Washington, DC ordering DeJoy to boost service,
including the number of late mail trips and extra deliveries
in order to ensure election mail is on time.
But again, based on DeJoy's track record,
and the fact that a judge literally had to order him to do
the bare minimum, right, his job.
And having to do so the week before the election,
it is unclear how far that will go.
Yeah, main point, and I guess regardless, vote, vote, vote.
And if you haven't yet do not mail your ballot
if your state's deadline is Election Day.
And honestly, I would go a step further,
I would be paranoid.
What you think makes sense,
and what the Supreme Court might think makes sense,
they might not align.
You are in ballot drop box
or voting in person territory,
that's what I would do.
And if you need help finding those
or finding your options in your state,
as always, I will link to resources down below,
including vote.org.
But do not let it keep you from voting
because in my opinion, that is the goal.
And on that happy note,
that's where I'm gonna end today's show.
As always, thanks for being a part
of our daily dives into the news.
Also, if you're new here, you wanna join the family,
hit that subscribe button,
maybe even text me at (813) 213-4423.
But with with that said of course,
as always my name's Philip de Franco,
you've just been filled in,
I love yo faces and I'll see you next time.