Trump battles Bruce Springsteen.
Why are Republicans divided over Trump’s big beautiful bill?
And the FBI says Epstein killed himself. And who doesn’t trust the FBI?That and more on this
week’s America Uncovered headlines.Welcome to America Uncovered. I’m Chris Chappell.
(shuffle papers) Last week, I talked about how…
California Governor and opponent of buttoning the top button Gavin Newsom…
called on cities in California to ban homeless encampments.
Many criticized him, calling this move backwards, saying it could dehumanize the homeless.
And, unfortunately, it turns out those critics have already been proven correct. Because one
business owner has resorted to the most cruel means imaginable to remove them:
Blasting “Baby Shark” on repeat through a speaker pointed at an encampment.
“Baby Shark, do do do do do do” “They played “Baby Shark” all night long.”
Are you happy, Newsom? This is on your conscience. This song is the worst
thing to be stuck in someone’s head besides Newsom’s daily pound and a half of hair gel.
(shuffle papers) Speaking of controversial music,
Donald Trump went on a Truth Social tirade against Beyonce for allegedly
being paid millions of dollars to endorse Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election.
He also attacked Bruce Springsteen, asking what he got paid to perform
at one of Harris’ campaign events. Trump said he’d call for a major investigation,
saying this could be considered illegal campaign contributions.
Although, considering how badly Harris lost the election, it ultimately didn’t matter,
as when it came to campaigning for president, she clearly wasn’t born to run.
Trump and Springsteen have been engaged in a war of words since Springsteen
criticized Trump and his administration onstage while performing internationally.
“A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people
from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government.”
To be fair, he could have just stopped after saying,
“A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people,” and he
would have gotten overwhelming support from all sorts of American citizens.
But now, instead, he’s facing backlash from the right,
threatening The Boss’ status as the most beloved resident of New Jersey…
Outside of Chris Christie, America Uncovered’s officially endorsed
candidate for the next American Pope. Do Popes have understudies?
(shuffle papers) Speaking of the Pope,
Vice President JD Vance hand delivered Pope Leo XIV an
invitation from President Trump to visit the US.
Vance — along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a US delegation — were in the Vatican
earlier this week ahead of diplomatic efforts to gain a ceasefire in the Ukraine-Russia war.
Now, I assume you assume I’m going to make a joke about Vance being at the Vatican in
an attempt to kill his second Pope, but I’m not. Because that’s not what’s happening here.
You can clearly see it in this footage. This
invitation was given to the Pope by an imposter Vance,
since we all know *this* is his true form. Be careful, Pope,
this unholy creature yearns for another holy victim.
(shuffle papers) Speaking of places
filled with unholy creatures: Walmart.
Walmart announced that while it would try to keep its prices as low as possible,
it would have to raise some due to Trump’s tariffs.
Trump took this announcement into consideration, announcing he would reflect upon it in one of his
daily transcendental meditation sessions where he aligns his body and spirit and-
Just kidding.
Trump said Walmart made billions of dollars last year — far more than
they expected — and that they should eat the tariffs and not raise prices.
Home Depot, meanwhile, announced they wouldn’t raise prices due to the tariffs,
seemingly a dig at Walmart.
And if you need to do some digging of your own,
you know where to go to get…
an affordable shovel.
Just head to aisle 933.
I think I may have missed my calling as a marketing exec.
But surely a company as powerful as Walmart won’t be bullied into- What’s that, Shelley?
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that
Walmart will in fact “eat some of the tariffs” after Trump’s demand…
And that CEO Doug McMillon told him this in a personal call.
Although a spokesperson for Walmart said the company wouldn’t comment on this phone call.
This situation is a bit confusing. Mostly because a Republican president is telling a
gigantic corporation not to raise prices and hurt less economically advantaged consumers.
I can’t tell if this is Trump trying to do what’s right,
trying to cover for his mistakes, both, or just his way of auditioning to join
Bernie Sanders and AOC on the Fighting Oligarchy Tour. As
long as Bruce Springsteen doesn’t show up.
(shuffle papers) Besides potentially
fighting oligarchy, Trump is also looking to fight potential threats to the US,
And, to that end, has unveiled plans for what he’s calling The Golden
Dome — a missile defense system that could intercept missiles from space.
Trump says it would cost $175 billion dollars and be operational within three years.
It’s similar in concept to Israel’s Iron Dome – only Trumpier – which
can shoot down anything fired at Israel…
Except, of course, criticism from its allies.
Trump’s Golden Dome idea has received sharp criticism…
From China, with Beijing saying this could turn space into a warzone.
Yeah! How dare the US defend themselves. They should just let China conquer not only the world,
but the whole universe. And China wants that because in space… no one can hear
The people you’re ethnically cleansing scream.
(shuffle papers) And after the break,
another day, another California story that’ll make you facepalm.
Welcome back.
(shuffle papers) It’s time for another edition of
Really, California? Really?
The Olympics are coming to Los Angeles in 2028.
Residents of LA are already dreading this,
as it’s going to make the already terrible traffic even…more terrible-er.
But to help, LA28 — the committee in charge of planning the events — has partnered with
Archer Aviation to hopefully provide air taxis that would
offer transportation from one Olympic venue to another throughout the city.
I say “hopefully” because air taxis were supposed to debut at the 2024 Olympics in
Paris, but they weren’t certified by Europe's air safety agency in time.
Personally, I think this is disgusting.
Not because of environmental reasons or because it’s catering
to the wealthy while the ever-worsening homeless problem is… ever-worsening-er.
No, I’m disgusted that they’re not calling this aerial taxi service an
Air Lyft. It was *right* there!
(shuffle papers) Slovenian police are
investigating the disappearance of a bronze statue
of First Lady Melania Trump that was sawed off and taken from her hometown.
With this statue gone, that leaves only two of her horcruxes left:
Fake Melania,
and that giant hat she wore at the inauguration that made her
look like she was trying to murder Roger Rabbit,
Which is reportedly on Fake Melania. Probably shouldn’t keep two horcruxes in one location.
(shuffle papers) Speaking of things that are big and
beautiful: Trump’s spending and border security package, known as One Big, Beautiful Bill.
Not to be mistaken with the 6’2” Bill Pullman, who’s another big,
beautiful Bill. And, like Trump, was once a president that fought against invading aliens.
Last weekend, the House Budget Committee advanced
the latest version of the bill to the House with a vote of 17-16.
And yes, members of Congress actually worked over the weekend. But don’t worry,
just because they put in some extra work doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll
break Congress’ streak of accomplishing nothing.
Because the bill had several sticking points for many Republicans.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson met with Republicans on the committee and
made some — as for now — publicly undisclosed changes. However,
four Republicans in the committee weren’t satisfied and voted “present.”
One of the sticking points is that they feel it doesn’t do enough to cut the deficit.
Another is cuts and work requirements added to Medicaid. Many Republicans
wanted these to be implemented sooner to help curb spending.
After some last minute changes to the over 1,000 page bill, the House passed it. It
will now be sent to the Senate, where Senate Republicans say they will make even more changes.
So it’s not guaranteed to pass there by any stretch. Like I said,
Congress’ streak of accomplishing nothing might be secure.
While many are worried about what’s in the bill,
many people are also excited about the prospect of no longer paying taxes on tips and overtime.
So this bill has everyone mad, sad, and excited at the same time. It’s
like Cats all over again. Although, considering the bill’s simultaneously
in a state of being passed and not being passed, I guess it’s more
like Schrödinger’s Cats.
(shuffle papers) Speaking of things that
are controversial and people want to know the details of what’s in them: the Epstein files.
Back in February, Attorney General Pam Bondi demanded the full Epstein files from the FBI.
The FBI reportedly asked agents to prioritize the documents and to limit redactions.
And Bondi said what she received was pretty sick, and they’d be released soon.
“I think tomorrow, Jesse — breaking news right now — you’re gonna see some Epstein
information being released.”
And it was! Though people who had been starving for this for years weren’t satiated,
since they were served a big plate full of nothing burgers.
Right-wing influencers were invited to the White House and were given binders
described as “Epstein Files: Phase 1.” They didn’t know
they would receive these… and reportedly neither did senior White House officials.
This would be like Biden finally declassifying everything the government knew about aliens
but only sharing it with Mr. Beast. What would President Pullman think?
Worse yet, there was little new info in them.
Bondi said precautions needed to be made to protect the victims.
That was several months ago now. And, so far,
here’s all we’ve seen from the Epstein Files: Phase 2:
Yeah, this is the most overhyped and disappointing phase since Marvel’s multiverse saga.
Frustration over these delays are bipartisan,
with demands for Bondi to release the promised files coming from…
both Democrat… and Republican lawmakers.
But this week, we finally — finally! — got some new information!
When FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino and Director
Kash Patel say they concluded that Epstein… *did*?... kill himself?
“You know a suicide when you see one, and that’s what that was.”
“He killed himself. You, again, you want me to get- I’ve seen the whole file. He killed
himself.”
Well, if anyone would know anything about seeing things,
it’s certainly Kash “Hasn’t Blinked Since Three Jokers Ago” Patel
So while Patel says he’s seen it, it’s looking less and less likely as the weeks and months
drag on with no release that we’ll ever see the full, unredacted Epstein files.
I would never advocate torture. But clearly,
something needs to be done to aggressively motivate them to uphold their promise.
Which is why I think that until the Epstein files are released, the FBI offices should
blast “Baby Shark” on repeat. Do, do, do, do, do, do the right thing, fellas.
(shuffle papers) And before you go,
be sure to check out this other episode of America Uncovered recommended by the algorithm.
One day the robots will enslave us, but now they’re just making friendly
suggestions. So let’s appreciate this delicate peace while it lasts.
And as always, support America Uncovered and screw YouTube,
by subscribing to our new website Americauncovered.tv.
Once again, I’m Chris Chappell. Thank you for watching America Uncovered.