Democrat Katie Porter Gets Ambushed on TV With Dan Turrentine's 2WAY Comments About Her Rudeness

Summary

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2WAY Morning Meeting – Episode Summary

Podcast: 2WAY Morning Meeting
Episode: Democrat Katie Porter Gets Ambushed on TV With Dan Turrentine's 2WAY Comments About Her Rudeness
Date: October 15, 2025
Hosts: Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine

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Episode Overview

The 2WAY Morning Meeting delivers a fast-paced, insider update on the evolving American news and political landscape, focusing in this episode on evolving stories from the White House, Congress, and foreign policy, but with a particularly dramatic segment focused on California Democrat Katie Porter. Porter's recent media troubles due to allegations about her temperament—brought to a head by a viral TV interview ambush using Dan Turrentine's critical comments—anchor the show’s marquee moment. Hosts Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, and Dan Turrentine analyze the fallout, debate whether Porter's reputation can survive, and put it in the larger context of current US political culture. The episode also covers the Israel-Hamas crisis, looming shutdown politics, redistricting lawsuits, China relations, and new lows in political group chats.

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Main Topics and Key Discussion Points

1. Morning Rundown: Setting the News Agenda

• White House: President scheduled for a press conference with the FBI Director ([03:15]). Expected to cover a wide array of topics amid speculation about what the president will address.
• Congress: House out amid ongoing shutdown; multiple press conferences scheduled on Hill ([04:00]).
• Supreme Court: Voting Rights Act case in Louisiana could impact 20 House seats ([04:20]).
• International: Updates on US-China economic tensions, Ukraine, and NATO meetings ([05:00], [15:00]).
• Media Landscape: Analysis of CNN counterprogramming NewsNation, town halls featuring major politicians ([08:54]).

2. Foreign Policy Focus

• Israel-Hamas Conflict and Peacekeeping Force:
  • Mark: Skepticism about standing up an international peacekeeping force without UN/NATO—draws analogy to Obamacare cost control panel ([11:30]–[13:30]).
  • Sean: Dismantling Hamas is too complex for a coalition; finding countries willing to take the risk and agree on rules of engagement is “not an easy task” ([12:04]).
  • Dan: “The only countries with the sophistication... are the Israelis and the Americans. And neither of them... would be a good look.” ([13:28]) Suggests that patience and perseverance are essential, and outside forces may further destabilize any coalition ([15:38]).
• China Policy:
  • Scott Bessant’s interview on CNBC ([16:27]): US preparing economic coalition to counter Chinese rare earth export controls. “This is China versus the world, not a US-China problem.”
  • Sean: De-coupling from China is about “chips, cars, computers, and phones. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.” ([19:24])
  • Dan: Questions if Trump is truly a master coalition builder; points out coalition in Middle East arose from transactional relations, not lasting strategic alignment ([17:58]).

3. Shutdown & Congressional Politics

• Ongoing Government Shutdown:
  • Sean: “They've got to put the foot on the pedal. This has got to stop.” ([20:26])
  • Dan: Predicts no resolution “until both sides think there's an action-forcing item coming up that's going to make the other side uncomfortable” ([20:33]).
• Redistricting & Supreme Court:
  • Discusses how majority-minority districts generally favor Democrats; Sean argues the Voting Rights Act shouldn’t be viewed as gutted ([21:26]–[22:35]).
  • Mark: “Recruit great candidates and win the districts.”
• Republican Group Chat Scandal:
  • Details a Politico exposé revealing Young Republican group chats with vile, offensive content ([22:46]–[24:51]).
  • Katie Porter appears on TV calling it “so vile… hard to find the words” ([23:38]).
  • JD Vance offers deflection: “I refuse to join the pearl clutching… when powerful people call for political violence.” ([24:20])
  • Sean: “I don't know if it's more stupid or more offensive…If you actually believe what you're saying in those texts, then, yes, it's unbelievably offensive. You should be canceled.” ([25:41])

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The Marquee Segment: Katie Porter TV Ambush

Context and Setup ([31:08])

• Katie Porter is facing media backlash after videos surfaced showing her losing her temper with staff and reporters. She agreed to her first on-camera interview since the incidents.
• The interviewer—Nikki Lorenzo—ambushes her by playing Dan Turrentine's previous 2WAY comments, labeling Porter as “condescending and patronizing,” lacking respect for those who question her motives or policy stances ([31:32]–[32:20]).

Notable Quotes

• Dan Turrentine’s description (pre-taped):
  “She is condescending and patronizing. She absolutely believes that she's right, you are wrong, she's smarter than you. It comes across. ... She doesn't respect Trump voters, and she didn't respect those type of questions. You just can't talk to people like that. And that is Katie Porter's problem.” ([31:35]–[32:20])

Porter's Response

• Katie Porter:
  “My style may not be as soft as some people’s. I understand that… People who know me know I can be tough. But we are in a tough moment... So I'm going to make sure we're pushing, that we're fighting back. ...I could have done better. I'm willing to hold myself to account for that.” ([32:21]–[33:21])

• On accountability:
  “I know, I've watched those videos and I absolutely understand that I could have done better. I'm willing to hold myself to account for that.” ([33:11])

• On support from others:
  Claims unions and groups have expressed support, but provides no specific examples; dodges whether Elizabeth Warren has reached out ([33:21]–[33:43]).

Panel Reaction

• Mark: Applauds the interview technique—“I’m a big fan in interviews of showing the interview subject videos...I think it's brilliant.” ([35:04])
• Dan: “I was a little embarrassed...but I will say this. I stand by what I said. I very much believe what I said to be true...I too, heard from a lot of people in D.C. who said, you're absolutely right, but it was a little embarrassing.” ([34:33])
• Sean: Praises the reporter’s poise; notes that Porter’s new training was obvious and wonders what her candid, off-camera reaction would have been.[35:23]

Listener Feedback

• KK from St. Thomas: “She has an unpleasant resting face... She doesn't seem to be internalizing blame or accepting full responsibility. There are no steps that she's outlined to rectify this...She felt desperate in the interview, and she's definitely not used to hard questions.” ([40:27]–[41:44])

• Dan: Emphasizes that negative stories about Porter's temperament are widely whispered in D.C. and among staff—her reputation could worsen as more stories and videos emerge ([41:44]).

• Sean: “This is a pattern, right? It's not a one-off, someone having a bad day which happens. This is someone who...this is part of their DNA.” ([42:40])

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Other Episode Highlights

Younger Generation's Political Text Scandal & Accountability

• Sean: “I think it's stupid. It's offensive. It's the culmination of both of those things and it scares the crap out of me. As a father, I talk to my kids all the time about, like, when you put stuff [online], it doesn't die.” ([25:41]–[26:52])

• Listener Sam:
  “To not see a more vociferous and aggressive call out for this kind of language is super disappointing. We know that this exists in the darkest corners of our society... We should take the soil on which this kind of conversation can happen to and salt it.” ([54:27]–[55:52])

• Sean (in response): "You should never joke about [these things] and if you weren't being funny, then you are really stupid. ...It's unacceptable...That should be the first thing out of our mouths, as Republicans, as conservatives." ([56:46])

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• Mark on Peacekeeping in Gaza:
  “This plan doesn’t work without a peacekeeping force. And, and, and everybody I'm talking to, including your esteemed colleague here, it's just like, it's hard to imagine how they're going to stand that thing up.” ([13:28])

• Scott Bessant:
  "This is China versus the world. ...We’re going to have a fulsome group response to this because bureaucrats in China cannot manage the supply chain or the manufacturing process for the rest of the world.” ([16:27])

• Sean (on Porter TV ambush):
  “I felt like it was one of those, remember the guy was as Jeff Rossin or something. ...The way they did it was beautiful.” ([35:23])

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Timestamps – Major Segments

| Time | Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:15 | White House/Day's News Agenda | | 11:30 | Israel-Hamas Crisis & Peacekeeping Force Debate | | 15:00 | China's Economic Tensions & US Coalition-Building | | 20:26 | Government Shutdown/Political Tactics | | 22:46 | Republican Group Chat Scandal | | 31:08 | Katie Porter Interview Ambush with Turrentine’s Comments (Episode Highlight) | | 34:33 | Panel & Listener Analysis of Porter’s Media Performance | | 42:40 | Extended Discussion on Porter's Reputation Among Peers and Staff | | 54:27 | Listener 'Sam' Calls for GOP Accountability on Political Text Scandal |

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Tone and Language

• The episode moves between sharp-tongued, inside baseball energy typical of TV news “control room” banter, and earnest attempts at bipartisan self-reflection on the negative trends in US politics. Humor is present, often self-deprecating or directed at the news industry (“That’s as exciting as Scott Bessant gets!”), and hosts are comfortable poking at each other's backgrounds and partisanship.
• Katie Porter's ordeal is covered precisely, not with cruelty but with hard-nosed candor.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is a microcosm of the current political-media environment: relentless, adversarial, personality-driven—and, occasionally, soul-searching. The Porter ambush story is emblematic of both the new media’s confrontational style and the dangers of being (or appearing) out of touch or haughty, especially for rising stars in either party. The show’s best moments are when it grapples with the human stakes, whether it’s a politician’s reputation, a staffer’s safety, or the country’s emotional climate. The differing reactions to both international crises and domestic scandals illustrate the fissures—and rare flashes of consensus—running through American politics as 2025 closes.

Transcript

[Sam]

This is it.

[Dan]

The world as you know it is over. Completely done.

[Sean]

It's not about to be over.

[Dan]

It's over.

[Sean]

Some of the scientists who helped build AI are now sounding the alarm. I was selling AI as a great thing for decades and I was wrong.

[Dan]

I was wrong.

[Sean]

There's a longer term existential threat that will arise when we create digital beings.

[Carlton]

That that are more intelligent than ourselves.

[Sean]

We have no idea whether we can stay in control. While others say that AI will usher in unfathomable abundance, I've always believed that it's going to be the most important invention that humanity will ever make.

[Mark]

This really will be a world of abundance.

[Sean]

And among these fears and these fantasies, we seek the story of our future. Listen to the last invention on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the morning meeting with Mark and Sean and Dan.

[Dan]

If you should think of a question.

[Sean]

All you gotta do is raise your hand with a presumption of grace to all peace, love and understanding. During the call all.

[Mark]

Welcome to the morning meeting. Out. Take it out. Politics is at where the best politics is at. Welcome in everyone. We have an incredible show today with some elements that will astound you, some story lines that will confound you, and I don't know what the third thing is. Thank you for being here. This is the morning meeting. Dan, Sean and I will take you through the day. We welcome your participation. If you'd like to be in on the conversation, please raise your hand. And as it says on the sleeve of Dan's gorgeous. What is that? A fleece?

[Dan]

Yeah, I know, it's like a dry fit quarter.

[Mark]

Dry fit quarters. No smack in the chat.

[Sean]

I love that.

[Mark]

No smack in the chat. If you're watching on X or YouTube, please don't put smack in the chat. Dan, Sean and Mark Halpert, all outfitted today by our friends at Fairway and Green. If you'd like to wear something as nice as this, including with the morning meeting or Two Way logo as well as our catchphrases on your sleeves, go to Fairways.

[Dan]

You gotta have sleeves, Mark.

[Mark]

Yeah, absolutely. Go to Two Way tv. Fairway and Sean. They won't be paying.

[Sean]

Those are my favorite too.

[Mark]

I won't be paying full price. These are nice stuff. Use the promo code.

[Sean]

Jealous.

[Mark]

Use that promo code. 2 way. 20 for 20 off your full purchase. Anything on the site, not just the great two way merch, but please, please join your fellow two Way fans community members by going now and buying something makes wonderful Thanksgiving or Halloween gift. But we're grateful. We're grateful to our friends at Fairway and Green because guys, I've told you this before when I go get dressed in the morning now, it's just I don't want to wear anything but my Fairway and Green stuff for the program. So very great. All right, big day today. A lot of news committed yesterday but being forward looking President United States. Let's look at the pool coverage today at the White House because this is key because the President's having a press conference at 3 o' clock with the head of the FBI. Not really clear what their focus will be and sometimes they say it's a press conference and they don't actually take questions. But that could provide a lot of stuff. Cbs, the TV pool, Newsmax, the other TV poll, Bloomberg Government, the secondary print along with Time magazine, Washington, Free Beacon, expect a lot there. The other thing the President's doing is holding a ballroom dinner at 7:30 tonight. Sean, you going to that one?

[Sean]

I may have a conflict.

[Mark]

Okay. I don't know. Anyway, so three o' clock is the press conference and of course we'll have full coverage of that on two way tonight. Don't know what the vice President's doing today except being very online as the kids say. We'll talk about that in a moment. 9:15. So in just a few minutes, Scott Bessant and Jameson Greer, the USTR head are holding a press conference to talk about the President's economic policies. I have a sense that it'll relate to both the shutdown in China. So since those are the two things Bessant hit hard yesterday or this morning on cnbc, we'll show you that Pete Hegseth is at a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels talking about Ukraine House is out. The shutdown continues as was pointed out online today. New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, hard hard copy editions. No coverage of the shutdown. It's the shutdown that's not, that's not happening. Might jump, but it is. But Mike Johnson Another 10am Press conference. It's like clockwork. If you, if you want to know when it's 10 o' clock you can wait till the end of the of the morning meeting or you could just look on C Span for Mike Johnson press conference. Jeffries has his own press conference at 11:30. Black Caucus press conference to talk about the Supreme Court. We'll talk about that in a minute. At 01:30 Hakeem Jeffries as another press conference on healthcare at 03:00'. Clock. Supreme Court's hearing a Louisiana voting rights case today, which, which we don't know when they'll rule on it, but, but the expectation is they'll rule on it in a, perhaps in a timely enough fashion that it would affect close to 20 House seats above and beyond all the states you've already heard about in terms of redistricting. And the question is, is the country done allowing states to, or requiring states in some cases to have what are called minority majority districts that all but ensure a Hispanic or black candidate wins the seat? Very big case.

[Sean]

Democrat.

[Mark]

Yeah. Democrats. Usually there be Democrats. Not necessarily. Sean, your party could compete vigorously in those districts if you chose to. Mr. Mandani, on the eve of the first of two expected general election debates, Mr. Mandami goes into the lionist den. Martha Mallum is interviewing him on at 3. I think, you know, I think it's a taped interview. I don't know that, but for some reason I think that is. Kamala Harris is in Vermont. I'm sorry, North Carolina today.

[Dan]

By the way, Mark, I wonder if he goes into the Fox building and if he engages on social media about going into that headquarters.

[Mark]

Yeah, yeah. I feel like I saw a clip and they did it like in a hotel suite. But maybe I'm wrong. I might have.

[Sean]

I gotta say I will. I, I agree with Dan. From a governance standpoint, it's good. I think this is one of those high risk, low reward, like the, he doesn't need Republican voters.

[Mark]

Totally.

[Dan]

I think this is like Trump going into smack Dems or I think he's going to go in. Bass will not get upset if he gets into a fight the way Harris did with Brett Bear.

[Mark]

But getting into a fight with Martha.

[Sean]

Is not like getting into a fight with Jesse.

[Dan]

The average person has no idea it's him against Fox.

[Mark]

I, Dan, Dan, tell me, tell me because I agree with Sean. Tell me what the clip is that's good for him. What's, what's, what happens. Martha says, do you support legal prostitution or no? Would you really do.

[Scott Bessant]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah. You asked me the other day, is it good for Democrats to, to be indignant and fight the media? And I said no. And you said yes in the base.

[Mark]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dan]

There you go.

[Mark]

So what's the issue? What's the issue? What's the issue that would be ideal for him to fight, Martha?

[Dan]

So, okay, take your question about prostitution.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Dan]

When I walk the streets of New York, nobody asked me about you want to talk about prostitution. But then, because it sounds good, then why did you want to talk about cost.

[Mark]

But, but I'm asking you about a position you took, Mr. Mondami. It's, you're still a sponsor of the bill.

[Dan]

This is not a question that, that average New Yorkers care about. And then he's going to pull if.

[Mark]

Average New Yorkers, if average New Yorkers don't care about it, sir, why is that your position on a publicly on a bill that you're supporting.

[Dan]

I come on Fox News. All you want to do. He's going to pull it though, Mark. But don't wave it away if it's good for J.D. vance.

[Mark]

And I thought you, I thought you were breaking characters.

[Sean]

I want to be clear on if he picked Jesse Waters or Sean Hannity and went and had that fight and said, you know what, then I, I'm with you. Martha McCallum is not a lightning guys.

[Dan]

The average New Yorker has no idea. They have no.

[Sean]

I know. But going after Martha is not an aggressive like. Yeah, and I don't mean that like she's a journalist.

[Mark]

But, but Dan, I still, I think what Sean and I are saying is we can see that the downside could be and while you're positing an upside, it just doesn't seem close like it at this point. He's got a huge lead. And here's what, here's my view. He's got a huge lead. He's got to get through the debates. Why take a risk?

[Sean]

Right.

[Dan]

Because I think it's a sign of con. Look again, I'm not a Mandani voter.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Dan]

One of the things I'm impressed about is he is kind of willing to go anywhere again. This is the Trump thing. Yeah. Like why, why does he go on Meet the Press? Why does he do it?

[Mark]

I hear you. I hear you. Kamala Harris, 7 o', clock, Durham, NC Performing Arts center for her book tour. Where's the book on Amazon now? And where was it in the New York Times the second week? Somebody check.

[Dan]

I keep meaning I've been checking Leland Vitter. I have not.

[Mark]

Yeah. Leland Vinart was number four with a bullet. Bernie Sanders and AOC on CNN today with a Kaitlan Collins town hall, 9pm by the way, can I Democratic Party.

[Sean]

I got to tell you and full disclosure, I do have a contributorship with News Nation, but after they announced that they were doing this town hall tonight, it's a Cuomo, Stephen a. Smith, Bill O'Reilly Town Hall. Days later, CNN tried to counter program it. And I only say that because from a media landscape standpoint, the way I interpret this with CNN was threatened by News Nation, and I think that that says a lot about where we are, the idea of doing okay. We got a pro counter program, News nations, town hall. Maybe you guys disagree with me. And again, I will admit my bias on this, but I just found it a little odd to see CNN trying to counter program.

[Mark]

Yeah, it might have just reminded them that they've had some traction in, in the buzz with the town halls. I don't know that they do a huge number, but they might have forgotten. All right, Kamala Harris on Amazon is number two.

[Sean]

You know, that says a lot. By the way, again, I, we talked about this. I give her a lot.

[Mark]

I mean, totally hats off. I don't know who's buying the book. That's what everybody asked me. Who's buying the book? I don't know, but it's doing very well. All right, Hamas, Israel. I could, I could rattle off seven things. I'll try to do it. That suggests the deal is not going well. The, the, the remains have not been returned. Israel's cutting off some of the aid and retaliation. There's, there's gang violence and, and the president yesterday said, we will disarm Hamas if they don't self disarm, which is like self deportation. So. But the biggest issue to me, and I talked about this with my dad on Next up last night or yesterday is, is the peacekeeping force. You know, there have been countries floated, but it's very difficult to stand up a peacekeeping force without the UN or NATO. This is kind of like an ad hoc thing. What's the president's thing? That he's the chair of the Committee for Peace. Is that what it's called? So, Sean, if the president put you in charge of standing up, you got 200American forces. He said, john, I want you to go around the world like a Junior Witkoff and set it up. The Arabs, Arab, Gulf countries will fund it. How would you set that up? And how would you determine what the rules of engagement were? Like, can they shoot people? You know, are they going to carry guns? Like, how would you. Weapons. How would you set that up?

[Sean]

Yeah, hold on a second. Hey, is Jared around? Jared, Hey, I got a question.

[Mark]

How would you.

[Sean]

Mark's asking me something live.

[Mark]

How would you, how would you set it? How would you just say, okay, we need, we need X number of people from Y number of countries? And, and again, like, what, what would their mission be it? Like, would you say your mission is disarm Hamas, go take their weapons?

[Sean]

I mean, this is, this Is the. Yeah, I mean, look, you're. I get.

[Mark]

My dad, who did peacekeeping for. In the Clinton Pentagon is very skeptical that they can.

[Sean]

Oh, I'm more than skeptical because it's a dual mission. One is peacekeeping, which is in itself, and then there's what, you know, the rules of engagement, the ROEs. What can you do? When can you do it? What has to happen against you? And getting multiple forces to agree to that is not an easy task. Your point then? Your second mission is actually disarmament. Another. I mean, like, and there are different groups that do this and that. They're that. So you've got to find people that can do it, are willing to do it. Whose countries are going to allow that?

[Mark]

I mean, so how are they going to get it done? Because, Dan, to me, this is like, it's a, it's maybe a perfect metaphor. And I rarely come up with them. During the Obamacare debate, they had this thing in the bill that was like this committee, Sarah Palin would call it death panel. It was a committee of people to say, here's what, here's what will be covered. Right. And, and, and Gene Sperling and all the other economic geniuses said this plan will not work unless we have that. That committee, they like the model of how we're going to control costs with Obamacare is there's this group of people that say, okay, there's this new pill you take. It makes you taller. It's not covered. There's this new pill that makes you shorter. It is covered. To me, it's the same thing. This plan doesn't work without a peacekeeping force. And, and, and everybody I'm talking to, including your esteemed colleague here, it's just like, it's hard to imagine how they're going to stand that thing up.

[Dan]

This has been the thing that we've talked about since this summer, which is who's going to do it and who's going to pay for it. And I've repeatedly said the one country that has the sophistication or the two countries with the sophistication and the capability are the Israelis and the Americans. And neither of them one isn't a good look. You can't have Israel doing it. And obviously we as a country would not probably support such a thing and the risks would be astronomical. Look, I think it's the same way you probably got some of these people to the table. You're going to have to buy people off and you're going to have to probably go and say, we will Drop all the tariffs against you, and we will backdoor munitions to you and intelligence and other capabilities to support your troops. But even then, you look at the photos of Gaza, it's leveled. I mean, it's like World War II when we went in with the Russians and Berlin was just flattened to go and get all these weapons out. There's tunnels everywhere. And you still have the fact that a significant part of Hamas does not want this to end. So I think the question is patience and perseverance.

[Mark]

Well said. But, but I will also say in the countervail, and then we're going to move on to talk about China. Like, Playbook this morning described the president's peace plan as hanging by a thread. Like, the press is now already saying we're raising questions that are very important. But, but they got the first part done, so we shouldn't be writing them off. They could do this.

[Dan]

Oh, my God.

[Sean]

Yeah.

[Mark]

It's not impossible, but there are big challenges. All right.

[Sean]

China, by the way, to answer, to put a full pin in your thing, I think they need to find somebody like an Admiral McRaven or somebody that comes in and says, hey, totally. I will be the like. And, but I think you've also got to balance this because Iraq, we went in and we're like, hey, we'll be.

[Dan]

Yeah, no, no nation building authority.

[Sean]

Right?

[Mark]

No nation building. But I totally agree with you. I had this thought yesterday, like, they need Schwarzkopf. They need somebody who flies to all these capitals and say, here's a check from the Saudis. Mr. Indonesia, General, I need 400 people, you know, and, but then, and then, and then they got no, no, 40 from Indonesia and then 400. And then they got it. And then they got to write all the rules of engagement. It's complicated.

[Dan]

Don't underestimate. Too. And I've said this before, just like with Iraq, Iran and others I am sure are figuring out how to go in and destabilize this. You have a region that does not want that. All right.

[Mark]

We're two weeks away from the start of the APEC meeting in South Carolina where President Trump and President. Thank you. South Korea. What? I say South Carolina. South Korea. That'd be cool if it were there. China betting this is Wall Street Journal. China betting it can win a trade war is playing hardball with Trump. My view, based on reporting, is that they're just trying to get to this meeting. Sean has raised this for weeks. Just trying to get to the meeting. Mini deal at the meeting and lay the groundwork. For a subsequent meeting at a time tbd. But between now and then, they got to finesse all the complexities. Here's Scott Besson on CNBC this morning talking about China 111.

[Scott Bessant]

I think that things can de escalate that we don't want to have to escalate. We have things that are more powerful than the rare earth export controls that the Chinese want to put on. And sir, to be clear, this is China versus the world. It's not a US China problem. Good news is that this is IMF week. A lot of my counterparts or all my counterparts are here. We're going to be speaking with our European allies, with Australia, with Canada, with India and the Asian democracies. And we're going to have a fulsome group response to this because bureaucrats and China cannot manage the supply chain or the manufacturing process for the rest of the world.

[Mark]

As we said, Secretary of War Hegseth is meeting with allies. Dan, the reason the president got the deal in the Middle east done is because he is a brilliant coalition builder, despite his critics who say he's dividing the world and alienating our allies. He built a huge coalition with Turkey and Britain. I mean, everybody. And now, as Secretary Bets said, they're trying to do that with China and they're also trying to do it with Russia to not just say, here's the US Giving tomahawks. It's basically everybody is giving Tomahawks. So, Dan, is Donald Trump, contrary to the left's view of him, actually a master coalition builder?

[Dan]

We don't know yet, because I think the Middle east was the perfect set of conditions for him, because I said this yesterday, a lot of those governments in the region are very transactional. And so he was able to do business with them, to provide them AI centers and things of that nature. The challenges we've talked about is at least as of today, the Indians, the other Asian countries don't speak about a friendly relationship with us. And in a positive nature of cooperation, they're livid about the tariffs. A lot of the supply chain is moving out of China and they want to move it into Vietnam and other places. So we've always said this. If your goal is to surround China, then it's like, what can I do for you? And I think that's I mean, perhaps Besson and Trump have a plan for that. But so far you don't hear a lot of comments that are very positive.

[Mark]

Sean?

[Sean]

Well, I will say I think bringing all of Europe together and showing success on this peace plan has really sort of probably helped the overall idea of like, hey, we actually can get stuff done using the tactics of President Trump, which is what they've largely sort of ignored, you know, kind of saying, okay, well, let's do it economically now. By the way, I think that's the first time anyone's ever said it's a good thing. It's IMF Week ever. So I don't know that anyone's ever referred to IMF week as a good thing. And anyone who's been downtown D.C. when the World bank or IMF meet know that that's not a good thing.

[Dan]

That's as exciting as Scott Besink gets, is what you're right.

[Sean]

Exactly. Yay. But I do think that, look, the bigger and broader point is I think that they understand that we've got to get a deal with China and that I think one of the things that I hope keeps coming out is that we better not. We better understand that long term, wise, being tethered to them and dependent on them, rare earth stuff is the tip of the spear on our independence. If we can't do that, it's AI, it's chips, it's cars, it's computers, it's phones. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

[Mark]

All right, we got to pick up the pace because we got a bunch of stuff to get to again. If you want to be on the conversation, please raise your hand. Another test vote. Test vote on the shutdown today. For those listening on the podcast, I'm doing air quotes on test vote because no one expects it to test anything. Now the Senate's thinking about trying to pass, as we've talked about here, Defense appropriations to try to sort of. It's unclear. Some people say it's a slap in the face. Other people say it's a bid for unity. We'll see. Either of you have anything interesting to say about. About the shutdown? If not, we're moving on.

[Sean]

No, I just think they've got to put the foot on the pedal. Th's got to stop.

[Mark]

I know.

[Sean]

Discussing it and just saying we're doing it.

[Dan]

I think nothing happens until both sides think there's an action forcing item coming up that's going to make the other side uncomfortable and we're going to see.

[Sean]

Yeah, like a no Kings rally.

[Mark]

Scott Besson says he's narrowed the Fed chair list to five. And we'll give. And. And after Thanksgiving, he'll give the president three or four candidates to interview, including Scott Bessant. No redistricting. We mentioned the Supreme Court case. I will say that the California thing now is even deader for the Republicans than it was before. We've talked in the past about how they're having trouble raising money, and we've talked about the opposite of the virtuous cycle. Virtuous cycle is when you are doing well, you get positive press stories, you raise more money, you report that you're raising more money, get more stories, et cetera. It's the opposite. They're raising no money, and no one wants to pour. No Republican now wants to put money in it because they think they're going to lose. So either of you have anything you want to say about redistricting except we all agree the Supreme Court thing is a big deal?

[Sean]

Yeah, it's a big deal. And I will just say this, like, on my side of this, the way the press is framing the Voting Rights act is ridiculous. Like, I live in Virginia. I vote in Virginia. The Lieutenant Governor of Virginia and the nominee of the Republican Party is a black female, the heart of the Confederacy. We're about to, I believe, elect the first female black woman in the history of Virginia. The idea of the Voting Rights act was to allow to create more opportunities for minorities to participate. Virginia stands at the forefront of that right now. The point that you made at the beginning, just to be clear, majority minority districts benefit the Democratic Party.

[Mark]

But they don't have to, Sean. They don't have to.

[Sean]

Sure, fair enough. But think about where the black Republicans are elected. Burgess Owens in Utah. Byron Donald's in Florida. Right. Going all the way back. Go, go, go.

[Mark]

Recruit great candidates and win the districts.

[Sean]

Okay? But they're not. They're drawn to be Democrat districts, not minority districts. My point is that you are good. How the Republican Party offers opportunities. The idea that we're gutting the Voting Rights act is just ridiculous.

[Mark]

I agree with you. All right, these group texts, raise your hand if you're watching. If you're here on the platform, raise your hand if you know about the story from Politico about the. About Republican group texts. You guys know about this story?

[Sean]

I saw it yesterday.

[Mark]

All right, so a bunch of jerks wrote really improper stuff in the chat about Hitler and chat. They put a lot of smack in their group chat. They wrote about Hitler and gas chambers and slavery and rape and racially insensitive things. Okay? Horrible. And. And they're not really denying their authenticity. They're playing the game of sort of claiming, oh, maybe they're not real, but people have already lost their jobs over it. Once again, we're back to the pre 2024 dynamic where reporters seem to really like getting people fired. But excuse me, sorry. Kathy Hochul is amongst the Democrats speaking out, saying how outrageous this is and demanding Everybody be fired. 106.

[Katie Porter]

These are the future of the Republican Party.

[Sean]

This was so vile. It is hard to find the words to put into context that these are.

[Mark]

People who are part of a political.

[Sean]

Party, one of two major political parties, and they believe.

[Mark]

Okay, enough in gas chambers. The Republican position is if you guys won't condemn the attorney general nominee of your party, Democrats, for his texts, an adult trying to be attorney general of a state, how can you expect us to condemn this? JD Vance leading the way. 107 on Twitter. This is far worse. He's talking about the attorney general candidate in Virginia. This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat. And the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia. I refuse to join the plural clutching when powerful people call for political violence. So what many people are saying in response to vice presidents, you can condemn both. You can, you can condemn both. So, Dan, so far this story hasn't really been picked up by other outlets, including very, not very much on cable, as best I can tell. Is, is this just a political exclusive and it will die away is as a new, new story, or do you expect this to grow bigger?

[Dan]

You can only grow if there's like a publicly elected official or some, you know, a chief of staff to a member, somebody of stature who was a part of this. But I do think, though, J.D. vance kind of had a little more to say. He did try to downplay it a little bit more in other. I think in another post. I mean, look, you just have to use the common sense test. It's just shocking, crazy and absurd and just like Jay Jones.

[Mark]

And these are, this is crazy. And these are, these are younger people, although they're not all college students. Some of them are, you know, out of college and in jobs. And, and they, they're, they're active in the College Republicans, which is a group.

[Carlton]

Young.

[Sean]

Young Republican.

[Mark]

Yeah, sorry. Young. Young Republicans. Sorry. Not College Republicans. Young Republicans. And Sean, I'm sure you'll condemn their texts, but will this grow as a story?

[Sean]

I mean, I feel, first of all, yes, I could. It's like the idea of putting stuff in a text that's this stupid. It's. I don't know if it's more stupid or more offensive. Like, to me, the idea of when you write something like either you really believe that and then you really Are like, that's a problem, right? If you actually believe what you're saying in those texts, then, yes, it's unbelievably offensive. You should be canceled if you actually believe that crap. If, if it's. You're trying to be funny, then it's really stupid. The idea that you would make these kind of comparisons on any of these subjects is offensive. So I think it's stupid. It's offensive. It's the culmination of both of those things and it scares the crap out of me. As a father. I talk to my kids all the time about, like, when you put stuff, it doesn't die. Right. And it scares the crap out of me. I said so many stupid things. Well through college that, you know, thank God we didn't have phones then. But kids can't do this now. So I feel like this is what worries me about the next generation. That being said to your point in context, the idea that Politico went out, I didn't even know that this app exists. Telegraph. Or is it telegram? Telegram.

[Mark]

Sean, don't, don't, don't go down this path. It's exposing ignorance. My point is very popular.

[Sean]

Is it very popular? Okay, well, again, I'm, you know, 54 year old, dude. I don't really, I barely can turn my computer on. But the point is that, like the idea of saying that Kathy Hochul is getting out there commenting on this and you have the.

[Dan]

Party.

[Sean]

Hold on. Who is literally saying, I want to kill the speaker of the House and then watch his wife.

[Mark]

All I've asked is the story gonna grow?

[Sean]

Oh, no. I mean, no, no, I don't think so because it's not, you know, unless somebody who gets involved in it. That's important, you know?

[Mark]

Yeah. Long rumored. I mean, what the Democrats are doing now is trying to match up all these young people with, with people like, like Mike Lawler. Well, long, long. Discuss.

[Dan]

Fairness. That's. Yeah, okay.

[Mark]

Well, yeah, I, I look, I condemn, I condemn it all. How's that? Long discussed. You don't need to put that up. Long discussed. Seth Moulton, veteran congressman, former presidential candidate you might have forgotten, has decided to primary Ed Machi in Massachusetts in the Senate race. Here's a bit of his announcement video. Please. Number108.

[Sean]

But we also have to talk about the things we don't want to. Like how Democrats have failed to stop Donald Trump's harmful racist agenda. Our party has clung to the status quo, insisted on using the same old playbook, and isn't fighting hard enough we're in a crisis and with everything we learned last election, I just don't believe Senator Markey should be running for another six year term at 80 years old. Even more, I don't think someone who's been in Congress for half a century is the right person to meet this moment and win the future. Senator Martin Markey's a good man, but it's time for a new generation of leadership. And that's why I'm running for U.S. senate.

[Mark]

All right, we've got to look in the middle. Mandatory entrance and exit question. Who will the Democrats nominate for United States Senate? Ed Markey or Seth Moulton? Danny. Danny boy.

[Dan]

Markey.

[Mark]

Sean Markey. All three. Markey.

[Dan]

But by the way, I want to just add this really complicates Maine. Why it's real. Because they're going to be running ads in that Boston market hits Maine about age and turning the page. Janet Mills is 77 years old. Which.

[Mark]

Which of the candidates got out of the race? I read. I read somewhere that somebody got out who said they weren't going to get.

[Sean]

Not Graham Praddler, that dude.

[Mark]

Not him. But did the other business. Is the other business guy the guy who got. The person who got out?

[Dan]

I'm not sure.

[Sean]

All right, two quick points on the Markey thing. That when he ran the last time, the reason I say this, you know, where I live in Rhode island in the summer we get, you know, that you run on Providence Media. He had AOC come in and endorse him and it was actually the most pathetic ad.

[Mark]

It was, it was, it was.

[Sean]

But, but I'll say this one, one quick little pro tip to Seth Moulton's team. If you're going to talk about somebody's age, don't film an ad in your grandfather's house.

[Mark]

And then I agree. At least he didn't wear a tie. Although I didn't love. I didn't love the shirt. All right, we're going to skip Jack Smith. We'll talk about it. Maybe some other time if he talks again. Katie Porter is still the front runner to be the next governor of California. Although Politico had a story showing that her fellow politicians who know her well are not rallying around her. The groups who have endorsed her, labor and other groups are. None of the other candidates have really stepped up and shown that they can take the mantle away from her. Yesterday, decided to do her first interview since those two older videos were released showing her losing her temper in one case at a staffer and behaving in A tey manner with the reporter in this case, doing an on camera interview with another local California TV reporter. She was under a lot of pressure to show good temperament. The reporter decided a fan of 2way decided to test Katie Porter's capacity to not lose her cool by showing her a video of someone criticizing Katie.

[Sean]

That's God.

[Carlton]

Wow.

[Mark]

All I want you to do while you watch this video is, is do the stream of consciousness in your own mind of what Katie Porter was thinking while she listened to this video. Please roll the instant classic 110. Longtime Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine on his.

[Sean]

Show on the 2way app had this.

[Mark]

To say we're going to play it for you and then have you react.

[Dan]

On the other side who Katie Porter is. I spent a lot of time around that office. For those who don't know, she went to Harvard Law School. She, Elizabeth Warren was one of her professors. She considered herself kind of an accolade of Elizabeth Warren. She is condescending and patronizing. She absolutely believes that she is right. You are wrong. She's smarter than you. It comes across. So, you know, you have to start with Mark, the fact that, like, you have to sit and ask questions and have respect for the person who's asking you questions. She doesn't respect Trump voters and she didn't respect those type of questions. You just can't talk to people like that. And that is Katie Porter's problem. It's why so many people dislike her.

[Sean]

Your response to that?

[Katie Porter]

I'm working hard to make sure that Californians know what kind of governor I'm going to be. A governor who's going to fight. My style may not be as soft as some people's. I understand that. People who know me know I can be tough. But we are in a tough moment. The consequences for Californians right now for ordinary families are real. And I'm hearing about those. So I'm going to make sure that we're pushing, that we're fighting back. You know, I'm not going to be someone who's going to bend to kind of curry political favor when I don't think it's in line with California's values. So I've had a track record of talking to and winning Republicans and campaigning in Republican territory. I want to win the vote of every Californian I can. But am I going to sell out California's values?

[Sean]

This isn't selling out California's values.

[Mark]

This is calling your character and how.

[Sean]

You treat people into question.

[Katie Porter]

Well, as I've said, Nikki, I know, I've watched those videos and I absolutely understand that I could have done better. I'm willing to hold myself to account for that.

[Mark]

So, Dan also mentioned Elizabeth Warren in that she's a mentor of yours. Have you heard from her?

[Katie Porter]

I have not.

[Sean]

Have you heard from any other Democrats?

[Mark]

Have they reached out to you?

[Katie Porter]

Yes, of course.

[Sean]

Who has reached out to you?

[Katie Porter]

Oh, I couldn't tell you off the top of my, at the top of my, top of my head because I've gotten lots of text messages in the last, as you might expect.

[Sean]

What, what did they say?

[Mark]

Words of support. Can you give me anything specific?

[Katie Porter]

Well, I mean, as you've seen publicly, many of the groups that support me, groups like the Teamsters, have said that they're proud to stand with me because they know I'm going to fight for California, that they know I'm going to be tough, that they think what's needed is a level of strength of character in this moment. So I think there's been a lot of those comments. I think everybody understands and I've certainly acknowledged to everyone who's reached out to me as I am now, that I could have done better. But I'm in this race to make sure that we have a governor who's not going to sit back, who's not going to sit quietly, because we are in a moment where we have to tackle our affordability crisis and we have to withstand the harms that Trump is throwing at California.

[Mark]

All right, Great job. By Nikki Lorenzo of Inside California Politics. Fabulous. I have a lot of thoughts about that. But Dan, you first thoughts?

[Dan]

Well, when this was first raised to my attention, I was a little embarrassed about how I described her, you know, to her face here. But I will say this. I stand by what I said. I very much believe what I said to be true. And I will say that I too, heard from a lot of people in D.C. who said, you're absolutely right, but it was a little embarrassing. First, first time I've learned anything I say on here, make sure you're willing to say it to someone's face. So.

[Mark]

Yeah, well, you basically did Sean, first just your meta thought about. I'm a big fan in interviews of showing the interview subject videos. You know, I think it's brilliant. So good job by her. But just your thoughts about the whole meta aspect of it.

[Sean]

I mean, first of all, I felt like it was one of those, remember the guy was as Jeff Rossin or something. He's like to catch a predator and walk in and be like, here's Like, I felt like it was like, the way they did it was beautiful. One, two, to your point, I didn't know Nikki Lorenzo before. I thought her style was fantastic. Very good at bringing out the elements of that. So I give her a lot of credit as a reporter. Three, I will say our own production team, the way that we just showed that was fantastic. Kudos to the team internally because watching, we got to see it from how she saw it. So really good job for our own team because I love.

[Mark]

Just to be clear, when they showed it originally, they didn't put Dan's video on there. You just heard the audio, so.

[Sean]

Oh, really? But for us.

[Dan]

Well, they move the screen to show her.

[Mark]

Yeah, right.

[Sean]

But for us to see how she reacted, that. I thought that was really cool. Look, I will say it was funny because if you watch the shadow and I know people on the podcast might know the healer, but there's someone moving through the background. I almost waited for someone for Katie. Get out of my shot.

[Mark]

Yeah, well, that's not a shot.

[Dan]

Paul.

[Mark]

Play it one more time.

[Sean]

Last thing, Mark. I will say this. You brought this up the other day. This is exactly the point that you made, which is you can show everybody knows the answer, which is like, why, you know, we talked about why Joe Biden and go out into she can't. And that was the answer that yesterday we realized she's not. This is not.

[Mark]

Yeah, so. So I give her credit because, you know, that's not how she wanted to react or how she would have reacted had they not told her in your first interview. You can't, you know, you can't do anything, you know, unseemly. I just. I just play it back to when, when, when she's watching Dan. Forward to that. Tell me if I'm right. I feel like she starts a long time. I feel like she starts to blink herself. If I'm right. If she. If she starts, that's. That's how she's channeling her uncomfortableness. See if I'm right.

[Dan]

Good time around that office. For those who don't know, she went to Harvard Law School. She, Elizabeth Warren was one of her professors. She considered herself kind of an accolade of Elizabeth Warren. She is condescending and patronizing. She absolutely believes that she is right. You are wrong. She's smarter than you. It comes across.

[Mark]

And by right, she's blinking more.

[Dan]

Right. You know, you have to start with the fact that, like, I just. You have to sit.

[Mark]

I just. I just would love to know her stream of Consciousness. I'd love to know what the staff was thinking.

[Sean]

Oh, no, no. I want to see her texts for like an hour afterwards. I want him.

[Mark]

Yeah, let's dip into Scott Besant just to see what he's saying, and then we'll go to your question.

[Dan]

I don't think I'm going to get a holiday card from her.

[Mark]

You never know. You might have saved her.

[Scott Bessant]

So with that, you know, I want to say that. Thank you. Good morning to all of you. It's a shame we can't have more people here, but I. I believe that the Democrats will come to their senses soon. Maybe it's after this no kings thing, but no kings equal no paychecks. Before we start on Q and A, I'd like to make a few points on China. As the President said, we want to help China, not hurt it. If some in the Chinese government want to slow down the global economy through disappointing actions and through economic coercion, the Chinese economy will be hurt the most. And make no mistake, this is China versus the world. They have put these unacceptable export controls on the entire world. China is a command and control economy, and we and our allies will neither be commanded nor controlled. They are a state economy, and we are not going to let a group of bureaucrats in Beijing try to manage the global state supply chains. As Ambassador Greer said, we had a document and an agreement in Geneva and magnets were flowing quite well. Some of some US Auto companies have called us in the past week and said that there had been a slowdown in magnets. So when we asked the Chinese.

[Mark]

All right, we'll keep monitoring this. We'll keep monitoring it.

[Scott Bessant]

Probably had something to do with the holiday.

[Mark]

Let's go to your.

[Dan]

Your question, by the way. That sounds like other countries describing our tariffs. Just.

[Mark]

Yeah, true.

[Dan]

The irony of that.

[Mark]

As you come in, as you come in, tell us. Tell us where you are. What's on your mind? We'll start with KK Welcome.

[Dan]

How's the Caribbean today, K.

[KK]

Oh, it's beautiful today. Absolutely beautiful today. The water's like a swimming pool.

[Dan]

The leaves aren't turning.

[Sam]

No.

[KK]

Well, actually, we've had a lot of rain, so it's very green right now. But no, we don't have that beautiful New England foliage. But I'm in St. Thomas and I actually have two things, but I'll just do one. Since you're running through this. Katie Porter, as a native Californian and someone who does crisis and gets called in on these kinds of cases.

[Mark]

I.

[KK]

Noted the blinking as well. Mark that was. Yeah, that was a sign that she was incredibly uncomfortable. It's almost like she's getting hit every time she blinks. She has an unpleasant resting face. Anyways, that would have to be fixed. There are no steps that she's outlined to rectify this. She doesn't seem to be internalizing blame at all for any of this and hasn't accepted full responsibility. I don't know if y' all remember back in the day, there used to be an article, I think it was in the Hill Roll Call, something along those lines, where they would talk about those offices that had the biggest revolving doors.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[KK]

Never a good sign for revol. And I bet that she would be in one of the top offices with a revolving door. She seems reactionary. She felt desperate in. In the interview, and she's definitely not used to hard questions. Nikki did a brilliant job, and somebody needs to media train her and get her on some message points that. That can rectify this. I know it's not. She'd be tough to media train. I don't know. I just want to get your thoughts.

[Dan]

Yeah. I mean, I think the big challenge for her is Capitol Hill, as you and Sean and Mark know, is a very small place, and staff talk to each other. They socialize with each other, you know, after hours. And people talk. Right. So you hear about how people treat, you know, each other, what bosses are like. And at the same time, members of Congress talk. They too, go out. A lot of them live together. They, you know, despite what people think, Ds and Rs do, you know, talk to each other and share stories. There's a lot of meetings where staff are present and where staff aren't present. And the reporter, Nikki got to it. A lot of members of Congress don't care for Katie Porter. And a lot of staff have horror stories of working for her. So the challenge is you add it all up and there's a lot there, there. And I think she even admits there may be some more shoes to drop. I think there will be more videos and there are going to be more stories.

[Mark]

Yeah, Sean.

[Sean]

Yeah, I agree. Look, this is a pattern, right? It's not a one off somebody having a bad day which happens. This is someone who. This is part of their DNA. And you saw from that interview she's not backing away from it. And I get it. I don't know that there's another way to handle that. Right. Which is just sort of lean into it a little and say, you know what? I'm tough. I have high standards. And I'll continue to fight, and that's who I am. And if you want someone who's going to fight for. I actually think that was the smart tactic to lean into it and to be like, this is who I am. I will fight. I will never back down, blah, blah, blah. That's the smart thing. But she does have to understand, to Dan's point, that this is a liability because it's not just about your staff. It's about the interaction that she has when she starts hearing. It's one thing to be tough on your staff and say, hey, yeah, I have demands because I was elected. I'm going to fight, blah, blah, blah. But when your colleagues start coming out and saying, yeah, she's, she's equally mean to, to people on her peer group, that's going to be a problem. Because now you have to say, can you govern like that?

[Mark]

Yeah.

[KK]

Or worse, constituents.

[Scott Bessant]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Yeah. Kate, thank you. Awesome. Grateful to you. Very well said. Good list. All right, Michael, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind for Dan and for Sean.

[Dan]

Hey, guys, a comment and then a question. The comment was, I was so impressed with that last Virginia gubernatorial debate.

[Mark]

The moderators there, and if we could.

[Dan]

Get moderators asking questions like that and folks follow ups at the national level, it would be great. My question is the Free Palestine crew were very loud and vocal until this week, and I'm wondering your thoughts on just the silence. It's either they're happy or they would have had a press conference or something that would have said, you know, like, we're happy that it's at this stage, but there are certain things that we want to see done. But there's just been complete silence. Yeah, it's a great question, especially when you had Palestinians celebrating in the street that there was a deal. Right. So it's not like you're following the lead of the people that you're championing. By most accounts, the average Palestinian was thrilled that there was a peace deal and that they could go home. So their silence speaks even more that who are, who are you defending? What are you not happy with? And why can you not just state, this is a good, a good thing, Sean?

[Sean]

Yeah, I think that we talked about this the other day. I think there's an element of, like a pause, like they don't know whether to celebrate. Like they're waiting to be. To figure out is this deal going to hold. Who's. Who can we blame? But, you know, I am amazed that if you actually care about this stuff. And everybody else signed off on it. You should be happy, too. So it is sort of. It's almost worthy of like some kind of college seminar course. Like, who. Who. Why did this not happen? And what was the. What was. What's the takeaway? Because I'm not sure we're done with this yet in terms of their reaction.

[Mark]

Yeah. Michael, thank you. Grateful to you. Okay, Carlton, welcome in. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind for Dan and for Sean.

[Dan]

Oh, you're muted. Carlton.

[Carlton]

Good morning, and thank you for calling on me. I really appreciate it. This is a fantastic platform. I just. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I am not able to access it on a regular basis in the morning, but I try to catch up later in the day when I can. I think you. You all three are doing just a great service for the nation.

[Mark]

Thank you.

[Carlton]

I have to set my. My, my thoughts first. I never voted for Donald Trump. I voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, not because I thought she was great, but because she wasn't Donald Trump. I voted for Joe Biden in 2020, not because I thought he was going to be wonderful, but because he looked into the camera and with a sincere expression on his face, said he was going to unite the country. And I realized later that just wasn't going to happen. So in 2024, I just did not vote for a presidential candidate. I could not vote for Donald Trump, and I was not going to vote for Kamala Harris. All right, so with that said, let me make an observation and then ask my question. I spent 28 years in the military, seven years as a defense contractor in military operational business. So I can tell you that Murphy's Law prevails wherever you are, and no matter what is going on. And as I watched President Trump in the Middle east just in the last few days expand and expound on what a great situation this was, I cringed. I thought, this, this is premature. We have to be more careful. There's so much more to occur, and it's just. It's just not the right thing to do to approach this. And you guys covered that very well this morning. And all of the things that can go wrong, and if they can go wrong, they will go wrong. All right, so here's my. Here's my question on a completely unrelated area, Chicago and Portland, you know, I watch the videos and I see the, you know, the confrontations, and I'm just really disturbed. So the question is if. If If Donald Trump, President Trump, were to say, you know what, we're going to back out of this, we're going to allow Chicago to do whatever they're going to do, and we're going to let Portland do whatever they're going to do, then, you know what, how would that be received? Would that be a smart move? Would it be strategic? You know, how would that affect the dynamics? I don't. I see a continued impasse and not a good situation for anyone right now.

[Dan]

Yeah, yeah, I think you're right. I mean, I think how it would be received is both, in both instances, the political leaders would say, you know, basically, get out. Right.

[Sam]

It's.

[Dan]

If we need your help, we'll ask for it, and we haven't. I don't know how constituents would feel because I do think there are people in both cities who feel like, hey, I don't like Trump, but, like, this is kind of good, that it's stabilized and might be safer. I think the long term, if you cannot solve the crime problem and the homeless problem and the open drug use, you will get voted out of office. And I think that's the issue that lurks underneath all of this, is you can blame Donald Trump for showing up, but at some point, you have to deal with the issue or the issues, and they're real.

[Sean]

I agree with Dan. There was a guy on D.C. television the other day. Sorry, I'm actually typing in the chat.

[KK]

So.

[Sean]

What's that?

[Mark]

No, how do you. How do you type in the chat if you don't read it?

[Sean]

I know. That's what makes it so interesting. Although I. I admit my chat, he puts it out. Yeah, so. So look, the thing that was interesting is this. This gentleman who I believe lived in, in Ward 8, which is like Anacostia in D.C. was saying, look, I like this, but I'm more worried about the long term because this is what Dan's getting at. Like, the, the guard can be there. It's very helpful. It's. It's a common presence. You know, if you go down a union station in dc, it's actually safe now, but at some point, you can't do it. And the city needs to grapple with what are we going to do. Right. And that's the bigger, broader problem, is that crime is a problem, it's being addressed. But if you stop addressing it, you pull the guard out or whatever, the federal agents, it's going to manifest itself back again. And so there is a broader issue that needs to be addressed. Like, what are we doing to tackle crime in the long term. And that's where the Democrats, I think after defunding the police and going after decriminalizing all these things, the message sort of was like, hey, we went too far. But they still need to keep going, which is how do we get back into keeping these cities safe? Trump is giving them a lifeline to some extent by saying, hi, I'll help you, and they're resisting it. But even the ones that are like, there's still a broader longer term question about how do we do this?

[Carlton]

Well, and I appreciate that. And what I didn't say before was I am as frustrated with Pritzker and Johnson as I am with President Trump. Their tolerance for this violence and disruption is just, I just can't accept that.

[Mark]

Carlton, thank you for your service. Thank you for your kind words about the platform and for being part of two way. Thank you.

[Dan]

Something I hadn't thought about, Carl, that he just said the, the. How many people are frustrated with both. That's never asked in questions. It's always A or B. There's never a C. I bet C would be high.

[Mark]

Yeah. Sam, Sam, how's that, baby?

[Dan]

Hey, look at the shirts, Sam. I like.

[Sam]

Oh, hey, well done. Rocking my sleek fairway and green polo.

[Mark]

Sam, have you owned fairway and green products before this? No, no, I tell, tell people how well made they are, how comfortable it is. I, we didn't rehearse this. I just want your honest op.

[Dan]

Three, two, one.

[Sam]

You know, I'm a golfer. I've been a golfer since I was 8 years old. And I can tell you this is probably the most comfortable polo that I've ever worn. I haven't slept in it yet.

[Mark]

But. What do you mean, what do you mean by probably? I'm going to press you. It is the most comfortable, right? Yeah.

[Sam]

You know, I'm trying. I don't, I've never, I've never worn a more comfortable polo. And I, I wear some pretty big name brands.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Like quite expensive shirt.

[Carlton]

Like.

[Sam]

Yeah, I actually just recently bought a pretty expensive shirt and this is, this is much more comfortable. So. Yeah, I love it. And I will try the sleep test.

[Mark]

Yeah. I mean, look, not everybody's heard of. The hours are tough. Not everybody's heard of the brand. But, but when you, once you put one on, you're ruined for everything else. They're just, they're just, it's just more comfortable.

[Sam]

I, I don't know what the, you know, I think it's bamboo.

[Sean]

Right.

[Mark]

Or I don't know it's magic. Whatever it is, it's magic.

[Sam]

It's magical.

[Mark]

It feels great. Have you worn it in public?

[Sam]

Oh, yes, I have. I absolutely have.

[Mark]

And do people say, oh, two way?

[Sam]

I haven't had that yet because I've only worn it to the grocery store one time.

[Mark]

Okay. All right.

[Sam]

I got it last week. I wore it two days in a row.

[Mark]

And did you just buy the one so far?

[Scott Bessant]

Yeah.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Mark]

All right. I recommend two way.

[Sean]

20, right?

[Mark]

Yeah, yeah, I recommend. I recommend the. I recommend the boxers. The boxers are the best boxers I've ever had.

[Sam]

And dollar for dollar, even on regular. Regular price. I think this is. This is absolutely the best part.

[Mark]

All right, well, we're honored. We're honored to have you see you wear it, and we're grateful to you, but everything you're saying is true. It's just. It's great stuff. Anyway, welcome.

[Sam]

I'll definitely be buying more.

[Mark]

Okay, now tell us about your boy.

[Sam]

The boy is doing great. He just left for school. He is two and a half years old. He can count to 109. He knows all his letters so far, so it's fun. Like, we're. We're like tiger parents, so it's a lot.

[Mark]

That's awesome. One hundred and nine is good. He could. He could. He could read Kamala Harris's book and narrate the whole thing, probably with two days. With two days to spare.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Sam]

He would probably make as much sense of it as any adult would, really, because it's awesome.

[Mark]

Well, thank you for coming back and. And let us know what's on your mind.

[Sam]

Yeah, you know, I just wanted to. Sean, you know, I love you, man, but.

[Dan]

Oh, get ready, Sean.

[Sam]

The whole politico text thing, you know, as a person who's somewhat conservative, I voted for both parties, but when I talk to friends of mine that demean me as a black person for voting, right, and they say, you know, these.

[Mark]

People don't care about you.

[Sam]

They don't like you. And I judge everyone on individual. On their individual interactions. That's the way I was raised. And to not see a more vociferous and aggressive call out for this kind of language is super disappointing. We know that this exists in the darkest quarters of our society, generally speaking. But we should take the soil on which this kind of conversation can happen to and salt it. Someone JD Vance, who I really, really like and really hope is the next President of the United States, Really. I mean, just to see the type of response he gave, like, why not just be aggressive and Say, this is. This shit should not fly. This shit should not fly. In our Republican Party lead, you are presumably the next leader of the Republican Party. It's not. Okay.

[Mark]

Just say it.

[Sam]

Just say it. Don't. You know, there's, there's pros and cons to Trump's ability to take, you know, terrible things that he said and just not. Not apologize. And it seems like that's sort of become the norm in politics today, and people think that, okay, this is the way that things should go. But the truth is Trump is just a different kind of animal, and he gets away with that. So for whatever reason, it's what people.

[Dan]

Don'T like about him a lot, too. By the way, one of the things, you hear it on this program for a year and a half, right? I wish he'd be quiet. I wish he wouldn't do that.

[Sam]

You know, my message to Republicans going forward is this is something that Trump has been able to get away with, but it's not okay. We should not make this a normal part of society. You say something completely vile, or we hear about people saying things that are completely vile, and we try and just march through. No.

[Sean]

Okay. So, Sam, can we just. Let me go down a rabbit hole with you for a second. So, first of all, I hope that you heard. Or I shouldn't even say that. I hope I was very clear in my condemnation of those comments. Right? It's never acceptable to refer to people like that. Even in. There's no jokes that. That's. It's funny. There's no. I was trying to be like. It's unacceptable. Right? The use of some of those words is vile, disgusting, unacceptable, full stop. Never. Right. That's my view on it. And those people, those kids, those young Americans should know better. The idea that it's ever acceptable to try to be funny, or frankly, as I said earlier, I don't know if they're trying to be funny or if they're just stupid, but it's one of the two that's on regardless. It's unacceptable. You should never joke about. And if you weren't being funny, then you are really stupid. And the idea that that's what you think is wrong and unacceptable in my party and in my country. Okay? Full stop. Never. Okay? And I think you're right. We should be clear on that. That should be the first thing out of our mouths. As Republicans, as conservatives, the young Republicans put out a brilliant statement yesterday that I thought was very clear, unequivocal. This is not acceptable in our organization. No One should be part of it, never mind have a leadership position in this. Okay, that's 100% clear. There's two additional things that I feel though, as a conservative and again, one, I felt like that was Politico's view of, okay, the Democrats said some bad stuff. We're going to go hunt to find a text group of like, just to find some kind of. That was like, you've got to be kidding. So, like you're just trying to find a way to deflect from what Jay Jones said. That was how I viewed that political story. You've, like, you're going to find a bunch of young kids on a app that are having a stupid conversation and trying to put it out there, like, oh, now we're going to go. That same media organization is now going to every Republican and saying, what do you think about this? When they didn't do the same to Jay Jones? And I'm like, there is a difference between saying stupid and offensive things and advocating for the murder of an individual and then wishing the mother of a child sat there and watched their kid die. Those, like, both bad things. Murder ranks much higher than offensive. Right? I mean, like, I can be stupid.

[Dan]

They advocated for murder, too.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Ok. I didn't, I will tell you this.

[Mark]

We're up against the clock.

[Dan]

So, Sam, I'll just say I totally agree with you. Just use common sense. And I think, and I, I've said this all week, the JD Vance in two interviews this week personifies the Donald Trumpification of the party, which is never apologize, never give in and always be on offense and always be punching. And I agree with you. And it's bad for Trump when he does it. It's one of the things people don't like about him. It's, I don't think J.D. vance had a good week and I'm.

[Sam]

Not concerned about what, what happens to these kids. Whatever happens happens. It's the leaders who I'm trying to hold.

[Sean]

And I, I get your point.

[Mark]

Yeah. Sam, one reason we so value as a member of the community is as you spoke with passion and you articulate but not any anger. And, and that's what we're all about. So thank you for being part of 2A and for making that point and, and for buying the shirt. Buy another one. Have a great day. Sean, what do you have tonight?

[Sean]

Real quick here, Glenn Beck and Senator Eric Schmidt of Missouri. So big, big show tonight. Got Glenn yesterday at the White House.

[Mark]

So It's Megan, Megan McCain on YouTube at noon today with her Cheryl Hines interview, 6pm tonight. I'll be here with former Biden Harris, Obama advisor Ashley Etchen and Republican Matt Whitlock. And don't forget, next up. And I'll be on Smerconish. Now. Have a great day, everybody.

[Dan]

Bye.