Why Are Young Men So Drawn to Nick Fuentes? Will Democrats Back JFK's Unusual Grandson for Congress?

Summary

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Podcast Summary: 2WAY Morning Meeting

Episode: Why Are Young Men So Drawn to Nick Fuentes? Will Democrats Back JFK's Unusual Grandson for Congress?
Date: November 12, 2025
Host: Mark Halperin
Panelists: Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine

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Episode Overview

This episode covers two central questions:

1. Why are so many young men interested in far-right figure Nick Fuentes, and what does it say about masculinity, culture, and politics?
2. Will Democrats and voters in Manhattan get behind Jack Schlossberg (JFK’s only grandson) as he launches his bid for Congress, and what does his candidacy signal about generational change, legacy, and the core concerns of Democratic primaries?

Discussion ranges from trending news stories (Epstein emails, government shutdown reactions, inflation, and more) to baked-in media and campaign analysis, with active commentary from the hosts and live participation from listeners.

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Key Segments & Insights

[01:07] Jack Schlossberg’s Congressional Bid: Kennedy Legacy and Real Prospects

• Who is Jack Schlossberg?
  • JFK’s only grandson, Caroline Kennedy’s son.
  • Running for NY-12, covering Manhattan’s Upper East/West Sides, a highly competitive Democratic seat.
  • Mark quips, “Ladies and gentlemen, that young man would like to be my congressman…” (01:07).
• Can He Raise Money?
  • Dan: “He will not have a problem raising money...That family has people who will write to them through thick and thin.” (02:32)
• Assessing Candidacy:
  • Possible to leverage TikTok and social media—but will need more than family name.
  • Dan raises a core question: “Do you have the fire in your belly and the grit and the determination to go and get it? ...I want to see if he can really get out there and hustle...His name will give him a chance.” (44:18)

[42:40] Schlossberg’s Announcement Video

• Mixed feedback on authenticity and production value.
  • Mark: “Is the poor audio with the wind…charming or a sign they don’t know what they’re doing?” (42:40)
  • Sean: “It was inauthentic. It was poorly produced...To me, it was like somebody just said, here’s how to do this. And he went, ‘No, no, I don't need to read that. I can do it myself.’” (44:49)
  • Critique: Overfocus on “the 12th district”—should speak to the whole city or broader issues.
  • The Kennedy name gets him on the radar, but hustle and connection are crucial in a tough field.

[09:50] Government Shutdown Fallout—Who Really Won?

• Mark references a new school of thought (“Scarborough, the Post, the Times”) that Dems won by putting healthcare in the spotlight.
• Dan: “Health care...and affordability, it is in the big picture in the long run a win...the party’s got to stop the circular firing squad.” (09:50)
• Sean: “This is the equivalent of when you get broken up by your girlfriend and all your buddies, go, dude, you need to see other people anyway...The reality is you caved, you lost, you got nothing for it after 41 days.” (10:54)
• Dan and Sean spar over whether the shift in narrative (now focusing on healthcare) is a real win, given the messaging and lack of tangible concessions.

[12:10] Epstein/Trump Breaking News

• The program breaks to cover new emails from Epstein, with explicit suggestions Trump had deeper knowledge of Epstein's abuse than previously admitted.
• Mark (reading NYT quote): “Epstein wrote that President Trump had, ‘spent hours at my house with one of Mr. Epstein’s victims’...Epstein flatly asserted that Mr. Trump, ‘knew about the girls’...” (12:10)
• Sean: “So when you tell them they [politicians] cheat and steal, they go, yeah, we already knew that...I think it puts it back in the headlines for a day or two, but I don’t think anybody...is going to wake up shocked.” (13:35)
• Panel explores political fallout; suggests the story’s real impact will be limited unless Trump makes a move like a commutation or pardon.
• Mark: “I think he’s going to commute her sentence and then Musk is going to send her into space on a rocket.” (16:26) — A lighter moment amid heavy news.

[16:45] Health Care, Affordability, & Political Messaging

• Clips from media and officials highlight the ongoing political fight over health care costs and the economy.
• Sean: “The president has to do two things: acknowledge things are going down but not where they were, and then pick out some small things that he can do that are impactful.” (22:24)
• Panel agrees: voters want solutions, not just blame.
• Dan warns that without real policy, Republicans risk internal warfare: “It’s called a Republican civil war...It costs money.” (25:45)
• Consensus that employer-based insurance mostly shields Americans from health care sticker-shock, but that out-of-pocket costs and perception still matter at the ballot box.
• Sean: “For the most part, people aren’t going to touch it, feel it, have to experience it. So you just have to...feel their pain, talk about something that’s real.” (28:18)

[32:31] West Wing Infighting: Cash Patel & Bill Pulte

• Two damning stories leak about Trump officials—potentially “friendly fire.”
• Sean: “I think that [Bill] Pulte’s was clearly...a White House plant, and the Cash [Patel] one was a DOJ one...they’re both, you know, bread on red stories.” (33:25)
• Mark and Dan debate whether these are warning shots or preludes to firings.
• Sean: “The only person in the White House that matters...really approves of how both of those guys are carrying out their job.” (35:14)

[37:16] Gavin Newsom’s National Future

• Mark makes it official: “Today is the day I'm officially changing my position. I didn't think Gavin Newsom was gonna run...Now I think he's going to run because this is just too overwhelming. He's galloping ahead.” (37:16)
• Dan voices skepticism about the lack of polling evidence of national traction.
• Sean likens Newsom to “the Dem George W. Bush. They're gonna coalesce around him.” (37:31)
• The panel discusses potential 2028 matchups and running mates.

[48:24] Listener Questions: Masculinity, Nick Fuentes, and the Right-Wing Young Male Appeal

[51:30] Key Exchange on Nick Fuentes

• Listener Susan: Suggests Trump’s presidential library should honor Charlie Kirk, who, she argues, played a major role in bringing young men into Trump’s orbit (48:24).
• Listener Stephen: Shares his perspective on Fuentes—saying his son and sons' friends know who he is from social media, and that much of the appeal is about addressing young men’s sense of emasculation and neglect in society, not simply racism.
• Mark: “The most important thing is to say, why are young men...so interested in him and how do we bring them back?...Some of the things he says are perfectly sensible...The problem is he says things that are disqualifyingly offensive.” (53:45)
• Dan: “We have four boys...all know who Nick Fuentes is...We have to have that conversation...what I worry about is, it brings a casualness and then almost an acceptance to this kind of crazy talk...” (54:47)
• The sense of “gateway drug” — young men are attracted by anti-establishment messages, memes, and perceived truths, but end up exposed to deeply toxic beliefs.

[56:08] Broader Context

• The panel links the Fuentes phenomenon to broader social failures:
  • Mark: “You have an education system that tells boys they need to be more like girls or there’s something wrong with them. So of course Nick Fuentes is appealing to them.” (56:08)
  • The group unanimously agrees: society must do more to offer constructive outlets and policies for young men.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Mark (on Jack Schlossberg’s candidacy):
  • “Will he be a player in this? … His name will give him a chance.” (44:18)
• Sean (about young men and Nick Fuentes):
  • “Young men in particular are buying in on the solution because ... the media can’t be trusted and politicians lie to us, and so, better him than us. And that’s where people have got to stop...not addressing it.” (57:06)
• Dan (on boys and the Fuentes effect):
  • “I worry about … a casualness and then almost an acceptance to this kind of crazy talk about blacks and Jews…They all know who Nick Fuentes is.” (54:47)
• Mark (on Newsom’s candidacy):
  • “He’s galloping ahead. He’s galloping ahead.” (37:16)
• Mark (on the Epstein emails):
  • “This is new...we’ve never known what had any window into what Epstein thought about Trump's awareness of what he did.” (15:02)
• Sean (on manufactured scandals):
  • “When you tell them they cheat and steal, they go, yeah, we already knew that. You’re just adding more details to what they presume to know.” (13:35)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:07: Introduction of Jack Schlossberg and NY-12 race
• 09:50: Analysis of government shutdown deal; healthcare wins?
• 12:10: Breaking news: New Epstein-Trump emails
• 16:45: Healthcare affordability discussion, Republican messaging
• 32:31: Infighting and media leaks against top Trump aides
• 37:16: Newsom’s prospects in 2028 and party coalescence
• 42:40: Schlossberg’s campaign video critique
• 48:24: Listener Q&A begins (Trump’s library, VP funerals, the Fuentes phenomenon)
• 51:30: In-depth discussion on Nick Fuentes, masculinity, and young men in politics
• 57:06: Panel consensus on the need to proactively reclaim young men from toxic online influences

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Tone and Language

The episode skillfully blends insider media savvy, wit, and sincere concern for political—and cultural—efficacy. The hosts challenge each other but let all views breathe, with a conversational yet pointed style. Listener questions are treated openly, with a willingness to go deep and get personal, particularly on the issue of young men, masculinity, and politics.

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Summary

This episode spotlights the ongoing political battles over healthcare and affordability, the inside baseball of Trump-world infighting, and the questions surrounding presidential and congressional hopefuls in both parties. Most notably, it addresses the pressing—and culturally complicated—phenomenon of why so many young men are drawn to extremist online figures like Nick Fuentes, tracing the issue to deep feelings of alienation, institutional failure, and lack of positive alternatives.

The 2WAY team puts a premium on not just reporting, but making sense of the day’s news through sharp analysis and frank discussion—with plenty of jokes and self-aware asides anchoring the conversation.

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For more in-depth takes or to participate live, tune in to the next 2WAY Morning Meeting weekdays at 9AM.

Transcript

[Mark]

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[Susan]

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[Dan]

Start your season with savings only at K. Exclusions apply. See kay.com exclusions for details. This is it. The world as you know it is over. Completely done.

[Brian]

It's not about to be over.

[Dan]

It's over.

[Sean]

Some of the scientists who helped build AI are, are now sounding the alarm. I was selling AI as a great thing for decades and I was wrong. I was wrong. There is a longer term existential threat that will arise when we create digital beings that are more intelligent than ourselves. We have no idea whether we can stay in control. While others say that AI will usher.

[Mark]

In unfathomable abundance, I've always believed that.

[Sean]

It'S going to be the most important.

[Mark]

Invention that humanity will ever make. 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.

[Mark]

Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. Be afraid. Ladies and gentlemen, that young man would like to be my congressman. We'll discuss him and his 5,000 word love letter from Maureen Dow today, his interview on msnbc, his second, third and fourth names, and his prospects for winning. Dan, you've raised money for a Kennedy offspring where I started. Yeah, yeah, that's Jack Schlossberg who wants to replace Jerry Nadler in a very crowded primary. You basically represent the heart of Manhattan. You go just to the edge of Harlem and then downtown, but it's all of the east side and the. All of west side. So he'd be your congressman too, right?

[Dan]

Correct. Yes, he would.

[Mark]

So you and I are going to be going to a lot of town halls with that guy. I'm not sure. Like in Central park, maybe at the band shell.

[Dan]

Dan, I think they're going to be on TikTok. That's where we're going to do them.

[Mark]

Will he be able to raise a lot of money?

[Dan]

He will not have a problem raising money.

[Mark]

He will not.

[Dan]

He will not. But I think he will not have a problem with either low dollar or high dollar. That that family has people who will write to them through thick and thin.

[Mark]

Yeah. Sean, who's your favorite living Kennedy and your favorite dead Kennedy? That's a reference to the band. Of course.

[Sean]

I'm going to go living rfk. Yeah.

[Mark]

And dead, you know, could also be rfk.

[Sean]

Now I'm gonna go Jackie. And for those who wondering, I. We Have a church in Newport, Rhode Island. St. Mary's that is where Jackie and JFK were married. So I'm looking at it from a nostalgia standpoint only.

[Mark]

Yeah, I know we have a lot to get to. Do you want to hear my one Jackie O. Story the one time I met her?

[Sean]

I do.

[Mark]

I would. I was. I was covering Clinton, Bill Clinton. He was running for president. He was doing a fundraiser in Manhattan and it was at some rich person's house and Jackie was said to be attending. So everybody was all excited. And I was in the pool, we were standing outside with the camera crew and I was doing other stuff. You know, I wasn't watching comings and goings. Totally. And at some point the cameraman grabbed me by the shoulder and I looked up and there was Jackie out. Never seen her in person and she wasn't that far away from me and. And I screamed. I've never done that. I was just so shocked to see. I went and. Very nice. She came over to see if I was okay. It was a little.

[Sean]

What did everyone else think?

[Mark]

Oh, they thought I was ridiculous. They all laughed at me for a week. But I screamed. I screamed and frightened Mrs. Onassis and. And it's all on camera. But I'm not showing the video today. Anyway, thank you for being here. This is the morning meeting based on Network News division's morning meetings which when I worked at ABC I used to attend every day. Bureaus from around the world report in what's going to happen coming up in that day and comment about it and sort of plan their day. That's what this show is based on. But it's surprise twist. You get to participate. If you're here in the two way platform would like to be part of it. Please raise your hand if you're watching on x or on YouTube. We have chat. You can go in there running comment. Oh Mark, that was such a cute Jack. Yeah story. Dan, I love your fairway and green baby blue outfit. That's great. But no smack in the chat. See that's what we're trying to do here. Peace, love and understanding. Presumption of grace to all. Just don't put smack in the chat. It couldn't be more basic. We all are wearing our beautiful fairway and green merch today. Sean, I particularly like yours. Did you sleep in that?

[Sean]

No, but I will sleep on the plane on the way back with it. So I haven't yet.

[Mark]

Do you want to share anything about your evening?

[Sean]

Look, I'm just saying we talk about how America can heal. Tom Bergeron and I shared a moment last night that shows if we can get along, America can't tell folks who.

[Mark]

Don'T know where you are. Where were you last night?

[Sean]

I'm in Los Angeles. Last night was the 20th anniversary celebration, birthday, some called it, of Dancing with the stars. It's 29 seasons, but a couple of those occurred from spring to fall. So it was the 29th year since dancing with the Stars was launched. And it was amazing. I mean, folks from season one. I met Wayne Newton for the first time. We got a nice selfie. There were athletes, musicians and notable people that.

[Mark]

Was there a gift bag.

[Sean]

You know, Mark, I am the king of swag. And there was no swag on the way out budget.

[Dan]

All right.

[Mark]

Damn it.

[Sean]

No, no, no. I just don't think it's a. I didn't think it was a thing. There was a. It was unbelievably well done. But no swag on the way out.

[Mark]

All right, well, happy anniversary. Quick word from one of our sponsors and then we'll run through the day book. We'll get right to your, your news of the day. And again, a lot of great clips. One of the sponsors for the program today, friends at Chef IQ, go to chefiq.com promo code 2 WMM. 30% off. Thanksgiving's coming up. You can be a little stressed. Is the turkey gonna come out all right? And you certainly don't wanna spend your entire time obsessing over the turkey. So the folks at Chef IQ have an idea for you. Put your wireless cooking thermometer right in there. Takes the guesswork away. You write on the app. You may check the app when you're not on Polymarket or, or YouTube TV. It gives you a sense of everything. When to flip it, when to turn it off, when to take it out, even how long to let it rest at the end. No more peaking, no more dried out turkey, just perfectly cooked meat every time. And it works on more than turkey. Steaks, chicken, fish, everything, whatever you're doing. Plus it makes the ultimate gift. So if you're looking to buy something for somebody for the holidays who loves to cook or wants to learn to cook, go to chefiq.com use the promo code T2WMM. Promo code 2WMM. The number two two way morning meeting for your 30% off discount. All right, the president's schedule today, he's not doing much, but there is a Caroline Levitt briefing, which I think we'll all be looking forward to. One o'. Clock. The President's having dinner tonight. They call it a private dinner, but the jig is up, thanks to my friend Jennifer Jacobs of CBS News and her colleagues who report that this is for the kings of finance. Jamie Dimon, the head of the Nasdaq and others invited. So this is the finance CEOs on the heels of the last month, the tech CEOs outside. It's a nice day in Washington, I believe based on my iPhone's weather app. So.

[Dan]

Well, you know, if I were Gavin Newsom, I would do some dinners with regular people. Yeah, contrast every time he does this.

[Mark]

Brilliant idea, brilliant idea. And then Caroline brief at 1. So we'll see what's on everybody's mind there. Probably some healthcare, which we'll talk about in a minute. There's a big MAHA summit in Washington today. Speakers include the vice president of the United States and also Bobby Kennedy is speaking. That's all going on all day in D.C. marco Rubio is in Ontario with his counterparts from the G7. The house is back, ladies and gentlemen. By the end of the day, they're expected to vote for the final passage of the minibus, probably right around the time Two way tonight is on this evening. Hakeem Jeffries, two o' clock press conference. Mike Johnson is sharing, sharing, swearing in at 4 o'.

[Susan]

Clock.

[Mark]

The gentlelady from Arizona who says that one of her top priorities is to is to vote for the sign the discharge petition on Jeffrey Epstein Supreme Court's hearing. A couple cases today, one involving sentencing of an alleged murderer and another on sentencing laws. Gavin Newsom continues on in Brazil for day three of the COP30 summit. And Chris Murphy, who some view as a potential presidential candidate, is in the great state of New Hampshire meeting with Granite Staters that have fabled the fabled St. Anselm Institute of Politics. That's at 7:00 tonight. All right. We start with the aftermath of the the Senate vote ending the government shutdown before they sent the legislation over to the House. They're now a school of thought from Joe Scarborough, my friend and others who say and the Washington Post and New York Times both wrote pieces about this, who say this was actually a huge win for the Democrats. Bernie Sanders is wrong. All the interest groups are wrong. This is huge because it's put health care front and center and it set the Republicans up for massive defeat. Dan, how do you do you subscribe to that school of thought? And if not, why not?

[Dan]

I mean, to some extent, which is why I've said it for two months. I mean, I've always Said this, that health care, if you could just isolate that issue, which is kind of where we are coming out of this. And affordability, it is in the big picture in the long run, a win. What is not a win is if you just look at what they were trying to do, which is say, we'll only reopen the government if you do A, you know, A or B, A and B. And they did not. In that sense, it is a loss because ultimately, where the other side is, is they feel like after the Tuesday elections, with Trump saying that the shutdown is hurting us Republicans and polling showing that we were up, the other school is, hey, like, we were about to break them. Now the other side says, like, okay, so how long were we going to wait? Like a month, two months? And all the real pain that was going to happen. So I do think that is, you know, Joe and others are not wrong, but the party's got to stop the circular firing squad.

[Mark]

Sean, why does Bernie Sanders see this differently than Dan and Joe?

[Sean]

Because he's actually living in reality. I mean, this is the equivalent of when you get broken up by your girlfriend and all your buddies, go, dude, you need to see. You need to see other people anyway, like, this is so. I mean, anybody who thinks that this was like, if you're a Democrat, I agree with Dan. Strategically, you get to move on to the real fight. But the reality is you caved, you lost, you got nothing for it after 41 days. And so, I mean, I get why they're putting the sugarcoating this, but the reality is they got dumped.

[Dan]

Well, I don't, I don't fully agree with that because we're going to get to the headlines. It's all about health care and affordability. Right.

[Sean]

But here's my.

[Dan]

That's because of this. That was not. That was not there prior to the shutdown.

[Sean]

Yes. So tell me what's different between this and. Let's just call it 30 days ago, the offer on the table was the.

[Dan]

Same, but that's the bigger issue now is the public is all talking about health care. If you look in surveys, it's a top four issue. Now it was a top four issue. It was not. It was not. In the summer, we were talking about crime, we were talking about immigration. I mean, it was not right doge over the spring, like it is now front and center as we head into the midterms. So in that regard, sorry, I got.

[Mark]

To stop because there's breaking news from the New York Times regarding Jeffrey Epstein. I'll read you from their exclusive story, House Democrats on Wednesday released emails in which Jeffrey Epstein wrote that President Trump had, quote, spent hours at my house with one of Mr. Epstein's victims. Among other messages that suggested the convicted sex offender believed Mr. Trump knew more about his abuse than he has acknowledged. Mr. Trump has emphatically denied any involvement. He has said that he and Mr. Epstein were once friendly but had a falling out. But Democrats in the House Oversight Committee said the emails, which they selected from thousands of pages of documents received by their panel, raised news questions about the relationship between the two men. In one of the messages, Mr. Epstein flatly asserted that Mr. Trump, quote, knew about the girls, many of whom were later found by investigators to have been underage. In another, Mr. Epstein pondered how to address questions from the news media about their relationship as Mr. Trump was becoming a national political figure. Sure to come up at the briefing today, Dan. And the time says that White House hasn't responded. Dan, thoughts?

[Dan]

We were talking about health care up until, I mean, this is, we've always said this. Anytime there's new information, it brings the story back to light. And so you're going to have this and then the vote, it's just going to feed the. What, you know, what, what might be behind the curtain.

[Mark]

Sean, what will this do to the debate over disclosure?

[Dan]

Zero.

[Mark]

Zero.

[Sean]

Look, there's two things about sort of quote, unquote scandals. One is if people believe what they believe. So people generally believe that most people in politics are scoundrels and, and cheat and steal and do everything. So when you tell them they cheat and steal, they go, yeah, we already knew that. You're just adding more details to what they presume to know. Secondly, I don't think there's anything that I've seen so far come out about Epstein that is, is relatively new. It's conjecture at best. So I don't think, I mean, I think it puts it back in the headlines for a day or two, but I don't think anybody that is going to wake up and go, you got to see how shocked I am.

[Mark]

Right? Well, if these are authentic, let me just read you the one. This is an exchange between Epstein and Maxwell from April of 2000 of 2011. Epstein writes, I want you to realize that the dog that hasn't barked is Trump. And remember in 2011, Trump was thinking about running for president. So I think that's the context of this. I want you to realize that the dog that hasn't barked is Trump. He added that an unnamed victim, quote, spent hours at my house with Him. He's never once been mentioned. And Maxwell replies, I've been thinking about that.

[Sean]

I mean, and at best, it's two people.

[Mark]

This is new. This is new where it's two people.

[Dan]

At the center of the story. Like.

[Sean]

Yeah, no, no, I mean, look, I'm just saying that you have two people. So when, when the White House pushes back, Mark mentioned, Caroline's gonna have a briefing today and say, okay, one's a convicted felon, the other one's dead.

[Mark]

Right. Let me ask you this. Contemporaneous. If they're authentic. Again, the reason this is new and potentially significant, just maybe stating the obvious, is we've never known what had any window into what Epstein thought about Trump's awareness of what he did.

[Dan]

We've never had one of the people still alive, one of the people sitting in prison and one of the people getting some preferential treatment, and one of.

[Mark]

The people has unfettered pardon power.

[Dan]

Exactly. I think we'll hear a little more about this because by the way, we had a falling out. Doesn't mean none of this is not true. Yeah, Just means we're falling out.

[Mark]

I don't see them. I don't see them talking about in cable yet, but we'll watch for that.

[Sean]

All right, that's. That's. By the way, that is the, the thing that's going to. Could change the trajectory of this story is if he pardons or commutes the sentence, which I think a commutation of the sentence is a bigger. Is probably the more likely. I think people will go nuts.

[Mark]

You've said that consistently, and I've really resonated with me because I don't doubt that you're right, but I still think he's going to do it. Then particularly.

[Sean]

I'm not convinced that he won't. But I'll tell you, it's interesting. You know, we talked about Tucker and Nick Fuentes, and I keep picking at that scab, so to speak, where I'm like, I ask people. I know when you talk about Epstein with MAGA people, for some reason, that gets their ire up.

[Mark]

Yeah. I think he's going to commute her sentence and then Musk is going to send her into space on a rocket.

[Dan]

Because it's like, is the plane gonna crash?

[Mark]

Isn't she in a prison in Texas now? Yeah. And isn't that where Musk launches his rockets from?

[Dan]

It is.

[Mark]

No one else is connected.

[Sean]

He's got his own town, too. Yeah, he makes her mayor first, but.

[Mark]

Exactly. Let's go back to talking about health care and the economy. Big focus on affordability and, and the question of can the president by the midterms, they say promises made, promises kept, general affordability and then particularly on health care. Everybody been talking about these two stories about in the New York Times, the Washington Post about how maybe the Democrats won, quoting the president's own pollster from a relatively recent memo saying Republicans better get their arms around health care costs or there'll be a price to pay in the congressional races. Here is the, here is Harry Anton of cnn. My friend, such a busy guy, he can't apparently find time to shave before going on TV talking about the president's affordability. Political crisis, not the crisis for America's working families.

[Harry]

Hey there, Laura. Look, Donald Trump might be trying to downplay voters concerns about affordability, but I'm here to tell you that is a ginormous error. It may be an error that goes down in political infamy. Why do I say that? Well, the reason Donald Trump was elected was to fix the problem of inflation. Right back in October of 2024, who is more trust in inflation? It was Donald Trump by nine points over Kamala Harris. But look at where we are today. Donald Trump is underwater with the Titanic when it comes to inflation. His net approval rating is 26 points underwater. My goodness gracious. Now I know Donald Trump, when things aren't going his way, wants to pass the political buck. He might try and throw it back at Joe Biden's face, the former president. That simply put, will not work. The American people don't buy it because get this, more responsible for the current economy, Trump or Biden? We're talking 54%. The clear majority of voters say Donald Trump's more responsible for the current economy than just 20, 21% who say Joe Biden. I will note I've seen this in poll after poll after poll, more folks saying Trump is responsible than Biden.

[Mark]

Okay. Of course, one thing, and I'll say with affection about my friend Harry is no one on TV could more be replaced by AI than Harry because his shtick is just so, it's just so, it's so signature. All right, here is the secretary Steve.

[Sean]

Kornacki of exactly cnn.

[Mark]

Here's, here's a, here's secretary of treasury who's hanging out in New York. Haven't heard from him yet. But he's here because he's been on TV two days in a row. Here he is on the curvy couch on Fox and Friends explaining how he's going to bring prices down by growing bananas or importing bananas.

[Brian]

What products are you working on bringing down? We know that certain products are down, certain up, like for example, coffee. The president says, I'm going to lower the rates, tariff rates on Brazil and Vietnam and other places to try to bring the price of coffee down. What else do you do? Well, it's tough to do a lot of specific things, but I can tell you, Brian, you're going to see substantial announcements over the next couple of days in terms of things we don't grow here in the United States. You know, coffee, coffee being one of them, bananas, other fruits, things like that. So that, that will bring the prices down very quickly, very quickly.

[Mark]

So the Secretary of Treasury and his colleagues in that building and at the White House, they're working on housing prices, they're working on food prices, they're working on health care. Here is their colleague Mr. Emmer, the Republican whip in the House, talking about health care costs on fox and friends. Also110 how do you confront the health.

[Brian]

Care problem by January 30th? And that is Obamacare unaffordable. But still the American people want a practical answer. This is the whole point, Brian. Mike Johnson is not making any commitments other than Republicans in the, in the House. And we believe Republicans in the Senate and our great President Donald J. Trump are committed to fixing the problem that Democrats created. They created the Affordable Care Act. They're the only ones. It's their law. It's the law of the land. They like to call it Obamacare because I think it distracts people from the problem that they have created the Unaffordable Care Act. Since it was created, Brian, health care costs have gone out. 80% for the average family. 800. Yeah, 80% for the average family. You just, it's not affordable. And to throw more money at insurance companies who are gorging themselves at this trough of disgust is not the right answer. The answer is reform the system. Create more transparency, more choice, more competition. That's what Republicans are about. You got to fix the problem. You don't just keep throwing good money after bad.

[Mark]

Sean, I was accused by some of our community of badgering your friend Hogan last night on Two Way Tonight because I asked him 20 or 30 times, I didn't lost count. What's, what's the president's plan for lowering health care costs? And Hogan, you know, said, you know, a variety of things that were non responsive. What, what is the White House going to do between now and January and State of the Union and then between now and the midterms to lower the costs of things including health care.

[Dan]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Mark, I don't know why Hogan didn't do that. The simple answer is that our president Donald J. Trump will continue to fight for the American people.

[Mark]

He tried that. That was, that was one of his 30 answers. Yeah.

[Sean]

What. How did he end? Because I can go there.

[Mark]

How did he end? His last one. His last one is. Mark, stop badgering me. Why, why isn't the two way community coming to my defense?

[Harry]

Yeah.

[Sean]

So again, I'll just say that our president, Donald J. Trump was is he going to have unanimously elected by every American. He won every battleground, everybody straight by.

[Mark]

It wasn't, wasn't even close.

[Sean]

Really wasn't even close. Is the greatest lands.

[Mark]

People are, people are saying it was the greatest lands that SEAN, will there.

[Dan]

2 point margin in the history of.

[Mark]

Will there, will there be a plan to lower health care costs that the president announces and House and Senate Republicans say this is our plan or are they just going to just say Obamacare is horrible?

[Sean]

Well, so there's two separate things here. I think the team is probably working with the president to highlight additional areas where he is or can bring down costs of goods. The problem with, with Besant's answer goes back to what we've talked about many times. When you use this is why you know, certain things matter. You used ipa, an emergency declaration to say that we have a trade war. You can't then go in. And my understanding at least is then carve out certain other saying except for, except for, except for. That would have been what you should have done using trade mechanisms. So you can go in and use sectoral dispute mechanisms like A328 and said we're going after this sector, this sector, this sector. It would have taken longer, but it would have avoided sort of a rifle shot of every sector. And so I know some people pooh, poohed what Secretary Bassett said, but he, he was smart. Like from a litigation standpoint, you don't want the court to start saying, okay, well we could carve out certain pieces because that would go against the, the nature of what the emergency powers gave him. The president has to do two things. One is, as I said, acknowledge the fact that things are going down but they're not where they were and that he's going to continue to fight for them and then pick out some, maybe some small things that he can do that are impactful. So he's done that with prescription drugs, gas. I, I've never believed that politicians have a huge factor that. But he can at least point to it because you get blamed for it. So you might as well take credit for it. Talk about interest rates. But they need to make that part of their lexicon, which is, we're not done yet. We have more work to be done. We're on the right track. That's got to be part of the messaging piece of it. And then the mechanics piece of it is figure out a couple sectoral areas where you can make more of an impact and be very loud about that.

[Mark]

Dan, I expect Josh Jack Schlossberg to campaign in my falafel shop and rail against $2.50 falafel balls.

[Dan]

Yep.

[Harry]

Yeah.

[Dan]

No, I mean, look, I, the, the problem they have with saying that we inherited the mess is they made the mess with, with tariffs and uncertainty. If you just list.

[Sean]

Oh, no, no, the mess was there.

[Dan]

No, they have made it so much worse with tariffs. And go listen to every earnings call. Go listen to every small business executive, chamber of commerce, trade association, same thing. Tariffs, uncertainty from the chaos, tariff. So the problem is when Trump said, one, Trump doesn't do empathy and we haven't done enough, just not in his lexicon, winning. And we got it. It's easy. Are his two, like, you know, modus operandi. So to me, the problem is, I agree with you, Sean. You need to do some stuff. But when you start saying we're going to give exemptions on tariffs, like, you know what Democrats can say? Bring the whole damn thing down.

[Mark]

Yeah. Let me ask you guys, let me guys ask you a question. If the president called in Susie Wiles and Scott Bessant and Stephen Miller and said we need to, I'm convinced now that we need to address affordability and coverage. The two, the twin challenges of health care. And I want to have in the State of the Union a specific proposal that Republicans can rally around that, that would, that would extend coverage and make health care more affordable. Health care coverage more affordable. What would that process look like? Would they be able to do that? There are a lot of ideas.

[Dan]

It's called a Republican civil war.

[Jack Schlossberg]

No.

[Dan]

Okay. It costs money. Cost money. So Trumpcare 2 trillion, 3 trillion.

[Mark]

Well, but what if they just, what if they just, what if they just do a bunch of private sector, you know, free market things, you know, sell, sell across state lines, medical savings accounts.

[Dan]

It doesn't change the fact that you're going to buy. So let's say I set up the account, okay, I'm now going to go and buy private insurance. On the open private insurance market, they're not bending the cost. I need a pool of people. The problem the insurers have, I got pretty good knowledge on this is they don't want sick people.

[Mark]

Right.

[Dan]

Because they cost a lot of money.

[Mark]

They cost all the money.

[Dan]

They cost all the money. So Americans are unhealthy. Americans go to the doctor and take pills for, you know, 15,000 different things. And so the problem is if you're going to give Americans the money to then go shop, to go do that, you're not touching any of that stuff. So if, if Trump comes forward to State of the Union, if they were going to really fix this, it would take a year and a half of serious negotiation bringing in all the interest groups. The idea that they're going to put something forward as maybe they'll just make it a holding place to say, guess what?

[Mark]

I have a pretty good understanding of what Donald Trump thinks about a lot of things, but not as good as yours. I don't have a sense he has any understanding of, not any, I don't get a sense that he has like a Clinton esque understanding of how the healthcare system works and that he's not that interested in it. Is that true?

[Sean]

I think he's got a lot more than we probably believe. I mean it is much more capital capitalism centered in the sense that, now you may say that's simplistic, but, but I think he understands the bigger, broader question because when we literally got elected, that was our number one agenda item that we didn't were hit. But. So those were the big discussions back then, I will tell you. And at least consistent with what he has truthed out this, the thing about healthcare that I find fascinating is everyone knows it's going up, but a good chunk of people don't have to deal with it. And here's what I mean by that. If you get your insurance from your employer, which is what most people get, you might hear them, the HR department, whine or complain or make up comment about, but it doesn't really touch you.

[Dan]

Because your percentage, except for deductibles going up.

[Mark]

Right, but there's nothing you can do about it except.

[Sean]

Correct. But, but, so, so we hear about it, but the vast majority of Americans get their insurance from an employer that doesn't pass the cost onto them.

[Mark]

Right, but let me, let me, Sorry.

[Sean]

So I just, all I was going to say is no, no, true. And again, as someone who literally pays, I can tell you I get it. And what, what I think the President should do. And that's why it gets to your. Your question, which is a lot of this comes down to just pure messaging and saying, here's what we're doing. Because for the most part, people aren't going to touch it, feel it, have to experience it. So you just have to. It's like a Clinton thing. Feel their pain, talk about something that's real. And I think that, for example, the President, consistent with what he's truth out, should announce an expansion of health savings accounts. How much more we can put towards them to pay for out of pocket costs, whether you have a plan or not, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think that would help actually drive down some costs. But secondly, it would make Americans feel like they're doing something and give a good talking point to the White House.

[Mark]

Yeah. All right. We've got like seven topics I want to get through, so we're going to just wrap it around the rest of them. Unfortunately, I wish we could do more and then we'll get to your questions. So please raise your hand if you'd like to get in the conversation. So. Well, I got to do a quick ad. Cozy Earth. Got another email last night from one of you thanking me profusely, saying two pairs of. Of pants and love them. Love the pants. She bought the same ones. Sean, what are the name of the pants you have that you love so much?

[Sean]

Oh, the bamboo. The bamboo joggers.

[Mark]

No, no, the joggers. The joggers. She bought two pairs of joggers. She loves them. Uh, go right now. You want to save a fortune. Uh, believe it or not, 40 off everything on the site. Go to code.com promo code mark for 40% off the entire site. The jogger pants, the towels, the blankets, the bubble cuddle.

[Sean]

Mark, Mark, I got to say this.

[Harry]

You.

[Sean]

You got me hooked on the pants.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Sean]

Specifically the bamboo joggers. So I'm going to tell everyone this. My thing is you got to get that bamboo eye mask. It's. There's two eye masks that they sell. The bamboo one. Amazing.

[Mark]

It's so comfortable.

[Dan]

I mean, not just an eye mask on the plane.

[Sean]

No, I can't. Not, not.

[Jack Schlossberg]

It's.

[Sean]

I can see that would I have. I'd rather do this because the mask.

[Mark]

The masks are good too. We're at the ones you love in luxury with Cozy Earth. Go right now. Again, cozyearth.com promo code.

[Harry]

Mark.

[Mark]

40% off. All right. When there's a hit job opposition research dump on a. On a Trump government official. It's one of two Things are a combination. It's either deep state bureaucrats who are hostile who talk to friendly reporters in the Washington Post, New York Times and Wall Street Journal and say how horrible that official is, or sometimes it's from inside the house. It's a MAGA person in the government who wants to get that person out. So two stories, both in the Wall Street Journal today, going after two leading officials in the administration. One, Cash Patel, number 108. Here's the headline, Cash Patel's effing wild ride. As FBI director in just one week in October, he ticked off his bosses with premature comments about a terror investigation and squeezed in a trip to the boondoggle ranch on a government jet. Now he has to fly in government jets, that's the law. But he's been taking a number of personal trips. So that's one story. And if you read the blind quotes in there, hard to know who they're from. But it does say people at the, as the subhead says, there are people in the White House who are not, who have not been pleased. Bill Pulte, the housing czar, that's what I call him. He, he's pissed people off at the White House over his getting the president to promote a 50 year mortgage. Here's the headline also from the Journal, Fannie Mae watchdog probe probed how Pulte obtained mortgage records of key Democrats. And this story says that the Pulte fired the investigators, the in house investigators who were probing his own conduct in this question of how exactly did he figure out these, these mortgage alleged mortgage violations for Letitia James and others. He claims he just got them through normal course of business. But my quick question after that big setup, Sean, is are these two officials being targeted by friendly fire or are they being targeted by the deep state or is it a combination?

[Sean]

Can you put the cash one back up? Sure, yeah.

[Mark]

Put, put that back up. Number 108, please.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Thank you.

[Sean]

I'm just looking at the evidence, your honor. Yeah, I can't see the byline on that one. So, so the byline is what is my greatest tell. So on the second one on the Pulte one, Brian Schwartz, longtime White House reporter, CNN reporter. That, that tells me he is the lead person on that. Somebody inside leaked that to Brian to go after Bill and there's no surprise. The 50 year leaked mortgage plan from every account obviously was bills. So I think that's clearly, I, you know we're using the term friendly fire. I think that the cash is one as well. Without even seeing the byline I, I think is, is that as well.

[Dan]

Actually, I think four, four authors on this one.

[Mark]

Sadie Gurman, Anna Viswanatha and Jack Gillum.

[Sean]

Okay, there you go. So Jack Gillum is the investigative reporter and Josh Dawsey, longtime White House reporter. So those, those two tells say one, the cash story was a White House plant and the cash one was a DOJ one. So I, I can almost tell you how they played out by who wrote the stories. They're both, you know, bread on red stories. Somebody not liking the tactics of both of them coming after him. The problem with one of these, or both of these rather, is, at least from everything I know, is that the President really approves of how both of them are conducting their jobs. They're pit bulls. They're going after the other side. And so I think that they were red on red, but they were sort of misfires. They shot the wrong target.

[Mark]

Both stories seem to suggest the White House is unhappy. Dan, do you read those pieces as warning shots or you think one or both of them could be gone?

[Dan]

I think it's warning shots. But, you know, I trust Sean More and I know there's, in both stories it says Trump's been a little peeved at, but doesn't seem to indicate a real, I mean, just when you read it, you just shake your head. I mean, the fact that Cash Patel has numerous times spoken too early on X and impacted investigations even beyond the private jet travel to visit his girlfriend, which I'm sure does piss Trump off. It just looks bad and he knows it. Yeah, I think Pulte, I mean, you keep firing IGs who are investigating you. I mean, it just whether it's him or other people, I still wonder how the heck he got it.

[Sean]

And boy, you know, there's a great new book out.

[Dan]

I think some of these guys are going to resign.

[Sean]

No, no, no, no, no.

[Dan]

I think they'll get ahead of the curve.

[Sean]

So there's a great book out, I haven't read it yet by Gary Walters, who is the longest serving White House chief usher. And there's a quote that he's put out in some of the press reports that say, I always got a kick out of the fact that the White House talks. Right? So when someone says the FBI is not happy with someone or the Pentagon's pissed, it's always a person, Right. And so the question is the White House isn't pissed. I think certain people in the White House are pissed probably because of certain things. But I will tell you, the only person in the White House that matters, I think, really approves of how both of those guys are carrying out their job.

[Mark]

Right. Okay. So again, another Epstein email. I'm gonna read, and we gotta go quick, but I'm just gonna read this to you. And this raises the stakes even more because I'm sure Caroline will say today, I'm pretty sure that this is false, but Maxwell now will want to be heard from because. And entered the character of Michael Wolf, writer. I don't say journalist writer. Michael Wolf, one of Sean's favorites. Michael Wolff, writer, in an email in 2019. So Trump's president at this point, 2019, from Michael. From Epstein to Michael Wolf, quote, trump said he asked me to resign. Meaning from Mar? A Lago. Trump has said he asked him to quit the club. Never member, ever. Of course, he knew about the girls as he asked Jelaine to stop. So. So he's asserting that Trump said to Maxwell, you guys need to stop doing this stuff. So maybe Maxwell will deny it, too, and that'll be that. But that ups the stakes. All right, gentlemen, we got to move quickly. We're going to skip some Topics. Gavin Newsom, 28. The only thing I'm going to say about it is today is the day I'm officially changing my position. I didn't think Gavin Newsom was gonna run, but what's happening? The press is treating him like a de facto nominee, and the rest of the field is so weak, and no one's slowing him down. I'm now saying that despite his reservations, his family's reservations, and the scrutiny that's going to destroy much of his family's privacy and relationship to the known universe. Now, I think he's going to run because this is just too overwhelming. He's galloping ahead. He's galloping ahead.

[Dan]

I don't know, Mark. The only thing I'm going to say in that is he's winning the shadow primary, but you don't see polling evidence yet that he's pulling white 100. But.

[Mark]

But people are gonna call us. People are gonna call donors. He's going to be able to raise. Raise money in all three categories like nobody else.

[Sean]

If you saw the 2000, 2004 movie, he is the Dem. George W. Bush. They're gonna coalesce around him.

[Mark]

Cork on a raging river.

[Dan]

Y. Maybe. Yeah, maybe.

[Mark]

Although Bush had a lot of challengers who were pretty good, including John McCain. There's nobody of McCain's level.

[Dan]

But here's the thing, though, guys. He does not have the basis. Is. Is like enamored but they're not fully in love, 100%. So that he still has an Achilles.

[Mark]

100%. Now, who will his vice presidential nominee be, Mickey? Mikey Sherrill. This is an extraordinary memo. Go to Politico, read the whole thing, put this up. It's like a seven page memo from her campaign manager that is just. They pretend it's advice for midterm candidates, but this is. Look at the campaign we ran. We can do this for president. It's an extraordinary thing. I've seen memos like this. Never one at this level of detail. How they did social media, how they appealed to different constituencies, how they perform demographically and geographically. It says it's Mikey Sheryl's battle plan. The subject line reads, how we won New Jersey. But Dan, this is just basically back to what you were with the first report that her team is ready for her to run national in 2028, even though she just got elected.

[Dan]

Yeah. And you know what's so fascinating is watching her versus Spanberger because you have two media markets, D.C. and New York. Spanberger's more head down, announcing her cabinet picks and kind of getting ready to govern. Cheryl is, you know, not shy. And so I still think have to see if I bump into people here in the neighborhood. She's thinking about it.

[Susan]

Yeah.

[Mark]

100. It's an incredible memo. Incredible. Sean, would she, let's say she ran. Would she be formidable?

[Sean]

Oh, I think so, yeah. Why not? I mean, look, she's got a great resume. She stuck to message, had a good margin. I mean, the narrative is what matters. Right? And that's the thing, is that people text me all the time. I can't believe you said this about Gavin Newsom or that about Pete Buttigieg. The bottom line is I'm not, I don't support any of these people. But it's like when you're the. If you're a good coach, you look at an opposing team and say, are they. Is this going to be a tough game?

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Sean]

And I think that Mikey Sheryl would. She's very appealing. She's got a great resume. And I think that, you know, the key for her is going to be that first month. She talked about what they call it, Reggie, in, in New Jersey, the, the energy regulator. Does she actually. If she can get some good wins under her belt in the first 30 days, she's a very attractive candidate. She's well spoken. I, I think I would, you know, and again, it's a state. I know it's not a real swing state, but I Think that you can buy into the press narrative and say, you know, New Jersey was potentially going in. I mean, so she's got a good narrative to jump on.

[Mark]

Newsom Cheryl versus Vance Rubio. That's a slugfest.

[Dan]

I wanted to say. I agree with you, Sean. She's got to get off to a strong foot, because what she can't have is because the press corps is sitting there in New York City. If her coalition starts splintering and you're getting unions complaining about, like it'll just collapse before it starts. She needs the chirping to be positive with that New York media.

[Sean]

Well, I'll take it one step further, Dan. She needs media. And, and what I mean by that is, you know, I've done a couple races in New Jersey, and there's. There's a Trenton press corps that's like four people. And, and so you're. You're jammed between New York and Philly. So she's got to keep that profile up. How do you get on msnbc? How do you get out there? So this is going to be a. This is. And it's, it's not easy because Trenton's, you know, not in direct proximity of New York. Yeah, but, but my point is, is that you need to say to your team, I need to be on Morning Joe, you know, two mornings a week. I need to go on these CNN programs. But, but in all seriousness, that's got to be a priority because I think some governors would say, hey, I. Let's get, you know, 60 days under our belt. She's got to make sure she's got a great press team that's understands that. That that's got to be. Her profile's got to be maintained.

[Mark]

Yeah. All right.

[Harry]

Mom.

[Mark]

Donovan.

[Dan]

Mom.

[Mark]

Donnie did an interview with Melissa Russo of Channel 4 in which she said, are you going to talk to call Trump? And he said, I'm going to call the White House. So we're not going to play it because we're short of time. Dan or Sean first, who will he.

[Harry]

Who will he.

[Mark]

Will he. When he calls, maybe staff will call first. When he talks to white official, who will the first White House official he talks to be? Will it be the president? Susie Wiles, the head of intergovernmental Affairs. Who do you think he'll talk to first?

[Sean]

Susie Wiles will be the first call, and then they will announce a subsequent call with the President.

[Mark]

I agree with that. Dan, you want to dissent? Okay.

[Dan]

Or. Or could it be a meeting?

[Sean]

Yeah, I don't think that he wants to Meet with the guy in person. Yeah, because he gets to walk out and hit the sticks and talk to the media. So I would do a phone call with him. Keep it contained.

[Mark]

Right. All right. I just. We got to play this. Play, play. 116. This is a. This is a Jack Slashberg's announcement video. And. And tell me if you think the. The poor audio with the wind in the background is charming or a sign that they don't know what they're doing. Roll this, please.

[Jack Schlossberg]

My name is Jack Schlossberg, and I'm running for Congress to represent my home, New York's 12th congressional district, where I was born and raised, where I took the bus to school every single day. From one side of the district to the other. This is the best part of the greatest city on earth. We have the best hospitals and schools, restaurants and museums, the financial and media.

[Mark]

Capital, best morning shows.

[Jack Schlossberg]

This district should have a representative who can harness the creativity and drive of this district and translate that into political power in Washington. I'm not running because I have all the answers to our problems. I'm running because the people of New York 12 do. I want to listen to your struggles. Come on over, hear your stories, amplify your voice, go to Washington and execute on your behalf. There is nowhere I'd rather be than in the arena fighting for my hometown. Over the next eight months, during the course of this campaign, I hope to meet as many of you as I can. If you see me on the street, please say hello. I will knock on your door. I hope we can have a conversation.

[Mark]

Nah, you gotta get by the door, man.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Personal.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Jack Schlossberg]

Thanks, Morty.

[Sean]

New York is the place of opportunities.

[Mark]

It's a weird thing. The whole thing's weird. Here's my question again. You got to read the Maureen down PC if you haven't read it. He was. They did a long interview with MSNBC is also worth watching if you're interested in Dan. Will he be a player in this. In this primary? It's a very crowded. The front runner is Nadler's chosen successor, who's a longtime operative and elected official. Will he be a player in this? Will he. Will he be.

[Dan]

He could. Because he is not shy on social media, the question always with the Kennedys, whether it's Kathleen, Mark, others, is, do you have the fire in your belly and the grit and the determination to go and get it? Because the problem with these kids often is whenever the going gets tough, somebody else opens the door for them and helps them to tell they've all Grown up. And so I want to see if he can really get out there and hustle and be nimble and be innovative and scrap. He has a chance. His name will give him a chance.

[Mark]

Sean, you impressed with it?

[Sean]

No, the people of New York will not. Look.

[Mark]

I thought if we had time, I would play a Mayor Quimby clip.

[Sean]

The funny thing about this, and by the way, just as context for a while, was represented by Patrick Kennedy in Rhode Island's 1st congressional district when he was a student at Providence College after. Well, anyway. But the reality is, is that I think, to Dan's point, he has an opportunity. What I thought was interesting about the video is this. Mondami just gave you the playbook. He. He handed it over and said, this is how you can do good social media videos. He. It was inauthentic. It was poorly produced, as you point out, because you could. I mean, and so to me, it was like somebody just said, he, here's how to do this. And he went, no, no, I don't need to read that. I can do it myself. And I just, I think that was a tell to me that you didn't take the time to see how the guy right before you did that. Another real pet peeve of mine is no one gives a crap what your district is. No one knows what district they live in. So he should have just said New York. You know, I did it like, I think the 12th district.

[Mark]

Us folks in the fighting 12th, we have a lot of pride, really. We all wear T shirts to say.

[Sean]

We gotta get fairway and green.

[Mark]

Don't. Don't mess with.

[Sean]

Don't mess with this.

[Mark]

Don't mess with 12th. All right, we'll see.

[Stephen]

I don't know.

[Mark]

He's just. Again, I see. I don't read the chat, but I glance it. He's. He's JFK's only grandson. He's Caroline Kennedy. Who, Who? John. John's sister, who was ambassador to Japan. He's her son. And he's. He's anti rfk. He does not like rfkj. He's. He's. He's. He's been at war with him and he deleted a social media post in which he made fun of him. But he's in good standing with most of the family, I will say. And his cousin was a complicated. And his cousin was on the white Lotus. And again, read the Marine piece. All right, quick, quick. Another quick sponsor word. And then to your questions, please raise your hand. If you've never raised your hand. Today's the Day. Uh, Poncho. Our friends at Poncho Outdoors want to allow you to get $10 off your first order and free shipping by going to ponchooutdoors.com 2wmm they've got you covered with denims and flannels and all sorts of new styles. It's stuff that's soft, broken and feel from the time you unpack it. It's good weight, it's comfortable all day, and it pairs well with anything. They're built for comfort. Again, just you put them on and they're ready to go and they're great to layer as it starts to get colder. The other day I literally wore three different things from my friends at Poncho. Wick sweat dries fast, ready for the outdoors. And right now, gear up for fall. Every piece built for comfort, performance lasting style. Free shipping. $10 off your first order. Go to ponchooutdoors.com 2wmm and when the pop up comes up and they say, how'd you hear about this? Just put in Dan Turntine 2 Rs 1 end. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[Dan]

All right, Poncho.

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[Mark]

Here we go. Susan, welcome in. Thank you for being part of two way Unmute. Tell folks where you are what's on your mind.

[Susan]

For Sean and Dan, thanks for calling on me. I don't always watch live, so I have a couple of comments and I hope that y' all make comments on them. Number one, when Trump is designing his presidential library, I hope he makes a room for Charlie Kirk there and all that.

[Dan]

Oh, good call.

[Sean]

Wow, that's great.

[Susan]

Should go in that room because they all say he was part of why a main part of why Trump won. And that would also bring lots of young people to the library.

[Dan]

That's genius.

[Susan]

Okay. On Sean, start texting the people White House with that idea. The second thing is when Chaney died, y' all said all the vice presidents would go there and would J.D. vance go? I'm wondering, will Harris go?

[Dan]

Oh, good, good, good.

[Mark]

Yeah. I mean, because because of Liz, she.

[Dan]

Probably would and so did he.

[Mark]

Yeah.

[Susan]

And my next one is Tucker and Nick Tucker is trying to catch up with Joe. Joe Rogan, who has 20.4 million. Tucker only has 4.98 million subscribers. He's just trying to get controversial people on there so people will watch and like. And subscribe.

[Dan]

I mean, I wouldn't say only 4 million, but. Yeah.

[Mark]

Yeah. All right, Susan. Thank you, Sean. Anything on that?

[Stephen]

Yeah.

[Sean]

In order. Great call on the library. 2. Fantastic. For a million reasons. It's a great comment and idea. On the library, if you don't mind, Susan, I'm going to. My text just says I had an idea. So respectfully, just know that Susan Goldman will be behind that. But. And then. I'm sorry, on the Tucker and Rogan. Yeah. On the tuck. Oh, on the Harris thing, I think you're right. She'll go for what, Mark's reason. There's a, there's actually more than just the historical traditional reason that there's a, you know, he did a video urging people to vote for Harris because of his daughter Liz. So I think he'll. He'll go for that reason as well. And then on the, on the Tucker thing, look, I've known Tucker a long time, and I will tell you, I, I don't think Tucker does things for ratings. He, Tucker doesn't actually probably care more than anybody about ratings or opinions. He. He does what Tucker does. And, and that's the thing that people have to understand is that you may agree or disagree with something that Tucker Carlson does, but as long as I've known them, the guy's really never cared about what anyone else thinks. He does what he wants to do and what he believes is right and just does it. And that's. That's who he is.

[Susan]

Good to know. And Dan and Sean, y' all will be missed.

[Sean]

Thank you.

[Susan]

Thank you.

[Mark]

Thank you, Susan. Grateful to you. Thank you. Stephen, welcome in. Thanks for being part of Two Way. Tell folks who don't know where you are what's on your mind.

[Stephen]

I am in Oklahoma City by way of Dallas, Texas. I'm traveling for business. But I watched a piece that you did this morning when I was doing a run mark on that article written by the young man that was reporting on his son's sort of emasculation in the elementary school band tryout.

[Mark]

Stephen's referring to my. One of my things I talked about on Next up, a long tweet from a guy who, who's. Who believes, as many people I know do that the way young men are treated in schools can often turn them towards things like being interested in Nick Fuentes. It's more complicated than that, but that's what he's referring to.

[Susan]

Yeah.

[Stephen]

I recommend everybody go listen to it. It's about 11, 12 minutes.

[Susan]

It's great.

[Mark]

Thank you, sir.

[Stephen]

I want to. Absolutely. I want to add to something to that. You guys have been talking about the Groipers and Nick Fuen, and people have been, you know, arguing about the Tucker. Nick Fuentes piece. I don't know who's actually listened to it. And I. I think that if you go and listen to it, I'm not arguing for these gripers or for Nick Fuentes, but Nick makes a lot of sense with a lot of things he says, and there's a lot of that tied around a bunch of stuff people don't want to hear. And I'm not necessarily advocating for that standpoint, but sometimes the truth hurts. And then you take the truth and then you. You kind of add your own little bit of, you know, narcissistic racism into it, you know what I mean? And it starts to sound real ugly. Go ahead.

[Mark]

Well, you're saying something complicated, and we're all. We're all going to weigh in. I mean, you know, you can say sensible things 9 out of 10, but if you say something as offensive as support for Hitler, you know, I think it's. I think it's a. It's. It's maybe wouldn't be the way I would frame it to say, well, he says some good things, so whatever about the other stuff. And I'm not for many people. Well, yeah, but, but I understand, no doubt. And again, I appreciate the honesty with which you bring to this. I just don't want to be passive in telling you what I think about it. Which is. Which is. And what I said. What I said and what you listen to is the most important thing to me is to not say Tucker, what Tucker did, or whatever. The most important thing is to say, why are young men, including some people who serve in the. In this administration, who work on Capitol Hill, why are they so interested in him? And how do we. How do we bring them back? And. And a lot of the things he says I shouldn't say a lot. Some of the things he says are perfectly sensible. I understand why people find them appealing. There's nothing wrong with it. The problem is he says things that are disqualifyingly offensive. He shouldn't be. He shouldn't be banned. But it's so dangerous for these young men to follow him and think, well, that thing he said really makes a lot of sense. So now I'm going on the gateway drug to, to listen to his point of view on Hitler. Oh, I get it. Yeah, I get it.

[Stephen]

What I was alluding to, just really quickly, I'll make my point, I'll get off, is that you can dismiss him for being racist, but the reality of it is he gets billions of views across platforms.

[Mark]

But the answer to that is to not bow down to his market dominance. The answer to that is to rescue the young man away from him. Dan agreed.

[Stephen]

And you wrestled them away from him with sensible policies and pay attention to them. Yes, that was my point. People have been ignored for so long. 100 point to that.

[Susan]

Yeah.

[Mark]

Yes, sir. Thank you.

[Dan]

I have a lot of experience with this in our house because we have, we have four boys, all of whom are on social media between 12 and 16 over the last year at varying times. They have all come in multiple times to the dinner table and said, have you, do you know who Nick Fuentes is? Have you, have you seen this clip? And they play it for me as a, ha ha, it's so outrageous. This is hilarious. All my friends are like, you know, are sharing it, et cetera. And we have to have that conversation of, okay, what he's saying is outrageous. And they're like, yeah, but it's funny. And I, what I worry about is, brings a casualness and then almost an acceptance to this kind of crazy talk about, about blacks and Jews and, and you're just like, oh my God, these kids are having it trafficked all day long. They all know who Nick Fuentes is. Yeah, almost every teenage, teenage boy does on social media.

[Susan]

So.

[Stephen]

So from somebody on the left, I feel like so much of the Nick Fuentes stuff gains traction because when you take things like crime statistics and you alter them in Baltimore or in Washington D.C. and you do some of these things and you have, you know, a media that lies for the COVID up and the only person telling the truth about this.

[Mark]

And you have. And then Sean will get in and you have, as I talk in the monologue, and you have an education system that tells boys they need to be more like girls or there's something wrong with them.

[Brian]

Right.

[Mark]

So of course Nick Fuentes is appealing to them. No one should be surprised that he's appealing. But we have to bring the boys back so they can have crass humor and they can have jokes about race, but what they can't have is someone they love who celebrates Hitler. That's what they can't have agreed a thousand.

[Stephen]

Listen, I'm not advocating for Nick Fuentes, but I'm happy.

[Harry]

And I.

[Mark]

And I. And I'm looking in the chat, which I never do, and I see somebody put Nick Fuentes equal Howard Stern. As someone who was an earlier follower of Howard Stern, I'm telling you, no comparison. Offensive, racially tinged, etc. No, Howard Stern did not genuinely celebrate Hitler in order to get more popular. Agreed. It's not the same. All right, Sean, you. Sean, you want to pass here?

[Sean]

I. I think it's probably a strong career move. I just. I will say that the one thing that's interesting to me, Frank Luntz had this really good analysis back in the day about how to get people on your side, and he went, value, goal, solution. So you get people to agree with the overall value. We all want to live healthier lives. The goal is to bring down. And then once you've got them two thirds of the way, then the solution. I think, and I'll be honest with you, I think today after the talk, I want to go hear that. I've never listened to the interview because I just didn't, but I'll go do it because I want better context. And I think that's what some people are pulling out of the fontest thing, which is, you know, he shared this big value, then he talked about the solution and then the goal, and then he went to a solution. And I think that's the problem, is that young men in particular are buying in on the solution because of the aforementioned points that you made that, well, the media can't be trust and politicians lie to us, and so better him than us. And that's where people have got to stop letting that. Not addressing it. I think to Dan's point, if you have young kids, be. Be involved, talk about it and say, guys, here's what. Here's the step that's missing here. Like, because in the absence of that, that's why people think it's okay.

[Mark]

Yeah. And here's why Charlie Kirk was so superior to Fuentes. Charlie saw that economics was a huge part of this. These young men, they want jobs. They want to be able to buy a house. They don't see that's possible. Charlie said, well, let's work on that. Let's give them faith and let's give them economic hope by trying to find policies that would help them. Fuentes is just a. He's just a salesman. He's just. He's just selling. Selling anger and hatred and ridicule and pro Nazi positions. And again, go listen to next up, I won't repeat everything I said. I got to sneak in one more ad from our folks at Lean. If you want to lose weight the right way, no fad diets, no juice cleanses, none of Sean's famous cabbage soup or raw food. Go to go go to takelean.com go to takelean.com 20 off the entire site with the promo code 2 WMM. Avoid weight cycling where you lose weight, gain weight, lose weight, gain weight. It's very unhealthy. Lean was created by doctors. It's not an injectable, one of those GLP1 injectables. It's science backed to allow you to maintain healthy blood sugar levels, control appetite and cravings and burn fat by converting it to energy. So if you're looking to lose weight in a meaningful and safe way, try this. Lean worked for many healthy pace of weight loss allowing you to keep it off. Add lean to your diet and exercise lifestyle. Go to takelean.com use the promo code 2WMM for 20 off your order. Again takelean.com promo code 2WMM thank you for your attention to that matter. Sean, what do you have tonight?

[Sean]

Well, speaking of this discussion, it leads right into the discussion I'm going to have with Marjorie Taylor Greene on a lot of these subjects.

[Mark]

I look forward to hearing what she say about the emails.

[Sean]

Yeah. So we're going to talk about that. Talk a little Epstein. And obviously she's been very critical of the president's agenda and what he's spending his time on. And then Kevin Hearn, who's a very, very outspoken and principled conservative about the way forward on spending and health care and all that kind of stuff.

[Mark]

Let me ask my the producers, did Megan's guests change from what I was told this morning? Megan McCain, did her guests change?

[Dan]

Well, she said what's her name?

[Mark]

At least they did. Okay. Well she does not. That's changed. Okay. Her guest Megan, Megan McCain on Citizen McCain guests at noon Eastern Time today. Nikki Schwab, the Daily Mail I'll be doing two way tonight, this evening at 5:00 clock on the two way platform. So if you want to join to ask questions, Please join at 5 o'clock to watch the show live. It'll stream on YouTube at 6 o'. Clock. My guest, Jaime Moore, Democratic strategist, and Jessica Anderson of the Sentinel Action Fund will be my guest and we'll talk all about the Epstein reaction, the House movement on the government shutdown and then of course everything that comes out of Caroline's briefing we'll see at 5 o' clock on the two way platform for that at 6 o' clock stream on YouTube and then 7 here on the two way platform our friend Bridget Fedesy Real America with Bridget discusses AI. So join Bridget at 7 and all three of us will be back tomorrow in 23 hours right here for the morning meeting. Grateful to you all for being part of the community and we'd like to see more of you show up as we have in your fairway and green finery. So we'll see you at 9am and if you want to get a question in again best way to do that fairway and green apparel, cute dogs or cuter babies. Yeah that's the way to do it. Thank you all for watching. I will see everybody in 23 hours.

[Dan]

Are you on smokanish?

[Mark]

Can people go oh yeah I'm on Smerconish at @ right now. I'm on. See you there. Take care.