Next Up with Mark Halperin – "Dems in Disarray, Bari Takes Over CBS, Trump's Success Explained, & A Look Ahead at 2028: Mark's Most Memorable Reported Monologues of 2025"

Podcast: Next Up with Mark Halperin
Episode Date: December 30, 2025
Host: MK Media
Focus: Political analysis of the Democratic Party’s disarray, the rise of Donald Trump, Bari Weiss’s CBS News appointment, and implications for 2028

Overview

This episode features detailed monologues from Mark Halperin exploring the current state of the Democratic Party, lessons learned (and ignored) from recent elections, the appeal and methodology of Donald Trump, and the seismic shakeup in media caused by Bari Weiss being named Editor-in-Chief of CBS News. Halperin synthesizes voices from both within and outside the Democratic Party, critiques legacy media, and maps out connections between Trump's unconventional leadership style and his ongoing success. He also offers a pointed critique of the Democratic Party’s inability to self-reflect or adapt as 2028 looms.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The State of the Democratic Party: Disarray, Denial, and Divisions

[01:00–14:52]

• Party in Crisis: Halperin relays anxieties from a wide spectrum of Democrats—loyalists, defectors, and disaffected voices—who see the party as out of touch, lacking original ideas, and failing to grasp why their political fortunes have changed so dramatically.
• Failure to Self-Interrogate: A common refrain is the party's reluctance to "ask the right questions" and confront hard truths, especially in contrast to Trump’s approach.
• Media Enablers: Halperin criticizes "the dominant media" for shielding the party from tough questions, allowing them to remain "in their blue bubble, not even asking the right questions, let alone trying to figure out the answers" ([01:55]).

Core Problems Identified (with speaker attribution):

• Far-Left Shift: "The Democratic Party has moved to the far left, farther left than it's been in our lifetimes, and that is a big part of the challenge the party faces..." – Political Strategist, [02:15]
• Lack of Original Ideas and Leadership: "You think about where do they stand on the economy, where do they stand on tariffs, where do they stand on immigration, education? The lack of original ideas Democrats say is a big problem. Lack of leaders in Congress who really are breaking through with the wider electorate. Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, not seen as strong leaders." – Political Commentator, [02:52]

Legacy Questions Avoided by Democrats:

• Why did Bobby Kennedy leave the Democratic Party and eventually support Trump?
• Why did the party ignore the political potency of issues like trans athletes in women's sports and border/immigration policy?
• Why was the nomination of Joe Biden handled so poorly, despite evidence of mental decline, and why did Kamala Harris lose to Trump?
• "There has to be a conversation about it." – Political Commentator, [06:40]

Notable Quotes:

• "How could a party commit that kind of malpractice?" – Political Strategist on ignoring Biden's decline, [07:54]
• “If you fail to grapple with it, you don’t have credibility with the public and you don’t understand the dynamics of the Democratic Party.” – Political Commentator, [08:56]

2. Present Day Questions Dems Must Confront

[09:22–14:52]

• Media Consumption & Echo Chambers: Democrats' continued consumption of partisan media keeps them isolated from political realities.
• Cultural and Demographic Tensions:
  • Gender dynamics—Are "strong men" welcomed in the party?
  • Speech—Is dissent branded too readily as "racism, misinformation, or fascism"?
  • Coalition Building: Deliberate exclusion of groups (e.g., Big Tech, some minorities) is weakening the party’s tent.
  • Voters Lost: Failure to address shifting support among Latinos, young voters, and working-class/union members, with young voters seeing the party as "not cool" ([13:49]).

Notable Quotes:

• "Democrats see an intolerance in the party for dissent, and they think that's not a good way to build a party." – Political Strategist, [11:28]
• "Being the working class party is a good thing to be in politics for all the obvious reasons. In terms of numbers, there's a lot of working class voters and yet Democrats haven't seemed to find a way to have that conversation." – Political Commentator, [14:42]

3. Trump’s Decision-Making Formula: The Seven Rules

[16:10–34:14]

Halperin lays out the seven rules by which Trump makes decisions as president—offering examples and archival audio to illustrate:

1. Consults Widely and Unconventionally

• "He's open minded about who to ask and he knows who to ask even if they're not the person with line authority." – Political Analyst, [16:22]

2. Student of History and Sports

• “He's a massive student of history... He's learned from [presidents] and informs his decision making.” – Political Analyst, [18:58]

• Clip: Trump riffing on presidents Polk and Eisenhower, demonstrating his unusual historical perspective ([17:59])

3. Makes No Decision Before Its Time

• “He just doesn't care. He does not make a decision until he absolutely has to, and sometimes not even then.” – Political Analyst, [20:18]

4. Matches Decision With the Problem

• “Trump matches each decision to whatever the specific is, doesn't feel hemmed in by either the simple, a good versus bad, moral, amoral, or I got to decide based on data. It's all situational.” – Political Analyst, [21:10]

5. Executes and Implements Relentlessly

• "For Trump, that's just the first step... He thinks of everything like it's a movie and he's the star of the movie." – Political Commentator, [22:43]

• Clip: Trump in East Palestine, OH: “We have told you loud and clear, you are not forgotten...” ([23:30])

6. Frames Decisions for the Media Himself

• "Trump wants to frame it himself. And he uses what is an unprecedented and masterful understanding of the media." – Political Analyst, [24:55]

• "He doesn't mind changing his mind... There's something about Trump, and the only other politician I've covered who plays at this level is Bill Clinton." – Political Analyst, [27:35]

7. Follows Instincts Above All

• “He has extraordinary instincts about human beings and he's very at peace when he makes a decision.” – Political Analyst, [29:01]

Memorable Commentary:

• “He understands the media and, and television production better than any president I've ever covered, probably better than anyone ever.” – Political Analyst, [28:11]

4. Bari Weiss Becomes Editor-in-Chief of CBS News: Why It Matters

[35:12–47:37]

• The Story: The appointment of Bari Weiss, founder of the Free Press and ex–NYT/Wall Street Journal journalist, as head of CBS News marks a watershed for legacy media. Significantly, CBS is also acquiring the Free Press.
• State of CBS: Once dominant, CBS News has been "somewhere between irrelevant and a joke...way too liberal and they've not been part of the conversation." – Political Commentator, [36:12]
• Bari's Breakout: Weiss built the Free Press into a multimillion dollar, talent-diverse journalistic venture after being "chased out" of the NYT by a "woke mob" ([40:09]). Her entrepreneurialism, focus on fact-based reporting, and embrace of controversial stories earned her major media attention.

Bari Weiss’s 10 Point Manifesto (as read by Halperin, [42:34]):

• Journalism that reports on the world as it actually is...
• Journalism that is fair, fearless, and factual...
• Journalism that respects our audience enough to tell the truth plainly...
• ... (and so forth through 10 principles)

Industry Reaction:

• Staff Anxiety: "People are using words like depressing and doomsday. It feels like some sort of doomsday." (CBS staffer quoted in The Independent, [42:49])
• Critics on the Left: Figures like Walker Bragman and Nicole Hannah-Jones blast the hire as "a travesty" or “totally unqualified” ([44:03, 45:32]). Keith Olbermann calls Weiss “the dumbest person in America” and says Murrow, Cronkite and even Katie Couric would "deny they ever worked there" ([46:08]).
• Halperin’s Take: “The irony of all these criticisms is so rich… Barry Weiss coming in. Rather than freaking out, they should be celebrating.” – Political Commentator, [47:09]

5. Explaining the Trump Surge and Dem Decline—A Framework for the Past Decade

[50:08–65:32]

• Three Analytical Lenses: How people interpret Trump’s success: denial (Trump is a failure), MAGA triumphalism (Trump’s brilliance), or a nuanced institutional and attitudinal explanation.
• Substantive Trump Accomplishments: Beyond election victories, Trump has produced results that have shifted paradigms for border/immigration, global trade/tariffs, downsizing bureaucracy, and restructuring NATO.
  • “Trump has created a spectacle, but he's also shifted the paradigm on what it takes to close the border and how effective it can be.” – Political Analyst, [52:08]
  • “He wants to re engineer global trade by leveraging the US Market and other American advantages…” – Political Analyst, [52:44]
• Party Failure to Adapt: Democrats, Halperin argues, emphasize Trump’s missteps but never honestly appraise or confront the sources of their own decline—including failing to capture or adjust to shifts in public opinion on crime, migration, gender, and class.
• Contrast with Rest of West: In other Western democracies, left-wing parties have declined, but the U.S. Democrats have suffered especially from Trump’s unique political skill.
• Self-Silencing on Achievements: Democrats privately praise Trump initiatives (Abraham Accords, border, etc.) but won’t do so publicly, fearing their activist base.

Notable Quotes:

• “If you think Trump is a bad political athlete, you're making a mistake. Trump has lots of unpopular policy positions, but he knows how to mitigate them better than the Democrats know how to mitigate theirs.” – Political Analyst, [65:32]
• “Trying to block Bernie Sanders from winning the nomination in 2016 and 2020, trying to keep Bobby Kennedy off the ballot, lawfare against Trump... The core of the list is being on the right side of the issues that matter to the American people.” – Political Commentator, [65:58]
• “This party continues to struggle. And the clock ticks. The clock ticks. They're still more in denial and justification mode than they are in thinking anew. And they're up against a guy in Donald Trump, even though he's a lame duck, who understands this dynamic exactly.” – Political Commentator, [66:25]

Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• “The real problem they see is the party has its head in the sand. Enabled by the people in what I call the dominant media...” — Political Strategist, [01:34]
• “How could a party commit that kind of malpractice?” — Political Strategist, [07:54]
• “Being the working class party is a good thing to be in politics for all the obvious reasons. In terms of numbers, there's a lot of working class voters and yet Democrats haven't seemed to find a way to have that conversation.” – Political Commentator, [14:42]
• “He understands the media and television production better than any president I've ever covered, probably better than anyone ever.” — Political Analyst on Trump, [28:11]
• “Barry, zero news experience. No, actually, Barry has lots of news experience. And the proof is in the pudding. Barry has built in three years, a very successful news organization that breaks the mold, changes the terms of the debate.” — Political Commentator, [45:32]
• “If the Democrats can't figure out how to lead with being tough in 2028, whoever the Republicans nominate... will make mincemeat of the Democrats.” — Political Analyst, [59:05]
• “This party continues to struggle. And the clock ticks... They're still more in denial and justification mode than they are in thinking anew. And they're up against a guy in Donald Trump...who understands this dynamic exactly.” — Political Commentator, [66:25]

Timeline of Significant Segments

• 01:00–07:25: Listing and analyzing self-inflicted wounds and unaddressed questions for Democrats post-2024
• 09:22–14:52: Real-time existential questions confronting the party: media, speech, coalition-building, demographics
• 16:10–34:14: Deep dive: Trump’s seven rules for presidential decision making
• 35:12–47:37: Bari Weiss and the CBS News revolution: legacy media in flux
• 50:08–66:25: Linking Trump's rise to Democratic decline, with global context and 2028 outlook

Tone and Final Thoughts

Mark Halperin provides an unvarnished, reporting-heavy critique of the Democratic Party’s weaknesses, the structural and strategic advantages that Trump brings, and the resistance faced by change agents in media (like Bari Weiss). His tone is analytical, sometimes wry, impatient with partisan platitudes on both sides, and insistent on rigorous, uncomfortable self-examination—above all for Democrats contemplating the road to 2028.

Listeners seeking a sweeping analysis of US politics, media change, and 2028’s early battle lines will find this episode bracing, deeply reported, and unflinching in its warnings for the center-left—and illuminating for those interested in how Trump’s political style continues to bend American politics to his will.