Dems in Decline, Newsom's Bizarre Trump Troll Attempt, and Truth About DC Crime, with Halperin, Spicer, and Turrentine

20 Aug 2025 · 1 h 42 min · 37 chapters

Ask about this episode

Ask anything about it. ChatGPT or Claude reads this page and answers with the times it was said.

Connect VO and ask about every podcast you hear, including the moments you saved. Add to ChatGPT · Add to Claude

In short

The episode argues Democrats are losing voter registration and political momentum (especially among men and younger voters), discusses why, and critiques Democratic messaging and “mechanics” (ground game/resources). It also covers Gavin Newsom’s strategy of posting Trump-style mockery online, and debates whether that helps. A brief mention ties to DC crime/policing and a “Smithsonian crackdown” reference.

Guests (backgrounds)

  • Mark Halperin: long-time political journalist; host of Next Up.
  • Sean Spicer: former White House press secretary; co-host of the Morning Meeting on Two Way.
  • Dan Turrentine: political commentator/strategist; co-host of the Morning Meeting on Two Way.

Key claims

  • Voter registration erosion is steady from 2020–2024, not just caused by Trump.
  • Democrats lack both “message” and “mechanics,” plus resources to register voters at scale.
  • Republicans’ machine and technology for re-registering voters outmatch Democrats’ efforts.
  • Democrats’ “woke” positioning and DEI are said to alienate men and working-class voters.
  • Newsom’s Trump-trolling on X/TikTok is portrayed as energizing Democrats and filling a leadership void, though some doubt it can translate into votes.

Notable examples

  • New York Times analysis: Democrats lose ground in 30 party-tracking states; North Carolina advantage shrank from ~400,000 (2020) to ~17,000 (2024).
  • Pennsylvania advantage drops from ~286,283 to ~174,723 (Nov 2024).
  • Miami-Dade: GOP active voters surpass Democrats after Trump’s nomination; Florida statewide swing ~1.2 million.
  • Newsom mockery posts: Mount Rushmore “wow” all-caps; Kid Rock “Deez Nuts” reply; “Nancy Mace” mislabeling Scott Pressler; “Just Dance Vance” map-war mockery.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Political Climate Overview

1:42 to 3:13

Discussion on the current state of American politics and the Democratic Party's challenges.

“And for one of our guests who really cares about this, it's pretty alarming.”

Political Climate Overview

3:16 to 3:29

Discussion on the current state of American politics and the Democratic Party's challenges.

“And if you get the post-purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about it right here because your bed should not just be a place to sleep, it should be your happy place.”

Voter Registration Crisis

3:29 to 9:48

Analyzing the decline in Democratic voter registrations and its implications.

“Okay, so there's a lot to go over, but I really kind of want to start with this New York Times piece, Out of Power.”

Challenges for the Democratic Party

9:48 to 14:01

Discussing the message and mechanical issues facing the Democratic Party and its voter base.

“I think all that's reflected in these numbers.”

Democrats and Voter Registration Trends

14:01 to 16:58

The conversation explores the changing dynamics of voter registration among young minorities and the implications for the Democratic Party.

“I mean, Democrats thought that the Obama coalition, they used to call it the coalition of the ascendant.”

The Impact of Trump on Voter Dynamics

16:59 to 21:36

Discussion on how Donald Trump's presence has influenced voter registrations and perceptions of the Democratic Party.

“Statewide in Florida, 1.2 million voters swing flipped from Dem to Republican.”

Democratic Party's Messaging Failures

21:37 to 25:56

An analysis of the Democratic Party's lack of cohesive messaging and its failure to connect with traditional voter bases.

“But and we've seen it accelerate in a lot of these states when Trump came back on the stage.”

Democrats' Cultural and Economic Disconnect

25:57 to 28:04

Examination of the cultural and economic factors driving voters away from the Democratic Party, including recent actions and stunts.

“And the fundamental point that I made before is two problems, message and mechanics, and they've got neither.”

Political Strategies and Target Demographics

28:04 to 29:06

Learn about the challenges Democrats face in appealing to diverse voter demographics.

“This joy that I have The world didn't give it to me The world didn't give it The world can't take it away You know, Megan, the morning meeting's been testing out some opening songs.”

The Role of Charismatic Leaders

29:06 to 31:30

Explore the importance of charismatic leadership in bridging political divides.

“They can't ignore these people's passion.”
Show all 37 chapters

Gavin Newsom's Political Positioning

31:30 to 32:56

Discuss Gavin Newsom's rise in political stature and his strategies against Trump.

“But let's talk about generational politicians.”

Newsom's Social Media Strategy

32:56 to 35:38

Analyze how Gavin Newsom's social media tactics aim to engage voters.

“And I don't believe most of them would have a clue about how to do it.”

Reactions to Newsom's Approach

35:38 to 39:39

Examine the mixed reactions to Gavin Newsom's tactics from political commentators.

“This has led to a split amongst some on whether this is an effective strategy.”

Debate on Effective Political Tactics

39:39 to 42:06

Engage in a debate about the effectiveness of emulating Trump's tactics in Democratic strategy.

“You might want to look at those transcripts.”

Newsom's Strategy and Democratic Challenges

42:06 to 45:42

Discussion about Gavin Newsom's political strategy and the challenges faced by Democrats.

“They're elevating Newsom to an equal that we feel like when you speak, we need to go after you.”

Trump's Influence on Politics

45:43 to 51:11

Analyzing Trump's lasting influence and the need for Democrats to focus on real issues.

“What about people thinking of running for president?”

Trump's Influence on Politics

51:32 to 52:19

Analyzing Trump's lasting influence and the need for Democrats to focus on real issues.

“I've been talking a lot lately about Riverbend Ranch, and that's because I love their steaks.”

Critique of Abby Phillip's Commentary

52:31 to 56:00

Discussion on Abby Phillip's comments and the media's treatment of political guests.

“And now, the next chapter of the Serta Counting Sheep.”

Critique of Media Guests and Discussions

56:00 to 1:04:36

A discussion about the responsibility and reactions of media personalities towards their guests' controversial views.

“I'll give you—let's just do what she said about Jillian Michaels first, top four.”

Slavery and Historical Focus in Media

1:04:36 to 1:09:26

An analysis of how media discussions around slavery might overlook broader American achievements.

“not the liberation of Europe and the saving the free world, not the defeat of communism in the 1980s.”

Protests and Crime in D.C.

1:09:26 to 1:10:01

An overview of current protests related to homelessness and crime in Washington, D.C.

“We got to switch gears because there's breaking news right now.”

Protests and Public Safety in D.C.

1:10:01 to 1:10:44

Discussion on the protests and the state of safety for residents in D.C.

“Literally like, is there a brigade of people waiting to rescue the homeless?”

Stephen Miller's Strong Stance

1:10:44 to 1:12:44

Stephen Miller addresses crime and homelessness in Washington, D.C.

“It's not like a jingle that stays in your head.”

Reflections on D.C. Crime Dynamics

1:12:44 to 1:14:16

Discussion on the rising crime in D.C. and the political response to it.

“Elderly, stupid, white hippies can go home.”

Safety Concerns in Urban Areas

1:14:16 to 1:15:48

Debate on urban safety and the perception of crime in Democrat-led cities.

“One, I used to live next to Union Station.”

Critique of Democratic Messaging

1:15:48 to 1:18:36

Analysis of how Democrats are addressing public safety and crime issues.

“I mean, to Dan's point, I put this out on Twitter the other day.”

MSNBC's Rebranding Controversy

1:18:36 to 1:21:40

Discussion on MSNBC's rebranding to 'MS Now' and its implications.

“They just again and again, not just on the wrong side of public opinion, not just on the wrong side of the politics, but on the wrong side of doing what's right for D.C.”

Criticism of Media Identity and Direction

1:21:40 to 1:24:09

Critique of MSNBC's new identity and direction following rebranding.

“this process needs to reevaluate the process in place to make decisions.”

The Decline of MSNBC

1:24:09 to 1:25:16

Discussion on the perceived decline of MSNBC and its implications.

“We can apply our own instincts, our own queries, our own priorities to getting stuff that we need from reporters and correspondents.”

Putin and Trump's Meeting

1:25:16 to 1:26:18

Analysis of the controversial meeting between President Trump and Putin.

“I just I didn't really want to be dating anyone anymore.”

The Evolving Situation in Ukraine

1:26:18 to 1:27:30

Discussion on the negotiations and challenges in the Ukraine conflict.

“up in Europe, he probably would be arrested.”

The Evolving Situation in Ukraine

1:29:07 to 1:30:04

Discussion on the negotiations and challenges in the Ukraine conflict.

“Take back control of your data with Incogni.”

Introducing Burna's Self-Defense Product

1:32:36 to 1:33:06

Discussion about the features and benefits of Burna's self-defense weapons.

“The idea is to give individuals a powerful way to defend themselves without resorting to deadly force.”

Personal Experiences with Self-Defense

1:33:06 to 1:35:06

Brian Gantz shares his personal experience that led to the creation of Burna.

“Brian, you really took one for the team there.”

Understanding Burna's Ammunition

1:35:06 to 1:38:00

Explains the types of ammunition used in Burna products and their effects.

“I was in a road rage incident, and there was a guy that was right on my bumper, and he was banging his horn.”

The Impact of Chemical Irritants

1:38:00 to 1:40:11

Learn about the effects and usage of chemical irritant projectiles in self-defense.

“And what this does is the pellets explode when they hit the person.”

Non-Lethal Options for Personal Safety

1:40:11 to 1:42:53

Discover the advantages of non-lethal weapons in protecting oneself without causing fatal harm.

“So just you pull it and that's enough to deter people.”
Hear the part that matters, and keep it.Open this episode in VO. Double tap your headphones to save a moment as you listen.
Get VO free

Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Join me, Cindy Lauper, with Chef Michelle Bernstein and Dr. Panico to talk about psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, the potential connection and risk of developing permanent joint damage. Cosentix Secukinumab is prescribed for adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis 300 mg dose and adults with active psoriatic arthritis 150 mg dose. Don't use if you're allergic to Cosentix. Before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur, like tuberculosis or other serious bacterial, fungal, or viral infections. Some are fatal. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms like fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or cough, had a vaccine or planned to, or if inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen.

0:47Serious allergic reactions and severe eczema-like skin reactions may occur. Learn more at 1-844-COSENTIX or cosentix.com slash Cindy.

1:24people at their best get their beauty rest for 100 years welcome to the megan kelly show live on sirius xm channel 111 every weekday at noon east

1:42hey everyone i'm megan kelly welcome to the megan kelly show and happy wednesday we've got a great show for you today beginning with the state of american politics with three guys who know it better than most, because there's something happening in America with the Democratic Party. And for one of our guests who really cares about this, it's pretty alarming. Meantime, the most prominent Democrats, like Governor Gavin Newsom, are behaving in some pretty bizarre ways while they try to fight Donald Trump, drawing the ire of some of their most famous media allies. Joining me now to discuss it all, Mark Halperin, host of Next Up on the MK Media Podcast Network, Sean Spicer and Dan Turrentine.

2:21Together, they are the hosts of the morning meeting on Two Way. You know how every home has that one spot that just calls to you all day? For many, it's your bed, it's your retreat, your recharging zone. Well, I want to tell you about Cozy Earth's bamboo sheets. And yes, bubble cuddle blanket. These bamboo sheets are unreal. They are soft. They're breathable. They keep you cool all night long. I've been using them all summer. They've been at every bed that my children or I have touched, and it's been a dream. You will sleep several degrees cooler, and you will wake up feeling refreshed, and they just get so soft.

3:00And the bubble cuddle blanket, this thing is like a hug in a blanket form. Faux fur, plush, midway, and cozy. There is a reason Cozy Earth gives you a 100-night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty, because once you try it, you're not going back. Go to CozyEarth.com and use my code MEGAN for up to 40 % off. That's CozyEarth.com, code MEGAN. And if you get the post-purchase survey, be sure to mention you heard about it right here because your bed should not just be a place to sleep, it should be your happy place. And CozyEarth makes that possible. Guys, welcome back. Great to see you. Thanks for having us.

3:35Good to be here, Megan. Thank you. Okay, so there's a lot to go over, but I really kind of want to start with this New York Times piece, Out of Power. Um, this hit today by Shane Goldmacher with Jonah Smith and is going on about the voter registration crisis that the Democrats are facing. The subhead is the party is bleeding support beyond the ballot box, according to a new analysis. And the highlights of this thing show as follows. While there are still more Democrats registered nationwide by or than Republicans, though they point out that's simply because in states like California, you can register by party, whereas in a lot of red states, you can't.

4:17So that's even questionable. They say, nonetheless, for the first time since 2018, more new voters nationwide chose to be Republicans than Democrats last year. Of the 30 states that track voter registration by political party, Democrats lost ground to Republicans in every single one between 2020 and 2024, and often by a lot. That four-year swing toward the Republicans adds up to 4.5 million voters, a deep political hole that could take years for Democrats to climb out from. It goes on to say all four presidential battleground states covered by the Times analysis, Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, all of them showed significant Democratic erosion.

5:11In North Carolina, Republicans erased roughly 95 percent of the registration advantage that Democrats held in the fall of 2020. They quote Michael Pruser, who tracks voter registration closely as the director of data science for Decision Desk HQ, an election analysis site, quote, I don't want to say the death cycle of the Democratic Party, but there seems to be no end to this. There is no silver lining. There is no cavalry coming across the hill. This is month after month, year after year. That's a red alarm for the Democrat Party. Five alarm fire, however you want to put it. And to me, it's very interesting because I don't think you can.

5:58I don't think this is all Trump. I, you know, support Donald Trump, but I don't think you can say he did this because the erosion was steady from 2020 to 2024, Mark Halperin, which tells me it's the Democrats that are causing the mass exodus. Your thoughts? Well, a little bit of both. I applaud The New York Times for finally writing this piece. I'm next month going to publish a story about the decline of network television news on the rise of YouTube. This has been going on for a long time. But this is not some breaking news. We were talking about it on Two Way last fall because the numbers were there.

6:36I think that it's partly the Democrats' woke weakness. It's partly Trump. But part of why this happened and why it's continued to happen is the Democrats and their allies in the media live in a blue bubble. This alarm should have been pulled, as my joke suggested, years ago, because it's been happening right before everybody's eyes. But because the press doesn't like to write negative stories about the Democrats, it's only now that they're saying, well, we better confront this because nothing really is being done to address it. As the story says, they don't really have a plan to fix it. Part of this is mechanics.

7:08Allies of President Trump were extremely professional and skillful using technology and blood, sweat and tears to re-register people, get people registered. But part of it is is not the mechanics. It's the reality that the Republican brand, partly Trump, has risen with groups that previously were Democratic leaning groups like younger people, young black men, young Hispanic men. But part of it is the Democratic brand, coupled with their lack of the mechanics, has really accelerated a trend that is, as the story says, it's not over. And the Democrats currently don't have a circuit breaker. the the steepest declines sean spicer have been in registrations among men and younger voters this doesn't surprise me at all especially the men and the democrats know it too now that they're spending 20 million dollars to try to learn how to speak to men like they should talk to me i'm speaking to three men right now it's easy it's very easy if you're just normal um but it's no surprise to me.

8:09And this cannot be easily fixed, like, oh, we'll get a male nominee or, oh, we'll start swearing more. What you need to do, I mean, among other things, is root out DEI at every level in this country because DEI at its heart demonizes men. And it leads to men being the fall guy at colleges and schools, K through 12, and men being the last now to get hired for jobs and the least likely to receive any sort of hand up really in any, in any category in America, which is why older men, middle-aged men, young men, teenage men are flocking to the Republican party. I'll just give, I'm just going to show you one thing before I give you the floor.

8:54This was on my, um, my feed last night. It jumped out at me. It was from, hold on a second. I wrote it down. The university this came from of these young guys, uh, stand by. Sigma Nu Fraternity, University of Missouri. This was from last November, but here is how they began recruiting. They're doing it again now because it's recruiting season for fraternities, but this is how they began recruiting one year ago right now. There was never any doubt. Gamble up. You're fired. All the guys are dressed like Trump, wearing the red MAGA hat. And doing the YMCA. Sean, that's relief. That's hope. That's we need Trump because we young men need Trump.

9:49I think all that's reflected in these numbers. Yeah. I mean, look, if you had told me when I started at the RNC in February of 2011 that we would be in the position now, I wouldn't believe it. I mean, from a data standpoint, a voter reg standpoint, to Mark's point, there's two big M's, message and mechanics. They don't have either. And they're suffering massively. Voter registration is inherently labor intensive and expensive. So it's something you've got to go out there, get people to either volunteer their time or knock on doors, target people. And all of the data that's extrapolated is critical in these in elections.

10:23So you know who to go to, what their voting history is, everything. So this is this is the secret sauce of winning elections is having people registered and then having voter history on them. And I'll give you just a handful of examples that you mentioned this. In Pennsylvania, Democrats in November of 2024, just a few months ago when the election was held, held a 3.1 voter registration, 286 ,283 more than Republicans. That is down a point in plus. They are now down to an advantage of 174 ,723. You look at North Carolina, another battleground state. Democrats had an advantage of 105 ,675 voters.

11:02They are down to 17 ,377, a critical battleground state Senate race coming up in a governor's race. These are going to be impactful in these next, not just the midterms, but in the subsequent presidential elections. And Democrats, as I said, have not just a message problem, to your point, about these guys at fraternities and older union workers who don't realize why maybe the union boss still supports the Democratic Party. But for cultural reasons, they've lost working men and women. But they also are going to have a mechanical problem that Mark alluded to, and it costs money. The financial advantage of Donald Trump and the RNC right now is just north of$300 million cash on hand.

11:41And the DNC has 13 million. It's not even a fair fight. And that's the bigger problem. They can't even even if they come to your point, if they came up with a message and started drinking beer and talking about like they would like women like Cindy Sweeney in their jeans. Keep going, Sean. No, they lack then the resources to implement it. So not only do they have a message, they don't have the resources to take care of the mechanical problem that exists to go out and register these voters. They are this could be the big divide that occurs. The DNC, by the way, and you alluded to this, but this is critical to understand.

12:18Under Obama organizing for America, they kind of shunned the DNC aside, built their own political organization, surrounded it around Barack Obama. And then when he was gone, you had a shelled out DNC. Biden really didn't do much to put it back on life support. And right now, Ken Martin, yes, they actually have a chair, but he is completely feckless and useless. So you now have a Democratic Party that doesn't have any functioning capabilities. The DNC is dead. And this is an unbelievable problem from where I started at the RNC,$25 million in debt, to now an RNC that is dwarfing their rival, the DNC.

12:54Dan, Maria Cardona, she's been around forever. I'm sorry, but Maria Cardona, what has she done? She hashtag part of the problem. She's quoted in here as saying we fell asleep at the switch. Not it, Maria. No, not it. The problems were glaring. They were all around you. Your party went insane and you encouraged it. You did nothing. It wasn't like you missed it. You loved it. You thought it was actually a winner to go woke and shove these messages down the throats of young people who are sick of being told how to think and talk and young men, too. And now you're bearing the fruit of your bad labor.

13:37They point out in The Times article, for years, the left has relied on a sprawling network of nonprofits which solicit donations from people whose identities they need not disclose to register black, Latino and younger voters. The underlying assumption has been most of those new voters would vote Democratic. And then they got burned. Cardona says in today's day and age, I guess you just can't register a young Latino or a young black voter and assume they're going to know that it's Democrats that have the best policies because they're flocking just like the rest of young people to Trump, to Team Red.

14:17Your thoughts, Dan? Megan, you're absolutely right. I mean, Democrats thought that the Obama coalition, they used to call it the coalition of the ascendant. It turns out it's the descendant. I mean, we as Mark mentioned, this has been going on now for years. We talked about this in 2022, 2023 and going into 2024. You saw these voter registration gaps narrowing and in some cases Republicans surpassing. Think about last October as as as Kamala Harris was slightly behind Trump. What was one of the things Democrats said? We have the ground game. We do this better than anybody else. It's what the party has kind of hung its hat on now going back to 2008.

14:59It turns out the Republicans have left so far ahead of us that we now have a serious problem. And as you were just alluding, the number of people who would say last year, we knocked on doors in Philadelphia, Atlanta, and said, are you going to vote? People would say, yes, the problem is it wasn't for Kamala Harris. It was for Donald Trump. And so, you know, as Sean said, it's a message and mechanics. We always talk about this, and I think you do, too. What issue do Democrats have that's an 80-20 issue for us? Right. Culturally, we remain totally disconnected. The party does not want to talk about this stuff.

15:33after the election, everyone was like, we need to make a bunch of changes. But there is still a fear within our leadership that if we start talking about this, they will be canceled. Even when you had Rahm Emanuel on, he almost apologized. He was like, I have to go to the witness protection program, which tells you how nervous they all remain. So I think the party has a lot of problems. And I'm glad it's now being talked about in places like the New York Times, where, as Mark said, in the blue bubble, this might be news. Here's what they say, Mark. They're talking about the flips in county registrations.

16:06Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which is one of the prettiest places on earth, man. You want to go someplace nice. Go to Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the fall, around Halloween. Have a glass of wine at the outdoor bar on the main drag there. Go for a little walk on the Erie Canal remnants in the back. It's beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. and historically split Dem Republican like much of Pennsylvania. This tilted Republican in registration for the first time since 2007. In the fall, Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry the county this century. They talk about what happened in Miami-Dade down in Florida, where the number of active Republican voters zoomed past Democrats months after Trump became the nominee.

16:54Democrats, as recently as November of 2020, outnumbered the GOP there by 200 ,000. The margin's totally gone. It's flipped the other way. Statewide in Florida, 1.2 million voters swing flipped from Dem to Republican. According to the Times analysis, North Carolina, they say, could be the next to tip. State records show the Democratic edge there down to less than 17 ,000 voters from 400 ,000 four years ago. Saying it again, the Dems had a 400 ,000 voter advantage in North Carolina in 2020. It's down to 17 ,000. And they point out Pennsylvania may be on deck. That's shocking. I mean, all these states, we were very worried.

17:41They don't mention Virginia, but like North Carolina, those of us who, you know, want Republicans to win. We're very worried about states like this going not just purple and swingy, but full blue, kind of like Virginia did. This is pumping the brakes on some of that, Mark. Yeah, look, again, hats off to The New York Times. I finally wrote the story. But think about if the shoe were on the other foot. Think about if the four years when Donald Trump was trying to retake the White House. Imagine the registration numbers move the other direction. OK, well, how would The New York Times have written that story?

18:12They'd say. And again, this is not a red state or blue state or purple state phenomena. It's coast to coast. The New York Times would say this is a repudiation of Donald Trump, that Americans are voting with their voter registration forms away from Donald Trump's Republican Party. What this story doesn't say, and again, as you said in the beginning, it's not all attributable to Donald Trump. But on his watch, when he was the unambiguous face of the Republican Party, the trend has been uniformly in the other direction. and mechanics matter. But part of what Donald Trump has done is built a much more formidable machine than the blue side has in both the government, in the official party apparatus and the allied group.

18:51So the Democrats, some of them, I've already talked to some about this story. They're saying, well, there's a Trump phenomenon. J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio are not going to be able to drive the same thing. I'm not so sure because again, it's a complicated, it doesn't make sense. It's a complicated, just look at, neither of us is good at math, I assume, because we're all in journalism. We came over here because we didn't have to do math. But all these numbers where the Democrats were reaching these peaks, there's 2020. So that wasn't about, you know, if that was about Trump, it was negative about Trump.

19:25The next four years is when they lost everybody, which to me says it was about Biden, Harris, Woketopia, George Floyd, COVID excesses, all of that. It's a lot about that. But look, what defines Donald Trump's time over the last decade, right, 2015 to 2025, is putting in sharper relief than any Republican or conservative or commentator has done all of the vulnerabilities the Democrats have on those issues, on woke issues, on immigration, on trans issues that many people in the country think have gone too far. I have to take you on this. He has exploited. I agree with you. Trump is our best. He's our greatest warrior on woke.

20:05I agree. However, I was there. I remember this podcast launched in September of 2020. And we were talking about the COVID excesses that we were talking about the George Floyd excesses in the EI nonstop. Trump was a non-factor other than Jay Sixth, which was hanging around Republicans' neck like an albatross. No one wanted to mention the name Donald Trump. It was associated with this very, very negative thing that the country hated. For two years, the storyline was not about Trump. It was about the Democrats who were literally ruining the country to the point where everyone felt like a boot was on the neck.

20:41And we were changing fundamentally, which helped lead to Trump's resurgence in that very boring launch he did at Mar-a-Lago, where I said I fell asleep and it was true. And then Trump got his mojo back bit by bit and remembered who he was. And we remembered what we loved about him and started making the case and Susie Wiles with the discipline and all that. But I'm telling you, I know, I know in my gut, these numbers are not about Trump. They are about Democrats. Well, you're right. For a period, it was not about Trump as much as it was 2015 to 2020. But again, to me, it's it's it's you can't disentangle them because even as he was repudiated, even after January 6th, Trump still put the Democratic Party in that box during his first term.

21:27So you're right. There's a period where Trump's not the visible face, but the phenomena of the Trump revolution against all this stuff. It's it's it's 10 years. There's some there's some lower points. But and we've seen it accelerate in a lot of these states when Trump came back on the stage. But you're right about that period. I disagree with you. I think Trump, here's where Trump came in. Trump's brand was very bad in 2020. It was very bad. And people were not openly wanting to associate with the Republican Party at that point. But here's what happened. The Democrats so embarrassed themselves, Dan, that people started to think, what's the alternative?

22:03Where do I go? And that's when Trump came back and then hit it at just the right time. Started saying all the right things in his rally speeches. started like being the big middle finger that he was first time around, though generally on different issues. He wasn't we weren't doing like the open woke thing as much from 15 to 20 as we were from 20 thereafter. And then they indicted Trump four times. Then they shot Trump once and tried to assassinate him a second time. All those things made it about Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump. and he became super cool and larger than life and made the Republican brand cool for once.

22:44Some people say, again, I say for once. I don't know if it was ever cool before that. And that's so that's where we are today. But I just think the Democrats, if they think, OK, Trump's going to leave and we'll be OK again, are completely wrong. They are in for quite an awakening because it's about much more than him. Look, I totally agree with you, Megan. And I actually think it could accelerate because Trump still has 48.5 % of the country that really dislikes him. They just like his personality, his style. J.D. Vance, let's assume that the likelihood that he's the nominee, he can talk MAGA with the best of them, but also can present a much more accessible and welcoming personality and family dynamic to voters.

23:33So he could end up polling even more people. Look, we are culturally disconnected. I think the other part that accelerated the transition is the economy. Remember, we were dismissive of inflation. Then Joe Biden spent two years telling everyone, you should be grateful because we're better than the rest of the world. And so I think we drove people away culturally. We've driven people away economically, you know, young black men, Latinos, what did they say in focus groups? We miss Trump's economy. It was better for me under him than Joe Biden. And so I'm going with Trump. So I think you're right.

24:11The Democratic Party did its darn best to drive people away. And still today, I would ask anybody, what are we doing to win them back? Any turn of momentum we have is usually because Trump makes a mistake or it's a stylistic thing. And I think we'll talk about Gavin Newsom later, but there's no meat on the bone for a voter to say, I want to go back with them. Because fundamentally though, here's the problem. The democratic party is a patchwork of random coalitions. There's no through line. It's like, if you subscribe to the LGBTQ, ABCDEFG, then you're part of our party. Not because, but we're just going to say, yeah, you're in our party.

24:50You have two left hands. You're in our party. There's nothing that the party stands for. And And when I was talking about young voters a moment ago, you think about union voters are exactly, to me, the epitome of voters that the Democratic Party lost. They used to stand for them. And then they started insulting them, saying, well, if you go to church, if you have a gun, if you watch these programs, you're not really a good Democrat anymore. And so you've alienated people. And you don't know. The problem for the Democrats is that they can't figure out how to get back because the woke policies where they're going to the lowest common denominator, standing up for every kid that has one problem and telling the entire classroom that you need to acknowledge that and conform is losing people.

25:31There's no bringing them back. And so until there's a fundamental reckoning in the Democratic Party about what they stand for, they're not going to be able to message them. As Dan pointed out, think about the people that are getting play on the Democratic side. It's for cheap stunts, memes, some social media stuff like fleeing to sanctuary political cities, as the case of Democrats in Texas, who then came right back for doing something that every other Democrat has supported in gerrymandering. The point is they're not for anything. There is no message. And the fundamental point that I made before is two problems, message and mechanics, and they've got neither.

26:11You got it. And here's what the Democrats are doing. So we've had going on a year now since Trump's election. And they saw the same data that we've been discussing and that we all learned in that election. And this is where we are. I'm going to show you how they're handling, for example, in Boston, Trump's crackdown on immigration. OK, this is this is how they're handling it. It's at 29. My name is Veronica.

Read the full transcript

26:50It's a mariachi band. This is effective. There's, of course, a sign language person.

27:08There's a sign that reads, dissent is patriotic.

27:18Oh, my God.

27:23OK, you get it. Sean Spicer, is this going to win back the men and the young people? Absolutely. Absolutely. If I were the Democrats, I would double down on this. Just keep doing more of this. This is the secret sauce, folks. You found it. I love roll the R's and sing this. I mean, honestly, they are doing more of it here. I will. I take you back to Florida, Senate Democrats down there. And what they did is they were walking through protesters and sought 30.

28:04gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay and then here's another one my team was ready for this the rapid response choir in SOT 31 do you have joy people out there are gonna try to tear you down but the world outside can't take us down. And that's what this song is about. This joy that I have The world didn't give it to me The world didn't give it The world can't take it away You know, Megan, the morning meeting's been testing out some opening songs. This might, we might have to hire these guys. You need your own rapid response, Quarry. That one was about Doge. Hands off, Noah. They were. I mean, Mark, you've been covering politics for a long time.

28:52Is this the way back into the hearts and minds? Young people, men, Latinos. I mean, there was a mariachi band. Is that openly racist or is that the way back in with Latinos? Well, look, no party can ignore the energized base. They can't ignore these people's passion. For the Trilledars? For the Trilledars and for these issues, even if they're not popular. But they have to fuse that. They have to merge that with a more moderate, centrist, mainstream sensibility, which is the only way they're going to win elections. And this is this is a job for a very talented politician. You know, you can talk about demographic trends.

29:33You can talk about issues. You can talk about mechanics. But you need charismatic leaders who get it. You need charismatic leaders who can say, as Donald Trump does, the base of my party is vital to me. But I'm talking about issues that have 70, 30, 80, 20 appeal to my side. But that takes talent, because if you're talking about something that is appealing to 80 percent of the country, some of your base is going to wonder, well, why are we talking to those people? They're not true believers. That takes talent of a Clinton or George W. Bush or Barack Obama or Donald Trump. And part of their problem is they just lack that person who can bridge that divide.

30:10And when you don't bridge the divide, what you see, as Dan often points out, is people like Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries who'd like to bridge the divide, but faced with their limited ability to do it, just go with the base, just empower the base, because those are the loudest, those are the angriest, most active people in the party. And you cannot grow the party if you're just giving in to them. You have to cater to them, make them feel good, make them part of the coalition, but you cannot let them call all the shots. But herein lies the conflict between, you know, getting back men, Hispanics, young voters, which I firmly believe requires that DEI be absolutely extinguished into fairy dust.

30:51It must be completely excised from the party. And this group, you know, that calls themselves the resistance choir and goes out there, you know, with their pink pee hats, singing the songs about woke issues and so on. I mean, that would like, they're, that's, those are two factions or former factions, at least, of the Democratic base, the wokesters and then the Hispanics, black voters and young people. And, you know, they've lost Hispanics. They've lost young people. They're losing blacks by the day, all of whom I think have recoiled in response to the nonstop woke lessons. So I don't know. They're in a bit of a pickle.

31:31But let's talk about generational politicians. Does that include Gavin Newsom? I'll ask you that question first, Mark. Is he a generational politician? Is he the kind of guy you're talking about who can like come along and genuinely inspire, you know, like an Obama type who can completely rally these people back into the Dem party? Well, he's the closest thing there is right now. And it's interesting. He's gone from being dismissed by almost everyone we know to now, I believe. I talked to Patty Salise Doyle, Democratic operative, on Next Up. She and I agree he's in tier one by himself now. Now, he is not as bad as his critics say, but he's not as good as a generational politician who could clearly solve this.

32:14And I continue to believe his ambivalence about running will play a role here in his decision in the end. But he's as good as they have right now. And he's laying down a lot of tracks about the right way to do this. Will he be the person who does it successfully and be the nominee in the end? I don't know. But, you know, like I've seen kids, not particularly good soccer players in second grade, but everyone else on the team is really bad. And so they look fantastic in a very weak field right now. He's a pro. He's a he's a governor of one of every seven Americans. He's been on the national stage a long time.

32:46He knows a lot of people throughout the country. He's he's doing stuff now that others can't do. And that makes him right now, again, in a class by himself. I don't think he'll be the nominee in the end necessarily, but I do think every other person who'd like to be a leader of the party in the context of running for president in 28 have to ask themselves if they can do anything like what Gavin Newsom is doing now in standing up to Donald Trump. And I don't believe most of them would have a clue about how to do it. Okay, so Gavin Newsom has decided to hire two young whippersnapper press people who look a lot like the Karine Jean-Pierre press pool, like the people she was using in her press office who look like these, you know, weird hats and strange haircuts and like the Rainbow Coalition.

33:33so he's hired two of those folks to write his tweets and here's an example of where it's going it's all it's turned in his entire tweet feed has turned into imitations of what might be a Trump tweet for example wow in all caps wow what an honor on Mount Rushmore thank you dash GCN with an image of Newsom on Mount Rushmore then there's a poster image of Kid Rock pointing like Uncle Sam It reads, Kid Rock wants you to support Gavin Newsom. Captioned on X, I accept dash GCN. Kid Rock, by the way, replied saying the only support Gavin Newsom will ever get out of me is from Deez Nuts. Here's another one.

34:19He, Scott Pressler, who registered, speaking of Republican registrations, who basically turned Pennsylvania red with his voter registration efforts or got very, very close. He posted a video about it and Gavin Newsom's office responded saying, thank you, Nancy Mace, calling Scott Pressler, Nancy Mace. Scott Pressler has very, very long hair. Nancy Mace doesn't. So I don't know. It doesn't really work for me. And then somebody on Fox responded saying, You're kidding me, right? You're constantly raving about protecting gay people. And now you use your official press office to troll a gay conservative and call him a woman.

35:01In response to which the press office replied, you sound woke. All right, here's another one. Not even, this is all caps, not even JD Just Dance Vance can save Trump from the disastrous maps war he has started. Not even his eyeliner lines look as pretty as California map lines. He will fail, as he always does. Sad. And I, the peacetime governor, our nation's favorite, will save America once again. Many are now calling me Gavin Christopher Columbus Newsom because of the maps! Thank you for your attention to this matter, GCN. This has led to a split amongst some on whether this is an effective strategy.

35:45Joe Scarborough, not a fan. I'm going to give you a little sampling of that. 27B. The Democrats are trying to find their footing and it's quite embarrassing actually. I mean, Gavin Newsom, I mean, have you seen what he's doing online and say, just take a deep breath. Don't try to turn the ship 180 degrees and they don't know what to do. I have a good idea. Instead of trying to like school Donald Donald Trump, talk into the camera about affordability. Donald Trump's not on the ballot in 26. He's not on the ballot in 28. So why are you going, I'm going after Donald? No, you're not running against Donald Trump.

36:35Dan, thoughts? I don't often disagree with Joe Scarborough, but on this I do, because one, I think you will be running against Donald Trump until January 20th, 2029. Like whether you like it or not, Trump is the sun that everything orients around. I actually think this is really smart. I think what Newsom is doing is filling a leadership void in the party that desperately wants somebody to take on Trump. And look, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. If you just look at Gavin Newsom's following on X, Instagram and TikTok, he is rapidly accumulating followers and retweets. He is filling people's feed.

37:16I see people who are like, I'll call it super depressed progressives, like in my own family, who think Gavin Newsom is the greatest thing ever right now. And so, look, what he lacks is substance. At some point, he'll have to put an agenda together. But for right now, he is like he is energizing Democrats. And Mark said this before. Or when Chuck Schumer wants to say something, he either says it in the well of the United States Senate over 20 minutes in dry, serious tones, or he puts out a press release on X, literally a photograph of a press release. And Democrats yawn and pull their hair out.

37:52What Gavin Newsom is doing is lighting a fire. I think it's great. In the long run, it's not enough to obviously win a presidential. But I agree with Mark. He's in the top tier. Now, we disagree a little. I think AOC is in there with them, but it's working for Gavin Newsom in a primary. You're not the only one who feels that. Here is CNN's Harry Enten, the data guru over there in SOT 27. I think it absolutely has been working in terms of generating attention, which is what he's trying to do, right? I mean, take a look here. Let's take a look right at the at Gov Press Office followers on X. That's, of course, where you get those sort of the account where Newsom posts those Trump style mocking types of tweets.

38:29Look at where we were on June 1st. We basically had a clown car, a clown car for first. Newsom, AOC, Buttigieg, 11 percent, 10 percent, 8 percent. But look at where we are now. Look at this. Look who's jumped up all the way up to 24 percent chance, about a one in four chance of getting the nomination. Gavin Newsom, AOC staying pretty steady at 13 percent. And then, of course, we have Pete Buttigieg, who has stayed absolutely steady at 8 percent. So at least at this particular point, the prediction markets are saying, yes, yes, this strategy is paying off. Of course, the key question is, will this actually work when you're trying to actually votes are being cast and counted?

39:07Sean, thoughts? Look, I agree with both of them. It's a pretty pathetic field when Gavin Newsom is considered the only tier one candidate. That says a lot about the other folks that you're running against. I mean, so you combine everything, the message, the mechanics, the candidates, the current leadership. They are in a world of hurt right now. I get Newsom's strategy. I mean, look, he gets credit. It's sort of like when you get, I used to call them circle 60s when I was in high school. It meant you got an F, but we're going to give you a circle 60, which allowed you to pass the course. And I think he's getting a circle 60.

39:42We're learning a lot about Sean today. Yeah. You might want to look at those transcripts. But he's getting a circle 60. And what do I mean by that? This is the teacher would say to me, okay, you came to class, you tried, you just failed the test. So I'm going to give you credit for showing up and participating. And I give credit to him for participating. He's out there. He's trying to do it. But the fundamental thing that's so interesting in his strategy is this. Most Democrats find Trump's tactics abhorrent. So if you find the tactics abhorrent and then your goal is to emulate them, it's sort of like I just I think he may get plaudits from a lot of the D.C.

40:21insider beltway pundit class and reporters. But I have a hard time believing that people who are going to go to a caucus in Iowa or Nevada are going to find this enjoyable or. But I mean, I think he's he's mocking it like he's not actually embracing it like this is my new bit. Right. I get it. But I just think that if you don't like the behavior in the first place, somebody who's then doing it, I get why he's doing it to troll him. But I think that it's hard to say, oh, what Trump's doing is so wrong. I'm just going to do it. Except there's one other difference besides the fact that it's meant to be performance art rather than whatever it is the president Trump does.

40:57He's only targeting the president. He's not making fun of other people so far. Well, he made fun of Scott Pressler. Yeah. Yeah. Sorry, to be clear, he's making fun of Republican politicians. He's not going after other entities. And maybe he will. But but the Scott Pressler is not. He's a politician. He's a combatant. He's on the he's on the field. He's a combatant. So I'm just saying the Democrats like the fact that it's mockery of people who are. I don't know. I think you're splitting hairs there, Halperin. That's who Trump goes after. Trump's not he's not picking random private citizens to attack.

41:34He attacked people who attack him. He went after Taylor Swift because Taylor Swift endorsed Kamala Harris and Tim Walsh. He wasn't picking on her for no reason. But those aren't political pros. I just I just tell you what you're splitting hairs with some. I think what some Democrats don't like is he's spraying, you know, the whole country, anybody who he doesn't want, who wants to attack rather than political combatants. I'm just saying to me, that's that's that's why some Democrats can justify it. But Megan, I wouldn't underestimate of all the candidates we've talked about in 2028. Who else has drawn fire from Stephen Chung and all these different people in the White House?

42:11They're taking the bait. They're elevating Newsom to an equal that we feel like when you speak, we need to go after you. And if you're Newsom now. Trump does that with everyone. Well, sure. But you think about it this way now. Democrats are going to be asked with Newsom or Trump. That is the dynamic Trump used in 2023 when he was getting arrested and all this stuff. You with me or you with Nancy Pelosi and, you know, Joe Biden? So it is elevating Newsom. Again, you got to win the primary to get to the general. It's smart. He's separating himself. Back here to Joe Scarborough in 29A. Like, you're trying to do everything to distract the American people from the fact that you're screwing up on job one.

42:54And job one is helping working Americans and helping the middle class afford their lives and build a life where their children are going to live better than them. That's the American dream. And you have done nothing but play politics over the past year. It's really not that hard to do. We'll see. Cut and paste. It's really not hard to do. Gavin Newsom, he wants to own Donald Trump. He wants to be Donald Trump. You can't be Donald Trump. light. Hey, Gavin, talk into the camera and talk about making life more affordable, not only for people in California, but if you want to talk about people in New Hampshire, our people in Iowa, our people in South Carolina, they would like to know how their lives can be more affordable, not how you can own Donald Trump.

43:42Donald Trump is not running again. I don't know. I, I, I'm kind of, I'm kind of against Scarborough and in favor of Gavin Newsom's plan here. I don't want to see Gavin Newsom become president, but he is generating more attention for himself than we've seen from any other candidate and that we've, than we've seen for him. And like the same old, like once you get the eyes on you, then you can start talking about what's happening to people in New Hampshire, Sean, but like you need to get the eyes on you first. Yeah, I will say I've now in the last 25 minutes watched more MSNBC than I have in the last five years.

44:23I think you mean MSNOW. Oh, my apologies. My apologies. I didn't acknowledge that brilliant branding strategy. So the thing that I kind of disagree with is at some point people, you know, So Scarborough's got a point here, which is there's got to be some sort of plan about being making life better. And that's where I think that there's a fundamental problem here with all these Democrats. What are they for? They've criticized his crackdown on crime, his crackdown on the border, his crackdown on trade, billions of dollars of new revenue coming into the federal government through tariffs, which most of them previously supported.

45:01They've criticized him on gerrymandering, which they led the way on in Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, etc. Being too mean to Europeans. Yeah, which now we've got a NATO that's paying, theoretically, 5 % of their GDP, which is not true. But the bottom line is he got NATO to ante up. Mark Root, the secretary general, said on the other night Trump was right in his criticism and he has achieved results. The bottom line is name something that they're for. Name one thing they're for. And the answer is zero. Oh, yeah. Abortion and LGBTQIA. Mm hmm. Here's our friend Mark Halperin sitting down with Joe Scarborough and getting into some of these issues on his MK Media show.

45:43Next up, Sat 29B now. What about people thinking of running for president? Should they be a Democrat? Should they be talking about Trump or should they similarly move on? No, no, no. Again, because Trump is so baked into the cake. Again, it's like the Iraq war. Nobody's going to change their mind about Donald Trump. And we keep thinking. You did. This is going to happen. And this will. This is when the walls are closing in on. Something I've probably said 87 times. No. No, it's the walls aren't going to close in on Donald Trump. And that's not your concern. Your concern is getting elected to Congress.

46:23Your concern is winning the House of Representatives. Your concern is taking over the committees and by doing so, being able to stop a lot of what Republicans are doing. OK, I'll let you take it, Mark. But I've got to say the irony, like the gall of Scarborough, of all people to say you can't change people's minds on Donald Trump. Like he is the living Sybil when it comes to Donald Trump. Nobody kissed Trump's ass more. nobody, including Hannity, in 2016. I know. I was there. And then when he found out he wasn't going to be vice president or be brought along for the ride, he completely turned on Trump.

47:08He and his bride, Mika, and spent the next eight years bashing him to hell. And then when Trump wrested power back from everyone in the country, he went and bent the knee and kissed the ring at Mar-a-Lago. So please. Okay. Sorry. He was your guest. So you're not in the same mind space as yours truly, but what it's basically the same point he's making there. No, that like focus on the issues. Don't get too wrapped up in the Donald Trump thing. You're not going to move minds or hearts by making your potential race or come back as a Dem about him. Well, a few things besides Joe being my guest, he's my friend and I've resolved not to step between the two of you.

47:46So I'll pass on on some of those characterizations. But I'll say this. Joe is a big believer in thinking and knew about Trump. Maybe not in the exact way you described it, but he's come to appreciate how formidable Trump is as a political force. And I think what his main point is, is that if you try just to do what Gavin Newsom is doing without talking to voters about the real lives, improving their real lives, you will be caught up in the centrifugal force and you won't have a path to being president of the United States or leading a coalition into a majority. So you can't ignore Trump. As Dan said, he's going to be the dominant force in our politics through the election.

48:26But I think if you listen to my conversation with Joe, he's advocating not letting your biorhythms, your daily political biorhythms, be about trying to beat Donald Trump at his own game because Gavin Newsom's not going to do that, and he's the best equipped of anyone in the party to try to do it. Or, Dan, the Dems could go with this. Watch. My name is Veronica Ravles. Yeah. We need to see it again.

49:01Look at the signer. Okay, you get it. You get it. You get my point. The signers trying to sign. It's so on brand for the Dems. We got to get the sign language lady so she can sign the Trildar. You got to get the mariachi band. Every Republicans brought a mariachi band at an anti-illegal immigration rally. This is all about immigration. They'd be getting called racists up and down the dial. But it's fine because it's Michelle Wu, the Boston mayor who's woke. Yeah, I think I'd pull a muscle if I tried to hit a high note that that that high doing that. Look, I think party is not cool. That's my point, Dan.

49:44The party is uncool. And I guess Gavin Newsom is making an attempt to put an end to that by trying to act like Donald Trump and like he's not afraid of the big bad bully, which makes him somewhat cool or so he hopes. Yeah, I think that's right. I mean, look, go back to Bill Clinton's famous line, strong and wrong beats weak and right. Like there is a performative side to being president, to being a leader. You do have to show that you're not afraid, that you're willing to throw a punch and take a punch and keep going. You also need to inspire people with, as Mark said, an agenda that focuses on the real lives of real people.

50:21I think one of the big things that Democrats constantly refuse to acknowledge is that Trump's rise was fueled on his agenda. Being against the wars, being, you know, trying to change trade, being against the open borders of immigration, which, you know, Sean was there. The RNC's famous autopsy after 13 was that the party needed to be more hospitable to loosening immigration laws. So Trump got people behind him on policy, on a bold agenda. So ultimately, we've got to go there. But you could have the greatest agenda on earth. But if you're a wimp, if you're afraid of J.D. Vance, afraid of the online world, you're not going to go anywhere.

51:04So, I mean, again, this is a baby step for the party with what Gavin Newsom is doing. But ultimately, it's definitely not enough to become president. Yeah, to me, it feels more like an audition than an actual like campaign. It's an audition to be considered for the campaign. That's how I read it. In any event. Okay, more with Mark, Dan and Sean coming up. Why did Abby Phillip over on CNN explicitly attack two of her guests this week? We'll show you what she did. I've been talking a lot lately about Riverbend Ranch, and that's because I love their steaks. Riverbend Ranch has taken black Angus beef to a whole new level.

51:41For the last 35 years, Riverbend Ranch has been creating a very elite Angus herd by using ultrasound to select genetically superior cattle with a focus on flavor and tenderness. When you buy from Riverbend Ranch, you are not only supporting the 64 cowboys and cowgirls and their families who work on the ranch, but you're also supporting over 260 other U.S. ranches and the hundreds of American families who work on those ranches. It is born in the USA, raised in the USA, and processed in the USA. It is aged to perfection for 21 days and shipped directly from the ranch to your home. This is not your average black Angus beef.

52:19So order from riverbendranch.com and use the promo code MEGAN for 20 bucks off your first order. And let me know what you think. RiverbendRanch.com promo code Megan.

53:01And now, the next chapter of the Serta Counting Sheep.

53:27it again. Uh, nope. Serta. We make the world's best mattress.

53:35Welcome back to the Megan Kelly show back with me now, Mark Halperin host of next up with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer and Dan Turrentine. Sorry for the changing pronunciations of your last name, Dan. It's time, time, like a, like time, right? Yes. Yes. That's okay. All my life. I know, I'm sure. That's like my name, too. I get the Megan. I get the Megan. I got the Megan. I don't even I don't know how to pronounce it, so it's fine. OK, I do want to talk about an extraordinary thing that's going on. It's related to this whole Smithsonian crackdown that Trump is doing, which I totally applaud. Having taken my family through D.C., we went through some of the museums in April of 2023.

54:15I thought it was ridiculous how much focus there was on all the worst chapters of America. And by the way, at that time, they were still doing the online. There was a digital trigger warning for the founding documents. Like you might be triggered if you read the Constitution. I mean, we've really, truly lost our minds for the last five years. And it's evident as you walk around these museums. So Trump is trying to stop this. He's not saying get rid of everything related to slavery like the left is claiming. He's just saying, why does the focus have to be so much on all our darkest chapters, as opposed to communicating what an extraordinary and special nation this is, which, yes, has not always gotten it right, not by a long shot.

55:01He's talking about focus and emphasis, but you wouldn't know that to listen to his critics. So Abby Phillip has this, I mean, literally nobody's watching that show. I think it's just us four, just pulling clips. We pulled the ratings. They are dreadful. My God, they're so bad. All of CNN is going away. Trust me, I looked at the numbers today. But in any event, she's there hanging on like the rest of them. And the only thing that's good about her show is sometimes she puts on Scott Jennings and it's fun to watch him fight. And then she had Jillian Michaels on the other day. And Jillian Michaels raised this issue about the Smithsonian.

55:36Well, what does Abby Phillip do? She decides to go on an even more terrible person's podcast, Kara Swisher. And she decides to shit all over her guests when speaking to Kara Swisher. These are the people who make the show tolerable for some small faction of Republicans. And she decides to take a massive dump on both of them. Let's see. I'll give you—let's just do what she said about Jillian Michaels first, top four. And then when it became clear that she was trying to sort of downplay slavery, I was just like shocked. Like, are you really going to do this on national television, giving her an opportunity to not do it?

56:19But she continued on. And then later on, she said that she got this list of talking points from the White House about exhibits that they wanted to dispute. And frankly, it was pretty ignorant. Look, I don't like to talk negatively about guests who come on the show because I just don't think that's good form. Even when I disagree with people, I respect their right to embarrass themselves on national television. I think it is their right to do that. You respect their right. There we go. So I don't like to talk negatively about them. But she was ignorant and she embarrassed herself. And that is her right.

56:57So it's not exactly the most—I've never seen Mark Halperin do this after somebody swings by NextUp or Two-Way. I learned that from David Brinkley. You don't speak ill of your guests after they leave, and certainly not after they've been nice enough to give you some of their time. So she did, and she took a shot at Jillian, and then she took a shot at Scott Phillips, sorry, Scott, who makes this show worth watching, trying to find the soundbite in which she goes after him, Scott Jennings. It's Sop 5. I'm never bringing people on to say crazy things. Let's be frank about that. That is never the intention, okay?

57:35People's decisions to say crazy things are never expected or predictable. However, I mean, and I know that folks really dislike Scott for his views, but I would say that, you know, there are views that you don't like, that you think are unfounded, but that are pretty widely shared. And I think Scott falls into that category. Now, there are definitely times if you watch the show that we have conversations where I will say to Scott and others, just stop because we're not playing whatever game it is that you want to play in this moment. Got it, Sean. So she needs to apologize for Scott Jennings because she's heard CNN's audience is overwhelmingly left that people don't like him and he says crazy things.

58:31And, you know, he's such a lunatic. It's worthwhile airing those views because they belong to MAGA. Yeah. By the way, I mean, the only time that anyone talks about CNN now, but that that is as close to watching CNN as I come, though. So now I've got MSNBC and CNN as I need. MSNBC is the only, gosh, it's going to take forever for me to, I bet you that by the time I get that logo right, that they will be out of business anyway. So that's actually, the only reason that people talk about CNN now is because of usually something that Scott Jennings has actually said. So their relevance is actually pretty much tied to Scott Jennings going on shows.

59:14That being said, I find it interesting how she's described that. People don't like Scott because of his views. Well, I'm sorry. That's a very myopic look at the world, meaning basically all the people that we have come on my show or my network at CNN are people who agree with me that think that everything in MAGA is horrible. Watching CNN implode is amazing. You would think that after they got rid of everyone like Jim Acosta, they fired Brian Stelter once, that they would at least sort of learn their lesson. Instead, they bring Brian back and double down on stupid. It's so bad. Let me just give you a little taste of how she's doing.

59:53At 10 p.m., this is just the other night on Tuesday. At 10 p.m., Greg Gutfeld in the key demo that they used to get advertisers pulled in a three, which is 327 ,000, which is not bad at 10 p.m. So Abby Phillip, 91 ,000. She did not even break 100 ,000. You guys don't understand. You know how bad this is? This is so dreadful. You cannot stay in business like this. This is the prime time. The prime time demo did not break 100 ,000. Thanks to Abby Phillip, who went down from her almost equally crappy lead in at nine, which was 112. Anderson Cooper had 86 ,000 versus Jesse Waters, 290. 7 p.m., Laura Ingram gets 264.

1:00:45The 7 p.m. on CNN gets 76. Brett Baier gets 226. Jake Tapper, 73. The Five, which is the number one rated show on TV, gets 332. Jake Tapper gets 85. These numbers are just absolutely dreadful. And by the way, Abby Phillip is in last place. she's also losing to MSNBC. You cannot stay employed. And I guarantee you she's making millions of dollars, millions of dollars for putting no points on the board because that's how cable news operates for now. But as Mark pointed out in the beginning of the show, newsflash, cable news and TV news is on a bit of an iceberg, or I guess a bit of a ship about to hit an iceberg.

1:01:29YouTube is where it's at. And so she's on a sinking ship. But in any event, The solution, Dan, is not to then start ripping the two guests you've had on who've said things that conservatives agree with. I mean, Megan, what were we talking about to start this show? The decline of Democratic voter registration advantages and the struggles of the Democratic Party. And now you have a host on a channel watched by a lot of Democrats in which you're saying that the primary guest in Scott Jennings, who represents 50 % of this country, that I have to shut him down often because his views are so unacceptable or not mainstream in her telling, right?

1:02:08This is the feedback loop. This is the, you know, they're crazy, they're wrong, we're right, all they say is lies, and we're always right. And, you know, I look at Donald Trump, RFK, Tulsi Gabbard, like this big tent, they have a lot of kind of, it's a raucous coalition. We are increasingly getting narrow. And even in our media filters, there is still this kind of Trump derangement syndrome of focusing on the man, on process, on right versus wrong, instead of kind of welcoming the big debate. We're not going to get better until we open up. These places don't have a business model, in part because I guarantee you none of these anchors numbers are going to get better.

1:02:50They're just not. The audience has spoken, as our friend Bridg Hume would say, sometimes the dog won't eat the dog food. And they don't seem inclined to make any changes. And their identities are up in the air, whether you're talking about MS now, see, I did it, or CNN. They pay lip service to the notion, no, we don't want to just appeal to the left. We don't want to be biased. We want to appeal to all potential customers. But then if you look at their coverage from Friday till Monday of President Trump's efforts to try to get a peace deal. It's as hostile and as myopically deranged as any coverage of Trump I've seen ever.

1:03:26It's just mocking him, accusing him of just being in it for a Nobel Peace Prize, of dividing Europe, of saying the Europeans had to come to keep him from making a deal. He can't make a deal without Europe and Zelensky. It's all just made up. So, So, you know, I want strong news organizations, but these places are going with primetime anchors in particular who simply do not have an interest in bigger numbers, because if they did, they would recognize that they're turning off more than half the country. And with Scott, Scott is the best thing to have. I'd like to see her and Abby Phelps numbers with Abby Phelps numbers without Scott, because anyone I know who watches the show is watching for Scott.

1:04:06Exactly right. They like the conflict at a minimum. And what does she do? She goes out and dumps on him. That's the thanks he gets. She was one of the worst going out there and saying, oh, the Europeans rushed to the White House out of 9-11 level concerns about Trump. Wrong. That's her bias. And then back to, again, speaking about what we did in the first hour. So this is what she does after Jillian Michaels reflects some of those concerns about, you know, that Trump and Team Trump have about the Smithsonian, the museums. Like, what are we doing? Why are we like America's all about slavery? That's the only thing we've ever done.

1:04:39That's what defines us. not the liberation of Europe and the saving the free world, not the defeat of communism in the 1980s. No, it's all about slavery. We've never been able to get past it. We're still just as racist as we were. She decides the other day to go out there and open up her show with this. Sat won. Last week on this show, a guest shocked the table by arguing in part that slavery in America can't just be blamed on one race and that museums put too much focus on the role of white people who participated in that terrible institution. And now tonight, that same argument is being pushed by the president of the United States.

1:05:21Donald Trump says that one of the reasons for his crackdown on Smithsonian museums is, quote, everything discussed is how bad slavery was. It's important to say objectively, slavery was indeed bad. It was evil. And it is impossible to understand the true history of this country without fully grappling with slavery's impact. For many of the white Americans who did not personally own slaves, they benefited from a caste system that concentrated wealth and political power in their hands. When we acknowledge the existence of black people who operated George Washington's Mount Vernon or the black hands that built the White House, we are acknowledging the existence, the perseverance and the contributions of the souls that white supremacy sought to erase.

1:06:08And I share this not as a lecture for you, but as a lesson. Oh, really? Okay. Thank you. It's a miracle she has 91 ,000, Sean. A miracle. I mean, look, there's a few things there. One, I would just say with respect to Scott Jennings, whether it's Scott Jennings or Jillian Michaels, when you go out and do that to a guest, to Mark's point about David Brinkley's lesson, they're never coming back again. And as a 53-year-old man, I would have no way. I rarely stay up till 10 o 'clock. So the idea that Scott Jennings is going to want to stay up and go on that show again is nuts, right? They're going to alienate guests because it's hard enough as an older guy to stay up that late.

1:06:44But the bigger and broader point that I think is sort of, you know, from the Trump going after the Smithsonian to the Kennedy Center is a huge contrast from Trump 1.0 to 2.0. And it's this. The first term, we largely set aside culture, if you will. Trump said, I'm just not going to go to the Kennedy Center. I'm not going to be involved in the Kennedy Center honors. We're not going to, like, deal with higher education. We'll just focus on some of these policy agendas. They didn't yield the field in Trump 2.0. They're basically saying, as Andrew Breitbart did so correctly, politics is downstream from culture.

1:07:17And therefore, if we really want to make change, we need to attack the culture in our country and the pervasiveness of the woke DEI culture that has grown, especially in the last four years. They're taking on the Kennedy Center. They're taking on higher education. They're taking on the Smithsonian. They are actually understanding how much more powerful they can be this time, taking on corporations. But the bottom line is this administration, Trump 2.0, is vastly different than 1.0, where he did a lot of great things. And I think this time he understands the power and levers of government in a way that he didn't in Trump 1.

1:07:51And frankly, he has a team around him that's willing to take on that culture war that we didn't in the first term. And so bravo to them for doing this, because this is where real change will occur. What she doesn't realize is the country is with Trump on this. There's very few people who aren't far left woke Democrats who want to walk into the Smithsonian museums throughout Washington and just be reminded of our darkest chapters. Just bring back the absolute worst things we did over and over and over, as opposed to celebrate the rich cultural history of America and its achievements. So what does she do?

1:08:29She puts on her school marm outfit with like the the the ruffles in her like the monochromatic red outfit with the with the silk ruffles coming down. George Washington style, you could argue. Looks like the carat or whatever the thing is that they used to wear with her little red jacket and sits on the on the three quarter chair, the stool in front of in front of the screen. and indeed lectures to us, complete with graphics, with explaining to us that there was this thing called slavery and it was bad. And here's why it was bad. And here's how all the white people benefit. This is absolutely fucking absurd.

1:09:08Literally nobody is challenging that we had slavery and that it's bad. It's all about focus, which I don't know her. She may be dumb. I was going to say she's too smart to not understand that. This is probably very dishonest. But she might be dumb. So I'm actually not going to give her the benefit of that doubt. It's absurd. We got to switch gears because there's breaking news right now. At Union Station, the Washington, D.C. train station, where Trump and his team are in the middle of trying to clean up the homeless problem there, trying to clean up homeless problems on the streets of Washington, trying to stop crime with the National Guard and others.

1:09:44It's working, by the way. And now some protesters. Remember, last week we played the video of the protester, the one white lady who was going to hand out the plastic neon colored whistles for the homeless to blow if somebody tried to remove them. Wait, it's like, well, who's coming? Who's going to come and get you? Literally like, is there a brigade of people waiting to rescue the homeless? If so, where have they been? Why are they just waiting until the National Guard approaches them and for them to blow their whistles? Like do something today. Don't wait until the whistle incident, white lady.

1:10:18But here is what's happening there. First, let me just give you a feel for what the protests look like. And you're about to see Stephen Miller and the vice president watch.

1:10:43All right, that's it. Give him a B plus on the rhyming. The catchiness, it needs work. It's not like a jingle that stays in your head. here is Stephen Miller who showed up and did not mince words. There are homeless encampments that have made it impossible for families to use public parks and public recreation for as long as I've lived here. There are hundreds of residents of this city who are shot in street violence every single year, making it one of the most violent cities on planet Earth. And the voices that you hear out there, those crazy communists, They have no roots. They have no connections to the city.

1:11:26They have no families they are raising in this city. They have no one that they are sending to school in this city. They have no jobs in this city. They have no connections to this community at all. But they're the ones who've been advocating for the 1%, the criminals, the killers, the rapists, the drug dealers. And I'm glad they're here today, because me, Pete, and the vice president are all going to leave here, and inspired by them, we're going to add thousands more resources to this city to get the criminals and the gang members out of here. All these demonstrators that you've seen out here in recent days, all of these elderly white hippies, they're not part of the city and never have been.

1:12:02And by the way, most of the citizens who live in Washington, D.C. are black. This is not a city that has had any safety for its black citizens for generations. And President Trump is the one who is fixing that with the support of the Metropolitan Police Department, the support of the National Guard, and our federal law enforcement officers. So we're going to ignore these stupid white hippies that all need to go home and take a nap because they're all over 90 years old. And we're going to get back to the business of protecting the American people and the citizens of Washington, D.C. He's amazing.

1:12:36He's standing next to Pete Heggs, Secretary of Defense, and J.D. Vance, sitting Vice President of the United States in Union Station, taking this on directly. It's extraordinary. Elderly, stupid, white hippies can go home. D.C.'s a black city and they appreciate what we're doing. Boom. Truth bomb dropped, Dan. Yeah, as usual, he might be a little over the top in his rhetoric, but he is right. Look, D.C. was home for me for 20 years. My family still lives there. Before Trump did this latest move, when I would call down there just to check in with people, ask how their families are, et cetera. The last few years, you heard increasingly, Dan, crime is getting really bad again here.

1:13:17You know, you can't walk the Capitol Hill staffers who live up on the hill would talk about, you know, taking Ubers five blocks because they didn't want to walk home anymore. Going to a Nationals baseball game. That's about how half my walk from the hill down. People don't walk down there or at least walk back at night after the game anymore. It is bad. And so I think when what Donald Trump did, this is where it drives me nuts as a Democrat. Rather than say, look, this move is insufficient, right? Ultimately, we need 10 ,000 more police officers. You know, nationwide, we need to have more resources.

1:13:53It's obsession about the process. It's obsession about Donald Trump. He's authoritative. We are basically defending crime, saying, well, it's okay. It's in urban cities. It's not that bad. It drives me nuts that as a party, we again will not focus on the substance and try to outflank him, but instead go down the rabbit hole of process arguments. Megan or Sean? You know what's so funny about this? Yeah. Two things. One, I used to live next to Union Station. It is a shell of itself now. Most of the stores are gone. It truly has been a homeless encampment in there. It's disgusting because it's an absolutely beautiful, beautiful building.

1:14:32and it's kind of scary when you get off the Amtrak now just to walk out. But for all these people on the left in particular who decry the use of the National Guard, now you three are, I think, all New Yorkers or been in and out of the city. I don't go that often. But when I do train up to New York City and I get out at Moynihan or Penn, I believe those individuals are National Guards that are protecting Penn Station and Moynihan Station. And no one has ever had a problem with that, right? The idea of bringing in additional security forces to the nation's capital, so whether you're a visitor, a diplomat, a student, or a resident there, that it's safe should be welcomed by all.

1:15:09This is another example of Trump just doing common sense things that the left gets triggered by and makes stupid responses. Again, this is where if they had any sense, they would just say, on this issue, we agree with the president and move on. But they want to fight him on every single thing. And this is what makes we talked about this, why we're losing people. It's it's not just young men. It's basically anybody that cares about their personal safety and security or their families. There aren't people who feel safe in the nation's capital and to ignore it and to dismiss it as Kara Swisher, our previous example on another subject, dismissed the other day on CNN and said it's a made up controversy by Donald Trump.

1:15:47is just simply not true. I mean, to Dan's point, I put this out on Twitter the other day. If you are a Democrat, do me a favor, go to the neighborhood of your choosing when the sun goes down, ditch your security detail, and walk five blocks, and then you can talk. None of them will do that because they know it's true. Wait, and look at this one, Sean. It's not just Kara Swisher. Take a look at Eugene Daniels, who was at Politico. Now he's at MSNBC, head of the White House Correspondents Association. who constantly, yeah, sorry, MS now, correct. Thank you, thank you. Who, he loves to dress up like Beyonce.

1:16:26This is, I mean, literally like Beyonce, like a woman, like his big bottom showing. Yeah, look, look, this is the head of the White House Correspondents Dinner, I mean, Association and Dinner. And he wants you to know there's no crime problem to speak of in DC, SOT 26. I have walked the streets in heels, nail polish and shorts on pride and was just fine. So the streets of D.C. are not strife with crime, as everyone's trying to say. I'm sorry, but you're an idiot, Eugene. You're right. He's an idiot because he didn't get mugged during the pride parade. He can speak for the black community. I have to tell you something, Mark Halperin, as somebody who believes 100 percent what they're doing down there and and shares many of the principles that J.D.

1:17:13Vanshares and what Stephen Miller was articulating there. It is just it's not just what they're doing. The fact that those three guys went to Union Station while there was ridiculous protests trying to stop them from cleaning it up and fought. And Stephen Miller saying, you know what, I'm going to we're going to go back to the White House and we're going to double down and we're going to send more troops because you're doing this. Or Tom Homan saying to the sanctuary cities, one of my guys took it in the face in sanctuary cities, thanks to you mayors not protecting him. We're going to target sanctuary cities above the other cities now.

1:17:45I can't explain how gratifying it is for someone like me, and I'm sure many who are listening now, to hear that, to hear unapologetic fighting for ideals we know to be just. Well, the parallel to what's gone on in the Ukraine-Russia negotiations is pretty stark and clear. I said that was as bad a case as anti-Trump coverage as I've seen. this is pretty bad too and it goes back to democrats have ruled this city forever and as stephen miller said the residents of the city predominantly black have not had safety for their kids for their neighborhoods for their communities if the democrats have a better idea they should put it forward but if not they should welcome an effort to try to fix things and and really uh But when we start to get intertwined with the immigration stuff and all of these reporters saying how outrageous that they're trying to detain and deport people who are here illegally.

1:18:47They just again and again, not just on the wrong side of public opinion, not just on the wrong side of the politics, but on the wrong side of doing what's right for D.C. I we need to be vigilant. They shouldn't be violating civil liberties. They shouldn't be doing things that are inefficiently done. They shouldn't be using the military in a gratuitous way. But the president has a plan to try to fix D.C. where tourists from around the country in the world come, where citizens have not been afforded the most basic responsibility of government, which is public safety. And instead, they want to turn it into another violation of norms that offends them about Donald Trump.

1:19:22Mm hmm. OK, so we we've teased it long enough. Might as well get to MS now. I mean, I think for most of us is going to be MS DNC for for for the duration. But in any event, they've decided to change their call letters because they had to because there's been a split at the corporate level. and NBC did not want to share the call letters with the Loser Sister cable channel anymore and insisted that there be a breakup. I love that NBC is pretending it's this unvarnished brand that has no political bias attached to it whatsoever in the eyes of the consumer. So if it could just separate legally from MSNBC, people will realize that.

1:20:00That's why the rebranding happened. Now it stands for MS now, which stands for news, opinion, and the world, which doesn't make any sense. Is there no news and opinion in the world? Like what my source, my source for news opinion in the world. Like, what do you mean? News opinion, like in the world, outside of the world? How did we have to add the world? I don't totally understand. But in any event, MS now is the new call sign. And here, back to Joe Scarborough, Mark's favorite, defending the name with this positive spin, SOT40. They even have a graphic of, this shows we're independent. Like when you have somebody come into your company after working for like big corporations and you're talking, you're saying, uh-huh.

1:20:51And they go, we want you to be entrepreneurial. We want you to come up with new ideas. We want you to push the boundaries. I'm excited about that, so I'm excited about this. I've always thought about this network and CNBC and USA and actually all of those assets as insurgent networks. Right. This is insurgent network. So it does seem an ideal time to rebrand, an ideal time to embrace a new identity, as you said, to be an insurgent network. You know, Megan, I finally figured out what the people who rebranded New Coke where they went. Now we know. This will not be the name. Yeah, I agree. It won't?

1:21:27No. What's the name going to be? Just MS? I don't know, but something better. I mean, it's so misguided. They originally said, you know, they weren't going to change the name, but it won't be the name. It just, it's too stupid. Like, it's too stupid. And I no longer draw a check from Comcast, so I can say openly that whoever came up with this process needs to reevaluate the process in place to make decisions. because this is just a several week long PR hit. They don't have to pay someone else to come up with a new name. They don't have to embarrassingly tell the media there's yet another new name.

1:22:00Big mistake, I would say. I honestly I go with insurgents as you're like we're an insurgency. I mean, literally most most adults of a certain age understand that term as about Iraq and ISIS and a group that killed American service personnel. It's not really how you want to describe yourself as a news organization, like a bunch of disgusting, heartless killers. And by the way, if you listen to the full soundbite there, what they're bragging about is that now, you see, they're going to be—this is their break from legacy media. This is their break. So they're no longer part of legacy media. They're basically doing what the four of us are doing, you see.

1:22:39This is their attempt to make the cable news channel, MSNBC, into like a two way or a next up or a Megyn Kelly show trying to revitalize their relevance. Dan, it's like what an obvious. Why don't why doesn't anyone come out and say this was so fucking stupid, but they insisted that we do it. So, all right. That's who we're going to say we are now. I love it because I agree with Mark. I think it's the dumbest name I've ever heard. The jokes online were hilarious about what the acronym really stands for. Look, I think if you're going to relaunch like this, like, let's just say the name is great if we all wanted to go along with it.

1:23:20What's the new product? What is the insurgent new ideas or formats or hosts or shows that you're going to have that says, like, this is new, this is clean, this is exciting? We get it. Yeah, we're we're going to, you know, mimic people like Megyn Kelly and others who are drawing ratings and growing rapidly. I don't understand, you know, what what they did. It was just like, yeah, we're going to continue to do the same lineup with the same posts, but with a different name. But we're in search now. That's exactly right. You know, I'll give you a little bit more. Rachel Maddow. She spoke to it again.

1:23:54More bullshit on how this is like a real plus. Sat 41. In the end, once that is stood up, we will no longer have to compete with NBC News' properties for the news gathering, the product of the news gathering organization. We can apply our own instincts, our own queries, our own priorities to getting stuff that we need from reporters and correspondents. And so it's going to be better. Oh, my God. All right. I mean, I worked at NBC. NBC is the deep pocket. NBC is the one that has the teams that actually can cover world events and has the money. And MSNBC was the beneficiary of that. To try to say it's a benefit to lose those pockets and be now the non-money-making loser cable sister, stepsister that no one wanted is just another blatant lie.

1:24:46Go ahead, Sean. I was going to say, I know we started the show by talking about the issues that the Democrats have on messaging and the DNC in particular. I now feel even worse for MSNBC. I mean, you talk about stupid. They're out there. It just doesn't make sense. The bottom line is they got sold off and they're acting like somehow they're an insurgent. It doesn't. No one buys it. It just it's amazing how like no one wanted you. Right. No one wanted you. You literally couldn't keep the name anymore. And you're acting like this is a good thing. You got broken up like this is the person who got broken up with being like I wanted to be single.

1:25:20I just I didn't really want to be dating anyone anymore. Like they got they got dumped. That's the answer. It's like your parents raised you to age 14 and then put you up for adoption and said, change its name. We don't want it to have any affiliation with us. And you're out there like, sure, I have an insurgent now. I'm an insurgent. I'm thrilled to no longer have a dollar to my name to pay my bills. Because truly, I mean, this is the new situation for them. Go ahead, Mark. Give me access to my ChatGPT account in 20 minutes. I'll get them a better logo and a better name. OK, before I let you go, Mark Halperin, Vladimir Putin was not arrested when he came through for the summit.

1:25:59I heard some nonsense on two way. Would you like to account for that prediction? I can. It wasn't it was a joke. My point of the thing, and I may explain this several times. Happy to do it again. My point was it's kind of it was kind of incredible to host on United States soil a murderous dictator. and that the moment was for the president to manage and justify the reality that if he showed up in Europe, he probably would be arrested. I didn't have any sources saying he would be arrested. I didn't literally mean he would be arrested. What I meant to be provocative was, what an incredible moment that President Trump is bringing this guy, not just to meet with him, but to meet with him in the United States, to highlight the starkness of this, that he was The only way to make peace in this war is for the president to sit with a murderous dictator.

1:26:45That was my point. I guess I didn't make it clear. The progress that we made there appears to be eroding by the second as the Russians came out the next day and said, yeah, I said. Russians do what Russians do. Sorry. I'm aware. As they came out and said, oh, we deny everything. Like, we didn't really agree to security guarantees by European countries or the United States. In fact, that's a deal breaker. And, you know, we're really not sure we're going to have a two way meeting with Zelensky. So they're playing their games. And yet you have the Europeans continuously and openly saying we have never been this close to ending this war since the four years that it's been in progress and crediting the president for getting us there.

1:27:31All right. I got to go. You guys, thanks for being here. We'll talk to you soon. Coming up next, the CEO of Burna. Now, let me tell you something. Burna is an advertiser on this show. And we don't normally have the advertisers come on as guests. But you have got to see this product, okay? Because it's the new thing in self-defense. And I love my Burna. I'll explain why I love my Burna. And every single female friend I have loves her Burna. And the guys too. But I'll tell you why it makes particular sense for women. when we come back, don't go away. We talk a lot about personal freedom on this show.

1:28:09Well, part of that is owning your privacy. And let me tell you, if you have ever Googled your name and found your home address, phone number, or even your income floating around, it's not a coincidence. That data is bought and sold by data brokers without your consent. This is why I want to tell you about Incogni, a service that fights back on your behalf. Incogni contacts those shady sites and gets your personal data removed automatically. No forms, no emails. They handle the back and forth with these brokers and they just update you through their simple dashboard. It can really be a relief. If you care about your privacy and you want fewer spam calls, junk emails, and less risk of identity theft, consider this step.

1:28:51And right now you can get 60 % off an annual plan at incogni.com slash Megan. Use code Megan at checkout to get that 60 % off. I-N-C-O-G-N-I dot com slash Megan. And code Megan when you check out. Take back control of your data with Incogni. Look, it can be hard for a lot of parents to get their kids interested in ideas that actually matter. They can be lectured all day long about freedom and responsibility our country's founding. But if their eyes glaze over, then nothing's going to stick. But let me tell you about Tuttle Twins. Their new family starter pack makes these big ideas click for kids through their storytelling approach.

1:29:30These are fun adventures where the lessons come alive. Kids experience the ideas in a story. They understand them, they remember them, and they can explain them back to you. The Family Starter Pack includes all 14 of the original Tuttle Twins storybooks, covering topics like free markets, individual liberty, and personal responsibility, plus both volumes of America's History, so your kids can learn the truth about our founding from original sources, not political spin. It's everything you need to give your kids the education and values they deserve, and they'll actually enjoy it. Right now, there's a special deal on the Family Starter Pack.

1:30:04Go to TuttleTwins.com slash MK. That's TuttleTwins.com slash MK and get your set today. The GLP-1 pill you've been waiting for is now on row. Yep, it's finally here with the same clinically proven ingredient now in a pill and now on row. It's the first FDA approved GLP-1 pill for weight loss at the lowest price available. That's one daily GLP-1 pill for big results. Now on Rho. Go to Rho.co slash listen to see if you qualify. Rx only. Go to Rho.co slash safety for serious side effects and boxed warning associated with GLP-1s. An undisturbed sleep is a beautiful thing. That's why a Beautyrest mattress is designed to give you unparalleled motion separation.

1:30:50Isolating movement with our pocketed coil technology to help you sleep soundly no matter what's moving on the other side of the bed while providing individualized support for every sleeping position.

1:31:06People at their best get their beauty rest for 100 years. I'm Megan Kelly, host of The Megan Kelly Show on Sirius XM. It's your home for open, honest, and provocative conversations with the most interesting and important political, legal, and cultural figures today. You can catch The Megyn Kelly Show on Triumph, a SiriusXM channel featuring lots of hosts you may know and probably love, great people like Dr. Laura, Glenn Beck, Nancy Grace, Dave Ramsey, and yours truly, Megyn Kelly. You can stream The Megyn Kelly Show on SiriusXM at home or anywhere you are, no car required. I do it all the time.

1:31:47I love the SiriusXM app. It has ad-free music coverage of every major sport, comedy talk, podcast, and more. Subscribe now. Get your first three months for free. Go to SiriusXM.com slash MKShow to subscribe and get three months free. That's SiriusXM.com slash MKShow and get three months free. Offer details apply.

1:32:16Welcome back to The Megyn Kelly Show. So viewers and listeners of this program have heard me talk about Burna, a company that makes less lethal weapons for self-defense. The Massachusetts-based corporation makes pistols and rifles, but they're not technically firearms because they're powered by CO2 canisters rather than gunpowder or any sort of explosive. The idea is to give individuals a powerful way to defend themselves without resorting to deadly force. The company says it has sold nearly 700 ,000 of its launchers since 2019 and has yet to learn about a single fatality. But that does not mean that the weapons are not powerful.

1:32:53Here's a demonstration of the force of Berna's kinetic projectiles. Watch.

1:33:02Oh, OK, OK.

1:33:18wow we just learned a lot just then and mostly it's that the burner completely destroys random objects i think that would dissuade uh an assailant oh god ow ow it shows a picture of the leg the last person shot in that video is the company's president and ceo brian gantz brian joins us now to discuss more. Brian, you really took one for the team there. You know, that was the title of the video, CEO Takes One for the Team, because I couldn't convince any of my employees to get shot. So, all right, I want the audience to see, I've got two of the compact launchers right here, and I love the black one because it looks like a real gun, I have to say.

1:34:02Now, there's no, there's nothing in here. I've been pulling the trigger because there's nothing in here, I know that. Let me check. But it's a very kind of it's a cool looking pistol because it does resemble a real gun. And in the moment, God forbid you get confronted by an intruder. I have to say this is something that a lot of my friends in particular who have had no training on guns would feel comfortable taking out because every woman I know who hasn't been trained in guns is concerned about having a gun because she's convinced it'll be used against her and she doesn't want to get killed. And this is a way, I think, where a woman can have something that could protect her and she doesn't have to worry that, God forbid, it gets turned on her, that she's dead.

1:34:46I mean, do you feel, do you get that kind of feedback from a lot of your customers? We do. I mean, there's tremendous stopping power with the Berna. And I'll tell you, Megan, I've been a gun owner my entire life. But I always wondered how quick would I be to pull the trigger? And I had an experience about a decade ago, which really informed me as to how quick I would be to pull the trigger. I was in a road rage incident, and there was a guy that was right on my bumper, and he was banging his horn. And I really got nervous, and I pulled off to the side of the road thinking that he would go around me.

1:35:22But he didn't. He pulled in right behind me, and he got out of his truck. And I've got a Glock 19, my 9mm, the glove box. And I'm thinking, do I get out of the car with my gun or do I get out without my gun? And I'm thinking nothing good can happen if I get out of the car with my gun. So I got out without a gun and nothing good happened. I mean, this guy was bigger, younger, stronger, angrier. And he came at me and he threw me to the ground. And, you know, he could have really hurt me. Fortunately, all he really hurt was my pride. But I realized at that moment that if I wasn't prepared to pull the trigger, the gun was of no value to me.

1:35:59and although I am an avid 2A supporter, I was not going to shoot an unarmed man and that was kind of the genesis of Berna. We wanted to give somebody the ability to stop an assailant, to hold them at bay, to call the police, but without the risk of taking a life and that's what Berna is really designed for. I think it's a good supplement, you know, so a lot of people listening to this program will have firearms in their home and, but you're right, not every situation calls for it And so why wouldn't you supplement? Depending on the situation, you don't always have to go to an 11 where you actually are placing, you know, a possible fatality out there as one of the outcomes.

1:36:38But with Burna, you're not. Can you explain the two different kinds of ammunition that you can put in the Burna pistol? So here's one. I've got these sort of, these kinetic projectiles. This is one of the things you get, the audience can see. It's like, it looks almost like a gumball. You'd have to keep that away from the kids and the dogs. Strudwick is my main concern with my burnout kinetic projectiles. But explain the two types of ammo. OK, well, first off, just to get back to this continuum of force that you were talking about, the police have everything from, you know, voice command to baton, pepper spray, taser, all the way up to their firearm.

1:37:13For most civilians, they don't have anything between, you know, a voice command and a gun. And the burnout was to give them something a little bit further down in the continuum of force. We make two different projectiles. The kinetic projectile, which you were just showing, is what I got hit with. And that is basically a high-grade polymer, looks kind of like a marble, and it has tremendous pain compliance, is what the police refer to it as. Meaning it hurts like hell. And you get hit with it, and the vast majority of people are going to turn and run. But some people might be able to power through it.

1:37:51For those people, we have these chemical irritant rounds. They're filled with either pepper, OC, oleoresin capsaicin, or with CS, which is tear gas. And what this does is the pellets explode when they hit the person. They form this cloud around their head. Immediately, they're temporarily blinded. Their skin is on fire. They're in respiratory distress. Most people drop whatever they're holding. They move their hands to their eyes because their eyes are on fire. And they generally get down on their hands and knees. Let me show that because we have a video of that kind of projectile in SOT 52.

1:38:38Yeah. So you can see this person is not having a good day. He's writhing. He's like waving his hands trying to get the smell away from.

1:38:52He's crawling.

1:38:58He's taking off his shirt. He's trying to get, like, release. Your skin feels like it's on fire. Anything where that chemical irritant has touched your skin would be burning. Who's this poor guy who agreed to this? This was actually one of our employees down in South Africa. We had a much easier time in South Africa getting people to agree to get shot for a few hundred dollars than we did here in the U.S. Oh, my God. But it does bring it home. So wait, so how would it work then? Like, do you have to have two guns with the different projectiles? No, the way I load my gun and the way I would recommend that you load your gun, Megan, is I put in the three chemical iridated projectiles first.

1:39:42So they come out last. And then I put in the two hard kinetic projectiles. In most cases, the kinetic projectile will be more than adequate. You know, you'll shoot somebody once and they will turn on their heels and run. But if they are committed, if they're going to power through, you want to be able to physically stop them, as we just saw with that video, where you, you know, incapacitate them through temporary blindness, respiratory distress, you know, intense burning sensation. um interestingly though you know most times the burn is used nobody even pulls the trigger so i was on a podcast uh maybe two months ago and i can't remember the guy's name but he wrote that book more guns less crime and he's a you know strong to a proponent he says 95 of the time when you pull out a gun to stop an assailant you don't have to pull the trigger just the idea of fighting back.

1:40:39Sorry, John, John Locke. Yeah. I think he's been in the program. Exactly. John Locke. Yeah. So just you pull it and that's enough to deter people. But I will say something I like about the chemical irritating rounds, like the next level round, is you don't actually have to have a direct hit for it to work. Like you could have an intruder and you could shoot the wall right next to them if your aim is not so great and still take them down? Well, you know, there is a certain horseshoes and hand grenades aspect to this. All you need to do is get near the assailant. But the police have really created an art out of this.

1:41:21So for example, we're carried by over 300 police agencies. The most dangerous thing in policing is you come up on a car, the windows are blackened, people are not getting out of the car. You have no idea whether they've got a gun in the car. And, you know, if you ask any law enforcement officer, this is the single most difficult traffic stop. What they've been able to do with the Berna is to shoot out the windows with the kinetic rounds. So one round will take out the window and then to fire the chemical irritant rounds into the car. And what happens is it's like a clown car where all these people come out, you know, with their hands up, coughing, choking, you know, getting down on their hands and knees.

1:42:00So law enforcement uses it quite often where they don't even, they can't even see the person they're shooting at, but they can shoot rounds into a car, into a room, into some area where they want to get the people out of that car or out of that room. Like I was thinking about, remember after the George Floyd incident in 2020, when these flash mobs for like two years would show up at the 7-Eleven or some local store and, and go into the store and lood the, you know, there'd be looting, there'd be just rabble rousing. This to me would be the perfect kind of weapon to have because you don't actually want to shoot someone to death, but you feel under threat and you do want them to get out and you could shoot the floor, you know, away from yourself and ideally get them out of there if you can't get police help.

1:42:49And in too many communities in America, they're not close to police help. They really are on their own. Well, look at what's going on in Washington, D.C. So Washington, D.C. is out of control. Thank God the president has federalized the police. He's brought in the National Guard. But not every city has federalized police or National Guard. And in most places, like you said, you are your own first responder. You cannot rely on the police getting there in time. And you need to have something to protect yourself. And honestly, nobody wants to shoot, you know, a 15-year-old kid. But none of us want to be a victim.

1:43:24You need to have something that you can use to protect yourself. And, you know, although I've been an avid gun owner my whole life and I've never, you know, I've never given up any of my guns, I carry a Berner which I can use first. I still have my Glock 19 in the glove box, but I'm going to try my Berner first. If that doesn't work, if they have a gun, then I'll pull out my lethal firearm. But I'll first go to non-lethal. Yes, I think a lot of people feel that way, especially given how litigious people are in today's day and age. I know that 95 % of your sales are to consumers, 5 % to law enforcement.

1:44:03You can get a pistol or you can get a rifle and you can get the compact Burna like I have. But I have the full-size Burna too. I've got a few of these guns, and I have to tell you, I feel a lot safer thanks to Berna. And that's the reason that I accepted them as advertisers. We have a lot of advertisers that you're literally like one of the only ones I've ever put on to actually talk about the product because I think it could save lives, Brian. Thank you. Thank you so much for your support and for doing this. Well, thank you very much, Begum. We really appreciate the platform. Thank you very much.

1:44:31All the best. Okay, so it's Berna, spelled B-Y-R-N-A. We love our Ys here at The Megyn Kelly Show. Berna, B-Y-R-N-A.com. Check it out. I have to tell you, my Burna is the envy of all my neighborhood. They're all going to order these things because who doesn't want multiple layers of self-defense, right? It depends. You never know what's going to happen and you want to be prepared. Okay. Thank you for listening. We'll talk to you tomorrow. We're back with Maureen Callahan. Thanks for listening to The Megyn Kelly Show. No BS, no agenda, and no fear.

1:45:29www.fertilizer.com

1:45:40Sign up today at odoo.com. That's O-D-O-O dot com. Walmart shoppers, meet the debit card design with you in mind. The Walmart Money Card offers up to$75 cash back on purchases at Walmart each year. Early direct deposit, overdraft protection, and so much more. When Walmart is your everyday store, you need a card to match. That's the Walmart Money Card. Open your account today. The Walmart Money Card is issued by Green Dot Bank, member FDIC. Fees, terms, and conditions apply. Visit walmartmoneycard.com to learn more.

From the publisher

Megyn Kelly is joined by Mark Halperin, host of Next Up, and Sean Spicer and Dan Turrentine, co-hosts of The Morning Meeting, to discuss the latest data showing massive voter declines for the Democratic party in every state, what's behind the swing in the GOP direction, the Dem party’s lack of messaging and mechanics, Trump's role in the decline of the Democratic party, how the Dem brand got tainted and how it can recover, Gavin Newsom’s bizarre social media content, his performance art to seem like Trump, how prominent people like Joe Scarborough are against it but others are supportive, CNN host Abby Phillip trashing her guests, her declining ratings and all of CNN seeing declines, the breaking news out of Union Station with a visit from VP JD Vance and more Trump admin officials, Stephen Miller unloading on “white hippie” protesters in DC and promising more law enforcement help for DC residents, MSNBC' ridiculous rebrand attempt, and more. Then Bryan Ganz, CEO of Byrna, joins to discuss the different types of non-lethal self-defense weapons Byrna offers, the two different kinds of ammunition and additional features, and more.
 

Subscribe to Mark's show Next Up:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/next-up-with-mark-halperin/id1810218232
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2f0n8G4xqUo8aGxbbbtRjH
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nextuphalperin?sub_confirmation=1
 

Spicer- https://www.youtube.com/@SeanMSpicer

Turrentine- https://x.com/danturrentine

Ganz- https://byrna.com/

 

Cozy Earth: Luxury shouldn't be out of reach. Go to https://cozyearth.com/MEGYN for up to 40% off.

Riverbend Ranch: Visit https://riverbendranch.com/ | Use promo code MEGYN for $20 off your first order.

Incogni: Visit https://incogni.com/MEGYN for 60% off our annual plan

Tuttle Twins: Go to https://TuttleTwins.com/history today

Byrna: Go to https://Byrna.com or your local Sportsman's Warehouse today.

 

Follow The Megyn Kelly Show on all social platforms:


YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MegynKelly

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/MegynKellyShow

Instagram: http://Instagram.com/MegynKellyShow

Facebook: http://Facebook.com/MegynKellyShow


 Find out more information at:
https://www.devilmaycaremedia.com/megynkellyshow


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

More from The Megyn Kelly Show

All 716 episodes
Dems in Decline, Newsom's Bizarre Trump Troll Attempt, and Truth About DC Crime, with Halperin, Spicer, and TurrentineThe Megyn Kelly Show · 1 h 42 min
Listen in VO