Dispatch From Trump World: The Spirit of ’24
Two weeks after Donald Trump won the 2024 election in anything but a nail-biter, some of the people packed into a VIP room at New York City’s Comedy Cellar this Tuesday night might have had reason to feel a little bit smug.
It was the first on-stage performance of Mark Halperin’s The Morning Meeting (though this one was subtitled “After Dark”), a weekday news show that airs live on YouTube and on Halperin’s new 2Way platform, where he and his cohosts—former White House Communications Director Sean Spicer and Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine—provide an interactive experience “devoted to unique conversations, unbiased discourse, and open debate.” Halperin opens each time with the watchwords, “Peace, love and understanding.”
Where a cynic might see this as airy-fairy, others find respite. One VIP looked nearly beatific as he told me Halperin was the only host he knew that “shoots straight.”
“It’s the one show that’s giving people actual insight into what’s going on,” said Spicer. “On the networks, it’s five minutes of a pundit who’s never been in the game, never worked in government.”
All three men have had, if not a fall from grace, at least a dinging up during the Trump era: Halperin faced unproven allegations of sexual impropriety which cost him his roles at Showtime and NBC News. Spicer served as White House Communications Director in 2017 until he was unceremoniously replaced by Anthony Scaramucci (who lasted all of ten days). Turrentine is the former chief of staff to Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D), and became something of a pariah in his own party when he questioned Biden’s fitness to stay in office before others were ready to hear it or the media was ready to report on it.
After having watched a dozen episodes of The Morning Meeting (and, full disclosure, being called on several times to be a talking head), I can attest the audience seems to find relief in conversations where they are not accused of being a traitor.
“The show is to me a little bit of a version of the 21st century talk radio, it’s a two-way interaction,” said Turrentine. “It’s harder to be snotty or snarky when I’m looking you in the eye, as opposed to Twitter or even on a telephone, where you can flex all you want and hang up.”
At 5 p.m., Halperin, Spicer, and Turrentine took the stage for what looked like an all-ages, entirely packed house. After Halperin delivered the opening grace note and said they’d be taking questions, he reminded the crowd the show was being livestreamed.
“Not unlike being in Mar-a-Lago, everything you do can be seen and heard by the Chinese,” he said, then turned to Spicer. “Now, it’s going to be about confirmations—who will win? The swampy establishment Republicans or MAGA?”
“Oh, MAGA wins every day of the week,” Spicer said.
Halperin asked if they both thought Trum
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