Mark Halperin

You can put that up.

This is an item that appeared in the Axios does a weekly newsletter about 2028.

And they had a little item about Pete Buttigieg and the question of whether he did a good job as commerce secretary, as a transportation secretary for Joe Biden.

And what the item says is, quote, they raise the question of whether he did a good job.

And they say, quote, several of Buttigieg's potential rivals for the 2028 Democratic nomination for president are quietly beginning to pick at his work in Biden's cabinet as a vulnerability rather than an asset.

So if you're a sophisticated reader, you know that what's happening is advisors to other potential candidates don't want to see Buttigieg do well, don't want him to rise up.

And so they're quietly calling reporters and they're saying, no fingerprints on this, didn't get this from me, but he wasn't that great a transportation secretary.

That can happen on things like people's bio, people's record, but it can also happen on this personal stuff.

And I'm telling you this right now, and this is the heart of what I want you to take away from this monologue is,

I know without having done any work and without stuff coming purposely to me, almost everybody who's talked about here has problems in their lives.

Not about whether they were good at their jobs, but personal stuff.

And personal stuff broadly defined.

Not just about sex or drugs.

Personal stuff broadly defined.

Financial stuff, family stuff, lots of stuff.

And I can tell you that in the current environment, you're going to see this stuff sent to reporters.

If Perspective Candidate X starts to rise up,

You're going to see the operatives, both the Democrats and Republicans, and it'll be true about J.D.

Vance, too, tell reporters, hey, look into this.

And then the question is going to be, do the reporters look into it?