Dan Turrentine
Appearances
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
I still believe it very much. I mean, Megan, one of the things we heard all fall that gave me kind of confidence in saying that I thought Trump was going to win is the number of people who would come on our show and say, I'm a Democrat, I've left the party because of how it treated RFK, and I am with Trump because RFK is with Trump.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
And if we're going to win national elections again and get the Senate back, we have got to find a way to win both RFK and his voters and bring them back into the party. And I think there will be some Democrats that will vote for him. I think that his biggest threat really is from the right. I think the fact that, as you said, he is a Democrat.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
Merry Christmas.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
His views on choice, his views on the role of government in health care are more closer to our party. that they're pretty aligned with our party and less the Republican Party. And so I think he's going to have to answer those questions and give comfort to some people on the right.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
Certainly not all Democrats will vote for RFK, but I do believe there will be more than one or two that will vote for him and they should.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
Yeah, Megan, you hit something, too, when you said this goes back to kind of COVID. One of the problems for the Democratic Party is we have kind of tried to shut down debate on a lot of stuff when people have questioned things.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
And we've said, oh, the experts, the scientists, like anyone who says, you know, that you shouldn't wear a mask, anyone that says maybe the kids should be back in school, anyone who says, you know, maybe six feet isn't the right number. We tried to shut it down, shame them. You're an idiot. You know, how could you not follow science?
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
One of the things that RFK has done is raised questions that parents have themselves. I mean, you've said it, pesticides, food, the obesity with children. The fact that we are defending the status quo in an era when people are so against, they're so upset, they're frustrated, they feel like their voices aren't heard.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
It frustrates me as a Democrat that Trump and the Republican Party have owned now and taken over, and they are seen as a party that is asking questions, is probing, is willing to change That is that I'd rather be them than us right now. And we have to become more tolerant and accepting of people with different views and ask questions about why and respect what people are thinking.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
Yeah, look, if the standard was that no every politician's friends had to be completely clean, there'd be nobody in federal or state government. I mean, it really is a stretch. I think, you know, in my opinion, there's enough questions on Hegseth to stick to the nominee. I think really the question is less with Democrats and with fellow Republicans.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
You know, I think he's struggling with with a handful of them. But I agree with you trying to bring in a security official, a Sherpa, you know, college buddy. To me, that's just a total stretch. And one of the things voters roll their eyes about.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
Yeah, I mean, look, anytime somebody steps forward in a public nature to make an allegation as serious as she may potentially make, you have to brace yourself. I mean, you are entering the deep end of the pool. People will rebut it. People will question your character, your motives, everything. And as you say, in the Brett Kavanaugh instance, the testimony against him was pretty riveting.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
I mean, she stepped forward and made some very serious charges. And that nomination obviously was kind of teetering for a moment there. Look, I think if you're the Democrats, there are so many allegations against Hegseth, whether it's in this instance, the fiscal mismanagement. You know, is he the right fit? to lead the Pentagon during a time of two wars. It's one of the biggest bureaucracies.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
The procurement process is a mess, let alone the questions about DEI and other things that Trump would like him to focus on. I think you have an obligation to raise all of these issues in a respectful way. And I think, you know, as Mark said, there are Republican senators for whom these are individual allegations are also concerning. And so I think
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
If you're the Democrats, you have to have a witness that's willing to cooperate and be comfortable putting her or in some instances himself out there because you are going to get roughed up. That's not a Trump thing. That's just a political thing. If you step forward.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
No, I will not be. I mean, look, I think there's three things about her here. I think one, you know, much to my surprise, I think Mark, Sean, there's been very little talk since the election about her as a candidate. The fact that she was indecisive, cautious, kind of playing not to make a mistake. Those are the same things that brought her down in 2019 and surfaced again in 2024.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
The second point is candidates that run three times and are successful, like Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, they're consistent in their views, in their policy positions. And the country kind of comes towards them, or in Trump's case, they come back towards you. She was the definition of inconsistent, right? She was very progressive in 19. She was, you know, in her telling a moderate in 24.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
What would she be in 2028 or even for 2026 in California? And the last thing is she has no real power base within the party that you would say, OK, this is a formidable block. How do we kind of get through them or or peel off people? You know, she didn't raise one point five billion dollars this time around. The opponent of Donald Trump raised $1.5 million, and that happened to be her.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
But the grassroots is not in love with her. Major donors were not in love with her. And so I think if she were to run, the best thing that ever happened to her was not having a primary, because if she would have had to have picked a moderate or liberal position on issue after issue in a primary, explain why she had changed her positions or not changed her positions,
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
She, you know, last time that happened, she didn't even make it to Iowa. So I think whether she runs for president or governor, she would face a lot of challengers. And I would, you know, not be confident if I were her that she would be victorious.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
I honestly don't know. You know, Mark has asked the same question here recently, and I don't have a good answer. I think there seems to be a lot of finger pointing at Donald Trump. There seems to be an effort by her senior staff to say we ran. I think one person said, quote, a flawless campaign to which Chris Lasavita said, yeah, you can't lose and say you ran a flawless campaign.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
But there is just this kind of excuse that the wins were so strong. Trump had such the upper hand that really there was no way we could win, which I just don't believe and find the data doesn't back that up. I don't know, Megan.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
I do believe that in the new year, when people thinking about 2028 start to emerge, that they will make sure that she goes through the barrel, so to speak, that these stories do come out. But for now- Totally agree. I can't believe it, that she's escaping criticism personally.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
Look, a lot of them are members of the incumbent party. And that right now is Donald Trump. And I think as Mark and Sean have said, in 2016, I think Democrats were first stunned and they immediately turned to anger. Just this idea that he was not legitimate, that Russia had helped him, that there was just no way that he had won or earned the office outright.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
Now, I think Democrats are just exhausted. I mean, they threw every single thing that they could think of at him, whether, you know, on the political playing field or the courtroom or, you know, the media was certainly not helpful to him. And he won. And I think there's now just this exhaustion, resignation and in the in the business world. complete acceptance that he is in charge.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
He has maximum political power. Perhaps, you know, no one has been riding into the office with more leverage than Trump has in a long time. And part of that is because Joe Biden is essentially missing in action. I mean, Mark likes to make the joke during a presidential transition, there's only one president at a time. And right now that appears to be the president elect Donald Trump.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
much frustration.
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
Well, and think about too, Sean, in 16 when they did that, we have a good friend who's a senior executive at Google. Google gave their employees a day off after the 2016 election for a day of mental health warning. Now there's none of that. Now it's just like even the employee base is like, well, I hope we're going down there. Did you see Bezos was down there? When are we going down there?
The Megyn Kelly Show
RFK and Hegseth's Path to Confirmation, and Dangers of AI, with Mark Halperin, Sean Spicer, Dan Turrentine, and Tristan Harris | Ep. 967
So I think now it's not just the executives, but rank and file employees who are resigned and accepting that Donald Trump is the next president of the United States.