This Week’s PR Hits & Misses

Hey there, everyone. Welcome to our Friday Get Together chat, our PR hits and misses for the week. I'm so happy to see you guys back here again. Michelle, you got the time right? No, you. You cannot take blame for this. I try to make it 12pm Eastern time every Friday. I tend not to travel on Friday or schedule big things on Friday at all. So I try to keep it at this time. But my. Sometimes with travel and everything, it just. It changes a bit. So that's on me. It's not on you. All right, everyone. Hello. So I never wanna put this in print, but we're calling this our Friday news dump because that's when all the news is dumped on Friday. That's why we're looking for the big stories. So particularly if these things ever happen live when we're on these chats, it's always interesting. I remember, I think over the summer we would have news drop while we were doing these lives, which is always interesting when people want to bury the stories there. So, Michelle, how was your week in the vault? So I'm so happy that you said that. I do have. I want to let you all know about a couple things that are coming up and then we'll get in our chat this week. This week is all about leaks. I'll just leave it at that for now. Let's talk about leaks. And as always, please, please jump in with your PR reputation moves, hits and misses of the week. We are always looking for different categories there. We're always looking for examples, any type of statements, anything. Oh, wonderful, wonderful. Always looking for these stories that we can talk about. And I love having everyone here. So my first piece of it, I do want to let you know, next Tuesday at get this, everyone, 9pm Eastern Time, 8pm Central Time, Mountain time, we're going to have a members only live chat. Okay? As soon as this call's finished, that will be in our calendar and I'll add a post in there as well. For our members only. So next Tuesday, members only, 9pm Eastern Time. We're going to have fun. Maybe I might bring a cocktail with that. Maybe we'll have a cocktail. Because next, Michelle, you're going to get wine. Molly, you might get wine. Molly. Yes, I. I may. We may do that. We may do that. So everyone knows that's just members only and that is truly the vault, as in what's said in it stays in it. All right? And then from there, I. The next day on Wednesday, 12pm Eastern Time and 3pm Eastern Time, I have my free workshop. It's what to do in the first hour of any type of crisis. And then Thursday, 1pm Eastern time will be another version. All three of them are live. They're with me and my team, and we're just going to go through, like, what you should do in the first hour. So I hope that you all can join me. And for Substack members, I'm gonna let you all know about it on Tuesday night if you join me on the live. But there's gonna be something in it. Poor Vu. All right, so let's get into today's chat. I have to kick off with the topic du jour. The topic du jour, which has really been a story all week. And that's this political piece. I remember when Politico used to be like, like a, a, a, a really formidable, Like, I remember when it started, it was like really, I don't know if it was one of the first, but it was like that DC Online mag, you know, I remember how big they were. Was it John Vandeheim or Jim Vanaheim who started, who's now at Axios, I believe. But anyway, it, it was huge. And I have to be honest, I didn't ever think much about Politico ever until it came out with this leak, which I saw, you know, at the beginning of the week with their exclusive. And it is quite the excl. I love Hitler. How's that for SEO? Leaked messages expose young Republicans racist chats. I've had thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape. Yesterday I recorded next week's podcast episode about this because I don't have my oh, I have my water. There is so much happening with this. It's more than just the story about a leaked text about a le a leaked group text on Telegram. Does anyone use Telegram? Does anyone use it? I was in it when I wrote for Forbes. When I was a Forbes contributor. All the editors, they were on Telegram and I may have been on Telegram for another chat. I gotta be honest, I, I, I just never got into it. It was always a pain for me to use it. But it is one of those, you know, community type chats. You know, definitely, like just certain communities will go in there. So let's look first of all at the article. Even if you haven it, let's talk about some of the things that were said in there. But I also want to highlight the, the responses because one of these apologies is so bad. It's such a throwback apology from 2000 circa 2017. It is so bad and it says so much about this person. So we'll read into that. And then I also want to talk about something that's similar. This is a Republican story. A Democrat is dealing with the same issue. And it is in one of the hottest races now that I think in terms of media. And this is like a really bad leak about a candidate who I think turned it. Who turned it right away. So I'm going to tell you about that when we get into it and then some of the lessons now. No, Michelle, it is not Katie Porter. I did a social media post about Katie Porter. But, Michelle, this was going to be a theme, a chat about the hits and misses for the week. And I wanted to kind of theme it, you know, talk about these leaks. But you're right. Katie Porter was hit or miss of the week. What do you guys think when we say Katie Porter and what she dealt with? Was it a hit? Did she take a p. Was it a hit like she did good things or was it a mess? Okay, hit or miss? I did a post about Katie Porter. Now, one of the things I mentioned about Katie Porter is back in the day when she was a congressperson, and I have to admit, I completely forgot that she no longer was in Congress. I didn't know that. All of a sudden she popped up on the news. Katie Porter. Like I even asked Greg, I said, who knew what Katie Porter was doing? I said, is she still in Congress anymore? And I thought, no, she's not in Congress anymore because you wouldn't see her with the whiteboard that Tim Rosser made famous. Michelle. I thought it was a miss, but I think she turned it into a hit with an explanation. So interesting, Michelle. So, yeah, it was bad. And well, we talked about her last week because we had talked about the mashed potatoes. How, how her ex husband, you know, jumping into the fray. Well, so much. He didn't jump into the fray. It's when bad press happens about someone, when they go viral, the press is always looking for different angles. And then they go back to any public record they could find and they went back to her ex husband. And, and we all, we all talked about week, you know, that he claimed that she dumped, you know, mashed potatoes, scalding hot mashed potatoes over his head and called him an effing idiot and all that. And when you read it, it actually, I don't know, it actually made me laugh. Not that domestic violence is anything to laugh about, but. So here we go. Let's. What do we think? We've had some people say hit and. And miss. Certainly how she treated her employees, that's not good. She's very short in the temperament department, definitely. But as I was searching for that post that I did. Manny, she's playing the other side tactics. I'm looking at her with the semi proud grin, but it makes me feel dirty. That's. Oh, that's so accurate and on point. But listen, so I mean, Katie Porter and fun fact, I think I probably mentioned this last week. So she lived like, right around the corner from where I used to live when I lived in an Alexandria in old Town Alexandria. She's right around the corner, but she is someone. She is very accomplished. I'm gonna get her bio all wrong. But she grew up an Iowa farm girl. And I was just. I was speaking in Iowa, as a matter of fact, and I met a couple Iowa farm girls. You know, talk about industrious, hardworking. You cannot grow up on a farm and not be a hard worker, but, you know, hard working. Then she went to Yale undergrad, I don't know, and Harvard Law School, I think. But she went Ivy. She. She went Iowa to Ivy. Really accomplished and. Oh, God, who did she clerk for? I'm so bad, you guys, I don't have it up. But accomplished and smart. And then she taught, and then she was in California and she taught. So she's someone I could. I could picture especially the. There's something about the Iowa farm girl and her that she just doesn't have the patience for. People who are just falling short. And I'll admit, like, I had a Katie Porter moment, like this week dealing with something in my work where I thought, if, you know, my team, I was. They hired someone else to do something. I thought if I open up another piece of content and it has this one thing in it, I'm going to scream. I thought, I'm going to Katie Porter all over the place. But so. So we have videos of her sniping at the staffer when she was doing a zoom call. And it looked like they were in their house and the staffer was at the counter talking to her. And then we had her being short and kind of walking out saying, I'm done with the CBS local CBS reporter in California. I think it's Sacramento. And then we had her with the Zoom call and the lights went out and she was so annoyed. But honestly, like, I don't think I've ever acted that way, like, with staff or anything like that. But haven't we all been there? Like, I. I have taken that deep breath. That's all I have to say. I'm using Katie Porter when I crash out now. Exactly. We're going to call up the Katie Porter and the staffer. When the staffer was talking to her, the staffer was in the shot. So I could see why she would be annoyed. I'm not justifying it. And I saw one comment on my social they kind of popped in and said, you know, because I was saying she didn't really need to apologize and I wasn't saying this personally but I was saying it looking at the numbers because pulled from Muckrack. Michelle, your kids have seen me Katie Porter as, as have mine, as has my ex as well. And I would. I'm going to stop right now. But let's just say we've all Katie Porter, right. We've all been Katie Porter. But someone said I would never justify abuse. Like they kind of went through the abuse thing. And that's true. You can't treat staff, you know, poorly and understandable. However do we do we make a woman apologize and make her drop out of a gubernatorial race because of her temperament? And can we do that in 2025 when what's happened in Portland and Chicago, I mean look at the like let's just, let's pop into the no Kings rally, you know, on the weekend and see affect her still in the campaign donations. Manny, I honestly don't think so. I really don't. So she came out, I used clips of it in my post and she did like kind of my, my not kind of, but my indestructible PR framework or I'm not that she followed it, but own it, explain it, promise it, own it. You don't have to apologize for everything. You just have to accept accountability and acknowledge like yeah, I was an you know, and she did and she did. And then she went into, she explained it but then she went into why she needed. Why she needs someone who's tough. And that's what she is. She is tough. She is. So that's Katie Porter. So we're going to give her a PR miss. I mean, definitely with that leak. But I think she kind of hit it. You know, it was a good hit for her because now she can move on. She doesn't need to talk about it. And that's a mistake that so many people make. They say nothing or they pick a fight on it and then it continues on. I guarantee men have behaved way worse than were forgiven. Exactly. If we are measuring Katie Porter with the same stick as other male politicians, then we have to take that stick and go. All right, so that's Katie Porter. That's our first one. Thank you for jumping in there, Michelle, with that. So anyone else can jump in there? Oh, oh, wait. Who says oh, wait, wait, wait. Someone said it. I saw it in here. Tart went to Phillips Academy. That's where she went. That's right. Phillips Academy. That's right. I. I toured it with one of my kids. One of my kids applied to Phillips to play sports there. Thank you for saying that. It was Phillips Academy. Thank you. And I was thinking, wow, Iowa. Wait, was it Andover or Phillips, Iowa, to Exeter, New Hampshire. That's crazy. So that's her. All right, well, thank you with that. Okay. Anyone else who's in the mix, chime in, because I have my own. Dems have stopped playing identity politics and holding their candidates to perfection, or we will continue to lose. Absolutely. Absolutely. We need a 9pm live with wine to discuss assets. Oh, we should. Oh, we should have a vault on that. Oh, we should have a vault on that. At some point. We just can't handle anywhere. And we. Katie Porter. You're right. I think. You know what? Community vault. When we say we're going to Katie Porter this. We all know what we mean. Okay. We all know what we mean. All right. Yale and Harvard Law School. Thank you, Tarte, for confirming that for me. All right. The Virginia AG raise. Herb, I don't. I don't know about that. I know there's more, so let me look that up as we move on. So give us your PR hits and misses for the week. Oh, so you were watching the Virginia AG race. Hold on. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I do know about this. I do know about this. So, Herb, let me. Let me jump in on this one. Wait, I got to sign in. I'm a Washington Post subscriber. It annoys me. This paper annoys me to no end, but I can't. I can't let go of it. Okay. Democrat J. Jones wanted to talk about Trump at Republican Jason Mears. Focus on violently worded text messages. Okay, Herb and everyone else. Is this where he quoted the office? Is that this totally not politics real, but the. The Vegas Golden Knights? Tori, I just happened to see that. As a matter of fact, I saw that headline. Let me. Okay. Incoming hamburger. Jones recently leaked text messages from 2022 in which Jones mused. I think it is her right. Am I getting this right? If you're really sorry, you wouldn't be running for. And then he. Jones apologized for the very grave mistakes. And then he tried to change the subject, shoehorning Trump into nearly every topic. He promised to fight the President's policy in court and use Trump's name 37 times during a 60 minute debate. Okay, let's see if it brings up. What did he say? So here's his statement, Herb. Okay, okay, hold on, hold on. I, I, I can't rely on you, Herb, to look at my thing. So let me, let me get, I'm putting money on that. It was the office comment about the bullets, am I right? Okay. I can't get the full quote out of it. Okay. But it does. Let me just go to political. Okay, here we go, herb. Thank you. 2022 text messages when he was a state legislator suggested that then House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, should be shot. He went on to say Gilbert and his wife are breeding little fascists in reference to Gilbert's young children and suggested. Okay, so why you? Come on, we'll talk about a statement. Oh, shame on me for not putting this in there, you know, my brain. But, but am I right, though? Is this where he was quoting the office, like, if I had two bullets, I don't want to waste everyone's time. I don't want to waste everyone time. But anyway, but his statement was. So Jones used roughly 40 seconds of his four minute opening statement to apologize and suggested the children should die. Yikes. But, but, Herb, just tell me, is this where he quoted the office, where he said, if I had three bullets, I would use two on the same? Just, just let me know if I'm getting my same, My same ones. Correct. So here he said, quote, let me be very clear. I am ashamed, I am embarrassed, and I am sorry. I may have put that in different order. He said, I cannot take back what I said, but you have my word that I will always be accountable for my mistakes. I hope there's more. Jones apologized to the politician he said deserved two bullets in the head. I think it is right. It's the office quote. And they brought up the text where he called Gilbert's young children little fascists and talk about their potential death. Only when people feel pain personally, do they move on policy. Oh, I see. How could J. Jones ever be trusted? So in other words, was he saying that you would think differently about guns? I don't understand people who say such dark things. It's like calling actions into the world. Well, that's kind of the theme of the talk this week and of my podcast and a client call that I had as well, you know what, what you say in text chats, you know, people assume that everything stays in the dark. Like if you text something on a phone and won't go anywhere. Not so. Not so. But can someone please verify for me, did he say the thing? Because I can't find the full statement anywhere. I mean, not to pass it off, but was this a quote from the office where he said, if I had two bullets, I'd use it on Toby twice? But anyway, so that was his statement. Let me tell you why I don't love. There must be more. Oh, here we go. Here we go. There's more. I've taken accountability for my mistakes. And I know that people in Virginia right now demand and deserve leaders who accept. Oh, he said this in the. In the debate. Who accept when they make mistakes and can acknowledge that and have been held accountable. This job right now demands someone who will hold Donald Trump accountable. Okay, so those are all good lines, but this is what I want to know if he said, because here's the part. And it's only. It's only part of it is in the Washington Post. So I. Oh, you can't find it? You can't verify? Cause I read it this week where. And I'm almost positive it was this one. My brain can only accept so much information in a week. Is when he was talking about the bullets and killing, he was referring to a line that I think Steve Carell said where I think, I don't know, like, if I had three bullets, I would use two on Toby. Quote is if I had a gun with two bolts and I was in a room with Hitler, bin Laden and Toby, I'd shoot Tony twice, Toby twice. That was it. Now, I want to know, Chris, is that what Jones said? Jones suggested that his political opponents should be the two bullets to the head. So it is the office quote. Okay. Not that it makes it any better, but I guess what that would highlight is how trying to use other people's humor script writers for yourself, and especially in something so dark is not a good idea. And also, I don't know if he ever actually truly apologized in here, so I'm going to give him the benefit of the doubt. But in this Washington Post article, it doesn't sound like he actually. Because full accountability is not just saying, I take accountability and I apologize and I'm sorry you have to say what you did wrong. That. That's what part of the statement is. You have to acknowledge what you did wrong because it has to settle a grievance and sometimes the grievance could be like a nitnoid grievance, or it could be a general grievance. Like to anybody in the public would say, yeah, threatening someone and saying that you're going to shoot them with the kids and all that. Yeah, you need. You need to acknowledge why that was so bad. Now, this is just one article. He may have done that. The piece that I see, we didn't see that. So we can see more. All right, so that's a good. That is a good one. Now I'm curious the outcome of the debate, if it worked. I don't like using my time with you guys like on AI. Maybe you have a better sense of it, Herb, since you maybe live in Virginia and that's why you're paying attention to it. All right, okay. The outcome of Thursday's Virginia Attorney General debate was widely viewed as a setback for Jay Jones. He's a Democrat. And the text scandal largely failed to shift momentum away from Republican. So the debate was dominated by the text messages. So that's. So an analyst described the debate as combative and one sided, with Miyares. Is that how you pronounce his name? Largely controlling the narrative social media response. Heavily married favored him. Okay, so now the Republican has the edge since the scandal broke, 48% to 45%. Joan's apology was described as heartfelt but inadequate to quell the controversy. Okay, there you go. So that's one leak. Moving to the political Politico leak. There are so many things happening from that. Let me see what everybody's saying here. Jones then suggested that if he had only two bullets, he was faced with the choice of shooting Gilbert or the dictators. Adolf Hitler in Cambodia's Pol Pot, he would shoot Gilbert every time. Ah, so it is. So it is. It is. The one with the office doesn't make it any better, but it shows that sometimes when you think you're funny, you're not. Tell Molly Bot to look it up. Exactly. I live in D.C. but the VA commercials are on 24 7. Gotcha. I taught pre K through 9th grade. I insist on students naming the behavior when they apologize. Dare I say, oh, it is elementary, isn't is elementary. So let's move on to the Politico article. If you haven't heard about it, which I mean, it actually really, I mean for political. I mean, good for them. But the leak of the young GOP leaders. It is the young Republican groups, which I. At first, it's the Young Republican National Federation. When I first heard it, I Thought it was college students when I first heard it because, you know, it just all kind of bleeds together. And then when I read it, I saw like, oh, no, these are adults who work in it. They're, they, they're not young college age young, they're out of college young. So let's you all know some of the things that were said here. Everyone that votes. Oh, okay. So actually I can put the names to these people. I named them in the podcast because you know what? They deserve to be. I mean, they deserve to be outed. Right? Even you put it in the Telegraph chat. Okay, so Telegram. It's gonna come out. So the first one is Peter Guenta, and I think he's the one who had the worst comments. So he's the New York Young Republican chair, chief of staff to the assembly member Mike Riley or former chief of staff. He joked about loving Hitler. So what he said was everyone that votes, and it really should be everyone who votes no is going to the gas chamber. And everyone that endorsed but then votes for us is going to the gas chamber. Lovely. Let's see if they put. He only wants true believers. So his. And he also was dating Annie Katie. She's a national committee member and Gwenta's reported partner. She said she was ready to watch people burn. So she now faces removal from her national post, which she should. She should be removed for that. And also dating someone like Peter Gwenda. Just saying. Could you imagine dating someone in a Telegraph chat? And they joke about loving Hitler. I mean, okay, so here, let's read. Well, let's just some of the other comments. Bobby Walker, Vice Chair in New York. He described rape as epic. Lovely. He resigned soon after the political peace hit. Joe Maligno General Counsel and we'll get into the ages of these people in a moment and why it matters for the same group. He joked about the Hitler aesthetic and fixing the showers. He was removed from the organization. And I talked about Annie Katie. She lost her national post. Alex Dwyer, Chair of the Kansas Young Republicans. They're now disbanding. Reacted with smiling among emojis to the Hitler messages. William Hendricks, the Kansas vice chair, repeatedly use anti black slurs. He was banned from future GOP youth roles. Luke Mosman, Arizona Events Chair Called for sexual violence against a political opponent. He lost his campaign job. Samuel Douglas, a Vermont state senator and head of the state's Young Republicans, mocked Indian Americans and also Vermont governor Phil Scott. The state suspended him. Brianna Douglas Douglas WIFE and Communication Chair we'll get back into these ages. Shared Anti Semitic stereotypes. She resigned. Michael Bartel, senior advisor at the United States sba, Small Business Administration, didn't post any slurs, but failed to intervene. He's now under review by the sba. Rachel Hope, an Arizona events director, shared white supremacist slogans. I mean. I mean. And she was removed by state GOP leadership. Okay, so let's get into a couple of the statements. Let's get into one defense of the group and also some of the statements. But let me see what you guys have to say first. I'll get into him in a moment. Michelle, the grammar. Yeah. Not to jump too far past the text, but do we see the swastika, American flags, and Senate offices being related to this? Because I don't find any of it a coincidence. It feels like a dry run to see how far they can get away with all this trying to normalize and desensitize. It might be too roomy and gloomy for Friday, but that's how I'm feeling. No, you know, there's a reason why this political story, and I'm going to compare it to another political one so we'll have our three texting scandals. No, it is, it's. This isn't just happening, like, in a vacuum in the pl. It's just like a political story. No, this is a bigger problem. I totally agree. That's why the Politico story has legs. That's why it does, because it's not just about these. About the young Republicans and what they. The story isn't about a text chat and the leak. It's about what was leaked and what's accepted. So I agree with you. Dave Taylor with the swastika flag in his office, apparently an act of vandalism. Oh, my gosh. How can anyone defend their words? Is beyond comprehension. This is not free speech. It's hate. Oh, Jill, good point. What the heck was dinner table conversation like when these people were raised? Yeah, when Greg and I were talking about this, that's what I said about all them, like, parents. Parents. Right. We can't blame the parents. But. Okay, so let's look at some of the statements, the apologies. Okay, so Peter, Gwenta, he's one of the main figures in the chat. So he was New York. He was the one who praised Hitler and also said, everyone that votes no is going to the gas chamber. Here is his statement. You let me know what you think. Quote, I am so sorry to those offended by the insensitive and excused. I'm sorry. Let me start over. Let me start Over Peter Gwenda, one of the key figures in the chat. Here is his apology. Quote, I am so sorry to those offended by the insensitive and inexcusable language found within the more than 28,000 messages of a private group chat that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republicans. While I take complete responsibility, I have no way of verifying their accuracy and am deeply concerned that the message logs and questions have been deceptively doctored. He added that the leak was part of a quote, part of a highly coordinated year long character assassination led by Gavin Wax and the New York City Young Republican Club. End quote. Let's, let's dig in. Let's dig in for a moment. This is not an apology. No, it's a gripe. It starts off, I am so sorry. Really? And sorry and so sorry. They're really on the equal measure. I'm so sorry to those offended. That would be a qualified. That's a qualifier when you qualify an apology. It is not apology when you qualify your official response statement. You have nullified your statement, which we could have predicted what came in the rest of the statement just based on the qualifier right there. So then we get into the framing and we get into exactly how Peter Gwenta felt. He does not feel true remorse and he is not taking accountability for it because he is the aggrieved. Peter is the aggrieved. And the inexcusable language found within the more than 28,000 messages. So he's quantifying the amount of messages to show that. Because there's 28,000 messages. So if this article highlighted like seven of his messages, there are 20 over 27,000 other text messages where he's talking about volunteering at the Humane Society, helping old people, going to Passover dinner, you know. No, no, that just, that doesn't work. Oh, and messages of a private group chat. Private doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. He's, that's, that's, that's, that's code for this was never supposed to come out. This is not my fault. This is not my fault at all. And then I love that it said that I created during my campaign to lead the Young Republicans. I don't know why we needed that frame, that framing there maybe as a, as a bile point. And I like this while I take complete responsibility, the while. Which means he's not going to, he's already nullifying that. Right. Is that interesting? You can always see that in the statements where they just wipe out exactly what they're saying before They've even said it. While I take complete responsibility, I have no way of verifying their accuracy. You don't need to. Politico did that for you. So now you're saying, well, if it's not true, then why. Why are you apologizing for the statement? Because you know it's true. And he also thinks that they're deceptively doctored. Okay. And then goes on to blame Gavin Wax. What a name. And the New York City Young Republican Club. So this was a campaign. Character assassination campaign. But let's assume that. That it was. It really was not. It was. It was you. You. It was. What's the term for self assassination in terms of reputation when we're talking about reputation? Everything he did, he inflict harm on himself because he said all this stuff. Okay? So that was Peter Quinta's statement, which I would have to say is one of the worst statements I've ever seen coming out of a. Of a crisis like this. Am I the only one. Knock. Shocked by this? No. They're not even hiding it. Those offended. It's your fault, not mine. Yep. He can't confirm. He. He wrote some of the messages. Of course he did. Yes, Laura, a victim mentality. That's exactly it. Brittle fragility. Right. You know, I talk about my kids all the time. And. And I'll say this very quickly. One of my kids was dealing my. My daughter. I won't say what when I want to give her privacy, but I. This is how I parent. This is how I parent. I always talk. I never say, like, someone's bad or good. And we. I don't just judge people on their actions because. Especially when you're dealing with young people. Young people make. We'll get to that for a moment. Make mistakes all the time. That's what being young is all about. You're supposed to make mistakes. So I never judge people on mistakes. In my family, we always judge people on character because character is never just one thing. Character is what you do when no one's watching. Character is what you do after you make. And that's why I tell the kids, it's not about the mistake. It's what happens after the mistake. What did you do with that mistake? Did you blame someone for it? Did you defend your actions for it? Or did you take full accountability? That's what you judge people on. Okay. Joseph Walker said, quote, there's no excuse for the language and tone in messages attributed to me. Well, how about everybody else? But just. Yeah, the. The language is wrong. And Hurtful and I sincerely apologize. It's trouble, it's troubling that private exchanges were obtained and released in a way clearly intended to inflict harm. And the circumstances raise real questions and about accuracy and motive. M-the ChatGPT Write it forum. But none of that excuses the language. Thank you. This has been a painful lesson about judgment and trust. What do we think? What do we think? That's another one they all want to talk about how private exchanges were obtained and released. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because also I don't want to give too much away, but I was working with someone, someone hired me to get them through like a potential leak that was gonna come out or information that was said in a private website that I had never heard of, by the way. But there's a lot of crazy websites out there. And it was someone who on the surface, very respectful and, and was kind of went deep into this, you know, kind of cavern of, of rhetoric, you know, talking about a topic. And it's understandable, like not to give people a pass, but it's understandable when you, and this is like a really reasonable, decent person, right? And, and when you kind of go into like even Reddit, if you go into Reddit or anything anonymous, where they have, you know, hate groups or whatever. But sometimes, and I was explaining to them, you know, it's understandable, the schadenfreude of it all, like sometimes it does make people feel good to see other people's failures and you feel like you have a community where you can dump on people. Like if you ever see those, those hate subreddits and you get in those groups, especially like if it's an influence or something like that. Not that they're right, but you can see because some, I get fed everything in Reddit, but when there are people who truly are cringy people and then people create a, let's say Reddit thread, these cringy people like a little community about it. It's understandable because they're all frustrated by the same person. But with the, with the animidity comes more of this kind of constricted thinking and also safety mechanisms. Like you lose your common sense and you lose safety mechanisms. And people, I think, genuinely do act and say things that they wouldn't do otherwise because they think they have anonymity and they're kind of in a group of all like minded people, they feel safe. But the big mistake is there is no text chat out there that's safe. There isn't right. The fact that it's private makes it worse. That's a really good point, Louise. The fact that these were private make it worse off chocolate. But I'm jealous. You can wear a jacket. It's 80 in Tennessee right now. Oh, New England, Michelle. New England. Self inflicted character assassination. Well said, Tart. I tell my clients, always assume you're being recorded in privacy is regularly breached. So. Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. Now, the Young Republican National Federation released an institutional statement. So this is the YRNF quote. We are deeply appalled by the vile and inexcusable language revealed in the political article published today. Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming coming of any Republican and stands in direct opposition to the values our movement represents. Those involved must immediately resign. That's good. Now, I know there's more to the statement, but that's what we just pulled out here. But appalled by vile and inexcusable language. Okay, that's. That's taking. That's acknowledging what it is and, and calling them out for it and then explaining the behavior. It's disgraceful. It's unbecoming of Republicans and stand in direct opposition to the values of our movement. Those involved must. Must immediately resign. I mean, that. That is. I want to explain it. Promise it. So then let's move on to Vice President J.D. vance, who was on the Charlie Kirk Show. I don't know if he was hosting it or was a guest. I would assume maybe hosting it. I think JD Vance is going to be a podcaster. I think he's gonna be a right wing. I think Pete Hagseth too. They all want to be Charlie Kirks. They all want to be right wing commentators. That's just my opinion. All right, let me. Before we get into him, I'm mad my terrible chats are got released. How dare they exactly care. That's his painful lesson. Exactly like this is. It's the same code as Vance and his boys will. Okay, we'll get into Vance, we'll read Vance. Never assume. Manny. Manny with truth. Never assume that a private conversation is private unless it's in the vault. Unless it's in our vault. But we are never going to allow that type of language in our vault. But that's funny. That made me laugh. I'm a little bit petty with it, but I'm annoyed that they said any Republican. It should be any person. I mean, that's true. That is true. That is true. All right, so Vice President J.D. vance downplayed the issue, which is of no surprise, but also talked about the issue because they want to talk about anything else that doesn't start with E. Here we go. So Said refuses to. He refuses to engage in pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence. When he was referring to Democratic scandals and claiming hypocrisy in the coverage. Quote, the truth is kids do stupid things, especially young boys. They tell edgy, offensive jokes. That's what kids do. I really don't want to live in a country where a young person telling a stupid, offensive joke is caused to ruin their life. Let's look at that for a moment. They weren't kids. No one was a kid. I think the youngest person here was 24 years old and they went into their 30s. We had lawyers, we had a married couple in there. They're adults. Which, you know, to give J.D. vance, maybe just a little here. He may have assumed. He may doesn't even know the background on it. He may not. Because, like my first assumption, just when I looked at the headlines, I was like, oh, they're college students. Until I read it went, oh, no, these aren't. This isn't the Young Republican group with students. This is Young Republican National Federation. It's like an association of just Young Republicans. And also, it's not. They're not jokes. It's not like a joke chain. It's how they really feel. These aren't kids, and it's not. And the commentary wasn't edgy and offensive jokes. It was their language. It was their conversation. And it's not kids. He expanded later by saying kids engage in reckless behavior. Young boys in particular often share edgy, inappropriate jokes. That's just a part of growing up. I truly don't want to live in a society where a child's foolish. A child's foolish. Offensive joke can lead to a lifetime of consequences. At some point, we have to say, enough of this nonsense. We can't cancel young people for a single regrettable moment in a private chat. Wow. Talk about missing the mark. Holy. Thank you, Herb. Peter Gwenta. There we go. Peter. Oh, look at what herb added. Peter Gwenta, 31. Joe Malgiano Maligno, 35. Annie K. Caddy, dating Peter Gwenta, 28. Alex Dwyer, 29. William Hendricks, 24. Luke Mozamin, 24. Samuel Douglas, 27. Rachel Hope, 27 years old. My goodness, these are not kids. They're not young boys. And every single one of them absolutely deserve to be. To have consequence affect their careers, don't you think? I give space and I've worked, so I've worked with people in. We'll just say in entertainment. I've worked with people in entertainment and influencers. I'll leave it at that. Where I've had to clean up leaked texts, you know, tweets, you know, all that from the past. And every time I had to do it, they were, they were all teenagers. Well, no, one time, no one time I had someone and the dad was saying, you know, but they were, they were young, they were teenager, they were teenager. I don't know. They're technically an adult. When that thing happened, I was like, this is not, this is poor judgment. But I'm someone who gives leeway to teenagers and kids. Okay, can kids and teenagers do stupid things? Yeah, but there's always growth, which is why you hire people like me. And we write about growth and what we learned and all that other stuff. And every person who I've worked with, they do get it. Like there's never one person who I've counseled through this through like their TV people and influencer people that truly didn't understand, like, they, they got it. That's the great thing about this generation. They get it. But these guys aren't kids. They're not kids. Thanks, Herb, for putting those, those in there. This is his shtick. Boys will be boys. I know. You know what? My copy paste skills are on point for a boomer. Got JD Vance better watch it that his kids don't grow up and do any of that kind of stuff. Woo. But that's the thing. He's not calling them kids. He's appealing to the audience. He's telling the young men listeners, hey, this is another attack on you again, you can say what you want. So Nefaris. Yeah, that's a good point too, because it does. I think this is my personal opinion. Let me know what you guys think. I think the Republicans, or I don't want to call them Republicans. I can't do that because we're not going to lump all the Republicans in together. The conservative MAGA Republican, where they're losing a lot of steed. I think they're losing a lot of ground is with young males. They're losing a lot of ground. And that's where they got ahead is a lot of these young males, the bro Joe Reagan, Shane Gillis type, you know, that demographic. And that's why a Charlie Kirk could rise. And that's why a lot of these right wing podcasters I think rose, but I think they're losing a lot of them. Like a lot of them. So goes Joe Rogan, so goes Maga Right. And I don't think they even have Joe Rogan anymore. So I think you're right. That's a really good point, Chris. Are you the one who said that? Yeah, Chris, I think that's a really good point. They're like setting the bat signal out. Like, don't leave us. Like we think everything that you guys do is okay. Okay, so one more. What time is it? Okay, I want to hop onto one more. Anyone know, has JD questioned the validity of the messages or whether they were doctored? Like some of the young Republicans? I honestly, Ashley, I might even argue. Who even knows if Jay, like when he was talking about it for Charlie Kirk, he may not have even really known anything about it. Like just went in kind of like me and alive going what? And he may made that assumption. I'm just going to give him this much of a benefit of a doubt. But then you're going to go on a national platform and say all that. So that's just bad planning. Never should have said that. But it's ridiculous. Every scandal is an opportunity to get a win. No kidding. No one knows that better than me. I only hope they're, they're, they're tired of it. In their lives they're never been held accountable. That's why they have no words. Let me find my, my participation ribbons. All right, so there's, so there's one more texting issue that came up. Let me go back to my notes. And this race, this is going to be. Where do my notes go? Okay. I was telling someone today, yesterday I think I was texting one of my kids, I forget which one. And we were talking about Graham Platner. Graham platner is a 40 year old oyster farmer and he's the Democratic US nominee or Senate candidate? Nominee. Not a nominee. Senate candidate from Maine and he is gunning for Susan Collins position. Now anyone that is getting fed Graham Platner social media, and that is me, like this guy is all over my algorithm. Oh my gosh. And part of it. Does, does anyone, has anyone seen him? Well, I think, you know, I don't think Vance knows or cares. Right, let's, let's, let's focus on the last word that you said. I don't think he cares. I don't think he cares one bit. J.D. vance only cares about J.D. vance. But Graham Platner, he has, so he has the same social media branding team. I don't want to spread misinformation here. I think is Zohran Mandani in New York City. Running for the mayor's race. There was a mayor debate last night. I was watching part of it. Cuomo, Mondame, and Curtis Sliwa, who doesn't look like him anymore because he's not wearing the beret anymore. And Cuomo had a hor. Because, of course, that's immediately what I focus on. He had this horrible purple tie, and it was one of those wider ties with the wider collar, and it was purple with a navy suit. And there was no color wheel in his outfit whatsoever. Like, why he picked that. It looked horrible. Curtis Lewis without his beret doesn't look like him, but he actually looked in a weird way, kind of like, if you look back, kind of looked like a Rudy Giuliani, like back in the day. And then Mondami was wearing a blazer that looked like a sweater. It was all bad. The styling, not that it matters, was bad. But anyway, how did I get from there? Oh, but using this. Graham Platner is using that same social team, and it makes a difference. Oh, my gosh. The social media is him up there with his coffee, sitting there talking to the people in Maine. And it's incredible. And he calls it, you know, like, he. And he was also former military as well, so he was getting a lot of leeway. Okay, enter Janet Mills into the race. So she is governor of Maine, and she's the one who's, like, with Donald Trump. She was the one who was willing to stand up to Donald Trump. Remember, they were. They were at the White House when she said, I'll sue you. And he's like, okay. Or he said, then sue me. And she said, I will sue you. Like that exchange that they went back and forth. So Janet Mills jumps in the race. Now, Saturday morning or Sunday morning, when I was in New York City at the Marriott Marquis, it's the night after Greg won his Emmy, we were having breakfast, and I saw on CNN that Janet Mills announced being governor, but then immediately pulled it down. So I don't know if that was a bad intern thing or whatever, if someone. Messages were crossed, wires were crossed there, but then pulled it down. And when I saw that, I thought, Janet Mills. I mean, she's no spring chicken. Now. It shouldn't be that. She should have every right to. She's very popular in Maine, very popular man for standing up to Trump. And we don't want any ageism in this channel whatsoever. However, the Democrats. Oh, so, Michelle, you haven't heard of him, but the Democrats have an aging problem. Okay. They're still dealing with the fallout from Biden. But it's understandable that Janet Mills would jump in because Susan Collins right now is so vulnerable. But anyway, to get back to Graham Platner. Graham Platner is buzzy. So Washington people are noticing this grand Plat. But here's the thing. He's getting all of this, he's getting all of this traction. But then a Reddit post comes out and this is what he said that so recent reporting revealed. So this is cnn, I believe who, who released it revealed that under a past Reddit handle, Platner referred to police officers as bastards and described rural white Americans Maine as racist while identifying himself as a communist and psychedelics taking socialist. Some of his deleted posts also hinted at support for armed resistance and violent political action against fascism and law enforcement. Okay, let me, let me see if I can pull up exactly. Oh, I can't share on this. I've been listening to Original Sin. It is awful what they did. Oh, isn't Original Sin good, Michelle? I really. It's a good book even though people are mad at Jake Tapper for it. Okay, so CNN's K filed. Oh, let me go to the link. I'm sorry I can't share this for you. Oh, it's going back to social. It's going back to just CNN here. Oh, it's under there. CNN plus you have to be a subscriber. Okay, but we have some of the experts excerpts there. So it's his old Reddit account. Okay, lesson check your old Reddit accounts documenting the main candidates political views on forums such as anti work between 2020 and 2021. In several posts he, he railed against police officers writing f these cops, cops are bastards, all of them. In fact. In another exchange, Platner responded to a post. White people aren't as racist or stupid as Trump thinks. Living in white rural America. I'm afraid to tell you, they actually are. He okay? And he's become disillusioned with patriot patriotic nonsense. I'm a vegetable growing psychedelics, taking socialist these days. After the war I pretty much stopped believing in any of the patriotic nonsense that got me there in the first place. Still got the guns though. I don't trust the fascists to act politely. In another post he confessed, I did used to love America or at least the idea of it. These days I'm pretty disgusted by it. After CNN confronted Platner with this since deleted post, the Senate candidate quickly disavowed them. So here's his statement, quote, I don't think any of that is indicative of who I am today, really. He said, I'm not a communist. I'm not a socialist. I own a small business. I'm a Marine Corps veteran. Asked about his history of anti police posts, he claimed, I can honestly say that that is me just being an asshole on the Internet. He added, I have an immense amount of friends who are police officers. They're not all bastards because they are literally buddies of mine. What do you guys think? He also said, I'm a white guy and I don't think I'm racist. I don't believe that. I'm sure I was just angry on the Internet about the state of things back then. He concluded, I absolutely love the place that I live and I love the people around. And I do actually believe firmly in the idea that we as Americans have a lot in common and that we can be the thing that we want to be, the thing that we claim to be. Okay, so they obviously got him unprepared there. But you want to know what? What do you guys think of that? Of what he was, how he responded to this? Now, Graham Platter could have come out and said, oh, how interesting that this was leaked the same week that Janet Mills jumps in the race. How very scandal. Like Olivia Pope. Do you remember. Do you all remember that episode when it went two years back to the campaign when Fitzgerald, Fitzgerald Grant was running and Olivia Pope came on that campaign and the dirty tricks that was happening? So it's very close to that. I don't know. We can't blame her. Who knows? However, timing. Timing's always involved in crisis. But Platner, I love this response. I honestly do, because here's some of the things that he's saying here. That. Here's one of the things that I like. I don't think any of that is indicative of who I am today, really. And then he says, I'm not a communist, I'm not a socialist. I mean, talk about just taking it down. And here I did used to love America, or at least the idea of it. These days, I'm pretty disgusted by it all, you know, oh, wait, no, that's another post. Blah, blah, blah, blah. I actually could have said that today, right? I absolutely love the place that I live and love the people around me. And I do actually believe firmly in the idea that we as Americans have a lot in common, you know, so what he's doing is disavowing what he said then, but he also keeps talking about the then, the then, the then. And it was 20, 20, 2021. Everybody was frustrated back then, and some of the stuff he was saying is like, anti fascist. He's actually what he was doing was a more rough. Real rough around the edges. I mean, that's his whole brand. Rough around the edges. But it's not far from who he is right now, because I think, like, a lot of people might relate to it, you know, right now. So it's not gonna kill him. And in effect, for him to come out and speak to it and admit it and then. And then just kind of tweak it a bit and say, no, that's just who I was at that time. That's how I felt at that time. Reasonable people can understand it. That's why it's a great response. It's a blip. It's a blip. Manny. You miss scandal, you can always watch it on Hulu. Have you ever been an Olivia Pope? I am an Olivia Pope. I just don't dress like her. But I love white. We need B6 and B13. I mean, scandal is so great. Speaking of Olivia. Hey, Olivia Johnson. So that is. Those are the PR hits and misses of this week, and they're all about political scandals and texting our young Republicans. They fail. Those are absolutely misses of the week. Big time misses of the week. But some of our winners, Graham Platner. And if you haven't heard of them, just check them out. Check them out, because the main Senate race is going to be a hot one. I mean, that. That's going to be a national story that everyone's going to follow because he is using the same tactics that made Mondani's such a huge deal in New York, why he's leading Cuomo, why Eric Adams dropped out. It's so much of it is about the authentic connection with people online, and he's really doing it. It's incredible. All right, you guys. So that's our Friday. Let me see what else. I still have a screenshot of a text someone sent me in 2016 outlining all the things they'd done that they didn't want me to find out about. They texted it to me instead of the person they intended to. Oh, my gosh. Texting could be. It can lead to very, very bad things. Can lead to very bad things. That's the most downy smain thing I've ever heard. It really is. It really is. Graham Blattner is so down East Maine. Oh, my gosh. That's so funny. All right, everyone, You're starting to look forward to fall. Me too. Me too. You can see I'm already in it. All right, everyone, I want to thank you so much for joining me for this hour. I always love chatting with you guys again. Just wanted to let you know. So next Tuesday, 9pm Eastern time, we're going to do a vault. We're going to do a vault. And then next Wednesday 12pm or 3pm Eastern time, I have my one hour training what to do in the first hour. Next Thursday, 1pm Eastern time, there'll be something in there for my substack members. And then this part kicks off our whole new era and then we're going to kind of build out more of our monthly trainings and also our monthly vaults. All right, you guys, thank you so much. Thanks, Tarte. I appreciate. Oh, and Tarte, thank you for being my Google and giving my background on the Katie Porter situation. All right, you guys, Molly McPherson out. Have a great weekend, everyone. Bye for now. It. Sa.