Full Transcript for Secretary White?  UFC's Dana White To Meet With Trump About Becoming WH Press Secretary

can understand perhaps his reasoning. 00:03:24 Speaker 2: I was laughing because as you were talking it out, it made more and more sense. As you actually look at this president, and I go to Stephen Miller. He just got rid of Susie Wiles. as his chief of staff, Robes. Now he brings in Stephen Miller. 00:03:39 Speaker 1: A bulldog. 00:03:40 Speaker 2: He has been, has he not, more bulldoggish, even though he doesn't have as prominent or as powerful of a role, you could argue, as Susie Wiles did. He was the guy we kept hearing about. He's the guy whose face we see. He's the guy in those interviews who is defending President Trump no matter what President Trump does. Robes, President Law's bad on Tuesday in the midterms. Is he now getting ready for war for the next two years? 00:04:09 Speaker 3: Yes, that is what this is signaling. I believe this is what it should be signaling to Americans, to members of the media. Yes, this is what we should be expecting. Someone who has rolled up his sleeves and said, I'm going to keep fighting the fight and look who I'm putting in. Around me, look who I am elevating to be the face of my messaging. Yes, look no further than Stephen Miller and now Dana White. 00:04:40 Speaker 1: All right. Let's start Saturday. Right. Came out of nowhere. 00:04:43 Speaker 2: Robes, we see the social media posts from the president on Truth Social where he lays out some of the names here we can. skip over, because he mentioned a bunch of other fighters. 00:04:52 Speaker 3: I actually had to Google their names. 00:04:54 Speaker 2: Yeah, we're not big UFC folks around here. But this was the post from the president on Saturday that got all this going. 00:05:02 Speaker 3: I am pleased to announce that the great Dana White, a violent fighter and warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary of the United States. I have requested that he bring with him assistance, even though some are not from our country. And this is when he lists a bunch of names of world-renowned UFC fighters whose names I cannot pronounce. He then says, we need these people to defend us against the lunatic left. Dana will be a press secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job, exclamation point. But yes, it's like he has an army of physical fighters who will be standing by his side. This is what he wants the imagery to be. And When you're announcing your new press secretary to also describe that person as a violent fighter, that is like beyond. 00:05:53 Speaker 2: Is he trying to intimidate the press corps? Is he literally, physically trying to intimidate them? 00:06:00 Speaker 3: I believe so. 00:06:00 Speaker 1: Come on. By putting this. 00:06:02 Speaker 2: Dude up there and putting these fighters up there, by saying you ask a question that's not out of turn. 00:06:07 Speaker 1: Look what's coming. No, he's not doing that. I don't think that's. Okay. 00:06:11 Speaker 3: If not that, then what? 00:06:13 Speaker 1: I mean, obviously, we know. 00:06:14 Speaker 2: Those people in that room. None of them are going to be intimidated by who's standing there and what question they're going to ask. But if he feels in some way that this is going to improve his message, well, this guy's got a lot to get caught up on, does he not, when it comes to policy? Does he have a lot to get caught up on when it comes to this administration, no matter how close he's been with the president? And he has been close for decades with this president. This guy speaks at every Hasn't he spoken at every RNC convention that the president has been nominated at? 00:06:44 Speaker 1: He's they're close. We get it. Robes is can this guy do the job? 00:06:51 Speaker 3: You know what? Look, Katie Zachariah looked the part. But when she stood up in front of that podium, it was clear she was not ready for primetime. Now, this is someone, Dana White, who's used to being in the center of the arena, being a outspoken. And yes, he has a certain je ne sais quoi about him. Like, I don't think he's going to be nervous or intimidated by the press corps the way we saw Katie Zachariah. He went the exact opposite. But does he know policy? 00:07:27 Speaker 2: Yes. 00:07:28 Speaker 3: Does he know? No, of course he doesn't. There we go. 00:07:31 Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. 00:07:32 Speaker 3: This is about optics for President Trump. Isn't it always about optics? Think about what he's been pointing to this week after a massive midterm loss. Optics. Let's look at the reflecting pool. Let's look at the ballroom. That's all our president is focused on. 00:07:48 Speaker 1: Robes, the guy can navigate a press conference, no problem. No problem at all. 00:07:53 Speaker 2: He does this left and right. He answers questions all the time about his fighters, about controversy. I mean, UFC has all kinds of issues that come up all the time. He knows how to do that. But Robes, if he gets asked a question about weapons sales to Ukraine and what the United States is going to do. 00:08:13 Speaker 2: In response to now new Russian aggression, when he gets a complicated question about real U.S. policy, how much catching up does he have to do, baby? 00:08:22 Speaker 3: I fear that he, look, I could be totally wrong, but this is a fear I have, that the president has so little respect for the press corps that he doesn't even mind if someone like Dana White would walk in and make a mockery of it. 00:08:37 Speaker 2: Wow. 00:08:38 Speaker 1: Well, is that not what Katie Zachariah did? No offense to that young lady, but she was not ready. He put her up there. Same thing. She wasn't ready for primetime. They didn't let her get caught up. 00:08:48 Speaker 2: They didn't take weeks or a month to put her through some kind of training and make sure she. 00:08:54 Speaker 1: They didn't. 00:08:55 Speaker 2: So maybe he doesn't care. Maybe he thinks this is just... Okay, so Dana White. Yes, he put that out. So everybody's curious about Dana White. Brobes, this didn't

help. You saw that picture Dana White put out? 00:09:05 Speaker 3: Yes. 00:09:06 Speaker 1: That didn't help. 00:09:07 Speaker 3: Dana White put out a picture that... Had him standing. He had, I think, a black shirt and a suit, like a jacket. He didn't have a tie. But he's standing behind the podium, making it seem as though he is addressing the White House press corps. So that felt like a response. 00:09:31 Speaker 1: So, yes, he writes the caption. With that, on to the next chapter. Robes, that... He's lending some credibility to this, is he not? 00:09:42 Speaker 3: Yes. 00:09:42 Speaker 1: By saying that. 00:09:43 Speaker 3: Yes. 00:09:44 Speaker 1: Why are we not all laughing this off? What position? He has gotten us trained to this. Robes, if George W. 00:09:52 Speaker 2: Bush, if Biden, if Obama, any of them had come out and said, you know what, I'm going to nominate Don King as my new press secretary. 00:10:04 Speaker 1: What would we say? 00:10:05 Speaker 3: We would have all laughed. 00:10:06 Speaker 1: Okay. We're not laughing now. 00:10:08 Speaker 3: No, we're not. 00:10:11 Speaker 2: We're not laughing. Robes, is this for real? Well, stay here with us, folks. When we come back, we will let you hear. Yes, he made that Instagram post, but... Dana White was at a press conference earlier today in London for an event he was doing, and yep, he was asked about this very thing. His response is that he's heading to Washington. 00:10:42 Speaker 3: Hey there, everybody, and welcome back to Amy and TJ. So, yeah, we think that this thing is probably going to happen. We think, we're not sure, that Dana White, look, Dana White, and we'll let you hear it for yourself, told reporters that he is planning to head to Washington, D.C. on Monday. That is tomorrow. He is in London, as you pointed out, before the break for a boxing event. And yes, at a news conference, you, of course, I'm sure he was expecting this as well. He was immediately going to be asked about the president's truth social post. 00:11:18 Speaker 2: So he was asked about it, and you're going to hear a part that's kind of funny. He's over there in London, and the guy, the reporter, was obviously from the UK, and he used a phrase that an American like Dana White wasn't readily aware of. It was kind of funny. You're just going to hear that part play out in the end as well. But take a listen to Dana White. This was just a little bit ago. Really, this was a couple hours ago as of this recording. 00:11:41 Speaker 1: Him responding to this offer of having the press secretary job. 00:11:45 Speaker 4: We saw earlier today a post on True Social from President Trump saying that you've been offered the job as press secretary of the United States. 00:11:54 Speaker 1: You've also acknowledged that on your story as well at the moment. 00:11:57 Speaker 4: Can you tell us a little bit about that and your reaction to his post? 00:12:00 Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm flying to Washington, D.C. 00:12:02 Speaker 3: Right now. 00:12:03 Speaker 1: Yeah, straight after this? 00:12:05 Speaker 4: Yeah, right now. 00:12:06 Speaker 1: And you do a lot. 00:12:07 Speaker 4: How do you believe you could balance what you do at the moment alongside that? 00:12:13 Speaker 2: How do you believe you could balance? 00:12:15 Speaker 1: You know, you do a lot with the UFC. Yeah, I got a lot of jobs already. 00:12:20 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:12:21 Speaker 4: Can you tell us about some of the conversations you've had with him about that? 00:12:24 Speaker 3: No. 00:12:25 Speaker 1: I'm going to meet with him. We have a meeting on Monday, so... I'm sure I'll have more to talk about after that. Watch this space. 00:12:33 Speaker 3: Huh? 00:12:34 Speaker 1: Watch this space, see what happens. What do I expect? 00:12:36 Speaker 4: No, just watch this space, see what happens. 00:12:38 Speaker 1: Cheers, thank you. Yeah, watch this space. Sorry, I was just saying. What does that mean? Just see what happens, basically. 00:12:48 Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:12:50 Speaker 1: I have a meeting on Monday. I'm flying to D.C. 00:12:52 Speaker 2: Right now, and I'm. 00:12:54 Speaker 1: Sure we'll have something to talk about after that. It was kind of funny there. 00:12:59 Speaker 3: He was like, dude, what are you saying? I actually didn't. I'm not familiar with that phrase. 00:13:04 Speaker 1: Watch your space or what's your space? He said something. 00:13:06 Speaker 3: I guess we'll just have to watch your space. 00:13:08 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what he was saying. We'll see. And Dana White was confused as well. I was as well. 00:13:12 Speaker 3: I would have taken that as an opportunity to ask another question, though, because it was almost like he wanted to say more, but he was being careful not to. And yes, those polite British reporters, or at least that one particularly polite British reporter. We've heard that there are plenty who are not. But yes, he was too kind, actually. I would have liked some follow-ups. 00:13:32 Speaker 2: So now, what do you make of his answer? What do you make of his answer robes? He With a little tongue-in-cheek, he was smiling big, but it also sounds like something is happening. 00:13:44 Speaker 3: Yes, it sounds like that the offer is real. What I took away from that was he hadn't fully decided whether or not he was going to accept it. I think he needed to figure out what does this actually entail. Does he have to fly with the president everywhere, be everywhere the president is, the way we saw Carolyn Leavitt take the job on, and certainly many press secretaries. But this isn't just a job adding to other jobs. This is a full-time round-the-clock. So he would literally have to step away from UFC. 00:14:11 Speaker 2: 100% and do nothing else but this, obviously. Carolyn Leavitt stepped away. 00:14:16 Speaker 1: Why? 00:14:16 Speaker 2: She had another baby and wanted to spend time with that child. Rob, this is not a, you can't do anything else. This is

full-time. 00:14:24 Speaker 1: I don't know. Yes, the guy works hard, but what would he feel about it? Robes, it's an honor, right? 00:14:30 Speaker 3: Yeah, it's an honor for sure. 00:14:32 Speaker 2: If anybody asked you to be press secretary, you take that seriously. It's an honor, an opportunity you wouldn't get. He has to be thinking about what that means. He has to, Robes, son. Maybe he is taking this seriously. 00:14:44 Speaker 3: Look, he could look at it as an incredible opportunity. He's spoken about this before with his relationship with the president, just the fact that the president has shined a light on UFC fighting, and he's been appreciative of that. So maybe he's thinking, hey, I take six months out, I take a year out, and I now bring the spotlight to the profession, to the career I love that I've been trying to bring more into the forefront. So this is an incredible opportunity. I am going to be the face of the administration. People are going to know my name, and they're going to know and hear about UFC fighting in a way they haven't before. So all boats could rise, in his opinion. 00:15:20 Speaker 2: And you know he's going to have the presidency. He already has it, but he'll have it on a daily basis in a way that. 00:15:26 Speaker 1: He hasn't before. And Robes, dudes are coming in. Dudes. Who replaced Cristiano? Mark Wayne. Mark Wayne Mullen. 00:15:38 Speaker 2: You get Susie Wiles, a little old lady, sweet little, I mean, we know she's tough. Replace them with the Bulldog. Now you're bringing in Dana White. Robe, he's toughening up the squad in a way it feels. Like, there are a lot of women, we'll talk about this in another episode, that he's dumping out his administration. 00:15:58 Speaker 3: Oh, I mean, there are articles being written left and right. If you start looking at, and look, every administration has Cabinet Jacobs. Every administration has. cycles through folks at different levels. But this has been overwhelmingly him getting rid of the women and replacing them with very masculine men. 00:16:17 Speaker 2: Rove, you can't swing farther than from Katie Zachariah to Dana White. 00:16:26 Speaker 3: Or from Susie Wiles to Stephen Miller. Those are some big, big swings. 00:16:33 Speaker 2: We should say, I think it's CNN reporting that they have a source that says that Dana White has already decided to. 00:16:40 Speaker 1: Turn this down. Yes, I did see that. 00:16:41 Speaker 2: Someone familiar to turn this down. But, Robes, I'm very curious to see what happens. Now, a lot of stuff with Katie Zachariah started coming up. Well, stuff with Dana White. Will people care? Well, how much will he defend Dana? when that video starts going around again. Look, Katie Zachariah, what got her, Robes? This question about her legal status. 00:17:04 Speaker 1: Sounds like she's crossed the border. No, about her legal credentials. Is she really an attorney? 00:17:10 Speaker 2: Did she pass the bar? All this became a mess. Robes, there's a pretty ugly video out there. It's been out there for years, and he is acknowledged. And when he smacks the hell out of his wife, you see this happen. 00:17:21 Speaker 3: Yeah. 00:17:22 Speaker 2: He talked about it, said it was a mistake and it was wrong and we were drinking and I think she smacked him first in the video. Robes, that is going to come up and it's going to come up plenty. Does he care about something like that? Should anybody care? Should we care? Is he not eligible now to have this job because of that? If it only matters to the president, then who. 00:17:43 Speaker 1: Are we to say? But yeah, Robes, there will be stuff about this. 00:17:50 Speaker 3: Yes. I, you know what? I, I just, I don't know what to say because we are in unchartered territory and I actually don't know how to feel about this. I really don't know what to expect. I do believe, and I think we've agreed that president Trump was serious in this offer. I don't know whether or not he is going to take it, like what it would look like if he did. It seems like it would, again, it just seems like it would be such a mockery of the position. 00:18:16 Speaker 1: Thank you. 00:18:17 Speaker 2: That's the word, babe. He's not taking this seriously. You can even argue by hiring Katie Zachariah. He wasn't taking it seriously at the time, but we shall see on Monday. 00:18:29 Speaker 1: I'm curious. I don't have a time. Did you see a time? I didn't see one posted for it. 00:18:33 Speaker 3: Did not see a time about when, just that he was going to be, I mean, he said he was headed from London right now to DC. So look, um, We should get some sort of word on Monday, but there will be a lot of questions and there will need to be some answers that we hope. I don't even know what I want to happen in this case. Like what would be the preference? And if not Dana White, at what point does he need to start naming someone else or get someone up to speed? This is not something you can just walk in as we saw happen with Katie Zachariah day one and just be ready for duty. This takes some planning, some preparation, some studying, some researching. Yes, there's on-the-job training, but you've got to do– there's some stuff behind the scenes that has to happen. 00:19:18 Speaker 1: But, Rose, doesn't he as well? I mean, the president needs a spokesperson. 00:19:23 Speaker 2: Yes. We don't have someone speaking for the United States on a day-in, day-out. Yes, the president does his gaggles and whatnot, insults a couple people. We don't get a whole lot from them is what I'm saying, those gaggles he does. Brobes, this is a really important spot. He hasn't had someone since August. Well, he had somebody for a week. She did one press conference that went 14 minutes. 00:19:47 Speaker 3: I actually like J.D. Vance doing them. I think he actually should. 00:19:49 Speaker 1: consider. He's personable. He's good. 00:19:52 Speaker 3: He's my favorite one to watch, actually, doing these press conferences because even when he says things that people might not like, he says them kindly. He doesn't seem like a sarcastic jerk. He actually just feels like a straight shooter, which at this point will take. 00:20:09 Speaker 2: You know what? I'm going to say it now. Maybe I shouldn't commit us because we hadn't talked about it ahead of time. You and I, tomorrow, should do an episode composed of our own list of people we would love for the president to consider for press secretary. 00:20:24 Speaker 3: Okay. I already have some names. 00:20:26 Speaker 1: I guess they pop in my head almost immediately. 00:20:28 Speaker 3: There are plenty of journalists out there, by the way, who probably would love to get a second chance at being in front of the camera. 00:20:37 Speaker 4: Mm-hmm. 00:20:39 Speaker 1: So look forward to that tomorrow. Folks, we shall see. Was he serious or not? I'm TJ. That's Robes. We'll talk soon.