With thanks to journalists and the Jan. 6 Committee
Copyright © 2024
Cast of Characters
Cassidy Hutchinson Age 25, assistant to Mark Meadows
Mark Meadows Age 61, White House Chief of Staff
Pat Cipollone Age 54, White House Counsel
Dan Scavino Age 45, White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications
Ivanka Trump Age 39, daughter of and advisor to the president
Nick Luna Early 30s, personal assistant to the president
Scene
A compressed version of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, D.C. At U.L., MEADOWS’ corner office. Just R. of that is the door to SCAVINO’s office (in real life it’s a short distance away, on the other side of the wing). U.C. is an office door marked “Senior Advisor.” It’s IVANKA’s office — Yes, she really did have an office here in the West Wing. Occupying the majority of the stage at C. is a reception room: brown carpet, sand-colored walls with white and tan trim, furniture upholstered in blue. U.L. is the open door to the presidential dining room. That dining room adjoins the Oval Office, so people will pass through it to see the President. Neither the Oval Office nor its main entrance are visible in this configuration.
The President wasn’t in there anyway.
TIME: Jan. 6, 2001, between 1:25 and 4:23 p.m.
There is no intermission or act break.
SETTING: Early afternoon in the West Wing.
IN DARKNESS: SFX: A rioting mob two miles away.
(Then, a text message, projected on the upstage wall:)
White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham to the First Lady of the United States, 1:25 p.m., Jan. 6, 2021:
Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness and violence?
(seconds later)
Ms. Trump:
No
(Let this sink in. Then:)
Scene One
SFX: The crowd near the Capitol is chanting “Fight for Trump! Fight for Trump!”
In the dining room a TV, heard but not seen, is tuned to live coverage on conservative news.
AT RISE: HUTCHINSON sits behind a desk.
MEADOWS paces and texts on his phone.
MEADOWS
“Fight like hell!” Why did he say it? He knows not to say stuff like that.
HUTCHINSON
I don’t know if he does, Mark.
MEADOWS
Well, he damn well ought to.
HUTCHINSON
You know how he is. You should’ve seen him when the Secret Service wouldn’t let his supporters through the mags with weapons. He was fucking furious. He was like, “I don’t fucking care that they have weapons. They’re not here to hurt me. Take the fucking mags away. Let my people in. They can march to the Capitol from here. Take the fucking mags away.”
MEADOWS
Oh, it’s worse than that. He wants an off-the-record. He wants to go with ’em.
HUTCHINSON
Go with who, the protestors? Where? The Capitol?
MEADOWS
That’s what he wants.
HUTCHINSON
Is it gonna happen?
MEADOWS
What do you think?
HUTCHINSON
Let me see what McEnany wants us to do.
MEADOWS
It isn’t Kelly’s decision. It’ll be up to the Secret Service.
HUTCHINSON
McCarthy called me, all freaked out. He’s like, “Do you guys think they’re coming up to my office?” I said, I don’t think they’re coming at all. He goes, “Figure it out. Don’t come up here.”
MEADOWS
Yeah, but look, that OTR is an absolute no-go. Secret Service says (reading his phone) they’re “having serious challenges securing. Nine priority breach attempts at this time. OTR to anywhere near there is not advisable.” Uhh … Yeah. “Front office concerned about OTR.” I’ll bet.
HUTCHINSON
Hang on, Kelly’s texting me back. Oh my God … She says he still wants to go, that he was super pissed Bobby didn’t get it on the books.
MEADOWS
Look, he’s not gonna go, all right? Period. It isn’t safe. And if anybody else asks, he never wanted to. You hear me on this?
HUTCHINSON
You better talk to Tony Ornato then, ’cause he tells a whole other story.
MEADOWS
What do you mean?
HUTCHINSON
When I got back from Ellipse, he was standing outside his office door, right? And he, like, waves me down and pulls me inside and shuts the door. And there’s Bobby Engel from Secret Service, looking down, kind of looking a little lost and discombobulated. He told me POTUS was irate. Said they actually struggled in the car. That’s how bad he wanted to go. The motorcade’s still holding for him.
MEADOWS
This cannot get out.
HUTCHINSON
It’s already hit the water cooler, chief. People know about it.
MEADOWS
Cassidy, no. That cannot happen. What are they saying?
HUTCHINSON
Only that — The only description I received was the President was upset and he was adamant about going to the Capitol, and there was a heated discussion about that. I mean, that’s how Ornato put it.
MEADOWS
Well, he needs to stop running his mouth. Jesus Christ. Where’s Scavino?
HUTCHINSON
He’s in there with POTUS.
MEADOWS
Let me (checks his phone) — Ah, hell.
HUTCHINSON
What’s the matter?
MEADOWS (reading)
“PPD is advising that POTUS is planning on holding at the White House for the next approximate two hours, then moving to the Capitol.” The fuck he is.
HUTCHINSON
You should’ve seen him when he got back here, Mark. He saw one of the staffers and was like, “Did you watch my big speech?” And of course they were like, “No, sir, they cut it off because they’re rioting down at the Capitol.” And he was like, “Really? All right, let’s go see.” Like the circus was coming to town. Do you believe that?
MEADOWS
Let’s just say I know he has a flair for political theater.
HUTCHINSON
That’s not what this is, Mark. This could honestly get people killed.
MEADOWS
I’m aware of that, Cassidy. I’m aware, OK? Jesus. (beat) D’ya hear about what happened to Shealah?
HUTCHINSON
The photographer?
MEADOWS
Yeah, when she got back here one of POTUS’s people turned her away. Shealah was like, it’s important for the record and his archives. Nope, the President doesn’t want any photos. That’s what she was told.
HUTCHINSON
That must’ve been after McEnany talked to him.
MEADOWS
Why’s that?
HUTCHINSON
Well, apparently, she caught him up about the Vice President.
MEADOWS
You mean that he refused to delay the certification.
HUTCHINSON
Exactly.
MEADOWS
Yeah, of course he refused to do it, because he can’t. He cannot do that. Instead POTUS is back there watching the joint session, keeping track of everyone who lodges objections for him.
HUTCHINSON
He told me he wants a list of senators, who’s objecting to what. He’s been calling one by one. So far nobody’s doing what he wants.
MEADOWS
Because they can’t!
HUTCHINSON
I know that and you know that, but he refuses to see it that way.
MEADOWS (sourly, looking at his phone)
Oh, terrific.
HUTCHINSON
What’s the matter?
MEADOWS
They’re officially calling it a riot. The Capitol Police ordered the evacuation of Cannon House and the Madison Building. The crowd has ’em backing up the steps of the Capitol into the halls.
HUTCHINSON
They’re pushing the Capitol Police back?
MEADOWS
Great image for the six o’clock news, wouldn’t you say?
HUTCHINSON
That’s insane.
MEADOWS
Yeah, it’s all over the web, which means Congress is online watching ’em approach down Pennsylvania Avenue. Probably not a pleasant feeling, would be my guess.
(SCAVINO enters from the dining room.)
HUTCHINSON
Dan, the Capitol riot, is the president seeing this?
SCAVINO
Is he seeing it? He’s glued to the set like an ’80s kid on Saturday morning.
MEADOWS (continued)
What the fuck, man? What’s he doing in there?
SCAVINO
I told you, he’s watching TV. Oh, and he’s on the phone with Rudy.
MEADOWS
About what?
SCAVINO
You’re asking me?
MEADOWS
This is a hell of a way to end an administration. I hope he’s aware of that.
SCAVINO
The mayor of D.C. wants the army to send in the troops.
MEADOWS
Capitol Police aren’t enough?
SCAVINO
Evidently not. They’re asking for the National Guard.
HUTCHINSON
Probably not a bad idea, right?
SCAVINO
Depends who you ask.
MEADOWS
I texted Herschmann. He’s been on the phone with Jared. They’re trying to get the President to put out a statement.
SCAVINO
Oh, Lord, now Jared’s the voice of reason? Does that fill anyone with confidence?
MEADOWS
Herschmann was like, “People are trying to break into the Capitol. This is getting pretty ugly.”
HUTCHINSON (reading her phone)
Wait, POTUS is tweeting.
SCAVINO (startled)
He’s tweeting? Tweeting what?
HUTCHINSON
It’s a link to a video of the speech.
SCAVINO
The one from the Ellipse?
HUTCHINSON
That’s the one. “Fight like hell.”
SCAVINO
“And if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not gonna have a country anymore.”
MEADOWS
You think the press needs a reminder of what he said? You think if this goes farther south, they’re not gonna have it engraved on his tombstone?
SCAVINO
I think … I wish he’d stuck to the prompter, that’s what I think.
HUTCHINSON
It wouldn’t have mattered. I’m pretty sure Stephen Miller wrote that.
SCAVINO
Unbelievable. No, I take it back. Absolutely believable, knowing Stephen.
MEADOWS
I’m telling Secret Service to stand down. That man is not going OTR.
SCAVINO
I’m going back in there. Wish me luck.
MEADOWS
The sooner you can get him to commit to a public statement, the better. We need to tell these yahoos to stand down. Somebody’s gonna get hurt. Maybe something like —
SCAVINO
You don’t need to lecture me, Mark. Of course the President is gonna make a statement. He’s the goddamn President.
MEADOWS
Then why isn’t he making a statement? The press room’s still right where it’s always been. They have cameras and everything.
SCAVINO
Hey, nobody needs to tell us it’s time to do our job, OK? Let alone how to do it. So you do your job and let me and the President worry about how we’ll do ours.
(SCAVINO re-enters the dining room.)
MEADOWS
Well, somebody’s on edge.
HUTCHINSON
This isn’t your average Wednesday, chief, even for us. Pat’s on his way in.
MEADOWS (slumping into a chair)
Cipollone? Good.
HUTCHINSON
He’s been texting me since yesterday, begging me to keep the President away from the Capitol.
MEADOWS
Yeah, Hope and I have been after him, too.
HUTCHINSON
You think he’ll listen to Hope Hicks?
MEADOWS
Some days she’s the only one he does listen to. But as for this, I kinda doubt it.
(CIPOLLONE barrels into the West Wing.)
MEADOWS (continued)
Hang on, Pat. I need a minute before you go in.
CIPOLLONE
Well, make it quick. I gotta talk him into calling off the dogs.
HUTCHINSON
Get in line.
CIPOLLONE
No, I don’t just mean the protestors, I mean the damn Oath Keepers. Those nuts. They’re already on the east side of the Capitol. Rioters are pounding the doors and windows, trying to break in.
HUTCHINSON
They’re breaking into the Capitol?
CIPOLLONE
They’re sure trying to. And if that’s not crazy enough, goddamn Alex Jones is out there bellowing orders like some kinda juiced-up Napoleon.
MEADOWS
Have you talked to the President at all?
CIPOLLONE
No. I guess he’s still in the Oval?
MEADOWS
Dining room.
CIPOLLONE
The dining room? So you’ve talked to him?
MEADOWS
I talked to him. I’m not sure he heard me.
CIPOLLONE
Mark, we gotta defuse this thing before they start pounding on Congressmen on national TV. I mean, that is job one.
MEADOWS
I can only bend him so far, Pat. You know that.
CIPOLLONE
That’s not good enough! Not for this! Come in with me. We can —
MEADOWS
No, Pat. No. He just wants to be alone right now.
CIPOLLONE
Too bad!
MEADOWS
He’s on the phone with Rudy.
CIPOLLONE
Rudy? Are you fucking kidding me? You think that’s gonna help anything? No, this is getting out of control, Mark. We need to go in and see him. Right now.
MEADOWS
He doesn’t want to do anything.
CIPOLLONE
I don’t care! This isn’t about what he wants anymore. Something needs to be done, or people are gonna die on national TV and their blood’s gonna be on your fucking hands.
HUTCHINSON
I couldn’t believe he went after the Vice-President. That’s just … You think you —
CIPOLLONE
Went after him how?
MEADOWS
He wouldn’t answer POTUS’s calls this morning, so the big man threw him under the bus.
CIPOLLONE
This is a goddamn constitutional nightmare.
MEADOWS
None of that stuff was in the speech we approved. Herschmann told him to leave it all out, said it was counterproductive and wouldn’t advance the ball. Stephen put it back in at the last minute.
CIPOLLONE
Why?
MEADOWS
I guess he thought the Veep could do better.
CIPOLLONE
Not legally he couldn’t.
MEADOWS
I mean better for the team.
CIPOLLONE
The team? Mark, I’m not on the commit federal crimes team, are you?
MEADOWS
I sure try not to be.
CIPOLLONE
All right, I’ve heard enough. I’m going in there. Are you coming or not?
MEADOWS
Do you think it would help?
CIPOLLONE
I think if this ever comes to life, it’ll add positive nuance to your sworn testimony, how’s that? Would that help?
MEADOWS (standing)
All right, fine, but I can tell you what he’s not gonna do. He’s not gonna throw his hands up and let himself get shoved out the door.
CIPOLLONE
I don’t care where his hands are, as long as he’s keeping us all out of prison.
(CIPOLLONE and MEADOWS exit to the dining room.)
(Projections on the U.S. wall:)
2:05 p.m.: Protestor Kevin Greeson dies of a heart attack on the Capitol grounds.
2:11 p.m.: Using a plastic shield, rioters break a window and invade the Senate wing.
2:13 p.m. Vice President Pence is evacuated from the Senate chamber.
The Senate is gaveled into recess.
2:14 p.m.: The mob gets within 40 feet of Pence but doesn’t catch sight of him.
2:20 p.m.: The House is gaveled into recess and begins to evacuate.
The Vice President’s detail advises him to say goodbye to his family.
When the President was told Pence had to be moved for his safety, he replied,
“So what?”
2:24 p.m.: Finally, the President tweets out a statement:
Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.
In response to this, the mob inside and outside the Capitol surges forward.
SFX: “Bring out Pence!” “Bring out Pence!” “Hang Mike Pence!” “Hang Mike Pence!”
(Projection on the U.S. wall:)
Rioters have erected a hangman’s gallows and noose.
Scene Two
(HUTCHINSON, MEADOWS and CIPOLLONE.)
CIPOLLONE
Mark, we need to do something more. He needs to do something more. It’s time. It’s long past time. They’re literally calling for the Vice President to get hanged to death in broad daylight.
MEADOWS
What do you want me to do? You heard him, Pat. He thinks Mike deserves it. He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.
HUTCHINSON
“He doesn’t think they’re doing anything wrong.” Is that what he fucking said?
CIPOLLONE
This is crazy. We need to be doing more. I need to do more. I can’t just be twiddling my thumbs here, Mark. Do you —
MEADOWS
Like what? What do you want me to have him do?
CIPOLLONE
Well, for starters, he needs to tell his supporters to leave the Capitol immediately.
MEADOWS
He doesn’t see it that way.
CIPOLLONE
They’re breaking into the Capitol!
MEADOWS
The people’s house, right? Isn’t that what they say?
CIPOLLONE
That’s not what the Capitol Police say. He needs to get out there and deliver an immediate, forceful response, statement, public statement, that people need to leave the Capitol now. I don’t know how I can be any clearer about this. This is the President’s responsibility.
MEADOWS
He doesn’t want to —
CIPOLLONE
It’s his primary responsibility. And you’ve got him in there watching TV like he doesn’t have anything to do with this.
HUTCHINSON
Maybe he’s just gathering his thoughts.
CIPOLLONE
Gathering his thoughts? Oh, really? His deep, philosophical, statesmanlike thoughts? What a relief! And how long are we supposed to let him do that, Cassidy? “Gathering his thoughts.” Am I the only one who’s seeing this clearly?
MEADOWS
We’re all seeing it, Pat. We all see it, OK?
CIPOLLONE
I’m not sure you do, Mark. Because judging by, you’re not, you know, shoving him in front of the cameras on a handcart with a conciliatory speech already written. That’s what I’m going by.
MEADOWS
POTUS doesn’t do conciliatory. Not this one. It just isn’t in his blood, Pat. Never will be. This President leads by moving forward, not backward.
CIPOLLONE
Oh, don’t act like he’s Washington crossing the Delaware, Mark! For fuck’s sake! This isn’t exactly Profiles in Courage material we’re talking about!
MEADOWS
I’m saying you have to catch him when he’s ready, that’s all.
CIPOLLONE
Oh, I’m sorry, he isn’t ready? He isn’t ready to be President today? Is that what you’re saying?
MEADOWS
I’m not —
CIPOLLONE
Is that how you want to play this?
(MEADOWS throws his hands up in frustration.)
CIPOLLONE (continued)
I don’t think you people realize you’re making history today. The wrong kind of history. Potentially the actionable kind of history.
MEADOWS
I’m just saying, you saw how pissed he was earlier. He needs a little time to cool down, but I believe he’ll come through. Ivanka’s in there working on him now.
CIPOLLONE
Oh, my hero.
HUTCHINSON
If anyone can get him on track, it’s Ivanka.
CIPOLLONE
Oh, really? Because right now there are rioters in the Capitol, OK?
MEADOWS
We know there —
CIPOLLONE
And they’re pounding on doors and screaming for Nancy Pelosi.
HUTCHINSON
Nancy Pelosi?
CIPOLLONE
Yeah, I don’t know, maybe they want to catch up on current events, have a chat over coffee and donuts, then go their merry way, what do you think? You think that sounds plausible? Because I think they want to beat a 70-year-old woman to death on CNN. And frankly, I do not think that’s an exciting idea.
MEADOWS
We’re all saying the same thing, Pat. For Christ’s sake, I just got a text from goddamn Laura Ingraham. Even she feels the need to weigh in.
HUTCHINSON
What’d she say?
MEADOWS
“Hey Mark, the President needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home.”
HUTCHINSON
Ya think?
MEADOWS
And yes, of course he’s going to tell people that. He’s not an idiot. His phone’s lighting up like a Christmas tree. McCarthy, Tuberville, everybody and their cousin’s been tugging his sleeves.
HUTCHINSON
Let me see what — Oh, shit. No. You gotta be —
MEADOWS
What?
HUTCHINSON
He just tweeted again.
CIPOLLONE
Please tell me he’s come to his senses.
HUTCHINSON
Um, sort of? Yeah, basically?
CIPOLLONE
Thank you, sweet baby Jesus.
MEADOWS
What’d he say?
HUTCHINSON
He said, “Please support our Capitol Police and Law Enforcement. They are truly on the side of our Country,” capital C. “Stay peaceful.”
CIPOLLONE
Well, that’s something, I guess. Not much, but something.
HUTCHINSON
I told you Ivanka’d calm him down.
MEADOWS
McCarthy’s like, these are “your people. They literally just came through my office windows, and my staff are running for cover. I mean, they’re running for their lives. You need to call them off.” They’re not my people. How are they my people?
HUTCHINSON
What did POTUS say?
MEADOWS
Nothing good.
CIPOLLONE
To McCarthy? What’d he say?
MEADOWS
“Well, Kevin,” he said, “I guess they’re just more upset about the election theft than you are.”
CIPOLLONE
He said what?
HUTCHINSON
Oh my God.
CIPOLLONE
And Kevin? He must have turned himself inside out about that one.
MEADOWS
Yeah, at that point the call turned into one big swearing match. Wasn’t pretty.
CIPOLLONE
Un-fucking-believable.
HUTCHINSON (reading her texts)
Herschmann’s in there now, reading him the riot act. Oh, by the way, I just got a text from Ivanka. That “Stay peaceful” line? That was hers.
CIPOLLONE
Ah, The Princess is on the job. Problem solved. Our national nightmare is over.
MEADOWS
Obviously this looks bad, but if history teaches us anything it’s that presidents rise to the occasions they … well, the occasions they sometimes create. As in this case.
CIPOLLONE
I hope you’re fucking right, Mark, because as we speak there are Congresswomen donning tear gas masks in preparation for a breach.
HUTCHINSON
That can’t be true.
CIPOLLONE
No?
HUTCHINSON
It can’t be true! In America? In the 2020s, in America?
(IVANKA enters from the dining room, visibly upset.)
MEADOWS
Ivanka! Jesus. Is he coming out?
IVANKA
I don’t know.
MEADOWS
Because time is of the essence.
IVANKA
I know. Just give me a minute, Mark. I need to regroup. It’s a fucking shit show in there. I’ve been telling him and telling him: He needs to send his people home peacefully. He’s just being stubborn. You know how he gets.
MEADOWS
He’s a man of strong convictions.
HUTCHINSON
It couldn’t have been an easy conversation.
MEADOWS
He’s gonna do the right thing. He is. He just needs a bit more persuading.
IVANKA
Yeah, we’re making some headway. Just gimme a second to talk to Jared, OK? Jesus, what a day.
(IVANKA enters Jared Kushner’s office.)
MEADOWS
He’s gonna do the right thing, Cassidy. He doesn’t have much of a choice. I mean, look at these texts I’m getting. Marjorie Taylor Greene: “There is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol. Please tell the President to calm people. This isn’t the way to solve anything.”
CIPOLLONE
Since when is she the brains of the outfit?
HUTCHINSON
Does she think we aren’t trying?
MEADOWS
Laura Ingraham: “The President needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home. … This is hurting all of us. … He is destroying his legacy and playing into every stereotype. … We lose all credibility against the BLM” slash “Antifa crowd if things go South. … You can tell him I said this.” Which is hilarious, because when McCarthy tried to get him to go on TV, POTUS said these “aren’t my people, you know, these are Antifa.”
HUTCHINSON
Antifa? What?!
CIPOLLONE
Antifa doesn’t show up with guns, Mark. They’re barely even a thing, for fuck’s sake.
MEADOWS
Well, you know what he means.
CIPOLLONE
I’ve been in a lot of Democratic cities these last few years. I don’t remember any Antifa offices, though. A Starbucks on every corner, sure. Not one Antifa.
MEADOWS (still reading texts)
Mick Mulvaney: “He needs to stop this now. Can I do anything to help?” Barry Loudermilk: “It’s really bad up here on the hill. … They have breached the Capitol.”
HUTCHINSON
Yeah, no shit.
MEADOWS (typing)
Hang on. ‘POTUS … is … engaging.’ (hits the send button)
CIPOLLONE
Engaging with what? No, he isn’t. Who the hell are you trying to fool?
MEADOWS
He’s going to, Pat. It’s just a matter of when.
CIPOLLONE
No, he isn’t. You keep saying that. An hour in, he’s still America’s couch potato in chief.
MEADOWS (reading texts)
William Timmons: “The president needs to stop this ASAP.” I wonder if these assholes think we’ve all gone blind and deaf? All right, Timmons. Fine. (typing) ‘We … are … doing it.’
CIPOLLONE
Doing what?
MEADOWS
This ought to be good. Donald Jr.: “He’s got to condemn this shit ASAP. The Capitol Police tweet is not enough.”
CIPOLLONE
Even he knows.
MEADOWS (typing)
‘I am pushing it hard. I agree.’
CIPOLLONE
Are you, Mark? Are you pushing it hard?
MEADOWS
What do you want me to do, Pat? Jesus. He’s the fucking President, OK? He’s gonna act presidential.
CIPOLLONE
When?
HUTCHINSON
He’s going to. I believe that. He has to.
CIPOLLONE
When?!
MEADOWS
Give me a second here. Fredo again: “This is one you go to the mattresses on. They will try to fuck his entire legacy on this if it gets worse.”
HUTCHINSON
“If it gets worse?” How much worse do we expect it to get?
CIPOLLONE
What’s that, “Go to the mattresses?”
MEADOWS
It’s a quote from The Godfather.
CIPOLLONE
About what? I don’t see any mattresses.
HUTCHINSON
I think it means, like, “go to war.” But in Junior-speak.
MEADOWS
Yeah, I don’t know. He’s doing his best Corleone impression. Big tough guy. Saw a movie once, thinks he’s Pacino.
(IVANKA enters from Jared’s office.)
CIPOLLONE
Ivanka! What’s the plan? You need backup?
IVANKA
No, I think it’s best if I talk to him one-on-one. Jared decided to keep a safe distance.
CIPOLLONE (to himself)
“Go to the mattresses.”
IVANKA
All right, cover me. I’m going back in there.
CIPOLLONE
Ivanka, listen. This is — I cannot emphasize to you enough how important this moment in history is. It’s his legacy, OK? It’s everything people will remember, from now till fucking doomsday. You need to impress upon him the gravity of the situation in terms he cannot possibly miss.
IVANKA
I’m well aware, Pat. I’ve got my brother in one ear and you in the other. I can turn this around.
HUTCHINSON
I know you can.
IVANKA
It has to be done.
MEADOWS
Y’know what? I’ll go with you. He respects a united front.
IVANKA
Just stand back, OK? Let me work my magic on him. I can turn this around.
MEADOWS
I shall watch and learn.
IVANKA
Fingers crossed.
(IVANKA, MEADOWS and CIPOLLONE enter the dining room.)
(Texts, U.S. wall:)
2:44 p.m.: Rioter Ashli Babbitt tries to force entry into the House chamber lobby and gets shot by Capitol Police.
2:49 p.m.: Text from presidential aide Robert Gabriel, verbatim:
Potus im sure is loving this.
SFX: rioter audio: “Nancy Pelosi!
Where you at, Nancy? Nancy!
Where are you, Nancy?
We’re looking for you!”
Scene Three
(MEADOWS, CIPOLLONE and HUTCHINSON again.)
MEADOWS
Kevin’s freaking out, of course. I got a message from Reince Preibus: “TELL THEM TO GO HOME!!!” All caps, three exclamation points. It practically came with nuclear sirens.
CIPOLLONE
I guess he’s decided it’s serious. Reince Preibus, action hero of the year over here.
MEADOWS
They’re sending in county police.
CIPOLLONE
County police? County? Where’s the goddamn National Guard? And why isn’t POTUS — ?
HUTCHINSON
He’s tweeting again. Holy shit, I guess Ivanka must’ve gotten through to him finally. “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful.”
CIPOLLONE
“Remain peaceful?”
MEADOWS
“Remain”? He couldn’t say “leave peacefully”?
HUTCHINSON
“No violence!” he says. “Remember, we are the party of law and order. Respect the law and our great men and women in Blue,” capital B. “Thank you!”
CIPOLLONE
I thought he was gonna tell ’em to go home?
MEADOWS
No, he’s coming around, though, Pat.
CIPOLLONE
Is he? You think that’ll wrap things up?
MEADOWS
Hopefully the worst of this is behind us, y’know? Looks like Jarvanka is slowly wearing him down.
CIPOLLONE
Slowly is right. He needs to end this now, Mark! End it now! All caps! Three exclamation points! Would that make it clear? You think four would be better?
HUTCHINSON (reading her phone)
Pelosi says Governor Northam’s sending in the National Guard.
MEADOWS
Oh, thank God. Holy —
CIPOLLONE
Christ almighty.
MEADOWS
No, it’s too soon. POTUS is gonna hit the fucking roof when he finds out.
CIPOLLONE
What do you mean? You think he’s against law and order?
MEADOWS
Not exactly, he just —
CIPOLLONE
This is good news. It means he knows what he needs to do, Mark.
MEADOWS
He needs these things to be on his terms. If he feels he’s told what to do or having decisions made for him, he gets — You know, he just — It’s not a great way to guide his behavior, is all I’m saying.
CIPOLLONE
We all need a push in the right direction sometimes. There’s no shame in that.
MEADOWS
No.
CIPOLLONE
Look, I believe in the guy; he just needs to get his shit together and get on this, A S A fucking P. At least his head is on straight now, right? That is where we are now, Mark, yes? Do you agree?
MEADOWS
I — Well. I don’t know.
CIPOLLONE
No?
HUTCHINSON
You don’t think so?
MEADOWS
I don’t think it is, OK? Not yet, I mean. Schumer and Rosen are getting nowhere with him.
CIPOLLONE
That’s unacceptable!
MEADOWS
No, I know, it just —
CIPOLLONE
It doesn’t matter, Mark. At this point it’s happening without him, OK? He’s in there watching fucking TV. He’s watching TV! You think that’s gonna look presidential on MSNBC.
MEADOWS
The National Guard is moving in. This’ll all be over soon.
HUTCHINSON
Yeah, with or without him.
MEADOWS
No, don’t say that. Never say that. We don’t do a thing without his say-so. You got that?
CIPOLLONE
Mark, for the love of fucking Christ. The President’s not the only one who’s been watching TV. I have, too. And you know what they’re showing? Fox News just reported gunshots on Capitol Hill. Yeah. There are cops in the House chamber right now, pointing loaded guns at protestors just outside a barricaded door. At the Capitol Building of the United fucking States of America. The chyron said, “Guns Drawn on House Floor.” There’s a guy in the chair for the presiding officer, right where Pence was an hour and a half ago. I don’t know who the fuck he is. He sure isn’t the presiding officer. He’s some yahoo in a water buffalo costume. Meanwhile, Congresspeople are hunkered down behind a balcony overlooking the chamber, and I’m getting texts from people who heard the President of the so-called United States is watching TV in a fucking dining room when he should be on TV de-escalating this shit. Do you hear what I’m saying? Is the gravity of this situation getting through to you? Yes? I mean, tell me I’m wrong, Mark, I dare you!
MEADOWS (wearily)
I know, Mark, OK? I know that. You’re not breaking news here. Jesus, even Alyssa Farah was like, “Someone is going to get killed.”
CIPOLLONE
Alyssa Farah? From Comms? Didn’t she resign last month?
MEADOWS
I think so. “People come and go so quickly here … ”
HUTCHINSON
I mean, you have to respect her timing.
MEADOWS (reading texts)
Chip Roy: “Fix this now.” We are, Chip. Thanks for your sage advice. Sean Hannity: “Can he make a statement. I saw the tweet. Ask people to peacefully leave the Capitol.” (typing) ‘On it.’
CIPOLLONE
Look, this doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s a simple thing. The press room is right there. We can get him on in less than a minute. The cameras are already hot. Just get him in there, have him say thank you folks and go home, Joe Biden is your next president and thank you for your fucking attention. He can wrap this shit up in seconds. What’s the fucking delay?
MEADOWS (to HUTCHINSON)
All right, get Nick Luna in here. Maybe he can sweet-talk the President back into circulation.
(HUTCHINSON goes some distance away and makes the call.)
CIPOLLONE
Nick Luna?
MEADOWS
The President’s body man.
CIPOLLONE
Oh, right. Luna. The man’s a stage-five clinger, but maybe that comes across as loyalty.
MEADOWS
The President’s buzzword.
CIPOLLONE
I guess it’s worth a shot.
(Texts, U.S. wall:)
3:58 p.m.: Text from Fox News commentator Brian Kilmeade:
Please get him on TV. Destroying everything you guys have accomplished.
4:05 p.m.: Text from Donald Jr.:
We need an Oval address. He has to lead now.
It’s gone too far and gotten out of hand.
Scene Four
(HUTCHINSON and MEADOWS.)
MEADOWS
So then Milley calls the Vice President, and Mike is fired up like we spiked his O’Doul’s.
HUTCHINSON
Well yeah, I should imagine so. After all, they did try to fucking kill him.
MEADOWS
That’s an exaggeration.
HUTCHINSON
They built a gallows.
MEADOWS
It’s — That’s not helping.
HUTCHINSON
It is what it is, Mark. You can’t blame me for seeing it as a state of emergency.
MEADOWS
Yeah, I know. Look, Milley was worked up, too. He said the Vice President issued very explicit, very direct, unambiguous orders. He’s all, “Get the military down here, get the Guard down here” and “put down this situation.”
HUTCHINSON (indicating the dining room)
Meanwhile …
MEADOWS
What do you mean?
HUTCHINSON
Well, there’s Milley, and then there’s …
MEADOWS
No. Do not make that comparison. Ever. Just do not. Not here, not anywhere. You’re seeing some shit today, Cassidy. This is how the sausage gets made, OK, but the public does not need to hear about any of this. You read me loud and clear?
HUTCHINSON
You don’t think they’re going to hear about this?
MEADOWS
I think there are things they need to know and things they do not need to know.
HUTCHINSON
Mark, I think the public is gonna notice we have our thumbs up our asses.
MEADOWS
Well, they can wonder, of course, but no one needs to confirm a goddamn thing. Not one goddamn thing. This is — A lot of people’s reputations are at stake. Including mine. Including yours, too, assuming you ever want to get a job in D.C. after this.
HUTCHINSON
So what did you tell Milley?
MEADOWS
I said, General, we have to kill the narrative that the Vice President is making all the decisions. We need to establish the narrative, you know, that the President is still in charge and that things are steady or stable.
HUTCHINSON
Oh yeah, things are fucking peachy in the West Wing. No problems here. A-OK.
MEADOWS
Yeah, he didn’t buy that one, either. Called it a red flag.
HUTCHINSON
A red flag that says fucking “MAGA” on it.
MEADOWS
You gotta … Look, you gotta understand what he’s been going through. He doesn’t like to lose. He just despises it. It’s not in his nature to give up, especially not when he’s been trapped in a corner. So he can’t believe the election didn’t swing his way, and all this … It’s like he sees it as validation.
HUTCHINSON
Validation of what?
MEADOWS
Of his support. Of how the American people are on his side.
HUTCHINSON
The American people voted for his opponent, Chief. You know that.
MEADOWS
I mean, a lot of balls are still in the air on that front.
HUTCHINSON
Are they, though? Really?
MEADOWS
I mean … The President is well within his right to keep challenging the results of what he believes to be a fraudulent election.
HUTCHINSON
Yeah, I have a hard time believing this is still about that, though. This isn’t election fairness, this is his ego, pure and simple.
MEADOWS
I’m not sure those two concepts are fully distinguishable to the man behind that desk.
HUTCHINSON
He was in that dining room for three hours, Mark. Three hours. Doing nothing. Just texting and calling his fucking cronies and not doing jack shit to stop a fucking Capitol riot. And this is how we all want to be remembered? Are you kidding me?
MEADOWS
He’s out there now, Cassidy. He’s in the fucking Rose Garden making a statement on national TV. Isn’t that what you and everybody else and their cousin wanted?
HUTCHINSON
You mean leadership? Yeah, that is what I wanted. Is that so unreasonable?
MEADOWS
Sometimes leaders lead by standing still.
(HUTCHINSON can’t even respond to this; she just throws up her hands.)
(LUNA enters and fidgets near the door to the dining room.)
MEADOWS (continued)
He’s still out there?
LUNA
No, he’s back in the dining room. You saw him out there on the news?
MEADOWS
I did, Nick. I saw him out there on the news. We all saw him there, out there on the news.
HUTCHINSON
He looked like he was ending a fucking third-grader’s pizza party.
LUNA (looking up sharply)
He’s still the President, Cassidy. OK? You want to show some respect?
MEADOWS
How’d it go out there?
LUNA
Oh, you know. Ivanka’s been pushing him to say something, you know, really definite. Strong. Taking charge of the situation.
MEADOWS
Yeah.
LUNA
She was pushing him, like — She kept going in there when people were asking her to go in there and trying to get, you know, action taken. By the President, I mean.
HUTCHINSON
And the President was — ?
LUNA (uncomfortable)
Well … I’d say it got heated.
HUTCHINSON
Oh, I’m sure he was losing his goddamn mind.
LUNA
He got heated. Ivanka was, like, trying to adjust the language to something more … you know. He didn’t like it. She was having a pretty rough time of it, I guess.
HUTCHINSON
Yeah, none of us have been having a ball here, Nick.
LUNA
I know that. OK, Cassidy?
HUTCHINSON
I’m just saying, it’s his job to make things go better.
LUNA
He doesn’t like to lose. You gotta hand it to him. He does not like taking no for an answer!
MEADOWS
At least they have law enforcement on the scene. Finally.
LUNA
Yeah, so that’s when Ivanka put on the hard sell, right, because it was all gonna wrap up soon anyway so we might as well get it right.
MEADOWS
Yeah, fantastic.
LUNA
So I’m out there doing my thing, right, making sure the President’s background and lighting look good, and Kayleigh’s still running back and forth with him about the script.
HUTCHINSON
Which Jared wrote.
LUNA
Jared wrote one, yeah, but it never got used.
HUTCHINSON
What do you mean?
LUNA
Well, Kayleigh was pushing him really hard to stick to what Jared wrote, but nah, he decided to do his own thing.
MEADOWS
Which was?
LUNA
Well, you saw it, basically. We only wound up doing a couple of takes. Well, not even that, really. He kind of stopped in the middle. Then he started again and finished on his own.
MEADOWS
So who wrote the words he actually said?
LUNA
Like, nobody. He just kinda ad libbed, y’know. I guess that was … like … what he wanted to tell them. America, I mean. His supporters.
HUTCHINSON (reading from her phone)
“I know your pain. … We had an election that was stolen. … A fraudulent election. … So go home, we love you. You’re very special”?
LUNA
He told them to go home in peace. That’s what everybody wanted, right?
HUTCHINSON
That’s what we wanted three hours ago. Three hours, Nick. And now it’s just “oh well, sayonara”? And we’re supposed to be good with that?
LUNA
Herschmann wanted another take.
MEADOWS
Oh, did he? Ya think?
LUNA
He was all, “There needs to be a more direct statement.” But then the boss was like, “These people are in pain.”
HUTCHINSON
Yeah, especially the one who got shot to death.
LUNA
But they’re leaving now, OK? Jesus. The protestors got the message loud and clear. They’re packing up, Cassidy. They’re on their way home, right? Isn’t that what people wanted?
HUTCHINSON
It’s 4:21, Nick. This should’ve been over hours ago. That’s all I’m saying. I think it’s what a lot of people are going to be saying.
MEADOWS
Rudy’s calling me. Sorry: You’re going to voicemail, my friend. I do not have time for your insights this fine afternoon.
LUNA
He’s been calling the President over and over, like, four or five times since the Rose Garden video got posted on Twitter.
MEADOWS
Oh, wonderful. I guess he had notes.
LUNA
No, I think the President’s pushing him to call different, like, Congressmen. People, I mean.
MEADOWS
Good. At least he’s checking in with them to see how they’re doing.
LUNA
I think he was more worried about, you know, like, how they might vote an’ all.
MEADOWS
Uh-huh.
HUTCHINSON
What the fuck, Nicholas! After everything that happened today, that’s what he’s worried about?
(IVANKA enters quietly from the dining room.)
LUNA
He was all like, “Mike Pence let me down.”
MEADOWS
Mike is just doing his job. I think the President knows that.
LUNA
Yeah, I don’t know.
MEADOWS
Well, he will know. He will, once he, you know, gets a handle on things. It takes time, that’s all.
HUTCHINSON
Does he realize what he’s done, Nick? After all that? Does he finally even get it?
LUNA (still uncomfortable)
He was like, “This is a crazy day.” But not like … I shouldn’t have … I don’t know. More like, wow, can you believe this shit? Crazy.
HUTCHINSON
Does he get it, Nick?
MEADOWS
Did you see any sign of remorse? Because that’s the question a lot of people on the Hill are gonna ask me tomorrow and the day after and for years after that.
LUNA
He um … You know, he …
HUTCHINSON
Nick, what did he say to you?
LUNA
Like, not much, man. Y’know? He wasn’t too sad about any of it, I guess. I think he was shocked by, y’know, it got a little out of control, maybe, but I don’t remember him being, like, sad, y’know, specifically. Mostly he just didn’t want to talk about it.
MEADOWS
Ivanka, what did he say to you? Because God help me, I hope it was more than he doesn’t want to talk about it.
IVANKA
Oh, he seemed a little … you know, disappointed, maybe. Surprised by what happened.
MEADOWS
Well, that’s something. He told you that himself?
IVANKA
No, he um — I just felt that. When I looked at him. I could sense it.
MEADOWS
You just felt that. You sensed it.
IVANKA
Well, yeah, I mean, I know him really well. I can see things a lot of other people miss.
HUTCHINSON
But he didn’t anything about what he could’ve done while he was in there?
IVANKA
In where, in the dining room?
HUTCHINSON
Yeah. In the dining room. You remember. Just watching TV for 187 minutes straight.
IVANKA
Not really, no. I mean, I guess we didn’t talk about it specifically, like, as such.
HUTCHINSON
You didn’t talk about it.
IVANKA
He was really, really down. I mean, he just didn’t want to talk much about any of it. It just wasn’t the thing he was focused on.
MEADOWS
So what was he focused on?
IVANKA
Same thing as always, Mark. Moving forward. Winning. Making America great again for another four years. You know how his mind works. He’s like a general on the battlefield: no turning back, no surrender, no getting caught up in doubts and regrets. That’s just not the way he thinks, now or ever.
MEADOWS
So did he say anything to you about the people who got injured? The woman who died?
IVANKA
It wasn’t … That wasn’t something we really discussed, y’know? I guess he … he probably …
(Beat.)
HUTCHINSON
He never mentioned his supporter who died in the Capitol?
IVANKA (after a beat, exhausted)
No.
(Texts, U.S. wall:)
4:14 p.m.: Texts from Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner’s aide, to Ivanka’s aide:
In one day he ended every future opportunity that doesn’t include speaking engagements at the local Proud Boys chapter
I’m so mad and upset
We all look like domestic terrorists now.
7:21 p.m.: Text from former campaign manager Brad Parscale to campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson:
I feel guilty for helping him win. A woman is dead
If I was trump [sic] and knew my rhetoric killed someone …
(after a beat)
Pierson:
It wasn’t the rhetoric.
(after another beat)
Parscale’s reply:
Yes it was
(Blackout.)