Far-left actor Bradley Whitford closed out Friday’s Inside Politics by discussing with CNN host Dana Bash his role on the new season of Netflix’s The Diplomat, but Bash also asked about the East Wing demolition given his role on the left’s dearly beloved work of fan fiction, The West Wing.
Unsurprisingly, Whitford acted as one would expect given his beloved status among the perpetual theatre kid class on the left and called it “heartbreaking” a “corrupt authoritarian” President would do this to distract from the government shutdown, the Epstein Files, and what he claimed is a porous economy.
“You were on a little show called The West Wing and because of that, I want to ask you about the East Wing. Well, what was the East Wing? We’re going to show pictures to our viewers of what is left of it now. Your – your thoughts,” she wondered.
Whitford replied “it’s heartbreaking to me” as he was able to have visited the East Wing thanks to the show based on a fictious White House staff that ran during the Bill Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies.
Bradley Whitford claims the "heartbreaking" demolition of the East Wing for a White House ballroom is "corrupt authoritarian" Trump trying to distract us "from the fact that inflation is up, job creation is down, Congress has shut down the government, and...he was best friends… pic.twitter.com/NWMXE0JSOs
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 24, 2025
He then turned up the wick by huffing “it’s not surprising to me in this moment that we have a President who is a corrupt authoritarian, in my view, who has a kind of contempt for democratic values and its symbols,” such as “destroy[ing] the people’s house” by conducting “some influence peddling.”
Whitford went onto claim without evidence this was going on so as “to distract us from the fact that inflation is up, job creation is down, Congress has shut down the government, and we’re suppressing information about the fact that, you know, he was best friends with the most notorious child rapist in history.”
“But this is our house. It is not his to tear down. And I wish the Republicans in Congress would stand up for the people,” he concluded.
Bash was enthralled: “Bradley, I wish – I wish you wouldn’t hold back. I wish you would tell us exactly how you feel.”
Whitford briefly doubled down with time expiring: “I know, but it’s heartbreaking to – to see it, the people’s house destroyed like that.”
Earlier this week, Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) had the perfect reaction to these kinds of meltdowns by telling reporters it’s been bizarre to see liberals suddenly care about our country’s monuments and statues after years of demanding they be ripped down because they’re relics of, say, the patriarchy, slavery, or white supremacy.
To see the relevant CNN transcript from October 24, click “expand.”
CNN’s Inside Politics with Dana Bash
October 24, 2025
12:58 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: West Wing to East Wing; “West Wing” Star Weighs in on East Wing Demolition]
DANA BASH: You were on a little show called The West Wing –
BRADLEY WHITFORD: Yeah.
BASH: – and because of that, I want to ask you about the East Wing. Well, what was the East Wing?
WHITFORD: Right.
BASH: We’re going to show pictures to our viewers of what is left of it now. Your – your thoughts.
WHITFORD: It’s – it’s –it’s heartbreaking to me. I was in – got to be in the East Wing because of The West Wing television show during the Clinton administration, Bush administration. And it’s heartbreaking to me. You know, it’s not surprising to me in this moment that we have a President who is a corrupt authoritarian, in my view, who has a kind of contempt for democratic values and its symbols. And I think he thinks he has the right to destroy the people’s house, do some influence peddling along the way, build a ballroom as a monument to distract us from the fact that inflation is up, job creation is down, Congress has shut down the government, and we’re suppressing information about the fact that, you know, he was best friends with the most notorious child rapist in history. But this is our house. It is not his to tear down. And I wish the Republicans in Congress would stand up –
BASH: Bradley, I wish –
WHITFORD: – for the people.
BASH: – I wish you wouldn’t hold back. I wish you would tell us exactly how you feel. I do want to ask –
WHITFORD: I know, but it’s heartbreaking to – to –
BASH: I know.
WHITFORD: – see it, the people’s house destroyed like that.
