Designated Survivor (TV Series)

Suckers (2017)

Kal Penn: Seth Wright

Photos 

Quotes 

• Carson Kramer : Senator, you've been highly critical of what you term "government handouts". So, what about the pension bailout bill?

  Senator Alan Rouse : Another handout.

  Carson Kramer : But the President's a big proponent.

  Senator Alan Rouse : Yes. And, um, to be frank, I'm not quite sure why. I met with him to discuss it, and he called the American people... suckers.

  Carson Kramer : Excuse me, Senator. He said what?

  Senator Alan Rouse : His exact words were "I'll make a stipulation that the American people are suckers."

  Carson Kramer : Wow. It looks like the President's the one who may need a bailout.

  Senator Alan Rouse : Yes, Carson. I was pretty shocked when I heard that myself.

  Lyor Boone : [watching on TV]  That disloyal, treacherous, lying...

  Tom Kirkman : He wasn't lying.

  Emily Rhodes : Sir?

  Tom Kirkman : He betrayed my confidence. He took me out of context. But he wasn't lying.

  Lyor Boone : It doesn't matter. Sir, you have a very distinct brand. You're Honest Tom. Man of the people. If that's compromised...

  Seth Wright : Lyor's right, Mr. President. This goes to your core identity. We can't spin this.

  Lyor Boone : Exactly, 'cause it's a middle finger aimed squarely at your base. And I don't like to traffic in overstatement, sir. If this sticks, it's political Armageddon.

  Lily : [entering]  Mr. President, you have calls from the Senate Minority and Majority Leaders, the House Speaker, and the House Minority Leader.

  Lyor Boone : The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

  Tom Kirkman : Put them through. One at a time, please.

• Seth Wright : We're working with the British government to investigate M.P. Thorn's murder, and we'll have another update for you as soon as one is warranted.

  [the reporters all clamor at the same time] 

  Seth Wright : Yes.

  First Reporter : What about Senator Rouse?

  Seth Wright : I have no comment about Senator Rouse.

  First Reporter : So you're not denying the President said...

  Seth Wright : Once again: folks, the conversation that the President had with Senator Rouse was a private one. You know I don't comment on the President's private conversations.

  Second Journalist : Meaning you're not issuing a denial.

  Seth Wright : How did you just misconstrue everything I just said?

  Second Journalist : How did I misconstrue it?

  Seth Wright : You understand misconstruction, Natalie. I've read your pieces.

• First Reporter : And if you're not commenting on private conversations, can you speak as to the follow-up from Suckergate?

  Seth Wright : Oh, don't call it a "-gate", Carla. It's not a "-gate". Look, the President's record speaks for itself in terms of the esteem that he holds for the American people.

• Lyor Boone : So, in the last eight hours, we've lost Congressional support for our judicial slate. Your pension bailout bill, that's gone belly-up.

  Emily Rhodes : And the only topic of conversation at the G20 conference is the murder rate in America.

  Tom Kirkman : What's the press coverage?

  Seth Wright : Uh, the "Post" and the "Journal" have hit out at you over Suckergate. The "Times" is running an op-ed on the administration's failure to rein in arms dealers.

  Lyor Boone : We're looking at a perfect storm, sir. So we have to take emergency action. Finding Thorn's killer, that's part of the solution. The other part is cauterizing Suckergate.

  Tom Kirkman : Look, I understand we've taken a hit for this thing...

  Lyor Boone : No, no, sir. It's much more than that. This thing, it's made you radioactive. And the fallout's just gonna get worse.

  Tom Kirkman : Fine. What do you suggest?

  Lyor Boone : [handing him a folder]  Oppo research on Senator Rouse. It's a silver bullet. It'll stop the bleeding.

  Tom Kirkman : Lyor, bullets don't stop bleeding. They start it.

  Emily Rhodes : We need to stabilize your base, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : If I go down this road, there's no turning back. We will find another way.

  Lyor Boone : Mr. President...

  Tom Kirkman : We will find another way.

• Tiffany Gimble : Seth? I need a minute.

  Seth Wright : I have nothing else to say about Suckergate, Tiffany.

  Tiffany Gimble : Good. Because I wanted to ask about a subpoena.

  Seth Wright : What subpoena?

  Tiffany Gimble : One a source tells me was issued to the White House in connection with an investigation into Icarus Astrotech.

  Seth Wright : To whom at the White House?

  Tiffany Gimble : You tell me.

  Seth Wright : [with a derisive laugh]  You're fishing.

  Tiffany Gimble : I'm going to publish.

  Seth Wright : Publish what? A story about a subpoena issued to an unspecified person in this building?

  Tiffany Gimble : So you're denying it, then?

  Seth Wright : That someone in the White House has been subpoenaed? Categorically.

  Tiffany Gimble : Seth, come on...

  Seth Wright : Go fish.

• Emily Rhodes : So, Halloween's just around the corner. You know what I don't like?

  Kendra Daynes : Candy?

  Emily Rhodes : Tricks. I do like treats, though. And a great treat would be confirmation of the President's slate of judicial nominees.

  Kendra Daynes : I laid the groundwork for your meeting with Senator Krantz from the Judiciary Committee. She promised a rubber stamp.

  Emily Rhodes : Good.

  [Seth joins them] 

  Emily Rhodes : Hey. Halloween's coming up.

  Seth Wright : [to Kendra]  Did she give you the whole "trick or treat" spiel?

  Kendra Daynes : Yes. She doesn't like tricks.

  Seth Wright : No, she doesn't like candy.

  Emily Rhodes : I like candy fine.

  Seth Wright : No. Only Necco Wafers. The pink ones.

  Emily Rhodes : Okay, Willy Wonka, are you ready for your auto exec meeting?

  Seth Wright : Yep. Ready to hawk the President's Clean Air Initiative. Only one problem.

  Emily Rhodes : What?

  Seth Wright : I don't know what the hell I'm doing.

  Emily Rhodes : You're a senior staffer pitching in on the policy side because we're shorthanded. Suck it up.

  Seth Wright : More like I'm gonna blow.

  Emily Rhodes : [joining Lyor]  Lyor, did you know that...

  Lyor Boone : If you do the Halloween thing again, I'll murder you with an axe.

• Lyor Boone : We should issue a press release.

  Seth Wright : Yeah. When ballistics is back.

  Lyor Boone : It can focus on the arrest of a notorious arms dealer.

  Seth Wright : Which would step on the arrest of Charlotte Thorn's killer.

  Lyor Boone : Anything to get us off Suckergate. Seth, have you read the papers?

  Seth Wright : [sarcastic]  No. I get my news from carrier pigeon.

• Tom Kirkman : I would like to do an OTR.

  Lyor Boone : An "on the road"? I like the impulse, sir. What I don't like is the risk. Just too many variables we can't control. We should do a one-on-one.

  Seth Wright : With Carson Kramer. Same forum as when Senator Rouse made his accusation.

  Lyor Boone : Release the oppo on Rouse right before you go on just to set the stage.

  Tom Kirkman : Lyor, I'm not interested in the politics of personal destruction.

  Lyor Boone : Respectfully, sir, this is not something that...

  Tom Kirkman : Look, if the problem is that I've lost the people, I need to take my argument to the people. Show them that I'm fighting their fight. I want to do an OTR. Shoot for lunchtime.

  Emily Rhodes : Yes, sir.

• Emily Rhodes : Okay, lunch. That gives us three hours.

  Lyor Boone : I want every detail stage-managed. A diner. He'll order a hamburger. I don't want anything foofy on the menu like Dijon mustard or profiteroles.

  Seth Wright : Diners don't have profiteroles.

  Lyor Boone : Yeah, exactly.

  Emily Rhodes : We should hand-pick the audience.

  Seth Wright : Yeah, we'll stock 'em with salt-of-the-earth types. Folks who've been victimized by the pension fraud.

  Emily Rhodes : Kirkman fans.

  Lyor Boone : All right, I'll get started on the vetting. Emily, you're logistics. Seth, do your thing with words.

  Seth Wright : Yeah, I got a word for you.

• Carson Kramer : It's been a rough couple of days, Mr. President.

  Tom Kirkman : Yes. Yes, it has. But you won't hear me complain. Not for a second. Because I know that there are people out there who are really having a rough time right now.

  Carson Kramer : Now, I know you want to address Senator Rouse's, uh, incendiary claim that you called the American people "suckers". The floor is yours, sir.

  Tom Kirkman : Thank you. I think that there is something the American people should know about Senator Rouse. And that is...

  Lyor Boone : [watching on TV]  Go there. Please go there.

  Tom Kirkman : ...that he is telling the truth.

  Lyor Boone : Oh, my god.

  Emily Rhodes : What is he doing?

  Tom Kirkman : He took my words out of context, but he is quoting me accurately.

  Seth Wright : This is bad.

  Carson Kramer : So you really think the American people are suckers?

  Tom Kirkman : Yes. I guess so. Because they believe in the American dream. This idea that our best tomorrows are in front of us, regardless of what today might be saying. And if that makes you a sucker, then count me in.

  Emily Rhodes : Less bad.

  Tom Kirkman : The great American generations that have come before us...

  Lyor Boone : Bring it home, sir. Bring it home.

  Tom Kirkman : ...have always managed to pull together when times were tough. We cannot be the exception. That's why it is so important that Congress gets behind the pension bailout bill. Too many Americans have had their security and their dreams snatched away from them.

  Lyor Boone : Trending good.

  Tom Kirkman : It's our turn to fix that. So I am promising the American people that I will not rest until that security and those dreams have been restored.

  Lyor Boone : I'm calling our pollsters. Our boss may have just pulled off the great escape.

• Seth Wright : Man, our boss has more lives than a cat.

  Emily Rhodes : Good thing for us kittens.

  Seth Wright : So, since we're not burning the midnight oil...

  Emily Rhodes : Oh, come by anytime. I'll put out a bowl of milk. We can torture metaphors.

  Seth Wright : Sounds good.

  [Lyor enters] 

  Seth Wright : Hey.

  [he holds out his hand for a fist bump] 

  Lyor Boone : What is it? Is that like a mannequin challenge thing or something?

  Seth Wright : Never mind.

• Aaron Shore : You know, Cray's boat had a $5 million cache of black market munitions. And we think he was making a back-room deal with one of the G20 delegates to arm an insurgency.

  Seth Wright : His arrest was all over the wire, sir. Mumbai is linking him with arming Tamil separatists. The French are blaming him for selling C-4 to Basque insurgents.

  Lyor Boone : And we're the ones who brought him to justice. It's excellent.

  Tom Kirkman : That's burying the lead. What's important here right now is whether or not he was connected to Thorn's murder.

  Aaron Shore : The gun found on him was the same model, same caliber used to kill Charlotte Thorn. We're running ballistics.

  Tom Kirkman : Is Cray talking?

  Aaron Shore : No, sir. He's in recovery and lawyered up. As soon as ballistics is in, I'll let you know.