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David Gergen was an American political commentator and advisor who served in the administrations of four U.S. presidents, providing insights and guidance on various political matters. Born on May 9, 1942, in Massachusetts, Gergen held significant roles in both Republican and Democratic administrations, showcasing his ability to navigate the political landscape across party lines. He was also a professor of public service at Harvard University, where he influenced a new generation of leaders. In addition to his academic work, Gergen was a senior political analyst for CNN, contributing to public discourse on current events until his passing on July 10, 2025.
If you're the president of the United States and you got people in your organization who in effect have become disaffected and have, you know, testified against you in some fashion, I don't think it's unreasonable for a president to sort…
I think it's unbecoming. It's sort of cheap and cheapens the presidency.
This has to be the worst day of the presidency so far for Donald Trump.
If you have evidence that the President directed most of this, he directed Giuliani, he directed Mulvaney on - on, you know, on - on a variety of issues, if you have that kind of information, even though you may not have obvious intent or…
The Chief of Staff is not going to make a decision, absent presidential direction of such weight and so controversial without taking it to the boss to start with.
Mick Mulvaney is I think the weakest Chief of Staff in modern history.
It gives the granular view is much more sobering and distressing than what we had heard before today. I think the details show you this became a cesspool. Our own State Department became a cesspool.
I think it's important for the country that we not have a secretary of state who seems compromised or potentially compromised in a very, very serious situation.
The next question to them will be, was it appropriate? And on that one, I don't think they can possibly say it was appropriate.
It has been central to the Republican defense that there was no quid pro quo. One more defense has been knocked down on the Republican side.
I think they have a point. Look, is there an information pipeline to the White House from Republicans? Yes.
However this comes out. But I think that's what we're pointing toward.
The counterargument is that the impeachment process is expressly laid out by the Constitution.
Zero members of his party broke. I think that's a really interesting, important distinction.
This judge has taken a sledgehammer to the stonewall that the administration has tried to erect and maintain.
I think they'll do everything they can to stop him. His testimony is significant, Anderson, because Taylor had delivered this blockbuster testimony, but it's very much in conflict with Sondland.
I think it's important -- it would have been helpful to call witnesses of their own for their period of the process, when everything is secret.
I believe for some time that right from the beginning the Democrats could have played this differently and should have.
Historians are going to look back and say this was another John Dean moment, when someone went and opened the curtain to what we could see of a president of the United States, the mendacity we have seen here.
It did, it did, Anderson. And I do think you're right to talk about the respect in which Mr. Taylor is held widely.
There is no way around it, Anderson, and I pray we won't really understand what's happened here for years because some of these documents will be locked up away from public view.
It's now apparent from what we've learned from these courageous State Department officials as well as others that this was a very big deal. It was central to his presidency.
Politicians like David Gergen
