Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Eli | Email Lauren In last Friday’s West Wing Playbook, we critiqued TONY P, the 25-year-old consultant who has been increasingly spotted at the White House and on the Hill. Tony P has gained a huge social media following by posting routine videos from his everyday life and preaching about “vibrant masculinity.” We just didn’t get it. What could possibly be so compelling about walking to work? Or ordering a sandwich from Subway (which, by the way, why)? We heard from a lot of you that our take was very, very wrong. The pushback, frankly, was startling. So we gave Tony P a call to talk it out. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. [Editor’s note: this interview was also done without foreknowledge of one of the editors]. I’m not sure if you caught our newsletter last week. We came at you and got some heat for it. The P-Hive came to your defense. It’s good to have criticism. That’s not only part of vibrant masculinity, but it’s also part of how I view the world — it’s OK to have constructive feedback. What don’t we get about the allure of Tony P? I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I think what people like about my videos is that they are authentic. This is literally how I live my life. So it’s genuine? That’s what people always say when they meet me. They go, “there’s no way this guy is this way.” But I don't know how to act any other way, I really don’t. Look, I don’t believe in toxic positivity. There are times in my life that aren’t great. But I do think that there are moments in a day that you can take positivity out of and have that as an anchor — like what I cooked that night or watching “Law and Order” or “Golden Girls.” Can you walk through D.C. without being recognized? It’s tough to not be recognized. I’ll be honest there. I’m just very grateful. Two and a half months ago, I had nothing. When I see people in the street, I try to make sure that I’m giving them as much attention as I can because without them following me, without them embracing my content, this wouldn’t be possible. You were recently spotted at the White House and on Capitol Hill filming videos with Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). Which some folks thought was “cringe”.... Yeah, sorry. That might have been us. We’ll look past it. But what did you do at the White House? Firstly, none of the content that I’m doing is an endorsement of any policy or any person. We talked about putting more information out there through our content to showcase the opportunities to go to the White House. Like the garden tours — how do you actually get a ticket? You’re not endorsing Biden. But we need to know, is Joe Biden an example of vibrant masculinity? Yes, he is. I will emphatically say that. Somebody that loses a child and a wife in a horrific accident and then takes that grief and pain as fuel for resilience — whether I agree with him or not, that’s a hell of a story. I’ve never met this man in my life, but I do know from people that know him, that he is genuine. He is very emotionally sensitive and intelligent and vulnerable. He embraces hugs, makes people feel valued and warm and gives people the attention that they need in their most difficult times. That’s what makes someone a vibrantly masculine person. Would you ever run for office? If I know that I can advocate for people, work on policy and not be someone that’s just going to be on TV all the time — then yeah, I’d absolutely do it. If I have to go out and get clicks and sound bites and not really have any strategic policy, then no, not on a federal level. Maybe a local level. That sounds like Tony P will be running for office. We’ll put it as a definitive maybe and we’re still thinking about it. MESSAGE US — Are you RYAN MAJERUS, White House senior policy adviser for supply chains? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here! MEA CULPA: In yesterday’s edition, we included an item about national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN’s recent essay in Foreign Affairs. We incorrectly stated that the article, when it first appeared online, did not include an editor’s note acknowledging that the piece had been updated to account for the Israel-Hamas conflict. It did. But later, on Oct. 25, Foreign Affairs also made the initial print version available online. The magazine went to print on Oct. 2, and a person familiar with the situation said the magazine had always agreed that if any major world events happened afterward, there would be an opportunity for Sullivan to make updates to the digital version. | 
