Rachel Maddow leaned forward at her desk, her glasses catching the studio lights. "Hold on, Pete, we have breaking news." She tapped her earpiece, her expression sharpening. "Donald Trump has officially been discharged."

"Discharged?" Buttigieg repeated, his voice indignant. "Where is the justice?"

The screen cut to a clip of Trump at a press conference, his voice booming: "Nobody has ever seen anything like this. The biggest discharge ever."

Maddow shook her head. "I guess it's 'yuge'" she said, mocking the president.

Buttigieg froze, blinking rapidly. His lips parted slightly as his gaze drifted to the screen. "Yuge discharge?" he muttered under his breath. He loosened his tie, clearing his throat. "Whew."

Maddow pressed on. "I think this speaks to a two-tiered justice system. Here we have a powerful man-"

"Mmm hmm," Buttigieg interjected, his voice softer now. "So powerful. Sooo powerful." He licked his lips and bit the inside of his cheek, shifting in his chair. "So much power."

"And he's now officially a convict," Maddow continued. "An admitted sexual assaulter. A con man."

"Yeah, he's, uh, bad... bad man. Real bad," Buttigieg stammered, tripping over his words. "A bad boy, uh, bad guy." He fanned himself with his notes, his cheeks flushed. "Such a bad boy."

Maddow glanced at him, puzzled, but continued. "This case seemed like it was never-ending. It's been building for so long."

"Oh yeah, it's still building," Buttigieg blurted, his words tumbling out in a rush. "Just building and... growing. The tension and-"

"And then Merchan just blows it. Just like that." She slammed her desk. "Bam."

"Wham, bam!" Buttigieg echoed, his voice breaking.

"He just discharges him."

"Oh God, yes!" Buttigieg said, gripping the edge of the desk. "Discharged."

Maddow stared at him, her expression unreadable. "Right. Well," she said, shuffling her papers, "let's get back to our interview. We were talking about racism in our transportation system."

Buttigieg leaned back in his chair, feet on the desk, and took a drag of a cigarette.