How Aaron Sorkin would approach The West Wing -- and Joe Biden's candidacy -- in the Trump era

The New York Times

Asked in a New York Times interview if The West Wing would work today because it might look like liberal wish fulfillment, Sorkin says: "Unfortunately, I think you’ve made the only point in the universe that you were talking about that could be right. Which is, yes, people would see the show as a response to the Trump administration. So what I would do if I was going to do The West Wing today is put my friends who are smarter than I am — that’s all of them — in a room with me and say, Guys, how do you get over that problem? But what you’re describing — and you’re right, so you would be one of the people I’d want in that room — I don’t think is an argument that people can’t handle idealism now. If anything, I think that we’re thirsty for it." Sorkin also weighed in how The West Wing would handle the Joe Biden Ukraine controversy amid the Trump impeachment. "Here’s what would happen on The West Wing. Joe Biden would say: 'You know what? If it’ll get John Bolton testifying to the Senate under oath, swear me in too. I’ll answer any questions you’ve got,'" says Sorkin. "Suddenly all the attention would be on him. It’s a Mr. Smith moment. He gets to sit in front of hostile Republican senators and show us how well he can handle them. If he did it right, if he was performing a West Wing script where I got to decide what everybody else says too, it propels him right to winning."