Could Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden Rally Swing the Election? | Pivot

Kara Swisher 0:00 Donald Trump's rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday was full of racism, sexism, and profanity. Uh, it included speeches from Melania Trump, which was calm by comparison, Elon Musk, who was wearing a hat that used Nazi font, that was nice, and, uh, Trump's childhood friend, David Rem, who called Vice President Harris the Anti-Christ. Speakers at the rally, uh, also made insulting comments towards Puerto Ricans, Jews, and Hispanics in his speech, uh, including, uh, calling Puerto Rico a pile of garbage, which was a comic, I get it, but it wasn't funny, and of course everything was vetted. In his speech, Trump said the U.S. is, uh, quote, "Now an occupied country," and again described Democrats as the enemy from within, which J.D. Vance spent a lot of time pretending he didn't say. Um, what do you think about that rally? It was... I mean, I know why he did it, 'cause he loves attention and he wants to dunk on people, but that was s- it felt like that 1939 Nazi rally that was at the Madison Square Garden. It was very strange.

Scott Galloway 0:59 I thought actually the energy, uh, uh, to the Republicans' credit, I thought them turning out, that many people in sort of what is arguably the bluest of blue in Manhattan, was a good move. I was shocked how much energy there was, how many Trump supporters there are in Manhattan, and I realize you can take a train-

Kara Swisher 1:17 They're not from Manhattan. Come on.

Scott Galloway 1:20 Well, they were in Manhattan. Um...

Kara Swisher 1:22 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 1:22 Uh, but I've, like, I thought it was, generally speaking, the turnout was positive. I think that, and I might be overestimating it, but I think we might have our, uh, October surprise that helps the Democrats and that is, uh, I think his name's Tony Hinchcliffe, the comedian.

Kara Swisher 1:41 Yeah. Yeah, well, that's a broad term. He's one of those people that moved to Austin to be around Joe Rogan, one of those hanger-oners, but go ahead.

Scott Galloway 1:48 Well, he is a comedian, and I generally believe that comedians deserve a really wide berth. And art is, what was it Andy Warhol said? "Art is getting away with it." I like it when comedians are irreverent, even inappropriate, in the context of trying to soften the beach and get us to think, and I, I, I cut them a really wide berth. I think Dave Chappelle has said some offensive things, but Bill Burr, when he talks about... He's a pro-life guy, but when he talks about, he makes, you know... If- if... Just because a pie is half-baked doesn't make it a pie. I think these are... I think comedians actually play a really important role. Michelle Wolf, who offended a lot of people-

Kara Swisher 2:26 Okay.

Scott Galloway 2:26 Can I finish?

Kara Swisher 2:28 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 2:28 Thank you. When Michelle Wolf makes what a lot of people think is offensive comments, I think we cut her a wide berth. This guy, uh, his joke about Puerto Rico being a, you know, big pile of trash in the ocean, it not only didn't land, it was just so incredibly, tactically stupid at this point in time, because in Pennsylvania, there are 400,000 Puerto Ricans, and if just 5,000 or 10,000 of 'em get motivated, not even to switch their vote, but to vote for Harris and actually kind of soles to the polls, feet to the street, that could swing the entire election. And I thought what he said was so... It just landed so poorly, and it was so, really offensive. It... There was nothing funny about it. It was just sort of feeding into the zeitgeist that Trump is just deep down, his DNA is racist, and he's not your guy unless you are, you know, from Northern Europe. It, it is exactly... And I don't know if you saw this, but immediately post the rally, every Republican who's running for something-

Kara Swisher 3:34 Yeah, they never do.

Scott Galloway 3:34 ...distanced themselves from the comments.

Kara Swisher 3:37 Well, you know, I, I'm agreeing with you on... Ugh. Look, the... It landed in the room of energetic people who... I'm sorry, it was a hate-

Scott Galloway 3:44 It didn't even land in the room.

Kara Swisher 3:46 It was a hate-fet. Uh-

Scott Galloway 3:46 The crowd didn't like it.

Kara Swisher 3:47 It was a hate-fet. In any case, it wasn't funny. I don't mind irreverent comics if they're funny. This wasn't funny, and also it was vetted-

Scott Galloway 3:53 That's right.

Kara Swisher 3:53 ...by the Trump people.

Scott Galloway 3:54 Oh, it was vetted?

Kara Swisher 3:55 And if they're gonna do... Yes. He didn't just do it off the top... It was in a teleprompter. They knew what was coming, so they knew what he was saying. They could have easily said, "Look, Joe," or whatever his... Tony, whatever his unfunny name is, um, they could have said, "You know what? Dial it back on the r-" It just was... He totally wanted to do it so he could get liberals going, "Oh my God, do you believe that?" That, that's their, that's their favorite juvenile tactic in order to get people mad, but it was just pathetic, and especially since that was the... And it didn't just end with that. It was, uh, it was like a range of things about Jews, about... None of which were funny. Like, I get it. I get the idea that comics should be funny and you- they should be able to say things. Even David Chappelle, and I think he goes on and on about trans people in a way that's not funny, but, um, ultimately, it's... Initially it's funny, and then it's not, um, 'cause he overdoes it by, by an hour at least. But, um, that's his business if he wants to do that. Um, in this case, the time, it's time and place, right?

Scott Galloway 4:54 Mm-hmm.

Kara Swisher 4:54 They did not have to have this guy there, and he wasn't funny, and he's-

Scott Galloway 4:58 Huger.

Kara Swisher 4:58 ...and sure he's a comic, but it's, that's a broad term for this fella. If I went back and looked at his stuff, he's just unfunny. He's just wildly unfunny as a comic, not very talented, so why pick him? But it wasn't just him, it was his friend, it was calling Hillary Clinton a bitch or something like that. It just went on. And Tucker Carlson is so strange, I don't even know what to say. Elon wearing, you know, Nazi font on his hat? Like, they were just all trying to, like, get the libs going, which is their favorite thing, and they're tasteless and horrible people. I don't know. I'm sorry. I just... You could attract all kinds of people to... I've been in Madison Square Garden with conservative groups when there's sports events, where there's wrestling. It's like, it, it, that whole area attracts lots of different people, so I'm not surprised he got people there. It's only 19,000 people, by the way, that fit in. Um, anyway, I think it does turn off undecided voters, and it's just typical of what we're gonna get if he wins. This is gonna be a non-stop hate-fest, um, and let's tell stupid jokes about women's boobs for four years, or, and Black people, and wat- Black people and watermelons. Are we back to that? That joke? Black people and watermelons? Ha ha ha, so funny.

Scott Galloway 6:10 Yeah, but just, just tactically speaking-... as we go into the last eight days, it, it, uh, I'm, I'm focused on how she, you know, what happens here, like who actually wins.

Kara Swisher 6:21 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 6:21 And the, the racists, the, the dog whistles, the weirdness, the awkwardness, the inappropriate, I feel like the market has already absorbed that. I'm speaking very tactically. There are 400,000 Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania. If 5,000 of them decide to get off the couch who were going to support Harris but maybe n- might not have made it to the polls, see that, and everyone's seeing that clip, get motivated to turn out, it could literally decide who's president. And for j- uh, I think it's our, uh, uh, Kara, I think it's our October surprise. I think that, I think you're gonna hear that guy Tony Hinchcliffe's name a lot more. I think that was the (laughs) October surprise because there's 400,000 Puerto Ricans-

Kara Swisher 7:06 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 7:06 ... in Pennsylvania.

Kara Swisher 7:07 Also, Bad Bunny suddenly, uh, who's one of the most famous Puerto Ricans, 45 million followers. J.Lo, like ay-yi-yi.

Scott Galloway 7:14 Yeah. And they're all gonna g-

Kara Swisher 7:16 I-

Scott Galloway 7:16 Y- you're gonna see so much shit on TikTok.

Kara Swisher 7:19 Yeah, they, um, it was interesting, Mike Madrid who writes about Latin, uh, he wrote a great book on Latin voters, La- Latino voters, um, said that it's just going crazy. It's sort of suddenly w- has been like... I don't know why people don't get this. This guy's a full-on racist, Donald Trump is. Anyway, I'm sure he thought it was funny.

Scott Galloway 7:37 You said something earlier in the podcast, I didn't realize, I, I've just been blissfully ignorant over the past, over this weekend. (laughs) He, he had... Yo- you think that the, the font on his hat was purposely reminiscent of Nazi propaganda?

Kara Swisher 7:51 It just happened to be. I looked at it. It's called Factor or something like that. It's, it's a, it's a font. It's n- it's a Nazi font. (laughs)

Scott Galloway 7:58 Jesus.

Kara Swisher 7:58 What is that? Uh, looked like it. Looked like the Nazi font to me. Anyway, um, uh, you know, I always think of this, th- the thing that really got me, I'll tell you, was the, that they did this Madison... And we'll finish up with this. The Madison Square Garden thing, just miles from the Statue of Liberty, right? Where on the Statue of Liberty, there's a poem which is called, um, uh, what's it called? It's called, um, The New Colossus, right? It's a sonnet by Emma Lazarus, right? She wrote the poem in 1883 to raise money for construction of it. And the last part, "'Keep your ancient lands, your storied pomp,' cries she with silent lips, 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.'" This is the part I think is important. "'The wretched refuse of your teeming shores, and these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp besides the golden door.'" I mean, honestly, what is... My grandfather came in on that sh- on a ship. He was a wretched refuse. He was nobody. And he made a company, he raised children, um, uh, you know, uh, it's just, uh, it's so depressing. It's so depressing to watch these people. Thank you. That's my poetry. Um, we're gonna move on. Uh, that's why I'm really bothered by this. Um, it's just grotesque, I think. And they're so, they're so lucky these people who are doing this. They're so rich, they're so... They've got everything, and they still can't be generous. It's astonishing, and they're so hateful.