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

1. KSKara Swisher0:00

   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.

2. SGScott Galloway0:59

   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-

3. KSKara Swisher1:17

   They're not from Manhattan. Come on.

4. SGScott Galloway1:20

   Well, they were in Manhattan. Um...

5. KSKara Swisher1:22

   Yeah.

6. SGScott Galloway1:22

   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.

7. KSKara Swisher1:41

   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.

8. SGScott Galloway1:48

   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-

9. KSKara Swisher2:26

   Okay.

10. SGScott Galloway2:26

    Can I finish?

11. KSKara Swisher2:28

    Yeah.

12. SGScott Galloway2:28

    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-

13. KSKara Swisher3:34

    Yeah, they never do.

14. SGScott Galloway3:34

    ...distanced themselves from the comments.

15. KSKara Swisher3:37

    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-

16. SGScott Galloway3:44

    It didn't even land in the room.

17. KSKara Swisher3:46

    It was a hate-fet. Uh-

18. SGScott Galloway3:46

    The crowd didn't like it.

19. KSKara Swisher3:47

    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-

20. SGScott Galloway3:53

    That's right.

21. KSKara Swisher3:53

    ...by the Trump people.

22. SGScott Galloway3:54

    Oh, it was vetted?

23. KSKara Swisher3:55

    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?

24. SGScott Galloway4:54

    Mm-hmm.

25. KSKara Swisher4:54

    They did not have to have this guy there, and he wasn't funny, and he's-

26. SGScott Galloway4:58

    Huger.

27. KSKara Swisher4:58

    ...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.

28. SGScott Galloway6:10

    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.

29. KSKara Swisher6:21

    Mm-hmm.

30. SGScott Galloway6:21

    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-

Episode duration: 9:31