Debating an RFK Jr. Interview | Pivot

Scott Galloway 0:00 Can I ask you a professional question?

Kara Swisher 0:01 Sure.

Scott Galloway 0:02 So, you know, Bobby Kennedy was on Bill Maher when I was on, right?

Kara Swisher 0:06 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 0:07 And I got to know him. By the way, incredibly likable guy. Um-

Kara Swisher 0:11 Obviously.

Scott Galloway 0:12 ... and impressive in person.

Kara Swisher 0:14 He has charisma.

Scott Galloway 0:14 And it's re-... Uh, and not only that, to be fair, he's been great on the environment. He's been a leader, like around-

Kara Swisher 0:19 Right.

Scott Galloway 0:19 ... the environment on some issues. Anyways, um, I got to know him. Texted me and said, uh, and his head of com said, "We'd really like to come on the Prof G pod."

Kara Swisher 0:29 Oh no. Okay.

Scott Galloway 0:31 Uh, so I met with the team and I said, "Bobby wants, Bobby Kennedy wants to come on the Prof G pod. Uh, what do you think?"

Kara Swisher 0:37 Mm-hmm.

Scott Galloway 0:37 What would you do?

Kara Swisher 0:39 Me? Not have him on.

Scott Galloway 0:40 Not have him on. Why?

Kara Swisher 0:41 Maybe. Um-

Scott Galloway 0:43 Maybe, yeah. See? It's not, it's not a slam dunk, is it? I, it took me a while to think about it.

Kara Swisher 0:47 I, I have to say, not because of like... Listen, I've interviewed lots of... You know, I had the Parler guy, if you remember, right after the, the thing. I didn't agree with most everything he said, and he of course ended up getting fired from that interview. Um, uh, I don't mean to say you're not qualified to take this guy on, but I think you will take a mis-

Scott Galloway 1:06 That wasn't the answer I was looking for, Kara.

Kara Swisher 1:08 Well, I, I think, I, I wouldn't be qualified, I don't think. I think, I think he's a tough customer.

Scott Galloway 1:11 Oh yeah, right. (laughs)

Kara Swisher 1:13 I, I don't care if he is.

Scott Galloway 1:13 Uh, you're not qualified to bring this guy on.

Kara Swisher 1:16 Even, here's the thing. You need a lot-

Scott Galloway 1:17 Okay.

Kara Swisher 1:17 ... of prep on this one, a lot of prep, and you need to counter him, because he's a profession- he's, he lies almost constantly and misrepresents things he's said.

Scott Galloway 1:27 Ah. Got it.

Kara Swisher 1:27 And so, getti- even getting him spewing stuff is a problem. Like, he, you just, catching his many, many misconceptions of everything, and, and countering back is a very-

Scott Galloway 1:38 But unless you're an epidemiologist, you're not gonna be able to do that, which is an, is-

Kara Swisher 1:41 Right, exactly.

Scott Galloway 1:41 ... essentially why we decided not to.

Kara Swisher 1:43 And so that... Well, some reporters are more qualified than others to do that and stuff. That's if you're g- that's just on certain things. He like spouts off all kinds of conspiracy theories, you know, that end up doing the some people said. So I think it's a very difficult interview, and he's charismatic, which is, um, hard-

Scott Galloway 1:59 Mm-hmm.

Kara Swisher 1:59 ... to deal with when someone seems reasonable and then throws in a lie here and there and think that's difficult. This is why I would, I would have had a very difficult time with this fella.

Scott Galloway 2:08 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 2:08 Um, the other thing is, I, I, I-

Scott Galloway 2:09 Took me a couple days to figure it out.

Kara Swisher 2:10 This is not an insult to you, but you give people a lot of... You, you, you try to come to comedy with people, and you're uncomfortable in-

Scott Galloway 2:20 Comedy or comity?

Kara Swisher 2:21 Comity.

Scott Galloway 2:22 Yeah, that's right.

Kara Swisher 2:23 Com- not co-... Don't start doing-

Scott Galloway 2:24 Yeah.

Kara Swisher 2:24 ... joking around with JFK. That's like a death-

Scott Galloway 2:26 No, I, I, I did, I was, I didn't know what you were s- I didn't know-

Kara Swisher 2:28 Yeah, comedy.

Scott Galloway 2:29 I didn't know what you meant. Yeah, agree.

Kara Swisher 2:29 I think you are, you try to see the best side of people.

Scott Galloway 2:32 That's right.

Kara Swisher 2:33 And I think this is a very cynical, disturbed person. So-

Scott Galloway 2:37 Yep.

Kara Swisher 2:38 ... I, I think you are too nice. You're too, you're o- wanting to come to some can't we all get along. And in some cases, no, we just can't. You're, you're, you're being-

Scott Galloway 2:46 No, my interviewing style, I believe in what Sam Harris said, that you wanna present people-

Kara Swisher 2:49 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 2:49 ... in their best light.

Kara Swisher 2:50 Right.

Scott Galloway 2:50 And that just might not be the right approach with us.

Kara Swisher 2:52 Right. I don't know. What does your staff think?

Scott Galloway 2:55 Oh, it was a universal no.

Kara Swisher 2:56 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 2:57 Uh, the, the general view was realistically he doesn't have a path to presidency.

Kara Swisher 3:01 Yeah.

Scott Galloway 3:02 So if Donald Trump called and said, "We wanna be on your podcast," I'd have him on, and I would do my best to be prepared. Um-

Kara Swisher 3:06 Right. In that case, I'd say yes.

Scott Galloway 3:07 But they said he really doesn't have a path. All he's gonna do is potentially be a spoiler. And the general sense was that he has been... While he's been very good on certain topics, that he's been so reckless. What I told him, I texted him back, and I don't think he'd mind this. Well, maybe he would, but I'm gonna say it anyways. I said, "The general view is that you've been, uh, so reckless on the issue of vaccines that we don't wanna platform those ideas for fear that they'll get the resonance they really legitimately don't deserve."

Kara Swisher 3:32 He gets one in. He always ge- Liars always, lo- persistent liars always get one in, um, and you have to really counter them. I think I did a good job in that Parler interview, where he started saying, "Many people say," and I said, "Nobody says that." And here's the nobody who says it. You show m- You know, you have to be real tough and vicious almost, and I think you're not... I, I think it's a quality I like about you. You're not capable of it. I don't think you're c- you can do it.

Scott Galloway 3:54 You just feel bad 'cause you said I wasn't worthy, I wasn't up to it. Now you're trying to backtrack.

Kara Swisher 3:58 I, I don't think many people are up to it. I don't think many interviews do a good job with him, honestly.