PivotDeny and Deflect: Will Anyone Be Held Responsible for Signalgate? | Pivot
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
120 min read · 24,164 words- 0:00 – 5:37
Intro
- SGScott Galloway
If you want to know what you looked like when you were 17 and you got caught masturbating, that is literally the facial expression of these people. (upbeat music)
- KSKara Swisher
Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine, the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.
- SGScott Galloway
And Kara, if you're-
- KSKara Swisher
Yes.
- SGScott Galloway
... texting and you see the emoji of a Maker's and Ginger, a guy dancing, and a limp dick, I am in the chat.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
That means I am in the chat.
- KSKara Swisher
Oh my God. Scott-
- SGScott Galloway
I am here.
- KSKara Swisher
I can't believe this happened like right after we taped the last show. Uh, w- let's get right into the fallout from SignalGate. Uh, w- some people are calling it WhiskeyLeaks.
- SGScott Galloway
Just... Hold on. Just-
- KSKara Swisher
Do you like WhiskeyLeaks? Do you like whiskey?
- SGScott Galloway
WhiskeyLeaks, just before we get into the serious stuff-
- KSKara Swisher
Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
... I think people want to hear more about me.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Okay. All right. (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
I'm a little slow today. Um, so, uh, I think as you know, for the first time in my life, I had something resembling a non-outstanding physical where he said, "You're-
- KSKara Swisher
What?
- SGScott Galloway
... borderline hypertensive." I didn't tell you this?
- KSKara Swisher
Ooh, statin time. Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, 140 over 80 and I'm like, "What?"
- KSKara Swisher
Oh.
- SGScott Galloway
"Take it again." I made him take it like eight times. I'm like, "Sorry. We're not doing a ninth time."
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And so, immediately had my urine, my blood drawn, my fecal matter.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
Like everything uploaded to ChatGPT and they all-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
... came back with the same fucking thing, drink less-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- 5:37 – 29:47
SignalGate Fallout
- KSKara Swisher
Uh, the Trump administration is denying and downplaying the wrongdoing, even though the next day, Jeff, uh, Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic, the editor-in-chief, of course released the texts from the Signal group, uh, that he was mistakenly added to. The newly released... This is so unreal what happened here. The newly released messages show Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sharing a timeline of the Yemen attack and a description of the aircraft involved, which is classified, Pete. Sorry. It is. They're pretending it's not, but it is. The latest White House strategy insisting these are not actual war plans, which they were. Um, and as Pete Hegseth told reporters on Wednesday, he knew exactly what he was doing. Let's listen.
- NANarrator
There's no units, no locations, no routes, no flight paths, no sources, no methods, no classified information. You know who sees war plans? I see them every single day. I looked at them this morning, I looked at attack plans this morning.
- KSKara Swisher
What an idiot. Just one... Meanwhile, national security officials were on Capitol Hill getting questioned about the signal leak and hearings becoming contentious. Democratic Congressman, uh, Jim Himes noted the worst-case scenario of the whole incident at one of these hearings. Let's listen.
- NANarrator
Everyone here knows that the Russians or the Chinese could have gotten all of that information, and they could have passed it on to the Houthis who easily could have repositioned weapons and altered their plans to knock down planes or sink ships. I think that it's by the awesome grace of God that we are not mourning dead pilots right now.
- KSKara Swisher
Among other things, where were they? Who was listening? What- what item- what devices they were on. So, talk about what your initial thoughts in hearing this story and what you think about the White House strategy here, arguing about semantics of what war plans and classified is, and making Jeffrey Goldberg the enemy. And he keeps just dropping the receipts every five minutes, and they- they're caught out lying. Um, are they making things worse for themselves by not owning up to it and taking responsibility? Uh, uh, Press Secretary, Karen Levitt, who I like to call Tracy Flick, did say in her briefing that Elon has offered to put his technical experts on the case to go figure how Goldberg got out of the chat. Oh my god, stop with the Elon solution, it's- he doesn't know anything about this. Uh, talk a little bit about this, um, and then we'll get to the repercussions, if there are any.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, these are- these are some of our most senior and most impactful and most important people in government. And I think you have to take them at their word, so let's just look at a few of their past quotes. "Any security professional, military, government, or otherwise would be fired on the spot for this type of conduct and criminally prosecuted for being so reckless with this kind of information." That's- that's, uh, Secretary Hagseth referring to, um, Hillary Clinton's, uh, emails being on a server. More from Secretary Hagseth, "How damaging is it to your ability to recruit or build allies with others when they are worried that our leaders may be exposing them because of their gross negligence or their recklessness in handling information?" Again, that was Secretary Hagseth when they found emails on a server that he decided were classified. Let's- let's keep going, "The fact that she wouldn't be held accountable for this, I think, blows the mind of anyone who's held our nation's secrets dear," Hagseth added back in 2016. "And who's had top secret clearance like I have, and others who know that even one hiccup causes a problem." Uh, what about Secretary Rubio? "Nobody is above the law, not even Hillary Clinton," Rubio said at Fox, "Even though she thinks she is." Well, let's talk about CIA Director John Ratcliffe, "Mishandling classified information is still a violation of the Espionage Act. That's a criminal charge so serious that it can bring the death penalty." Close quote. (laughs) When you have the Clinton emails on top of the fact that the sitting President of the United States admitted he had documents in- in his garage, uh, Director Waltz, or National Security Advisor Waltz told CNN, "But they didn't prosecute, they didn't go after these folks?" Exasperated. "Any unauthorized release of classified information is a violation of the law and will be treated as such," said Direct- Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And my favorite quote-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... on the actual-
- KSKara Swisher
You know what my name for her is? Cruella de Text, but go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
(laughs) There you go. And my favorite quote is actually from the text message chain, "We are currently clean on OPSEC," from Secretary Hagseth. Meaning, "We are clear, you can trust that the security protocols are in place." And this reflects a couple things, one, this administration, as led by Donald Trump, President Trump, believe that the government of the United States, which is the most impressive organization in history... Ask yourself, for all the shitposting all of us do-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... about the US government, who's provided more rights and more prosperity at a lower cost, at taxes this low? Best product for lowest price, brought to you by the US government, most impressive organization in the world. And these folks have decided that any protocols, no matter how established or how important, they're bigger than, that they just- they don't need to pay attention to the stupid shit that people before them were doing. It's a gen- it's the ultimate Dunning-Kruger effect. And then the last thing I'll say before I get your comments is, when someone is pulled ov- over and convicted for a DUI, on average, on average, they have driven drunk 80 times-
- KSKara Swisher
I'm sure. Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... previous to that. So, the question isn't what happened here, because fortunately Jeff Goldberg understands security protocols. He didn't release the information until after the attacks had happened, when he realized he was privy, errantly, to classified information. He voluntarily exited the chat. He understands security protocols.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
I mean, make him fucking Defense Secretary.
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
But- but-
- KSKara Swisher
He knows more about national security than all of these people put together-
- SGScott Galloway
The- the real-
- KSKara Swisher
... by the way.
- SGScott Galloway
... the scariest question is-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... we found out they got a DUI here. What are the other 79 times that secure information has been leaked to bad actors who aren't going to follow security protocols, maybe work for the CCP or the GRU? When you put peewee, little leaguer, incompetent assclowns-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... in positions of this importance, there are going to be unforced errors. But the problem is, we don't see 79 of the 80 unforced errors.
- KSKara Swisher
Right, what they're not doing.100%. And you know what's incredible is of course Trump uses his ... Let me ... A couple things. One, they're morons. Let's just be clear. They're also liars. They're liars about what ... They're morons and liars, and then they're hypocrites because of what those things you just read. They literally were making a big case on a much less egregious violation, right? So that's one. Two, who knows what phones they were on? Were they on pers- They were not using ... You know, my ex-wife worked in the government. I saw the phone she had. She didn't like it, but she used it because it was secure, right? She couldn't use her iPhone. She, you can't side load Signal on these things. By the way, the Signal CEO is like, our ... Wrote me. She's like, "I cannot fucking believe this shit." Like, "This is crazy that they were using our, our, our stuff." Now pe- J- Journalists use it to talk to sources. Lots of people use it to, to, to, to be, to have encrypted communications. But these are not impenetrable systems, f- ... By the way. It's a commercial app. It is not. It shouldn't be lo- And they were definitely doing them on personal phones, and they also were definitely, um, doing them from places you don't know what network they were on. They were definitely not in SCIFs doing this, which is these protected little tents that they make. They weren't on protected communications, and they were talking about war plans. Like I think whatever word you want to use, it's information that should not be on a commercial app. The second thing is the way they put Jeffrey Goldberg. I think what happened is there was someone with his initials that they brought in, 'cause that's happened to me with several tech companies. I've been brought into emails at Facebook by Sheryl Sandberg one time, I think. Um, I've been brought into h- seeing the earnings of a, of a tech company before they were released to the public once, because someone with my name was similar to, to someone at the company, and I just got emailed. I got into the email chain. It happens. People do that. Um, but the fact that they're doing this not on a secure line and doing this with such cavalierness, um, was uh, uh just so moronic. And then to lie about it afterwards, and then get caught again. This is the second time, when he releases what was there. I just, w- I- wh- I don't think anyone will get fired because the people in charge of the Justice Department will not do their jobs, 'cause they're very busy protecting Elon Musk. So it may be M- Mike Walz will get, because he also ... Apparently his Venmo is open too. I, like ... It's just ... Uh, they're being sued by the government watchdog group, the u- for using Signal to discuss military plans, by the way. And you can't make this up. Trump's not-so-favorite judge, the one overseeing the Venezuelan deportation cake, got assigned to the Signal case. But is there any ... It looks like Trump is just gonna defend his people and maybe throw one over, but, but is there any recourse here? Do you see anything at all? How, what do you make of their response? Like from a, just from a marketing point of view, trying to get this, you know, this, "Move on." Everyone was at the, right after, "Let's move on. Let's move on. Let's move on." That was the, sort of the message from Repub- all Republicans. Um, now there seems to be some cracks in it, 'cause it's so serious what they did here.
- SGScott Galloway
This is a crisis, and there's only three things you have to remember in crisis management.
- 29:47 – 35:17
Trump’s Auto Tariffs
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, we're back. President Trump announced a 25% tariff on imported cars and car parts. Let's listen.
- NANarrator
This is the beginning of Liberation Day in America. We're going to take back just some of the money that has been taken from us by, uh, people sitting behind this desk or another desk that's not quite as nice, but they have their choice of seven, as you know. Uh, and, uh, we're going to, uh, charge countries for doing business in our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking a lot of things that they've been taking over the years. They've taken so much out of our country.
- KSKara Swisher
The tariffs will go into effect on April 2nd and will apply to finished vehicles shipped into the U.S., including from American brands that assemble outside the country. Almost half of all vehicles sold in the U.S. are imported. But lo and behold, Tesla will be spared. While the Musk company does import parts, it makes vehicles in the U.S. However, Elon posted on X saying, "Important to know that Tesla is not unscathed here. The tariff impact on Tesla is still significant." Again, a lie. Um, do you think Trump, uh, will pull these back? And what does he keep doing here? Because it- I- it really spooked, the markets were s- recovering a tiny bit, and then they didn't. So, um, any thoughts on this?
- SGScott Galloway
Well, I- I- I had a few thoughts-
- KSKara Swisher
Hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... listening to the speech.
- KSKara Swisher
Hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
That's the first time that I have, in my view, or that I've really noticed cognitive decline.
- KSKara Swisher
Hmm. Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
That's the first time I thought, oh wow-
- KSKara Swisher
Oh, I've seen it.
- SGScott Galloway
... he's getting old.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
Um, and- and you've been seeing it for a while. That's the first time-
- KSKara Swisher
Hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... I really saw evidence of it. He just sounds not flight afoot, so to speak.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
Look, he- and also, his speechwriter clearly is mimicking what Nigel Farage said about Brexit, claimed that it was, "This is our Independence Day," and it's like, well folks, you realize that people declare independence from Britain, not Britain doesn't declare independence. Like, de- declaring independence from who? But we've just said this all along. If you were looking for the most elegant, clear, blue line path to increasing prices and reducing the competitiveness of our products overseas as reciprocal tariffs are- are implemented, there's no more elegant a way to reduce prosperity in economic history, probably, than tariffs. And it comes down to... So I teach strategy, and if you try to distill strategy down to a few basic tenants, two of them would be the following. Y- in strategy, you're trying to answer one question, what can we do that's really hard? Either with spending $18 billion a year on content is really hard, but we have access to cheap capital. Okay, we're Netflix. Building the most robust supply chain in the world because of access to cheap capital is really hard. Hi, we're Amazon. What can we do that is really hard? And then the second thing is the biggest mistake people make in strategy organizations is believing that they're boxing against a speed bag, or that they're in that Twilight Zone where when they move, they stop time and no one else responds. And this is, the- the- the strategic here is so basic, and that is he's under the impression the U.S. is so powerful and superior that we can just levy tariffs errantly without any rationale and that they won't respond and levy reciprocal tariffs. As a matter of fact, you wanna talk about people who are doing it strategically, Canada and Europe have said, "Not only are we going to, uh, implement reciprocal tariffs, we're gonna g- be especially hard on the tariffs affecting (laughs) red states."
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
We're going after your heart and lungs, President Trump.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
I mean, they're- they're being quite strategic about it. And it- it- it's this basic er- companies make, I see companies make this all the time. We're gonna do this, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this. And we're like, okay, you realize that adidas and On will do the same thing. (laughs) I mean, they will respond. And that is the biggest strategic error is assuming that you are operating in a vacuum of strength and that your competitors aren't gonna respond. And every nation has levied reciprocal tariffs. No one has said, "President Trump, you're so big and bad and America's so amazing-"
- KSKara Swisher
"We're gonna give back what we took from you." Like, whatever.
- SGScott Galloway
And the notion somehow that we are not on the, uh, I think there's an argument that you could say we have unfairly subsidized a military umbrella for the second and third largest economies in the world-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... specifically Japan and Germany and maybe most-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... of Europe. I think that's a real, I think that's a valid argument. But the notion that we don't get the better end or as good a deal on any trade agreement, on any business relationship is just not true. I- I have done business in every large Western nation and there is a brand halo by rule of law, innovation, the fact that we are willing to enforce laws, the fact that we don't take shit from anyone, that we attract to- the best and the brightest. When you walk into a room, even as a small firm, I ran small strategy firms, you benefit from the halo of the American brand. And to think somehow that people were taking advantage of us is just, it's this weird victim complex.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
It's this weird notion of, again, I make decisions in isolation, no one will respond, and somehow I'm the victim. It's incredibly immature-
- 35:17 – 37:50
Trump Crypto Firm Launches Stablecoin
- KSKara Swisher
Trump's crypto venture, World Fi- Liberty Financial has announced plans to launch a stablecoin. This is, this guy is just literally, like, he- he's like octopus. He, like, goes everywhere. Is like a hands guy who's e- everywhere at once. Stablecoins are tied to assets to maintain more stable prices. US, uh, USD1, as it will be called, will be pegged to the value of the US dollar. That's what stablecoins often are pegged to. GOP lawmakers, that means they have to hold the dollar for every coin. That's wh- anyway, GOP lawmakers are currently working on legislation to regulate stablecoins. Uh, World Financ- uh, Liberty Financial said it, uh, has brought in over $500 million from previous coin sales. Trump Media also announced a partnership with Crypto.com this weekend is- and it, to launch a series of e- uh, ETFs. Um, uh, there's, I know there's a fire hose of news every day, but what in the actual fuck? Speaking of what in the ac- there's so many what in the actual fucks, but he should not be doing crypto. He should not be doing crypto and his family shouldn't be doing crypto, and they're doing crypto, which is such a, uh, uh, like an opaque area. Uh, thoughts? Very brief thoughts.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, it- it's grift and there's so m- it, when you're trying to chase down or respond to national security breaches of incompetence and recklessness, it kind of unfortunately wallpapers over the fact that...... he's engaging in a level of grift for his kids, that if Obama did it, there might-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... have been a move to impeach him and some Democrats would have voted to impeach him. I mean, the standards have just been lowered so dramatically. I was thinking about eh, when, I, I remember going to China a few times, uh, with, uh, a group of American businessmen and we would or they would bring up the notion of human rights and that. Like, can you imagine us even having the gall or the gumption to bring up human rights violations-
- KSKara Swisher
No.
- SGScott Galloway
... now when we go abroad?
- KSKara Swisher
We can't, we can't.
- SGScott Galloway
I mean, or to accuse them of grift and corruption. (laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
I know.
- SGScott Galloway
It's just, we have lost-
- KSKara Swisher
Every-
- SGScott Galloway
... all moral authority.
- KSKara Swisher
... high horse. All the high horses are gone. We're down off a high horse. This is just ridic- He should not be doing this. And it, and people s- should look into this. Like, there's n- there's no power to look into it, but this is just grift pure and simple. And especially in an area that is about to be, G- GOP lawmakers are working on legislation. This is so, like, he cannot, he shouldn't even sign the friggin' thing. Like he should like, uh, he won't do it. It, this is, and then it's open for so much, uh, fraud for, for regular consumers. Just buyer beware, in many ways. All right Scott, let's go on a quick break, when we come back we'll talk about whether Disney's Trump donation is paying off in the newest podcast network.
- 37:50 – 43:51
FCC Investigates Disney
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, we're back. The FCC plans to investigate Disney's DEI practices, they just are moving from company to company doing this. Uh, Disney shareholders rejected an anti-DEI proposal earlier this year, by the way Apple and I think it was Costco also did. Um, last fall Disney settled a defamation lawsuit with Trump, uh, after the, uh, and after the election agreed to pay 15 million dollar donation to Trump's presidential library. I mean, the sucking up to Trump isn't even paying off, right? It just isn't working. I, I don't know what to say. They're, they're gonna go to every DEI thing and just keep litigating, one after the other, whether it's law firms who are against Trump, or, or whatever they happen to do, whether it's DEI or just pure revenge, they're gonna keep doing this shakedown. It, it feels like I'm in the middle of the, the early scenes from The Godfather movie with Robert De Niro wandering from Italian-owned store to Italian-owned store. I don't know what to say. Thoughts?
- SGScott Galloway
Well, there's two things here. There's the policy around whether, uh, DEI practices should be legal or illegal. That's in their current form. That's, that's a, that's a valid argument. And, but, the problem here, and you introduced this word to me, is systemic change versus non-systemic change. And that is, when the president goes after Columbia, uh, you know, I, I, it tickles my sensors, I like that. I think that the Ivy League has tolerated a level of anti-Semitism they would not tolerate across any other special interest group. But the way you address it is you pass laws-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... that affect everybody.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
You don't decide who you dislike the most-
- KSKara Swisher
Correct.
- SGScott Galloway
... and start going, or, or who you like the most and, and host a, "Hi, I'm Cal Worthington, 10% off your Tesla right now."
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
You're supposed to pass laws that show a lack of favoritism 'cause there's no way to implement-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... targets or enemies or favoritism for your allies without it just becoming, you know, an autocrat-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... you know, an autocracy-
- KSKara Swisher
That's what it is.
- SGScott Galloway
... and corrupt. So-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... before we even start here, when he starts targeting individual firms or the head of the Department of Justice calls out, or, or the, or the attorney general calls out Disney by name, if he were to say, "The media, the media's gonna not have certain protections around certain slander and it's true for everyone," okay, you might disagree, you might think that puts a chill. But when they start going after specific universities-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
... and specific companies-
- KSKara Swisher
Law firms, specific law firms, specific-
- SGScott Galloway
Then all you're trying to do is say, "Okay, we're Paul, Weiss, or we're Perkins, or we're, or we're, or, or we're Skadden Arps, or whoever, or Latham & Watkins, so this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna work for their kids for free on this new Trump stable coin thing 'cause then we'll stay out of his crosshairs." And you end up in a downward spiral of corruption, where, and for corruption folks, that's the biggest tax 'cause people get unfair advantage and it's taxed on everyone else that doesn't have proximity to the president or isn't willing to pay him. And we talked about this on CNN; there is a domino of cowardice. Bob Iger, your cowardice inspired Paul, Weiss' partner to say, "Okay, we'll pay or we'll settle rather than fight."
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
Your cowardice inspires Jeff Bezos to go, "The quickest way for me to get to 110-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... to 150 billion is to get rid of the opinion section at-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... the Washington Post." Until one of these guys, and let's be honest, they're all guys, says, "Fuck you!" And the public and shareholders in business rally around this person, this is just gonna continue. He's just gonna have these one-offs and everyone's gonna go, "I don't wanna be in his crosshairs-"
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
"... so just give him a couple million bucks for his inauguration-"
- 43:51 – 52:37
Megyn Kelly Launches Podcast Network
- KSKara Swisher
Megyn Kelly's launching a podcast network. Um, lots of people are doing this. MK Media launching next month, will have shows from Mark Halperin, uh, Maureen Callahan and, uh, Link Lauren. And I think her- the company she's worked with was sold to Fox, the red whatever you call it. Um, let's listen to what Megyn has to say about this.
- NANarrator
So excited about these three. Uh, aren't these a great three to launch with? They cover the gamut, right? It's like Link has got such a following amongst young, sort of right-leaning people or independent minded people who have just had it with the weird left.
- KSKara Swisher
Anyway, her podcast, which launched in 2020, I was one of the first people to talk to her about doing a podcast, uh, as I've said before, is consistently one of the most popular news, uh, podcasts in the country. I don't know if it's news exactly. Uh, you're kinder to her than her. I think she's just a rage machine and she has a little act that she takes on the road and screams at women, a lot of women. Um, but they're, the idea of what's happening here is a bigger thing is there's a lot of really interesting independent companies being created, whether they're, um, conservative or liberal. And it really is this idea of doing these podcast networks is gonna be really interesting and how you do them and keep them entrepreneurial. I know Scott and I have talked about it, um, especially the voices on the weird left, like ourselves. (laughs) What is wrong with her? Um, uh, anyway, it's really, it's an interesting time for this idea of industrialization of podcasting and some of these other things as they move into video. Any quick thoughts?
- SGScott Galloway
Um, first off, I, I just... White House spokesperson Levitt married a 59-year-old when she was 27, so I'm kind of a fan. But, uh-
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
It gives me... I think it means I have a shot with AOC.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
I'm just saying. I'm just saying.
- KSKara Swisher
You so don't have a shot with AOC. It's crazy.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, you know, my criteria for, my criteria for every, every spouse I've had, it's very simple.
- KSKara Swisher
Go ahead. What is it? Go ahead, let me hear. (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
It's simple. Two things. A badass or the great ass.
- KSKara Swisher
Okay.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, we're gonna hear it on that one.
- KSKara Swisher
Okay, I kind of like that.
- SGScott Galloway
We're gonna hear it in the comments on that.
- KSKara Swisher
Let me take a look at that. Okay, I like that. I like that. I'm gonna stay on that.
- SGScott Galloway
Anyways, okay, so-
- KSKara Swisher
I like that. I hate that, I hate myself. (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
... Megyn Kelly podcasting... Okay. Uh, Megyn is very talented and you gotta-
- KSKara Swisher
It's true.
- SGScott Galloway
... separate the person and their talent from their political views. She's a very-
- KSKara Swisher
Their perform- No, it's not political views, it's performative rage. But go ahead, go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
Okay.
- KSKara Swisher
I'm fine. Fine, whatever.
- SGScott Galloway
She's very talented. Okay, so one of my big, one of my big predictions in October of '24 was 25 I have tech of the year, media of the year, stock of the year. But the media of the year, hands down, podcast. And it happened on election day. And that is... So much money pours into local news stations because old people supposedly determine elections and old people still wanna get the weather on their local news station. So local news stations are, hemorrhage money for 22 months, and then for two months every two years, they jack up the rates by sevenfold and they sell out because the local guy running for Congress just plows money into it. That typically is a 60-year-old, the average person is a 60-year-old white woman, uh, watching cable news or listening to local television. Local television is probably even older.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
Trump realized... He zagged when everyone zigged, went on the manosphere, went into podcasts, went on every fucking testosterone-laden podcast, and it was brilliant. And the average listener to a podcast is a 34-year-old male.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
And a 34-year-old male is Latin for swing voter because they care about economics, and who is seen as better on the economy is dynamic.
- 52:37 – 1:00:01
Predictions
- KSKara Swisher
Okay, Scott, let's hear a prediction.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, oh, look, uh, the, the Chinese, uh, see this void. We had spent decades and $70 to $80 billion a year on USAID helping fund a hospital in Cambodia, tremendous goodwill in Cambodia. Set up this infrastructure, it was working well, money was being put to good use. We just cut it off. You know who showed up literally the next week?
- KSKara Swisher
Hm.
- SGScott Galloway
And this is a true story.
- KSKara Swisher
The Chinese.
- SGScott Galloway
The Chinese.
- KSKara Swisher
Chinese.
- SGScott Galloway
And they are taking advantage of all the good work that's been done to usurp soft power.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
And I believe this is gonna, goes back to the notion that we have a monopoly on our ability to deliver violence.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
We have, I think, 700 bases in 70 or 80 nat- I think China has two or three. You're gonna see a dramatic increase in the number of Chinese military bases on foreign soil, because they are, they are filling our shoes and getting massive benefit from the organizations, the relationships in the NGO sector that we were funding, and they'll just slip into those shoes and say, "No, no, no, you don't need to close the hospital. The good guys are here." And that is gonna, and, and nothing's for free. The next time they show up in a year or two years, three years, and say, "Look, we'd like to have a naval base here. We'd like to be-"
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... "able to refuel our planes here, and we'll pay for the revenue. And by the way, how's the hospital coming?"
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
"Is it still working? Great."
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
So, we're gonna see, for the first time, a dramatic increase in Chinese military bases overseas, which, to date, the US really has had a monopoly on. This soft power translates to hard power, and, uh, people don't realize, again, these people don't think long-term-
- KSKara Swisher
They're morons!
- SGScott Galloway
Well, the whole basis of-... an elected official, at the end of the day, it goes back to strategy. What are you d- what are you supposed to do that's really hard? What are you supposed to do that's really hard? You're supposed to prevent a tragedy of the commons over the medium and the long term. You're supposed to ensure-
- KSKara Swisher
C- can I make a-
- SGScott Galloway
... security doesn't... Go ahead.
- KSKara Swisher
... an interjection here? 'Cause there's just a news story from The New York Times today that Trump administration abruptly cuts billions from state health services, this is across our country. States have been told they can no longer use grants that were funding infectious disease management and addiction services. They've cut $12 billion in federal grants to states who are being used to track infectious diseases, mental health services, addiction treatment, and other urgent health issues. That means these h- state health departments were already underfunded, are, are in real trouble. They received notices Monday that the funds which were allocated are being terminated. Um, and let me just say, in Lubbock, Texas, public health officials, this is not to... These are red states, just so you know, red state people, th- their leopard's about to eat your face. Public health officials have received orders to stop work supported by the three grants that helped fund the response to the widening measles outbreak there. According to Katherine Wells, on Tuesday, some health departments were preparing to lay off dozens of epidemiologists and data scientists. This is (laughs) , this is the same thing. This is goodwill and the things that the government does that are effective for people, and it's gonna be the same issue in this country. The question is, who's going to come into the, into the breach, right? And, which is what you're talking about-
- SGScott Galloway
Mm-hmm.
- KSKara Swisher
... with the Chinese doing that. I don't know if you'd like to link those.
- SGScott Galloway
100%.
- KSKara Swisher
I mean, 'cause-
- SGScott Galloway
No, I like that. No, I think that-
- KSKara Swisher
It's, it's-
- SGScott Galloway
I think that makes sense.
Episode duration: 1:00:01
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