PivotMAGA’s Uproar Over the Epstein Files Heats Up | Pivot
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
140 min read · 27,617 words- 0:00 – 3:11
Intro
- KSKara Swisher
This is gonna blow up because I listen to these people, and I've seen all the online stuff, and they, they really are, like, rabid.
- SGScott Galloway
It's always the cover-up. It's not the scandal itself.
- KSKara Swisher
(instrumental music) Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.
- SGScott Galloway
And Donald Trump is definitely on that list.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
That Epstein list.
- KSKara Swisher
But are you? (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
Um, I think I'm one of the few people that's not. I feel-
- KSKara Swisher
I know. I was surprised.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, it's, it's, um, uh, uh, first off, we have to start, we have to change. Rosie O'Donnell should legally change her name to Rosie Epstein.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. (laughs)
- SGScott Galloway
I have never seen a lamer attempt (laughs) to distract people-
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs) Right.
- SGScott Galloway
... from what is going on. And by the way, I would just wanna acknowledge, I thought this was gonna be old news and blow over.
- KSKara Swisher
Ah.
- SGScott Galloway
You were right on this.
- KSKara Swisher
Thank you.
- SGScott Galloway
I can ... Uh, I was thinking about it. I was-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
... saying this (laughs) night to a friend. I went, uh, last, last week, I was in Ibiza-
- KSKara Swisher
Ibiza.
- SGScott Galloway
... on the most perfect night-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
... at Calvin Harris. You know, I like the, like, the Top 40 DJs concert.
- KSKara Swisher
Okay. Uh-huh.
- SGScott Galloway
I had taken X for the first time in 30 years.
- KSKara Swisher
What?
- SGScott Galloway
Oh my God, I liked me so much on X, Kara.
- KSKara Swisher
Did you?
- SGScott Galloway
I really found a lot of-
- 3:11 – 14:19
MAGA’s Epstein Civil War
- SGScott Galloway
a big shocker?
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Well, actually, let's get to this thing, 'cause it's, uh, really important. We have other things we're gonna talk about, like tariffs and how Elon is blurring the lines between his businesses, another thing I think I got right there. Um, but just so you know, what do- where Donald Trump is now, he's doing the wrong thing in dealing with him to when-
- SGScott Galloway
100%.
- KSKara Swisher
When he put that thing out, I was like, "No, no, no, no, sir. You ca- you have to be with him. Even if you're not with him, you have to be with him." He says he doesn't like what's happening to his MAGA boys and gals. Uh, he's urging them not to waste time on Jeffrey Epstein, keeps saying he's dead. Um, he has been throwing his support behind Pam Bondi in, in a Truth Social post. And also, he, he was at some, uh, soccer thing where everybody booed him, and he was, he clapped at her. He put his fing- hand up, like, his thumb up. But this civil war, le- let me just give people the idea, is, it is really quite something. And the, uh, many are demanding that Bondi, who they're calling Blondie, uh, which is funny, um, be fired over this memo that found no evidence of a client list or if Ep- or Epstein being murdered. She's been very explicit about this. The, the Epstein investigation led to the White House confrontation between Bondi and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, who's been pretty vocal about Epstein cover-up claims near as he made his career, he made his podcast career. That was one of the structures of his podcast career. He didn't show up to work last Friday. There were rumors he ... Of course, he was leaking all over the place, clearly, that he's insists he ... But the administration says he's still on the job. I suspect he'll fall into line, 'cause that's the kinda guy he is, but who knows? Um, uh, but, but, but one of the things that's interesting is the various factionalism. And I'll go through this very quickly. Um, uh, Fox News is calling this a ticking time bomb. Uh, Megyn Kelly, n- never not to weigh in on something grotesque, said over the weekend this could actually cost Trump the midterms. She's against Bondi, I guess. Bannon's against Bondi. The, uh, I guess Elon's against Bondi. Charlie Kirk's against Bondi. Laura Loomer. Um, uh, anyway, it's really quite something. It's like a weird little civil war. Now, I think they're gonna fall into line now 'cause I think he's gonna put the kibosh on it, uh, behind the scenes. But I don't know. What do you think? What do, what do you imagine?
- SGScott Galloway
Well, just around perception-
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
... I mean, first off, it doesn't even seem that they're that upset about pedophilia. They're that upset about not pursuing a conspiracy theory.
- KSKara Swisher
Right. Right.
- SGScott Galloway
And the, the, the, the thing that strikes me is that if someone had counseled him on how to appear to be more guilty, it would've been difficult. He immediately gets defensive and says, "W- I can't believe you're not focusing on the tragedy of-"
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
"... Texas," or, uh, "I'm thinking of canceling Rosie O'Donnell citizen." (laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
It's, he could not be acting more guilty.
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
And it, whoever is coaching him is like, "No, don't bring it up." So, uh, uh, you know, uh, uh, he could have said-... this is an important case, and the FBI, it's up to the FBI how they h- how they wanna handle this.
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
Instead, it's like-
- KSKara Swisher
Except that he's made his career on it. That is the thing. He, he was very much ... which I, which is almost suicidal because he's been photographed with him, like, 67 times. There's videos of him, like, dancing with this, you know, white man, dancing together. Um, he's clearly been down there. He's on the logs. Um, let me ... The only thing I would say is I know a lot of people who went down there, by the way. And, and I've told you, I was invited to his house once, and I declined 'cause he's a sexual predator. Um, but, um, which I told the PR person, I'm like, "No, I'm not going to a sexual predator's house." But, uh, one of the things that was, is interesting is a lot of people who went down there I don't believe necessarily went for sex.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah.
- KSKara Swisher
Um, I think it was interesting. He was an interesting guy. It was kinda sexy, like to a lot o-
- SGScott Galloway
He was giving a ton of money away. I-
- KSKara Swisher
He gave a ton of money away. Even Bill Gates, I think he was bor- ... I don't know what happened with Bill Gates, but, e- e- I'm just saying, there was a lot of like, like ... Uh, and a lot of what was really interesting to me, and Melinda Gates talked about this saying, "I was not happy with his affiliation." Um, uh, someone ... Uh, I, I think it was Sergey Brin, his, he and his wife went, were invited down. They went down, and the minute they got off the plane, his wife Anne knew what was up and was like, "We're getting the fuck out of here," like, kinda thing. And so, uh, I think, I think a lot of people went for c- th- these things for curiosity, sort of the same way they went to the, uh, the Diddy parties, I guess. And some of the people went for full-on, uh, you know, uh, abuse of minors. That, there's a ... Uh, it's weird, but the fact that they didn't know the people who went that weren't necessarily doing that is grotesque too in a lot of ways.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, uh, uh-
- KSKara Swisher
Would you have gone had you been invited before all this? Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, I'll come back to that.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And that is, so (sighs) it's always the cover-up, not the scandal.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And he's handling this exactly and correctly because all of a sudden he's created a massive cover-up of his own manufacturing and all of his ... Uh, just watching them eat their own tail of conspiracy theory when it comes home, you know, for you. But, uh, le- let's just ... You have a situation. O- okay, I'm, I'm in St. Barts, and a Microsoft billionaire invites me on their yacht. And I go on the yacht, lot of hot people, great party. I go, I have a good time, I leave. What if it ends up there were underage women on that boat? Did I do my due diligence? It was like, "I'm going on this boat." I won't even say who it is, but it wasn't the top, it wasn't the founder of Microsoft. It was one of the founders.
- KSKara Swisher
I know who it was.
- 14:19 – 24:07
Trump’s Tariff-palooza
- KSKara Swisher
I, I think you are. Anyway, speaking of a mess, uh, tariffpalooza is continuing. He's saying the US will impose very severe tariffs (laughs) on Russia if there's no peace deal with Ukraine in the next 50 days. I'm sure Putin is quaking in his boots. He's also threatened to hit, uh, EU and Mexico, two of America's largest trading partners, with 30% tariffs starting August 1st, and Canada also back in the f- crosshairs. In a letter to Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump said Canadian goods would face 35% tariffs starting next month. Trump cited concerns about fentanyl coming across the border, again, as a justification. Uh, the ones from Brazil were 'cause he didn't like the case against Bolsonaro. Uh, talk a little bit about the Russian blend. I mean, this is, just keeps going. The, if ... And the markets have not gotten yippy as before. Um, and some people, including Jamie Dimon and others, think it's a problem that the markets aren't paying attention to this. Um, so thoughts?
- SGScott Galloway
I think literally the mar- the, like I said, the market just continues to yawn and doesn't ... None of these things have come through. He always backs down. The market seems to be re-routing around it. The companies that are driving the NASDAQ and the S&P are essentially global companies now that don't appear to be subject to those tariffs, right? Um, AI, AI and Meta and Microsoft, to a certain extent, so far are somewhat-
- KSKara Swisher
Well, except for copper.
- SGScott Galloway
Pardon?
- KSKara Swisher
The 50% tariff on copper, which, uh, uh, including defense, electricity, and tech, US imports over 40% of its copper, and switching to domestic supplies could take up to a decade.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, but the moment that the-
- KSKara Swisher
Industry groups are warning they could slow AI data center growth. They have an-
- SGScott Galloway
Right.
- KSKara Swisher
... event tomorrow in Pennsylvania, a $70 billion invest-
- SGScott Galloway
And then, and then Peter Thiel calls JD Vance and says, "You're about to shut down AI," and the moment there's a whiff that this is gonna threaten AI, and the seven stocks that're responsible for 38% of the S&P check down 20% and, uh, there's panic buying. Uh, uh, he listens to the markets and he listens to a small group of people, including Jamie Dimon, I think, and I think he's just gonna back down. I think he's playing poker with a weak hand and keeps hoping the other folks around the table are gonna fold.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And, uh, I mean, just in terms of what's nonsensical, Canada arguably our closest ally, largest undefended border in the world. Housing is a real issue in America. Young people are really angry because the percentage of first-time home buyers is at an all-time low. The entrants have, are paying for the price of incumbents weaponizing, um, zoning such that they can increase or decrease the supply of new houses. And you wanna talk about taking inflation up, what are the two primary inputs for a new house, or two of them? Canadian lumber and Mexican drywall gypsum. Uh, uh, you, you wanna make things worse? You wanna start talking about panic buying before the tariffs that creates inflation? The first uptick in an inflation number here, uh, I just think they're g- they have to fold. And what happens if inflation really starts to spike and Chairman Powell, who has his own ego, says, "You know what? We're contemplating raising interest rates."
- KSKara Swisher
Well-
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, uh-
- KSKara Swisher
... Trump has the crosshairs on him too, but he can only cross hairs-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, but the-
- KSKara Swisher
... so many people.
- SGScott Galloway
... uh, he doesn't care. He's in there for, he's in there-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... at least for th- the short ... I just think the markets ... The adult in the room in the cabinet is not a DUI hire, uh, to head the, the Defense Secretary. It's not, it's not an acolyte to basically pervert our justice system, our attorney general. The adult in the room here is the bond market, the tenure and, uh, to a lesser extent, the equity markets, and they will absolutely respond. If these tariffs actually become a reality, uh, you're gonna see the markets, I, y- I mean, m- my co-host at PropertyMarkets said what's interesting is that when these cl- things clearly weren't gonna happen, the markets kind of freaked out, and now the markets have gotten used to him and aren't freaking out, and he wonders that, "Okay, maybe, maybe Trump is so angry he's not being taken seriously that he'll actually k- go through with a couple of these things."
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
But what, what is so insane and so stupid about these threats is the following.... and that is trade agreements take 18 months minimum just to hammer out.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
And then-
- KSKara Swisher
Not 90 in 90 days? What?
- SGScott Galloway
And then they take four years to implement be- 'cause just the logistics of trying to track this stuff-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... and figuring out the regulatory bodies that will do it, and the payments. And the notion that he just sets this goal, and this is why business people shouldn't be president.
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
He just-
- 24:07 – 25:04
Big Tech’s AI Poaching
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, we're back. The AI talent war is escalating still. Google just hired the CEO and co-founder of Windsurf, an AI coding startup, along with several of the company's employees. The under the $2.4 billion deal, Google also gets some non-exclusive licenses to some of Windsurf's technology. The startup will still operate independently without those key employees. The move comes after a $3 billion deal between Windsurf and OpenAI fall apart. Windsurf's founders were reportedly wary of sharing intel with Microsoft. It's the latest setback for OpenAI, which has been losing talent to rivals like Meta in recent weeks. First of all, th- this seems a li- getting to be a little insane. The second thing is, um, it feels like everyone's running, you know, trying to get to the borders. Like, some- pick someone, get all the people they can, and- and pick up the land grab, uh, in terms of people. And they're also doing non-deal deals, where they're trying to be cute with the government. Um, "We're not buying this company, we're just buying everything that matters and gutting them."
- 25:04 – 40:59
SpaceX Will Invest in XAI
- KSKara Swisher
Um, uh, related, SpaceX will reportedly invest $2 billion in xAI, and that's not all. Elon Musk says that Tesla shareholders will vote on whether to invest in xAI. Let's listen to what I said about this back in April. It looks like he's not interested in making cars anymore, or- or he's making other things. He wants to shift Tesla. And I- I think they're gonna merge xAI, X and this together in a big unholy And Tesla?
- SGScott Galloway
... combo.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. So now SpaceX too. Like, I- this is, he's being, he's making a turducken here. Um, he said in a post on X that he does not support a merger of Tesla and xAI, but who knows what he's saying. Um, all, uh ... By the way, he also said that Grok will be available in Tesla vehicles after the launch of Grok-4. Users have discovered the model seems to refer to Musk's opinion also through news articles and X posts when answering questions. So it's, it's mostly Musk stuff that they're borrowing from, the LLM is. Um, anyway, uh, talk a little bit about this.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, the more interesting one, I think, is these acqui-hires. And that is, some VCs have become, it's become so difficult to find alpha or the outsized returns because so many VC firms have s- have raised a ton of money. There's just more capital now chasing fewer good deals, that some of them have gone really downstream and are actually incubating and starting companies themselves and then spinning them out. You know, that was kind of what essentially Sam Altman's, uh, um, Y Combinator was doing. And I think what you're gonna see is a lot of, if I were venture capital, a- a young venture capital partner, I'd be calling, I would try and find 12 really bright AI researchers and a couple managers in at- at various companies and say, "Get together. I'm your first $50 million in. Find, determine a very small slice of the AI world to focus on, and if we can build 12, 20, 50, 100 really talented AI people," and the focus on your research is important but it's not profound. But essentially what's happening here is that if you're an HR manager or recruiter and you can pull together a couple dozen really well-respected AI executives who can show an ability to work together and build shit, the marketplace is so frothy and there's so much cheap stock that within 12 to 36 months, someone might show up and pay $1 billion for those-
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
... 24 professionals.
- KSKara Swisher
Or 2.4 to rent you. To rent you.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, or f- or figure out a way not to raise the antennae of the DOJ or FTC and do some sort of crazy license that gives you money. But it's got to be a great time to be an AI researcher with any credibility anywhere. If you are a really talented young partner at a VC, you identify 300 talented AI engineers, researchers, executives, product managers. You call them and say, "Come start a company. You got $50 million. Within 24 months, we're going to be acqui-hired at $1 to $3 billion." Because these companies, I'm not even sure that the- the technol- no one talks about the technology or the company or the brand or the customers they have.
- KSKara Swisher
Or making money.
- SGScott Galloway
They're just, the war on talent here-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
... and the cheap capital chasing this talent has created alpha, if you will.
- KSKara Swisher
So, uh, so, uh, what ... Do you think it's gonna get past the government? Not for too long, I don't know. Uh-
- SGScott Galloway
Under this administration, yeah.
- KSKara Swisher
Although inflection certainly did. Remember, Microsoft got that one.
- SGScott Galloway
Uh, but the FTC and the DOJ are mostly now about what-
- KSKara Swisher
Bothering media companies.
- SGScott Galloway
Who- who and what is giving money or bother to or bothering Trump.
- KSKara Swisher
Or woke media companies. That seems to be their focus, 'cause that's ...
- SGScott Galloway
So I don't, I don't think they're gonna ... I don't know. I think these things, I think these things, these guys have been so savvy at weaponizing government-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... and giving money to the right people-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
... that I would imagine an acqui-hire.
- KSKara Swisher
Right.
- SGScott Galloway
Um, I was part of an acqui-kill.
- KSKara Swisher
Really?
- SGScott Galloway
Um ...
- KSKara Swisher
They bought you and killed you?
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah, I, it's really, I always feel like I have a pretty good instinct for business. And when my company, L2, was acquired-
- 40:59 – 44:31
Don Lemon and Elon Musk Are Going to Court
- KSKara Swisher
Scott, we're back with more news. This is just a quick thing. Don Lemon's lawsuit against Elon Musk and X over the cancellation of their partnership will go to trial. Musk's team had tried to convince a judge to strike the complaint. San Francisco judge ruled that Lemon credibly alleged Musk had committed fraud by false promise. He'll probably win and Elon still won't pay him. As a reminder, Lemon filed the suit after X canceled his partnership a few hours after he taped a contentious interview with Musk. Um, I don't know if Don will win this one, but it's good that it gets to go forward and we'll see some interesting emails with Linda Yaccarino and stuff. I hope he gets his money. I hope they all, at X there's, there's a whole bunch of people from Twitter who haven't gotten their money. They all should get their fucking money, Elon. Give them their money. You know, even if you don't like them, give them their money. So we'll see. He probably won't.
- SGScott Galloway
I love Don Lemon. I, I, I like the fact that he, I think got fired from CNN and got fired from Twitter, and I think he's one of these people that's doing really good work. H- if you follow him on his, his Lemon Drops podcast, what I appreciate about, what I appreciate about Don, I also appreciate about Megan, even though I don't agree with her politics, it's clear they work really fucking hard.
- KSKara Swisher
They do. She stinks.
- SGScott Galloway
And, uh, and I like, I really appreciate people who've a- achieved a certain level of celebrity status and probably economic security and just show up and work really hard.
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah.
- SGScott Galloway
And I like-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah, that's true.
- SGScott Galloway
I think he's fearless. I, I'm a huge fan of these new niche media companies. I just, I, I like them, I'm rooting for them. And so I hope, I, this is what happ- he's gonna take them to court. I have, my guess is-... the, Musk's attorneys are gonna go, will fight and intimidate and try to embarrass him. But legally, we don't have a leg to stand on. And when they realize he's not backing down, they'll settle with him. And I hope he gets a big check, because it was embarrassing for him to accept a job, ask real questions, and then be fired unceremoniously. And he should, he's entitled to whatever severance he's in- legally entitled to.
- KSKara Swisher
Yes, yes. He should have never signed it. But that's another issue. Um, I agree with you about the niche media companies, but there's a very big difference in Don, what Don Lemon's doing and what Megyn Kelly. I get that she works hard, but she works hard insulting women, screaming about things. I just, if that's the way you wanna make your business, it's fine, but it's grotesque. I'm sorry. And a lot of these companies, some of them are amazing and some of them are just a bunch of hacks. And-
- SGScott Galloway
Okay, I, I'll use-
- KSKara Swisher
... they both will benefit from-
- SGScott Galloway
... others, whether, whether it's Puck or The Information or what they're trying-
- KSKara Swisher
Information.
- SGScott Galloway
... to do at The Daily Beast or A- Axios or ... Uh, even if you don't, even if you don't agree with them, the way they acquit themselves, I lo- I'm here for these little niche media-
- KSKara Swisher
I agree.
- SGScott Galloway
... companies running ... The Daily Wire, I hate their shit, but I totally respect what they've built.
- KSKara Swisher
See, I have a, I have a, a thinner, I have a much bigger refill. It's gotta be well done. Even, I, I don't, I like The Bulwark. I don't agree with a lot of stuff they do, but they actually do journalism. The ones that don't are heinous. I'm sorry. They're just, they're just hacks and I don't like hacks doing well, even if they're exciting and innovative in some way. Um, I think you really-
- SGScott Galloway
Well, okay, now do traditional media.
- KSKara Swisher
I would agree. Same thing. Same thing. I have the same filter for those. I agree. I agree. Anyway, um, s- well, like, I had this interesting argument with Alex 'cause I was, he was insulting CNN or something like that, and I said, "You know, the reporters of CNN are great, and you don't have to like the night stuff, and you need to distinguish between them." And he said, "I can't," and I, I, we had a great discussion about it, and I, I would agree with him. If it tends too much towards the screamy and not the amazing reporters, I have a problem with it too, all, all-
- SGScott Galloway
Mm-hmm.
- KSKara Swisher
... the stations, not, not just-
- SGScott Galloway
The problem is, it's the screamy stuff that makes all the money, Kara.
- KSKara Swisher
Well, I get it. That's why I don't like those small ones that do it or the big ones or they're shitty reporters or they've got-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah.
- KSKara Swisher
... you know, um, disingenuous
- 44:31 – 53:48
Marc Andreessen Says Universities Will Pay
- KSKara Swisher
work. I just don't like it no matter what. Anyway, uh, tech, speaking of someone who's disingenuous, tech investor and Trump advisor Marc Andreessen said universities will pay the price for promoting diversity and alleged discrimination against Trump supporters. Andreessen made statements and messages, uh, sent to a group chat with White House officials and tech leaders. He's always doing this. He's such a ... If you've ever gotten him- texts from Marc Andreessen, he's so high-handed, it's kind of ridiculous. The investor said he views Stanford and MIT as mainly political lobbying operations fighting American innovation. He's gotta fucking be kidding me. The messages discuss the counterattack against universities and called for National Science Foundation to receive the bureaucratic death penalty. Um, they never keep these group chats confidential, and I suspect Andreessen doesn't care. Um, y- y- I like them out 'cause you see what an arrogant asshole he is, but, um, uh, y- you know, again, as usual, they say things very firmly as if things don't have nuance. Parts of MIT and Stanford and lots of universities, including conservative ones, can be, can have a lot of problems, and parts of them are great, and again, the same thing. He can't distinguish between that and has decided to say things like, "They des- they will pay the price, they will die a death." All this, like, there's so much, like, drama with these, these men.
- SGScott Galloway
I, I, I actually agree a- a lot with what Marc said. And-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-mm, I don't. But go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
Well, that's clear.
- KSKara Swisher
Tell me why.
- SGScott Galloway
And, and our occasional disagreements are why people show up. Um, so, uh, that and how sexy I am.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs) Can I beg- before you begin explaining why-
- SGScott Galloway
Before I rant?
- KSKara Swisher
... when ... No. When you have a point, I think you do it from a place of real thinking about it. I think he does it 'cause he's an unpleasant piece of shit. And so-
- SGScott Galloway
They're, they backfill-
- KSKara Swisher
... that's a-
- SGScott Galloway
... into an ultra-conservative point where they just want to attack liberal-
- KSKara Swisher
Correct. I think you actually-
- SGScott Galloway
They wanna, they wanna cash subsidies and then not pay taxes, is where it all comes from. (laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
He gets break after break after break.
- SGScott Galloway
Right, right.
- KSKara Swisher
And then he pretends everybody else-
- SGScott Galloway
And then hates America.
- KSKara Swisher
Yes.
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah.
- KSKara Swisher
Exactly. Go ahead.
- SGScott Galloway
Okay, so look, 60 years ago, 12 ba- Black people at Harvard, Princeton and Yale combined, that was a problem, we needed race-based affirmative action. The DEI apparatus has become so large and so, in my opinion, unuseful, and it creates more problems now than it solves. Uh, 52% of gay men go to college, 34% of straight m- men. Uh, Harvard's freshman class is 60% nonwhite, but 70% of those nonwhites come from upper-income homes. The academic gap between Black and white was double what it was from rich and poor 60 years ago. It has now flipped. So what we need is affirmative action based on the primary arbiter of your success moving forward, and that is how wealthy or not wealthy your household is.
- KSKara Swisher
Correct.
- SGScott Galloway
Because we still have an economic apartheid because of our checkered history in this nation where Black and Latino households only have $20,000 in, in wealth and whites $150,000. But quite frankly, there has been too much privilege crammed into the small number of nonwhites who are rich. Tyler Perry's kids shouldn't have a better chance of getting into college. Having said that, my industry is guilty of artificially constraining supply such that we can raise prices faster than inflation, uh, which is total bullshit. We should be letting in more kids. And we have let in a preponderance of international kids relative to domestic kids, he was right on that. Not for diversity, that's lying, but because they pay full freight. And we love kids from Honduras or from Italy who pay the full tuition, the full sticker. So we're not inviting them for diversity or for-
- KSKara Swisher
Mm-hmm.
- SGScott Galloway
... DEI. And it has come at a cost. The cartel, the artificial scarcity, the LVMHing, the rejection, it's an exclusionary culture trying to be a hedge fund, uh, for LVMH as opposed to a public servant, has crowded out a lot of unremarkable, uh, good American kids who might have remarkable futures. He has a point. But the culprit, he positions it as if it's, as if it's, if- as if it's nonwhites who are the problem or advancing-
- KSKara Swisher
Yeah. Exa- thank you.
- SGScott Galloway
... the rights of nonwhites or women. That's not the problem. The problem is a system ...... that has basically said, "We're going to reject too many kids. We're gonna sit on the GDP of Costa Rica and only have 1,500 kids." But what do you know? Harvard, and create some Vaseline over the lens that letting in the, the Taiwanese daughter of a private equity billionaire is somehow diversity. It isn't. International students are outstanding. We love having them. Giving kids with adversity in their background, maybe it's a kid from the inner city, maybe it's a kid who struggled with his-
- KSKara Swisher
Girl from Kansas.
- SGScott Galloway
... sexual identity, maybe it's a kid going through transition, fine. But how we solve the problem and how we come together is the following. Every university in this nation that has over a billion dollars in endowment should grow its freshmen class faster than population growth or lose its tax-free status. Here's what we need. We need to let in more international students, more trans kids, more gay kids, more white kids from red states. We need more kids. You know where you don't have this argument is community colleges 'cause if you just show up and pay the fucking tuition, you're in. So, we don't have all this agita and all these problems. Instead of arguing about who gets in and who doesn't and creating unnecessary agita in between special interest groups, which is totally unnecessary, we just need to let in more kids. UCLA, 74% admissions rate. When I applied, I was unremarkable. Now, it's 9%. We need to just let in more kids such that people like Marc Andreessen can't cloud a very real issue or use that as cloud cover for what is this thinly veiled ultra-conservative viewpoints that quite frankly come across as a little bit bigoted and hateful against special interest groups-
- 53:48 – 1:06:17
Wins and Fails
- KSKara Swisher
Okay, Scott. Let's hear some wins and fails. I shall go first.
- SGScott Galloway
You go first.
- KSKara Swisher
I saw two movies, one with Mr. Louis Swisher on, uh-... we saw F1. I thought it was a solidly good movie. Brad Pitt looks fantastic. Um, there's a young, uh, guy in it, I'm blanking on his name, who plays the young driver. He's amazing. Uh, the whole thing is delightful and it, you know exactly how it's gonna end. You don't... It... There's not a, a stitch of-
- SGScott Galloway
I'm gonna go out-
- KSKara Swisher
No.
- SGScott Galloway
... on a limb here and assume it's he, he wins a race.
- KSKara Swisher
He wins a race.
- SGScott Galloway
(laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
Right. But he does. But, you know, he's, he, he tries to let the kid win, but he wins. And of course, and then, you know, he's like, it's like a Clint Eastwood movie. This thing you've seen 109,000 times. That said, I learned a lot about cars and about tires. I like a lot about tires. There was one sexy lady technologist in it who I love, who is his love interest. Um, and I was f-... I wanted to go to F1 after it, I have to say. I was like, "I would like to go to F1. This was really interesting." And the whole... There's a little technology in there. Fantastic movie. Superman, also a great movie. I have to say I liked F1 better, but I can see why everybody... Superman is goofy, funny. Uh, it is so not woke. It's just goofy. It's ju-... They're... Uh, Superman has always been an immigrant. It's always been a tone of this, th- this series. He comes from another planet. There's always this thing of him being from Krypton. I thought the guy who played him was delightful and the whole th-... And I thought, uh, Rachel Brosnahan was fantastic. She was in Marv- Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. I thought the whole cast was great. It was so fucking goofy. It was like there were jokes all over the place. And there was one character, this guy who plays Mr. Terrific, another person I've never seen. So funny. Th- whoever did this has a amazingly good sense of humor, and I think they brought it right where it belongs. I thought... I like Henry Cavill, but too brooding. Too... All the Supermans before Chris Reeve, who I thought was wonderful, too brooding. Now it's really fun and I, I see why it's getting... It's what everyone wants. It's a fucking relief to go to that movie. And there's a dog in it too. And then Supergirl shows up and she's, like, a badass partier. And it's just fun. Fun, fun, fun. So that's my, m- my win. My fail is Trump attacking, um, Rosie O'Donnell, and I thought Rosie made a-
- SGScott Galloway
No, Rosie Epstein.
- KSKara Swisher
Rosie Epstein. Um, I thought she-
- SGScott Galloway
Let's just call her Rosie Epstein.
- KSKara Swisher
... she, she called her a threat to humanity. Um-
- SGScott Galloway
(laughs)
- KSKara Swisher
Uh, uh, she moved to Ireland-
- SGScott Galloway
Yeah.
- KSKara Swisher
... by the way. I thought O'Donnell's reply was so fantastic. She did it a bunch of places, but she called him King Joffrey With An Tangerine Spray. And I loved that, and I called her Olenna Tyrell.
- SGScott Galloway
I thought AOC had the tweet of the week and it reads, "Wow, who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein files?" (laughs) She's good.
- KSKara Swisher
(laughs) She's good.
- SGScott Galloway
She's good.
- KSKara Swisher
I love these women that, like, slap the fucking shit out of this guy. But what a fa-... Like, what is he doing? Rosie O-... He's, uh, he... Like, I don't know what his deal-
- SGScott Galloway
We know what he's doing. We know what he's doing.
- KSKara Swisher
Rosie O'Donnell, he's obsessed with her. This has been going on for a long-
- SGScott Galloway
No, he's not. He's obsessed with getting people to look away-
- KSKara Swisher
No, but her-
- SGScott Galloway
... from possible implications of pedophilia.
- KSKara Swisher
No, she... It goes back. You remember.
- SGScott Galloway
I know.
- KSKara Swisher
Speaking of Megyn Kelly when she used to do a good job.
- SGScott Galloway
That's, that's got nothing to do with this.
Episode duration: 1:06:17
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