The Chaos of Donald Trump's Cabinet Picks | Pivot

1. KSKara Swisher0:00

   Donald Trump is back at the White House this week meeting with President Joe Biden and promising a smooth transition, unlike what he did, by the way. Trump has also been busy with lots of announcements about his cabinet advisors. The one that is... They started off normal, Susie Wiles, Marco Rubio, and now we're at the Matt Gaetz's pick for Attorney General. Um, uh, and, uh, Fox News weekend host, Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. Um, we'll get to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's leading the Department of Government Efficiency, or as I'm calling it, the Department of Grotesque Egomaniacs, or the Department of Grandstanding Edgelords. Um, I don't... This is like, gets weirder and fucking weirder. And this is, uh, you- your initial, uh, your initial thoughts on this cadre of offensively unqualified sycophants, as one writer called them. Also in the mix, Tels- uh, Russia's best friend, Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, and Kristi Noem, killer of dogs, for Homeland Security Secretary. Chuck Todd posted these confirmation hearings may just save cable TV for the short term. He got sort of dinged for it, but I would have to agree. Uh, first, before whether they'll make it through, overall thoughts? It just degenerated. It was like, "Okay," and then, "No." Like that kind of thing. What do you think?

2. SGScott Galloway1:16

   Well, he's made... There's some additional announcements that have come out. He's announced that Sue Sylvester, Jane Lynch's character from Glee-

3. KSKara Swisher1:23

   (laughs)

4. SGScott Galloway1:23

   ... is gonna lead the Department of Performing Arts. Um, uh, and also Lea Michele will lead the Department of Punctuation and Spelling.

5. KSKara Swisher1:31

   Uh-huh (laughs) .

6. SGScott Galloway1:32

   Um, also, I don't know if you heard the most recent one, but Gab Bluth from, um-

7. KSKara Swisher1:36

   Yeah.

8. SGScott Galloway1:36

   ... Arrested Development, Will Arnett's character-

9. KSKara Swisher1:38

   Uh-huh.

10. SGScott Galloway1:38

    ... is gonna be the new Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

11. KSKara Swisher1:41

    Oh my God.

12. SGScott Galloway1:41

    And also, Baron Harkonnen from, uh, Dune will head spice production on the planet of Arrakis.

13. KSKara Swisher1:48

    Nice. Nice. I like it.

14. SGScott Galloway1:49

    Uh, look, uh, I now believe, I now believe that the appointment or the, the floating of the idea of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, within about an hour, Lisa Murkowski or Senator Murkowski, who I love, uh, basically said, "This is... That Matt Gaetz is an unserious candidate and I look forward to vetting a serious candidate." I don't... I think this was them saying, "You're a loyalist, give him something." And what they've done, I think, is run cloud cover for just a shitty pick as opposed to-

15. KSKara Swisher2:20

    Yeah.

16. SGScott Galloway2:20

    ... a fucking crazy, stupid pick. And that's what Matt Gaetz is-

17. KSKara Swisher2:23

    Right.

18. SGScott Galloway2:23

    ... to be AG. That just makes no sense. And then if you really want to talk-

19. KSKara Swisher2:27

    It's been called a loyalty test for Senate Republicans and their newly elected reader- sen- like leader, Senator John Thune. They all were pushing for Rick, uh, whatever the Florida idiot, um-

20. SGScott Galloway2:37

    Rick Scott?

21. KSKara Swisher2:38

    Rick Scott. He was, he was the one that MAGA was pushing. Absolutely.

22. SGScott Galloway2:42

    Yeah, I don't think Rick Scott is an idiot. I don't love his politics, but-

23. KSKara Swisher2:44

    Oh my God, he made a mess of the Senate committee he was running, uh-

24. SGScott Galloway2:47

    100%. But he's, he's at least competent. He's elected. I- I don't know. Uh, uh, look, look, perfect is not on the menu here. I mean-

25. KSKara Swisher2:54

    Right.

26. SGScott Galloway2:54

    ... when Senator Rubio looks like a thoughtful pick with gravitas-

27. KSKara Swisher2:58

    Right.

28. SGScott Galloway2:58

    ... for Secretary of State, everyone's just hoping for someone who has some administrative and some leadership experience. But my favorite is that there are not one, but two heads of a committee on efficiency.

29. KSKara Swisher3:10

    Right.

30. SGScott Galloway3:10

    I mean, that kind of tells you-

Episode duration: 10:40