Trump Assassination Attempt Fuels Social Media Conspiracy Theories | Pivot

1. KSKara Swisher0:00

   Social media's flooded with misinformation, conspiracy theories, espec- especially X, of course. And Elon Musk keeps touting that he's real media now. He's not real media, he's a piece of... Well, anyway. Elon Musk and some other tech business leaders, uh, using their megaphones to criticize the Secret Service diversity initiatives and making unsubstantiated claims about the shooting, just like they did with that guy who got killed in San Francisco. Wrong, wrong. He's not Antifa. Um, he also formally endorsed Trump after the shooting, as did Bill Ackman, because they couldn't have the spotlight away from them for a- a New York minute. Do you think that matters at all, these kinda things online? Theories and stuff like that? False flag?

2. SGScott Galloway0:36

   I think they're- I think they're really unhelpful. Uh-

3. KSKara Swisher0:39

   Yeah.

4. SGScott Galloway0:40

   ... and I... I think your take's the right one. It- this is awful. It's awful for everybody. And so, this is, I believe, the first assassination attempt on a president since Reagan, but it gives you that sense or that fear that our society is collapsing.

5. KSKara Swisher0:57

   Yeah, it does.

6. SGScott Galloway0:58

   And then, this BS notion, and I think- i- I- I think the president's more authentic about this, that we need to tone down the rhetoric. Okay, I get it, that's not gonna happen, and nobody wants to deal- nobody wants to deal with the- the real problem, but also, I hate to say this, but it's true, he's gonna be, I bet, in the next poll that comes out, I think he might be up by double digits. That image of him pumping his fist with blood on his face with an American flag above him-

7. KSKara Swisher1:25

   Right.

8. SGScott Galloway1:26

   ... is gonna be the most iconic image of 2024, if not the last decade.

9. KSKara Swisher1:30

   Yeah. He really knew what to do.

10. SGScott Galloway1:32

    (sighs) You gotta give the guy credit for his instincts. Um, look, the thing that summarizes what is so dangerous or upsetting, uh, for Democrats right now is the following. I have, uh, a friend, I'd even call him a good friend, in Florida. He's a real estate broker, he's this lovely young man, just a beautiful family, uh, he's so likable, so good at what he does, and, uh, we're friends with them. They're Trumpers, we just don't talk about it. They're very religious, nothing wrong with that. He posted on his Instagram, uh, feed yesterday an image, and I don't know if you've seen this image, of Donald Trump with a- a visage, an image of Jesus standing behind him with his hands on his shoulders.

11. KSKara Swisher2:18

    Yeah.

12. SGScott Galloway2:19

    As if he was the chosen one.

13. KSKara Swisher2:21

    Yeah, I know. They're- they're- they're, that's a long-time thing, but it got even worse.

14. SGScott Galloway2:24

    And I thought-

15. KSKara Swisher2:25

    God descended and...

16. SGScott Galloway2:25

    ... "Oh, my God, they believe this guy is the chosen one."

17. KSKara Swisher2:29

    Yeah, it's interesting, uh, one of the parents of Sandy Hook, 'cause I think R- Marco Rubio said God, you know, was protecting Trump, and-

18. SGScott Galloway2:35

    Yeah.

19. KSKara Swisher2:36

    ... one of the parents said, "Oh, I guess they weren't protecting, God wasn't protecting our kids." Like, what is wrong with you? Like, you know, that- that- that there's the chosen one. Yeah, there is that idea. I mean, I think him, it's interesting, 'cause people on both sides of the political spectrum are sharing theories, the false flag, claiming the- the picture was staged.

20. SGScott Galloway2:53

    Yeah, there wasn't staging, yeah.

21. KSKara Swisher2:53

    He certainly was fast on his feet, so to speak.

22. SGScott Galloway2:55

    There's- there's ridiculous theories on both sides, the worst on the right, but I don't know if you heard, but right before Melania gave her public statement, she was heard yelling into a phone, "You had one job!"

23. KSKara Swisher3:05

    (laughs)

24. SGScott Galloway3:06

    Too soon?

25. KSKara Swisher3:08

    Yeah.

26. SGScott Galloway3:08

    Too soon?

27. KSKara Swisher3:08

    I like a joke. I like, my favorite joke was from someone where they said, "It's, uh, let's, uh, let's hope it's not a time traveler from the future who can't shoot." It was something like that. Anyway, um-

28. SGScott Galloway3:18

    Oh, no, I, you know, the- the- the-

29. KSKara Swisher3:19

    ... it's the Jesus, it's the Jesus...

30. SGScott Galloway3:19

    ... truth is, I mean, the- the- the- probably the most likely conspiracy theory is the Democratic Party ordered a hit, but they used Timo for it?

Episode duration: 5:12