Trump Assassination Attempt Fuels Social Media Conspiracy Theories | Pivot

1. 0:00 – 0:30

   Misinformation surge on X and tech leaders amplifying claims after the shooting

   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.

2. 0:30 – 0:40

   Do online conspiracy theories actually matter?

   1. KSKara Swisher0:30

      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.

3. 0:40 – 1:32

   Political impact: iconic imagery and a likely polling bump for Trump

   1. 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.

   2. KSKara Swisher0:57

      Yeah, it does.

   3. 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-

   4. KSKara Swisher1:25

      Right.

   5. SGScott Galloway1:26

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

   6. KSKara Swisher1:30

      Yeah. He really knew what to do.

4. 1:32 – 2:36

   Religious framing: Trump portrayed as divinely chosen

   1. 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.

   2. KSKara Swisher2:18

      Yeah.

   3. SGScott Galloway2:19

      As if he was the chosen one.

   4. KSKara Swisher2:21

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

   5. SGScott Galloway2:24

      And I thought-

   6. KSKara Swisher2:25

      God descended and...

   7. SGScott Galloway2:25

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

   8. 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-

   9. SGScott Galloway2:35

      Yeah.

5. 2:36 – 2:55

   Conspiracies from both sides: ‘staged photo’ and ‘false flag’ claims

   1. 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.

   2. SGScott Galloway2:53

      Yeah, there wasn't staging, yeah.

   3. KSKara Swisher2:53

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

6. 2:55 – 3:33

   Dark humor interlude: coping and the danger of trivializing

   1. 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!"

   2. KSKara Swisher3:05

      (laughs)

   3. SGScott Galloway3:06

      Too soon?

   4. KSKara Swisher3:08

      Yeah.

   5. SGScott Galloway3:08

      Too soon?

   6. 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-

   7. SGScott Galloway3:18

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

   8. KSKara Swisher3:19

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

   9. 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?

   10. KSKara Swisher3:26

       Oh, they do that.

   11. SGScott Galloway3:27

       They used Timo-

   12. KSKara Swisher3:28

       They...

   13. SGScott Galloway3:28

       ... and it didn't do much. (laughs)

   14. KSKara Swisher3:30

       Oh. (laughs) Oh, God. All right, we'll stop with the jokes. Um-

   15. SGScott Galloway3:32

       Yeah.

7. 3:33 – 3:47

   ‘Blue Anon’ and the teleprompter/bullet speculation

   1. KSKara Swisher3:33

      ... uh, you know, it was really interesting-

   2. SGScott Galloway3:34

      It's never just him.

   3. KSKara Swisher3:34

      ... 'cause there are, uh, there's a lot of them on the left, too, with this, like, well, the bullet thing and whether it was glass from the, whatever, the teleprompter. I don't care, he got attacked, people. Like, they're called Q- Blue Anon, they're called Blue Anon, in case you're...

8. 3:47 – 4:10

   Root causes: alienation, young men, and access to ‘weapons of war’

   1. SGScott Galloway3:47

      No one wants to deal with the reality-

   2. KSKara Swisher3:50

      Yeah.

   3. SGScott Galloway3:50

      ... that we, in our nation, are producing too many depressed, lonely young men-

   4. KSKara Swisher3:54

      Yeah. He got shot at, folks.

   5. SGScott Galloway3:55

      ... who have no connection to institutions, no connection to other friends, no connection to the a- the attachment to the economy, to school-

   6. KSKara Swisher4:04

      Yeah.

   7. SGScott Galloway4:05

      ... and they have access to weapons of war. That- the, because that shit's hard to deal with. And it's not romantic-

9. 4:10 – 4:32

   Rejecting ‘he deserved it’ logic and confronting violent rhetoric without excusing violence

   1. KSKara Swisher4:10

      It is, it's too confusing. It's too con- it- it's easier to be a, you know, that it was, he made it up or this and that. You know, Putin did it. Uh, you know, I- I just, I'm sorry. Like, look, I don't like him, but he got shot at. And then maybe, he says a lot of violent things constantly. But n- but, and I know, as, you know, I, uh, someone wrote me, "As you sow, so shall b- you reap." I'm like, "I don't think you want that to be your take on this."

10. 4:32 – 5:12

    Democratic panic and strategy: changing the narrative with a new nominee

    1. SGScott Galloway4:32

       I believe if we don't announce a new nominee and take some oxygen out of the room here and shift the narrative really quickly...

    2. KSKara Swisher4:40

       Yeah.

    3. SGScott Galloway4:40

       ... I think, I think we're just gonna get crushed.

    4. KSKara Swisher4:42

       Land slide.

    5. SGScott Galloway4:42

       Because there's just no getting around it.

    6. KSKara Swisher4:44

       Land slide.

    7. SGScott Galloway4:44

       This- this helps Trump, who is already up a great deal.

    8. KSKara Swisher4:49

       Yeah.

    9. SGScott Galloway4:49

       And- and unless we, like the day before the convention ends, announce, uh, Biden announces that he's stepping down and we announce a series of debates or something-

    10. KSKara Swisher5:01

        Yeah.

    11. SGScott Galloway5:01

        ... then this is just, it's just, it's... Quite frankly, Kara, we don't wanna admit it, but this is running away from us.

    12. KSKara Swisher5:05

        Yeah.

    13. SGScott Galloway5:05

        It's running away from us.

    14. KSKara Swisher5:06

        Running away.

Episode duration: 5:12