Trump’s Latest Distraction from Epstein? Obama | Pivot
Kara Swisher (host), Scott Galloway (host), Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of Pivot, featuring Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, Trump’s Latest Distraction from Epstein? Obama | Pivot explores trump Deploys Obama, AI, And Distractions As Epstein Pressure Mounts Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect how Donald Trump is using a flurry of headline‑grabbing moves—especially accusing Barack Obama of treason—to distract from his exposure in the Jeffrey Epstein files. They argue the Epstein scandal and the “rigged 2016 election” narrative both feed the same deep‑state conspiracy ecosystem that animates much of MAGA. The hosts predict Trump will try to leverage Ghislaine Maxwell’s testimony and a potential pardon to shield himself, while emphasizing how the real victims—girls trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell—are being sidelined. Beyond politics, they review Tesla, Alphabet and GM earnings, Musk’s AI and political gambits, Trump’s AI “action plan,” and Trump-era interference in higher ed admissions.
Trump Deploys Obama, AI, And Distractions As Epstein Pressure Mounts
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect how Donald Trump is using a flurry of headline‑grabbing moves—especially accusing Barack Obama of treason—to distract from his exposure in the Jeffrey Epstein files. They argue the Epstein scandal and the “rigged 2016 election” narrative both feed the same deep‑state conspiracy ecosystem that animates much of MAGA. The hosts predict Trump will try to leverage Ghislaine Maxwell’s testimony and a potential pardon to shield himself, while emphasizing how the real victims—girls trafficked by Epstein and Maxwell—are being sidelined. Beyond politics, they review Tesla, Alphabet and GM earnings, Musk’s AI and political gambits, Trump’s AI “action plan,” and Trump-era interference in higher ed admissions.
Key Takeaways
Trump is likely trying to pre‑arrange favorable testimony from Ghislaine Maxwell in exchange for a future pardon.
Galloway argues 'the fix is in': Maxwell will be encouraged to downplay Trump’s involvement with Epstein, then be pardoned at the end of Trump’s term, flipping the usual prosecutorial logic of working up the chain to more powerful offenders.
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Accusing Obama of treason is Trump’s only distraction with real traction for the MAGA base.
Swisher notes that while side fights about TV shows, stadium names, and Melania tributes are 'nothing burgers,' casting Obama as the mastermind of a deep‑state coup taps straight into the core grievance of a “rigged 2016 election.”
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The Epstein story has uniquely durable conspiratorial power—and Trump risks backlash if he appears to protect Maxwell.
They emphasize Epstein and Maxwell as a perfect conspiracy vector—sex, elites, deep state, antisemitic tropes—and warn that any hint of leniency for Maxwell, a convicted sex trafficker and perjurer, could stick to Trump politically even if he personally doesn’t care.
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Media keeps amplifying Trump’s distractions, helping him “change the conversation.”
Galloway likens Trump’s daily outrage cycle to Don Draper’s 'change the conversation' tactic and a defendant at Nuremberg blowing a kazoo—yet cable news still dutifully follows each new provocation instead of staying focused on Epstein and victims.
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Tesla’s valuation is wildly misaligned with its deteriorating fundamentals, while Alphabet is undervalued relative to its growth.
They point out Tesla’s shrinking automotive revenues, collapsing Cybertruck sales, and reliance on marketing stunts versus Alphabet’s double‑digit growth in Search, YouTube, and Cloud, deep AI IP, and a lower P/E than the S&P despite superior economics.
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Musk’s aggressive AI bets are largely about preserving perception and valuation, not disciplined strategy.
Galloway frames Musk’s $13B‑scale xAI chip spree as 'AI Botox'—an attempt to wrap Tesla/SpaceX/Twitter in an AI narrative to justify a trillion‑dollar Tesla valuation he knows its car business can’t support on fundamentals alone.
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Trump’s AI and higher‑ed moves reflect concentrated wealth transfers and political control, not coherent policy.
They see his AI orders and stance on copyright as a payoff to Silicon Valley (letting AI crawl others’ IP without paying), and the DOJ’s Columbia settlement as an alarming precedent of the federal government using civil-rights tools to micromanage admissions and ideology.
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Notable Quotes
“At some point, he's gonna release a sex tape of him and Charlie Kirk. It's just… 'Say my name, Chuck!'”
— Scott Galloway
“What does animate these people is the rigging of the 2016 election. This does satisfy them. It scratches their itch.”
— Kara Swisher
“I think the fix is already in… At the end of his term, when he pardons Ghislaine Maxwell… what the fuck is he gonna care?”
— Scott Galloway
“Ghislaine Maxwell is a sex trafficker. So think about that, people, that he's gonna let off a convicted sex trafficker.”
— Kara Swisher
“Good governance is really fucking boring and doesn't get headlines… Competent leaders don't feel a need to be attention merchants.”
— Scott Galloway
Questions Answered in This Episode
If Trump does pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, how might that reshape public understanding of the Epstein case and accountability for powerful men more broadly?
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway dissect how Donald Trump is using a flurry of headline‑grabbing moves—especially accusing Barack Obama of treason—to distract from his exposure in the Jeffrey Epstein files. ...
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Why do deep‑state and 'rigged election' narratives resonate so strongly with a portion of the electorate, despite repeated debunking?
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What responsibility do media outlets have to avoid being pulled into endless distraction cycles while still covering the sitting president?
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How should policymakers balance enabling AI innovation with protecting creators’ rights and sustaining journalism and original IP industries?
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To what extent should the federal government influence university admissions and campus culture when it is also a major funder—and where is the line between oversight and political coercion?
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Transcript Preview
What does animate these people is the rigging of the 2016 election. The- this does satisfy them. It scratches their itch, and I don't know if it scratches their itch more than Epstein. (instrumental music plays) Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.
And I'm Scott Galloway.
Scott, I'm in San Francisco, my beloved San Francisco today.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
What, wh- why are you there?
More filming. I ate, I ate s- uh, cell, cell-created salmon yesterday.
Oh, really?
Yeah. Cool.
Um, yeah, that, that, uh, well, good for you. And what does that supposedly do for you?
Uh, well, it's just the idea of that we have to have healthier foods, and they're trying to do all kinds of really interesting lab experiments, uh, on how-
Yeah.
... to create food. Uh, and, and it's really, uh, it is actually, and it's actually high in protein, all not additives-
Yeah.
... not all kinds of things. It's interesting. Um, how do we feed the world health- in a healthy way to make them live longer?
We g- we give poor people more money.
That's correct. That's the other way to do it, but there's not enough fish in the sea. Thank you, thank you.
There's my virtue signaling kicking in.
We've got (laughs) a lot to get to today, including Trump's AI action plan and Tesla and Alphabet's earnings. But first, uh, Elon Musk was right. Uh, Donald Trump is in the Epstein files. Uh, not a really big surprise, but Trump was reportedly informed by AG Pam Bondi back in May that his name appears multiple times in the files, probably quite a lot according to The Wall Street Journal. Bondi says nothing warranted further investigation for- or prosecution. In other Epstein news, the federal judge in Florida denied a DOJ request to release the j- grand jury transcripts, of course. The House Oversight Committee voted to subpoena the DOJ for Epstein files hours before the House adjourned for early, early for its summer recess. Mike Johnson did this on purpose so they didn't have to keep voting on the Epstein situation.
Yeah, "Nothing to see here. Go home."
"Nothing to see here. (laughs) Let's close down this door." The committee has, uh, subpoenaed Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. Of course, it's another, you know, very performative thing with, uh, when the number two person at the Justice Department is taking his time to go talk to her, probably today. Um, we're gonna get to Trump's latest distraction move- maneuvers in a minute, which talk- Scott talked about, and boy did he land a big one, uh, another, another bearing wall of the MAGA movement around, uh, President Obama. But let's first talk about where things stand with Trump and Epstein. Uh, is there anything that he can do to stop the drip-drip at this point? Is it an opportunity for Democrats and, um, and we'll go through the... If you wanna go through those distractions first. Distractions is one way, but what else? And then we'll get to the distractions.
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