Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard: Trump's Picks Raise Concerns | Pivot
Kara Swisher (host), Scott Galloway (host)
In this episode of Pivot, featuring Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway, Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, and Tulsi Gabbard: Trump's Picks Raise Concerns | Pivot explores trump’s Security Picks Spark Alarm Over Competence, Extremism, And Loyalty The episode examines Donald Trump’s reported choices of Kash Patel for FBI Director, Pete Hegseth for a top defense role, and Tulsi Gabbard for a senior national security post. Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway argue these picks are uniquely dangerous compared to other available Republican options, citing Patel’s threats toward Trump critics and journalists, Hegseth’s alleged abuse, drinking, and mismanagement, and Gabbard’s perceived sympathy to Russian interests. They contrast these figures with current FBI Director Chris Wray and past national security leaders, emphasizing the importance of nonpartisan loyalty to the Constitution and the safety of intelligence assets. The hosts warn that such appointments would undermine U.S. alliances, chill intelligence-sharing, normalize abusive behavior toward women, and divert a Trump administration into constant chaos rather than governance.
Trump’s Security Picks Spark Alarm Over Competence, Extremism, And Loyalty
The episode examines Donald Trump’s reported choices of Kash Patel for FBI Director, Pete Hegseth for a top defense role, and Tulsi Gabbard for a senior national security post. Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway argue these picks are uniquely dangerous compared to other available Republican options, citing Patel’s threats toward Trump critics and journalists, Hegseth’s alleged abuse, drinking, and mismanagement, and Gabbard’s perceived sympathy to Russian interests. They contrast these figures with current FBI Director Chris Wray and past national security leaders, emphasizing the importance of nonpartisan loyalty to the Constitution and the safety of intelligence assets. The hosts warn that such appointments would undermine U.S. alliances, chill intelligence-sharing, normalize abusive behavior toward women, and divert a Trump administration into constant chaos rather than governance.
Key Takeaways
Weaponizing the FBI against political opponents is a red line.
Kash Patel’s stated intent to “come after” Trump critics and journalists using criminal or civil means signals a politicization of law enforcement that undermines democratic norms and press freedom.
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Personal misconduct and mismanagement should disqualify candidates from high‑stakes security roles.
Hegseth’s alleged heavy drinking, sexual harassment, and financial mismanagement suggest he lacks the judgment and stability required for positions involving decisions about war and nuclear force.
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How a leader treats women is a core indicator of fitness for office.
The pattern of alleged abuse and harassment, reinforced by a searing letter from Hegseth’s own mother, is framed as not just a “personal failing” but a disqualifying trait that sets a damaging example for young men.
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Intelligence officers must trust that senior leaders will protect them at all costs.
The hosts argue that CIA and FBI assets need to believe their chiefs would “die for them”; any suspicion that someone like Gabbard could compromise identities to hostile powers would devastate morale and operations.
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Alliances and intelligence‑sharing are essential to U.S. national security.
Dismissing allies under an “America First” mindset ignores that European and allied services (MI6, Mossad, French services, etc. ...
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Trump appears to vet economic appointees more seriously than security appointees.
Galloway notes a “maturity” in Trump’s economic picks contrasted with seemingly reckless choices for defense and intelligence, suggesting a dangerous asymmetry in how different domains are prioritized.
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There are competent conservative alternatives, making these choices especially troubling.
Swisher points out that other potential nominees were ideologically conservative but at least competent and within democratic norms, implying these specific picks reflect intentional escalation, not lack of options.
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Notable Quotes
“This guy’s entirely unqualified for this job. Both of them are.”
— Kara Swisher (on Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth)
“Director Wray is an outstanding individual… you can’t tell if he’s a Republican or he’s a Democrat. He’s just trying to do his goddamn job.”
— Scott Galloway
“He could not run a small organization. He cannot run and make decisions about nuclear war for us.”
— Kara Swisher (on Pete Hegseth)
“We can’t normalize this. We can’t, we can’t normalize this.”
— Scott Galloway (on making ‘a little bit rapey’ behavior a feature, not a bug)
“It’s not fair to call her a Russian asset. She’s a Russian sympathizer. She provides comfort and aid to the enemy.”
— Scott Galloway (on Tulsi Gabbard)
Questions Answered in This Episode
What formal guardrails, if any, exist to prevent an FBI Director from pursuing political vendettas against journalists or opposition figures?
The episode examines Donald Trump’s reported choices of Kash Patel for FBI Director, Pete Hegseth for a top defense role, and Tulsi Gabbard for a senior national security post. ...
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How should past personal misconduct be weighed against military service or other public achievements when evaluating candidates for top national security posts?
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What specific mechanisms would break down first in U.S. intelligence if field officers lost trust in the CIA or FBI leadership’s willingness to protect them?
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Could key allies realistically reduce intelligence‑sharing with the U.S. in response to controversial appointments, and what would that look like in practice?
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Why might a political leader apply more rigorous standards to economic appointments than to defense and security roles, and what incentives could reverse that imbalance?
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Transcript Preview
President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI is former national security official, Kash Patel. Uh, that's a... Uh, ooh, what a strange man he is. Patel is a Trump loyalist who's vowed to come after Trump's enemies, including people in the media. A number of high-level Senate Republicans have already indicated their willingness to get behind the choice, but others, not so much. That it's a real, it's a real mixed bag on this guy. By the way, he has to fire Cr- uh, Chris Wray, who was appointed by Trump on a, to a 10-year term, so Chris Wray shouldn't be out of office until 2027. Um, it's alarming a lot of people. Um, at the same time, the Pete H- Hegseth nomination is still raising big questions. This New Yorker piece is a damning whistleblower report on his previous behavior, eh, running two organizations where he drank too much, he abused women, sexual harassment, bunch of lying, misspending, mismanagement. Th- this story is quite... has got it all, by Jane Mayer. Um, and it's, it's based on, uh, well, it's, it's a, it's a devastating, very well-reported piece about how bad a manager he was. It may have been a bad period of his life, but boy was it bad. Um, the New York Times also had the 2018 email from Hegseth's mother calling her son an abuser of women. That email was something else. Um, she told the Times she'd written the messages in anger and had apologized for it, but boy, did it have a ring of truth at the time. I guess it was during the same time period. Um, what do you think? Uh, I thought the mother thing, I was, had mixed feelings on. At the same... The New Yorker piece, I do not. It's really... He's a bad, bad, bad manager. And again, he could be going through a difficult period, but this... You, you know, if you recall, John Tower, the womanizing and the sexual, and the drinking was a big issue and sort of scuttled his, his, um, his nomination. This guy's entirely unqualified for this job. Both of them are. So, what do you think about that?
I remember an era where you couldn't be on the Supreme Court if you'd been a Playboy Bunny waitress at some point in your life.
Yeah.
I mean, you wanna talk about how... uh, just a digression.
Mm-hmm.
You know, first off, Patel, he's said that he wants to go after the former head of the CIA. He says that he wants to prosecute and put in prison, you know, people who weren't supportive of Trump. He, he's called... Uh, and, and at the same time, he's found time to write kids books about Trump? This is an odd... This is an odd pers-... And then Director Wray is an outstanding individual. This is a... This is someone I, I c- I c-... I, I am so impressed by this guy. Every time he gets in front of Congress, it's one of those rare moments where you can't tell if he's a Republican or he's a Democrat.
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