Did Gavin Newsom Just Become the Best Democratic Nominee for President? | Pivot
Scott Galloway (host), Kara Swisher (host), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of Pivot, featuring Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher, Did Gavin Newsom Just Become the Best Democratic Nominee for President? | Pivot explores gavin Newsom Emerges as Democrats’ De Facto Leader Amid Chaos Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway discuss Trump’s domestic military deployments, looming immigration raids, and the ‘No Kings’ protests, arguing the moves resemble authoritarian “fascist foreplay” rather than real security policy.
Gavin Newsom Emerges as Democrats’ De Facto Leader Amid Chaos
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway discuss Trump’s domestic military deployments, looming immigration raids, and the ‘No Kings’ protests, arguing the moves resemble authoritarian “fascist foreplay” rather than real security policy.
They frame California Governor Gavin Newsom as the unexpected, de facto leader of the Democratic Party, praising his rhetoric and positioning during the crisis while debating how protests can be effective without feeding MAGA narratives.
The conversation widens to Trump’s erratic China trade maneuvers, Elon Musk’s public groveling to Trump and faltering Tesla prospects, and Google, Meta, and OpenAI’s shifting AI strategies and cost-cutting.
They close with media and IP battles—from ABC firing Terry Moran over a Trump tweet to Disney’s lawsuit against Midjourney—as evidence of a broader realignment of power, speech, and money in politics, tech, and content.
Key Takeaways
Newsom has seized a national leadership vacuum for Democrats.
Through aggressive, clear messaging against Trump’s domestic military deployments and immigration raids, Newsom has effectively become the party’s main public counterweight, positioning himself as a likely future presidential standard-bearer.
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Protest optics can either build support or gift ammunition to opponents.
Galloway argues that masks, foreign flags, and isolated vandalism images let MAGA media frame protests as chaos; he advises demonstrators to lean on American flags, civility, and clear messaging to be effective rather than just “right.”
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Trump’s militarized response risks backfiring and radicalizing moderates.
By invoking the Insurrection Act rhetoric, deploying National Guard and marines domestically, and threatening protesters, Trump may be creating a ‘fascist indigestion’ moment where more Americans see his actions as an attack on civil liberties.
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Despite noise, Trump’s policy record and polling on immigration are weak.
Swisher cites polling (e. ...
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Elon Musk’s brand and Tesla’s valuation face serious structural risk.
Musk’s oscillation between attacking and appeasing Trump, endless delays on robo-taxis, leadership churn, and a controversial Cybertruck release all contribute to what Galloway calls massive brand destruction—and he notes that valuing Tesla like BYD would imply a 90–95% stock drop if autonomy fails.
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AI is triggering both consolidation and cost-cutting across Big Tech.
OpenAI diversifying to Google Cloud despite its Microsoft alliance, Google’s buyouts and RTO mandates, and Meta’s AI reboot with Scale AI show that companies are simultaneously racing for compute and talent while using AI as justification to restructure and shed jobs.
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Content owners must unite to control AI training on their IP.
The Disney/Universal lawsuit against Midjourney is framed as a key moment for publishers, studios, and creators to band together and set terms (and prices) for AI training on their works rather than letting tech platforms freely “crawl their shit” as happened in the early Google era.
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Notable Quotes
“I think Gavin Newsom is now coming out of this the de facto leader of the Democratic Party.”
— Scott Galloway
“This is not leadership, it's fascist foreplay, and history will not be kind.”
— Scott Galloway
“He’s taking a wrecking ball to our founding fathers’ historic project… There are no longer any checks and balances.”
— Gavin Newsom (clip played on the show)
“I’ve struggled my whole life with the difference between being right and being effective.”
— Scott Galloway
“You don’t fuck with the mouse.”
— Scott Galloway (on Disney’s IP enforcement)
Questions Answered in This Episode
If Newsom is now the de facto Democratic leader, what should he do next to consolidate that position without triggering a premature 2028 backlash?
Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway discuss Trump’s domestic military deployments, looming immigration raids, and the ‘No Kings’ protests, arguing the moves resemble authoritarian “fascist foreplay” rather than real security policy.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How can protest movements design their strategies and visuals to avoid being co-opted by hostile media narratives while still expressing authentic anger?
They frame California Governor Gavin Newsom as the unexpected, de facto leader of the Democratic Party, praising his rhetoric and positioning during the crisis while debating how protests can be effective without feeding MAGA narratives.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
To what extent are Trump’s domestic military deployments a genuine power grab versus incompetent theater—and does the distinction matter for democracy?
The conversation widens to Trump’s erratic China trade maneuvers, Elon Musk’s public groveling to Trump and faltering Tesla prospects, and Google, Meta, and OpenAI’s shifting AI strategies and cost-cutting.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Is Tesla’s future truly dependent on achieving full autonomy, and what happens to the EV market and Musk’s influence if legacy automakers and Waymo/others win that race?
They close with media and IP battles—from ABC firing Terry Moran over a Trump tweet to Disney’s lawsuit against Midjourney—as evidence of a broader realignment of power, speech, and money in politics, tech, and content.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How should creators, news organizations, and studios practically coordinate to negotiate fair AI training deals without repeating the mistakes of the early search era?
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Transcript Preview
I think Gavin Newsom is now coming out of this the de facto leader of the Democratic Party.
Mm-hmm.
And that was a void the size of the fricking Grand Canyon.
(instrumental music) Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.
And I'm Scott Galloway. This episode is presented by IBM.
I am about to be in a city that is having a military parade, Scott. I am wishing I had gotten out of town. We'll talk about that in a minute, but ...
Oh, are you, are you in L.A.?
I'm in D.C.
You're in D.C.
No, no, not L.A. There's nothing. I have all the tanks here. That's where the actual, uh, insurrection-
Oh, really?
... is going on, yeah.
That's what I thought. Uh, literally, why doesn't he just stay at home-
Yeah.
... and like, like masturbate to The Apprentice martial law episode or something? I mean-
I don't know. I don't know.
(laughs)
There's tanks.
Can you believe it? A military par- (laughs) A military parade.
It's insane. It's insane. It's, the last time I was recalling one was during the Bush admin- the first Bush administration. There was, it was after something with Ir- Iraq. I don't know. It was something. But he had a lot of military people, and it was very disconcerting. And it wasn't like this gang here. It's like there's a lot here. It's sort of like North Korea plus Old Russia kind of stuff. And, uh, the only thing I remember is a stealth bomber going down the Mall, uh, in Washington from the Capitol to the, to the Washington Monument. And it was terrifying. It, I was like, "This is not America." Like, the stealth bomber. Even though it was cool and enormous, but it was just chilling to the entire crowd.
Yeah, I mean, we, we won't, (laughs) we don't wanna put tanks on the ground in Ukraine as Russian troops pour over the border. But a guy wants to roll out tanks as he, you know, shit-posts or tweets from a golf cord- golf cart in orthopedic shoes. I mean, the whole thing is just such cosplaying masculinity. It's so weird.
It is. It's so sad.
It's so ...
It keeps, every, every one of these things I'm thinking, how small is this? Well, anyway. Anyway, uh, we got a lot to get to today, including Elon groveling and Trump and China making nice for now. And just for everyone to know, next week, Scott and I will be together in France again.
That's right.
Our annual trip to France.
They tried to keep us out, so it's the impenetrable Maginot Line.
Was that your French accent?
I used to do amazing accents. Now it sounds like-
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