America, you need to appreciate government before you start yourself.
Hi everyone, this is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.
We've got a lot to get to today, so let's dig in. First, Scott, I'm going to start testing my co-host's testosterone levels.
They don't make metrics that high, baby.
That low is what you're saying is what you meant.
I feel like I need to do that now. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the military will begin annual testosterone screenings for service members aged 30 or older, with voluntary testing for younger troops. Service members found to have low testosterone will be offered voluntary hormone replacement therapy as part of a new program. I didn't know they did gender-affirming care. I thought they were against that. Let's listen to a clip from this bizarre announcement.
This initiative, it's not about artificial enhancement. It's about restoring and optimizing your natural capabilities, protecting your longevity, and ensuring you have the biological foundation required to sustain the fight.
Well, now we know he's on T. You know, let me let you run with this. You take testosterone. You've talked about it. Why is he doing this? Explain, make the good case for it, I guess, or not.
Well, I mean, if part of health care coverage is like I'm on testosterone because I think it's good for my brain and my heart health, and it makes, quite frankly, it just makes me feel younger. Weird things like I don't have to pee as often. And my doctor said we're not going to take you — you know, you don't want to — I'm not using it to be a monster, more aggressive. I'm using it because I want to, quite frankly, feel 45 again. And hormone replacement therapy is something that I think, you know, under a doctor's supervision for men and women in their 50s.
Yeah, I take hormone replacement therapy.
Yeah, I think it can be a real value-add under the supervision of a doctor. But this is just performative, in my opinion, stupidity. Young men don't have — or our military men don't have a testosterone problem. We have a loneliness problem. Young men are falling behind because they aren't low on testosterone. They're falling behind because they're low on purpose, education, work, and relationships. And we're having trouble finding — although actually recruitment is up this year — we're having trouble finding 70% of people. Remember how joining the army used to be the option of last resort.
70% of men that walk into a recruiting office right now for the armed services don't qualify because of obesity or mental health problems.
So if you want a more lethal fighting force, we need to make more investments in young men. And it's not about pumping them full of testosterone.
So this is just performative stupidity. He conflates this weird notion of masculinity and fitness and optics with doing bad pull-ups. Our military is headed towards asymmetric war. You know who's going to have the best? You're going to have the most lethal fighting forces will be the ones that master AI, asymmetric drone capabilities, really good management, ability to attract the best and brightest, and have special forces of just out-of-control, brave and smart and strong people, right?
But those people are in their 20s and they are soaked in testosterone.
That's correct. That's the whole thing. I was like literally Ukraine and the most recent conflicts have all shown, and with Iran against the United States has shown that might is not the actual winner here, or largeness or muscularness. It's something very different.
And you know, testosterone can also, if it's taken wrong, fuck you up like beyond belief.
Correct. I mean, you have a doctor's care, but I know a lot of people who do this off the shelf and problematic and cancer-causing and everything else if you don't do it properly.
The average young person needs the following: nothing. They need relationships. They need a gym, good food. They need the money to have decent nutrition, you know, but they don't. Some of the craze around peptides and enhancements. And I realize this is somewhat hypocritical, but as a 61-year-old male desperately clinging to just try and feel 45 again, I do think there's a difference.
But it worries me this notion that young men — this peptide stacks — and I think that stuff is borderline a little bit scary. And your 25 or 35-year-old self is pretty fucking awesome on its own as long as you do some very good sleep, good nutrition, gym three, four times a week, some practice to push your limits, you know, be strong, be fast.
I agree. I can't tell you the amount of people tell me they're buying off-the-shelf peptides. I'm like, 'Oh my god.'
Yeah. I don't do any of that.
I'm like, 'It comes from China. It's not tested. I hope you like sepsis.' Like I just am like, oh my god. And it's not to say there shouldn't be — they shouldn't be doing all this research on peptides. By the way, GLP-1s are a peptide. But the way people are doing — and this just sort of brings it out, this idea: let's jack up our, let's steroid up our troops and make them insane. Like I don't know, just so unhealthy. Anyway, typical of Pete Hegseth because he's as dumb as a box of hammers. Anyway, next one.
Elon Musk likely broke Wisconsin law when he promised to hand out those million-dollar checks to voters in the 2025 state supreme court election, which he lost, according to the Wisconsin Election Commission. The bipartisan panel found probable cause that Elon violated a state law that makes it a crime to offer a person anything of value to get them to vote. Now it's in the hands of a Wisconsin DA to decide whether to pursue charges. I'm doubting they will. But honestly, when he did that, that was kind of so grotesque. He did it in several different places across the country. I suspect he'll do it again if he's not stopped. So I don't mind this moving forward in some fashion. But he, you know, he's unchecked. I mean, this — the money he's been — he's put 90, I think $90 million into elections right now at this point, just him, for the midterms. And you know, Ken Griffin, a whole bunch of people are just shoveling the money in. And the Supreme Court, the most recent decision just allowed them to shovel it even more. Thoughts?
Yeah, I think Ken Griffin is probably running for president, by the way.
Oh really? So say more, as you like to say.
Well, he's taken a lot of public stances on politics. And if you're a billionaire, the key to happiness is to be anonymous. And he's decided not to be anonymous, which says to me he has political ambitions.
Also a smart guy, a lot of money. But you know, he's been very, very vocal, but —
Oh, so he's going for the Mark Cuban slot, except he's like half as nice, like that kind of thing.
There's a huge lane on the Republican side. Everyone keeps talking about the Democratic. The Democratic primary is going to be a — is going to be a —
Because there's a lot of good people.
Do you see him in the Senate here? He's amazing. He looks like Kennedy.
I think he's hot. I can't believe it. I was like —
The guy's got total Kennedy vibes. Total Camelot vibes. I'm name-dropping. I'm having coffee with another potential presidential candidate, Senator Kelly from Arizona, who you meet with the guy, you want to talk about testosterone. Guy flew a craft 30,000 miles an hour while also flying combat missions.
He's a solid man and he's a twin, you know, and he's like — talk about someone who's been an outstanding husband. He's — anyways, he's a great role model for young men.
But look, the problem isn't election interference in Wisconsin. The problem is we've essentially decided that money can run unfettered. And so what do we have in society? Most people would agree the 1% has disproportionately benefited. It's not even the 1%. It's the 0.01%. And the 0.01% right now is in a position because of Citizens United and the most recent Supreme Court decision. I told you my conspiracy theory, which I think is just self-evident. I believe that this phone call took place: 'President Trump, is there any way you can lean on the SEC chair or the NASDAQ to include SpaceX right out of the gates in the NASDAQ 100? And as a result, you'll get — retail investors will have the opportunity to invest. I'll have more demand of a small group of stocks and not a lot is out there. And so it juices the stock.' But go ahead.
It's trillions of dollars that have to all be allocated to one of 100 stocks based on the market cap, which creates unbelievable demand that has never been there for a new issuance in history. So, President Trump, if my net worth goes up $120 billion because of a smart move on your part, I don't see any reason why I wouldn't put one to ten billion dollars into the midterms. And these elections are won or lost by two or three percentage points. You're telling me a billion dollars can't get you another couple points in Maine? I mean, or wherever it is.
Maybe. Maybe. He didn't win in Wisconsin. He spent $25 million there.
Well, that's the silver lining here is that money seems to have some effect.
Money — the ROI on money is going down. It used to be that 95% plus of the people who raised the most money won because it was largely based on incumbency and television buys and this and that. But Tom Steyer spent a quarter of a billion dollars to come in fourth or something in California. So that's the good news, but still — and it goes back to the same thing. The problem isn't people with billions of dollars. The problem is if you can directly connect it to undermining our democracy, you have unelected people deciding who's going to be president. So anyways, I think we need — one case isn't going to move the needle.
I like that they're doing it though, because that was at the time I was like, can anyone stop this? This is insane. You're buying votes. It was just so buying votes. It just seemed ridiculous that it was so explicitly bad. I hope they pursue it. But speaking of election interference, which there are going to be a lot of — we're recording ahead — President Trump's working his hardest to interfere with the election. He's going to do a prime-time address to the nation where he will discuss, quote, 'free and fair elections' and other topics of 'papery,' as one adviser put it. Should never use the word papery. Allegations about China meddling in the US election will reportedly come up, and some reports suggest he'll once again push claims of election fraud in Georgia. Speaking of John Ossoff, let's listen to what Ossoff had to say during an appearance on MSNBC.
There's talk that he might try to declare me and Raphael Warnock illegitimate senators. Obviously, the president has no power to do that, but he does have the power to try to intimidate people. He's demonstrated his will to abuse power. I expect him to use whatever he puts out there on Thursday as a pretext either for some attempted unconstitutional use of federal power to interfere in the election, or to give his proxies and loyalists in state and local jurisdictions some cover for whatever they might attempt, or to lay the groundwork for challenging the result.
So there it is, you know, and it's really interesting because, you know, especially because his handmaidens to sedition, like Senator Cynthia Lummis — rhymes with hummus, dummus — you know, I don't know if they were properly elected. They follow along. Trump also removed all three sitting members of the bipartisan US Election Assistance Commission, a group that oversees the testing of voting systems. It's all over the place. This is something Bannon, Steve Bannon, has talked about. There's all manner of attempts, possibly using ICE, etc., etc., etc. Thoughts on this besides the handsomeness of John Ossoff?
You can't have a democracy when one of the two parties' acceptance speech is always the following: 'We won' or 'It was rigged' and election interference. The good news is that essentially affordability, which right now the Democrats are seen as better on, is dominating in Gallup polls what people are concerned about. Only 2% of voters believe America's biggest problem is election reform. But at the same time, I also read 60% of Republicans think the 2020 election was rigged. I mean, this is just so bad for America because when you repeat a lie — this is straight out of the GRU — when you repeat a lie over and over, it becomes less outrageous. Then it becomes normalized. Then it becomes self-evident.
Correct. Yeah, that is correct. And our media, they just have a responsibility. I was just so — I met — I forget his name, the guy interviewing to be the head of our intelligence service —
Yeah. I met him at a conference. I spent a little bit of time with him. Reasonable, smart, impressive man. Can't say that Biden won the 2020 election.
Yeah, he can't. He actually can't do it.
And because then his nomination will be pulled by Trump, and it's like, okay, at some point, at some point these men have to be men, and [clears throat] says are going to think I'm a coward.
I, you don't think that video is going to be played back over and over and over in your kid's third grade civics class?
Rest of his life. Rest of your life. It's like, and by the way, maybe the nomination gets pulled, but don't you want to be that dude? Don't you want to be the guy that said, of course he was elected. Yes. And then have Trump, and then have Trump pull your nomination and be a [__] hero.
I know. You know, of all people, Thomas Massie was like, um, we have the House, the Senate, the Presidency, and pretty much the Supreme Court, and we're calling, saying the election... rigged. Like, wow. Keep rigging them. Like, it was, it's ridiculous. I mean, the fact, I mean, one of the things, it's just ridic... it's an astonishing repetition of lies. Those two, there was two hearings. It wasn't just him. It was also the, um, attorney general. Can't say it. They can't say it. Biden was certified president. That's all they'll say, which is not the same thing. I mean, that the fact that they can't say it, and it's happened several times with cabinet members, is really something else. It really is. And, and as it's, as if they live in Putin's Russia, and they do for the Republican Party, where if they say the wrong thing, they, they get like thrown out a window, essentially. And this is not a, not a real throw out a window, but a sort of version of it, a political version of it.
There has never been a testosterone therapy like a Republican losing an election.
We'll see. I don't know. You think Thom Tillis and John Cornyn are going to push back on Blanche?
Look what truth tellers these guys are once they lose their election and they have only six more months in the Senate or whatever.
I'm waiting to see if they vote against Todd Blanche.
I mean, his personal lawyer.
I'm his lawyer. I'm his lawyer. I mean, I was his lawyer. I mean, I don't know what I mean. You know, I don't think they're going to... I think they're going to vote for, and they're not, they're going to let it out of committee. I just don't... I, I, I don't think they... they still can't sack up.
Too late, Tom. Sack up, Tom. Sack up, Tom. Take some testosterone if you need to. Take some, borrow from Hegseth.
He, we can't stand... he can't stand Hegseth. The whole thing. You're right. When do they, when do they stand up on stuff like this? It's like what Adam Schiff said to Todd Blanche, 'What happened to you? You used to be a person of quality.' And it's really interesting. Anyway, um, we'll see what happens. And I'm not... Are you watching the speech tonight? I'm not.
Oh, I, I, I could care less.
I could care less. He'll probably... You know what? I will watch it. I'll just watch it on one of three social media platforms that'll give me the two or three clips.
He'll probably like 10. Can I, can I just... She is now saying there's a 45% chance that Democrats take both the Senate and House at the midterms.
Yeah, both. Anyway, that's still 45. Um, let me just say I'm going to go back because this is the same thing. This repeating of the lie that you just said, the, the link, the, the, uh, the, um, reflecting pool. This is the kind of thing, the lie, the lie, the lie, the lie, the lie, and then everyone... And by the way, the media repeated it. We should have, like, just now the reporting is in, and I got to, I got to commend CNN, did a very tough, uh, report on it. Just like, stop repeating his lies tonight. If you, if you all repeat his lies, you're as complicit in this, in what's happening here. You have to say this is not true, this is not true, and not even entertain it. Um, in some level, you can report on it, but you don't have to entertain it the way they, as if it's an equal thing. I just, that to me is really what really drives me crazy. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. We come back, things are going to get explosive, and not in a good way.
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Scott, we're back. And never has diarrhea been so political. Uh, now let me pronounce this right. A cyclospora outbreak has now spread to 34 states. It's a parasite that contaminates fresh produce and causes severe watery diarrhea with frequent and sometimes explosive bowel movements. According to the CDC, officials are still investigating the source. Mission officials say the evidence points to lettuce or salad greens. Uh, federal and state officials are also looking into whether Taco Bell restaurants played a role. This is, this is so ridiculous, blaming Taco Bell for this. And making things more difficult, the CDC, of course, scaled back the country's comprehensive system for tracking foodborne illness outbreaks last summer. Thank you, uh, RFK. That's your fault. They cut these, these things. States can report cases through other systems, but experts say the cuts created blind spots, making outbreaks harder to track.
Um, just ridiculous. These people made the cuts and this is the result. Everyone's having diarrhea. It's the fact that diarrhea is the, is the brand for the Republican Party, like bringing us diarrhea, measles, and possibly polio and Ebola is really quite something. I just, I, I don't know. I, I, I like lettuce and now I'm like nervous about eating it. It's crazy. Um, the memes are amazing. Let's go through a few of them. Someone on X posted, 'I found an explosive diarrhea parasite,' with a picture of Stephen Miller. Also, first Mitch McConnell and now cyclospora, a big week for evil vegetables. And maybe explosive diarrhea will finally be the thing that brings both sides together. Uh, thoughts on explosive diarrhea.
Yeah, I don't know. I [sighs and gasps] I'm... I was feeling really good. I'm... I had the best... You know what's coming. Uh, I had the best bowel movement I've had in years the other night, and then I realized I was still in bed. Um, look, I don't...
Uh, you know, all of these things, whether it's testosterone...
Yeah, look, the CDC, we need, we need thoughtful people. It, this goes back to the same thing. This is true of Democrats and Republicans. We've taken for granted how many competent people work for the government, and that you need a diplomatic corps that can say this memo of understanding doesn't mean [__] anything, and we need to do the hard work of diplomacy here. We need, we need talented medical professionals in the CDC to go, 'This is a risk, these are the preventive steps we need to take,' who have the support of the White House and aren't, you know, trying to figure out ways to undermine, you know, vaccines. So for every... look, for every $1 invested in public health preparedness, you get multiple dollars in avoidance of health care costs and productivity losses.
Foodborne illnesses already cost the US tens of billions annually.
You don't notice these things when the CDC is working. You only notice it when someone is [__] themselves.
Outbreaks. There's small outbreaks as opposed to these enormous...
Well, okay, but America, you know, and this is true of Democrats and Republicans, you need to appreciate government before you start [__] yourself.
