I feel like the president feels like he's got two years left to molest the country for as much money as possible.
Hi everyone, this is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher and I love AI.
You need to say AI because Trump is banning it.
Yes, but I just want to be clear. This in no way is a distraction and also it's real. I think this is outstanding governance. I think this just is what he should be focused on.
No, I think this is a good move, rebranding his governance. I think this is absolutely the hill to die on for the president.
The reason I was talking about artificial intelligence, AI, is because Trump has been officially banning the term from government documents and his words, everything else in short order. In this post, he called out the Wall Street Journal for not using his preferred term, super intelligence, or SI — which is Sports Illustrated — calling AI the very bad and inaccurate name. I don't know why that is. It's unclear if you don't comply what'll happen. Anyway, that's what it was. So we will just say AI, AI, AI all the time today, just as much as we can. You know, the letters AI are in a lot of words. Did you know that? AI pops up a lot of places. Well, that's why people come to the show, for that type of blinding insight.
Interesting. It's interesting pain, which you are in obviously right now. What else? I'll think of words over the course of the show.
This is ridiculous. Even Matt Walsh called the thing the weirdest political hill to die on. So, there you have it. It's just dumb. Do you have any other good names for AI if you were going to rename it?
We're rich. We're not... We're rich. No, wait, wait, wait.
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
No.
All right, let me speak. Speaking of which, it's been a busy week for you. You got called out by Elon Musk. Finally, you've been taking it to him. I've noticed you're like really going for it. You've been calling him all manner of names. He responded to a video posted on X of you discussing the potential Tesla-SpaceX merger, where you said Tesla is the patient and SpaceX shareholders are the organ donors, which was very funny. You were making a point in the context of Tesla's declining deliveries and sales, but apparently it didn't sit well with Elon, who posted, quote, 'he never had any clue.' How do you feel? You've been going at him, not just on that, but I've noticed on your other...
You say something minor about him, he threatens to put you in prison. I know, right? Let's review. I've called him a menace, an addict, and a traitor to the West.
Yes, a traitor to the West. I was very...
And what triggers him is that I say one group of shareholders might be getting taken advantage of. That's what he decides.
You know, quite frankly, I just feel validated. I feel like my parking has just been validated by, I don't know, by Elon Musk.
He hasn't threatened you. He just said you don't have a clue. He's calling you stupid, I think.
Yeah, which, you know, there's some truth to that. I'm going to reflect on it.
Why did you call him traitor of the West, may I ask? I didn't watch that one. I watched the others. I didn't get... I saw it pop up.
Because he is undermining the military capability and the wishes of the US public to defend against a murderous autocrat and save Europe again from an invasion. I've said this before. If the CEO in World War II was somehow had the ability to disarm B-17s, which we had, I think, lent as bombers to Britain, that person, and then without the cooperation of the government, the military, without giving Churchill a heads up, turned off the guidance systems mid-bombing run against the Nazis — what would we call that person?
No, you're absolutely right.
Putin praised him this week. There you go.
Maybe he can be a character witness at the trial.
That was weird. I was like, that's not a very good recommendation, Putin.
We're at the hearing. I don't know if he's going to be...
Hearing. It'll be going to be tried.
Yeah, it's going to be a hearing.
It's going to be a hearing.
Yeah, you'll be the witness. You'll be the witness. If you can get yourself together long enough to do...
You're really suffering today. Oh my. You got to get ready this weekend. You need to rest. No going out. And don't shake the drink like you just shook the...
Oh, whatever. You need that.
This will solve my problems.
I know. Let me just tell you, you better rest this weekend. I have my spies everywhere and I will know what you did. I'm going to put a tracker on you.
Anyway, I'm going to rest. I'm just going to do Halloween and spend time with the kids and stuff like that.
Anyway, this next big week, we kick off in New York and then we're headed all around the country — Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, Denver, all places. But we're going on tour. We're also launching a newsletter, The Pivot Post. We get fantastic questions from our listeners every week, and this will be a perfect place to answer them. Plus more opportunities for the dick jokes from Scott, God help us. And as we travel the country on tour next week, we'll be sending out three special editions filled with photos and behind-the-scenes content. Go to pivotshow.com to sign up. Scott's not a newsletter fan, but I love it. I think it's great. We're going to have all manner of things, and we'll see how it goes. We're considering some new features, including more shows, and so it'll be there first. We'll answer questions from listeners. We'll solicit essays from our friends of Pivot. I don't know, we'll do whatever we want. We'll paint whatever picture we want, but I think it's nice for our fans to get more stuff. We're not going to weekly do a long pontificating thing or anything else, but I think it's kind of interesting to experiment in different mediums with all kinds of things.
Hold on, hold on. Am I being... am I hungover and sensitive? A long weekly pontificating... Are you describing my newsletter?
No, no, no, no, no. Was that passive aggressive?
No, I was thinking of someone else. No, I like your essays from No Mercy Malice. I think they're quite good. I like them. You're a very good writer.
I assume you write it yourself, but you do. You work hard at writing. I don't like writing anymore as much as you do.
It is. You know, you think about fitness, there's physical fitness. I think the ultimate mental fitness is writing. I think it is hands down the hardest thing I do. Hands down.
I'm working on a book and I'm having trouble like getting it done.
Every time, about two chapters in... I'm writing a book, too. Two chapters into my current book, I'm like, how on earth did I agree to do this again? Correct.
I'm like shocked. Yeah. You know, supposedly during or right after childbirth, the hormone comes over the female brain such that you forget how awful it is, such that you'll do it again for about...
Every time you finish a book, I'm convinced that hormone comes out. Yeah.
Because you would never do it again if you remember what it's like in chapter three when you're trying to figure out a way to say something unique about AI.
You know, that'll last in six months. It will age well in six months when it finally gets on the shelf.
It's absolutely hard. I have to say I did it for the last two days working with people I'm working on this book with, and I just... it was like everything else is so easy. It's a pleasure.
And book writing is really hard. But we're going to try to keep this one fun and we'll see where it goes. We'll see where it goes. I like the name The Post. You know, Amanda came up with that name.
Pivot Post. That's... Oh, our newsletter. Oh, good.
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm super excited about that. Sign up at pivotshow.com.
All right. We're going to a quick break. When we come back, it's the final countdown to the midterms.
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Scott, we're back with more news. We're just days away from the midterms. Let's get into one of the more bizarre midterm battles. Alaska's Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into reports that Democratic operatives recruited a candidate with the same name as incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. The New York Times investigation found the effort was reportedly aimed at splitting Sullivan's vote to help Democrat Mary Peltola win the Senate race. Trump has called for Peltola to be prosecuted, while the Justice Department has sued to block the certification of the results if the second Sullivan cost the incumbent the election. Trump is making a last-minute push to win over voters with promises of cash payments, including a $1 million reward for tips about voter fraud that can lead to an arrest and conviction, which is just nonsense. Recent polling shows Democrats leading Republicans 53 to 44% among likely voters. I did a very long show with Hillary this week about that, and she had some predictions of various things, but I'd like to hear yours, where this is going, and if anything really stands out. Besides, Obama really has a really tight, a tight ten, as they say. You know, he's just really funny. I'm not sure if it'll matter, but I have to say it's quite enjoyable to watch him stumping for various candidates, and him and Ossoff together was like an amazing charisma tsunami, essentially.
Yeah, like the 90210 of politics.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So, he still got it. I got to say he still got it.
I can't figure out their strategy. Like, as you know, let's make our final case to the voters and tell them that anyone who says artificial intelligence is the enemy. I don't get the strategy here. They're having to defend places, you know, like Kansas, he never would have thought. And then, you know, bounties for voter fraud, gas at 4.40 a gallon, and then a favorable... you know, when Democrats had their big win in 2018, they were D plus 7. This time they're D plus 9. Now, I do think in certain places you're probably going to see the Republican poll better than we think. The one that always does is Susan Collins. Like, the polls for some reason may never seem to get that right.
But this is... I mean, I'm nervous because I'm really, I'm really hopeful. And obviously everyone's going to have their eyes on the Senate. What are your thoughts?
You know, I'm not an expert. Hillary had some very interesting thoughts about it, but I think probably the Democrats will win both. It just seems like that, it seems like momentum, but again, you're right, it's always a mirage, right? It's this close. I will say the candidates on the Democratic side are terrific, really strong, really strong, and not fake strong, you know, and some people are like flashy strong.
I just think they're all like everywhere you go, and they're all different. Amy Acton is in Ohio against Vivek, which I think should be a slam dunk given his behavior. And by the way, she's been backed by yet another step sibling about what happened to her. I mean, she shouldn't have to be, but this is where we are. I saw really interesting... AOC is out stomping for people a lot, which is really interesting. She had a great... I got to tell you, they're so good. She said, 'Do you know they're pushing back on this communism thing?' Because these are the arguments of the Republican: communism, trans, and call it SI. That's their... I'm like, do these have anything to do with people's lives? I don't think so. But one of the things she pushed back, and I thought it was well done, was 'common sense, not communism.' And I thought, you know, in a short word, in the way she delivered it, was smart. It was like super smart. I think every one of them is different and interesting. That's my takeaway, and they're very appealing. Now the question is, where are... there's these ghost Republicans who don't do polls, and they're suddenly going to... In my experience with people I know who are pro-Trump, they're very disillusioned, I would say. And so they feel very disillusioned. The question: will they just pull that lever for Trump again if it's one, he's not on the ballot, which he isn't, and two, when they feel so taken advantage of? Like the Joe Rogans have switched, all those guys have switched in that regard and quite vocally. So, I don't know. I don't know. I'm just going to... I'm glad we're in Toronto. That's all I have to say.
Well, but let's look at the data. Real Clear Polling's generic ballot average has Democrats up 8.3 points. Decision Desk HQ: 79% chance Democrats take the House, 238 seats. For scale, Democrats won the 2018 House popular vote by 8.6 points and picked up 40 seats. And according to 538, it put the odds of a Democratic blue tsunami at 57%, up from 45% just two weeks ago. So that's real momentum. Now, what does a tsunami mean? There's actual technical definitions here. Tsunami means Democrats win at least 235 House seats and 51 Senate seats. A blue wave: 218 House seats, but Republicans maintain control of the Senate. 538 has it at 82%. And then a quote-unquote new category, mega tsunami: 240 House seats, 54 Senate, 25%. So the momentum is just... it usually tightens at the end, right? And but it appears that the momentum is with them. My favorite is what Trump is offering Republican voters: a $5,000 Trump dividend to every adult citizen if Republicans hold both chambers, $8 billion in direct payments to farmers, up to $30,000 for government fraud tips, and settling the remaining Camp Lejeune water contamination claims. That's my favorite one. Only if Republicans win: 'I'll settle the Camp Lejeune water contamination claims if we win the House and the Senate.' That's kind of an odd one.
Yeah. Yeah. The crowds... I never go by the crowds, but it's really interesting to watch in Texas the huge... I mean, Ted Cruz keeps having to get bigger and bigger venues, and Ken Paxton is in these sad little old people places. Like, that's... but old people vote, so you know, I don't know, like, will people actually vote? That's the thing. I think it is, you know, it is get out the vote. The other thing that I think people are not paying enough attention to is Trump's outbursts, these weird... you know, he can't pronounce Ken Paxton's name. There is something going on with him because he keeps doing it.
That's just what happens to old men. We just start making noises involuntarily. It just...
I know. But honestly, it's really astonishing. The two things that people... I'm kind of surprised were these new rape allegations against him. And I know the report from Congress was Democratic, but this woman was in the New York Times piece and said she couldn't say everything. She had been vetted by the New York Times, and then this woman said she was violently raped by Trump. And so I'm surprised that there's not more coverage. That's probably because newspapers really have to lock those things down before they say anything. But there's just... this guy has fallen apart in real time. And I think the scary part to me is not so much... I think the Democrats will probably sweep, but if they don't sweep enough, or even if they sweep, what happens between November 3rd and seating these people? Like, what craziness could ensue? And because he's obviously cognitively declining rather precipitously, that worries me, you know, and what will his acolytes do? They may just abandon him if he really loses a lot. If he loses his power, you know, the emperor has no clothes.
On November the 4th, he's a...
He's a, you know, he's a lame duck. But speaking of my newsletter, which you hate...
I don't hate your newsletter. I'm just on Substack.
The title of it, the title of it... well, anyone can get...
I love No Mercy Malice. I read that every week. So, that's not true. I read it online, but go ahead.
I appreciate that. Anyway, so 440,000 subscribers, FYI. Anyway, so...
The title of this week's No Mercy is 'Criminal,' and guess who it's about.
Yeah, I know. I know. Criminal. Yeah.
But yeah, I think like I've never thought the cognitive decline or the health stuff or whatever is... I've always thought it's Democrats kind of hoping. But his criminality, it appears like, you know, have you... do you remember those 70s or 80s TV shows where they said to someone, 'Here's a shopping cart and you have two minutes to throw as much in it as possible and get out, get out'?
And you just see Western capitalism and consumption culture at its worst.
I feel like the president feels like he's got two years left to...
Molest the country for as much money as possible.
Yep. Yep. And that he feels his lawyers have said, 'You're... no one's going to put you in prison,' which I actually agree. Just do whatever you can. And it feels like he's just... he had more stock trades than the rest of Congress combined.
And he knew it was going to come out. He files them.
I think he literally believes I'm immune for this stuff. I got to think we're going to find out about all sorts of things.
All the Jared Kushner stuff, some of this reporting that's coming out. It's just... there's a lot there, and it's all linked to money. Every single bit of it is linked to money. It's not...
The thing that marks his presidency for me is there's a picture of Jared and Ivanka, and they're both very attractive. They both look really good. And it said, 'Just FYI, one thing this couple shares is both of their fathers are convicted felons.' And I thought that kind of marks this presidency.
Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Absolutely.
Anyway, we'll see what happens. We'll see. We won't know in New York, but we will know when we're in Canada. I think we'll know. We'll see. Toronto, we're excited to come there.
It's probably not a bad idea. We're going to be in Toronto.
I know. That's why I said we're going to just stay.
What happened to Kara and Scott? They live in Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan together. They have an alpaca farm. It's really fun. Scott is drinking himself...
Scott shears all day, hears lands all night.
And Kara's enjoying the hardware store.
He bought a pickup truck and pulls up and yells at the help.
Yeah. Exactly. Yeah, that would be such a good reality show.
That would be such a good reality show.
