COVID totalitarian who asked for amnesty now wants Trump officials imprisoned
A professor who asked for amnesty after calling for harsher lockdowns and ridiculing unvaccinated Americans has made remarks that suggest he has not reformed his totalitarian orientation.
Calls for imprisonment and public shaming
Last week, New York University Stern School of Business Professor Scott Galloway called on Democratic governors to imprison federal employees at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after they exposed massive levels of corruption within federal agencies.
Galloway made the remarks during an episode of the podcast “Pivot,” which he co-hosts with Kara Swisher. He and Swisher launched into a hate-filled rant against DOGE workers singling out a small team of young tech engineers.
“I want to know their names . . . I want to see Democratic governors saying, ‘I’m going to do everything in my power to use the full faith and the letter of the law to put you folks in prison. I think what you are doing is trespassing, I think this is a coup.’ And be clear, just because the new insurrectionist . . . was elected, I don't believe this is legal and I'm going to hold the people accountable who are trespassing and a part of a coup accountable."
“We need to go gangster here,” he continued, adding that the employees should be publicly shamed. "Here are their names, here are their faces. And we have contacted the local authorities where these kids live, these young adults, and we are going to hold them accountable."
Swisher responded by expressing sympathy for “the poor people in these agencies” who she said are being bullied by DOGE’s scrutiny.
"These idiots, these children, these arrogant little pr*cks come in and say, 'We're going to call the federal marshals, or the President has ordered you to step aside," Swisher fumed.
After the episode, DOGE chief Elon Musk slammed the podcasters on X for "threatening talented, young software engineers."
"Shame on Swisher & Galloway, cruel, mean & deceitful human beings that they are," said Musk.
‘Let’s bring a little bit of grace and forgiveness’
In October 2023, Galloway admitted he was wrong to push for harsher lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and called on Americans to show each other “grace and forgiveness.”
“I was on the board of my kid’s school during COVID,” Galloway said on Real Time with Bill Maher. “I wanted a harsher lockdown policy and in retrospect, I was wrong. The damage to kids of keeping them out of school longer was greater than the risk.”
“But here’s the bottom line: myself, our great people, the CDC, I’d like to think the governor [Andrew Cuomo], we were all operating with imperfect information and we were doing our best,” he said to applause from the audience. “But let’s learn from it. Let’s hold each other accountable, but let’s bring a little bit of grace and forgiveness in the sh*t show that was COVID.”
In 2020, Galloway blamed lockdowns on Americans who refused to wear masks. He also held them responsible for his father’s spiraling dementia and his son’s disorientation, both of which were exacerbated by lockdowns.
Outside the HBO studio, Galloway’s request for amnesty was not well-received.
“Dear NYU Professor, F#ck YOU! No Amnesty!” tweeted actor Rob Schneider in response to Galloway’s remarks. “Where was your grace and kindness to those of us who said ‘no’ to the experimental Jab? I seem to remember threats of our livelihood and worse! So no. You showed us who you really were . . .”
In 2021, Galloway was featured in a video shaming those who chose to remain unvaccinated.
“The share of the population that is unwilling to get vaccinated: America is now the runner-up in vaccine hesitancy—or as I like to think of it, the silver medalist in the head-up-your-a** competition,” he said. “And nearly one in five US adults report that they are unwilling to get a vaccine, coming in second just behind Mother Russia. That makes 56 million Americans roughly 11 times more likely to die from COVID than the rest of the population. In other words, some Americans have decided to play—wait for it—Russian roulette, not only with their own lives but with other people’s lives.
“This is probably the most embarrassing thing. We have some wonderful things coming out of COVID—specifically, America’s response has been a victory in healthcare. These vaccines are a gift, but there’s no doubt about it: we come out of this looking incompetent and ignorant.”
