Kamala Harris ditched Joe Rogan podcast interview over progressive backlash fears

[In It to Win It]

Financial Times

(Archived)

Kamala Harris’s fears of a progressive backlash killed a plan for her to appear on Joe Rogan’s podcast, a campaign official has said, shedding light on a decision that infuriated some Democrats who are reeling after Donald Trump’s election victory.

The Harris campaign and Rogan, whose audience is bigger than that of many television networks, had discussed an interview for his podcast — a move some Democrats hoped would help Harris reach young men who were gravitating towards Trump.

The talks faltered because of concerns at how the interview would be perceived within the Democratic party, said Jennifer Palmieri, a senior adviser to Harris’s husband, Douglas Emhoff, during the campaign.

“There was a backlash with some of our progressive staff that didn’t want her to be on it, and how there would be a backlash,” Palmieri said on Wednesday.

Palmieri, who previously worked in the White House and for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, is among the first officials from the Harris campaign to go into detail over a decision that some Democrats fear may have contributed to their loss.

[flying_wahini]

1. And????? What is the point? We know she didn't do the interview? It's over.

[JI7]

2. There wouldn't have been backlash but her going on there wouldn't

have made a difference.

[Kid Berwyn]

3. Thought Rogan demanded she stay on for the full three hours.

She said, "No."

[lapfog_1]

4. Joe Rogan is a conspiracy believing moron

and the interview would not have made a difference

[In It to Win It]

6. I don't think it would have changed anything either but for the future, Dems should get in their bubble

Joe Rogan has become part of their bubble.

We cheer on Pete Buttigieg for going in their media bubble, Fox News, and kicking ass. It might not have made a difference, but in hindsight, we couldn't done any worse. With hindsight being 20/20 of course, it literally wouldn't have hurt.

[Blue_Tires]

5. I really hate that there's more discussion over Harris skipping some stupid podcast

than TFG openly skipping 60 Minutes because he admittedly refused to be fact-checked...

And therein lies the problem.

[Wiz Imp]

7. I call Bullshit

She was more than willing to do it but on her terms -at her location so as not to take her away from other campaign events. Rogan refused. I'm sure there was concern among some in the campaign about how it would be perceived, but that is NOT why it didn't happen. Regardless, if anyone really believes that Harris appearing with Joe Rogan would have changed the results, the I've got some beachfront property in Wyoming to sell you. It ultimately mad no difference.

[radius777]

8. Not sure what effect it would've had, but we do need

in future campaigns to engage with all of these online spaces - whether they are on the right or left - there are lots of these influencers and hosts who many young people and others follow.

[In It to Win It]

9. Someone made a point to me about Democratic politicians not going to unconventional left-wing media as much as

Republicans go on unconventional right wing media.

I haven't tracked it, but anecdotally, it appears true. There's a lot of good left-leaning personalities on Youtube and have podcasts, and I don't see many Democratic politicians actually taking full advantage of those spaces.

It seems like Republican officials are more willing to go on right-wing podcasts, and right-wing Youtube channels and they create their own echo chambers.

[radius777]

10. Yep, there's a entire LW media space

like TYT, Majority Report, Democracy Now etc that draw alot of young people (especially young men) and disaffected folks.

Basically, we need to engage online with these hosts across the spectrum - and not just assume they are unreachable.

[Ndp5]

11. Would not have made a difference

The notion that going on Rogan could have swung the election is lunacy. More likely it would have provided grist for dozens of incel right-wing influencers to take her responses out of context and screech “word salad!” Never mind that their Dear Leader was regularly babbling incoherently onstage.

Rogan’s audience skews white male conservative. Be realistic about her chances of winning over the Alternate Reality Bros, and consider the costs of wasting precious time on them instead of courting swing state families in the final stretch. Fuck Rogan.

https://unherd.com/newsroom/who-is-joe-rogans-audience/

[Zeitghost]

12. Rogan has the largest black audience in the country

He also holds many liberal views on healthcare and universal basic income among other things.

The longer we dismiss him and his audience, the longer we will struggle reaching swing voters. I was very glad to see that Sen. Fetterman went on, that is exactly who we need tlking to young disenfranchised males.