Kamala Harris Campaign Suggests Joe Rogan Used Her as ‘Leverage’ to Book Trump

A senior advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign suggested that Joe Rogan, host of The Joe Rogan Experience, may have leveraged Harris’ potential appearance to secure an interview with President Donald Trump. The claim arose during a discussion by four campaign staffers on the Pod Save America podcast on Tuesday.

Stephanie Cutter, senior advisor for strategy messaging, explained that Harris wanted to appear on Rogan’s show but logistical challenges prevented it. Rogan insisted the interview take place in his Austin, Texas studio, and Harris’ team tried to align it with a campaign rally in Houston. However, the timing clashed with Trump’s taping of his episode, which Harris’ team learned about shortly before the event.

“We were hoping to fit it in around that, but ultimately weren’t able to do it,” Cutter said. “As it turns out, that was the day that Trump was taping his Joe Rogan, which they had never confirmed to us; we just kind of figured that out in the lead-up to it.” David Plouffe, a senior advisor and former campaign manager for President Barack Obama, suggested Rogan’s outreach to Harris might have been a strategic move to entice Trump.

“Maybe they leveraged that to get Trump in the studio, I don’t know,” Plouffe remarked, adding that Harris’ team later offered to do the interview remotely, but it didn’t materialize. Rogan addressed the situation when Trump’s interview aired, maintaining that Harris’ appearance was still possible. “For the record, the Harris campaign has not passed on doing the podcast.

They offered a date for Tuesday, but I would have had to travel to her, and they only wanted to do an hour,” Rogan said. “I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin. My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being.”

While Rogan ultimately endorsed Trump on the eve of the election, he had previously praised Harris, saying in September that “she’s nailing it” during her campaign and debates. Rogan’s platform, boasting over 14.5 million Spotify followers and another 18 million on YouTube, gave Trump’s interview massive reach, garnering 50 million views, according to Mediaite.

Some pundits have criticized Harris’ decision not to appear, suggesting it may have cost her the election. Internal concerns about backlash from Democrats, given Rogan’s controversial history of spreading COVID-19 misinformation and hosting conspiracy theorists, reportedly influenced the campaign’s hesitancy.