Donald Trump will appear on Joe Rogan’s podcast, the most popular in the country, during the run-up to the presidential election on Nov. 5.
The interview will be recorded in Rogan’s studio in Austin, Texas, a source told Politico.
Trump’s Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, is reportedly also in talks to appear on Rogan’s podcast, as both candidates fight to win over young male voters.
ADVERTISEMENT
Both Trump and Harris have been on a media blitz over the past few weeks as they campaign feverishly to win a neck-and-neck race for the White House.
For Trump in particular, the blitz has centered around efforts to win what the New York Times has termed the “bro vote.” In the past month, he has granted interviews to a list of “manosphere” influencers that includes comedian Andrew Schulz, vlogging cohort the Nelk Boys, entrepreneur Patrick Bet-David—and now Rogan.
Harris, too, has taken a turn to less traditional media forms to reach a younger generation of potential voters. She sparked controversy when she appeared on the raunchy, women-oriented podcast Call Her Daddy, which trails only The Joe Rogan Experience and its audience of over 14 million in terms of popularity on Spotify.
In recent days, with the election less than two weeks away, the vice president has sought to shore up support among young Black men (with the help of former President Barack Obama). A Rogan appearance could give her the chance to do just that, although a communications specialist previously told the Daily Beast that this would also be a “HUGE risk.”
It‘s not hard to see why both candidates would want to sit with the inflammatory, joint-smoking comedian: his reach is massive. According to a Bloomberg report in March, Rogan boasts at least 14.5 million followers, nearly three times as many as the next followed program. His audience is largely skewed toward men, a demographic both candidates have aggressively focused on in the campaign’s final stretch. Trump has appeared on multiple male-focused podcasts in recent months by popular streamers like Ben Shapiro and Theo Von.
Rogan’s also aware of his appeal. He renewed his Spotify deal earlier this year to the tune of $250 million over the course of the multi-year deal, according to The Wall Street Journal. It was an increase of up to $70 million from his previous deal—and that’s aside from the $100 million Spotify spent to bring Rogan to the platform exclusively.
But even that element has gone away. As part of the re-negotiated deal, Rogan could also air his show on other podcast platforms and YouTube, and Spotify would sell ads against those broadcasts. That array of distribution broadens his reach—and those of his guests, such as Trump.
Despite their imminent interview, Trump and the UFC-commentator-turned-podcasting-giant have a complicated history.
Rogan had been an outspoken supporter of former long-shot Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has since dropped out of the race and thrown his support behind Trump.
“He’s the only one that makes sense to me,” Rogan said in August of RFK Jr., a conspiracy theorist now embroiled in a sexting affair scandal. “He doesn’t attack people, he attacks actions and ideas, but he’s much more reasonable and intelligent. I mean, the guy was an environmental lawyer and he cleaned up the East River. He’s a legitimate guy.”
The comment prompted Trump to slam Rogan in a post on Truth Social. “It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets BOOED the next time he enters the UFC Ring???” he wrote.
Soon after, though, Rogan walked back his support for Kennedy and praised Trump’s raised-fist response to his near-miss assassination attempt.
In 2022, though, Rogan said that he had no intention of having Trump on his podcast, calling him a “an existential threat to democracy itself.”
“I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form. I’ve had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once, I’ve said no every time,” Rogan told fellow podcaster Lex Fridman. “I don’t want to help him, I’m not interested in helping him.”
A Harris appearance on Rogan’s show would also come with baggage.
In July, after she took over as Democratic nominee, Rogan called the vice president “the worst” and lamented that anyone could think of her as a “solution” after Joe Biden’s poor debate performance knocked him out of the race.
