Comedian Joe Rogan criticized Democrats for “scrambling” to “create their own version” of his podcast and looking for their “own Joe Rogan” by claiming that he was “on their side.”
During the Democratic campaign post-mortem, many on the left have pointed to Vice President Kamala Harris’s decision not to prioritize the invitation to appear on Rogan’s podcast as a shortsighted misstep by the team and an opportunity to reach his listeners, primarily the target young male demographic.
While the reason given at the time was scheduling issues, some have suggested that it was Rogan’s politics that turned off the Democratic campaign.
Speaking with software entrepreneur Marc Andreessen on Tuesday, Rogan reflected on the emergent role of podcast appearances in political campaigning efforts.
Rogan began: “I think these Call Her Daddy shows and all these different shows that she went on, I mean, I’m sure they had an impact. But I think that in the future, I’m sure they’re scrambling to try to create their own version of this show. This is one thing that keeps coming up, like, ‘We need our own Joe Rogan.’”
“But they had me,” he added. “I was on their side.”
Despite endorsing President-elect Donald Trump the night before the election, Rogan previously endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) and his progressive politics when he sought the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election.
As recently as 2022, Rogan stated he had no desire to “help” Donald Trump politically, labeling the former president “an existential threat to democracy.” Before this, he had thrown his support behind Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was then running as an independent presidential candidate.
Responding to Rogan, Andreessen agreed: “They had you, and they drove you away. That’s number one. But they also have, you know, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN. Right?”
“But that doesn’t work anymore. It’s like, you know, like you’re using smoke signals, and everybody else has a cell phone.”
“Yeah, that’s right. It doesn’t work. Yeah, that’s right. That’s right,” Andreessen said.
“It’s just… it’s a bizarre time,” Rogan replied.
Watch above via YouTube.
