Winning political campaigns now run through Podcast Nation.
Vice President Kamala Harris learned that lesson the brutal way.
Former and future President Donald Trump chatted with some of the biggest podcasters to secure Tuesday’s electoral victory. Trump and/or Vice President-elect J.D. Vance sat down with the following audio superstars:
The GOP ticket subsequently scored big with young male voters, which The Hollywood Reporter notes isn’t a coincidence.
NBC News’ Gadi Schwartz said on election night that many college students during informal exit polling in Arizona cited Rogan’s interview with Trump as critical. “It’s been surprising how often the topic of the Joe Rogan podcast has come up,” Schwartz said. “We’ve talked to several students now who say they listened to that podcast with the former president and that was the deciding factor for them. And they also said that if Kamala Harris would have appeared on that podcast, they may have had their vote [changed].” One of NBC’s election night panelists echoed they had also heard young voters citing Rogan’s interview.
Others agreed, including Rachel Janfaza, Gen Z political analyst and founder of The Up and Up Substack newsletter.
“What I heard from many [young male voters] as we got closer to the election was that they appreciated the fact that Trump was able to say what he wanted in a way that really flew in the face of cancel culture — which many of them have grown wary of or resentful of. And the fact that he was going on these platforms, providing an unfiltered, personal look into who Trump is, and not just the issues he cares about, but some stories about his life and his experiences in business and in politics, that resonated with young men.”
Vice President Kamala Harris did chat with the popular “Call Her Daddy” podcast (800,000 YouTube views, according to Axios) along with smaller programs. She didn’t sit down with “The Joe Rogan Experience,” though. Rogan said she demanded the Spotify superstar come to her turf and limit the show to an hour-long chat.
Rogan’s interviews typically run two-to-three hours and are conducted at his Austin-based studio.
The podcaster’s Trump chat generated 40+ million views on YouTube alone prior to Election Day. That doesn’t count the millions of listens on other platforms, like X.com, iTunes and more.
Now, we’re learning Harris also turned down another popular podcast that could have snagged her some coveted male voters.
“Flagrant,” co-hosted by Schulz and Akaash Singh, shared how their show flirted with a Harris appearance. The sitting Vice President’s team shot the idea down.
Schulz brought up Trump’s victory, asking the show’s co-host his thoughts on the results.
“I’m smugly satisfied. This is what y’all get. Y’all didn’t want to come on ‘Flagrant.’ You know they told us … it was too big of a risk for Kamala to come on. OK, you f***ing loser. You know what’s a kind of risk, not doing any big podcasts,” Singh said.
The hosts segued into a broader conversation about the power of podcasting. Schulz shared why the format is such a natural fit for political campaigns.
“The purpose of [‘Flagrant’] was to build a community and a connection [with the audience]. I think that fatal flaw, her not going onto these podcasts, is that people weren’t able to make that connection,” Schulz said. “Just as people come out to shows because they build that connection with us here, they came out to vote because [Trump] made that connection.”
Singh said legacy media outlets can no longer compete with that bond.
“When I said legacy media is done, I mean they can still set a narrative. People still watch it. Them being the most influential force in the world is done,” Singh said.
“I wouldn’t say, ‘done.’ I’d say they don’t have the connectivity. The great disruption with new media is connectivity,” Schulz added.
