Staffer admits real reason Kamala backed out of Joe Rogan podcast — and it shows why ‘Democrats definitely deserved to lose’
One of biggest blunders of Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign was the decision to skip an interview with Joe Rogan.
Rogan, host of the No. 1 podcast in the world, said that Harris’ campaign reached out to him after learning that Donald Trump was scheduled to appear on the show. But according to Rogan, the Harris campaign tried to set the parameters for the interview, including not filming in Rogan’s Austin-based podcast studio and limiting the interview to just one hour.
‘There was a backlash with some of our progressive staff that didn’t want her to be on it.’
Rogan rejected those demands, urging Harris to play by the same rules as every other guest of “The Joe Rogan Experience” — including Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and Sen. John Fetterman (D-Penn.), all of whom spoke with Rogan in the closing days of the election.
The decision to skip Rogan’s podcast was mind-boggling.
Rogan has one of the largest, most engaged audiences in all of media. Plus, the podcast would have allowed Harris to reach more men while giving her the opportunity to demonstrate a semblance of authenticity.
More than a week after Harris’ election loss, we now know why Harris ultimately refused to appear on Rogan’s podcast.
Jennifer Palmieri — a career Democratic strategist who served in the Obama administration, Hillary Clinton’s campaign, and, most recently, in Harris’ campaign as a senior adviser to Doug Emhoff — admitted on Wednesday that Harris did not go on Rogan’s podcast because the campaign feared how the interview would be perceived within the Democratic Party.
“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, according to the Financial Times.
The justification for wasting the golden opportunity to use Rogan’s platform over fears that it would anger progressives is equally as mind-boggling as the decision itself.
Pollster Nate Silver said it shows that “Democrats definitely deserved to lose” the election. Liberal commentator Cenk Uygur, meanwhile, observed that skipping the podcast over fear of progressive backlash perfectly encapsulates the campaign’s disconnect with reality. Indeed, the Democratic Party’s embrace of far-left ideals is one of the reasons Harris lost the election.
Later on Wednesday, Palmieri attempted to clarify her comments.
Palmieri said Harris didn’t go on Rogan’s podcast because of scheduling conflicts, claiming it is “hard to get to [Texas] twice in a 107 day campaign.”
That excuse only raises more problems.
First, Trump and Vance traveled to Texas multiple times during the final months of the election — and Harris could have, too.
Second, the excuse lays bare the Harris campaign’s priorities. It managed to spend millions of dollars in paid media appearing with other celebrities but made the intentional decision not to speak with Rogan and rake in millions of dollars in earned media.
Third, if time was a problem for the Harris campaign, how did Harris find the time to take entire days away from the campaign trail to prepare for interviews with friendly media networks?
Rogan, meanwhile, revealed on a new podcast episode this week that Harris campaign officials wanted to prevent him from asking Harris about certain topics, like marijuana legalization.
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