After struggling a brutal defeat this previous November to President Donald Trump, former Vice President Kamala Harris acquired a good deal of pushback for underperforming amongst younger males. Searching for someplace to position blame, some critics identified that Harris had did not safe an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, who spoke with Trump a couple of week earlier than the election.
However new reporting from NBC Information has shed some gentle on why Harris and Rogan’s tête-à-tête by no means got here to fruition.
In accordance with an excerpt from the forthcoming e book by reporters Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, the Harris marketing campaign tried to safe an interview however have been usurped by Rogan and his GOP allies—together with tech billionaire Elon Musk.
The e book, “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” describes how Harris’ staff went to nice lengths to fulfill Rogan’s demand that the 2 speak at his studio, which is in Austin, Texas. Rogan was supposedly adamant that the interview wouldn’t be carried out elsewhere, so Harris’ staff had to determine methods to get her to Texas with out seeming “desperate” to the press.
Her staff finally determined to host a rally in Houston, one other blue Texas metropolis, to serve two functions: to justify Harris’ presence within the traditionally crimson state underneath the guise of calling consideration to Texas’ restrictive abortion legal guidelines, and to fulfill Rogan’s demand that they’ve their interview in Austin.
Earlier than the scheduled interview, Harris reportedly despatched a staff to Rogan’s studio whereas plans for the Houston rally have been finalized. Harris was keen to simply accept Rogan’s phrases, in line with the e book, so she approved her staff to let Rogan know when she’d be visiting the state.
That’s when Rogan began to behave fishy, an excerpt from the e book revealed.
“We could do Friday, the 25th,” [Harris’ deputy campaign manager, Rob] Flaherty reportedly instructed Rogan’s associates on October 18.
“Wish we had known about this sooner, because he has the 25th blocked out as a personal day,” a Rogan rep allegedly responded.
“What about Saturday morning?” Flaherty countered, in line with the e book.
A terse response allegedly adopted: “Only if it’s before 8:30 a.m.”
The e book means that Flaherty was mystified as to why Rogan didn’t appear desperate to interview Harris. In spite of everything, Election Day was simply across the nook.
Days later, Harris’ marketing campaign staff realized why Rogan’s staff was appearing so unusual: He scheduled an interview with Trump on Oct. 25, the alleged “personal day” for which Rogan’s staff mentioned he was unavailable.
Information of Trump and Rogan’s interview got here as a shock to anybody conversant in their on-again-off-again skilled relationship. Whereas Rogan has since turn into somewhat chummy with the president, he as soon as known as Trump “an existential threat to democracy.” He additionally referred to Trump as a “man baby” throughout a 2022 episode of his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
However the e book purports that Rogan and Trump put aside their variations and that Musk and Dana White, CEO of Final Combating Championship, satisfied them to bury the hatchet and do the interview.
And it paid off.
Rogan and Trump’s dialog garnered practically 40 million views on YouTube inside three days.
As for Harris? She was frolicked to dry. Rogan refused to talk together with her in Washington, D.C., and he or she couldn’t justify a second journey to Texas so near Election Day. Even when she might make it again to the Lone Star State, it could arguably look unhealthy for a Democrat to twice go to a state she had no likelihood of successful whereas swing states, like Georgia and Nevada, have been so shut by.
Harris didn’t go away Texas that weekend with nothing to indicate for it, after all. Her Houston rally nonetheless occurred as deliberate, and he or she was joined by Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland, each of whom endorsed Harris’ candidacy.
Sadly, Beyoncé didn’t sing, and the occasion was going down on a Friday night time, when many Texans have been in any other case consumed with highschool soccer.
What’s worse, Trump’s interview with Rogan went viral, and the podcaster later lied by blaming the missed connection on Harris’ refusal to speak about hashish on his present. (Notably, Harris had endorsed full legalization.)
Rogan later backed Trump’s bid for the presidency—sooner or later earlier than the election.
And the remainder, sadly, is historical past.
