Kamala Harris’ top campaign aides claimed that Donald Trump’s sit-down with Joe Rogan got in the way of them scheduling an interview with the podcast host.
Kamala Harris’ campaign aides attributed the vice president not sitting down with podcast host Joe Rogan for an interview to President-elect Donald Trump’s taping with Rogan, and suggested Rogan leveraged the Harris campaign’s offer to do the interview in Austin to get Trump in the studio.
“We had discussions with Joe Rogan’s team, they were great, they wanted us to come on, we wanted to come on, we tried to get a date to make it work and, ultimately, we just weren’t able to find a date. We did go to Houston and she gave a great speech at an amazing event,” Stephanie Cutter, a senior adviser on the campaign, told “Pod Save America” in an interview posted Tuesday.
Harris spoke at an event in Houston alongside Beyoncé at the end of October, during which the singer endorsed the vice president. Trump sat down with Rogan for a three-hour-long interview on the same day.
Cutter noted they were hoping to schedule the sit-down while they were in Houston, because Rogan’s studio is in Austin, Texas.
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“We were hoping to fit it in around that but ultimately weren’t able to do it,” Cutter said. “As it turns out, that was the day that Trump was taping his Joe Rogan [appearance], which they had never confirmed to us. We just kind of figured that out in the lead-up to it. You know, she was ready, willing to go on Joe Rogan.
“Would it have changed anything? You know, it would have broken through, not because of the conversation with Joe Rogan, but the fact that she was doing it and that was really the benefit of it. Will she do it sometime in the future? Maybe. Who knows? It didn’t ultimately impact the outcome one way or another, but she was willing to do whatever it takes.”
David Plouffe, a senior adviser on the Harris campaign, suggested Rogan leveraged the Harris campaign’s offer to do it in Austin to get Trump in the studio.
“So what’s clear is we offered to do it in Austin, people should know that. It didn’t work out. Maybe they leveraged that to get Trump in studio, I don’t know, and then we were obviously not going to be back in Texas, but offered to do it on the road,” Plouffe said.
The podcast host has also spoken out about Harris not appearing on the show, despite Rogan wanting to have her on ahead of the election.
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“You could look at this and you can say, ‘Oh, you’re being a diva,’ but she had an opportunity to come here when she was in Texas, and I literally gave them an open invitation,” he said. “I said anytime.”
The Financial Times reported in November that Jennifer Palmieri, senior adviser to second gentleman Doug Emhoff, said talks about Harris appearing on “The Joe Rogan Experience” fell through “because of concerns at how the interview would be perceived within the Democratic Party.”
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“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.
Rogan ultimately endorsed Trump’s bid shortly before the election.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Rogan’s representative for comment.
