Kamala is still reeling from her devastating loss. But there are plenty of fingers to point.
And now Joe Rogan exposed the shocking reason why Kamala Harris ditched his interview.
Joe Rogan recently claimed that the Harris-Walz campaign laid down strict conditions for an interview that ultimately never happened — including a ban on discussing “marijuana legalization.”
Meanwhile, campaign aides indicated the appearance was shelved over concerns about backlash from progressives.
“I think they had requirements on things that she didn’t want to talk about. She didn’t want to talk about marijuana legalization, which I thought was hilarious,” Rogan said on his Tuesday episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
Rogan, 57, said that the Harris-Walz campaign initially reached out to his team about an interview after it was announced that former President Donald Trump would be appearing on his popular podcast.
However, the interview with Harris never materialized, according to Harris-Walz campaign spokesperson Ian Sams, due to “scheduling conflicts.”
In the background, some members of Harris’ team reportedly grew anxious about the optics of her appearing on Rogan’s show, given his often-controversial image.
“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,” Jennifer Palmieri, an adviser to second gentleman Douglas Emhoff, told the Financial Times.
During Tuesday’s episode, Rogan and his guest, comedian Adrienne Iapalucci, questioned why marijuana legalization was off-limits for the interview.
“Because of her prosecuting record,” Rogan speculated, referencing Harris’ tenure as California’s attorney general and San Francisco district attorney. “She put a lot of people in jail for weed.”
In a push to appeal to Black male voters, Harris had recently rolled out policies that included marijuana legalization, though her prosecutorial past on the issue continues to draw criticism from the Left.
Several prominent Democrats have since pointed to Harris’ missed opportunity on Rogan’s platform as a factor in her defeat on Nov. 5, especially after Trump’s lengthy interview with Rogan drew nearly 50 million views on YouTube. UFC CEO Dana White, a mutual friend of both men, reportedly helped facilitate Trump’s appearance on the show.
According to Rogan, the Harris-Walz campaign made additional demands for the interview, including limiting the discussion to an hour—far shorter than Rogan’s usual three-hour conversations — and requesting accommodations to avoid a trip to his studio in Austin, Texas. Rogan said that demand was a dealbreaker.
“They had, I don’t know how many conversations with my folks, but multiple conversations giving different dates, different times, different this, different that, and we knew that she was going to be in Texas, so I said, ‘open invitation,’” Rogan explained.
Though Harris, 60, briefly visited Houston — just three hours from Austin — on Oct. 25, where she campaigned alongside Beyoncé and other celebrities, she never made it to Rogan’s studio.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), reflecting on his own experience, noted on CNN that he was “vilified by some of the Democratic establishment because I went on Rogan’s show” about four years ago. The Joe Rogan Experience has a strong following among young male listeners, a group Harris struggled to attract.
Rogan has since endorsed Trump for president, though he previously backed Sanders, 83, and has long identified as a liberal. However, over time, he grew frustrated with Democrats’ handling of COVID-19 and California’s political climate.
In other episodes, Rogan hinted that Harris’ reluctance to engage in a lengthy interview with him was telling, implying she seemed overly scripted during her 2024 campaign.
Toward the end of her campaign, Harris did venture into challenging territory, participating in a contentious half-hour interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier.
Stay tuned to the DC Daily Journal.
