Joe Rogan declined Vice President Kamala Harris’ offer for an hour-long interview, demanding instead that the Democratic presidential nominee travel to his Austin studio for his standard three-hour format.
This comes just days after Rogan’s three-hour car wreck with Donald Trump racked up 37 million YouTube views. In one of his fits of weirdness, the former president mocked Harris during the interview, saying, “She’d be on the floor. Comatose.” Alas, that is not the reason Harris likely won’t be on the show. It’s actually Rogan himself.
“They offered a date for Tuesday, but I would have had to travel to her, and they only wanted to do an hour,” Rogan tweeted in reply to a post of his Trump snoozer. “I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin.”
While Rogan claims he wants “… just a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being,” his inflexibility with a presidential candidate’s packed schedule suggests something else: control. Rogan needs to be in the power seat, as he is in all of his interviews. Given Harris is a presidential candidate with a tight schedule and a lot of ground to cover, one would figure an exception is in order. One person tweeted, believing there was more at play: “Joe Rogan is afraid to do this and show the extreme contrast between Kamala Harris and trump. He’s afraid to lose his bread and butter MAGA listeners$$$$$$.”
The real issue—for the lack of a better term—is that Rogan usually needs 2-3 hours with interviewees to warm himself and his guest up into the conversation. One hour means that the process would need to be sped up in such a way that it would cease being his show. It would require being prepared in the way an actual journalist would—with research, anticipation for immediate follow-up questions, and good pacing—and that’s not the comedian’s skillset.
It doesn’t appear that Rogan has any hard feelings for Harris, given his praise for her in recent months, so this decision is all the more baffling.
Meanwhile, Harris is finishing her media tour strong, including an upcoming appearance on New York City morning radio show The Breakfast Club, after a released taping on ESPN analyst and former NFL star Shannon Sharpe’s popular “Club Shay Shay.”
Published: Oct 30, 2024 10:57 am