I’m not interested in reading many of the forthcoming books about the 2024 election. I was there, I know what happened, I watched in real time, and I know exactly how thoroughly both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris got f–ked over. So many people f–ked around, and the only thing left to cover is the “finding out” half of the equation. Well, Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes have written one of the first books about the election, FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House. As I said, I have no interest in reading it. But NBC published an excerpt for free, so here you go. Right around Election Day, there was this talking point repeated over and over by white men especially: why didn’t Kamala Harris go on Joe Rogan’s show? Was she scared? It really mattered to those dumbasses that Donald Trump and JD Vance went on Rogan’s show, and that became “the reason” why those voters “turned against” Harris. Well, this book reveals that Harris was fully prepared to go on Rogan’s show and then Rogan ratf–ked her.
On October 11, Harris deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty, the aide in charge of digital strategy, made the first Zoom call to start negotiating with Rogan’s reps. He did not know what to expect. These might be juiced-up, UFC-looking supplement people, he thought. He was surprised—perhaps a tad disappointed—to find out that Rogan’s associates were more like Hollywood agents. In that vein, they outlined the podcaster’s conditions for an interview: no staff in the studio, no topic restrictions, and Harris would have to sign a waiver. There was one more item in the small print: Harris would have to come to Austin, Texas. Rogan’s reps said that might be negotiable, but he had only once done an interview with an out-of-studio guest.
Along with fellow Harris campaign advisers Stephanie Cutter and Brian Fallon, Flaherty offered up that Harris would be happy to talk about social media censorship, weed, and other issues they thought would be of most interest to his listeners. From their perspective, it was a suggestion of possible topics, not an exhaustive or exclusive list. That’s not what Rogan wanted to talk about. “Joe just wants to talk about the economy, the border, and abortion,” one of his reps said, according to a person familiar with the negotiations.
After two Zoom sessions, Flaherty called the Rogan intermediaries with an offer. Could Rogan join Harris in Michigan? he asked, proposing a date later in the week. No-go, the Rogan team said after reaching the host on a weeklong hunting trip. Austin or nothing.
“That’s going to be tough,” Flaherty said. “We’re only a few weeks out from the election.” Harris had less than zero reason to be in Texas. It was not a swing state. Her campaign was flush with cash—so it made no sense to take her off the trail to raise money. She was in battleground-or-bust mode. Plus, a detour to Texas might smell like desperation to the press and a waste of money to donors.
Harris campaign chief Jennifer O’Malley Dillon broke the impasse. Harris would be in Atlanta on October 24 with Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen. O’Malley Dillon said the campaign could fly her to Houston for a rally—under the cover of visiting a state with one of the nation’s most restrictive abortion laws—to put her in proximity to Austin. She dispatched an advance team to the Texas state capital to do a walk-through of Rogan’s studio and get ready for a Harris arrival. She authorized her negotiating team to give Rogan what he demanded—an in-studio interview in Austin—on October 25. For many Democratic operatives outside the campaign, the October 22 announcement that Harris would hold a Houston rally felt like a palm-to-face moment. She was going to lose Texas, by a lot, and a visit would not force Trump to spend his limited campaign money there.
Only a few people knew the real reason: the whole Houston rally was built to put her in proximity to Rogan. The ongoing negotiations on that were touch-and-go. Flaherty had called his Rogan contacts on October 18, before the rally was set. “We could do Friday, the 25th,” Flaherty said. “Wish we had known about this sooner, because he has the 25th blocked out as a personal day,” one of Rogan’s reps said.
“What about Saturday morning?” Flaherty countered. “Only if it’s before 8:30 a.m.,” came the tough reply.
The tone is different, Flaherty thought. The vice president of the United States is offering to come to your f—ing show, and you keep putting up more hoops. Harris’s team still wanted to make it work, but a new wariness set in. On October 22, the same day the Harris camp announced the rally, the Associated Press reported that Trump would be Rogan’s guest on Friday — the “personal day” Rogan had originally reserved.
Mutual friends Elon Musk and Dana White had convinced Trump and Rogan to bury their dispute, according to a Trump aide. There would be no Harris interview.
Yeah, f–k Joe Rogan. Not only did he play these disrespectful games, his team spread it around that Harris “refused” to do the show. Magically, the story was “why won’t Harris reach out to young men” and “what is she afraid of” and “she can’t handle a Rogan interview.” Like, that was a HUGE issue with college-aged guys in this election cycle, it was its own little stand-alone culture war. I hope Joe Rogan ***** on a rusty ***********.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Spotify.
