Kamala Harris and Donald Trump Using Podcasts to Appealing to Undecided Voters
Last Friday, former president Donald J. Trump made an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
The online buzz was significant, with the announcement of Trump’s appearance on the show receiving nearly 300,000 likes and over 10 million views in less than 24 hours.
Despite your perception of him, Rogan is arguably one of America’s most important, widely followed, and influential media figures.
Not the typical primetime cable news hosts. Not the editor of The New York Times.
These traditional media figures have been losing ground for years, replaced by the often-unconventional hosts of America’s most popular podcasts.
Still skeptical? Consider this: why would Donald Trump appear on comedians Andrew Schulz and Akaash Singh’s “Flagrant” podcast earlier this month?
Why did Kamala Harris choose to be a guest on Alex Cooper’s popular podcast, “Call Her Daddy”? Why would J.D. Vance spend time being interviewed on The New York Times’ “The Interview” or chatting with comedian Theo Von on “This Past Weekend”?
These shows have sizable, engaged audiences that provide guests with direct access to a segment of the public that has grown significantly over the years.
These podcasts showcase (and sometimes expose) the true thoughts and personalities of their guests.
In 2002, only 12% of Americans over 12 had consumed audio content online in the past month, according to Pew Research.
By 2023, that number had risen to 75%, with 42% of Americans reporting listening to podcasts within the past month. In contrast, only about one-third of Americans now report closely following the news.
Earlier this month, Rogan hosted centrist author Michael Shellenberger, a recent California governor candidate. The episode garnered over 1.1 million views on YouTube alone, surpassing the viewership of primetime CNN programming on any given day.
Those who remember when national discourse was led by figures like Walter Cronkite, Barbara Walters, and Peter Jennings—traditional journalists in suits—might wonder why the current media landscape has shifted to less formal, uncredentialed hosts with no institutional affiliation.
The answer is simple: longform podcasts demand genuine conversations. In contrast, cable news segments are brief, leading to superficial exchanges and little depth of content.
Even panel discussions on cable news lack depth, as time constraints often prevent in-depth discussions. Guests can take advantage of these limitations to evade questions.
A telling example is Vice President Harris’s interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, where she avoided a question about President Biden’s mental faculties. In a longer podcast format, it’s harder to evade questions.
The public now understands that long-form conversations provide a more authentic look at a candidate compared to short cable news segments.
J.D. Vance, who was criticized as “weird” by the Harris campaign, learned this lesson on Theo Von’s podcast. The audience responses attest to this:
“This guy shows how much the media deceives the public. He was labeled as weird, but he seems like the most genuine and normal human being in politics.”
“My preconceived notions about Vance were shattered after listening to him for two hours. It shows the power of authentic conversations.”
The rise of podcasts reflects the public’s dissatisfaction with a mainstream media that manipulates rather than informs, guiding opinions instead of allowing independent thought.
With an election approaching, Americans seek trustworthy information but have lost faith in mainstream media outlets (not as much as they used to).
Coming to terms with this shift may be challenging, but the blame lies with a legacy media that took the public’s trust for granted.
Rafael A. Mangual is the Nick Ohnell fellow and a contributing editor of City Journal at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
