Joe Rogan’s Episode Featuring Trump Receives 28 Million Views on YouTube
Former President Donald Trump’s interview with podcast host Joe Rogan garnered approximately 28 million views on YouTube in just over a day, making it the most-viewed podcast appearance for either Trump or his opponent Vice President Kamala Harris.
By Sunday afternoon, the episode had reached 28.3 million views on YouTube alone. Spotify, where Rogan primarily hosts his podcast, does not disclose viewership data for individual episodes.
However, the YouTube numbers suggest that Trump’s interview could potentially be one of the most watched episodes in Rogan’s show’s history. According to fan website JRE Library, the top 10 most-watched episodes have between 27 million and 69 million views, with Elon Musk’s episode being the most-viewed.
Trump and Harris have been engaging voters with appearances on podcasts, in addition to traditional rallies and journalist interviews.
A YouGov poll from last year revealed that 81 percent of Rogan’s listeners are male and 56 percent are under 35 years old, a demographic that tends to favor Trump over Harris in swing states.
Harris’s campaign has indicated that she will not be a guest on Rogan’s podcast. While Harris’s team had discussions with Rogan’s program about a potential appearance, timing did not align, as stated by spokesperson Ian Sams on MSNBC last week.
Harris recently appeared on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast in October, which garnered around 703,000 views in three weeks.
Rogan Explains Why
At the beginning of the podcast episode with Trump, Rogan explained his rationale for inviting the former president to appear on the show just over a week before the Nov. 5 election.
Rogan stated, “Once they shot you I was like, ‘He’s gotta come in here,’” emphasizing that timing was crucial and that the timing was perfect.
During the interview, Rogan expressed his hope that Harris would also make an appearance on his show. “I would talk to her like a human being and try to have a conversation with her,” he mentioned.
“I think we’d have a fine conversation. I think I’d be able to talk to her. I wouldn’t try to interview her. I’d just try to have a conversation with her and hopefully get to know her as a human being. That was my goal. Having her on, trying to get her to express herself,” Rogan shared.
Final Stretch
On Sunday, Trump will headline a rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, a significant event in a state that last supported a Republican president in 1984.
Simultaneously, Harris has various events scheduled in Philadelphia, the largest city and a Democratic stronghold in must-win Pennsylvania, with stops planned in a black barbershop and a Puerto Rican restaurant to encourage people to vote.
Addressing the congregation at the Church of Christian Compassion on Sunday morning, Harris did not mention Trump by name. “In this moment we do face a real question: What kind of country do we want to live in?” she remarked.
Polls indicate that the competing candidates are closely matched in the battleground states that will determine the next president with just over a week until Election Day. Over 41 million votes have already been cast, according to data provided by the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
Reuters contributed to this report.
