An excerpt from a new book about the 2024 presidential election shed new light on how former Vice President Kamala Harris’ proposed interview with podcast giant Joe Rogan fell apart.
“Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for The White House,” from authors Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, provided a play-by-play of negotiations between the Rogan and Harris camps to secure Harris’ appearance on the podcast. The dialogue proved fruitless and cost the ex-vice president’s campaign, especially as then-candidate Donald Trump secured a Rogan interview that went viral.
“Trump spent three hours with Rogan in an interview that instantly went viral. The contrast amounted to a ‘traumatic event,’ said one Harris aide, ‘that I will never forget.’”
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Rogan confirmed in late October – just after publishing his sit-down with Trump – that he had been in negotiations with the Harris team for an interview, noting that talks had come to stand still because of Harris’ demands. At the time, he expressed that he was still open to a future interview, and relayed that the Harris camp hadn’t canceled either.
Following the Trump’s election victory, Harris’ team suggested that the president’s interview was the factor that killed negotiations.
“We were hoping to fit it in around that but ultimately weren’t able to do it,” Harris campaign senior advisor Stephanie Cutter said on “Pod Save America.” “As it turns out, that was the day that Trump was taping his Joe Rogan [appearance], which they had never confirmed to us. We just kind of figured that out in the lead-up to it.”
Rogan went on to endorse then-candidate Trump on the eve of the election.
The section from “Fight” shed more light on what happened, alleging that initial negotiations held between Harris deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty and Rogan’s reps were rocky. According to the book, Rogan sent them his list of interview conditions on Oct. 11, which included, “no staff in the studio, no topic restrictions, and Harris would have to sign a waiver.”
Additionally, “Harris would have to come to Austin, Texas,” according to the Rogan team, though they signaled there was some slight leeway on this condition.
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The Harris campaign responded, saying 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.” However, Rogan disagreed.
As the book said, “Joe just wants to talk about the economy, the border, and abortion.”
Then the dispute over where Harris would meet Rogan ensued. Flaherty proposed an interview in Michigan, where the then-vice president would be on the campaign trail. “No-go, the Rogan team said after reaching the host on a weeklong hunting trip. Austin or nothing,” Parnes and Allen wrote.
According to their book, “Harris had less than zero reason to be in Texas,” as “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,” the authors also noted.
Apparently, Harris campaign chief Jennifer O’Malley Dillon found a solution, telling Rogan’s team that Harris would travel “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” where she could go on the show.
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Harris flew to the state under the auspices of fighting for reproductive rights, though Allen and Parnes wrote, “Only a few people knew the real reason: the whole Houston rally was built to put her in proximity to Rogan.”
Despite Harris making this concession, Rogan’s team had more demands that seemed to doom the meeting. When Flaherty mentioned Harris going to Rogan’s studio on Oct. 25, they dodged again.
“Wish we had known about this sooner, because he has the 25th blocked out as a personal day,” the Rogan team said.
When Flaherty countered with Saturday morning, the podcast host’s people replied, “Only if it’s before 8:30 a.m.” The excerpt appeared to suggest that message all but killed the talks between the two camps. The book alleged that shortly afterward, the Harris camp found out that Rogan spoke with Trump on his “personal day.”
The work mentioned that Harris aides “made a final stab, offering to let Rogan talk with the vice president in Washington, D.C.” However, “Rogan’s team balked, citing the Austin-only condition.” Allen and Parnes quoted Flaherty telling Rogan’s people, “You get one trip to Texas within three weeks of the election. You don’t get two.”
Reps for Harris’ campaign did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
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