One thing we were all waiting for during the campaign was for Kamala Harris to go on Joe Rogan's massively popular podcast and speak without a script for three hours. There were some talks with the campaign, which insisted the segment be limited to one hour, that Rogan pack up his studio and go to where Harris was, and that the campaign had editorial control over the interview.
Needless to say, the appearance never materialized.
Jen O'Malley Dillon, chair of Harris for President, said on a podcast that Harris wanted to do the interview but, ultimately, they just couldn't find a date for Harris to travel to Houston, even though Harris made it to Houston with her huge rally at which Beyoncé didn't perform but instead lectured for four minutes about abortion … and was reportedly paid millions to do it.
Former Harris campaign adviser @stefcutter on not appearing on Joe Rogan: "We wanted to do it, but ... it was a very short race with a limited number of days, and ... ultimately we just weren't able to find a date." pic.twitter.com/OobO0hrouI
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 26, 2024
*Correction: This is former Harris campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon (@jomalleydillon)
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) November 26, 2024
Would appearing on Rogan have tipped the scales? Dillion says probably not, and she's right. But it likely wouldn't have hurt.
CNN senior media analyst Brian Stelter, working with a transcript of a Pod Save America episode, noted that Stephanie Cutter — remember her from Barack Obama's 2012 campaign? — complained that Donald Trump did "no traditional media" and "got not s**t for that," according to Dillion.
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Trump largely avoided traditional media interviews during his reelection campaign and "got no shit for that," @jomalleydillon says. But "we got tons of shit that she wasn't doing enough media," @stefcutter says. "Double standard," Dillon adds. pic.twitter.com/f7F5dG6bas
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 26, 2024
"I mean, look, I am not a media hater by any measure," @jomalleydillon says, "and I think that, you know we women don't get far in life talking about double standards." But she also says that "two weeks talking about how she didn't do interviews" hindered the Harris campaign.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 26, 2024
Hindsight is 20/20, and Harris didn't do interviews.
She concludes: "Being up against a narrative that we weren't doing anything, or we were afraid to have interviews, is completely bullshit and also, like, took hold a little bit, and just gave us another thing we had to fight back," a thing that "Trump never had to worry about."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 26, 2024
Sad.
Even during the post-mortem of her campaign the Harris people blatantly lie
— Jeff Carlson (@themarketswork) November 26, 2024
Hopefully she keeps her same campaign staff in 2028 as well.
— Breckinridge County Republican Party (@BreckCountyGOP) November 26, 2024
If they had years, they would have failed because of both the message and the messenger. I admire her persistence with the "Trump abortion ban" canard - keep it up, gals!
— FugitiveMama (@fugitivemama) November 26, 2024
Couldn’t find the time for one of the biggest pop culture icons on the planet. What a sh!tshow of a campaign.
— Lisa (@Rockprincess818) November 26, 2024
Oh please...cut the 💩.
— NewsRadio 830 KHVH (@khvh) November 26, 2024
Kamala's campaign took off on a moment's notice to do a lame skit on Saturday Night Live.
"Just couldn't find the time!"...to be on one of the most influential podcasts that appeals to the BIG weakness of her campaign--younger men. Just🙄🙄🙄
Malarkey. Harris could never make it on that type of format. They knew it. We all knew it.
— Mrs.Mac (@roaminggnomes32) November 26, 2024
Even one hour without a script would have been a disaster.
Yeah because cutting an interview short, getting irate whenever any interviewer asks a clarification or follow-up question, and refusing to go on podcasts without strict limits on what questions are allowed are all evidence of how much she wasn't afraid to interview. 🙄
— Llareia (@Llareian) November 26, 2024
Just to review, it was @jomalleydillon who advised:
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) November 26, 2024
-Kamala not do any interview for 6 weeks with any outlet after becoming the nominee
- Advised against going on Rogan
- Thought doing the Call Her Daddy podcast was a good idea instead
- Advised her not to attend Al Smith https://t.co/NihgilIZqe
Were they trying to lose?
Jen knew that Kamala is too stupid to do interviews. What else could she do?
— Wirra (@wirraone) November 26, 2024
Fascinating. Basically everyone’s fault except their own
— Glen (@glen_george) November 26, 2024
You should hear James Carville's profanity-filled rant about Harris not appearing on Rogan. Stay tuned for that.
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