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What it means for the 2024 election

What it means for the 2024 election
Posted on | Posted on angela

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Former President Donald Trump will sit down with Joe Rogan on “The Joe Rogan Experience” on Friday, hoping to expand his lead among male voters with less than two weeks until Election Day.

Rogan's podcast is Spotify's top podcast with 14.5 million followers. According to a 2026 YouGov survey, 81% of its listeners are male and 56% are under 35. It's a demographic that polls show is more likely to support Trump than Vice President Kamala Harris.

The interview will take place in Austin, but the episode's release date has yet to be announced.

Harris will also be in the Lone Star State on Friday, holding a rally with Beyoncé in Houston.

What did Joe Rogan say about Donald Trump?

While Rogan's audience tends to support the former president, Rogan himself is not an ardent Trump supporter. In 2020, he supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. That same year, he said during a podcast that he would rather vote for Trump than President Joe Biden. However, he later said he voted for Libertarian Jo Jorgensen in the 2020 general election.

In August, Rogan drew Trump's ire after he praised former third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., saying he was the only candidate who wouldn't “gaslight you.”

“For the record, this is not a recommendation,” Rogan clarified on X. “What I want to say is that I like RFKjr as a person and I really appreciate the way he discusses things with politeness and intelligence. I think we could use more of that in this world.

In response, Trump said in a post on Truth Social: “It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets booed the next time he steps into the UFC ring.”

Joe Rogan praised Kamala Harris

Recently, Rogan applauded Harris and her campaign.

“Whoever helps her, whoever trains her, whoever is pulling the strings…great job. They did a great job from the moment Biden dropped out,” Rogan said in a September episode. “She nailed this one speech: 'Say it to my face.'”

Rogan also said that Harris was better prepared and responded well to questions during the first Trump-Harris presidential debate, while mocking Trump for repeating the false rumor that Haitian illegal immigrants were living in Springfield, Ohio , cats and dogs would have eaten.

Rogan has not declared his support for the presidential election. In addition to his criticism of Trump, Rogan has also speculated that a Harris administration could lead to a “curtailment” of free speech online.

The gender gap in the 2024 election

Still, Trump's appearance on Rogan's podcast could help bolster his support among a group where he is already strong.

The latest USA TODAY/Suffolk University national poll shows the gender gap is widening and deepening. Women decisively supported Harris 53% to 36%, while men virtually reversed and supported Trump 53% to 37%. Gender differences were also found among Latino and black voters.

If these numbers persist on Election Day, it would be the greatest inequality since the gender gap emerged in 1980.

Trump's appearance on Rogan's podcast isn't the only strategy he's using to energize his male base. Many of his recent tactics, like attending an NFL game and throwing profanities into his speech, were aimed at doing just that.

Harris had also considered appearing on the popular podcast, according to Reuters, which could have helped her gain traction with male voters. However, her campaign said Thursday that it would not do so due to scheduling issues.

Contributors: Reuters and USA TODAY Contributor Rachel Barber.

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