Joe Rogan has finally come forward to address the speculation swirling around his potential interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. Following his much-discussed conversation with former President Donald Trump, Rogan wanted to clarify why Harris has yet to appear on The Joe Rogan Experience.
It all boils down to conditions set by Harris’ team, which Rogan claims were unreasonable. “I don’t give a f*** what we talk about. I really don’t. I just want to talk to you: Who the f*** are you?” Rogan remarked, emphasizing his desire for an authentic conversation rather than a tightly controlled media opportunity.
Sticking to His Studio Rules
For starters, Rogan explained that Harris’ campaign insisted he travel to her, and the discussion should be limited to a mere hour. This demand runs counter to how Rogan has operated for years.
“Also, for the record the Harris campaign has not passed on doing the podcast. They offered a date for Tuesday [Oct. 29], but I would have had to travel to her and they only wanted to do an hour,” Rogan explained.
“I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin. My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being. I really hope we can make it happen.”
Trump had no qualms about traveling to Rogan’s Austin studio, and Harris, in his view, should be held to the same standard. Additionally, Rogan’s podcast format — long, unfiltered discussions lasting hours — was non-negotiable.
Defending His Offer and Rebutting Backlash
Critics of Rogan accused him of diva-like behavior. Yet, he pushed back, explaining that he had done everything possible to accommodate Harris. In a conversation with Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin of “Triggernometry,” he provided an inside look at the lengths he was willing to go.
“She had an opportunity to come. You could look at this and you could say, ‘Oh, you’re being a diva,’ but she had an opportunity to come here when she was in Texas. And I literally gave them an open invitation,” he revealed. “I said, ‘Any time.’ I said, ‘If she’s done at 10:00, we’ll come back here at 10:00.’ I go, ‘I’ll do it at 9:00 in the morning, I’ll do it at 10:00 p.m., I’ll do it at midnight if she’s up, she wants to, you know, drink a Red Bull and f***in’ party on.'”
Timing and Intent
According to Rogan, Harris’ outreach came shortly after the news broke that Trump would be a guest. “She actually reached out when she found out that he was coming on. So their camp reached out to me. So I said, ‘Great, I would love to talk to her.’ But it was very difficult to tie it down,” he said, referring to the challenges of accommodating the campaign’s demands.
He also pointed out the risk of having the interview in a controlled environment. “If I go somewhere, then there’s going to be other people in the room, and they want to control a lot of things, I’m sure, according to the Bret Baier interview on Fox, like, people were waving him off,” Rogan explained. “That’s a distraction.”
Seeking a Genuine Conversation
Rogan emphasized that his goal for an interview with Harris was simple: a genuine, human-to-human exchange. “Like, my whole goal with her and with him is just talk. Just sit, have a conversation like a human being,” he said. “You find out things about people, you get a sense of them, at least, a real sense. That was it. I don’t give a f*** what we talk about. I really don’t. I just want to talk to you: Who the f*** are you?”
Perhaps Harris’ camp worries about the implications of an unedited, hours-long interview, in which the Vice President might have to shed the politician persona and reveal more of the person underneath.
