“I’ve had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once—I’ve said no, every time. I don’t want to help him. I’m not interested in helping him,” Joe Rogan said about Donald Trump in 2022. But as the saying goes, ‘Never Say Never’. The end of October 2024 witnessed one of the biggest podcast episodes’ release—JRE’s episode #2219 with Donald Trump.

Now, Trump had already shared that he was going to have a chat with the podcaster on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, but the latter kept the mystery with his silence. But on October 23, he confirmed Trump’s appearance. When the episode finally went live, viewers witnessed Rogan in an unusual get-up. He wore a black button-down shirt that he generally wears while working on UFC fights but never really on his podcast.

During the conversation, Donald Trump urged Joe Rogan to endorse his presidential campaign and insisted by sharing how Elon Musk did so earlier this month. “He gave me the nicest endorsement. You should do the same thing Joe because you cannot be voting for Kamala. You’re not a Kamala person. I know you.”

“I have watched you for so many years. You’re not a Kamala person. You’re a Khabib person–but you’re not a Kamala person,” Trump made his case while the podcaster laughed. But there was an issue. The episode suddenly got unlisted. Did YouTube try to censor Trump?

Well, Rogan quickly went to X to share the reason such a big episode was unlisted:

“There is no issue with YouTube censoring the trump episode. It was just supposed to go live on both Spotify and YouTube at the same time and there was a glitch in Spotify’s upload system and so we delisted the YouTube link until it’s fixed. It should be fine now,” he wrote on X.

Well, the technical problem seems to have been solved as the three-hour episode is available for viewers on both YouTube and Spotify. It will be interesting to see if the Trump episode turns out to be the one with the highest number of viewers.

But this also brings in an interesting observation. Podcasts seem to have gained a lot of popularity during this presidential campaign, with Trump and Harris making several appearances. The former seems to have stepped back from some major networks, opting for platforms like Logan Paul’s ‘Impaulsive’ podcast where he made an appearance in June. Then Kamala Harris was on the ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast earlier this month for an interview.

Of course, traditional media is still a part of their campaign, but are podcasts tapping into a different kind of audience? Let us take the JRE, for instance.

According to Edison Research, the JRE podcast is a unique space in today’s media landscape. While 80% of his audience is male, his listeners span across the political spectrum, from Democrats to Republicans and everything in between. This makes Joe Rogan’s platform especially valuable for candidates aiming to sway undecided voters ahead of Election Day. With November 5 fast approaching, connecting with this diverse audience could be crucial for Donald Trump’s campaign.

That reminds us of one thing. What else did Rogan and Trump discuss?

Joe Rogan broke down how Donald Trump managed to capture the media’s attention!

As Joe Rogan and Donald Trump sat across from one another, the former POTUS brought up his overwhelming media presence 24 minutes into the podcast. “I always got more publicity than other people,” he stated, wondering aloud why that was.

But Rogan was ready with his thoughts on this matter. In his usual no-nonsense style, Rogan quipped, “Oh, I can definitely tell you—you said a lot of wild sh–! … CNN, in all their brilliance, by highlighting your wild sh—, made you much more popular.” 

Rogan went on to explain that Trump’s unfiltered approach—often shocking and far from the typical politician’s script—was a breath of fresh air for many. And that people were tired of the carefully rehearsed language of traditional politicians. But regarding the presidential campaign, will Kamala Harris also make an appearance on JRE? After all, sources from earlier this month have suggested this.

It turns out she will not be going to JRE. Her spokesperson Ian Sams, in an interview with MSNBC on Oct. 24, stated, “We talked with Rogan and his team about the podcast. Unfortunately it isn’t going to work out right now because of the scheduling of this … period of the campaign.”

Well, while it won’t happen, appearing on the JRE podcast would have boosted her reach amongst the male demographic. Polls have suggested that Trump is a favorite among males, whereas Harris is more popular among female voters.

Also, check out this ES Exclusive interview with none other than Jorge Masvidal.