In a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan opened up about his frustration with Kamala Harris’s camp, detailing an unsuccessful attempt to bring her onto his show for an unfiltered interview.
Joined by British commentator Konstantin Kisin, Rogan expressed disappointment in what he saw as Harris’s team’s efforts to control the interview environment rather than engage in a genuine conversation.
Kisin introduced the topic, joking, “I heard you might have needed to cancel on us to get Kamala Harris on.”
Rogan clarified that, while he would have had to prioritize Harris if she had accepted the offer, he was frustrated by the missed opportunity for an honest exchange.
“I knew you guys flew from England, and I wasn’t going to cancel on you,” Rogan replied, explaining that Harris had an open invitation when she visited Texas. “I said, anytime… I’ll do it at nine in the morning, I’ll do it 10 p.m., I’ll do it at midnight… She wants to, you know, drink a Red Bull, f**king party on.”
Despite Rogan’s flexibility, he found it challenging to meet the demands of Harris’s camp, who he suggested wanted strict control over the setting.
“Well, she actually reached out when she found out that [Trump] was coming on,” Rogan continued.
“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… The thing is, 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.” He explained his goal was simply to have a human-to-human conversation. “Like my whole goal with her and with him was just talk. Just have a conversation… I don’t give a [expletive] what we talk about. I just want to talk to you. Who the [expletive] are you?”
Kisin suggested that Harris’s team might have been wary of Rogan’s platform, possibly assuming him to be on Trump’s side.
Rogan responded that he often faces misconceptions about his political stance. “There’s always been this assumption that I’m some right-wing MAGA guy… I was a Bernie supporter,” he clarified.
Describing himself as “politically homeless,” he reflected on a shift in his views over recent years. “I always considered myself a left-wing person… But then the tides of culture shifted in a very bizarre way.”
Rogan pointed to the rise of extreme tribalism in modern politics, where individuals are pressured to align fully with one side or another.
“People pick a [expletive] team, and then whatever that team says… they will do their best to marginalize the horrible effects of the furthest extreme version of that, whether it’s Antifa or the Proud Boys,” he said, highlighting how ideological extremism can overshadow genuine discourse.
Rogan also voiced concerns about the modern left’s departure from traditional liberal values, particularly free speech. He noted that, growing up with “hippie” parents in San Francisco, he had always associated liberalism with open-mindedness and the protection of free speech. “For me, it was always like the liberals were the ones who wanted education and open-mindedness… the ACLU [said], let the Nazis talk… You can’t infringe on people’s free speech,” he recalled.
Rogan criticized recent pushes for increased censorship and the influence of big pharmaceutical companies on health organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “They want to give the World Health Organization, which is deeply influenced by big pharma… control over what we take and what we don’t take,” he said, referring to the “revolving door” between regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical firms. “That doesn’t make sense, because that’s not what the liberals were when I was a kid.”
Reflecting on the shift he perceives within the liberal movement, Rogan expressed disappointment in the loss of the value of open dialogue. “When they had the power over social media and these collective groups of people that all had the same ideology… that tribal mentality kicks in,” he said. “You lose the perspective… that everyone has to be able to talk… and we have to figure out who’s right, and you might be wrong.”
Joe Rogan on Kamala Harris Ducking His Interview Offer
“She had an opportunity to come here when she was in Texas and I literally gave them an open invitation.”@joerogan [1] @KonstantinKisin [2] pic.twitter.com/48KkSGCqOb [3]
— Chief Nerd (@TheChiefNerd) October 30, 2024 [4]
Rogan’s candid reflections provide insight into his disillusionment with the ideological shifts in politics.
His frustration with Harris’s team’s approach to his interview offer underscores his commitment to open conversations, which he sees as increasingly difficult in a polarized environment.