Trump victory proves importance of candid, longform podcasts as platform showed ‘human side’ of one candidate

President-elect Donald Trump emerged victorious from the grueling 2024 election cycle with the help of candid, long-form interviews being broadcast directly in voters’ ears, marking a dramatic shift in the types of media that can influence Americans. 

The Poynter Institute noted that some have even dubbed 2024 the "podcast election," as both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris made multiple appearances on programs that reach very specific, large audiences. But one candidate appeared to take more advantage of the medium.

Trump surrogates Lara Trump and Elon Musk have both said podcasts "made a difference," while the Trump campaign believes that podcast appearances helped voters see the "human side" of the candidate. 

"This is the future. Long-form podcasts and, of course, Elon Musk’s X," Fox News contributor Joe Concha said. 

JOE ROGAN SAYS HARRIS SITDOWN WAS SCRAPPED AFTER CAMPAIGN TOLD HIM SHE 'ONLY WANTED TO DO AN HOUR'

Many feel that Trump’s late-October marathon appearance on "The Joe Rogan Experience," which has been viewed a staggering 47 million times on YouTube alone, helped push momentum back in Trump’s favor ahead of Election Day. 

Podcasts made a significant impact on the 2024 presidential election.  (Getty Images)

Podcasting giant Joe Rogan had also been in talks to have Harris on program, but said plans were scrapped because her campaign demanded the interview only be an hour and that he travel to meet her, instead of recording at his podcasting studio in Austin, Texas. 

Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang said ahead of Election Day that "the Kamala Harris campaign badly mishandled the Joe Rogan interview by not doing it," because he appeals to the exact group of voters Democrats should spend time trying to win over. 

Rogan, who publicly endorsed Trump on the eve of Election Day, came away impressed with Trump after the lengthy interview, noting that the former president is authentic and funny. He also marveled that he could hold a focused interview for over three hours. Perhaps Rogan would have equally impressed with Harris if she sat down with him, but voters will never know. 

MSNBC reported that one Arizona voter told the liberal network he was "on the fence" but voted for Trump because Harris didn’t appear on Rogan’s podcast. The voters told MSNBC she didn’t "seem like a real person" because she was unwilling to have a sincere conversation with Rogan. 

JOE ROGAN TELLS TRUMP THE ‘WILD S---’ HE SAYS FUELED HIS POPULARITY DURING THREE HOUR PODCAST INTERVIEW

Podcast host Joe Rogan told former President Trump he has gotten so popular with Americans due to the "wild s---" he says.  (Screenshots/The Joe Rogan Experience)

Trump also appeared on "This Past Weekend with Theo Von," the "Shawn Ryan Show," "Six Feet Under" with wrestler The Undertaker, Andrew Schulz’s "Flagrant," Barstool Sports’ podcast "Bussin with the Boys," "Nelk Boys," "Impaulsive" with Logan Paul, the "All-In Podcast," "Lex Fridman Podcast," "PBD Podcast" with Patrick Bet-David, and "Maintaining with Tyrus."  

"It’s impossible to say how much of an effect, if any, Trump’s podcast appearances had on his victory. But those in his circle are certainly giving them credit," Poynter Institute’s Angela Fu wrote. 

"For political candidates, interviews with podcasters come with benefits beyond exposure to millions of voters. They are relatively easy to do and allow candidates to target specific audiences. Podcast hosts sympathetic to a candidate’s views may offer less pushback during the interview than a traditional journalist would," Fu continued. "And the interviews, which can stretch for hours, offer more opportunities for candor, allowing listeners to come away feeling as if they’ve really gotten to know the candidate."

TRUMP TALKS COCAINE, BIDEN AND HEALTH CARE IN INTERVIEW WITH COMEDIAN THEO VON

UFC CEO Dana White even thanked Rogan and other podcasters early Wednesday after Trump gave his victory speech. Theo Von then took to social media to thank White for "helping podcasts contribute to the political landscape," and added a subtle shot at the Harris-Walz campaign. 

"We invited all the candidates but only three showed up," Von wrote. 

Trump told Von that his youngest son, Barron Trump, is a big fan of the stand-up comedian and encouraged him to accept the invitation. The president-elect has since said his 18-year-old son was influential in which podcasts he joined throughout the campaign. 

Concha said Rogan, who also hosted running mate JD Vance, is probably the best platform to reach young men, "where Trump improved his numbers by 30 points compared to 2020."

"Meanwhile, Kamala Harris passed up the opportunity because her handlers were afraid of her having to do a three-hour interview. Instead, she went back to her safe spaces and did legacy media interviews where she did not make news. Or when she did make news, it was usually for a bad answer to a simple question," Concha told Fox News Digital. 

TRUMP APPEARED ON JOE ROGAN'S PODCAST FOR NEARLY THREE HOURS: HERE ARE THE TOP MOMENTS

"I hope that this is the last Democratic nominee that says no to Joe Rogan," journalist Ryan Grim recently said to far-left pundit Mehdi Hason, who shot back, "I would go further than that… you need your own Joe Rogan."

But Rogan is not a traditional Trump supporter and has long embraced liberal ideology. He even endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2020. The Trump-Vance ticket gave Rogan a shot, while the Harris-Walz campaign did not. 

Journalist and podcaster Bari Weiss believes the rise of new media is one of the critical takeaways from the historic election.

"They ran a campaign in which both candidates, JD Vance and Donald Trump, went on like three-hour long podcasts… they embraced a new media. They embraced platforms like X. And then you have another candidate who was scripted to within an inch of her life," Weiss said last week on "America’s Newsroom." 

Harris sat down with a number of podcasts, too. But her appearances came after weeks of avoiding interviews at all costs as the honeymoon phase of her candidacy began to fade. 

Harris appeared on popular podcasts like "Call Her Daddy," "All The Smoke" and "The Shade Room," and spoke with NFL Hall-of-Famer Shannon Sharpe for his "Club Shay Shay," but didn’t have any of the viral moments Trump achieved multiple times, such as when he peppered Von with questions about cocaine. 

"Call Her Daddy," hosted by former Barstool personality Alex Cooper, reaches a massive, predominantly female audience. It is "the most-listened to podcast by women," according to Spotify, but NewsBusters executive editor Tim Graham said there is a reason why it failed to help Harris the way an appearance on Rogan helped Trump. 

"Rogan listeners are geared up for some political content. ‘Call Her Daddy’ listeners expect to hear sex chat and sex gossip. They were probably disappointed at the subject matter," Graham told Fox News Digital.

JOE ROGAN ASKS TRUMP ABOUT THE WARM WELCOME HE ONCE RECEIVED ON ‘THE VIEW’: ‘THEY ALL LOVED YOU’

Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on Alex Cooper’s "Call Her Daddy" podcast. (Call Her Daddy podcast)

During her appearance on the infamously raunchy "Call Her Daddy," Harris spoke about abortion, sexual abuse and other women’s issues but didn’t get into her own sex life or reveal anything particularly juicy. 

Graham feels that if Harris went on Rogan’s podcast, he might have asked tough questions that Americans actually wanted to hear from her about. However, Graham doesn’t believe Harris was up for the task. 

"There's no way Kamala Harris could have or should have done the Rogan interview. She's wooden and inauthentic in five-minute interviews. How bad would it look over three hours? It would be a word-salad assembly line," Graham said.  

While Trump appeared on multiple long-form podcasts, it’s critical to remember that he also skipped CBS’ "60 Minutes," which was seen as a critical election cycle stomping ground for previous generations. Wall Street Journal opinion columnist Kimberley Strassel feels podcaster such as Rogan are now trusted to deliver realistic information and analysis that used to come from the legacy media.

"The Founders accorded the press the honor of inclusion in the First Amendment in recognition of the vital role it plays in keeping pols honest. The industry is meant to ride herd on government—on both sides—in the interest of the people. That job is essential—not only for transparency, but to provide self-deluding politicians constant gut checks as to how their policies sit with the nation. When that guardrail falls, the nation suffers, but so too does the party that gets to live the make-believe," Strassel wrote. 

Fox News Digital’s David Rutz, Timothy H.J. Nerozzi, Alexa Moutevelis and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report. 

Brian Flood is a media editor/reporter for FOX News Digital. Story tips can be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and on Twitter: @briansflood.