In a much-anticipated interview, Donald Trump touched on a wide range of cultural and political issues during a three-hour conversation with Joe Rogan, host of one of the world’s biggest podcasts, on Friday night.
The recording went on so long that President Trump arrived several hours late for a rally in Traverse City, Michigan, that night, and many people left, frustrated by having to wait so long.
Rogan’s interview is a continuation of President Trump’s turn to nontraditional media, including podcasts, in the weeks leading up to Election Day. Mr. Rogan also invited Vice President Kamala Harris for an interview, but her campaign declined. Logan’s podcast has over 17 million YouTube subscribers.
Much of the interview, posted online around 10 p.m. Friday, was a rehash of comments Trump had made during the campaign.
He has said the Ukraine war would never have happened if he had been president, complained that the moderators did not sufficiently fact-check Vice President Kamala Harris during one debate with President Trump, and He continued to criticize the media and continue to criticize Harris and the Democratic Party even more. He is more dangerous than any foreign enemy and has dabbled in conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was stolen.
At one point, Rogan asked Trump to provide an example of how the 2020 election was stolen, as Trump has falsely claimed for years. Trump gave a rather rambling response, referring to election law changes that he said did not receive proper approval from Congress.
“They should have gotten approval from the Legislature to do what they did, and they didn’t get that,” Trump said, referring to changes that would make it easier to vote in the midst of a pandemic.
President Trump is running for a second term, but if he wins he won’t be able to run for a third term, but said “if I win” this will be his last. He declined to say whether he would run again if he lost.
“If I win, this will be my last election,” he said. “But I feel like I owe this country a debt of gratitude. We have to have fair elections.”
President Trump baselessly claims the 2020 election was stolen from key parts of his campaign’s message leading up to the 2024 election, despite admitting in September that he lost to President Joe Biden by a “whisker” margin I’ve made a point.
President Trump’s campaign rhetoric became increasingly hostile in the final weeks of the campaign, with threats to imprison political opponents and strip broadcasting licenses from opposing media outlets frequent at campaign rallies. It’s becoming a hot topic more and more.
For this reason, opponents have positioned Trump as someone with authoritarian instincts, which Trump’s chief of staff, John Kelly, told the New York Times last week that Trump falls within the definition of a fascist. This became clear to me when I said that this applies to me.
“I was actually the exact opposite of a dictator,” President Trump said Friday in his own defense. “I was a very straight guy.
Trump also told Logan that he had learned a lot about UFOs.
“There’s no reason not to think there’s no life on Mars or all these planets.” Logan quickly corrected him about life on Mars.
“There have been rovers and rovers on Mars, but I don’t think there is life there,” Logan said.
President Trump responded, “Maybe what we don’t know is life.”
Mr. Logan also appears to have tried to catch Mr. Trump praising Confederate General Robert E. Lee, whom Mr. Trump has spoken favorably of in the past. Trump did not provide specifics, but said the generals he meets with consider Lee a “genius.” At that point, Rogan asked Trump to clarify what he meant by “strategic,” and Trump agreed.
Later in the interview, Rogan seemed to foreshadow the fact that President Trump’s Lee remarks might receive criticism.
“Donald Trump wants the South to win,” Logan said, imitating what he thought the criticism might sound like.
Launched in 2009, “The Joe Rogan Experience” is one of the most popular podcasts in the United States, especially among young men.
Episodes, typically several hours long, feature a wide range of guests from a variety of industries, including entertainment, sports, technology, and politics.
Rogan, a former stand-up comedian and host of “Fear Factor,” has built a strong following as an unlikely political commentator. But his popularity has long been accompanied by growing criticism. The host faces accusations that he spread misinformation about the coronavirus, used racial slurs and made anti-Semitic comments on his show.
While Logan hasn’t shied away from political topics, he hasn’t publicly endorsed anyone this election cycle.
Logan said on his podcast in August that he was a fan of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., but later clarified in a post about X that he was not endorsing Kennedy Jr., who was an independent at the time. did. Kennedy Jr. later withdrew from the race and endorsed Trump.
Vice President Kamala Harris had also negotiated a meeting with Logan, but that didn’t happen. Ian Sams, a spokesperson for her campaign, told MSNBC on Thursday: “We have discussed a podcast with Mr. Rogan and his team. Unfortunately, due to the campaign’s schedule during this period, it will not be possible at this time.” he said.
Trump, who is not known for his modesty, seemed to acknowledge the importance of appearing on Logan’s podcast, at one point referring to himself as “your student.”
On the environment, President Trump continued to attack his longtime nemesis, windmills, citing their harmful effects on wildlife, saying environmental regulations are “the number one tool we have to stop growth.” In this case, President Trump said he was concerned about the impact windmills would have on whales.
“I want to be a whale psychiatrist,” he said. “If something happened to the whales, they would go crazy. But they’re stranded and they’re not talking about the environmentalists, are they?”
He also continued to attack Harris personally, calling her “unwise” and labeling her a greater threat to the nation than foreign recommendations.
“I can’t believe something like that could happen if she became president of the United States,” Trump said. “I don’t think this country will succeed.”
President Trump has increasingly criticized Harris, calling her an “idiot” and saying at a rally in Las Vegas on Thursday night that her policies would “kill thousands of people.”
But on Friday, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky released a letter asking Harris to tone down her comments. They claimed that President Trump could face a third assassination attempt as a result of the heated campaign debate.
“Labeling a political opponent a ‘fascist’ risks inviting yet another would-be assassin to steal the voters’ choice before Election Day,” they wrote.
The letter does not mention that Trump has applied the term to Harris multiple times.
As the three hours of the interview approached, Trump said he realized he had to go to a scheduled rally in Michigan because Logan’s interview was so long.
President Trump said, “I have to give a great speech.” “And if I’m not feeling well tonight at all, I’m going to blame you.”
