Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s interview on The Joe Rogan Experience quickly became a hit, drawing over 26 million views on YouTube within 24 hours.
This makes it one of the most-watched episodes in the podcast’s history, highlighting Trump’s ongoing popularity as he campaigns for the 2024 election.
Trump’s interview with Rogan, which aired on Friday, covered a wide range of topics.
These included Trump’s reflections on his time in office, his controversial claims regarding the 2020 election, and even a discussion on UFOs.
Rogan’s laid-back interview style allowed Trump to speak freely for the three-hour conversation, which undoubtedly contributed to its massive viewership.
With 26 million views in a single day, the episode quickly climbed the ranks as one of Rogan’s most-viewed podcasts, although it fell just shy of cracking the top 10 most-watched episodes on YouTube, which range from 27 million to 68 million views.
According to JRE Library, the Joe Rogan Experience has seen a handful of episodes reach beyond the 27 million mark, with the top spot still held by Rogan’s 2018 interview with tech billionaire Elon Musk, which garnered over 68 million views.
Although Spotify does not release individual episode data, the numbers from YouTube alone suggest that Trump’s appearance could become one of the most significant in Rogan’s history.
Rogan’s show, known for its wide-reaching audience, boasts 14.5 million followers on Spotify and 17.5 million subscribers on YouTube, making it the largest podcast in the world.
For Trump, this interview comes at a critical time, just over a week before the 2024 election.
Rogan’s platform, which has a predominantly male and younger audience, aligns with a demographic that polls have shown leans in favor of Trump over his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, especially in key swing states.
Interestingly, while Trump took the opportunity to engage with Rogan’s vast audience, Harris declined to appear on the podcast, citing scheduling conflicts.
Harris’s team had been in contact with Rogan’s program but ultimately decided not to participate before Election Day.
Instead, Harris recently appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast, which garnered around 703,000 views in three weeks, a far cry from the viral attention that Trump’s episode with Rogan received.
Throughout the episode, Trump reflected on both his time in office and his ongoing 2024 campaign. He touched on a variety of issues, including his continued claim that the 2020 election was stolen, the impact of wind turbines on the mental health of whales, and his perspective on the future of America.
In one notable moment, Rogan praised Trump’s sense of humor, remarking on how the former president doesn’t hold back in interviews, saying, “One of the beautiful things about you is that you freeball.” The two also shared a lighthearted moment when Rogan complimented Trump’s comedic impersonation of President Joe Biden.
With just over a week until Election Day, Trump is pulling out all the stops to reach as many voters as possible.
On Sunday, Trump is scheduled to headline a rally at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, a major event in a state that has not supported a Republican presidential candidate since 1984.
Meanwhile, Harris will spend the same day campaigning in Philadelphia, a key Democratic stronghold in Pennsylvania.
Harris has events planned at a black barbershop and a Puerto Rican restaurant to encourage voter turnout in a state that could be decisive in the election.
Polls show that Trump and Harris remain neck-and-neck in several battleground states, making every voter interaction, rally, and podcast appearance crucial as both candidates push toward the final days of the campaign.