Kamala Harris Needs Joe Rogan

Rogan is a unique cultural figure who is in a stratosphere to himself. He is a self-made entertainer with his own cult following. He was there before Trump’s political foray, and he will likely outlast him. Quite simply, he doesn’t need Trump, which is why he wasn’t scared to mock the former president and say the following about Harris.

“They did an amazing job from the moment Biden drops out — forcing Biden to drop out. Whatever they’re doing, whoever’s writing those speeches, getting her to deliver them, coaching her — she’s nailing it,” he said on an episode that aired Monday. “She nailed that one speech, like, ‘Say it to my face.’”

Rogan said Harris had a “very good showing” in the debate and is “probably ahead right now” in an episode taped the day after. In the same episode, he suggested that Harris was maybe, just possibly, getting instructions via her earrings, a debunked conspiracy theory that has made the rounds among other right-wing influencers.

So, anyone thinking that Rogan, who sounds like an average Trump voter, is going to suit up for Harris is mistaken. But he is the kind of cultural figure popular among the men and independents that Harris needs in her camp, and the fact that he praised her (even backhandedly at times) can’t be bad.

Harris has cultural hype in spades — Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas, just endorsed her. Of course, there is Taylor Swift, and there will probably be Beyonce at some point. (Bey has granted Harris permission to use her song, “Freedom,” for her campaign. ) There is also Jeff Bridges (“the dude”) and Charlagmane tha God, who attracts a similar audience of populist listeners who don’t fit neatly into ideological bounds. WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark has stopped short of endorsing Harris, but liked Swift’s Instagram endorsement of Harris. Harris should sit down with Stern for instance, who has been hammering Trump.

In her ABC debate, the one Rogan praised, Harris had this line:

“I am not Joe Biden, and I am certainly not Donald Trump,” she said. “And what I do offer is a new generation of leadership for our country.”

Establishment Republicans don’t speak to a new way forward, but cultural figures representing non-ideological populism do.

Harris, who is running on policy ideas but much more obviously on zeitgeist, must make sure her campaign doesn’t cede that outsider ground fully to Trump in favor of the bland centrism and failed and dated policies that Cheney and his ilk represent.