Harris could join Joe Rogan podcast in hunt for male votes, sources say

By Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose

(Reuters) -Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris could sit down for an interview with popular podcaster Joe Rogan, whose audience leans heavily towards young men, as she works to shore up support with male voters, sources said on Monday.

Harris campaign officials, in the final stretch of the U.S. presidential campaign, met with Rogan's team this week but an appearance has not been confirmed yet, said two of the sources, who have knowledge of the matter.

Rogan, who runs the most popular podcast in the United States, has a highly coveted and devoted following that numbers in the tens of millions.

The interview will offer Harris an opportunity to make her case to his followers, as she works to shore up support with male voters and Black men in particular. Numerous public polls suggest Republican nominee Donald Trump could outperform among young men of all races.

On Monday, the vice president released a new set of policy proposals to appeal to Black male voters and her campaign is ramping up outreach to the typically Democratic voting group.

Her campaign also announced she will sit for an interview with Fox News, whose day-to-day programming is heavy on conservative punditry that often explicitly supports Trump.

On Monday, Trump also indicated he plans to go on Joe Rogan's podcast before Election Day on Nov. 5.

Trump and Rogan have sparred in the past. As recently as August, Trump took a shot at Rogan on social media platform Truth Social but later called him a "good guy."

In 2022, Rogan said he is not a Trump supporter and in August said he preferred Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for president. Kennedy has since dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump.

The appearance could offer a shot in the arm for Harris and Trump as polls show an incredibly tight race between the two candidates that is expected to come down to the results in seven swing states.

In March, Spotify said "The Joe Rogan Experience" had 14.5 million followers, almost triple the platform's second most popular program. He also has over 19 million followers on Instagram and 17 million followers on YouTube.

A poll by YouGov last year found that 81% of his listeners are male and 56% are under 35 years old, feeding the perception that he has a direct line to a cohort that polling suggests tends to support Trump over Harris.

Rogan reached a new deal with Spotify earlier this year, estimated to be worth as much as $250 million.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason in Erie, Pennsylvania and Nandita Bose in Washington; Editing by Stephen Coates and Lincoln Feast.)