Very interesting that Harris expressed interest and suddenly Rogan is willing to put Trump on.
As others have noted, this will be (like most Rogan interviews) a conversation, not a grilling.
As I've said before, I actually think exploratory conversations, when they are serious about learning things, are much better than adversarial grillings.
There won't be any real fact checking, of course. Trump has already dodged interviews that have real fact checkers, and Rogan doesn't have real fact checking anyway. (He has Jamie pull stuff up he can find on a search, which isn't real fact checking of any substance.)
Some people think Rogan will just be a lickspittle to Trump here, but I don't think that's true.
Yes, Rogan knows his audience is MAGA and he himself has drifted more and more in that general orbit, but he is also protective of his media empire and being a toady to Trump doesn't benefit that.
He will be on Trump's side, but he will ask about things he believes that he disagrees with Trump on or is unsure about or so on. It won't be complete sycophancy. (I would be very surprised, anyway.)
The real question is whether or not Trump can keep it together for a long, rambly conversation.
He won't be pushed and have the kind of lashing out he does under stress, but he has - at his rallies - gotten weirder and weirder as well as more authoritarian in his statements.
Will he be able to moderate himself to not say things that push Rogan or his audience away? Or, even if Rogan's audience is all in on the authoritarianism, sexism, and racism, will the clips be awful enough that they can be spread around as attack ads against Trump?
I don't know.
In a casual conversation with Rogan, he might do great and just speak in vague bullshit he doesn't get called on and not say anything controversial.
I actually kind of think that's the most likely result - a deeply boring conversation.
But Trump's pretty unstable and delicate these days, so who knows if he just spouts off some self-damaging nonsense.
As others have noted, this will be (like most Rogan interviews) a conversation, not a grilling.
As I've said before, I actually think exploratory conversations, when they are serious about learning things, are much better than adversarial grillings.
There won't be any real fact checking, of course. Trump has already dodged interviews that have real fact checkers, and Rogan doesn't have real fact checking anyway. (He has Jamie pull stuff up he can find on a search, which isn't real fact checking of any substance.)
Some people think Rogan will just be a lickspittle to Trump here, but I don't think that's true.
Yes, Rogan knows his audience is MAGA and he himself has drifted more and more in that general orbit, but he is also protective of his media empire and being a toady to Trump doesn't benefit that.
He will be on Trump's side, but he will ask about things he believes that he disagrees with Trump on or is unsure about or so on. It won't be complete sycophancy. (I would be very surprised, anyway.)
The real question is whether or not Trump can keep it together for a long, rambly conversation.
He won't be pushed and have the kind of lashing out he does under stress, but he has - at his rallies - gotten weirder and weirder as well as more authoritarian in his statements.
Will he be able to moderate himself to not say things that push Rogan or his audience away? Or, even if Rogan's audience is all in on the authoritarianism, sexism, and racism, will the clips be awful enough that they can be spread around as attack ads against Trump?
I don't know.
In a casual conversation with Rogan, he might do great and just speak in vague bullshit he doesn't get called on and not say anything controversial.
I actually kind of think that's the most likely result - a deeply boring conversation.
But Trump's pretty unstable and delicate these days, so who knows if he just spouts off some self-damaging nonsense.
