How Podcasts Have Changed the Game in the 2024 Election

By Luis Mendoza
October 17, 2024

US Senator Kamala Harris speaking with attendees at the 2019 Iowa Democratic Wing Ding at Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. Credit: Gage Skidmore – CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

As the 2024 Presidential Election in the United States looms closer, both candidates are trying to win as many votes as possible in the remaining weeks.

This seems to be the reason why Kamala Harris is reportedly looking into appearing in one of the most popular podcasts in the world, Joe Rogan’s ‘The Joe Rogan Experience”.

According to a report by Reuters, the Vice President would be considering making an appearance on the podcast in an attempt to sway male voters to vote for her.

Podcast appearances were not usual for presidential candidates before this election, especially not those that are popular amongst younger audiences. During the 2020 election, both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris appeared in the Save America Pod, which was hosted by former President Barack Obama as part of their campaign efforts.

President Trump on the other hand saw the potential of collaborating with popular podcasts such as Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast, Theo Von’s “This Past Weekend”, and Adin Ross’s stream on Kick. It seems that podcast appearances are here to stay, and will likely continue to play a crucial role in future elections.

How Podcasts Changed the game in the 2024 US Presidential election
Podcasts hosted by influencers have become an internet juggernaut thanks to the surge of TikTok, Instagram reels, and YouTube shorts, mainly because of the nature of the content.

The way this type of content works is simple: An influencer, (or anyone really) records an entire podcast, and then the best clips are cut, and uploaded to these platforms generating millions of likes and reaching millions of mostly young people.


This also applies to streamers like Adin Ross, iShowSpeed, and Kai Cennant, who split their hours-long streams, and the best bits are uploaded to the platforms gaining millions of views and thousands of likes.

Trump was the first one to recognize podcast’s potential for his political goals

During the 2024 election, former President Donald Trump was the first to see the potential alternative media such as video podcasts and streams, which he has used as a new way to reach millions by making a single appearance.

Trump accomplished this by appearing in four of the most popular podcasts and streams among young men in the United States.

During the election, the former president appeared on Theo Von’s Podcast, Adin Ross’s stream, Logan Paul’s Podcast, and Lex Friedman’s podcast.

In them, he clearly understood these shows enabled them to be more authentic. For instance, during his appearance with Theo Von, who is a comedian from Louisiana, he went as far as to talk about how the comedian struggled with substance addiction, telling viewers he had “never had alcohol or drugs himself.”

The podcast currently sits at a staggering 13 million views on YouTube.

Former President Trump’s appearance in Adin Ross’ stream was somewhat more chaotic, as it featured the streamer gifting Trump a Rolex and a custom-painted Tesla Cybertruck which was a potential violation of federal campaign finance law.

This stream currently sits at 2.6 million views on YouTube and peaked at 500,000 viewers on the streaming platform, Kick.

However, the true reach of this podcast is not the full-time interview, instead, the political value for the candidates really is on the countless clips that reach millions of people.

Trump has clearly benefitted from this format as he is considered one of the most charismatic and entertaining political leaders in the world.

Kamala Harris was late to the Podcast revolution but might need podcasts to win the election

Unlike Donald Trump who went to these podcasts that are clearly targeted toward men, Vice President Harris opted to appear on Alex Cooper’s “Call Her Daddy”, which is the most popular podcast for women under 35 on Spotify.

In this podcast, Vice President Harris did a deep dive into policy, something that has been rare in this election but also aimed to have a more chilled-out look for audiences that are used to a show about sex and relationships.

Harris did not receive any extravagant gifts and did not have “locker room talk” like Trump did in his appearances, but still had fun as she constantly laughed at host Cooper’s comments. She did so while discussing serious topics like the housing crisis and women’s reproductive rights in the country, which has become a major talking point during this campaign.

But this was not the only major podcast Vice President Harris appeared in during the 2024 Presidential Election. Kamala Harris also appeared on “All The Smoke”,which is a basketball podcast with over 1 million subscribers on YouTube. This appearance currently sits at 595,000 views on YouTube and covers topics like mental health race issues, and history of protests in the United States.

Podcasts will continue to play a crucial role in American politics


The bottom line is that internet podcasts and streams have become almost like the new late-night TV shows, but only better in terms of reach and immediateness.

Historically, political figures, celebrities and sports stars alike used to appear on late-night TV shows and they served as a platform to increase their popularity.

Before announcing his candidacy for the 1976 Republican primary, Ronald Reagan appeared on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

Still, the most popular late-night show at its peak could not ever reach the amount of engagement TikTok, Instagram reels and YouTube shorts have.

When Reagan appeared on the show, with luck, you could find it the next day in the newspaper (because it was late-night TV). Now, when Harris or Trump when on the platforms, the impact was immediate.

There might be many issues, with candidates using podcasts as a platform for future presidential elections in the United States, like many of the hosts simply not being prepared to oppose a presidential candidate with questions or the lack of challenging claims.

The reality is, however, that internet podcasts and streams are here to stay because they offer unrivaled reach and immediateness, and this will likely change the media landscape for the future U.S. presidential elections.