When Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience during the 2020 presidential election, liberal groups and activists denounced him, slamming the show's host Joe Rogan as a far-right radical.
But Rogan, a self-described progressive, ultimately endorsed Sanders for president, backing him over Joe Biden and about a dozen other Democrats.
Though Rogan's endorsement did not help tip the scales in Sanders' favor, wooing his audience may be key to winning elections, according to new research.
Joe Rogan Podcast AudienceAccording to research conducted by Morning Consult, around one in 10 Americans describe themselves as "avid fans" of Rogan's podcast and two in 10 are casual fans.
More than 70 percent of avid Rogan fans are male, 60 percent are younger than 44 years old. A majority of his fans, 64 percent, are white, while 25 percent are Hispanic and another eight percent are Black or of another race.
Perhaps crucially, around a half of Rogan fans identify as Republican and around 70 percent have no college education.
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According to GOP strategist Tim Miller, who ran communications for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign, Rogan's audience is "the very demographic Democrats need to be worried about."
Miller noted that Biden appears to be losing support from "white men with heterodox political views," and from certain groups of voters of colors, especially Hispanics.
This demographic, Miller argued, is embracing conservatism because liberals are not willing to engage with them.
"If the only thing they’re getting is cultural commentary from the right, is it a surprise they’re turning toward the right? I don’t think so," he said.
Reaching Out To Rogan FansProgressive activist Briahna Joy Gray, who worked on Sanders' 2020 campaign, said that Democrats need to woo young, working-class men in order to win elections.
"If the Democrats aren’t going to go to working-class voters, Republicans will, and they do, and that’s what happens on a lot of these types of shows," Gray said of Rogan's podcast, stressing that "America isn’t filled with Michael Steeles, Rachel Maddows or Nicolle Wallaces."
Rogan's Influence
All available data suggests that Rogan is incredibly influential, whether Democrats and liberals like it or not.
As reported by The Week, The Joe Rogan Experience has been described as the "most influential platform" on the internet, and Rogan himself has been called an "important peripheral figure" in America's culture wars.
Even after dozens of liberal groups and media outlets came together to "cancel" Rogan for platforming COVID-19 disinformation, the CEO of Spotify came to his defense.
Rogan, as The New York Times put it, is simply "too big to cancel."
]]>The Inquisitr
