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Harris Campaign Staffer Suggests Joe Rogan Podcast Used Her as ‘Leverage’ to Get Trump

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A senior advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign suggested that she didn’t appear on The Joe Rogan Experience because the popular host was using her as “leverage” to get President Donald Trump as a guest.

Four staffers from Harris’ campaign appeared on the podcast Pod Save America on Tuesday. Stephanie Cutter, the campaign’s senior advisor for strategy messaging, said that Harris wanted to appear on the show, but the timing didn’t work out.

Since Rogan refused to travel, Harris had to appear in person at his Austin, Texas studio. The campaign hoped that Harris could do The Joe Rogan Experience while she was in Houston for a rally with Beyoncé, Mediaite reported. However, that was also the day that Trump was taping his episode.

READ MORE: Joe Rogan Reveals He Contracted COVID in Florida and Is Taking Dangerous Dewormer Popular Among Right Wingers

“We were hoping to fit it in around that ultimately weren’t able to do it. As it turns out, that was the day that Trump was taping his Joe Rogan, which they had never confirmed to us, we just kind of figured that out in the lead up to it,” Cutter said.

Another campaign staffer, senior advisor David Plouffe, President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, suggested that the attempts to set up an interview with Harris may have been intended to convince Trump to appear on the show instead.

“Yeah, Dan, so what’s clear is we offered to do it in Austin, people should know that. It didn’t work out. Maybe they leveraged that to get Trump in studio, I don’t know, and then, you know, we were obviously not going to be back in Texas, but offered to do it on the road,” Plouffe said.

Rogan himself said when the Trump interview was released that a Harris interview was still a possibility, and confirmed that he insisted that she come to his studio.

“Also, for the record the Harris campaign has not passed on doing the podcast. They offered a date for Tuesday, but I would have had to travel to her and they only wanted to do an hour. I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin. My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being. I really hope we can make it happen,” Rogan said at the time.

Though Rogan ultimately endorsed Trump the day before the election, in the months leading up to it, he praised Harris. In September, Rogan said “she’s nailing it,” referring to her campaign and debate performance. Rogan was also briefly on the outs with Trump after endorsing his one-time third party opponent Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Joe Rogan Experience has 14.5 million followers on Spotify, according to Bloomberg, and another 18 million on YouTube. Trump’s interview with Rogan currently has 50 million views, Mediaite reported. Many pundits have suggested that not appearing on the show cost Harris the election.

Some have placed blame on staffers uncomfortable with her appearing on Rogan’s show after Jennifer Palmieri, one of second gentleman Doug Emhoff’s senior advisors, told Financial Times that there were worries about a Democratic Party backlash. Rogan is a controversial figure who spread COVID-19 misinformation during the pandemic. He’s also used his show to platform conspiracy theorists like Alex Jones.

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Two-Thirds of Dems View Socialism ‘Positively’ as Capitalism Support Falls: Poll

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More than two-thirds of Democrats have a “positive” view of socialism, according to a new poll that also shows support for capitalism at a new low among Americans.

Approximately 39% of Americans overall say they have a “positive” view of socialism, according to Gallup polling. Though that number has held relatively steady, it’s increased slightly over the last 15 years; in 2010, support for socialism was at 36%. But when broken out by political party, 66% of Democrats view socialism positively, compared to 14% of Republicans and 38% of independents.

Historically, Democrats trend much more toward socialism than other groups. In 2010, half of those who identified themselves as Democrats said they were in favor, and that number increased over the years. Independents, however, have stayed relatively steady, in the 34%-41% range.

Republicans’ views towards socialism tend to be more volatile, though the proportion who view the system positively has never reached more than a quarter. The current 14% is right in the middle, with a low of 9% in 2019 to a high of 24% in 2012.

READ MORE: McConnell Goes Berserk – Says Granting Puerto Rico Statehood, Voting Rights, Representation Is ‘Full Bore Socialism’

The proportion of Americans who support capitalism hit the lowest point in 15 years, 54%. About 60% of Americans have historically supported capitalism over the last 15 years, with the rate dipping to 56% in 2018. About three-quarters, 74%, of Republicans have a positive view of capitalism, which has held mostly steady over the last 15 years, with a peak of 78% in 2019 and a low of 67% in 2016.

But among Democrats and independent voters, support for capitalism is on the wane. In the latest polling, 42% of Democrats and 51% of independents have a positive view of capitalism, the lowest number for both groups in 15 years.

The poll was conducted between August 1-20, polling 1,094 American adults via telephone, with a margin of error of 4%.

While there have been a few socialist candidates to find success—in 1910, Wisconsin’s Victor Berger was the first Socialist elected to Congress—socialism generally has faced an uphill battle in the United States. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is credited with the recent mainstream acceptance of socialism by GovFacts.org.

Recently, however, Democratic socialists have seen victory. Zohran Mamdani, the New York City mayoral candidate, trounced both current mayor Eric Adams and former Governor Andrew Cuomo in the primary election. However, both Adams and Cuomo have refused to end their campaigns so he will again face them—along with Republican candidate and founder of the Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa—in the general this November.

Image via Flickr under Creative Commons

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MTG Slams Trump for Breaking Campaign Promises on ‘Foreign Wars’ and ‘Regime Change’

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In a lengthy post to X, formerly Twitter, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) slammed President Donald Trump for breaking his campaign promises of “No more foreign wars. No more regime change. World Peace.”

Greene’s Monday morning post criticized the Trump administration for not just bombing three Iranian sites, but for changing its claims about the success of the strikes.

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Tops List of Ultra MAGA Hardliners Pursuing Promotions — and Power

“I spent millions of my own money and TRAVELED THE ENTIRE COUNTRY campaigning for President Trump and his MAGA agenda and his promises. And Trump’s MAGA agenda included these key promises: NO MORE FOREIGN WARS. NO MORE REGIME CHANGE. WORLD PEACE. And THIS is what the people voted for,” Greene wrote. “Only 6 months in and we are back into foreign wars, regime change, and world war 3.”

“After the bombs were dropped, we were told ‘complete success’ and Iran’s nuclear capabilities were totally wiped out. Then it quickly turned to Iran’s nuclear facilities ‘partially damaged’ and now it’s ‘we don’t know where their enriched uranium is,'” she continued.

Greene’s comment about Iran’s enriched uranium refers to conflicting statements by members of the Trump administration. On Sunday, Vice President J.D. Vance said Iran still has its uranium stockpile. However, the following day, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the strikes had “completely and totally obliterated” Iran’s nuclear sites, including its uranium stockpiles.

Though a longtime supporter of Trump, this weekend’s attack on Iran has led Greene to criticize the president for the first time. On Sunday, Greene shared a long post to X stating that she’d never known any American who was “the victim of a crime or killed by Iran,” saying the effort against Iran would be better used in the War on Drugs.

“I’m 51 years old. I’m GenX. I’ve watched our country go to war in foreign lands for foreign causes on behalf of foreign interests for as long as I can remember. I was in 10th grade when Desert Storm started and my father before me was sent to Vietnam, another senseless foreign war. America is $37 TRILLION in debt and all of these foreign wars have cost Americans TRILLIONS AND TRILLIONS of dollars that never benefited any American,” she wrote. “I’m sick of it.”

“I can easily say I support nuclear armed Israel’s right to defend themselves and also say at the same time I don’t want to fight or fund nuclear armed Israel’s wars,” she added.

Greene is not the only MAGA figure to criticize Trump’s moves against Iran. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) said Sunday “there was no imminent threat” from Iran. In response, Trump posted to his social platform Truth Social saying that Massie “is not MAGA, even though he likes to say he is.” Trump then promised to campaign against Massie in the upcoming Republican primary. On Monday, he doubled down, re-sharing his original Truth Social post, adding “GET THIS ‘BUM’ OUT OF OFFICE, ASAP!!!”

As of this writing, Trump has not responded to Greene’s comments.

Image via Shutterstock

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Trump Calls On ‘Everyone’ to ‘Keep Oil Prices Down’: ‘I’m Watching!’

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Following a brief jump in oil prices following the United States’ attacks on Iran, President Donald Trump called for the world to keep prices low.

Trump made the call Monday morning on his social media platform Truth Social.

“EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!” Trump wrote.

In a follow-up post made two minutes later, he elaborated:

“To The Department of Energy: DRILL, BABY, DRILL!!! And I mean NOW!!!”

READ MORE: ‘Drill Baby Drill’: Trump Has Just One Answer When Asked How He Will Bring Food Prices Down

Oil prices did jump late Sunday night after the attack, according to the Associated Press, but had fallen by Monday morning. The jump was driven by the attack itself, but fell as investors speculated on how Iran would respond, the AP reported. While the price did fall, oil prices are still about $10 higher per barrel than they were last week.

Trump’s “Drill, Baby, Drill” refrain is a popular Republican slogan, calling for an increase in drilling for oil and gas on American soil. Advocates say this would reduce the United States’ reliance on foreign powers—like the OPEC nations—for energy. Critics point to the environmental impact, with the Center for American Progress warning that pro-drilling policies can cause more oil spills in the world’s oceans.

A “Drill, Baby, Drill” policy also has critics from the economic side. Though the industry does provide jobs, oil prices are too volatile to base an economy on, according to Ryan Cooper in The Week. Cooper and the CAP both also point out that focusing on fossil fuels undermines efforts to increase alternative energy sources like wind and solar—alternatives that could be more consistent and, unlike oil, do not run the risk of being depleted.

Trump has long railed against alternative energy sources. He famously said that wind turbines are harmful to birds. While it’s true that birds can be killed by wind turbines, experts at MIT say the number of birds killed annually from flying into turbines pales in comparison to most other causes of wild bird deaths. While turbines can be linked to between 140,000 and 679,000 bird deaths a year, cats kill between 988 million and 4 billion. Fossil fuel projects kill nearly 20 times more birds than turbines, MIT’s experts say.

Image via Reuters

 

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