The Deadline ElectionLine podcast spotlights the blast radius of the 2024 election and the often blurred lines between politics and entertainment in modern America. Hosted by Deadline political editor Ted Johnson and executive editor Dominic Patten, the podcast features commentary and interviews with top lawmakers and entertainment figures. As Trump 2.0 comes together and the post-election analysis and arguing continues, follow everything on the ElectionLine hub on Deadline.
In all the analysis and adjudicating over Donald Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris, the decision by the Vice President to not go on Joe Rogan instead of a SNL cameo is now widely being seen as one of the pivotal missteps of the 2024 election.
As Trump pal and UFC boss Dana White made a point of proclaiming during Trump’s Palm Beach November 5 victory celebration: “I wanna thank the Nelk Boys, Adin Ross, Theo Von, Bussin’ with the Boys, and last but not least, the mighty and powerful Joe Rogan.”
Yet, as User Mag founder Taylor Lorenz points out today on the Deadline ElectionLine podcast, was the VP’s rebuff of Rogan really that big a deal?
“I think one media appearance with nontraditional media in that sort of environment, especially so late in the election, I think wouldn’t have helped, because ultimately the Democrats don’t have the broader sort of media machine that the right has,” the former New York Times and Washington Post reporter says.
In a recent posting, Lorenz put Trump on Rogan, Harris not on Rogan and the podcast-fueled election in the clearest of contexts: “While the right has spent years fostering a symbiotic relationship with alternative media, the left has failed to replicate anything like it.”
Taylor Lorenz
Courtesy photo
Not that all is lost for the Dems, Lorenz tells us, but they have to work for it to catch up with the GOP in the nontraditional and parasocial media realms.
“There’s a huge opportunity for Democrats if they want it,” she says. “I think the issue is … they don’t learn the lessons.”
“They need to just be willing to engage with people that disagree with them on the internet and go into these spaces that might be uncomfortable, that are a bit more unscripted, but try to develop those voices.”
Our wide-ranging discussion also takes us on the information autobahn, and into middle-age media and creator blackballing. Plus, there are onramps about the disarming appeal of Trump on cocaine addiction with Theo Von, and some Scandal. Take a listen above, or on podcasting hosting platforms.
(L-R) Donald Trump meets with Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Wednesday
Alex Wong/Getty Images
Also on the podcast this week, while Trump may have been all smiles and handshakes with Joe Biden at the White House, the former and future POTUS has been ripping through official Washington, D.C. like a mad dog since heading back to Mar-a-Lago.
The sudden nomination of Matt Gaetz for Attorney General was a reminder that self-declared dictator-for-a-day Trump, in his next term, is anxious to push the limits of his power. It’s a loyalty challenge for Republican Senate leaders, many of whom were shocked at the announcement — as they may be for cabinet nominations for controversial MAGA troopers like former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Fox News host Pete Hegseth and RFK Jr.
Still, Trump sycophant Gaetz pushes even GOP loyalists to the limits, which is saying something. The just-resigned Florida congressman was investigated by the DOJ for breaking sex-trafficking laws during a Bahamas trip with prostitutes. That probe ended without charges, but Gaetz was also the subject of a now-shuttered ethics investigation in the House of Representatives over sexual misconduct claims, illegal drug use and campaign funds misuse.
As Ted and Dominic discuss, Gaetz may not ultimately get confirmed, either by the Senate or through a recess appointment, but the pick was a message of how the president-elect intends to break the norms of the Justice Department and perhaps pursue political enemies.
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