THE POWER OF THE PODCAST: Few Politicians Have Appeared on Joe Rogan’s Podcast. But Data Shows They Should Be Targeting His Fans.

Politicians, especially Democrats, have largely eschewed appearances on Joe Rogan’s chart-topping Spotify podcast, where the elevation of bigoted rhetoric and COVID-19 denialism has thrust him into the center of America’s cultural and political fissures.

But despite these controversies — or perhaps because of them — the Ultimate Fighting Championship commentator has amassed an enormous and loyal audience for his show, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” New Morning Consult research of self-described “avid” Rogan fans reveals a following that leans Republican, though many say the cohort could also be receptive to a Democratic message.

“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,” said Briahna Joy Gray, who worked as national press secretary for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. Referring to the left’s comfort with the personalities of the safe Democratic airwaves of MSNBC, she said, “America isn’t filled with Michael Steeles, Rachel Maddows or Nicolle Wallaces.”

Plus: “An analysis of Americans who described themselves as avid Rogan fans found a group whose average member is younger, more likely to identify as Republican and less likely to be white than the average nonfan.”

I had been assured that younger, nonwhite people were the future of the Democrat party.