Trump Wins Over Swing Voters With Joe Rogan Interview: Analysis

Former President Donald Trump appears to have won over swing voters after his interview with podcaster Joe Rogan, according to new analysis conducted for Newsweek.
The Republican presidential candidate’s change in tone went over well with many in that category, Impact Social’s exclusive analysis of 40,000 people showed.
Since the tracker began in June 2020, during the previous presidential election campaign, Trump had not enjoyed a net-positive score, until his appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience.
“Trump presented himself in a way seldom seen on the campaign trail,” Phil Snape of Impact Social wrote. “Rather than ranting and railing, playing the victim and aggressor, Trump adopted a more conciliatory tone. This went down very well with many swing voters who spoke of Trump in way we have never seen before.”
The tracker showed Trump with a 16 percent positive rating, against a 13 percent negative score, with 71 percent having a neutral view of him.
During the interview, Trump spoke of his regrets from his first term in the White House, floated policy ideas including scrapping income tax, and repeated debunked claims about the 2020 election results.
Looking at swing voters’ reactions online, Impact Social found people viewed Trump as “thoughtful” and “wise” during his chat with Rogan, who challenged him on claims the last election was stolen.
Snape said many swing voters felt the conversation, which lasted three hours, helped Trump’s campaign by showing his stamina ahead of a rally in Michigan the same day.
“In addition, many independents thought the interview would remind voters of the reluctance of Kamala Harris to even sit down with the likes of Josh Rogan,” he wrote.
The vice president’s team had reportedly been in negotiations with Rogan for an appearance, but scheduling conflicts close to Election Day got in the way. Harris has appeared on podcasts Call Her Daddy and All the Smoke, in addition to radio shows hosted by Howard Stern and Charlamagne tha God.
Rogan’s show is the most watched podcast in the world. It has 14.5 million Spotify followers and 17.5 million YouTube subscribers. The episode with Trump racked up more than 26 million views on YouTube in the first 24 hours.
Those who were more left leaning in Impact Social’s analysis did not appear as impressed with Trump, who was still viewed as rambling and incoherent, still trying to defend his record.
Snape said despite that, the positive swing for Trump, who has trailed Harris in some positivity rankings in recent weeks, could not be ignored.
“One is left wondering how much better Trump might be faring had he adopted this more thoughtful, presidential style rather than the more aggressive, reactionary approach with which we are more familiar?” Snape said. “And might Trump be tempted to adopt a similar persona for the remainder of the campaign?
“Fast forward 24 hours to a rally in New York City and we quickly found our answer as The Donald morphed back into the Trump of old.”
Trump campaign adviser, Alex Bruesewitz, told Newsweek in an emailed statement that Trump was showing his human side by engaging with podcasters.
“Joe Rogan has the largest audience in the world, and a lot of these podcasters and comedians have much larger audiences than Mark Cuban’s doppelgänger Rachel Maddow,” Bruesewitz said.
For a copy of Impact Social’s full report please click here.
Update 10/28/24, 5:47 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Bruesewitz