Kamala Harris’ Beyoncé rally was apparently part of plan to meet Joe Rogan

Much has been made about former Vice President Kamala Harris’ lack of an endorsement—or even a platform—from podcaster and former NewsRadio actor Joe Rogan. It was previously reported that Rogan refused to take an interview outside of his Austin, Texas base and the Harris campaign couldn’t make it work. However, according to a new report from NBC News, the campaign tried really hard to make it work and was shifting plans constantly to try to court Rogan’s audience. 

You may recall that Harris did go to Texas in October and it was a pretty major deal. Beyoncé (and Kelly Rowland, who is unceremoniously ignored in the NBC News article) introduced the vice president, and the rally focused on Texas’ strict anti-abortion laws, presenting the state as a warning to the rest of the country about another Trump presidency. The planning of that event already sounds like a bit of a mess; insiders recall that Beyoncé was supposed to sing Lemonade track and Harris campaign song “Freedom” a capella as Harris took the stage, but ultimately just spoke at the rally. “The plan changed like 20 times that day,” one person associated said. But the decision to go to Texas at all earned some righteous side-eyes, given that it was never really a swing stage in the 2024 election. 

Apparently, the whole reason for this stop was to be close enough to appear on The Joe Rogan Experience should its host deign to speak with Harris. Whether from Rogan directly or merely from his team, it sounds like Harris was screwed over by the endeavor. Harris’ team pitched meeting with Rogan on October 25th—the day of the Beyoncé rally—but was told that he had it blocked as a personal day. Ultimately, Rogan spoke with President Donald Trump that day. Harris’ team still tried to arrange another meeting with him closer to the election, but Rogan again refused to leave Texas and the campaign couldn’t justify another trip to the red state. The rest, unfortunately, is history. You can check out NBC News' full report on the situation here.