Trump campaign adviser reveals who was really behind setting up his iconic Joe Rogan interview
A campaign aide to President Donald Trump revealed who was really behind his iconic sit-down with podcast giant Joe Rogan ahead of the 2024 election.
On Thursday's installment of the "Ruthless" podcast, Trump campaign adviser Alex Bruesewitz discussed the media strategy that propelled his boss to victory in November.
"President Trump actually has smart and impressive kids," Bruesewitz said. "All of them had input on the podcasts and the strategy of the campaign and what we did. I don't know if, you know, Jared and Ivanka want me to share this, but they were involved in setting up the Rogan interview."
"Wow," reacted "Ruthless" co-host Comfortably Smug.
"And Don [Jr.] had input on a lot of the different influencer meet-ups that we did," Bruesewitz continued. "So the whole family played a role in that. And it's a luxury for the president has. He has smart and capable kids and not Hunter Biden."
Smug also asked Bruesewitz how much "truth" there was to the reports that Barron Trump had influence in getting his father to lean into podcast interviews during the campaign.
"There's truth to that," Bruesewitz responded. "Barron's a really smart guy, and he's really plugged in. I mean, he's an 18-year-old dude. And every 18-year-old dude likes, you know, these podcasters, and he has input."
"It's also fascinating to me," co-host Josh Holmes later reacted. "I mean, look- generationally, you understand how they could understand a new media dynamic as it involves politics just because they're younger… but they sort of all instinctively get it."
"And I think why that's so remarkable is, look, there's a presidential election. He's running for President of the United States, as a former President of the United States, and to take those kinds of risks at that level, like you've got to be pretty confident in the strategy that you're trying to unroll. More importantly, he has to have some confidence, and you know what you're talking about," Holmes continued.
"Well, we ahead actually a lot of positive press early on from those interviews that we did," Bruesewitz said. "And so the press actually kind of reinforced the podcast strategy. And they probably don't want to hear that, but had the press covered it negatively, like they've covered everything else negatively, maybe it wouldn't have the same efficacy."
Bruezswitz went on describing Trump's podcast appearances as being a "numbers game" since the podcasts have "unique audiences."
"And if you spent an hour of your day talking to some guy that was gonna reach 15 million people on average on his YouTube show you might win some new voters," Bruezswitz said.
"Yeah, especially when you have a candidate who can handle it," Holmes said.
"We had a candidate where the more you heard from him, directly heard from him, the more you understood him and the more you liked him, or you you saw a side of him that the media didn't portray. And so we showcased that a little bit more," Bruezswitz said. "Kamala's situation was, the more you heard from her, the less you liked her."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Politico
33 minutes ago
- Politico
Thom Tillis denounces GOP megabill's Medicaid cuts in fiery speech
Hours after announcing his retirement, Republican Sen. Thom Tillis went to the Senate floor and slammed the GOP's plans for drastic Medicaid cuts — warning Republicans they are about to 'make a mistake on health care and betray a promise' if their sprawing domestic policy bill passes. 'It is inescapable this bill will betray the promise Donald Trump made,' Tillis said. 'I'm telling the president that you have been misinformed. You supporting the Senate mark will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid.' Tillis, who opposed the bill on a procedural vote Saturday night and then announced Sunday he would not seek reelection, said he could not vote for the Senate's bill because provisions that he said would kick some 663,000 residents of his state off their health care plans. He called on the Senate GOP to jettison its 'artificial' July 4 deadline and rewrite the bill. 'I respect President Trump, I support the majority of his agenda, but I don't bow to anybody when the people of North Carolina are at risk, and this puts them at risk,' Tillis told reporters after he left the floor. The two-term senator who has been known for working across the aisle said he had done his own research on how changes to so-called state directed payments and a new cap on medical providers taxes would affect his state — contacting state legislative leaders, the state's Democratic governor, Josh Stein and hospital groups. Tillis said he also talked to CMS Director Mehmet Oz and presented his findings that showed the best-case scenario was a $26 billion cut in federal support. 'After three different attempts for them to discredit our estimates, the day before yesterday they admitted that we were right,' Tillis said on the floor. 'They can't find a hole in my estimate.' In his remarks to reporters, he said Trump is 'getting a lot of advice from people who have never governed and all they've done is written white papers,' adding that he has 'people from an ivory tower driving him into a box canyon.' Tillis, who was elected to the Senate in 2014, compared Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' to the Affordable Care Act: 'The effect of this bill is to break a promise. And you know, the last time I saw a promise broken around health care, with respect to my friends on the other side of the aisle is when somebody said, 'If you like your health care, you can keep it.'' The Senate is now working through up to 20 hours of debate, before a marathon voting series of amendments scheduled to start Monday morning. Tillis said he might return to the floor to speak against the bill. Trump lambasted Tillis Saturday night after he voted against opening debate on the megabill, and Tillis said he'd already told Trump at that point he was likely to retire. 'Pretty much what I said on the floor is what I said to the president last night and I stand by it,' Tillis told reporters after the speech, adding later that he told the President he 'probably needed to start looking for a replacement.' 'I told him I want to help him,' Tillis added. 'I hope that we get a good candidate that I can help and we can have a successful 2026.'
San Francisco Chronicle
39 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Big Ugly Bill': California's top officials excoriate Trump's big bill while it is debated in Senate
California's top Democrats condemned President Donald Trump's signature domestic policy package Sunday, as the U.S. Senate continued to debate its version of Trump's 'big, beautiful bill.' The legislation is a vast array of tax breaks and spending cuts, plus additional money for national defense and deportations, that Republicans say are crucial to keeping the country running. Democrats, however, have said it will destroy state budgets and lives, particularly among the most vulnerable who rely on government-funded programs. 'Millions will lose health care. Hundreds of thousands of jobs will be lost. Electricity costs will skyrocket. Needy families will lose access to food,' Gov. Gavin Newsom posted on the social media platform X on Sunday. 'The GOP's budget bill does all that so @realDonaldTrump can give hundreds of billions in tax breaks to his rich friends.' 'Late last night, Senate Republicans voted to advance Trump's Big Ugly Bill that strips health care from nearly a million people MORE than the version passed by the House,' California Sen. Alex Padilla also posted to X on Sunday. 'All to give tax breaks to big corporations and billionaires.' As of Sunday night, Senators were still debating the measure, which Trump had wanted to sign by July 4. The bill must still win final House approval, as well. The Associated Press reported Sunday that a new analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the Senate bill would increase the deficit by nearly $3.3 trillion from 2025 to 2034, which is nearly $1 trillion more than the House-passed bill. The office also concluded that nearly 12 million Americans would lose their health insurance by 2034 if the bill becomes law. The legislation would make permanent many of the tax breaks from Trump's first term that were set to expire by year's end, while adding new breaks, leading to a total of $4 trillion in tax cuts. The Senate package would also roll back billions in green energy tax credits and impose roughly $1.2 trillion in cuts, mostly to Medicaid and food assistance, while committing $350 billion to national security, part of which would pay for Trump's mass deportation agenda, according to the Associated Press. California Democrats have warned that the cuts, particularly to Medicaid, would decimate federal spending by imposing more checks on enrollees and providers, establishing work requirements and reducing funding to states that provide insurance to undocumented immigrants. To compensate, state lawmakers have said that states will need to raise taxes and shift funds from other programs. More than a quarter of Californians are on the state's Medicaid program, including 41% of all children, 49% of adults with disabilities and 41% of people living in nursing homes. Throughout the weekend, California representatives turned to X to weigh in. On Sunday, California Sen. Adam Schiff said that Trump's 'Big Ugly Bill' would strip health insurance away from millions of people while driving up energy costs. 'The longer this bill exposed to the sunlight,' U.S. Rep. Lateefah Simon, D-Oakland, wrote on Saturday. 'The more people will be able to see what this Republican disaster really is: an unforgivable betrayal of American values and governance that will cause significant, tangible harm to millions of people nationwide for years to come AND disproportionately impact communities of color, the disability community, and seniors.' 'GOP Senators whose states will be screwed by Trump's budget bill are now cutting side deals, eg, exempt Alaska from SNAP work requirements & give $ to rural hospitals,' State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, also wrote. 'All in service of kicking tens of millions off health care & food assistance to fund tax cuts for rich people.'
Fox News
39 minutes ago
- Fox News
Ted Cruz: This was the Left's 'preferred tool' to wage lawfare against Trump
All times eastern FOX News Radio Live Channel Coverage WATCH LIVE: Senate convenes over President Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
