A comedian who built a career talking into a microphone has, for now, declined a seat that no one had quite offered him, and in doing so has touched a question older than any podcast: who gets to stand in the room where power answers questions, and what counts as the work of asking them. Joe Rogan's refusal, made among friends on a Friday conversation, reflects a moment in which the lines between entertainer, commentator, and reporter have grown blurry in the wake of a campaign that many called the podcast election. The matter of briefing-room access remains open, and the answer his own words
Joe Rogan Says Podcasters Don't Belong in Trump Press Conferences Alongside Real Journalists
"We're not press people. We talk s---."
Mark
Why does it matter that Rogan said this, rather than some random podcaster?
Mimi
Because he's the person the whole idea of a podcast election points to. He interviewed Trump and later endorsed him. When he says podcasters aren't press, it carries weight with the exact audience Sacks is talking about.
Luke
Worth noting what this is, though: remarks on a comedians' conversation, not a formal statement. And no one has shown that a front-row offer for podcasters was actually on the table.
Mark
Right, Sacks's comment was more a complaint than a policy?
Mimi
As the report describes it, Sacks said the administration lost podcasters with recent policies and should have given them front-row seats. That's an argument, not an announced change.
Luke
And we only have Rogan's recollection of it. The report doesn't quote Sacks directly.
Mark
What about the gaggle complaint? Is that separate?
Mimi
It's related. He's saying the shouting-over-each-other format is already a bad podcast, so adding more people with opinions wouldn't help.
Luke
Fair, but that's his characterization of the gaggles. The piece doesn't measure how chaotic they've been compared with earlier ones.
Mark
And the new media seat already exists?
Mimi
Leavitt was credited with creating it, right at the front by the podium. So the door was already opened a bit. Rogan is saying he wouldn't walk through it.
Der Puls
- Joe Rogan rejected David Sacks' proposal to hand podcasters front-row seats at White House press conferences, and he did it bluntly.
- Rogan says podcasters are not journalists, and he refuses to be the one sitting in front asking Karoline Leavitt questions.
- The briefings themselves are chaotic, with reporters shouting over one another, and Rogan calls the behavior rude and annoying.
- The debate over new media access to the briefing room is unresolved, and it is not clear whether the White House will act on Sacks' idea.
A comedian who built a career talking into a microphone has, for now, declined a seat that no one had quite offered him, and in doing so has touched a question older than any podcast: who gets to stand in the room where power answers questions, and what counts as the work of asking them. Joe Rogan's refusal, made among friends on a Friday conversation, reflects a moment in which the lines between entertainer, commentator, and reporter have grown blurry in the wake of a campaign that many called the podcast election. The matter of briefing-room access remains open, and the answer his own words point toward is that the people who ask should be the people who are actually trained to do so.
On Friday, Joe Rogan sat down with comedians Shane Gillis, Mark Normand, and Ari Shaffir and spent part of the conversation turning down a job nobody had formally offered him. White House advisor David Sacks had suggested that podcasters deserve front-row seats at presidential press conferences. Rogan's answer was blunt: "We talk s---."
The conversation started with the chaos of President Donald Trump's recent press gaggles. Rogan described the core problem as one of manners. When someone asks a question, a person beside them just talks louder with a different one. He said it was annoying, and that a good reporter should be allowed to ask their question while others wait their turn with a raised hand.
When Rogan turned to Sacks, who chairs the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, he recalled Sacks complaining that the administration had lost the podcasters and should have offered them front-row seats. Rogan's reply was, "Hey, how about no?" The seats, he argued, belong to real journalists. He said he would never take one himself, and that it is a sickness of society that people take podcasters' opinions so seriously, though he admitted that it works.
Rogan has a stake in this debate. Podcasters were prominent in the 2024 election, and Rogan interviewed Trump during that campaign before later endorsing him. The question of briefing-room seating also has recent history: Karoline Leavitt, the former press secretary, created a "new media seat" near the podium for bloggers and influencers.
Whether the White House will act on Sacks' suggestion is still unclear. What is certain is that one of podcasting's most prominent voices has declined the invitation, and the question of where new media belongs in White House coverage remains unsettled.
On Friday, Joe Rogan sat down with comedians Shane Gillis, Mark Normand, and Ari Shaffir and spent part of the conversation turning down a job nobody had formally offered him. The idea, floated by White House advisor David Sacks, was that podcasters deserve front-row seats at presidential press conferences. Rogan's answer was blunt: "We talk s---."
The discussion began as a joke about how chaotic President Donald Trump's recent press gaggles have been, and how much the format itself contributes. Rogan described the central problem as one of manners. Someone asks a question, he said, and a person standing right beside them simply talks louder with a completely different one. "It is f---ing annoying," he said. "And they don't care. It's a bad podcast!" He repeated the line a moment later for emphasis.
His prescription was simple. If a reporter has a good question, he said, let that person ask it. Anyone with a question of their own can raise a hand and wait to be called on, rather than shouting over somebody else's.
Then he turned to Sacks, who chairs the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Rogan recalled Sacks complaining that the administration had lost the podcasters with its recent policies, and that it should have given them a front-row seat at news conferences. Rogan's reply was, "Hey, how about no?" He said the seats should go to real journalists instead, and that podcasters shouldn't be asked to fill them.
He was explicit that he wouldn't take one himself. "We're not going to the f---ing press conferences and sitting in the front row and asking questions to Karoline Leavitt," he said. "We're not press people." He added that it is a sickness of society that people take the opinions of podcasters so seriously. It shouldn't be that way, he said, but they do, and, in his words, "it works, unfortunately."
Rogan is not a bystander to this argument. Podcasters played a prominent role in the 2024 presidential election, which came to be nicknamed the "podcast election" as candidates sought out voters through podcasts and other alternative media. Rogan interviewed Trump during that campaign and later endorsed him.
The question of who gets a seat in the briefing room has its own recent history. Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary, was credited with opening the room to alternative media by creating a "new media seat." Located at the front, just steps from the podium, it allowed bloggers, social media influencers, and others to question the press secretary during briefings.
Whether the White House takes up Sacks' suggestion is not addressed in the remarks. What is clear is that one of the most prominent figures in the podcast world has declined the invitation in advance, and that the debate over where new media belongs in White House press coverage remains unsettled.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
We're not going to the press conferences. We're not press people. We talk s---.— Joe Rogan
Rogan recalled Sacks saying the administration lost podcasters with recent policies and should have given them front-row seats.— Joe Rogan, describing David Sacks' complaint
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