Kamala Harris' team wanted her to go on 'Hot Ones'. The show said no.
SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images
- Kamala Harris' campaign sought an appearance on "Hot Ones," but the show declined.
- Nontraditional media played a large role in the media strategy of both presidential campaigns.
- Harris campaign officials said "Hot Ones" didn't want to delve into politics.
Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign wanted her to appear on the popular internet show "Hot Ones," but the show declined, campaign officials said.
On a "Pod Save America" podcast episode about what went wrong with the Democratic presidential campaign, host Dan Pfeiffer interviewed Jen O'Malley Dillon, the Harris-Walz campaign chair, Quentin Fulks, deputy campaign manager, and senior advisors Stephanie Cutter and David Plouffe.
Pfeiffer, once an advisor to former President Barack Obama, asked about the campaign's media strategy.
"It was my understanding that you guys wanted to do a bunch of the larger, more popular, not specifically political podcasts," Pfeiffer said.
He asked why that may not have happened, citing "Hot Ones" as an ideal fit for the vice president.
"Never in time has there been a candidate better suited for a podcast than Kamala Harris on 'Hot Ones,'" he said.
The show, which has over 14 million YouTube subscribers, involves celebrities eating increasingly spicy wings as they discuss their lives and careers.
Recent guests include Bowen Yang, Paul Mescal, and Jimmy Fallon.
Stephanie Cutter, who spearheaded the campaign's media strategy, said: "I think if I remember correctly, on 'Hot Ones,' they didn't want to delve into politics."
She later elaborated, saying: "'Hot Ones,' which is a great show, they didn't want to do any politics, they weren't going to take us or him," referring to now-President-elect Donald Trump.
First We Feast, which produces "Hot Ones," did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
In its history, the show has never featured a political candidate.
In the interview, Pfeiffer also touched on Harris' absence from "The Joe Rogan Experience," despite Trump appearing on his podcast during the campaign.
Trump appeared on Rogan's podcast in October and talked with him for three hours.
Harris campaign officials said that Rogan wanted to conduct the interview in Texas, but logistically it was too difficult to make it happen in such a short race.
"What's clear is we offered to do it in Austin, people should know that," Plouffe said on the podcast. "It didn't work out."
This year's presidential election shone a light on a growing trend: politicians moving their fight to new media battlegrounds, everything from podcasts and gaming streams to Substacks and TikTok debates.
Trump pursued an unorthodox media strategy, which involved sitting down for many podcasts and YouTube shows as a way to target a key demographic — undecided and politically disengaged young men.