Reflecting on an election cycle that was dominated by podcasts and non-traditional media, the deputy campaign manager for the Harris–Walz campaign said there’s “no value” in speaking to mainstream press, notably the New York Times or Washington Post anymore.
Rob Flaherty, a key figure in crafting Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign strategy, admitted to Semafor in an interview that Republicans successfully expanded their alternative media presence with influencers, streamers, podcasters and more.
He maintained that stance in a recent interview with the online news outlet, saying the Harris campaign chose to focus on podcast appearances and interviews with influencers over traditional media to compete with Donald Trump’s campaign.
“There’s just no value — with respect to my colleagues in the mainstream press — in a general election, to speaking to the New York Times or speaking to the Washington Post, because those [readers] are already with us,” Flaherty told Semafor.
Flaherty said the Harris–Walz campaign knew going into the 2024 presidential election they would need to woo less engaged voters, that’s to say the people uninterested in politics who may get their news from social media or podcasts.
That meant Harris needed to use her limited time wisely and with survey data showing the legacy news outlets were already on board, she turned her attention to less traditional media.
Harris appeared on popular podcasts such as Call Her Daddy, Club Shay Shay and All the Smoke toward the end of her campaign. She joined the radio show, The Breakfast Club, in addition to making appearances on mainstream television shows: The View and Fox News’s Special Report with Bret Baier.
But at that point, it was too late.
Trump’s team had already established a base with podcasts such as Bussin’ With the Boys, Break 50, Impaulsive, This Past Weekend and Full Send. He made time for controversial streamer Aidin Ross. The fireworks end to his campaign was an appearance on the most popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
During his appearances, he spoke directly to Americans who were unhappy with the Biden administration and promised sweeping change that would directly impact them. Harris, on the other hand, largely promised more of the same.
Messaging aside, Flaherty said the Trump campaign made smart decisions to generate conversation on social media – he cited Trump working a McDonald’s shift as one of them.
“When Trump did the McDonald’s thing, it was smart, because it was a thing that obviously drove television coverage, but it also drove social media engagement too,” Flaherty said. “And those things often happen in tandem, but they don’t always, and so it was the sweet spot. It drove traditional coverage and nontraditional media. I don’t think TV is dead. It’s still probably the most important thing, but it’s the literal TV and what’s on it that matters.”
Harris had her moment early in her campaign when “brat summer” briefly took over social media and news networks. But the coconut memes can only go on so long before people are hunting for the next best thing.
