Trump’s dominance over mainstream and alternative media has forced Vice President Kamala Harris into a media blitz of her own that has monumentally fallen flat.

• by: Kenny Cody
• 10/21/2024

If there is one aspect of politics former President Donald Trump has never been afraid of, it is putting himself out there for the entire world to see, regardless of platform. Over the last few months, Trump has appeared on such a large variety of podcasts, television shows, panels, and interviews that it has been hard not to see or hear him if you can access cable, satellite, radio, or social media. Whether it be sports, culture, comedy, or mainstream, the olive branch Trump has extended to all forms of media has made a sustainable impact on his race against Vice President and Democratic Presidential nominee Kamala Harris. While many questioned Trump’s motivations when he started his media blitz, he has now forced even Harris to expand her idea of campaigning in media due to changing poll numbers likely impacted by his strategy.

The lion’s den for Republicans in politics has always been the mainstream media, and arguably no other politician in modern American history has been as willing as Trump has been to not only give himself a platform to reach a broad audience but also expose how biased most of the media can be. In recent months, Trump has sat down for interviews with Fox News and even a one-on-one with the liberal outlet Bloomberg News. While Harris did not sit down for an interview until late September of this year, Trump has been as accessible as ever to the media that hates him the most, as well as those who want to hear from his perspective and life experience rather than just as a political candidate, as the mainstream media does.

Trump has now made alternative media a commonality for presidential candidates to appear on in an election cycle, through his participation in some of the most popular podcasts in the world. To date, Trump has appeared on shows such as the Lex Friedman Podcast, This Past Sundaywith comedian Theo Von, The PBD Podcast with YouTube Sensation Patrick Bet-David, comedian Andrew Shultz’s Flagrant, Impaulsivewith influencer and professional wrestler Logan Paul, Full Send with social media influencers the Nelk Boys, and even Bussin’ with the Boyswith former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan. In addition to podcast appearances, Trump did a live Space with Tesla founder and X owner Elon Musk. The summation of these interviews gave the audiences of each show exposure to the former President and a personal insight into how Trump ticks, his interests, his family, and his views on topics that each podcast honed in on.

While Lex Friedman concentrated mainly on Trump’s political and cultural impact, many other shows centered around topics most people had never heard Trump discuss. With Andrew Shultz, Trump spoke about the comedic timing around the nicknames he had given his opponents in the Republican Party primaries and Democratic foes. In his appearance on Patrick Bet-David’s show, he talked about the disenfranchisement of black voters and what he did to kill the mainstream media. On the Full Send podcast, Trump spoke about his love for golf, its impact on the college-aged men demographic, and his connection to UFC President Dana White. With Logan Paul, Trump talked about his connection to both the WWE and the boxing arena, which Paul himself emerged as a significant figure. During his appearance on Bussin’ with the Boys, he talked with Lewan and Compton about why he did not play football, his favorite NFL players, and personal athletic interests in both hosts’ careers.

However, the two most personally impactful appearances stood out in his appearances with Theo Von and Elon Musk. With Von, Trump discussed the importance of mental health and the epidemic of fighting addiction in the country. The former President talked about his brother Fred’s struggle with alcoholism, which eventually led to his demise, and showed Von empathy when he began to talk about his issues with substance abuse. This gave Trump a whole new view into his family and personal life to the audience watching on matters he had only talked about very few times before.

With Musk, Trump focused his attention on the presidential race, and Musk decided to endorse him. While the two had a fun conversation, the topic that stood out the most during the interview was talking about Trump’s first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. The former President discussed how his children reacted, how his wife and former First Lady Melania Trump found out, and his feelings about how being shot felt, as well as the aftermath. To hear Trump discuss the attempt so precisely and in detail created one of the most surreal interviews imaginable, and it gave the American public a look into a historic and tragic moment in United States history.

Trump’s dominance over mainstream and alternative media has forced Vice President Kamala Harris into a media blitz of her own that has monumentally fallen flat. This has led to Trump swaying swing state polls in his direction through unconventional means.

President Trump has always been the center of the media’s attention. Still, by forcing the mainstream to cover his large rallies and appearances on many shows and podcasts, Trump has set himself up nicely leading toward November.