Democratic podcast host and co-founder of the Center for New Liberalism, Jeremiah Johnson, criticized the “progressive” faction of his party, blaming them for pushing out former liberals like podcaster Joe Rogan by pushing “culture war” issues.
During Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, some Democrats warned the presidential nominee about her messaging to voters, with others urging her to tell the “progressive left” to “fuck off.” On “Offline with Jon Favreau,” host Jon Favreau asked Johnson why he believes the image of the Democratic Party has shifted, noting that Democrats were once seen as “cool.”
“When I was growing up, if anybody was going to get mad at something that was said on a comedy special or on Saturday Night Live, it was going to be a Republican. It was the moral majority. It was when Christian conservatism was such an enormous force in American politics, even more so than it is today,” Johnson said.
“Something has switched where we all know this, that if something gets said on Saturday night live that is off-color or offensive or outrageous or whatever today, it’s going to be Democrats getting mad at it. I think part of this is it’s not the party itself,” Johnson added. “It’s not Nancy Pelosi necessarily doing this or Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, but there’s kind of this blob. There’s kind of this progressive blob of activists and academics and nonprofit workers and journalists. They do a lot of scolding and shaming and, and lecturing about all kinds of topics. This is what colors people’s perceptions of Democrats.”
Johnson went on to say that because Harris didn’t campaign on progressive issues like “DEI” or “niche trans issues,” he didn’t blame her for the party’s progress, noting that he doesn’t believe there will be progressive cultural influences like Rogan.
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“I don’t blame Kamala Harris for this individually. I don’t think this is her personal fault because I didn’t see her going out and campaigning on like DEI or saying ‘Latinx’ or niche trans issues or whatever the culture war is right now. But it’s these kind of stand in Democrats, these people who cement the view in the public eye of what a Democrat is, but who have no formal allegiance to the party,” Johnson continued.
“This ultimately is one of the reasons that I think the whole conversation about, you know, can there be a progressive Joe Rogan? I don’t think that it’s possible because I don’t think that Joe Rogan, you know, decided to leave and become a right winger of his own accord,” Johnson said. “I think we pushed him out. I think this was an active choice that a lot of people made that we don’t want or need Joe Rogan because, as has been observed by many people, if you want to — kind of a Democratic Joe Rogan, a Joe Rogan character who is sympathetic to Democratic ideas, we already had one, and his name was Joe Rogan.”
Just over a week before Election Day, Rogan released a nearly three-hour episode with President-elect Donald Trump, discussing his plans for a second administration and reflecting on his first years in the White House. The night before the election, the popular podcast host endorsed the former president, stating that billionaire Elon Musk had made a strong case on his behalf.
Since the election, Democrats have struggled to understand how the vice president lost both the Electoral College and popular vote to Trump, with MSNBC’s Jen Psaki on Sunday stating that the party is in the “wilderness” with “no clear leader.”
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