Trump leaves Michigan rally goers waiting in the cold for hours to record Joe Rogan’s podcast

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) – Many of Donald Trump’s supporters left a rally in Michigan before his arrival after the former president made them wait three hours to record a popular podcast interview.

Those remaining at the outdoor rally on the tarmac huddled on a cold Friday evening waiting for the former president to land on the battlefield.

Trump apologized to the audience for the delay, which he blamed on his interview with Joe Rogan the most listened to podcaster in the country and an influential voice among younger male voters that Trump is aggressively courting.

The interview, recorded in Austin, Texas, aired on Friday evening and lasted a whopping three hours, with Trump telling many famous stories from his rallies and other interviews, but also talking to Rogan about topics such as the existence of UFOs.

Democrat Kamala Harris was also in Texas Friday for performance with superstar Beyoncé in Houston during an event dedicated to the conservative state’s abortion ban, which was passed after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The three justices who voted to overturn Roe were nominated by Trump.

Minutes before Trump’s rally in Michigan was scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. EST, his spokesman posted on social media platform X that Trump was currently leaving Texas, more than two hours away by plane. Trump recorded a video from his plane in which he urged his supporters to stay, noting that it was Friday night and promising, “We’re going to have a good time tonight.”

Trump eventually took the stage at the Traverse City airport, where the temperature dropped to about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). The crowd erupted in cheers as video screens showed Trump’s plane arriving and then him disembarking from the plane and walking down the stairs.

“I’m very sorry,” he said. “We were very close and I thought you wouldn’t mind because we’re trying to win.”

Participants who had not left packed, some covered with blankets, waited for him to land. The crowd sounded and looked disengaged as North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon tried to pass the time on stage. Hats were thrown to the participants.

Among those remaining at the Trump rally were John and Cheryl Sowash, who live in Traverse City and arrived at the airport at 4 p.m.

“Things happen,” John said. “He talked to a lot more people talking to Joe Rogan than here.”

Indeed, Cheryl said she was worried about Trump, who missed talking to larger crowds.

“He will be disappointed because there were twice as many people here. He missed it,” she said.

Rogan’s interview highlights Trump’s focus on masculinity

The interview with Rogan provided another opportunity for the GOP nominee to emphasize the hypermasculine tone that has largely defined his 2024 White House bid. Trump made masculinity a major theme of his campaign, appearing in podcasts that target young male voters and engage with surrogates who sometimes use vulgar language.

During the long conversation, Trump told familiar stories, but sometimes dropped new colors and nuances.

Rogan pressed Trump on whether he was “totally committed” to inducting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to his administration.

“Oh, definitely,” Trump replied, but added that he and Kennedy disagreed on environmental policy. He said he would tell Kennedy to “focus on your health and do whatever you want.”

Kennedy played a key role in spreading vaccine skepticism, rejecting the overwhelming consensus among scientists that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the rare risk of side effects.

Trump appeared to once again entertain the idea of ​​eliminating the federal income tax, telling Rogan, “Yeah, sure, why not?” when the podcast host asked if he was serious.

He also repeated in detail his regrets about the 2020 election, but said, “If I win, this will be my last election.”

Trump said he “never believed” in theories about extraterrestrial life visiting Earth. He said he’s constantly asked what the U.S. government knows about “people coming from space.” He said he had been told “a lot” as president, but dodged Rogan’s requests to discuss alien lives in detail.

He also criticized federal subsidies aimed at significantly increasing U.S. semiconductor production, one of President Joe Biden’s signature achievements. Chipmakers credit the legislation with enabling billions of dollars in new factories, including in the battleground state of Arizona.

He also defrauded Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy that has long been allied with the U.S.

“You know, Taiwan, they stole our chip business,” Trump told Rogan. “OK. They want us to protect and they want protection. They don’t pay us money for protection, you know? The mob makes you pay money, right?”

Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping, whose government in Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province, “a brilliant guy, whether you like it or not.”

The podcaster is known for his many hours of interviews for “The Joe Rogan Experience”, which is ranked number one in the United States according to the Spotify charts. He calls women “chicks” and once laughed when a comedian friend of his described repeatedly forcing young comics to have sex.

Rogan and Trump have a complicated relationship. Rogan previously said he previously refused to have Trump on his podcast because he didn’t want to help him.

Earlier this year, Trump criticized Rogan after the podcast host said Kennedy, then a candidate, was the only person running for president who made sense to him. Kennedy has since suspended his bid, endorsed Trump and joined him on the campaign trail.

Trump mocks Harris rally with Beyoncé and delivers message on immigration

In Michigan and at an earlier news conference in Texas, Trump repeatedly mocked his opponent’s rally in Houston. “Kamala is at the dance party with Beyoncé,” he told the Michigan audience.

He used his trip to Texas, his second stop in a border state in two days, to escalate his already dark and apocalyptic rhetoric against illegal immigration.

“We’re like a dumpster for the rest of the world that’s throwing out people it doesn’t want,” Trump told supporters Friday in Austin. Trump continues to promote the baseless notion that foreign governments are actively sending criminals to the United States

Harris said the remark was “another example of how he truly demeans our country.”

“The president of the United States should be someone who elevates the discourse and speaks to the best of us and invests in who we are, not someone like Donald Trump who continually demeans and belittles who Americans are.” ” Harris told reporters in Houston before her event.

As temperatures dropped in Michigan on Friday evening and many attendees headed outside, Trump suggested that his campaign advisers had urged him not to repeat his past statements about being a “defender” of women.

The former president mimicked the advice he received: “Sir, please don’t say you will protect women.” However, he announced that he intended to repeat it further. – I mean, it’s our job.

It was also a reaction of sorts to an event at Harris that focused on protecting reproductive rights and at which a group of women spoke about the threat to their health posed by strict restrictions on abortion.

Trump’s rally was also interrupted twice by spectators needing medical attention. After the second incident, Trump asked organizers to play the song “Ave Maria” to pass the time.

It was reminiscent of Trump’s recent rally in Pennsylvania when the audience required medical attention, causing Trump to sway to this and other songs for nearly 40 minutes.

This time, however, he continued speaking after the end of “Ave Maria”.

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Weissert reported from Washington and Cooper reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price in New York, Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Melissa Perez Winder in Traverse City, Michigan, contributed to this report.