Popular podcast host Joe Rogan mocked the Democratic National Committee on "The Joe Rogan Experience" for refusing to hold primary debates in 2024, calling the decision not very "democratic."
Rogan remarked that the Biden administration was not "doing such a great job" running the country so far, Mediaite reported. He argued that voters should be allowed to see how Biden would stack up against a Democratic challenger.
"It’s very clear that this country is being run by a bunch of people other than just the president. I mean, I don’t know how much say he has, but it’s — a lot of other people are involved and they’re not doing such a great job, and they haven’t made course corrections very good. There’s a lot of mistakes that have been made that didn’t have to be made," he claimed.
"So you have to go, well, who could do it better? Could it be a Republican? Or it could be a better Democrat? And if it’s not a better Democrat, like how are we gonna get a better Democrat if you don’t let the President debate? So they won’t let him debate," he complained.
DEMOCRATS RIP DNC FOR NOT HOLDING 2024 PRIMARY DEBATES: ‘ROBS THE VOTERS’
President Biden officially announced his reelection bid with Vice President Harris on April 25. The DNC announced they were supporting Biden and had no plans to host debates with Democratic challengers, which spurred backlash from some in their party.
Biden challengers Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also blasted the DNC for not holding primary debates, with Kennedy calling the process "rigged."
Rogan lamented how the DNC was not allowing Biden to debate these "promising candidates for the Democratic Party."
"But they won’t let him debate before the primaries. So it’s like, that’s not that democratic, like, that’s not how it’s supposed to do," Rogan blasted.
Rogan and his guest Pauly Shore complained that the influence of money in politics had made the process an unfair "mess."
"It’s all run by money, man. They let money into politics and people can profit off of decisions and it’s a mess that you can’t pull out of. It’s one of those things, like once you’ve got that in there, it’s like you are not taking the pee out of the ocean kid," Rogan joked.
Progressive podcast host Charlamagne Tha God also demanded the DNC host primary debates, on a recent show.
"That’s why it’s whacked that the DNC won’t let nobody primary. They won’t do no primaries next year, man," Charlamagne said on "Brilliant Idiots." "Do a f---ing primary debate!"
2024 Democratic presidential candidate Marianne Williamson also said she was "disappointed" by the DNC's decision during an appearance on "Fox News Tonight."
"I'm not surprised," Williamson said. "Disappointed, certainly, because I believe in democracy. I believe that the political parties should stay out of the issue until the primary voters have weighed in. And then whoever wins the primaries, that's who the DNC – or the RNC, for that matter – should support."
In 2020, the RNC also did not sponsor any primary debates between then-President Trump and his challengers.
