a Trump-Biden debate hosted by... Joe Rogan?

I'd say yes to a four-hour debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, especially if it's moderated by Joe Rogan. Rogan, 53, sits somewhere in the liberal/libertarian part of the political spectrum: a bit of a paradox, he's an accomplished, disciplined martial artist as well as a dedicated, it's-all-good pothead, not to mention an often-hilarious standup comedian who has called other comedians (like Carlos Mencia) out for joke-stealing. He'd like for there to be fewer oppressive regulations, and he wants people to just leave each other alone (unless he's chasing after joke-thieves). At the same time, he's not against certain government programs (he was open to Andrew Yang's UBI plan and was a Bernie Bro for a time), and he's definitely pro-legalization when it comes to drugs. Rogan runs a podcast that recently moved from YouTube to Spotify, a Stockholm-based service mostly known for music streaming, not for talk-radio-like podcasts. He has also made the physical move from regulation-filled California to less-regulated Texas, and he's been openly considering voting for Donald Trump. Rogan tends to invite guests who have far greater intellectual candlepower than he does, and it's obvious he's learning from his guests and is fascinated by what they have to say. At the same time, Rogan is obviously no intellectual slouch himself: he has matched wits, blow for blow, with the razor-sharp Tim Pool the several times that Pool has been Rogan's guest.

That's all background for those members of my readership who have no idea who Joe Rogan is. (Tons of his videos are on YouTube; look 'em up and familiarize yourself with his style.) And this is the selfsame Joe Rogan who floated the idea of a four-hour-long debate between Trump and Biden. Get this: Trump has already eagerly said yes. I can see why, too: the three official debates will be a sham, automatically stacked against Trump. As Styx notes below, the biased moderators will give Biden all the time he needs to stumble through his near-aphasic sentences, but when Trump speaks, they'll cut the man off while asking him venomous questions, unlike the softballs they'll gently toss Biden's way. Rogan, by contrast, will give both candidates a fair hearing, and he won't go easy on either politician. Such a debate would make for lively, exciting viewing, and in theory, it would take place in the cozy confines of Rogan's studio (a format that Tim Pool, below, thinks ought to replace the overly showy, substance-free debate formats currently in vogue).

Biden has yet to say yes to Rogan's proposal; Styx theorizes that Biden and his team will lamely try to ignore this proposal in the hopes that the excitement fades away. If Biden fails to say yes to this admittedly grueling four-hour format, he'll be in danger of appearing to pussy out (although I'm sure his team will have some ready-made excuse to explain Biden's absence). If Biden fails to show up, there's also the idea that Trump could appear alone with Rogan, and they could hash out whatever issues Rogan chooses to bring up.

So here are Tim Pool and Styx, talking about this move by Rogan and Trump.



A lot of us are hoping this happens, but deep down, we know Biden will never say yes.