One of Donald Trump’s close advisers revealed that Barron Trump is the architect of his dad’s podcast strategy ahead of Election Day.
Jason Miller, senior adviser to Trump, told Politico’s Playbook Deep Dive podcast that Barron’s recommendations have been “absolutely ratings gold.” Barron, 18, is the former president’s youngest son and a first-year student at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
“Barron has been very involved in selecting or recommending, I should say, a number of the podcasts that we should do,” Miller said. “I got to tell you, hats off to the young man. Every single recommendation he’s had has turned out to be absolute ratings gold that’s broken the internet. He’s done a great job.”
Earlier this year, Trump revealed Barron also likes to advise his campaign more broadly: “He’ll tell me sometimes, ‘Dad, this is what you have to do.’”
Trump has appeared on several podcasts aimed towards young men to win over the “bro vote.” Trump sat down this summer with podcasters like The Nelk Boys and Theo Von. He also went on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, gifting him a t-shirt featuring his Fulton County, Georgia mugshot.
Miller revealed that several members of Trump’s team also help him decide which podcasts to focus on.
“I’ve certainly recommended some,” he said. “We have other team members who recommended podcasts, but also sometimes it’s the other way around where maybe the president has a relationship with a person.”
“So it comes from both different directions, but it’s really turned out to be something that I think has worked to our advantage,” he added.
Trump is also scheduled to record an interview for Joe Rogan’s TheJoe Rogan Experience podcast in Austin, Texas on Friday. Rogan‘s podcast is one of the most popular in the US, with 14 million followers on the streaming platform Spotify.
Rogan has repeatedly used his podcast to spread COVID-19 misinformation and has hosted an array of far-right figures, including Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes.
Vice President Kamala Harris has also done her fair share of podcast appearances, going on popular shows like “Call her Daddy” and “The Howard Stern Show” in recent weeks.
Harris’s team was also in touch with Rogan about a potential appearance, but they could not schedule a time, her spokesperson Ian Sams told MSNBC last week.