Several widely floating 2028 candidates have made their way into the world of podcasting. This is part of a broader trend among politicians to use platforms to expand their reach.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Besher (D) is the latest rising political star to launch his own podcast, and has joined other well-known names such as California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
Their entry into audio programming raises speculation about future ambitions and highlights how politicians rely on alternative forms of media to convey their messages.
“It’s back to how we were able to communicate during Covid,” Besher told Hill in an interview about the driving force behind his podcast. “It was a terrifying time for Covid. People were nervous about their future and the future of our country as well as our world. And then I started updating daily about what we know and asking questions.”
Besher said during President Trump’s second term, people were beginning to approach him again about his daily updates.
Beshear and Newsom have become two of the biggest political stars to take part in the trend of creating podcasts. The Newsom’s Podcast says its purpose is to “have honest arguments with people who agree with us and oppose us” and to allow us to argue in a way that doesn’t slander others.
Beshear – My own podcast diet includes political and non-political diets like sports commentator Rich Eisen, but he tries to protect a variety of topics, including politics, and says it becomes a space where “real conversations bridge, build and nurture understanding.”
“The idea is that when people wake up in the morning, they don’t think about politics, they’re not thinking about their work, they’re thinking about whether they’re making enough to support their families.
“Think about the roads and bridges they drive every day, [the] Public schools dropped the kids and dropped the public safety of the community. And I think what you hear on the podcast is that it focuses on these areas.
The two Democrats don’t just look to podcasts as a way to connect with listeners and grow their audience. Cruz’s podcast began in 2020 with Trump’s first bullet each and used the first episode to analyze and comment on Trump’s first bullet each trial. His program was one of the best podcasts at some point.
“Many of the corporate media doesn’t provide detailed coverage of what’s going on,” Cruz told Hill in a 2023 interview.
His podcast still has an impressive reach. A Cruz strategist told Hill this week that the Senate podcast has 2.6 million downloads in March alone.
“The thought process behind it was like, ‘Hey, what’s the way we can talk directly to voters, and what you know, how to show the side of Ted Cruz that they might not normally get,'” said the Cruz strategist.
The strategist also noted that GOP members in both the House and Senate reached out to Cruz about the possibility of starting their own podcast, but it quickly proved to be a time-consuming effort. But it hasn’t stopped stopping some leaps.
For a period of time, Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) had his own podcast with his wife and Supreme Court attorney Erin Hawley. A small number of members between the two parties in the House also have their own podcasts.
There are many other podcast guests.
“Essentially, I think this is another example of a politician. We discovered that oh, we have a way of communicating. By the way, that’s free,” said Jonathan Nuggler, co-director of the Center for Social Media and Politics at New York University.
Experts say podcasts are a way to build intimate relationships with listeners, and can bring back the curtains of politicians who host them. Podcasts are also a calculated way of introducing lawmakers to everyday listeners.
Nagler said it would allow them to “have full control over the medium” and “there is no need to invite people who intend to burn them with difficult questions they don’t want to answer.”
That doesn’t mean that podcasts will never attract criticism.
Newsom has gathered pushbacks for conservatives Charlie Kirk and Steve Bannon attending his show. Newsom also got a fever due to his comments on an episode with Kirk. He says that trans women playing in sports alongside their gender identity are “deeply unfair.”
Newsom defends having guests on his showAnd he said in a recent interview with the New York Times.of transgender athletes participating in a sport that is gender-matched to “thwarts other people’s rights.”
The timing of the podcast has raised speculation, particularly for Newsom and Beshear, who have been widely awakened as possible White House candidates for 2028. And experts say it’s not entirely certain that politicians can expand their reach through podcasts alone.
That doesn’t mean that politicians won’t try. The cruise strategist noted that the senator is on a podcast touring college campus and making a pitch for students, and noted that while he may not agree with him, he should listen to some episodes and see what he thinks.
“If Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear do that right, they will be able to have a relationship with people,” said Shaniqua McClendon, vice president of politics at Crooked Media. “We don’t know what anyone can achieve… Donald Trump has accomplished, and they’re going to have a really deep relationship with people who can’t get in.”
Beshear in his part messed up questions about viewers taking a step towards 2028 and whether or not to interpret his new podcast.
“My podcast was intended to ensure that I could communicate with many people who wanted to hear the message of a merciless focus on everyday challenges for American families, and it’s possible to find a common basis because what we are most interested in in life is generally not political,” Besher said.
“I think a lot of people out there want to be able to make the government and political people a little better, but 2028 is a long way to go,” he added. “I’m focused on being the best governor I can and will lead the DGA next year. Ultimately, regardless of 2028, I promise not to leave a broken country with my kids.”
