Donald Trump guests during The Joe Rogan Experience

In his first appearance on the wildly popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, former president and 2024 GOP candidate Donald Trump He touched on cultural and political issues he has addressed in the past.

He noted that the war in Ukraine would not have happened if he were president; complained that moderators did not adequately fact-check Kamala Harris during their only debate; and doubled down on his thoughts that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him.

At one point in the three-hour conversation, Joe Rogan asked Trump to further explain how the election was stolen, as he has falsely maintained for the past four years. The former president began to respond in a long, rambunctious manner, pointing out that certain changes to the election law had not been properly approved.

“That election was so crooked, it was the most crooked election,” Trump noted, while Rogan asked for concrete examples.

“Well, let’s start, let’s start at the top and the easiest. They were supposed to get legal approval to do the things they did, and in many cases they didn’t get that. They didn’t understand,” he said, as the podcast host asked again, “What things?”

“Something,” Trump continued, to which Rogan asked, “Legislative approval of?”

“Such as for extensions of the vote, for earlier voting. All different things. By law, they had to get legislative approval,” the presidential candidate said. “You don’t have to go any further than that. If you look at Wisconsin, they basically admitted that the election was rigged, robbed and stolen. They would not allow access to ballots in certain areas because the ballots were not signed. They weren’t originals. They were… We could go into this. We can go to the ballots, or we can go to the general. I’ll give you another way.’

When Rogan asked if he would ever present this evidence, he responded, “Uh.” As the conversation continued, Trump seemingly admitted that he lost the 2020 election before walking back what he said and correcting himself.

“I lost by… I didn’t lose, but they say I lost, Joe,” he said. “They say I lost by 22,000 votes, which is a tenth of 1 percent less than that. It’s just a small thing, 22,000 votes, spread over this period.”

Trump is trying to win the male youth vote and an interview on Rogan’s show was a top prize for the candidates as the show, which was recently exclusive to Spotify, is now available on other platforms including Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Vice President Kamala Harris has also been trying to broaden her appeal to male voters and a Rogan interview could certainly be helpful considering the weekly show’s audience is 81 percent male, with more than 50 percent under the age of 35 . according to a YouGov survey.

In August, Rogan made comments that were interpreted by many as support for independent presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr.. His comments were followed by a MAGA backlash and Trump quickly joined the pile, attempting to ignite ultimate fighting fans to personally attack Rogan when he wrote on his Truth Social platform“It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan is booed the next time he enters the UFC Ring. MAGA2024.”

Rogan later clarified his comments did not equate to approval from Kennedy, who dropped out of the race shortly after the back-and-forth. Kennedy subsequently supported Trump for president.

Before Rogan, Trump appeared on podcasts such as This week with Theo Vaughn And Send in full. Meanwhile, Harris has the Call her daddy podcast, as well as Howard Stern’s Sirius XM show. The podcast appearances come as their campaigns come to a close, signaling a new strategy around non-traditional media interviews from both candidates. Polls show that these appearances may not have the impact their teams hope for, as less than 30 percent of respondents, who were over the age of 18, had heard both candidates’ podcast guest spots.

In addition to hosting his podcast, Rogan also provides commentary for Ultimate Fighting Championship, the mixed martial arts promotion company. Trump also has close ties to the organization, as he considers Dana White a close friend. White also spoke about Trump at the Republican National Convention.