Democrats spent months debating why Republicans appeared to have an advantage in the digital media ecosystem following their disastrous 2024 election performance.

Party operatives argued that conservatives had built an expansive network of podcasts, livestreams, and online personalities capable of reaching voters who had tuned out traditional political messaging. Joe Rogan, at one point a supporter of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) who backed President Donald Trump in the run-up to 2024, became the most recognizable symbol of that phenomenon, instigating a growing debate inside Democratic circles over whether the party had its own influential digital voice, or whether it needed one.