Obama speechwriter says he was wrong to shun conservative brother-in-law over Joe Rogan and vaccine views
Litt revealed in an opinion piece for the New York Times that he approached his relationship with his brother-in-law, Matt Kappler, with a 'frostiness' due to his love of Joe Rogan and refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
'Being unfriendly to people who turned down the vaccine felt like the right thing to do. How else could we motivate them to mend their ways?' Litt argued.
The former Obama aide admitted that he never related to Kappler, joking that his brother-in-law was an electrician who lifted weights and listened to death metal, while he worked in the White House and jogged to Sondheim.
The pandemic exacerbated their already-frayed relationship when Kappler decided not to get the vaccine.
'We were on opposite sides of a cultural civil war. The deepest divide was vaccination,' Litt wrote.
'Turning down a vaccine during a pandemic seemed like a rejection of science and self-preservation,' he continued.
'It felt like he was tearing up the social contract that, until that point, I'd imagined we shared.'
The moment of reconciliation came when Litt moved to the Jersey Shore in 2022 and decided to take up surfing as a hobby.
The only person he knew who also enjoyed surfing was his Rogan super fan brother-in-law, so Litt put his 'principled unfriendliness aside.'
Litt said Kappler would share opinions about Mexican stem-cell injections or vigilantism that he found 'slightly unhinged' during their time at sea.
'"Where is this coming from?" I wondered. The answer was nearly always 'Joe Rogan's podcast."'
Even though Litt's decision to reconcile with his brother came out of necessity for a surfing buddy, the Obama aide argued that liberals should rethink 'banishing' family members due to different political views.
Litt argued that ostracizing those with conservative views hurts the person inflicting the separation more than the one getting banished.
His new book, It's Only Drowning, details his journey learning to surf and mending his fractured relationship with his brother-in-law.
In an interview with The Guardian, Litt said he started writing the book to chronicle his journey learning how to surf in his 30s, but it soon became a 'will-they, won't-they tale,' about befriending Kappler..
'It's whether an Obama speechwriter and a Joe Rogan super fan can become friends,' he explained.
'Like a lot of Democrats, my natural inclination is to be a little annoying and condescending. I certainly wasn't doing that when I was the one who desperately needed to learn from him.'
He told the publication that his relationship with Keppler illustrated the divides in the Democratic party.
During Obama's elections in 2008 and 2012, the former president carried working class voters, but since 2016, non college-educated Americans have shifted towards the Republicans.
Litt argued that Democrats are confined to their bubbles of college-educated individuals and aren't connected to working-class voters like his brother-in-law.
He urged liberals to keep the door open to friendships with those who differ from them politically.
Litt's new book came out in June. He also wrote a book titled Democracy In One Book Or Less in 2020 and Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years in 2017.
He also served as the head writer and producer on Funny Or Die and appears on broadcast television as a political commentator.
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