Podcaster Joe Rogan had several moments this year that shaped America’s national discourse in unprecedented fashion.
Rogan’s “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast was already known for being one of America’s most popular shows, debating the cultural and political issues of the day. But while Americans remain as polarized as ever after the election, one thing they can agree on is that podcasts like Rogan’s appear to influence voters more than celebrity endorsements or legacy media.
Trump’s late-October marathon appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” has been viewed over 53 million times on YouTube alone and is believed to have been a turning point in the election. During one viral portion of the interview, the once-and-future president expressed his wonder at how he somehow gets more publicity than others, inviting Rogan to suggest why. “I could definitely tell you,” Rogan replied and laughed. “You’ve said a lot of wild s—.”
“Maybe,” Trump replied with a smile.
JOE ROGAN SAYS HARRIS SITDOWN WAS SCRAPPED AFTER CAMPAIGN TOLD HIM SHE ‘ONLY WANTED TO DO AN HOUR’
“You said a lot of wild s— and the CNN in all their brilliance, by highlighting your wild s— made you much more popular, and they boosted you in the polls because people were tired of someone talking in this bulls— pre-prepared politician lingo, and even if they didn’t agree with you, they at least knew, ‘Whoever that guy is, that’s him, that’s really him.’”
During another segment, Trump recalled that Elon Musk gave him “the nicest endorsement,” and suggested, “You should do the same thing Joe, because you cannot be voting for Kamala. You’re not a Kamala person.”
Rogan indeed went on to endorse Trump on the eve of the election, arguing as he shared the link to that day’s interview with Musk, “The great and powerful @elonmusk. If it wasn’t for him we’d be f—ked. He makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way. For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump. Enjoy the podcast.”
By comparison, Vice President Kamala Harris’s potential interview with Rogan had fallen through, allegedly due to backlash from progressive staffers. Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville called this a “huge error” and said he would have told such staffers, “I’m really not interested in your uninformed, stupid, jacka– opinion as to whether to go on Joe Rogan or not.”
The Democratic National Convention in August gathered many of the Democratic Party’s most famous leaders and allies, and Rogan singled out two of them for hypocrisy.
TV personality Oprah Winfrey gave a rousing speech at the DNC where she argued that the work of maintaining a democracy “requires standing up to life’s bullies.” She also recalled that she has seen and sometimes been on the receiving end of “racism and sexism and income inequality and division.”
Likewise, former first lady Michelle Obama spoke about how her mother showed her “the meaning of hard work and humility and decency,” and added, “She and my father didn’t aspire to be wealthy. In fact, they were suspicious of folks who took more than they needed. They understood that it wasn’t enough for their kids to thrive if everyone else around us was drowning.”
Rogan responded by skewering both of the women for having the audacity to make such statements about wealth, given their enormous riches.
“How about Oprah?” Rogan said. “Oprah was talking about her and Trump running together, and now she’s speaking to the DNC that he’s a threat to democracy and she’s up there talking about income inequality, like, ‘Hey lady… you’re rich as f—.’ I’m like, ‘How is that equal?’”
The podcaster then added, “And also when Michelle Obama was saying, you know, I think she was saying her mother or grandmother was always suspicious of people who took more than they needed, like, you are worth so much money. That’s so crazy. You did it on a civil servant’s salary, which is insane.”
Shortly after author Coleman Hughes spoke about his contentious interview on “The View,” Rogan shredded the ABC show as uniquely obnoxious.
In late March, Hughes had joined the co-hosts of “The View” to discuss his book, “The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America.” During the show, co-host Sunny Hostin slammed Hughes’ “argument for colorblindness,” as something co-opted by the right, claiming many in the Black community think him to be a “charlatan of sorts” being “used as a pawn by the right.”
After noting his history of voting for Democrats, Hughes pushed back, “I don’t think there’s any evidence I’ve been co-opted by anyone and I think that’s an ad-hominem tactic people use to not address, really, the important conversations we’re having here.”
Later, as Rogan spoke to the author about his tense exchange with Hostin, the podcaster remarked that “The View” is a show that “people love to hate,” deriding it as a “rabies-infested henhouse.”
Hughes elaborated, “I wasn’t expecting necessarily for her to kind of try to ambush me in that way and attack my character in that way and I responded to it in the moment as I do, and I didn’t expect it to go as viral as it did, but I think it arguably went more viral than anything I’ve ever done.” The author also speculated, “At the same time, it seemed like the most interesting part was their audience seemed to be on my side.”
Rogan suggested that much of their audience on set is paid to be there, a practice he said is common in the industry, whereas “the real fans of ‘The View’ that are like, ‘Oh these ladies are on point,’ most of those people can’t leave the house, like they’re probably immobile.” The host also argued that while Hostin appears intelligent, she is “ideologically captured” and some of the other hosts are “very dull-minded.”
Rogan was flabbergasted after a New York Times writer penned a piece suggesting America’s founding document is hazardous for democracy.
The late summer opinion piece, written by The Times’ book critic Jennifer Szalai, asked whether “one of the biggest threats to America’s politics might be the country’s founding document.” She went on to suggest “Trump owes his political ascent to the Constitution, making him a beneficiary of a document that is essentially antidemocratic and, in this day and age, increasingly dysfunctional.”
Rogan expressed his bewilderment that the piece was not satirical.
“This isn’t the Babylon Bee; this is an actual New York Times article, you see it? This is so crazy,” Rogan said on his show. “It’s really hard to believe that someone would print this, and that the New York Times would say, ‘Yeah, we like it, put it out there!'”
“What the f— are you talking about?” Rogan asked rhetorically as he pondered the piece. “One of the biggest threats to America’s politics might be one of the greatest documents that any country was ever founded on, if not the greatest ever? That could be a threat to America’s politics? What politics are we talking about? Like what – how could you possibly gaslight me enough to go along with you on this?”
Rogan jokingly suggested that after being ousted from the Democratic nomination, Biden was actually happy that Trump won against his Democratic running mate.
One major reason why Trump’s visit to the White House went so viral was because of how warmly he was greeted by Biden. Commentators, from podcasters to journalists, expressed their open wonder that Biden greeted him with a “Welcome back,” a stark departure from his history of fiery speeches denouncing him and his supporters as a threat to American democracy.
“Do you know what one of my f—ing favorite things of this whole election cycle has been? Yesterday when Biden and Trump sat down in the White House,” Rogan said. “Biden voted for Trump. I guarantee it. I f—ing guarantee it. I never saw that dude so happy in his f—ing life. He lost. His party lost. He was happy.”
He then compared the reception to how then-President Obama greeted Trump after his first victory in 2016, arguing that Obama looked exasperated at the time.
When a photo of Biden beaming next to Trump was shown, Rogan immediately began laughing, “Look at, look at Biden! Look at his f—ing smile, dude! Look at his f—ing smile, man. That’s like when your kid gets married.”
Rogan went on to say that Biden felt joy at Harris being soundly defeated, recalling when the president placed a Trump hat on his head while out campaigning.
“I guarantee you, I guarantee you that mother—-er was happy. He had a giant smile on his face. He said, ‘Welcome back’ to him,” he joked.
