Big Podcast, Small Brain: The true Joe Rogan experience

Despite mainstream media’s attempts to frame Joe Rogan as a critic of Trump, the reality is far less compelling—Rogan is a self-proclaimed “moron” whose opinions are never worth taking seriously.

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If you’ve been reading mainstream news over the past few days, you may have gotten the impression that Joe Rogan—and other right-wing influencers—are taking a stance against some of the Trump administration’s fascistic tactics.

An April 1 New York Times headline read: "Joe Rogan, Voices on the Right Raise Alarm Over Trump’s Immigration Tactics." MSNBC followed with "Joe Rogan Blasts Trump for Sending Innocent People to El Salvador Prison," while Daily Beast ran with "Joe Rogan Splits From Trump on ‘Horrific’ Deportations.”

These headlines are a reference to a March 29 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin, where Rogan praised Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration before sharing his concern that the administration had deported Andry José Hernández Romero, a gay makeup artist who had sought asylum in the U.S. after he faced persecution in Venezuela, after being mistaken as a member of the Tren de Aragua gang. Immigration officials believed Romero's tattoos were an indication of gang affiliation.

“You’ve got to get scared that people who are not criminals are getting lassoed up and deported and sent to El Salvador prisons,” Rogan said on his show, adding that the case was “horrific.”

While Rogan criticized this specific incident, he carefully avoided condemning Trump or his broader policies, instead defending the administration’s overall objectives. He neither “blasted” Trump nor “split” from him in any meaningful way. This is not a genuine rift within the conservative movement, nor does it signal any real departure from Trump’s authoritarian ambitions for the U.S. Like the many right-wing influencers who helped secure Trump’s victory last November, Rogan will continue to support him—not just because he’s a reactionary, but because he openly admits he’s a “fucking moron.”