Joe Rogan has suddenly come to the realization that Donald Trump may not have any facts to back one of his most outlandish claims.
During Rogan’s interview with Trump just before the 2024 election, he asked the then-candidate directly why he believed the 2020 election was stolen. Trump replied that “old-fashioned ballot screwing” and “phony votes” resulted in his loss, but became combative when Rogan pressed him further.
“I don’t think they have any evidence,” the podcast host said on his Tuesday episode.
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“I think there’s a lot of speculation and there’s a lot of consideration about mail-in ballots. There’s a lot of shenanigans. There’s a good record of shenanigans and there’s the reality of any kind of electronics can be hacked,” he went on.
Rogan’s guest, comedian Dave Smith, added, “It was one of the most interesting parts of your podcast with him was when you asked him about that, it was like he really didn’t have anything to back it up.”
“If that was you or if that was me, I mean, and there was some reason why I knew that they did something and I could give you all the facts—I would have that ready for anybody. For four f---ing years, they’ve been telling him he’s crazy for questioning the election,” Rogan replied, agreeing with his guest. “So after four years, I’d have a f---ing tight 10 minutes on the election, where I could just rattle off at you and rock your world with it.”
Rogan’s interview with Trump was watched 26 million times on YouTube in its first 24 hours and has been credited with helping swing the election in Trump’s favor—particularly after the host refused to make concessions to have Vice President Kamala Harris on the show from the campaign trail. Rogan then cemented his stance by endorsing Trump on the eve of the election. He didn’t share any complaints about Trump’s answers on the show at the time and attended the president’s inauguration.
But the tide has changed in some corners of MAGA since Trump took office without delivering on some of his key selling points to the base, like exposing known associates of convicted sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein or only deporting migrants who are known criminals.
Rogan split with Trump over the mass deportations, saying in July, “The targeting of migrant workers—not cartel members, not gang members, not drug dealers. Just construction workers. Showing up in construction sites, raiding them. Gardeners. Like, really? I don’t think anybody would have signed up for that.”
MAGA has been particularly split on Epstein, as Trump has tried to shift the conversation away from the deceased financier by closing the case. Continued complaints from his supporters led the DOJ to release its interview with Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, though that too has done little to assuage much of the outcry.
Last month, Rogan said Trump’s administration was “gaslighting” his supporters on Epstein. “There’s a line in the sand,” he said. “This is the one everybody’s been talking about forever, and they’re trying to gaslight you on that.”
