With hours left for the 2024 US Presidential election, podcaster Joe Rogan has publicly endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump for the November 5 polls, who will be contesting against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris.
Rogan cited Tesla CEO Elon Musk as the driving force behind his decision.
Rogan shared his views during a recent podcast episode, stating that Musk “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,” Rogan said, as he confirmed his support for the former president.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump, who was campaigning in Pittsburgh at the time, quickly reacted to the news of Rogan’s endorsement. “Wow, I have some more big news, Megyn,” Trump said.
“I’m just getting this right now. So, somebody this very, very respected asked me to do his show two weeks ago, and I said, why not? And to me, it’s very big because he’s the biggest there is, I guess in that world by far.”
The great and powerful @elonmusk.
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) November 5, 2024
If it wasn't for him we'd be fucked. 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 pic.twitter.com/LdBxZFVsLN
“And his name is Joe Rogan, and he’s never done this before. And it just came over the wires that Joe Rogan just endorsed me. Thank you, Joe. That’s so nice. And he doesn’t do that. He doesn’t do that, so. And he tends to be a little bit more liberal than some of the people in this room. No, I had a lot of fun and he was amazing. And he was it was a three-hour interview. In fact, I was two hours late for a rally that we had. I had to explain that a little bit,” he said.
Rogan’s endorsement comes after a wide-ranging interview between the two in late September. In the nearly three-hour conversation, they discussed a variety of topics, including Trump’s proposed tariffs, immigration policies, his controversial claims about election fraud, and even the existence of extraterrestrial life.
As per a report in The Hill, Rogan, one of the most influential and controversial figures in media, has a massive following, particularly among young men—a demographic the Trump campaign has been keen to engage. His podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, consistently garners millions of downloads per episode and features in-depth conversations with top newsmakers, celebrities, and political figures.
A report in The Guardian said Trump’s interview on Rogan’s show 10 days ago currently has 45 million views on YouTube. Rogan was earlier involved in a highly controversial episode where, the report said, a group of 270 US doctors, scientists, professors, and other healthcare professionals wrote an open letter condemning him of spreading false information including the discouragement of vaccination in young people and children.
With inputs from agencies.