Joe Rogan is retracting rumors that he endorsed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after receiving criticism from followers of Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again organization. Rogan showed his support for the third-party presidential candidate on his podcast on Thursday.
The well-known podcaster clarified on Thursday’s Joe Rogan Experience that he believes the Republican and Democratic parties to be problematic and that they care more about spinning stories than telling the truth: “That’s just what they do. That’s politics. They do it on the left, they do it on the right,” Rogan told his audience. “They gaslight you, they manipulate you, they promote narratives, and the only one who is not doing that is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.”
He added of Kennedy, “He’s the only one that makes sense to me. He’s the only one — he doesn’t attack people, he attacks actions and ideas, but he’s much more reasonable and intelligent. I mean, the guy was an environmental lawyer and he cleaned up the East River. He’s a legitimate guy.”
However, the comic said on Friday that Rogan’s remarks were misinterpreted when they were perceived as an endorsement.
“For the record, this isn’t an endorsement,” Rogan wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “This is me saying that I like RFKjr as a person, and I really appreciate the way he discusses things with civility and intelligence. I think we could use more of that in this world. I also think Trump raising his fist and saying “fight!” after getting shot is one of the most American fucking things of all time. I’m not the guy to get political information from.”
Earlier, Trump fans were upset and disappointed by Rogan’s apparent Kennedy endorsement. They turned to social media to criticize Rogan for his choice and cast doubt on the host’s intelligence.
“Joe Rogan will go down as a guy who had a real opportunity to make a meaningful impact and squandered it. Sad,” X user Johnny MAGA wrote, then referred to the dead bear story revealed by Kennedy in a video posted online this week. “‘He’s much more reasonable and intelligent.” He drove all around the state of New York with a rotting bear cub in his car and dumped it in Central Park as a ‘prank’ At 60 years old…”
The podcaster’s endorsement of Kennedy sparked outrage and fury, and within hours, the hashtag #BoycottJoeRogan emerged on X.
“What a scumbag, X user @RipzRyan posted, “Wonder if he’s being paid off. Did the deep state get to him? HEY ROGAN👇👇👇,” with an image reading “Trump was right about everything.”
The Joe Rogan Experience, which has been Spotify’s top podcast of the year for the past four years, earlier this year inked a new multiyear deal in which his podcast would no longer be exclusively distributed by the platform.
Kennedy is the scion of one of the most powerful political dynasties in America. Other family members have shunned him because of his extreme views on public health and his repeated conspiracy theories, which include unfounded claims about vaccines and the COVID-19 virus’s origins. Kennedy has stated that he believes the MMR vaccine, which is given to infants, can cause autism in children; in 2023, he claimed that the COVID-19 virus was created as a “targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people.”
Kennedy has dropped to less than 4% of voters in surveys that pair him with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Democratic presidential contender Kamala Harris, according to the Hill/Decision Desk HQ average of national polls. Kennedy’s name was successfully added to the ballot by the campaign in Texas, and as of Friday, the independent candidate had access to 174 confirmed electoral votes and an additional 329 claimed, as per the tracker maintained by The Hill/Decision Desk.
Kennedy’s platform calls for reforming social safety net programs, securing the southern border while increasing lawful immigration, doing away with subsidies for fossil fuels, and opposing engagement in the conflicts in China, Ukraine, and Gaza.
The Hollywood Reporter reached out to Rogan and the Kennedy campaign, but neither has provided a statement.
