Podcast host Joe Rogan is now throwing his support behind Donald Trump for 2024, saying that he received some encouragement from Elon Musk. Rogan recently posted on X, which was formerly known as Twitter; he dropped a link to this interview with Musk and adorns him as the great and powerful Elon Musk. That’s not all: in his post, Rogan said, “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.” He said that he really wanted to vote for Trump, and it was for this reason that he made the post.
It made this announcement before the election, and Rogan’s podcast, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience,’ is the most popular on Spotify. For several years, the program has attracted millions of fans due to extensive interviews with participants from opposite poles, as well as politicians and stars. More recently, he managed to host Trump himself, and the corresponding program has already collected 45 million views on YouTube. While Trump, Pence, and Biden have already agreed to sit for the interview, Rogan is also closing a deal to interview Democratic nominee Harris.
A new element has been created in the ongoing debates about Rogan’s role in shaping the media through his stance on Trump. An inveterate speaker and addressing guests with robust opinions, Rogan made controversies from time to time. During the viral disease outbreak, he made some statements that health professionals have blamed for creating fake news.
For example, in January 2022, lecturers and several medical practitioners composed an open letter to the Spotify administration, stating that Rogan had been disseminating much false information about COVID-19 vaccines and untimely death for youth against vaccination and promoting ivermectin as a cure. Specifically, the letter said that Rogan’s opinions might make people doubt the doctors and science. In response to the backlash, Spotify added links to correct COVID-19 information on concerned episodes and made its policies public. The situation became worse last week when famous musician Neil Young decided to remove his songs from Spotify due to the company’s support of Rogan’s podcast.
Other artists chime in, and some of them noted more things wrong with the show: Some of Rogan’s guests used racially charged language. But yes, there are many doubts that Rogan is trying to counter some of the controversies that are surrounding him. In early 2022, he had to issue an apology for some of the vulgar language used on his show, but in resultant videos that were leaked before, he kept on using racially sensitive slurs. Spotify, which is the platform owned by Spotify, signed Rogan in a $100 million deal in 2020 and has since taken down some episodes that featured far-right guests or conspiracy theorists to prevent any more outrage.
Lately, Rogan’s impact has only increased, and his most recent contract is believed to be worth about $250 million. This Trump endorsement so close to the election shows the power Rogan brings to his primarily male, massive listenership. He has also been noticed to have a history with Musk, as the two have been tagging along for most of the time in the headlines.
The most well-known controversy of their show occurred in 2018 when Musk consumed marijuana on the air with Rogan and, as a result, Tesla’s share value fell, and several managers quit. This has only placed Rogan further in the position of being a cultural icon after Trump and Musk were seen as dictating his choice in the 2024 election.
