One of the right’s most influential podcasters has decried Donald Trump’s surprise attack on Iran as a betrayal.
Joe Rogan—one of several podcast bros credited with helping Trump, 79, return to the White House—is now walking back his support in the wake of Operation Epic Fury, a war that has been costing American taxpayers an estimated $1 billion a day and has killed seven United States service members so far.
“It just seems so insane based on what he ran on,” Rogan, 58, said during his latest podcast, which averages about 11 million views per episode, according to some reports.
“He ran on no more wars, and these stupid, senseless wars, and then we have one that we can’t even really clearly define why we did it,” the podcaster said.
Rogan went on to question whether the president acted out of America’s interests or Israel’s, which struck Iran in coordination with the United States.
“It just doesn’t make any sense to me, unless we’re acting on someone else’s interests —like, particularly Israel’s interests,” he said, adding: “Clearly Israel wanted this.”
Rogan joins a growing chorus of streamers and podcasters furious with the Trump administration for igniting a war that, by Trump’s own admission, will likely claim more American lives.
“I needed Trump as my lifeboat,” Alex Jones said during a podcast episode with fellow far-right influencer Nick Fuentes this week. “It may not be perfect, but it’s the lifeboat I’ve got, and I’m watching it sink by its own doing.”
Fuentes, for his part, went so far as to urge his followers to vote Democrat.
Also among the critics of Trump’s war are right-wing and manosphere mainstays, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and Andrew Tate. Research shows this growing group of right-wing influencers has played a significant role in Trump’s rise to power by undermining his enemies and promoting the president’s themes.
Rogan, who endorsed Trump, has grown increasingly critical of the president’s double-crossing. Last year, he repeatedly condemned the administration’s “insane” immigration raids targeting ordinary laborers, despite Trump’s original campaign pledge to focus deportation efforts on the “worst of the worst.”
He’s also criticized the president’s “gaslighting” over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and called the Trump administration’s pressure campaign against Jimmy Kimmel “crazy.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Rogan for comment.
