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Joe Rogan clarifies ‘endorsement’ of RFK Jr. that enraged pro-Trump crowd

August 10, 2024 | | Print Article

Popular podcaster Joe Rogan has walked back his ostensible endorsement of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. seemingly because of backlash.

On Thursday’s episode of his podcast, Rogan appeared to endorse RFK.

“He’s the only one that makes sense to me,” Rogan said of the independent presidential candidate. “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,” he added.

Listen:

Many critics, including former President Donald Trump, interpreted Rogan’s words as an endorsement of RFK — and they didn’t like that.

“It will be interesting to see how loudly Joe Rogan gets BOOED the next time he enters the UFC Ring??? MAGA2024,” Trump wrote on Truth Social the following day.

Thousands of Trump’s avid fans meanwhile took to attacking, denigrating, and insulting Rogan.

Here’s a small sample of the backlash (*Language warning):

Fast-forward to Friday afternoon, when Rogan posted a tweet clarifying his remarks about RFK.

“For the record, this isn’t an endorsement,” he said of his remarks. “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 f–king things of all time. I’m not the guy to get political information from. If you want that from a comic, go to @ComicDaveSmith. He actually knows what he’s talking about,” he added.

Look:

Sadly, even this mea culpa wasn’t enough for some of Trump’s most hardcore, die-hard fans. The type of fans some critics say suffer from Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) in reverse.

“It sounds like you just realized that most of your listeners are Trump supporters. Maybe you should support them as much as they support you,” one Trump supporter tweeted back at Rogan.

“Grow some balls and support Trump. End of discussion,” another added.

But critics like popular commentator Tim Pool say this behavior is very unbecoming of the Trump right.

“I want trump to win,” he tweeted Friday. “You will not turn things around by denying reality or insulting moderates. Drop your egos.”

Look:

“There’s no real argument against voting Trump but f–k me some of these die hard magas are as destructive as the leftists,” he added in an additional tweet, taking aim at all the Trump supporters who’ve been  unnecessarily lashing out at Rogan and his fans.

Pool also sought to explain why a Rogan endorsement has been so elusive.

“There’s a reason they can’t get a Rogan endorsement and it’s exactly this behavior,”  he wrote. “The top podcast, markedly independent, fair and honest. And they decide to go to war with it instead of trying to ally with it.”

Does Pool have a point?

Vivek Saxena
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