Former President Donald Trump had the joint jumping Saturday night when he entered the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with UFC President Dana White to take in UFC 290.
The crowd was abuzz as Trump walked in flanked by his Secret Service detail, looking much like a prize fighter or rock star and there was a little glad-handing with celebrities like actors Mel Gibson and Mark Wahlberg. But while most came to Trump, the former president made it a point to approach Joe Rogan who was working the broadcast as a color analyst.
Some suggested a coming Trump appearance on Rogan’s popular podcast — with 11 million listeners per episode, Rogan is the number one ranked Spotify podcast — but others were a little more realistic, given Rogan’s previous remarks about the nation’s 45th president.
All of which made the smiles between the two men Saturday night all the more interesting:
This is probably the closest we will get to a Joe Rogan-Donald Trump podcast: pic.twitter.com/do5asO3erD
— Damon Imani (@damonimani) July 9, 2023
Was Trump appealing to Rogan to have him on? Was he just offering some good-natured ribbing for past insults?
Rogan called Trump a “man-baby” last year during an episode featuring comedian Tom Segura, who said on air that when former White House advisor Jared Kushner had bad news to deliver to Trump he would soften the blow by placing it between two pieces of good news.
“Of course! He’s a man baby,” Rogan interjected.
In an episode with Barstool founder Dave Portnoy, Rogan was in agreement that Trump was successful in shaking up the DC establishment but also suggested he was the king of morons.
“The morons had a king. There’s a lot of morons,” he opined. “And it doesn’t matter what he’s saying, like, for them, he represents them. He’s not perfect, but at least he’s real’ – like there’s that sort of thought process that he played with.”
Trump has never appeared on Rogan’s podcast, as noted by the Daily Mail, and Rogan has made it clear that he has no interest in elevating the former president’s image.
“I’m not a Trump supporter in any way, shape or form,” Rogan told podcast Lex Friedman in 2022, according to the British tabloid. “I’ve had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once, I’ve said no every time. I don’t want to help him. I’m not interested in helping him.”
Trump pal Roger Stone, who evidently remains a central figure in the former president’s orbit, was also on hand in Vegas and shared a photo of himself chatting with Trump and Gibson.
He also fulfilled a familiar role, playing the role of a Trump pit bull in attacking Rogan.
Responding to a tweet raving over Trump delivering “the alpha 5 min handshake” in greeting Rogan, Stone tweeted: “Little weasel @joerogan won’t have @realDonaldTrump on his podcast so he gets the full @realDonaldTrump treatment.”
For good measure, he added the hashtags: #short #Pussy.
Little weasel @joerogan won’t have @realDonaldTrump on his podcast so he gets the full @realDonaldTrump treatment #short #Pussy https://t.co/sEd9xIOgJv
— Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) July 9, 2023
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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