Joe Rogan fans turn on him over attempts to defend Elon Musk and 'the establishment': 'Hard to watch'

AUSTIN, TEXAS: Podcaster Joe Rogan is likely alienating his fans by obsessively defending tech billionaire Elon Musk in his recent podcast episodes, Politico reported on Wednesday, February 19.

'The Joe Rogan Experience' is currently at the third position on Apple Podcast Charts, where it used to regularly occupy the top spot. The show was popular for its primarily non-political content, such as comedy or weird science.

However, the strategy seemingly changed after Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election and got reinstated in the White House for a second term. As per the publication, Rogan has since dedicated himself to backing up Tesla CEO Musk, who became a part of the Trump administration by chairing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

How did Joe Rogan's content change?

Rogan had built his gigantic base of followers over the primary message of questioning the authority. However, with Musk working with the Trump administration, the podcaster finds himself on the other side defending the people in charge.

As a result, Rogan runs the risk of sounding like a standard political podcaster backing his team, which in turn may result in a dip in his listenership.

In a recent episode of his show, Rogan stated, "(Musk) is a super genius that’s been f**ked with. And when you’ve been f**ked with by these nitwits that hide behind three letter agencies and you’re dealing with one of the smartest people alive … well, you f**ked up. You f**ked up and you picked the wrong psychopath on the spectrum, because he’s going to hunt you down. He’s going to find out what’s going on. And that’s good. That’s good for everybody.”

Internet culture and tech journalist Max Read explained, "There’s an essential appeal to independence, and fair-mindedness, and anti-system, anti-establishment politics. Then that gets scrambled, and all of a sudden (Rogan) finds himself defending the establishment.”

“It’s no coincidence that Musk himself is trying as hard as he can to continue to cast himself as not part of the government, working against the government somehow, because he knows there’s a huge amount of power in that kind of anti-system, anti-establishment politics,” he continued.

"But it’s increasingly difficult for him to make those claims. And I think Rogan, to the extent that he wants to keep defending Musk, faces the same dilemma … I wonder if the politics are becoming too much, and this is alienating a number of listeners for whom that is not, and has never really been, the attraction.”

Joe Rogan fans slam him for defending Elon Musk

Fans of Rogan on the social networking site Reddit voiced their fury at the podcaster defending Musk on his show. The following comments demonstrate their takes.

"So Joe admits Elon is on a vengeful rampage and helped Trump win the election," wrote a person.

"It's kinda scary how many people in this country genuinely believe that a person's financial success is a direct measure of their intelligence," shared another.

"The richest man on earth doesn't want more money according to Joe," mocked a third.

"I seriously can’t even listen to him anymore. It s**ks so much man. I really loved this show," stated a fourth.

"Joe is so captured at this point it's hilarious," jibed a fifth.

"Joe is state run propagandist media. Very nice," quipped a sixth.

"The way that he fawns over Elon is really off putting. It's literally hard to watch," chided a seventh person.

"Joe acting like Musk is Batman. Elon is more of an awkward cringelord," noted yet another.