Elon Musk and Joe Rogan branded Operation Warp Speed a “crazy psyop” in an Election Day eve rant.
But, it turns out that the flagship Covid vaccine policy was actually rolled out by Donald Trump.
Rogan, who endorsed the Republican for president that day, hosted Trump ally Musk on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience on Election Day eve, with the pair speaking for almost three hours.
They entered a discussion about Covid and the vaccine rollout, which was a Trump administration initiative hailed by the former president as “an incredible success.”
“The whole thing was f****ing crazy,” Rogan said, referring to Operation Warp Speed. “And everybody just went along with it.”
“Looney Tunes next level,” Musk replied.
“The psyop was fascinating to watch people step in line,” Rogan said.
“That’s like one of the biggest psyops of all time,” Musk replied.
“Of all time,” Rogan agreed.
The partnership between the government and pharmaceutical companies that fast-tracked production of the Covid vaccine is actually considered one of the greatest wins of Trump’s administration.
Trump told a summit in 2020 it was a “historic” achievement. “It would normally take five years, six years, seven years, or even more,” he said. “In order to achieve this goal, we harnessed the full power of government, the genius of American scientists, and the might of American industry to save millions and millions of lives all over the world.”
Rogan, a vaccine skeptic, has previously clashed with leading doctors over the rollout and has been accused of pushing vaccine misinformation.
Musk, meanwhile, has previously described himself as “pro-vaccine” but said “the world went crazy with excess vaccination” with Covid and drew attention to “serious side effects” he claimed he suffered from the vaccine.
Another vocal critic of Operation Warp Speed is Robert F Kennedy JR, who Trump has touted as someone who would have “a big role” in his administration despite being a prominent anti-vaxxer.
Trump recently announced that he would give RFK Jr free rein to do “anything he wants” and “go wild” over health, food and medicines during his potential second administration.
NBC News’s Dasha Burns asked Trump at the weekend whether RFK Jr would ban any vaccinations, despite World Health Organization estimations that global immunization efforts have saved at least 154 million lives in the past 50 years.
Trump refused to give a straight answer on the matter, saying: “Well, I’m going to talk to him and talk to other people, and I’ll make a decision, but he’s a very talented guy and has strong views.”
Rogan decided to endorse Trump on Monday, saying that Musk had made a “compelling” argument for four more years of Trump.
“The great and powerful Elon Musk. If it wasn’t for him we’d be f***ed. He makes what I think is the most compelling case for Trump you’ll hear, and I agree with him every step of the way,” Rogan said on Musk’s social network X.
Musk has become a central figure in the Trump campaign’s third bid for the White House, endorsing the former president in the days after the first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13. He then joined him on stage at the same site two months later.
The billionaire has established the pro-Trump America PAC, and has given at least $132m to help Trump and conservatives in congressional races this year, federal filings show.
