On her MSNBC show Tuesday, host Jen Psaki mocked Joe Rogan while debunking a MAGA conspiracy theory propagated by the podcaster, which claims that the white supremacist group Patriot Front is actually the FBI.
MAGA supporters have long advocated the idea that the Patriot Front is an FBI operation intended to amplify the perceived threat of white nationalist groups.
Rogan endorsed this idea on his show as recently as March.
Psaki, the former White House press secretary for President Joe Biden, played a clip of Rogan claiming that the group disbanded as soon as Kash Patel took over as director of the FBI under President Donald Trump.
The host of The Briefing with Jen Psaki then set out why she says the claim was actually false.
In the clip, Rogan is seen saying that he and author Matt Taibbi saw a video of Patriot Front, who appear in uniforms with their faces covered, and march carrying flags, and he said he had yelled: “They’re feds!”
“Where’s the fat people?” he continues. “They’re all, they’re all wearing the same uniform. One guy’s got a f***ing drum. Get the f*** out of here! These are feds! The day after Kash Patel gets in, they disband.”
Psaki explains that Patriot Front splintered off from the white nationalist group that planned the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, back in 2017, and has since “traveled all around the country spewing racist and antisemitic hate.”
She continued: “But rather than just condemn the group, right-wing conspiracy theorists and Trump allies have insisted that Patriot Front is actually just the FBI trying to make white nationalism seem like a bigger threat than it actually is.”
Psaki noted that it is not just Rogan pushing the idea, but also Elon Musk, as well as multiple members of Congress, including firebrand Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“The core of the theory goes like this. The reason this group wore uniforms in mass was to hide the fact that they were secretly FBI agents, obviously,” said Psaki.
“And that once Kash Patel was in charge of the FBI, he would simply fire the agents involved, and the group would cease to exist. That’s how it goes.”
She then added that Patel was sworn into office in February, and yet this past weekend, Patriot Front held a rally in Kansas City.
A further clip of local news footage was then played with the anchor saying: “The group was in uniform, wearing tan hats, white masks covering their faces, Navy blue shirts, tan pants, and boots. Some were carrying shields.”
He continued: “The flags they carried included upside-down American flags, the Confederate flag, and a flag that identifies the group as the Patriot Front.”
Psaki then quipped: “Hmm, seems very much like Patriot Front still exists!”
She then turned her attention to Trump’s FBI leadership — Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino.
“I wonder how FBI Director Kash Patel will explain that one. See, FBI Director Patel and his number two, Dan Bongino, have a problem,” said Psaki.
“Both of them have spent years promoting conspiracy theories surrounding the FBI, but now they are actually in charge of the FBI. Now they are the dogs that caught the car.”
