Influential podcasters Joe Rogan and Theo Von, both of whom supported President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, have expressed their dismay at the war in Iran.
Von guested on The Joe Rogan Experience Thursday for a discussion of the conflict in which the two addressed the recent history of western intervention in Iran and expressed bewilderment at Trump’s about-turn, having promised to end U.S. involvement in “forever wars” in the Middle East as he campaigned for a return to the White House.
“What do you think is gonna happen?” Von asked Rogan, a day after the president delivered a 20-minute televised national address that offered few real answers on the war. “You think we’re gonna be OK?”
“I hope so, of course,” the host answered. “I don’t know. I’m confused. I can’t believe we went to this war. When we started bombing Iran, I was like, ‘This can’t be true.’”
“And what about Lebanon?” Von interjected, referring to Israel’s pivot towards attacking its northern neighbor in the midst of Operation Epic Fury.
“And it’s like, just f***ing stop it. What do you need?”
“Well, they’re trying to supposedly, they’re trying to stop the terrorists,” Rogan answered him.
That drew a hollow laugh from Von, who replied: “That’s crazy, though. You’re the f***ing terrorists! You know what I’m saying? Like, if you wanna stop them, f***ing stand in front of the f***ing mirror and start there.”
Responding to a clip of the exchange on X (Twitter), liberal pundit Mehdi Hassan said: “These two men helped Trump and Vance get elected. I’m glad they’re saying what they’re saying now but I wish they would own that.”
Other social media commentators lambasted the duo for their past endorsement of the president, with one saying they had “bent over backwards to plaster Trump all over their shows” during the campaign.
“Thank you for finally waking up Joe Rogan and Theo Rogan!!!” another wrote.
More obviously MAGA-aligned respondents attacked the two podcasters personally for their perceived disloyalty to Trump, with Rogan accused of letting “libertarians warp his mindset” and Von called a “f***ing clown” for opposing the goal of stopping Tehran from building a nuclear weapon, just one of several justifications the U.S. and Israel have offered for their airstrikes.
Rogan in particular has expressed more and more skepticism towards Trump over the last year, previously calling his attack on Iran “insane” and recently suggesting that Barack Obama did more to shore up the U.S.-Mexico border against illegal entrants, a signature issue for the Republican.
The president’s Wednesday night address saw him cut a weary figure as he claimed from a lectern in the White House’s main foyer that Operation Epic Fury had “delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield.”
He appealed once again to America’s allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused global oil prices to soar, dismissed domestic economic concerns, gave only a vague timeline for the conflict’s resolution – saying it would still take “two or three weeks” – and repeated strongman rhetoric about bombing Iran “back to the Stone Age where they belong.”
His speech came just hours after a new CNN poll revealed that most U.S. citizens have largely soured on the war, with just 34 percent of respondents voicing approval of it.
