As everyone already knows, Joe Rogan famously interviewed President Donald Trump on his podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” in the weeks leading up to the 2024 election before endorsing #47 on the eve of the big day.
Before Rogan joined the MAGA crowd, however, he expressed a preference for Bernie Sanders in the 2020 primary. In fact, he endorsed the almost-Octogenarian in the race, although at the time, the endorsement was not necessarily treated as a win by Sanders’ supporters.
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Still, Sanders and Rogan have a long history, and Rogan has interviewed Sanders several times in the past, spending time discussing big issues in his trademark long-form interviews. Now, Rogan invited Sanders onto his show again last week to discuss the current state of the world.
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Sanders and Rogan talked about a wide range of issues and found some points of agreement, including on the minimum wage. Rogan also asked Sanders about whether he had any further presidential ambitions (the answer was no) and suggested he was much more vibrant for his age than Biden.
While the discussion was a pleasant one, the two men did have a few conflicts as well, most notably on one super controversial figure that has also been a Rogan guest: Elon Musk.
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Sanders goes after Musk, but Rogan claps back
The conversation got heated between Sanders and Rogan when the topic of campaign finance came up.
Sanders was complaining about the role of money in politics, commenting that the Citizens United decision had made it possible for someone to “put millions or hundreds of millions of dollars into a campaign,” to express their view and “you can buy that election.”
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Then, the fireworks started as Sanders made a statement that Rogan simply couldn’t let stand, commenting, “The result of that decision, let’s take us to where we are today, is that Elon Musk… we can talk about Elon.., he spent $270 million to elect Trump as president. Ok. I think that’s absurd, that any one person….”
Sanders didn’t get to finish that thought, though, as Rogan clapped back immediately, defending his long-time friend and frequent podcast guest. Rogan’s reply was blunt and clear, as he asked Sanders a pointed question: “What’s the most someone donated toward the Harris campaign?”
Rogan went on to point out to Sanders that, “they spent $1.5 billion over the course of a couple of months,” making clear that he was not going to let Sander’s scapegoat Musk when there is money on politics on both sides of the aisle and the issue is definitely not specific to Musk’s contributions.
Sanders backs down after Rogan’s wise words
Musk and Rogan have a long history, so it is not a surprise that Rogan jumped to his defense as Sanders went on the attack.
Not only has Musk appeared on Rogan’s podcast on numerous occasions, even famously smoking marijuana live on the show, but Musk and Rogan have been seen together at social events, and Rogan has referred to Musk as the “great and powerful,” and praised Musk’s companies and innovations.
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Still, Rogan was not just defending a friend when he clapped back at Sanders on the issue of Musks’ donations – and Rogan’s point was obviously a good one, as Sanders backed down immediately, admitting that money in politics is a bipartisan issue and that Musk was not the only large donor to the two presidential campaigns.
Rogan’s quick and effective response, and the way in which he brought Sanders around to agreeing that Musk’s donations were not an unusual event, show why the podcast host has so many devoted fans, and why Spotify recently paid him $250 million to sign onto a new Spotify deal.
Rogan will continue to bring on diverse voices, share his opinions, and find both points of agreement and disagreement, and that’s a powerful thing in today’s world when so many seem to only want to hear viewpoints aligned with their own.
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