‘I wanted to stay out’: Rogan reveals why he ‘had to’ get involved in election

Podcaster Joe Rogan has revealed the decision by Kamala Harris that pushed him over the edge to get involved in the US election.

Podcaster Joe Rogan has revealed that it was Kamala Harris’ running mate Tim Walz who pushed him over the edge to get involved in the US election.

“I wanted to stay out of the presidential election s**t because it’s gross,” Rogan said on his Thursday show with fellow comedians Ari Shaffir, Mark Normand and Shane Gillis, explaining he changed his mind “because I felt like I had to”.

“I felt like, this is so nuts,” Rogan said.

“When that Tim Walz guy, it’s so nuts that guy was given the vice president [running spot]. “You’re telling me this whole thing is fake then? You’re telling me you don’t care if someone’s a liar? You don’t care if they lied about their military rank, where they served? You don’t care if they lied about being an assistant [coach]? You don’t care if they lie about Tiananmen Square? There’s too many things, this is so crazy. You would get fired if you were an assistant manager at a f**king oil change company.”

The Minnesota Governor, who was picked as Ms Harris’ running mate in August, was dogged by a number of gaffes and controversies during the campaign.

He faced particular criticism from Republicans over claims he had misrepresented aspects of his military service in the Minnesota Army National Guard, including his rank at retirement, the timing of his retirement, and past comments that gave the impression he had seen active combat.

Tim Walz and Kamala Harris at a campaign rally in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Picture: Drew Angerer/AFP

MORE: Joe Rogan’s $22m A-list lure after show slump

Mr Walz had also repeatedly said over the years that he was in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, when in fact he was in his home state of Nebraska at the time, leading Republicans to brand him “Tiananmen Tim”.

During the vice presidential debate in October with JD Vance, Mr Walz admitted he “misspoke” when asked about the discrepancy.

“I’ve not been perfect and I’m a knucklehead at times,” he said.

Rogan sat down with Donald Trump for a wide-ranging, nearly three-hour interview in the final stretch of the campaign.

The highly anticipated interview, in which they talked about Mr Trump’s policies, his views on his first term in the White House, expectations for a second term and his personal life, racked up more than 20 million views in less than a day.

Rogan went on to endorse Mr Trump on the eve of the election while also praising billionaire Elon Musk for buying Twitter, turning it into X and backing the former President as well.

Joe Rogan endorsed Donald Trump on the eve of the election. Picture: Spotify

“If it wasn’t for him, we’d be f**ked,” Rogan said of Mr Musk. “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. For the record, yes, that’s an endorsement of Trump.”

Mr Trump and Mr Vance both travelled to Austin, Texas, to record podcasts with Rogan in the final stretch of the 2024 race.

But Ms Harris, who was also looking to go on the show, refused to travel due to her tight schedule despite visiting Houston for a rally with pop queen Beyonce in late October.

“She had an opportunity to come,” Rogan said on his podcast at the time. “You could look at this and you can say, ‘Oh, you’re being a diva,’ but she had an opportunity to come here when she was in Texas — and I literally gave them an open invitation.”

Stefanie Cutter, a senior Harris campaign adviser, claimed on a recent episode of the Pod Save America podcast that the Vice President wanted to be interviewed in front of Rogan’s massive audience but “ultimately we just weren’t able to find a date”.

However, top campaign aides had cowered after “progressive staff” threw a fit knowing Ms Harris was considering an appearance on the raucous podcast, the Financial Times previously reported.

Rogan said the reaction to the assassination attempt was ‘crazy’. Picture: Rebecca Droke/AFP

On Thursday’s show, Rogan also said he would be open to recording an episode of his wildly popular show from Mar-a-Lago — after refusing to travel to interview Ms Harris on the campaign trail.

“Yeah, we have to,” Rogan said. “We helped Trump get elected.”

Shaffir first floated the idea of recording another session at the President-elect’s resort on January 14 to coincide with the release of his Netflix comedy special America’s Sweetheart.

“Can we get together?” Shaffir asked. “Trump’s obviously going to walk on.”

“100 per cent,” Rogan agreed. “He’s gonna walk on if we do Mar-a-Lago.”

Rogan said he’d already spoken with Donald Trump Jr. about the possibility — and the President-elect’s eldest son said he could “make that happen”.

Shaffir pointed out during the episode that they had previously discussed doing a show at Mar-a-Lago “but you said I don’t want to influence an election”.

“I changed my mind after they shot at him,” Rogan said, as the group then launched into a discussion about the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Rogan said there were still unanswered questions about gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, and described the initial reaction to the shooting as “weird”.

“The guy tried to shoot the guy who was the President for four years and everyone’s making like it’s no big deal,” he said.

“And then when they asked Kamala Harris about Secret Service protection, she’s like, ‘A lot of people don’t feel safe.’ You know, ‘Trans people don’t feel safe.’ There was like this crazy take on it that was so nuts, like what are you talking about? That could be you! Crazy people are out there. High-profile people that are running for president, you have to protect them. You can’t say, ‘Everyone feels in danger.’ He got shot! It makes me feel like we’re in a movie.”

— with NY Post

Originally published as ‘I wanted to stay out’: Rogan reveals why he ‘had to’ get involved in election