US politics live: Joe Rogan says Epstein case is ‘a line in the sand’ for Trump supporters

Podcaster Joe Rogan, who was instrumental in helping Donald Trump win last year’s election, is starting to sound fed up.

Welcome back to our coverage of US politics.

Podcaster Joe Rogan has once again criticised the Trump administration for its handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case.

“There’s a line in the sand,” he said.

“This one is a line in the sand, because this is one where there’s a lot of stuff about - you know, when we thought Trump was going to come in and a lot of things were going to be resolved, going to ‘drain the swamp’, going to figure everything out. And when you have this one hardcore line in the sand that everybody had been talking about forever, and then they’re trying to gaslight you on that.”

He trailed off, shaking his head.

Mr Rogan suggested the Republican Party’s decision to call an early recess in Congress, in the hope that the Epstein drama will blow over, won’t work.

“Some people are saying - look, they’ve called the recess on Capitol Hill because they figured that by the time they come back in September, everybody will have moved on from this. I think they are wrong,” said the podcaster.

“This feels like, and just looks like, one of those handful of conspiracies - you go to JFK or whomever - that’s just going to hang around.”

Mr Rogan, of course, endorsed Mr Trump before last year’s election. But in recent months he has been expressing greater and greater levels of dissatisfaction with the President’s performance.

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Meanwhile Mr Trump has explained why he ended his friendship with Epstein in the mid-2000s.

Speaking to reporters in the United Kingdom, Mr Trump explained that he was alienated by Epstein’s “inappropriate” conduct. Not the conduct you’re thinking of, though.

“That’s such old history,” Mr Trump said when asked what caused the “breach” in his relationship with Epstein.

“Very easy to explain, but I don’t want to waste your time by explaining it.

“But for years, I wouldn’t talk to Jeffrey Epstein. I wouldn’t talk. Because he did something that was inappropriate. He hired help.

“And I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He stole people that worked for me. I said, ‘Don’t ever do that again.’ He did it again, and I threw him out of the place. Persona non grata. I threw him out. And that was it. I’m glad I did, if you want to know the truth.”

Read on for more updates.

Originally published as US politics live: Joe Rogan says Epstein case is ‘a line in the sand’ for Trump supporters