Joe Rogan’s stunning claim on Zelensky

Influential podcaster Joe Rogan has made an extraordinary claim about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Comedian Joe Rogan has claimed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted to come on his popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience — an idea he didn’t seem pleased about.

He made the remark on episode 2236 of his podcast, which was released on Thursday and featured fellow podcasters Shane Gillis, Mark Normand and Ari Shaffir as guests.

The remark comes after Rogan sparked a backlash by suggesting Zelensky was part of a group that “are about to start World War III” telling the Ukrainian leader “f*** you, man”.

During his latest podcast Rogan discussed the possibility of a war between Russia and the US, commenting: “I don’t really think Putin’s that stupid. I think he’s gonna realise what’s going on and I think they’re probably working this out. Alex Jones said Trump is having secret meetings at Mar-a-Lago, I hope it’s true.”

Referring to his podcast Rogan added “Zelensky tried to come on” sparking a shocked reaction from his podcast guests. He continued: “They tried to get Zelensky on. I was like, what are you talking about?”

Rogan went on to discuss the process for booking guests for his show without explaining Zelensky’s offer.

‘Could start WWIII’

This came just fours days after Rogan accused President Joe Biden and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky of trying to “start World War III.”

Rogan on Friday slammed Biden for recently approving the Ukrainian president’s request to use US-made long-range missiles against Russia to fight off the Kremlin’s invasion.

“How are you allowed to do that when you’re on your way out?” Rogan said of lame-duck outgoing President Biden. “There should be some sort of pause for significant actions that could potentially start World War III.”

Podcaster Joe Rogan has accused President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of trying to start World War III. Picture: YouTube / PowerfulJRE

MORE: Rogan’s stunning admission about Australia

Zelensky, whose country was invaded by Moscow in 2022, has long pleaded for approval to use US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to attack targets in Russia, a request Biden finally approved last week. Britain then approved the use of its Storm Shadow missile — a weapon similar to the ATACMS — sparking Russia to fire a new hypersonic ballistic missile at Ukraine.

Moscow has warned its new missile is capable of carrying a nuclear weapon and has talked of the possibility of a nuclear strike in Ukraine.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky. Photo: AFP

Joe Biden. Photo: Getty Images

Rogan blamed the escalation of the war on Ukraine and its military as he rejected Zelensky’s claims that Russia was acting out of desperation over its slowed invasion and loss of thousands of troops.

“Zelensky says Putin is terrified. F**k you, man,” Rogan told the Ukrainian president. “F**k you, people. You people are about to start World War III.

“Maybe that would be a good thing we would like to avoid from a dying former president,” Rogan added, referencing the 82-year-old Biden.

The podcaster then expressed his hopes that President-elect Donald Trump will be able to stop the war in Ukraine, which was a campaign promise he vowed to complete during his Election Day victory speech.

Trump has suggested he will oversee a diplomatic end to the war that includes Russia being allowed to keep the territory it has invaded, a condition Ukraine has slammed as unacceptable.

This image, made from a video posted Tuesday by a Telegram channel affiliated with the Ukrainian military, reportedly shows US-supplied ATACMS missiles being fired from an undisclosed location in Ukraine. Picture: Telegram

Moscow currently controls about one-fifth of Ukraine after launching its invasion in February 2022, including Crimea and the vast majority of the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Rogan is only the latest public figure to describe the current escalation in the war as grounds for the start of World War III.

Valery Zaluzhny, Kyiv’s former military commander in chief and current envoy to the UK, said the presence of North Korean troops and Iranian weapons on Russia’s front lines constituted the start of a third world war.

Reports have also emerged that a Houthi-linked company has been allegedly tricking men in Yemen to enlist in Moscow’s army and deploying the unwitting fighters, who believed they were applying for high-paying non-war jobs and Russian citizenship.

This article originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission