Influential podcasters Joe Rogan and Theo Von, each of whom supported President Donald Trump within the 2024 election, have expressed their dismay on the war in Iran.
Von guested on The Joe Rogan Experience Thursday for a dialogue of the battle through which the 2 addressed the current historical past of western intervention in Iran and expressed bewilderment at Trump’s about-turn, having promised to finish U.S. involvement in “forever wars” within the Middle East as he campaigned for a return to the White House.
“What do you think is gonna happen?” Von requested Rogan, a day after the president delivered a 20-minute televised national address that provided few actual solutions on the struggle. “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 in direction of attacking its northern neighbor within 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 hole snort 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 change on X (Twitter), liberal pundit Mehdi Hasan 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 his or her previous endorsement of the president, with one saying they’d “bent over backwards to plaster Trump all over their shows” in the course of the marketing campaign.
“Thank you for finally waking up Joe Rogan and Theo Rogan!!!” one other wrote.
More clearly MAGA-aligned respondents attacked the 2 podcasters personally for his or her perceived disloyalty to Trump, with Rogan accused of letting “libertarians warp his mindset” and Von called a “f***ing clown” for opposing the purpose of stopping Tehran from constructing a nuclear weapon, simply one in every of a number of justifications the U.S. and Israel have provided for his or her airstrikes.
Rogan particularly has expressed extra and extra skepticism in direction of Trump during the last 12 months, beforehand calling his assault on Iran “insane” and just lately suggesting that Barack Obama did more to shore up the U.S.-Mexico border towards unlawful entrants, a signature difficulty for the Republican.
The president’s Wednesday night time tackle noticed him lower a weary determine as he claimed from a lectern within the White House’s foremost lobby that Operation Epic Fury had “delivered swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield.”
He appealed as soon as once more to America’s allies to assist reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which has triggered international oil costs to soar, dismissed home financial considerations, gave solely a imprecise timeline for the battle’s decision – saying it will nonetheless take “two or three weeks” – and repeated strongman rhetoric about bombing Iran “back to the Stone Age where they belong.”
His speech got here simply hours after a brand new CNN ballot revealed that almost all U.S. residents have largely soured on the war, with simply 34 p.c of respondents voicing approval of it.
