Joe Rogan argued that the establishment media, which was once supportive of President-elect Donald Trump, has since engaged in a years-long “psy-op” to convince Americans that he is dangerous.
As one of the world’s most popular podcasts, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Rogan played a crucial role in the 2024 election by interviewing Trump and subsequently endorsing his presidential bid at the last minute. The podcaster has since mocked the media for losing voters’ trust and alienating long-time liberals like himself.
On Thursday’s episode, Rogan recalled how friendly people in entertainment and the media once were to Trump, playing clips from his 2012 appearance on “The View,” where he was cheered, as well as when he went on Oprah and she asked him about running for president.
Since then, “The View” has become a frequent source for apocalyptic views on Trump, and Oprah slammed him while campaigning with Vice President Kamala Harris. Rogan claimed that the abrupt shift in tone toward Trump was shocking in retrospect, saying, “What we saw is the greatest media psy-op in history.”
The podcast host continued to criticize traditional media.
“What you’re seeing with Trump, regardless of his flaws, is a massive concentrated psy-op,” Rogan pointed out. “They’ve distorted who he is to such an extent that most people believe this. Most people think this way. They have narratives.”
“What is a psychological operation? “I keep hearing that,” Normand stated.
“Psychological operation,” Rogan clarified. “Where they’ve decided to distort people’s perceptions of things.”
Shaffir responded that older liberals are shocked to learn that former President Barack Obama oversaw more deportations than Trump. “They said, ‘That doesn’t make sense.’ And you go, ‘Right, focus on what’s giving you the reality of the world,'” he explained.
Rogan then asked his producer, Jamie, to show him a “wild” quote from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from 2008, in which she was “saying some wild MAGA-type s—” about “illegal immigrants.”
Clinton could be heard in the recording saying, “I believe we must have tough conditions. Tell people to come out from the shadows. If they’ve committed a crime, deport them without question.
“She’s a Republican,” Shaffir quipped.
In the recording, Clinton continued, “If they’ve been working and are law-abiding, we should say, ‘Here are the terms of your stay. You must pay a large fine because you arrived here illegally. You must pay back taxes and try to learn English. “And you have to wait in line.”
The guests were shocked by Clinton’s previous comments.
“‘You must wait in line.’ “And everybody is cheering,” Rogan said. “2008. Hillary Clinton was more MAGA than Donald Trump. So how about that? MORE MAGA THAN TRUMP. It’s all an f—ing illusion. It’s all an f—ing illusion. “When it was convenient, they all said the same thing.”
However, Rogan argued that this election demonstrates a turning point.
“They had control over the media until now. Rogan argued that this election marked the first time they no longer had complete control over the media.
When asked why this is the case, the podcaster replied, “Because of us and podcasts. “Because of social media and X.”
