4 things Elon Musk told Joe Rogan before his 11th-hour Trump endorsement
Joe Rogan, the massively popular podcaster who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2020 and signaled he would back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) were he to go the distance in 2024, long expressed reluctance about having President Donald Trump on his show.
Rogan finally gave in late last month and sat down for three hours with the Republican president for an interview that went viral despite YouTube's apparent censorship efforts. Although the titular host of "The Joe Rogan Experience" appeared receptive to Trump's various policy proposals and his commentary about the issues facing the nation, Rogan refrained from endorsing the president — until Monday night after Elon Musk detailed his own reasons for backing Trump.
Rogan noted after the nearly three-hour interview Monday that Musk, a former Democrat, made "the most compelling case for Trump you'll hear" and agreed with the tech magnate "every step of the way."
While their conversation was replete with indications that might account for why Rogan finally endorsed Kamala Harris' opponent — such as the falsity of both the Democrat-constructed Russian collusion narrative and the party's promise of change; Harris' censorial reflex and dislikable personality; economic woes; Democrats' failure or unwillingness to tackle crime; reckless government spending; the border crisis; the promise of Trump's "Make America Healthy Again" movement; and the slaying of Peanut the squirrel — Musk highlighted four key reasons Trump was the optimal choice.
To save America from a 'one-party state'
Musk, who has reportedly poured hundreds of millions of dollars into efforts to see Trump elected, emphasized that should the Republican candidate lose the election, America will in turn "lose the two-party system."
The tech billionaire reasoned that there are only a handful of swing states where the margin of victory is small, "often 10 or 20,000 votes."
Musk echoed the concern Rogan raised with Sen. John Fetterman on the previous episode, namely that "the Democrat administration has been ... importing vast numbers of illegal aliens into swing states."
"What we're seeing is triple-digit increases in the numbers of illegals in every swing state. Some cases, 700% increases. These are gigantic numbers," said Musk, stressing that these numbers are far in excess of what would be necessary to permanently lock swing states for the Democrats.
'If Trump doesn't win, this is the last election.'
"Once the swing states vote blue, there is no election anymore," continued Musk. "There's only a Democrat primary."
"Which is so crazy," Rogan responded. "And it's so crazy that people are fine with that."
Musk indicated that the ultimate result would be a "one-party state" whose Democratic commissars could continue the project of overwhelming resistive states with illegal aliens until the remaining resistance is electorally neutralized.
While the Tesla CEO intimated that amnesty might play a big role in this scheme, he indicated that illegal aliens will be able to put their thumbs on the scale long before receiving citizenship, referencing successful Democratic efforts to eliminate voter ID laws.
Steven Camarota, the director of research for the Center of Immigration Studies, noted in a recent op-ed that illegal aliens are also counted in the census, meaning blue states will enjoy greater and greater representation in Congress the longer the border crisis goes unchecked.
"If Trump doesn't win, this is the last election," reiterated Musk.
Rogan replied, "I think you're right."
To save the Constitution
Musk noted that there has been a concerted campaign by Democrats to infringe upon Americans' rights and to render the Constitution a dead document.
"There have been all these attacks on the Constitution, especially on the Democrat side. They have been repeatedly saying that the First Amendment is an obstacle," said Musk. "And they're claiming, 'Oh, the First Amendment is enabling disinformation, misinformation.' And I'm like, 'Yo, there's a reason for the First Amendment.'"
Democrats have been explicit about their problems with the First Amendment and the speech rights it guarantees.
Tim Wu, a former special assistant to President Biden for competition and tech policy and author of one of Biden's executive orders, complained in July that the "First Amendment is out of control" and recommended reining it in.
Former Biden-Harris climate czar John Kerry noted during a World Economic Forum panel discussion on trade and so-called sustainability in September that "our First Amendment stands as a major block to the ability to be able to just, you know, hammer ['disinformation'] out of existence."
The Biden-Harris administration has evidenced in practice its hostility toward free speech. For instance, it leaned on social media companies to silence dissenting voices during the pandemic; launched the Department of Homeland Security's short-lived Disinformation Governance Board and tasked an advocate for deplatforming Trump to run the censorship outfit; weaponized the State Department to clamp down on undesirable speech; and worked to control speech on the internet.
"If you don't have freedom of speech, you don't have democracy," Musk told Rogan. "If you don't have freedom of speech, people cannot make an informed vote. If they're just being fed propaganda, and there's no freedom of speech, democracy is an illusion."
Musk noted further that the Second Amendment — similarly under assault by Harris and her fellow Democrats — serves to ensure Americans can fight off those tyrannical forces that would dare undermine the First Amendment.
"I've had these debates, especially with people in L.A., because they want to take everyone's guns away, and I'm like, 'Yo, can you guarantee me that the government — that we'll never have a tyrannical government in the United States? Can you make that guarantee?' They're like, 'Well, nobody can make that guarantee.' I'm like, 'Then we need to keep our guns,'" said Musk. "Because that's what's going to stop it."
Harris' campaign website noted that if elected, she would "ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require universal background checks, and support red flag laws that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people."
In the past, Harris has threatened to storm the homes of law-abiding Americans for surprise gun inspections and sponsored a handgun ban.
To save America from suffocating regulation
Musk told Rogan that regulation has stymied innovation, such that it apparently takes longer for Space X to gain approval from regulatory agencies for a rocket launch than it takes to build the actual rockets.
When making his case for why a return to Trump's style of relative deregulation is optimal, Musk likened regulators to referees in a game of football.
"You don't want to have no refs. You want to have some number of refs. But you don't want to have way more refs than players," said Musk. "'Well, the running back couldn't complete the pass because there were too many regulators in the way because the football field was full of regulators.' Like, you can't even play the game."
Musk said in September that if Trump wins, "We do have an opportunity to do kind of a once-in-a-lifetime deregulation and reduction in the size of government."
To save America from foreign entanglements
The duo broached the subject of the left's desperate attempts to liken Trump to Adolf Hitler. Musk made a point of noting that Hitler is so despised because he committed genocide and effectively started war with Western civilization.
"Tell me about the wars and genocide that Trump did. Uh, I don't remember that, and he was president for four years," said Musk. "It's insane. It makes no sense."
Rogan noted, "He's campaigning on stopping all the wars. It's like his primary concern."
'Vote like your life depends on it because I think it does.'
"Exactly! The war mongers like Liz Cheney hate him," added Musk. "Because they love war. ... They profit off of war."
Former Jan. 6 committee member Liz Cheney and her father, Dick Cheney — a champion of the invasion of Iraq, which cost thousands of U.S. service lives and trillions of dollars — are among the interventionists who have backed Harris. Harris and Cheney recently denounced Trump's "isolationism," calling his aversion to foreign entanglements "dangerous."
Rogan indicated that he felt a sense of cognitive dissonance when the left celebrated Dick Cheney's Harris endorsement: "It's the craziest turn — the craziest 180 I've ever seen in my life."
"Yeah, can we play all the videos where you said Dick Cheney was the devil?" Musk replied, laughing.
"The war-profiteers hate Trump," said Musk. "Which is f***ed up. ... We should be like, 'Yeah, let's vote for the guy war-profiteers hate. That sounds like a great idea.'"
The tech billionaire noted further that the "Kamala puppet regime" is a guarantee for more war.
Musk concluded the interview by emphasizing the "men need to vote."
"This is a message to the men out there: Vote like your life depends on it because I think it does," said Musk. "Nothing is more important."
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Joe Rogan questions Sen. Fetterman about scheme to use illegal aliens to 'rig' swing states for Democrats
Tens of millions of illegal aliens have stolen into the U.S. since January 2021, killing citizens, tracking in lethal drugs and once-controlled diseases, siphoning taxpayer-funded welfare benefits, displacing schoolchildren, and in some cases, threatening the integrity of American elections.
Rather than take ownership for the deadly crisis, border czar Kamala Harris has repeatedly blamed President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers for the failure of the so-called "bipartisan" border bill, which Democrats have memorialized as a kind of would-be panacea.
Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman (D) did his best to amplify this narrative on the Saturday episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," but the titular host made clear he wasn't buying what the senator was selling. Rogan suggested that Democrats aren't looking for a solution to the border crisis but are instead using the border crisis to solve their problem of incomplete political control.
'You're rigging the system.'
When discussing the matter of immigration, Fetterman told Rogan, "Democrats are saying, 'Hey though, we need a secure border, we — you know — it's a significant issue.' And if I thought there was any kinds of issues and I've been very vigilant throughout, I've been actively involved in those kinds of things, and I've never witnessed those kinds of a thing."
"What do you mean by 'issues?'" said Rogan. "Like, what kind of issues are you talking about? You're talking about people letting people in, in order to get votes?"
"Well, it's not, there's not that level kinds. I don't think there's that level of kinds of organization," responded the senator.
Rogan balked at the suggestion that the crisis underway is not courtesy of some coordinated efforts, stating:
But there is a [level of] organization that's moving these people to swing states. There is a significant number of these people that are illegal immigrants that have made their way to swing states. And then there's been calls for amnesty. There's been calls for allowing these people to have a pathway to citizenship and allow them to vote. The fear that a lot of people have is that this is a coordinated effort to take these people that you're allowing to come into the country, then you're providing them with all sorts of services like food stamps and housing and setting them up, and then providing a pathway to amnesty. And then you would have voters that would be significantly voting towards the Democrats because they're the people that enabled them to come into the country in the first place, first place and provided them with those services.
"This is a big fear that people have," added Rogan, "that you're rigging the system and that this will turn all these states into essentially locked-blue like California is."
This fear was recently expressed by Elon Musk, who noted on his social media platform, "The Dems have imported massive numbers of illegals to swing states. Triple digit increases over the past 4 years! Their STATED plan is to give them citizenship as soon as possible, turning all swing states Dem. America would then become a one-party, deep blue socialist state."
Musk was referencing data that suggested the Biden-Harris administration was flooding red states with inadmissible migrants under the Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela program.
'The apportionment of House seats and votes in the Electoral College among the states is based on total population — not citizenship or legal status.'
Rogan's suggestion left Fetterman stammering. After re-centering himself with the defeatist suggestion, "Immigration is always going to be a tough issue in our nation," the senator proceeded to recycle Harris' suggestion that the "bipartisan" border bill was a step in the right direction but was ultimately tripped up by Trump.
"They had an opportunity to do a comprehensive border, bipartisan [bill] and that went down because Trump, he declared that, that, that's, that's a bad deal after it was negotiated with the other side," said Fetterman, glossing over Democrats' rejection of the robust Secure the Border Act of 2023 from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) just months earlier.
Having evidently looked into the specifics of the Emergency National Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, H. R. 815, Rogan responded, "But didn't that deal also involve amnesty? And didn't that deal also involve a significant number of illegal aliens being allowed into the country every year? I think it was 2 million people."
Blaze News previously reported that the bill included emergency authority provisions that would enable the federal government to shut down the border if the average number of illegal alien encounters reached between 4,000 and 5,000 per day for seven consecutive days. Over 1.4 million illegal aliens could therefore steal into the country without triggering a clamp down.
"So it was still the same sort of situation," continued Rogan. "Their fear is exactly what I talked about: that these people will be moved to swing states and that will be used to essentially rig those states and turn them blue forever."
When Fetterman attempted to dive back into empty rhetoric, Rogan intimated that it only took Republicans tens of thousands of votes across several counties to win certain states in 2016, so tens of millions of illegal aliens, strategically placed then rendered loyal to Democrats with handouts and amnesty, could "rig those states undeniably."
Steven Camarota, the director of research for the Center of Immigration Studies, noted in a recent op-ed that illegal aliens don't necessarily have to vote to impact American elections.
The apportionment of House seats and votes in the Electoral College among the states is based on total population — not citizenship or legal status. The Census Bureau is clear that naturalized citizens, as well as non-citizens such as green card holders, foreign students, guestworkers and illegal immigrants are captured in the census every 10 years.
Accordingly, political operatives playing the long game need only deluge blue states with illegal aliens to increase their representation in Congress and the Electoral College.
Because the legal and illegal immigrant population is so large and unevenly distributed across the country, it causes some states to gain seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Electoral College at the expense of others.
A Center for Immigration Studies investigation revealed last week that the inclusion of legal and illegal immigrants in the 2020 census shifted 17 House seats.
Fetterman told Rogan, "Immigration is changing our nation," stressing that it is "generally for a good thing."
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Joe Rogan reveals whether VP Harris will be interviewed on his podcast
Popular podcast host Joe Rogan revealed earlier this week Vice President Kamala Harris has not officially said no to being interviewed on his show, but the sticking points to scheduling the interview have been some of her campaign's conditions for doing it.
Rogan posted the full episode of his interview with former President Donald Trump on his X account late Monday night. He did so after some reportedly had difficulty finding it on YouTube on Monday, even when searching very specific keywords on the platform. Searching for it on Tuesday now brings the correct episode.
Trump and Vance have done a wide range of podcast interviews with popular hosts such as Theo Von, Tucker Carlson, and the Nelk Boys.
After posting the video, Rogan addressed rumors about possibly interviewing Harris as well. According to Rogan, Harris' campaign said he could interview her on Tuesday but that "I would have had to travel to her and they only wanted to do an hour." Trump's interview with Rogan lasted for nearly three hours, which is a common episode length.
"I strongly feel the best way to do it is in the studio in Austin. My sincere wish is to just have a nice conversation and get to know her as a human being. I really hope we can make it happen," Rogan concluded.
It was then reported Trump's running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, will go on Rogan's podcast sometime this week. The episode will be released before Election Day.
Trump and Vance, while still doing traditional media interviews, have done a wide range of podcast interviews with popular hosts such as Theo Von, Tucker Carlson, and the Nelk Boys. The strategy is to showcase the candidates in an unfiltered and unedited format, which has been a weakness for Harris as she seemingly wants to have highly produced and scripted appearances on the campaign trail.
The shows are also popular with males, a critical voting bloc that supports Trump but that may be less likely to vote. His campaign hopes these appearances will motivate those male supporters to go to the polls.
Rogan's interview with Trump has received over 37 million views on YouTube. Harris' interview with Charlamagne tha God almost two weeks ago has under 600,000 views.
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Trump doubles down on possible federal income tax overhaul during Rogan interview: 'This country can become rich'
Former President Donald Trump doubled down on his plan to consider eliminating federal income taxes by replacing them with tariffs.
During a podcast interview with Joe Rogan released on Friday, Trump stated that the "most beautiful word" is "tariff."
"It's more beautiful than love; it's more beautiful than anything," Trump told Rogan. "This country can become rich with the use — the proper use — of tariffs."
'We were so rich because we were taxing other people for coming in and taking our jobs.'
In 2018, the former president imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum.
When Rogan asked whether he is "serious" about the possible elimination of federal income taxes, Trump responded, "Yeah, sure. Why not?"
Last week, during a town hall segment with Fox News at a barbershop in the Bronx, Trump was asked whether it would be possible to do away with federal income taxes, Blaze News previously reported.
"There is a way," Trump responded, adding that in the 1890s, the United States relied on tariffs and did not have a federal income tax.
"Now we have income taxes, and we have people that are dying, they're paying tax, and they don't have the money to pay the tax," he continued. "No, there is a way if what I'm planning comes out."
On Friday, Trump repeated similar comments to Rogan, confirming that it is possible to replace income taxes with tariffs.
He told Rogan, "Our country was the richest, relatively, in the 1880s and 1890s. A president who was assassinated, named [William] McKinley, he was the tariff king."
"He spoke beautifully of tariffs. His language was really beautiful," Trump explained. "'We will not allow the enemy to come in and take our jobs and take our factories and take our workers and take our families unless they pay a big price. And the big price is tariffs.' And he'd speak like that, but he was right."
Trump continued, "And then around the early 1900s, they switched over, stupidly, to frankly an income tax. And you know why? Because countries were putting a lot of pressure on America, 'We don't want to pay tariffs. Please don't.'"
Trump stated that foreign countries are controlling U.S. politicians.
"We had a commission meeting in the, I think it was 1887," he stated. "Think of this problem: We were so rich, we had so much money, we didn't know what to do. So, they set up a blue-ribbon commission on tariffs, and the sole purpose was what to do with all the money we had. We were so rich because we were taxing other people for coming in and taking our jobs."
Trump noted that China relies on tariffs.
"If you want to own a factory and sell cars, if you build a factory here or have a factory, they don't take our cars," he said of China. "They wouldn't take our cars. But if you build a plant in China, you can do that."
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Trump says Joe Rogan interview will happen: 'I'm doing it'
President Donald Trump suggested on the Monday episode of the "Full Send Podcast" that he would soon appear on "The Joe Rogan Experience" to speak with the titular host.
While the Republican has appeared on a number of popular podcasts in recent weeks, a sit-down with Rogan would undoubtedly help maximize his reach. Rogan's show is in the top three podcasts on Spotify, which is the top U.S. podcast network, and Rogan's show boasts over 17.4 million subscribers on YouTube.
"Full Send Podcast" host Kyle Forgeard said to Trump, "You're doing a lot of podcasts recently. One that I would love to see you on is — I think Joe Rogan has to have you on." Forgeard then asked, "Would you do that?"
"Oh, sure I would," said Trump. "I mean I think I'm doing it, actually."
Forgeard pressed the Republican for clarification, "So you are going to do Joe Rogan?"
"Yeah, I am," said Trump.
After Forgeard suggested that Rogan's massive popularity is the result, in part, of his illumination of corruption during the pandemic, Trump noted that Rogan is a "good guy" with a "good voice."
The Daily Beast indicated that neither the Trump campaign nor a Rogan representative responded immediately to its requests for comment.
While there has not been an official response from Rogan or his team, the Joe Rogan Podcast account posed the question Saturday, "Do you want to see @realDonaldTrump on the podcast?"
At the time of publication, the post had received over 480,000 likes and the comments were overwhelmingly supportive.
Days prior to the poll, Elon Musk said definitively, "It will happen."
The Joe Rogan Podcast X account subsequently shared an article referring to Trump's possible appearance on the show.
Rogan has long downplayed the possibility of having President Donald Trump on his podcast. He told Lex Fridman in July 2022, for instance, "I'm not a Trump supporter in any way, shape, or form. I've had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once; I've said no every time."
'It would be interesting to hear his perspective on a lot of things.'
"I think you'll have him on," responded Fridman, citing Kanye West as an example of a guest Rogan had a good conversation with despite possible earlier skepticism.
Rogan said, "Yeah, but Kanye's an artist. Kanye doing well or not doing well doesn't change the course of our country."
Rogan, who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2020 and signaled he would back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) were he to go the distance in 2024, has sporadically defended Trump in the time since while also softening his position about not doing an interview.
Patrick Bet-David pressed the issue last year, asking if it might happen. Rogan told the entrepreneur, "Maybe. Maybe."
"It would be interesting to hear his perspective on a lot of things," Rogan told Bet-David. "I would like to know: What is it like when you actually get into office? I would like to know things like what is like versus perception. What is it actually like when you get in that building? ... When do you know that people are f***ing with you? When do you know that the intelligence agency's lying to you?"
In a September interview with Fridman, Trump indicated that he was unaware there was "any tension" between Rogan and himself, noting, "I've always liked him, but I don't know him."
"I only see him when I walk into the arena with Dana [White], and I shake his hand," said Trump. "I see him there, and I think he's good at what he does, but I don't know about doing his podcast. I guess I'd do it, but I haven't been asked, and I'm not asking them. I'm not asking anybody."
Trump characterized Rogan as a "liberal guy, I guess," but alluded to possible common ground.
"He likes [Robert F.] Kennedy," said Trump. "Bobby's going to be great. But I like that he likes Kennedy."
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed Trump on Aug. 23, indicating that in a second Trump administration, he would have the opportunity to help "Make America Healthy Again."
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