Popular podcaster Joe Rogan publicly disagreed with President Donald Trump’s recent remarks at conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, where Trump declared, “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.”
Speaking with journalist Mariana van Zeller on The Joe Rogan Experience on Friday, Rogan said he couldn’t agree with Trump’s harsh tone. “I don’t agree with any of that,” Rogan said. He then described Trump as “a nut,” while acknowledging that the former president’s combative nature may have helped him survive years of political attacks.
“It’s also the only way that guy survived what he went through,” Rogan added. “They tried to put him in jail; they tried to make a fake Russia collusion thing… you have to be a kind of nut to survive that.”
Rogan’s comments came just weeks after Charlie Kirk, 31, was tragically shot during a Q&A event at Utah Valley University. At Kirk’s memorial in Arizona, Trump’s fiery remarks stood in sharp contrast to those of Erika Kirk, the late activist’s widow, who called for forgiveness and compassion.
“The answer to hate is not hate,” Erika said. “The answer we know from the Gospel is love love for our enemies, and love for those who persecute us.”
During the podcast, Rogan stressed the importance of nonviolence and positive dialogue, saying society needs another Martin Luther King Jr.-type figure who can inspire peaceful change.
“We need someone who’s an adamant expresser of nonviolence as the only option,” Rogan said. “Any kind of violence is the worst thing that we can do to each other.”
He continued, “The way to minimize that violence is by never having violent rhetoric, by never encouraging violence. The way to counter hateful rhetoric is love.”
This isn’t the first time Rogan has broken with Trump. Though the podcaster once supported Trump’s 2024 campaign, he has often criticized certain administration policies, particularly around immigration. In an earlier episode, Rogan condemned ICE raids that separated families, saying, “Everybody who has a heart sees that and goes, ‘That can’t be right.’”
Trump, meanwhile, has continued his tough rhetoric. In a speech to military leaders in Virginia last month, he said: “America is under invasion from within… No different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don’t wear uniforms.”
Rogan’s balanced approach recognizing Trump’s resilience while rejecting hate-driven politics highlights a broader debate in American discourse: can strong leadership coexist with empathy and nonviolence?
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