For years, Donald Trump benefited from Joe Rogan’s massive platform. That support may now be cracking.
Rogan, the most influential podcaster in the country, helped normalize Trump for millions of voters who distrust traditional media. His long interview with Trump before the 2024 election reached tens of millions and helped seal Trump’s comeback. Trump noticed. Rogan was later welcomed to the Oval Office.
That relationship is no longer steady.
This week, Rogan openly recoiled from Trump’s immigration crackdown after discussing the death of Renee Nicole Good, a Minneapolis woman shot by an ICE agent under disputed circumstances. The details disturbed him. So did the response from the administration.
“It just seemed all kinds of wrong to me,” Rogan said on his podcast. “She didn’t seem mentally healthy, but does that mean she should be shot in the head?”
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That question cut through the usual talking points.
Rogan went further. He compared masked ICE agents roaming Minneapolis to authoritarian police forces. “Are we really going to be the Gestapo?” he asked. “Where’s your papers? Is that what we’ve come to?”
Rogan is not a partisan commentator. He is better understood as a political weather vane. When he shifts, millions notice.
Political analysts say his discomfort signals a broader problem for Trump. Immigration was the centerpiece of Trump’s campaign. He promised mass deportations and aggressive enforcement. That message energized his base. It also brought in swing voters who believed it would stop chaos, not create new violence.
Now, the visuals are changing the conversation.
Video of Good’s killing spread rapidly online. Clips of heavily armed ICE agents in American cities followed. For many viewers, including Rogan, it no longer looked like law enforcement. It looked like something else.
Rogan’s reaction echoed concerns forming outside liberal media circles. That is what makes it dangerous for Trump.
Polling analysts note that some voters who backed Trump in 2024, especially Hispanic men, are pulling away. They supported border control. They did not sign up for neighborhood raids and fatal encounters.
A White House official brushed off Rogan’s criticism, saying the administration stands by ICE while keeping “open dialogue” with new media. The response avoided the substance of what Rogan raised.
Trump did not slow down. As protests filled Minneapolis streets, he threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy the military.
That escalation only widened the gap.
Featured image via X screengrab
