Since the start of 2022, Rogan has been at the centre of controversy surrounding how Swedish audio platform Spotify manages misinformation about Covid-19. — AFP
Between former President Trump and podcast host and UFC commentator Joe Rogan, it's a surprising toss-up on who has the right of first refusal.
On Monday, the controversial host of The Joe Rogan Experience revealed that he had rejected the reality television star-turned-president as a guest on his podcast on multiple occasions.
"I've had the opportunity to have him on my show more than once. I've said no every time," Rogan said on the 300th episode of computer scientist Lex Fridman's self-titled podcast. "I don't wanna help him. I'm not interested in helping him."
Representatives for Trump could not be reached by The Times' for comment.
Rogan later doubled down on his sentiments, saying that he is "not a Trump supporter in any way shape or form."
Rogan told AI researcher Fridman that he feels the Trump era marked "one of the weirder times of when people look back at division in this country."
Trump, however, wasn't the only president taking hits from Rogan. Shortly after speaking about the former Apprentice star, Rogan brought up President Biden's recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, where he "was just rambling."
"If he was anyone else, if he was a Republican — if that was Donald Trump doing that, every f—ing talk show would be screaming for him to be off-air," he said.
During the nearly two-hour-long podcast, Rogan also spoke about far-right radio host Alex Jones, how he survived "cancel culture" and why he thinks late comic Norm McDonald was "one of the greats."
Since the start of 2022, Rogan has been at the centre of controversy surrounding how Swedish audio platform Spotify manages misinformation about Covid-19. In various episodes of his podcast, Rogan has criticised pandemic lockdown measures, expressed scepticism about Covid-19 vaccines and more. Spotify's decision to keep Rogan's top-ranked show on its platform prompted artists including Neil Young, Graham Nash, Joni Mitchell and India Arie to boycott the app.
However, Crosby, Stills & Nash returned to Spotify on Saturday, five months after taking a stand against the music-sharing platform and Rogan. – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
