Joe Rogan Advises Listeners 'Vote Republican,' Cites Democrats' Pandemic Response 'Errors'

Joe Rogan unsurprisingly voiced his support for the Republican party in the upcoming midterms during a recent episode of his podcast.

Rogan, who pushed back against claims of being a “secret conservative” last month, pointed the finger at Democrats for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I hope there’s lessons learned in this because this is a new thing,” Rogan said, as noted by the New York Post. “We had never had this before. No one that was alive today had ever experienced a true pandemic and I’m hoping that now that this is over, people are going to recognize that some serious errors were made, and not repeat those.” 

He continued, “As far as compensation for all of those people that were forced to close their businesses and keep their doors shuttered and lost everything they had worked for decades to build—no, they’re just going to be angry.”

When guest Aaron Rodgers asked what that particular group should do about it, Rogan responded, “Vote Republican.”

Rogan praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis because he “had some pretty reasonable policies in terms of what to do about COVID.” One of his more “reasonable policies” includes the infamous argument in July 2020 that since Walmart and Home Depot were deemed essential businesses, schools should be reopened in the fall. His remark came at a time when the state had reported over 200,000 cases. 

“Different parents have different calculations. If a parent wants to opt for virtual education, they should absolutely be able to do that. We shouldn’t be forcing them to do any types of decisions,” DeSantis recalled of his interaction with Florida’s education commissioner, according to CNN. 

In August 2021, DeSantis was far from open or reasonable when he threatened to withhold the salaries of superintendents and school board members if they defied his executive order prohibiting a mask mandate. Joe Rogan claimed DeSantis was of the belief that “everyone else should be able to do whatever you want to do...protect your freedom,” but school officials didn’t appear to be granted the same type of freedoms referenced by the Joe Rogan Experience host.   

Around the same time DeSantis prohibited a mask mandate in the state, the governor publicly downplayed COVID as “a very minor risk,” but as of this writing, Florida has nearly 80,000 deaths related to the virus, the third-most among U.S. states, according to data collected by the CDC. By comparison, New York City, which was once considered the epicenter of the pandemic due to its population density, has just over 41,000 deaths. 

While it’s truly bizarre for Rogan to hitch his wagon to DeSantis of all people, he previously stated the Florida governor would make for a “good president,” once again citing his “admirable” pandemic response.