Joe Rogan denies he’s a conservative, slams GOP: ‘I was on welfare as a kid’
Joe Rogan took aim at left-leaning critics who accused him of being a conservative and said that he’s a “bleeding heart liberal when it comes to a lot of s–t.”
Rogan, who has drawn fire from liberals for hosting guests who have criticized COVID-19 vaccines and pandemic-related lockdown measures, made the comments during his Spotify podcast on Saturday, during which he interviewed comedian-actor Andrew Schulz.
Schulz and Rogan began discussing politics, including recent comments by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) that the Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage was “clearly wrong.” Their conversation was transcribed by the news site Mediaite.
Rogan blasted Cruz and the GOP for opposing gay marriage, calling it “homophobic.” He also sounded bewildered that many of his liberal critics accuse him of supporting the Republican Party.
“It’s not just abortion rights, but now they’re going after gay marriage too, which is so strange to me,” Rogan told his audience of millions.
“Gay marriage is not silly. It’s marriage — it’s marriage from people that are homosexual and it’s, for them, it’s important. They want it.”
Rogan continued: “They want to affirm their love and their relationship. And the fact that they’re going after that now almost makes me feel like they want us to fight.”
“They wanna divide us in the best way they can. And this is the best way for them to keep pulling off all the bulls–t they’re doing behind the scenes is to get us to fight over things like gay marriage or get us to fight over things like abortion,” Rogan said.
“It’s just like, why are you removing freedoms?”
Schulz agreed, saying: “If you are gonna say that marriage is an important cultural institution to the fabric of America, you can’t remove it from Americans.”
“It’s so homophobic,” Rogan said.
“Because you’re saying there’s something wrong with being homosexual by saying that you are opposed to gay marriage. You’re saying you’re opposed to gay people.”
Rogan said Cruz’s comments as well as the recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade is “the kind of s–t that keeps me from being a Republican.”
“People will say like, ‘Oh, you know, you’re a secret conservative.’ Like you can suck my d–k,” Rogan said.
“You don’t know what the f–k you’re talking about. I’m so far away from being a Republican.”
He added: “Just because I believe in the Second Amendment and just because I support the military and just ’cause I support police.”
“Like I was on welfare as a kid. I think it’s important,” he said.
“I think having a social safety net is crucial. We should help each other. We’re supposed to be one big community.”
“I’m a bleeding heart liberal when it comes to a lot of s–t.”
Rogan, who signed a $200 million exclusive licensing deal with Spotify in 2020, last week outraged advocates for the homeless when he joked about “shooting” them in Los Angeles.
Earlier this year, grunge rocker Neil Young and several other artists including Joni Mitchell pulled their catalogues from Spotify in protest of the streaming service’s arrangement with Rogan.
They blasted Rogan for disseminating “misinformation” about COVID-19.