Does Trump Have a Joe Rogan Problem?

Joe Rogan has been critical of ICE tactics on American streets, but his most recent comments have caused quite a stir. "Are we really going to be the Gestapo?" he asked in an interview with Sen. Rand Paul. "Where's your papers? Is that what we've come to?" Coverage:

• Context: Rogan's views are more nuanced than the soundbites suggest, writes J. Oliver Conroy at the Guardian. In the same podcast, he made clear he sees "both perspectives" on the immigration crackdown, including the conservative view that unchecked illegal immigration will only get worse. It's "more complicated than I think people want to admit," he said.
• But: Rogan has criticized the ICE tactics as too aggressive multiple times, going back to April of last year, notes Axios, which rounds up his comments. When speaking to Paul, he called the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good "all kinds of wrong," adding, "It's also very ugly to watch someone shoot a US citizen, especially a woman, in the face."

• A weathervane: Rogan is wildly popular with young men in particular, and his endorsement of Trump in 2024 was viewed as important. But it goes beyond young men, writes Oliver. He cites a perception that "everyman Rogan, whose views do not map neatly onto either major party, is an avatar for millions of politically fluid, vaguely centrist Americans—a weathervane whose shifts might, like a groundhog emerging from his burrow, predict looming changes in the ideological weather."
• Or a swing voter: Academic Ben Burgis makes a similar point in succinct fashion: "The most useful way to think about Joe Rogan is as America's most famous swing voter."
• Advice for Democrats: At the New Republic, Greg Sargent writes that Rogan's comments show that worries about too-aggressive ICE actions are filtering down to ordinary people, not just "political obsessives." Sargent sees the sentiment showing up in polls, too. "America isn't supposed to have such trappings of dictatorship saturating their everyday lives, a lot of people think. Rogan's latest broadside—'Are we really gonna be the gestapo?'—speaks to that intuition." In his view, it gives Democrats a chance to reach out to groups such as Rogan's audience and answer the question.