"Cancel culture pushes people away" - Fans speculate reason behind Joe Rogan's "MAGA" turn after backing Bernie Sanders and other Democrats for years

Joe Rogan recently put forth his official endorsement of Donald Trump as POTUS (President of the United States) during the 2024 U.S. presidential elections. Many are now speculating about why Rogan, who previously praised the Democratic Party's political leaders over the years, endorsed the Republican Party's Trump.

American scientist and epidemiologist, Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, put forth a series of posts on X featuring footage and write-ups suggesting that Rogan is more left-leaning than people might think.

The posts featured Rogan's past praise for the Democrats and prominent left-leaning personalities like Bernie Sanders (who previously appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast), Michelle Obama, Cornel West, and even Tulsi Gabbard (when she was a Democrat).

Netizens soon chimed in on it. Some indicated that a few years back, Joe Rogan had stated several times that he'd vote for the Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders. One X user wrote:

"He said he was voting for Bernie several times."

The MMA personality has often implied the alleged far-left dominance in the Democratic Party pushed him and other liberals away to the right wing and the Republican Party in recent years. One commenter reiterated Rogan's views and wrote:

"Joe didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left him."

One observer seemingly welcomed Rogan and others to Trump's M.A.G.A. (Make America Great Again) dominion:

"Welcome to MAGA, it's a place of actual love, inclusion and freedom. You gonna love it"

Some speculated that Rogan was likely influenced by UFC CEO Dana White and the world's richest person Elon Musk (a multi-time JRE guest), both Trump associates. A netizen insinuated that Rogan allied himself with them to stay wealthy.

Others opined that Rogan is still very much a centrist and is open to conversations with people holding different views on his podcast, adding that one can vote for a given party whilst still agreeing with viewpoints that don't align with it:

"An intelligent mind remains curious, constantly learning, and willing to adjust its perspective in the light of new information."

Some conjectured that the COVID-19 pandemic and the calls for Rogan to be canceled/de-platformed over alleged vaccine misinformation and other accusations around that time precipitated a drastic change in his worldview. One fan tweeted:

"Cancel culture pushes people away. That's a fact we need to grapple with. It needs to be ok to have a discussion through disagreement."

Check out the screenshots of a few reactions below:

Screenshots of tweets

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Joe Rogan's role in the POTUS elections

On his world-renowned JRE podcast, Joe Rogan previously praised Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang (deemed left-wing-turned-centrist), Barack Obama, and other politicians considered left-wing. Rogan also lauded Trump, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, and others viewed as either longtime right-leaning politicians or Democrats-turned-Republicans.

Following Donald Trump's victory in the 2024 POTUS elections earlier this month, his recent JRE appearance and Rogan officially endorsing him were deemed major contributors to his win. Also, the Democratic Party's presidential hopeful Kamala Harris' loss to Trump was partly chalked up to her not appearing on JRE despite being in discussions to do so.

During Trump's post-victory ceremony, Dana White was onstage and thanked some of Trump's ardent supporters. Furthermore, White specifically hailed the "mighty and powerful Joe Rogan."

Watch White acknowledge Rogan's contributions to Trump's 2024 victory below: