Top 5 craziest moments from Joe Rogan's podcast in 2024

The Joe Rogan Experience (JRE) is among the most successful podcasts in the world. It's platformed a wide variety of guests from different walks of life, including some who are regarded as polarizing figures in the socio-political realm.

The JRE host himself is viewed by some as a polarizing individual. Over the years, the longtime UFC color commentator and podcast mogul has battled allegations of perpetuating misinformation, platforming public personalities who espouse extremist views, and much more.

Rather unsurprisingly, the JRE podcast is no stranger to controversy. Well, as we approach the end of 2024, let's look at some of the most polarizing, craziest JRE moments of the year.

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#5 Joe Rogan and Mike Benz on alleged U.S. hand in Ukraine regime change, connection with censorship

On JRE's episode #2237 earlier this month (December 2024), Joe Rogan hosted Mike Benz, an ex-U.S. Department of State personnel. Benz currently serves as the Executive Director of Foundation For Freedom Online, which is listed as a free speech watchdog organization focused on protecting free speech on the internet.

Among the biggest talking points from the episode were the Russia-Ukraine-U.S. situation and online censorship. Benz suggested that America utilized information warfare, particularly weaponizing social media, to overthrow the purportedly pro-Russia Ukrainian government and replace it with a pro-U.S. regime in 2014.

However, Benz added that the social media censorship, which played a major role in the alleged propaganda battle, had far-reaching effects, spilling over past the Russo-Ukrainian regions and affecting the U.S. too.

Rogan appeared to concur with some of Benz's points. Some netizens supported their assessment, whereas others accused them of pro-Russian propaganda.

A number of netizens on U.S.-headquartered global social media platforms, such as X and beyond, lambasted Rogan and Benz. Rogan was specifically criticized for platforming Benz. Some critics went as far as accusing the MMA personality of being on Russian President Vladimir Putin's payroll, while others condemned him for allegedly disseminating disinformation that undermined the U.S. government.

Watch a few key moments from the discussion below:

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#4 Joe Rogan sounds the alarm on key Kamala Harris policy

Joe Rogan was a vocal supporter of Bernie Sanders, a deemed left-wing and Democratic Party politician, a few years ago. However, Rogan eventually shifted toward the deemed right-wing and the Republican Party. He even hosted ex-POTUS (President of the United States) and current President-elect, the Republican Party's Donald Trump, on JRE this October.

Many political analysts attributed Trump's victory over Democratic Party 2024 presidential hopeful, Kamala Harris, partly to his JRE appearance and to Rogan officially endorsing him on the eve of the elections in November. In addition, Rogan consistently sounded the alarm on Harris' policies as vice president in the current administration helmed by President Joe Biden.

On JRE's episode #2200, Rogan hosted comedian-cum-political commentator Kat Timpf and addressed various topics. A notable moment was when Rogan critiqued Harris' infamous NAACP speech from 2019, wherein she suggested that she'd like to bring about more "oversight" and "regulation" on social media websites that influence millions of people.

Frequent JRE guest -- the world's current richest person and South Africa-born U.S.-based billionaire Elon Musk -- also expressed concerns over Harris' aforementioned assertion. Well, Rogan sounded off on Harris' comments, claiming that she was basically proposing excessive governmental control that would be in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The 57-year-old added that Harris beating Trump in the presidential elections and ascending to the POTUS seat would result in her and like-minded individuals supposedly clamping down on free speech even more.

Rogan's detractors often condemn him for his alleged alarmist assertions, and his warning that a potential Harris POTUS win would devastate America's free speech ecosystem was deemed as needless fearmongering by his critics.

Watch Rogan criticize Harris below:

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#3 Joe Rogan receives pushback from JRE guest about Donald Trump

On episode #2228 of JRE, Joe Rogan hosted civil rights lawyer, Josh Dubin -- a multi-time guest who'd previously brought an ex-convict on the podcast before the latter allegedly murdered and dismembered a childhood friend.

While discussing the American political landscape, Rogan alluded to ex-POTUS Barack Obama endorsing fellow Democrat Kamala Harris for POTUS this year. He implied that Obama lied about his and Harris' political rival, Donald Trump.

JRE guest Josh Dubin seemingly pushed back, signaling that all politicians lie. Rogan intervened and asked whether Trump lied about Joe Biden. Dubin retorted that Trump has "lied plenty."

The JRE host noted that he too was sure that Trump had lied but seemingly hinted that his lies weren't as contextually insidious in regard to presidential campaign politics.

Rogan also said some of Obama and Trump's policies were similar but that the latter faced castigation for it while Obama didn't. He added:

"Right, so that's a problem. There's a problem if you're accusing him [Trump] of that."

Dubin responded by saying:

"Here's the thing, I think they all lie."

Intriguingly, this segment of their conversation elicited a wide variety of reactions. Some lambasted Rogan for implying that Trump also lied, while others accused him of downplaying the alleged lies.

A few observers said Rogan and Dubin's conversation was marked by an underlying tension, wherein both fundamentally disagreed over the insidiousness of Trump's supposed lies, but neither of the two expressed themselves assertively.

Watch the segment below (1:59:00):

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#2 Joe Rogan and Dave Smith's 9/11 conspiracy theories conversation, alleged FBI entrapment MO

On JRE's episode 2225, Joe Rogan hosted political commentator and comedian Dave Smith. The American duo spoke about several issues, including U.S. government agencies like the FBI and CIA.

Smith notably highlighted the extent of the alleged utilization of "entrapment," which he suggested is the modus operandi (MO) of the FBI and other U.S. government agencies.

Smith seemed to indicate that the American government usually states that their country's enemies hate their wealth, freedom, and lifestyle, but the causative factors of anti-America attacks are much more nuanced.

He alleged that the FBI orchestrates attacks by entrapping religious extremists into perpetrating attacks on U.S. soil and then thwarting the said attacks. Notably, Smith claimed that the alleged trend has intensified since the 9/11 attacks of 2001.

Again, Joe Rogan and the JRE podcast faced flak from some listeners, who questioned him for furthering 9/11-related conspiracy theories and supposedly casting his own country's domestic intelligence agency and federal law enforcement arm, FBI, in a bad light.

Watch Smith's assessment below (39:45):

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#1 Joe Rogan's widely-discussed JRE conversation with Donald Trump

Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential elections. Trump has maintained that it had less to do with American voters opting for Biden and more with the alleged Democrat-orchestrated election fraud.

Joe Rogan, who'd faced Trump's ire earlier this year, hosted the politician on episode #2219 of JRE in Oct. 2024. CNN and a number of other media outlets and think tanks in America questioned the claims Trump made on the podcast, including his accusations against the Biden-Harris administration and other political rivals about facilitating activities like illegal immigration and voter fraud.

Trump reaffirmed his stance that the 2020 elections were rigged against him, emphasizing inefficiencies in regard to election-time processes, such as time provisions, early voting, and tampered/rigged ballots.

Several fans argued that Rogan saw through Trump's alleged lies and overamplification of the supposed election fraud but intentionally didn't put up a strong mid-conversation opposition.

Some asserted that Rogan would still vote for Trump and platform his supporters, like Elon Musk. Overall, the episode garnered considerable viewership but brought Rogan significant criticism for organizing a softball interview, which they argued was bereft of tougher, meaningful questions.

Watch the election fraud segment below (2:17:25):