Joe Rogan breaks with Trump over ‘Gestapo’ ICE operations the hill
Podcaster
Joe Rogan voiced sympathy with Americans who have
expressed anger and frustration at the way
President Trump’s administration has conducted
immigration enforcement during his first year in office.
“You don’t want militarized people in the streets just roaming around, snatching up people — many of which turn out to be U.S. citizens that just don’t have their papers on them,” Rogan said on Tuesday’s episode of his podcast, likely referring to the president’s
deployment of National Guard soldiers to aid in the crackdown.
He added, “Are we really gonna be the Gestapo, ‘Where’s your papers?’ Is that what we’ve come to?”
Rogan, who was interviewing Sen.
Rand Paul (R-Ky.), said issues concerning immigration “are more complicated than anyone wants to admit.”
Trump’s
immigration agenda reached a flash point last week following an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer
fatally shooting of 37-year-old
Renee Good, a Minnesota woman
federal officials allege impeded an
ICE operation in Minneapolis by using her vehicle as a weapon.
The Department of Homeland Security
has defended the officer who killed Good, while protests against immigration operations in the North Star State
have grown in the days since the shooting.
Polls indicate that many Americans
disagree with the administration’s justification for the shooting and believe the officer
should face legal action.
Rogan, a prominent media voice who is particularly influential with young men, has
broken with Trump on a number of issues in recent months after
voicing support for the president during his 2024 campaign.
Trump sat with the podcast host for a
more than three-hour interview just days before the 2024 election, as part of an effort to use appearances with internet influencers and popular podcasters to shore up support among younger voters.