In a fiery episode this week, famous podcaster Joe Rogan laid scorching criticisms onto Justin Trudeau, vowing he won’t set foot in Canada as long as Trudeau remains in power. Rogan unleashed a barrage of condemnations against Trudeau, accusing him of authoritarian overreach. He portrayed Trudeau as a dictator hastily smearing peaceful protestors to justify his crackdown.
Rogan also condemned Trudeau’s speech-chilling laws blacking out news articles in Canada as insidious censorship. He urgently warned Trudeau’s liberal regime is sending Canada careening down a dangerous road of trampled civil liberties.
On the other hand, Rogan sang the praises of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre as a voice of reason who could restore sanity, tapping into swelling public outrage against Trudeau’s increasingly unpopular liberal regime.
With Trudeau’s approval ratings in freefall, Rogan’s scorching attack could blaze a trail of damage to the embattled prime minister’s reputation across Canada and worldwide.
Rogan’s mass platform gives his blistering critique extra combustive force to fuel momentum against Trudeau’s faltering leadership.
Joe Rogan, the popular comedian and podcaster, recently revealed on an episode of his show The Joe Rogan Experience that he has no plans to return to Canada anytime soon due to his strong disapproval of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the current Canadian government.
Rogan’s guest, Canadian fitness entrepreneur Derek from the YouTube channel More Plates More Dates, seemed to agree with Rogan’s assessment, saying “Even though I’m in Canada, it seems like the prevalence of political information and media is so much lesser than what goes on in the States because it’s just far more interesting.
But even the alternatives that I’m aware of on the political side of things that are trying to get Trudeau out and replace him are not much better from my understanding.”
This launched Rogan into a fiery tirade aimed directly at Trudeau and his response to the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa. Rogan expressed outrage over how Trudeau openly dismissed and vilified the trucker protesters by calling them racist and misogynistic without evidence.
Rogan also condemned how the Canadian government froze the bank accounts of people who had donated money to support the protest, which is essentially an authoritarian, third world tactic that he finds shocking could happen in Canada.
In the same episode, Rogan spoke approvingly of Pierre Poilievre, he praised him as “very smart” and “very interesting,” highlighting a viral video where Poilievre adeptly counters repetitive questioning from a reporter while snacking on an apple.
Rogan’s praise of Poilievre’s composure and reasonableness stands in stark contrast to his scathing criticism of the Trudeau government’s overreach.
Shortly after complimenting Poilievre’s intelligence, Rogan pivoted to condemn the controversial Online News Act imposed under Trudeau’s leadership.
He slammed the law requiring social media platforms to pay news publishers for content, which has backfired by entirely blocking Canadian access to news articles on sites like Facebook and Instagram. As Derek explained, “If you’re located in Canada, you can’t access news outlets because the social media platforms featuring the news outlets refuse to pay Canada.”
Joe Rogan was shocked by this, stating “That’s like China. It’s literally what they do in foreign countries that are run by dictators.”
He expressed alarm over how the Online News Act in Canada resembles authoritarian restrictions on information access in places like China. He worries the law could enable government overreach and censorship, which he sees as a disturbing threat to free speech.
Derek also voiced concerns about how potential new regulations could severely impact social media creators in Canada, forcing them to create vague “Canadian content” or possibly wiping them off platforms completely.
Rogan revealed his own podcast may have been blocked in Canada due to these new laws.
The clip with Derek has gone viral, generating over 200,000 views on X and a flood of supportive comments from fans agreeing with Rogan’s criticisms of Trudeau. One wrote “It’s great to hear Rogan always hit the nail on the head,” while another added “Canada is a perfect example of good men doing nothing and allowing weak tyrannical dictators to take control.”
This isn’t the first time Rogan has publicly denounced Trudeau and Canada’s leadership. Last summer, he revealed on an episode with Post Malone he once considered moving to Canada but was deterred by Trudeau’s leadership.
He seems to view Trudeau’s actions against the Freedom Convoy as a frightening example of how far a government will go to control its people.
During another podcast last year with professor Gad Saad,Rogan had spoken positively about Trudeau, complimenting him as seeming intelligent and youthful, though his opinion of Trudeau had since changed drastically.
Though Rogan previously had praised Canada’s universal healthcare, education system, and low crime compared to America, he said Trudeau’s response to the peaceful protest freaked him out.
The Freedom Convoy protest ultimately ended in late February 2022 after police forcibly removed the remaining protestors, making over 190 arrests and towing 76 vehicles. But the damage to Trudeau’s reputation was already done.
Recent polls show Trudeau’s Liberals trailing the opposition Conservatives badly ahead of the next election. But despite what looks like a looming historic defeat, Trudeau has yet to indicate he will step aside and let someone else lead the Liberals. This is either due to ego or blind optimism.
Either way, it seems clear Joe Rogan, along with many Canadians, has lost all faith in Trudeau’s leadership. Between the response to the truckers and the perceived censorship and government overreach of bills like the Online News Act, Canada is becoming dangerously close to communist dictatorship under Trudeau’s watch.
Unless the country sees an overhaul of government and Trudeau removed from power, Rogan claims he won’t be visiting his northern neighbor anymore. Given Rogan’s massively popular podcast reaches millions of listeners per episode, his scathing critiques could further damage perceptions of Trudeau worldwide.
Joe Rogan’s praise of Pierre Poilievre and disdain for Justin Trudeau reflects a broader sentiment among many Canadians critical of the current Liberal government.
Where Rogan sees Poilievre as “very smart” and reasonable, he lambasts Trudeau as a “creepy dictator” eroding freedoms. This contrast reveals Rogan’s preference for Poilievre’s common sense conservatism over what he perceives as Trudeau’s increasingly authoritarian liberalism.
Poilievre has tapped into this anger, positioning himself as defending individual liberties against unchecked government control. His message clearly resonates with Rogan, whose platform amplifies these grievances.
It is very telling that commentators like Rogan are starting to see Trudeau’s actions as the start of a dangerous slide towards heavy-handed government control, censorship, and erosion of free speech. With Trudeau’s popularity plummeting, the controversy shows deep political divides continue to intensify across Canada.
The coming elections may serve more insight on the accusations of “communism” and “dictatorship” that hover around Trudeau. Joe Rogan and others critical of Canada’s current trajectory will be watching closely for any signs of retreat – or further crackdowns – on the civil liberties they feel are under threat.
