A self-described longtime Democratic Party supporter, podcast host Joe Rogan recently dismissed the far-left ideologies that he says are negatively impacting California.
“California went nuts, man,” Mr. Rogan said during a recent episode of his Joe Rogan Experience. “It’s gone like full communist. It’s out of its ... mind.”
Arguing that while he once considered himself part of the “blue bubble,” he said he now found himself in the center. His views stayed the same, he said, as others drifted further left ideologically.
Noting the intensity of the arguments surrounding certain issues—including transgender men in women’s restrooms—he argued “groupthink” has become a detriment to the state and potentially the nation.
“They’re in a cult,” he said. “It’s just hard to say because then people in the cult will attack you.”
He criticized changes to the law brought about by criminal justice reform efforts that reduced prison sentences in California—an issue that some blame for the recent rise in property crimes.
“Their approach to law enforcement is so insane,” Mr. Rogan said. He specifically pointed to the state’s no cash bail policy and said violent criminals should not be released back into society without consequences for their actions.
Such have led, in part, to significant changes in some downtown areas, with department stores and retailers fleeing San Francisco because of crime and safety concerns.
“San Francisco is non-existent,” Mr. Rogan said. “They ruined the city.”
With overdose deaths reaching record highs in 2023 and drug addiction and homelessness impacting the city, he suggested the only way to correct the problem is with strict laws and enforcement.
However, voters in the city are not likely to accept such terms, he said.
“Nobody wants that,” Mr. Rogan said. “They’re peace, love, and granola, and ... wear a mask.”
Suggesting an authoritarian tone has overtaken the party he once belonged to, the longtime standup comedian said some are oblivious to the evolving belief systems.
“You think you’re a good person if you buy everything hook, line, and sinker that the left says. That’s crazy,” he said. “These are the same people encouraging censorship ... and the redistribution of wealth.”
He additionally accused foreign governments of manipulating impressionable minds with algorithms and social media messaging campaigns.
“I think it’s engineered by China and by Russia,” he said.
Once based in Los Angeles, Mr. Rogan moved his home and business to Austin, Texas, in 2020. While he said he enjoys less traffic and no state income tax, the move boiled down to “freedom.”
Lockdowns and the closure of businesses due to pandemic restrictions prompted his departure after living in California for 25 years, he said.
Now nearly four years in the Lone Star State, he found Texans are different, less polarized than Californians.
“They’re not lost in the fake word of leftist ideology that everybody’s trapped in,” he said. “Even the left-leaning people here are more reasonable.”
