Political commentator Kyle Kulinski recently examined Joe Rogan’s declining popularity, particularly among young men. In a recent episode, Kulinski attributed the drop to what he characterizes as a fundamental betrayal of Rogan’s original values.
According to Kulinski, Rogan has lost 11 points with young men since Trump’s election, signaling the end of “peak Joe Rogan.”
Kulinski argues that Rogan’s credibility has eroded because he’s become too close to political power.
“He’s friends with JD Vance. He’s friends with Donald Trump. He texts with both of them,” Kulinski notes, adding that Rogan has platformed billionaires like Peter Thiel and Mark Zuckerberg without challenging them.
Most controversially, Kulinski points out that Rogan invited on Jeffrey Epstein’s chef. He said, “Did you know he invited on Jeffrey Epstein chef and didn’t talk to him about Jeffrey Epstein? I mean, he’s literally bringing on Epstein class [ ] and not pushing them, right? Letting them like launder their reputations on air.”
The core of Kulinski’s criticism centers on gambling sponsorships. Rogan now worth an estimated $500 million from Spotify deals, continues promoting DraftKings despite previously describing gambling as being “just like crack” and gripping people “like crystal [ ].”
Kulinski finds this particularly problematic because these platforms allegedly ban winners while aggressively courting heavy losers. “If you win, they ban you. If you lose, and if you lose a lot, they give you VIP treatment,” Kulinski explains.
Kulinski admits he previously supported legalized gambling but changed his position after learning how exploitative these platforms are.
“They’re literally just scamming you,” he says, questioning why someone with Rogan’s wealth would promote such services. “Do you really need the extra 50 million when you already have 500 million?”
The commentator contrasts Rogan’s current stance with his past warnings about gambling, highlighting clips where Rogan described watching people “blow everything” in pool halls and called gambling “a mental health issue.”
Yet when guest Theo Von mentioned refusing sponsors that harm people, Rogan responded dismissively: “Good for you.”
“You’re no better than the people that you criticize all the time in mainstream media,” Kulinski concludes. “You really have become the new mainstream media.”
