In a recent podcast discussion that has garnered significant attention, influential media personality Joe Rogan suggested that former UFC star-turned-political commentator Jake Shields may be influenced by audience feedback when sharing controversial opinions.
During a candid conversation with guests about the nature of online political discourse, Rogan offered his perspective on why some individuals might express extreme viewpoints, particularly addressing a situation involving Shields, who has reportedly made contentious statements regarding historical events.
“I think a lot of people get captured by this, by audience capture,” Rogan said during the exchange. “I think that’s the thing. You get a lot of positive reinforcement from a bunch of twisted people.”
The conversation touched on the phenomenon of individuals becoming increasingly drawn to fringe perspectives after discovering that mainstream narratives may have been misleading on certain issues. This pattern, often referred to as “taking the red pill” — an analogy from the film “The Matrix” — was described by Rogan as potentially problematic when taken to extremes.
Referencing author Michael Malice, Dave Smith elaborated, “Michael Malice had that great line. He goes, ‘When you take the red pill, you’re supposed to take one and not swallow the whole bottle.'”
The discussion highlighted concerns about how individuals might react when they feel institutions have misled them. “This is a real danger when the establishment and the institutions are all caught with their pants down having sold a bunch of very consequential policies based on lies,” Rogan explained. “And then once people realize that, they go, ‘Well, what else have they been lying to me about?’ And then they almost want to look into every single thing.”
When pressed specifically about Shields’ reported statements questioning the death toll in World War 2, Rogan distanced himself from those views, responding, “I don’t know. I’ve no idea,” indicating he couldn’t explain Shields’ perspective on the matter despite Shields having gone on his show several times.
Shields has gone so far that even Alex Jones wants nothing to do with him. Jones previously called him out calling his takes one dimensional.
Jones, speaking candidly about Shields without directly naming him, said “I’ve seen a lot of his stuff, but don’t really know much about him because usually, you know, what he’s saying, it just gets old.”
The InfoWars host went on to discuss his broader concerns about social media interactions and ideological obsessions. “My thing is I am into the knowledge of the world and the knowledge of the universe and this great, incredible experience that we’re all part of,” Jones stated implying that Shields’ one and only innuendo is to blame the Jews.
It’s worth noting that Shields’ was very much subdued in each of the appearances on Joe Rogan Podcast and nothing like what he does on his own show.
The episode in question featured Douglas Murray who put Dave Smith and Joe Rogan in the awkward position of having to explain why Rogan platforms almost exclusively fringe takes from historians. Murray need not have bothered, all it takes is to sort JRE youtube channel by most views to see that these fringe theorists have by far the largest number of views.
