During an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with Shane Gillis, the conversation turned to President Trump’s controversial social media post about director Rob Reiner following his tragic death.
The topic arose when Gillis mentioned he wished certain things didn’t upset him. Rogan acknowledged the controversial nature of Trump’s post, stating his position clearly.
“The Rob Reiner thing was crazy because Rob Reiner made it a mission to try to get Trump out of office and to try to get Trump arrested,” Rogan explained.
He referenced a video featuring Reiner with former intelligence officials John Brennan and James Clapper, describing it as having high production value while they discussed removing Trump from office.
However, both Rogan and Gillis drew a clear line regarding the appropriateness of Trump’s response. Gillis stated, “All that sucked. I think that sucked. But then, you get murdered next to your wife by your son. That’s the worst thing possible.”
Rogan agreed, saying: “Horrible. It’s a crazy thing to put out.”
Rogan made a direct comparison to help illustrate his point about celebrating someone’s death. “It’s no different than people that were celebrating when Charlie Kirk got shot,” he said, referring to another incident where political opponents expressed satisfaction over tragedy.
He elaborated on his disappointment: “Whenever something like that happens where someone is happy that someone died, so many people just feel so disappointed. It’s so disappointing. If you say that privately, that’s one thing, which is also crazy. But it’s so disappointing.”
Rogan emphasized that context matters significantly. “Someone would have to be the worst person ever and then you’re like, ‘You know what? F**k that guy.’ But Jesus,” he said, acknowledging that even in extreme cases, the circumstances matter enormously.
Both Rogan and Gillis agreed that how Reiner died made Trump’s post particularly egregious. “And the way it happened, too,” Rogan said. Gillis agreed, saying: “The way it happened makes it 10 times worse.”
Gillis suggested that if Reiner had “died in a funny way,” the reaction might be different, giving hypothetical examples. Rogan agreed, saying if it were something like bungee jumping where “he lied about his weight,” it would be different. “But then the worst possible way to die. The worst possible way to die,” Rogan added.
Despite the political tensions, Rogan made sure to recognize Reiner’s contributions to entertainment. When Gillis mentioned Reiner “ruled,” Rogan enthusiastically agreed: “Oh, he had amazing rules, man. He made amazing movies.”
They discussed wanting Reiner to appear on the podcast to discuss the JFK assassination, with Rogan expressing regret: “He wanted to come on the podcast and talk about JFK. That would have been sick. I don’t know why that never happened.”
Rogan connected the Reiner post to other recent Trump administration actions that troubled him. “There’s certain things the administration does that I’m just damn, you can’t defend it,” he said, mentioning other controversial incidents as part of a pattern.
