Rogan Calls Newsom a Fake and Newsom Just Proves Him Right
Joe Rogan took a shot at Gavin Newsom on a recent episode, and he did not bother softening it. His message was plain. Newsom looks polished, but not real. He comes off like a guy built for TV, not someone with a backbone.
Rogan said Newsom shifts with the political wind and never seems to stand for much of anything. That kind of criticism sticks because voters have seen this movie before. A lot of style. A lot of talking points. Not much else.
“Nobody wants President Newsom either. Nobody believes in that guy. The guy’s a f***ing con man. I mean everything he did in California from trying to madate vaccines for kids when it was totally unnecessary to being caught out in public without a mask and lying about the fact that he was outdoors. All of it. Nobody believes in that guy. He’s just a politician. Just a stone cold narrative driven politician…Nobody thinks he’s a real human.
“Whether you like Trump or not, whether you think he’s corrupt or not, that’s a human being…With Newsom, you’ve got like this construct, this cardboard cutout of a person.”
Joe Rogan: "Nobody believes [Newsom] is a real person. Whether you like Trump or not, whether you think he's corrupt, that's a human being… With Newsom you've got like this construct, this cardboard cutout of a person." pic.twitter.com/7uac1oNrvt
— Joe Rogan Podcast News (@joeroganhq) April 30, 2026
That clip spread fast, and Newsom clearly did not like it. His office fired back in all caps and tried to make Rogan look scared.
“JOE ‘LITTLE GUY’ ROGAN IS TOO CHICKEN TO HAVE ME ON HIS FAILING PODCAST BECAUSE HE KNOW I’D CRUSH HIM, SO HE TAKES CHEAP SHOTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY AS HE GETS RELEGATED TO IRRELEVANCY. ALL TALK, NO ACTION. I’M READY WHEN YOU ARE, ‘LITTLE GUY.’ OR KEEP HIDING!!!!”
That reply did not exactly help Newsom. If anything, it made the whole thing look worse for him. When politicians start shouting in all caps, it usually means the criticism hit a nerve.
The real point here is bigger than one podcast fight. Plenty of voters are tired of fake polish and rehearsed lines. They want someone who sounds like a real person and acts like one too. Newsom has spent years selling image first and substance second, and people notice.
Rogan may be a comedian, but on this issue, he is tapping into something a lot of Americans already feel. Newsom looks like a brand. Not a leader.