Comedian and libertarian Dave Smith spoke with Joe Rogan about how Trump's famous coalition, many of whom he won with an anti-war message, has since become fractured with the war in Iran.
Many of the same podcasters credited with delivering President Donald Trump his 2024 victory, from Joe Rogan to Theo Von, are warning that broken campaign promises may have devastating consequences.
Trump won what some have called the "podcast election," where he appeared on numerous platforms that appealed to young men, a group that has shifted notably rightward in recent years amid backlash to far-left cultural agendas and affordability issues. But many of the same podcasters who persuaded these young men to support Trump are now warning his current policies in office are a betrayal of his voters or have broken with him entirely.
Semafor wrote about this phenomenon in a recent piece headlined, "'Baffling': Trump's podcaster problem runs deep," highlighting that while Rogan had a friendly recent visit to the White House to further the cause of psychedelic therapy research, other issues remain in play.
"But even if the White House's efforts to court Rogan proved successful, Trump has more work to do," Semafor wrote. "Of the 14 longform 'bro' podcasts Trump appeared on during his 2024 presidential campaign, eight of the hosts have questioned or criticized the war, while just two have endorsed it."
"Well, it just seems so insane based on what he ran on," Rogan said in March. "I mean, this is why a lot of people feel betrayed, right? He ran on 'no more wars' and 'these stupid senseless wars,' and then we have one that we can't even really clearly define why we did it."
Rogan also had more mixed views of ICE raids, saying that he understood perspectives of those for and against the raids, but ultimately defended the raids and blamed Democrats who he said had failed to secure the border in recent years.
Days after his White House visit to attend Trump's signing of an executive order to allow medical research into psychedelics earlier this week, Rogan argued Israel is the reason why America has been forced into the war.
"Netanyahu kept visiting the White House. You think it's a coincidence Netanyahu keeps visiting the White House and then eventually they decide to give in and start bombing?" Rogan asked. "You got to wonder like how do you get out of this? And then what does the exit look like? Do we have troops over there forever now? Do we subsidize them if we blow up their their power grid and their infrastructure?"
Comedian and libertarian Dave Smith, a vocal critic of Israeli influence on American politics, denounced Trump's decisions despite voting for him 2024.
"After '24, this coalition came together where Donald Trump, for the first time ever, wins the popular vote, wins every single swing state, and really more remarkably, won the youth and the culture," Smith said in an interview with Rogan last month.
"That whole coalition has been destroyed over this war," he said. "And now he's going to hand the country right back over to these Democrats who we've been fighting so hard. All for what? All for a war that Netanyahu wanted?"
During a podcast with comedian Theo Von, Smith argued Trump desperately needed to "rack up some wins, like some real clear W's for the American people" or else the midterms would be a disaster for Republicans.
"The fundamental animating spirit of Donald Trump's political existence, his central promise was 'drain the swamp,'" Smith said later on in the podcast. "There's something about covering up the Epstein thing that it's like, 'Oh, when it really came down to it, you didn't want to drain the swamp. You wanted to protect them.'"
Theo Von, who interviewed Trump in 2024 and is reportedly Barron Trump's favorite podcaster, has repeatedly condemned the president over the Iran war.
On Monday, Theo Von condemned Trump's threat on Easter to wipe out Iranian civilization.
"On Easter, that's unbelievable. You know when people are hoping for something new literally on the day when people are hoping and are believing with their hearts as much as they can and are celebrating something new, a rebirth, a resurrection, a possibility, to write that is it's diabolical. It's insane," he said. "What American is this helping, besides the industrial war complex? What American, what guy who's trying to take care of his family, or a single mother who's a nurse who's going to work and has to get home and get to her kids' ball game and has to be both parents. What farmer is this helping? What regular person is this helping? I just don't know. I don't understand."
Theo Von added that Trump's decision to start a war with Iran as " f---ing baffling" and alleged that he was compromised by Israel.
Comedian Andrew Schulz, who also interviewed Trump during the 2024 election, said in July that people throw his vote for Trump back in his face.
"And then the only reason it looks like we're in there is just because Israel needs it," he said. "And then naturally Americans are furious about it right? Because we're like 'How the f--- does this benefit me? I can't afford to pay for college. I can't buy a home. I can't pay for health insurance. And we're going to spend billions of dollars on a war in a country I can't even point out on a map. How is this beneficial to me?'"
In March, he blasted the war in Iran as both ill-advised and a death knell for the Trump movement, saying "It seems pretty obvious we got hosed a little bit" by faulty intel on Iran.
"It's pretty hard to argue that this isn't a death knell for whatever that Trump coalition was trying to do," he said. "You know any idea that this was a group of people committed to any type of transparency or it's laughable. It's laughable if you have any kind of brain which many of you don't."
When contacted by Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Davis Ingle replied, "What matters most to the American people is having a Commander-in-Chief who takes decisive action to eliminate threats and keep them safe, which is exactly what President Trump did with the successful Operation Epic Fury."
"President Trump campaigned proudly on his promise to deny the Iranian regime the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, which is what this noble operation accomplishes," Ingle continued. "The President does not make these incredibly important national security decisions based on fluid opinion polls but on the best interest of the American people."