Podcast host Joe Rogan is ratcheting up his skepticism over the July 13 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, warning his audience that “conspiracies are real” while calling out what he sees as alarming failures by the U.S. Secret Service.
Trump was speaking at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a nearby rooftop. A bullet grazed the president’s ear, killing one attendee and injuring several others before Secret Service agents shot and killed Crooks. Multiple rallygoers have since come forward saying they warned officials about a suspicious man with a rifle well before the attack.
On his Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Rogan told comedian Sam Morril that the whole thing doesn’t add up. “The more you read about it, the more you’re, like, ‘What is going on?’” Rogan said. “They knew there was a suspicious person 10 minutes before Trump went on stage; they still let him go on stage. They saw him on the roof with a rifle. They wouldn’t put Secret Service agents on the roof because they said there was a slope to the roof, and it would be dangerous.”
Morril replied: “It’s more dangerous if the president gets shot, which he did.” Rogan agreed, blasting the protective detail. “They did such a terrible job,” he said.
Rogan stressed that he wasn’t making an accusation, but pointed to history. “I’m not accusing anybody of anything—just want to be real clear—but they have organized assassinations before,” he said. “And when they organize assassinations, it looks just like that. One of the things they like to do is have some loser kill the president and then they kill the loser, and that’s a wrap. This kid kind of… stops all the leads.”
He went further, floating the possibility that Crooks could have been groomed. “If you’re Secret Service, you see someone with a range finder 150 yards from where the president is, you tackle that guy. You don’t let him get on a ladder,” Rogan said. “If I was some shadowy intelligence agency… I’d find kids like [the shooter]. That’s your moneymaker. That’s how you do it. Maybe his life is terrible, and you can provide mentorship, camaraderie… You tell this kid, ‘You could help America. We can work you into the program.’”
The conversation eventually drifted to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, still one of the most hotly debated events in U.S. history. “Listen, conspiracies are real,” Rogan said. “Whatever the hell happened in Dallas, Texas, in 1963—it’s not what they tell you. That’s one thing you can be sure of.”
The FBI is investigating Crooks and the events of July 13, while the Secret Service has launched an internal review. But with Rogan pouring fuel on the fire and drawing comparisons to historical assassinations, the political fallout from the attack on President Trump is far behind him and only served to bolster his popularity during the campaign.
Trump is making big moves with his second term, with his tariffs, Jeffrey Epstein, and global trade dominating the headlines.
