Podcaster Joe Rogan is concerned that President Donald Trump’s use of military-style immigration tactics is a “slippery slope” that could lead to wider oppression, he said on a Wednesday episode featuring Basic Instinct screenwriter Joe Eszterhas.
“It is a very slippery slope when you give people — and they’re trained for seven weeks, they’re not trained very long,” Rogan said. “They’re trained for much less time than police officers, much less time than military. And then you have this militarized police force that has no identification and they’re on the streets. That’s a precedent that you might like it when it’s for a cause that you support, but that could easily be for a cause you do not support.”
Rogan, who has criticized Trump’s immigration tactics in the past, warned that a “different ruler” could use ICE-like masked federal agents for other causes his listeners might disagree with, such as “going door-to-door confiscating guns,” threatening “our free society.”
“It scares the s*** out of me when you have a justification for militarized police with masks on that are just grabbing people,” Rogan added.
Eszterhas, despite having offered Trump mixed approval in the past, agreed. The screenwriter said he considered himself a “proud” deplorable, using the derisive term Hillary Clinton once had for most Trump supporters. Nonetheless, he argued that the way the Trump administration accused Alex Pretti and Renee Good, two protesters killed by federal agents in Minneapolis in January, of being terrorists and assassins was an “abomination.”
Rogan, despite his close relationship with Trump, has been a regular critic of the administration’s mass deportation tactics.
He previously called the Good shooting “horrific” and described mass raids from agents against non-criminal immigrants at Home Depot parking lots as “f***ing nuts.”
Rogan has reportedly urged the president in private to shift immigration tactics and target known criminals and cartel members.
Eszterhas has had a similar conflicted relationship with Trump.
The anti-woke writer said in 2016 he would vote for the Republican, and has praised him for some actions in office, while criticizing his immigration agenda and handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Rogan’s criticisms don’t seem to have angered the president much.
During an event in April, Trump needled Rogan in a friendly tone but praised him nonetheless.
“We all respect Joe,” Trump said. “He’s a little bit more liberal than I am. That’s OK. I have a lot of friends that are liberal, but Joe is an amazing guy.”
Rogan’s criticisms may not have persuaded the president to have a change of heart, but his administration has shifted tactics somewhat.
In the wake of the January shootings, the Trump administration pulled back on its most aggressive mass immigration raids by masked agents. However, the White House is still pursuing an unprecedented effort to scale up ICE and the Border Patrol while carrying out record deportations.
