After coming up short against Mark Carney (and losing his own seat in his home riding), Pierre Poilievre might be rethinking a few of his campaign decisions. Skipping an invite to Joe Rogan’s podcast could be one of them.
During a recent episode of ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ featuring guest Cameron Hanes, Rogan revealed that he had invited Poilievre ahead of the April 28 election, but the Canadian Conservative Party leader declined — reportedly because his team considered the popular platform “too problematic.”
According to Rogan, Canadian professor Jordan Peterson, a previous guest on the show, told him it was Poilievre’s advisors who advised against it.
“I offered to have that Pierre guy come on the podcast. He didn’t do it. Wouldn’t do it. Thought it was too problematic. Or whatever,” Rogan said, adding, “Like, hey, dumba–,” as he expressed his disbelief.
For context, the UFC commentator’s show has long been at the top of the podcast charts, attracting over 14 million monthly listeners. The podcast, known for its casual, conversational tone, has also hosted a wide range of politically diverse guests — from Bernie Sanders to Alex Jones — which makes Poilievre’s decision to skip it all the more surprising.
Hanes compared the situation to U.S. presidential candidate Kamala Harris declining an invitation to appear on Rogan’s podcast ahead of the 2024 American election. Hanes argued that concerns about appearing on the show were unfounded, telling the comedian, “You’ve never been the ‘gotcha’ guy.”
Rogan, whose interview with Donald Trump has nearly 60 million views on YouTube, then emphasized that his questions for Poilievre would have been straightforward, such as, “What’s wrong with Canada?” and “What would you have done differently?”
“I don’t know anything about Canada’s politics,” he added, suggesting the interview would have been an open discussion rather than a confrontational one.
This isn’t the first time Rogan has commented on Canadian affairs, though.
Last month, the 57-year-old sparked headlines when he said he wouldn’t attend an upcoming UFC event in Montreal — claiming he doesn’t go to Canada anymore. He stirred things up even further by jokingly claiming that he’d “rather go to Russia.”
Rogan was also highly critical of the Canadian government’s handling of the 2022 Freedom Convoy protests, during which then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, allowing authorities to freeze the bank accounts of some protest participants.
