Mega-podcaster Joe Rogan tore into President Donald Trump's excuse for why he posted an AI-generated image of himself dressed as Jesus Christ and healing the sick.
Trump, when called out on it by even many of his own fervent supporters, deleted the image and claimed he mistakenly thought the image was depicting him as a Red Cross doctor, despite Western depictions of Jesus not much resembling modern health care workers.
Rogan, in a conversation reported on by The Daily Beast on Tuesday, found that excuse ridiculous.
"'AI God has to come alive and take over the system,' Rogan, 58, told his guest, retired Navy SEAL and internet personality, Andy Stumpf, on Tuesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience," reported Vic Verbalaitis. "'Now we’re really getting into terrain I don’t understand. I know what the word AI means, but I don’t know—' Stumpf replied, before Rogan interrupted. 'AI God, the one that created that Jesus meme that Trump just posted. That’s AI God,' the podcast host explained. 'Joe, I told you, he explained it. He was a doctor!'"
“That’s what they call him!" shot back Rogan with sarcasm. "That’s what AI God calls Jesus. Jesus is a doctor."
Rogan, who has one of the largest audiences of any podcaster in the world and doesn't generally style himself as an overtly political person, backed Trump's re-election bid in 2024, but has since been increasingly drifting away from the president.
In particular, Rogan has been enraged over the war in Iran, calling it a betrayal of Trump's promises to voters.