Donald Trump badly wants to appear on Joe Rogan's popular podcast, and his longtime pal Roger Stone is willing to go to extremes to make that happen.
Rogan averages 11 million listeners for each episode, and Trump would likely draw even more, but the podcaster has insisted he's not a supporter "in any way, shape or form" and has repeatedly turned down the former president, but two informal advisers told The Daily Beast that he's patiently waiting for a chance to appear.
“The president listens to Rogan,” one adviser said. “I don’t think the president takes Rogan’s criticism personally, and really, in the end, Donald Trump would listen to a non-politician with some mild criticism more than a politician that kisses his ass.”
Trump shook Rogan's hand at a recent UFC match in Las Vegas, which he attended with Stone, and a source close to the Republican dirty trickster told The Beast that he plans to sling dirt at the podcaster and attack his "handlers" to secure an invitation to appear -- and the 70-year-old political operative is challenging him to a fight.
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“I know I can definitely take him,” Stone told conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. “I hit the heavy bag for an hour every Saturday."
Another adviser complained that Rogan had hosted Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., so it'd only be fair to host Trump, but few in the former president's orbit believe Stone has much of a chance in a fight against the muscular podcaster.
“Roger’s pretty old, isn’t he?” said one person close to Trump. “Have to think Rogan would pummel him.”
