A new Daily Wire column takes aim at Vice President JD Vance’s high-stakes bet on winning over the so-called “Rogan bros” β and warns the gamble could backfire spectacularly.
The piece, published Tuesday, argues that Vance’s strategy of courting young male listeners of manosphere podcasters like Joe Rogan and Theo Von is not only politically flawed but morally indefensible. “It’s a losing and dangerous gamble to forego truth in favor of popularity,” the column declares.
The criticism lands as Vance has repeatedly touted his affinity for Rogan and Von, recommending their shows to audiences and appearing on Rogan’s massive podcast himself. The New York Times recently reported that Vance told colleagues he feared losing low-propensity voters β young men who backed Trump-Vance in 2024 but who were now “revolting” against the administration as podcast hosts turned critical.
According to the Times report cited in the column, Vance’s concern centered on an audience “tuned into the ‘manosphere’ podcasters like Joe Rogan,” and the worry that those hosts were “now rebelling.”
The Daily Wire column, however, argues the entire premise is broken.
Rogan and Von: Fickle, Conspiratorial, and Unreliable
The column takes sharp aim at both Rogan and Von, mocking their conspiratorial leanings and suggesting their appeal is rooted in entertainment, not political insight.
“Joe tends to believe pretty much every conspiracy theory that he can find, because let’s be real, conspiracies are fun,” the column reads. “They’re chatty. You can fill five hours talking with your comedian friends about how the moon landing was fake.”
It goes further, quoting Rogan’s recent remarks about Tyler Robinson β a figure whose story Rogan suggested contained “some bullsh*t” regardless of the spin. The column likens that kind of thinking to “endorsing the theory that staring at hieroglyphics can solve your health problems.”
Theo Von gets an even harsher treatment. The column notes Vance previously praised Von as “incredible” with “a good heart,” but the writer calls Von a “double-digit IQ comedian whose discernment is on par with that of a brick.”
Quoting Von’s own on-air musings β including claims that politicians “slurp on kids” and that “Satan is amongst us” β the column says this is the kind of content Vance is recommending to young American men.
“This is what you need,” the column mocks. “You need a guy who tells you that news stories are actually created by actors. That’s what you really need. Says the guy who literally acts for a living.”
Why the Strategy Is Doomed
The column lays out four reasons Vance’s approach is destined to fail.
First, it argues, Vance cannot simply inherit Trump’s coalition. “No politician can duplicate the coalition built by another politician,” it says. “If you take Donald Trump’s coalition and you map JD Vance onto that coalition, JD Vance loses participants in literally every area of that coalition.” That includes women, Hispanics, Blacks, and blue-collar voters β groups where the column claims Vance underperforms Trump.
Second, the podcasters Vance is courting are fickle. Rogan, the column notes, voted for Trump once in three elections and is now endorsing James Talarico, a Texas Democrat, for Senate. “The notion that if you go on Joe Rogan’s show and you mirror his conspiratorial musings… that all the ‘Joe Rogan voters’ will end up with you is silly,” the column states. “People can change their minds.”
Third, the column argues that successful leaders lead rather than chase. “Politicians who tend to pander and chase the crowd do not work,” it says, contrasting Vance with Trump β who, the column claims, says the same thing everywhere and never tailors his message to an audience.
Fourth, and most importantly, the column says it is simply wrong to abandon truth for popularity. “I know sticking to the truth has fallen out of favor,” it concedes, but insists that “it is immoral and wrong as a leader to forego truth in favor of popularity.”
Criticism from Within the Right
The column is notable for coming from the Daily Wire β a conservative outlet that has generally supported the Trump administration. The critique of Vance is sharp and personal, painting him as a politician who miscalculates both the electorate and the nature of the podcasters he’s courting.
The piece also takes a swipe at the broader GOP trend of elevating podcasters as political kingmakers. “Following these people is stupid,” it says. “If you’re not doing it for fun, if you’re using them as political guides rather than gossipy buddies, there’s a problem.”
The column ultimately argues that Vance’s path to 2028 β if that’s where he’s headed β cannot be built on the shifting sands of manosphere celebrity endorsements.
“You can’t outcompete President Trump with blue-collar white voters,” it concludes. “He wins fewer of everyone.”
Whether Vance heeds that warning remains to be seen. But the column makes clear that, at least from one corner of the conservative media, the vice president’s podcast-chasing strategy is seen as a serious liability β one that could blow up in his face.
Source: www.dailywire.com β https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-political-gamble-that-could-backfire-spectacularly