Theo Von, who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 after hosting him on his show, said Monday that Trump’s threat to wipe out Iranian civilization was “insane.” The actor and comedian, one of the more visible podcast-world allies Trump courted during his campaign, then went further this week, calling the Iran war “f*cking baffling.”
Von asked, “What regular person is this helping?” in the episode and added, “I just don’t know. I don’t understand.” His comments land at a moment when the president’s attacks on Iran are drawing open unease from figures Trump once treated as useful messengers to mostly young, mostly male listeners.
That shift matters because Trump appeared on 14 longform “bro” podcasts during the 2024 presidential campaign, and the strategy was viewed inside his team as critical. The shows were prized for their reach with audiences that skewed mostly young and mostly male, giving Trump a direct line to voters who were difficult to reach through traditional political media.
The friction is no longer confined to Von. Eight of the 14 hosts have questioned or criticized the war, while two have endorsed it. The broader manosphere has also increasingly lashed out at Trump over issues including the Jeffrey Epstein files and government spending, a sign that the online culture that once helped amplify him is not moving in lockstep now.
Joe Rogan, fresh off a White House visit, also discussed his podcast episode this week and dismissed online speculation that his rift with Trump runs deep. Rogan said a viral clip of Trump putting his hands on Rogan’s shoulders at a recent Ultimate Fighting Championship was not a tense exchange, but a moment when Trump was delivering good news about taking up the cause of psychedelic therapy research at Rogan’s urging. In the clip, Rogan told the president, “Thank you, sir.”
The White House has said Trump campaigned on denying Iran the ability to produce a nuclear weapon. Spokesman Davis Ingle said, “What matters most to the American people is having a Commander-in-Chief who takes decisive action to eliminate threats and keep them safe, which is exactly what President Trump did with the successful Operation Epic Fury.” But Von’s public break shows that even among the podcast hosts Trump once relied on, support is becoming harder to count on when the war itself comes into view.
