Joe Rogan — Who Endorsed Trump — Compares Him to Uday Hussein Over the $1.776B Slush Fund: "This Is Crazy"
Joe Rogan, who endorsed Trump in 2024 and helped propel him to victory, read the details of the $1.776B Anti-Weaponization Fund live on his podcast and was stunned. On the permanent tax immunity: "That is so crazy." He compared it to getting acquitted of murder and then demanding immunity from all future murder prosecutions — "and then you just go straight Uday Hussein." Mitch McConnell called it "a slush fund to pay people who assault cops — utterly stupid, morally wrong."
On May 26, 2026, Joe Rogan — host of the world's most popular podcast, the man whose 2024 endorsement of Trump was considered a decisive moment in the election — read the details of the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund live on air with comedian Tom Segura. His reaction:
"That is so crazy."
"This is crazy."
"That's nuts."
The Uday Hussein comparison
Rogan was particularly stunned by the permanent tax immunity addendum — the one-page document signed by acting AG Todd Blanche that "FOREVER BARS" the IRS from auditing Trump, his family, trusts, or businesses. He offered an analogy:
"Imagine like somebody accused you of murder, yeah, and turns out you weren't guilty of that murder and then you sue them and you go, 'You can never prosecute me for murder again.'"
Then the punchline:
"And then you just go straight Uday Hussein."
Uday Hussein — Saddam Hussein's eldest son — was notorious for sadistic, unchecked abuse of power: torture, murder, rape, all conducted with total impunity because his father ran the state. That is the comparison Trump's own 2024 endorser reached for on the world's biggest podcast.
Rogan's trajectory
This matters because of who Joe Rogan is in the Trump coalition:
- His podcast averages 11+ million listeners per episode
- His 2024 endorsement of Trump was widely credited with helping mobilize young male voters
- Trump appeared on the show before the election in a three-hour interview viewed by tens of millions
- Rogan is not a liberal critic — he is the single most influential media figure in Trump's base demographic
Since the Iran war began, Rogan has increasingly distanced himself from Trump — cautiously at first, then more openly. This is the furthest he has gone: comparing the president to the son of a dictator, on his show, to an audience of millions.
Trump has reportedly tried to win Rogan back, signing a bill on psychedelic treatments for mental health that Rogan had championed. It didn't work. Rogan read the slush fund details on air and called it crazy.
McConnell weighs in
Rogan wasn't the only Trump ally breaking ranks. Former Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell — the man who shepherded three Trump Supreme Court justices through confirmation — issued his own condemnation:
"So the nation's top law enforcement official is asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops? Utterly stupid, morally wrong — take your pick."
"Utterly stupid, morally wrong." From Mitch McConnell. About a Trump initiative. That sentence would have been unthinkable a year ago.
What the experts say
Former IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel said there was no reason the president should not be treated like every individual in the country. Tax experts expressed shock at the breadth of the immunity provisions — the directive covers not just existing matters but anything that "could have been raised" or "could be pending" — a blanket that extends to offenses no one has even identified yet.
The significance
When Rogan endorsed Trump, it was a cultural earthquake. When Rogan compares Trump to Uday Hussein, it's an aftershock in the same community. These are not MSNBC viewers or Washington Post readers. These are the 18-to-45-year-old men who made up Trump's most enthusiastic base. They're hearing — from the host they trust most — that the president just did something so corrupt it reminded their guy of a dictator's psychopath son.
The $1.776 billion fund has now been condemned by:
- Joe Rogan — Trump's biggest media endorser
- Mitch McConnell — Trump's most important Senate ally for six years
- Thom Tillis — "a payout pot for punks"
- Ron Johnson — "a galactic blunder"
- Susan Collins — "I do not support the weaponization fund"
- John Thune — "it would've been nice if they consulted"
- Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges — the officers beaten on Jan. 6, now suing to block it
When your own endorser, your own Senate leader, your own caucus, and the cops who were beaten by the people you're trying to pay are all saying the same thing — the problem is not that everyone else is wrong. The problem is you.