UFC commentator and podcaster Joe Rogan is the kingpin of the podcasting world. From scientists to celebrities, to the now President of the United States, Rogan has brought several high-profile guests on his podcast to cater to his wide fanbase. Many credit Rogan for being the straw that broke the camel’s back, with regard to Donald Trump winning the 2024 elections. However, prior to getting the business mogul on his podcast (and subsequently endorsing him), Rogan took a hard stance about not involving himself in elections of any kind. So what happened when Ukraine’s president requested for a sit down with Rogan on his podcast?

Well, according to the UFC commentator, comedian, and podcaster, he refused the request made by the Ukrainian president. While talking to fellow comedians Shane Gillis, Mark Normand, and Ari Shaffir on his show, Rogan broke the stunning news while talking about the Russia-Ukraine dispute. He said, “Zelenskyy tried to come on. Yeah, they tried to get Zelensky on. I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’”

This made Ari Shaffir wonder whether Rogan thinks about every guest invitation for the show that comes his way. According to Rogan, he actually does go through a filtering process for all the (new) personalities he gets on his show. And this time, he wanted to stay away from international and presidential politics, so he declined Zelenskyy’s request. He said, “I wanted to stay out of the presidential election s–t.”

Well, it looks like Joe Rogan wanted to stay away from all the controversies that come from bringing in a president or a presidential candidate. However, it is worth noting that the UFC commentator has found himself right in the middle of public scrutiny for breaking his own rule during this year’s election season.

Joe Rogan goes against his own words

Unlike what Joe Rogan claimed about wanting to ‘stay out of the presidential election s–t’, the UFC commentator ended up bringing President Trump on his podcast. Not just that, he even ended up endorsing him on the eve of election Day, something that truly might have swung the elections in favor of the Republican candidate because of Rogan’s primary audience of young males. If that wasn’t enough, the young male demographic was also the target audience for Kamala Harris, but she failed to garner much support from that category.

However, Rogan claimed that Harris didn’t want to fly to Austin for the podcast and couldn’t spare more than an hour, unlike the usual 2-3 hour episodes that he shoots. Furthermore, Rogan wasn’t free to have that conversation with Harris due to conflicting schedules, but he did express his interest in getting to know her as a person. However, Jennifer Palmieri, a senior adviser to Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff claimed that the reason Harris avoided the podcast was to not receive any backlash. “There was a backlash with some of our progressive staff that didn’t want her to be on it, and how there would be a backlash.”

But while Harris did not make her presence known, Trump’s right-hand man, JD Vance, did make an appearance following Trump, so there is no denying that Rogan did not shy away from bringing politics or political candidates on The Joe Rogan Experience.

So what do you think? Why didn’t Rogan agree to bring Zelenskyy, according to you? Let us know in the comments.