Joe Rogan, Front Row Joes cite Iran war and Epstein files
Donald Trump’s approval ratings have fallen to record lows as several of his most visible 2024 backers — including podcaster Joe Rogan and two members of the Trump superfans group the Front Row Joes — have publicly broken with the president ahead of the November midterm elections, according to a Guardian opinion column published Monday.
Writing in The Guardian, columnist Arwa Mahdawi cited interviews published by Politico with two Front Row Joes members, Trisha Hope and Rick Frazier. The Front Row Joes are a group of Trump superfans who follow the president to rallies in custom-made T-shirts and branded baseball caps. Trump has frequently shouted out the group at rallies, once accidentally calling them “the front row Jacks and Joes.”
Hope, who during Trump’s first impeachment in 2019 spent weeks in Washington, D.C., trying to rally support for the president, told Politico that she would not do so again. “If we do lose the midterms and [Trump] is impeached again, I will be walking the halls of Congress in support of that impeachment,” Hope said.
Fellow Front Row Joe Rick Frazier cited the Iran war and the Epstein files as reasons for his break with the president. “Epstein crimes and feeding the industrial military complex … those are big nos for me,” Frazier told Politico.
Podcaster Joe Rogan, whose endorsement of Trump in 2024 is widely credited with helping him win the election, also distanced himself from the president earlier this month. On his podcast, Rogan said: “Trump supporters are fucking nuts, man.” Rogan acknowledged that “I did kind of help Trump” but said it was because he thought Trump would “drain the swamp.” “Obviously, it’s not been ideal in that regard,” Rogan added.
The reported defections coincide with polling showing broad voter opposition to Trump heading into the midterms. A PBS News/NPR/Marist poll found that 45% of voters overall said their largest motivating factor for the midterms was voting against Trump. Mahdawi wrote that Democrats now appear on a path to flipping the Senate as well as retaking the House.
Trump has asked voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot,” and many appear to have taken that advice to heart. This month the president promised a $5,000 (£3,775) “Trump dividend” if Republicans retain control of Congress after the midterms. According to one poll cited by the Guardian, only 13% of voters believed him.
The Guardian column also reported that Katie Miller, described by Mahdawi as “the podcasting wife of Trump’s right-hand man, Stephen Miller,” tweeted earlier this month: “After the first Trump administration, my family spent money we did not have on lawyers because of multiple partisan Democrat-led investigations into President Trump. You can’t convince me Democrats won’t do this again.”
In commentary accompanying the reporting, Mahdawi characterized Trump as a “lame duck” and a “convicted felon,” and wrote that defecting supporters are “angry at a world in which the powerful seem to get away with everything.” She expressed hope that Democrats would investigate Trump and his allies if they win the midterms.