Joe Rogan delivered what observers are calling the largest public endorsement in Canadian political history, telling his audience of more than 20 million podcast subscribers that he would back Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre if he were a Canadian citizen.
“I think your message resonates with me. If I was a Canadian I’d vote for you, one-hundred percent,” Rogan said on his podcast during an extended conversation with the Conservative leader.
The wide-ranging interview covered a broad set of policy issues, including assisted suicide, housing costs, immigration, energy production, trade tariffs, the justice system, the national debt and the broader Canadian political landscape.
Poilievre later described the interview as productive, saying he used the podcast to make the case against U.S. tariffs imposed on Canadian goods.
“I think we had a great conversation,” Poilievre said following the sit-down with Rogan.
During the visit, Poilievre presented Rogan with a custom maple leaf kettlebell as a gift.
The two men also discussed President Donald Trump’s repeated statements about absorbing Canada as the 51st American state, a topic that has generated significant controversy north of the border.
Poilievre pushed back firmly on the idea, stating that Canadians rejected it outright.
When Rogan raised the theory circulating in America that Trump’s annexation comments derailed what had been a promising electoral run for the Conservatives, Poilievre acknowledged the impact, though he stopped short of placing full blame on Trump for his party’s election loss to Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Rogan put the question to Poilievre directly: “There’s a narrative in America, and the narrative is that you were about to win, and your party was about to win, but then Trump came along and said he was going to turn Canada into the 51st state, and everybody went crazy. Is that accurate? Did that really have that much of an effect up there? Like, did people take him seriously?”
Poilievre responded that Canadians were not so much panicked as they were genuinely offended. “I wouldn’t say they went crazy. I mean, it was… Well, they got very upset. They should be upset, though. It is a crazy thing to say. Canada’s not for sale. We’re never going to be the 51st state. We love Americans as neighbors and friends, but we want to be uniquely, and we want to be sovereign as Canadians.”
Poilievre went further, drawing on his own sense of Canadian identity. “It’s our country. It’s where we grow up. You’re a patriot. As an American, I’m a patriot as a Canadian. It’s where my grandfather arrived. It’s where our collective ancestors put on military uniforms and sailed to fight wars. It’s where our grandkids are going to live.”
“We’re very proudly Canadian, so we’re never going to be the 51st state, and I just wish he’d knock that shit off so that we can get back to talking about the things that we can do as two separate countries that are actually friends.”
Poilievre described how Canadians initially dismissed Trump’s annexation remarks as a long-standing joke, only to grow angry as the comments continued.
“I think at first, everyone thought it was a joke, because we’ve always had these jokes, like, you know, one day we’re going to take over Vermont, and Detroit should be part of Canada and all that stuff,” he said.
Poilievre then recounted how the tone shifted. “But then he kept saying it, and people got upset about it, and I think understandably so. I mean, it’s a crazy thing to say. It was, like, so funny. He was like, at first I was joking, but then people were like, ‘it’s a good idea.’ Like, that’s not a good idea. He’s saying that. I can assure him of that.”
Carney’s victory over Poilievre has been described as one of the most dramatic comebacks in Canadian electoral history, with the Liberal prime minister swinging poll numbers in his favor in a historic reversal of fortune.
Poilievre has been traveling across the United States meeting with American lawmakers and business leaders, making the case for tariff-free trade between the two neighboring countries.
He is also scheduled to address the Foreign Policy Association in New York City as part of his U.S. outreach effort.
