Podcast host Joe Rogan faced backlash and online mockery after he mistakenly believed and shared an AI-manipulated video of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. The incident occurred during an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, where Rogan was speaking with comedian Tim Dillon.
Rogan, 58, brought up a video he claimed showed Walz, 61, dancing while wearing an anti-Trump T-shirt. "Did you see where he had an 'F*** Trump' shirt on, and he's dancing and going down an elevator?" Rogan asked Dillon. When Dillon responded that he hadn't seen it, Rogan asked his producer, Jamie Vernon, to find the clip.
After locating the video, Vernon told Rogan off-camera that it was fake. Despite this, Rogan insisted the video was real, saying, "Yes it is; it's got to be real," and jokingly accused Vernon of being a "plant" for doubting it. He then requested Vernon to play the video during the show.
The clip, which was widely circulated online, showed a man riding an escalator and dancing to Don't Cha by The Pussycat Dolls while wearing a T-shirt with an explicit anti-Trump slogan. Governor Walz's face had been digitally superimposed onto the person's body.
The original video was created by TikTok user @RoggenRoland and posted on August 6. The clip gained wider attention after a church shooting in Minneapolis on August 27 drew national interest to the state. A fact-check by AFP confirmed that the footage had been manipulated using AI tools.
West Virginia Representative Riley Moore also shared the fake clip on social media, further fuelling confusion. However, online users quickly pointed out the video was not authentic.
Rogan eventually admitted he had been fooled. "I fell for it, too," he said on the show. He explained his reasoning by adding, "I believe that he's capable of doing something dumb. He's so weird." A video of Rogan acknowledging the mistake has since gone viral, collecting over 4.6 million views on X (formerly Twitter).
Social media users were quick to troll Joe Rogan after he fell for a fake AI-generated video, pointing out his tendency to believe misinformation. “He falls for everything, man. I don't get it,” one user remarked, while another mocked his attempt at saving face, saying, “Okay, it was fake, but doesn't it say something that I was able to believe it?” to which they replied, “Yeah, it says something alright, just not what you want it to.” Others humorously blamed “too much blunt force trauma and testosterone” for his lack of object permanence. However, some users defended him, noting that he quickly corrected himself in the same clip, arguing, “That's hardly the own you think it is.”
