California Governor Gavin Newsom and Joe Rogan, both 58, spent the weekend turning a long-simmering beef into a full-on brawl, trading jabs across social media and podcasts over who is ducking whom. The latest flare-up started after Rogan mocked Newsom’s interview skills on his show, quipping that if the governor ever sat across from him, he “would cook himself.” A clip of the line went viral, prompting Newsom’s camp to respond with poultry-themed trolling and an open challenge to talk.
Newsom jabbed first on X with a chicken emoji aimed at the podcast host, while his press office went nuclear in all caps, calling Rogan a “snack-sized podcaster” who “chickens out,” and signing the post “GCN,” a not-so-subtle riff on Donald Trump’s “DJT” sign-off. The bit was pure internet theater, and it landed. Right-leaning outlets called it desperate, liberal timelines found it hilarious, and Rogan claimed the trolling actually made him less likely to host the governor.
The governor insists he’s not just joking around, he genuinely wants to go on Rogan’s show. “Invite me on any time,” Newsom posted last week after sharing a Rogan segment that labeled him a “bulls–t artist” with White House ambitions. He doubled down in a podcast interview, saying Rogan has “been attacking me for years and years and years and won’t have me on the show.” His message is simple: if you’re going to roast me, do it to my face.
Bawk, bawk @joerogan. 🐓 https://t.co/t5HtjaXaXA
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 19, 2025
Rogan isn’t backing down. On an October 8 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, he blasted Newsom’s record, claiming Democrats “don’t have any faith” in the governor and accusing him of “ruining” San Francisco as mayor and “ruining” California as governor. “He wants to be president so bad,” Rogan said, before scoffing at the idea that Newsom’s polish equals competence. “He’s not, though,” Rogan told his guest Jack Carr. “He’s a good bulls–t artist.”
By Saturday, Rogan had shifted from insults to strategy. He argued that Newsom hurt his own chances by publicly begging to be invited, telling listeners he “probably would have had him on,” but the social media antics made it “a bad strategy.” Translation: knock quietly, don’t tweet the doorbell. Newsom’s reply? More clucking. This is politics in 2025, where the line between campaign trail and content creation is long gone.
Newsom touts California’s economic dominance, Rogan counters with homelessness, cost of living, and pandemic policy failures. Both accuse each other of cowardice. Just this week, Newsom’s office compared Rogan to Trump while taunting him online, and Rogan re-upped claims that California has “the highest unemployment,” “the highest homelessness,” and that the state has “killed Hollywood.”
Underneath the memes is a real question: who actually benefits? Rogan hardly needs the ratings, but a combative sit-down with the nation’s most prominent Democratic governor would be a numbers monster. Newsom, still swatting away talk of a 2028 presidential run, gets to look confident and unafraid of tough venues.
For now, the showdown exists only on screens, a split between a governor tweeting chicken emojis and a podcast host saying he’s too smart to take the bait. But if they ever end up in the same studio, expect fireworks. Until then, the only thing getting roasted is the internet.
