Joe Rogan Is Still No. 1. He Just Doesn’t Matter the Way He Used To.

In October 2024, Donald Trump flew to Austin and sat with Joe Rogan for three hours. The episode drew more than 26 million YouTube views in its first 24 hours and 41 million within a week. Days later, Rogan endorsed him. Pundits called it the podcast election, and Rogan was its kingmaker.

Two years later, Rogan is still on top of the charts. He is also, by most measures that matter beyond the download count, past his cultural peak.

The numbers still say yes

First, the case against this argument, because it’s a strong one. “The Joe Rogan Experience” ranked No. 1 in Edison Research’s U.S. podcast rankings in both the first and second quarters of 2026, a spot it has held since Edison started ranking shows in 2019. As of late 2025, it was more than two and a half times the size of the No. 2 show, “Crime Junkie.” Spotify re-signed him in 2024 in a deal reported at $250 million, this time without exclusivity. The show passed 2,550 episodes in September.

No one else in podcasting is close. But reach and influence aren’t the same thing, and the gap between them has been growing.

Reach and influence aren’t the same thing, and the gap between them has been growing.

From kingmaker to lobbyist

Since the start of 2026, Rogan has sharpened his attacks on the president he helped elect. In January, he suggested the administration was using immigration raids to distract from the Epstein files. In February, he said the redactions in those files looked “terrible for Trump.” In March, he said the war with Iran was “exactly the opposite of what we were told” and warned it could lead to “World War III.” He called a lot of MAGA supporters “dorks.”

In 2024, a Rogan endorsement felt like an event. In 2026, Rogan’s criticism of the same president lands as one more voice in an already crowded chorus. Trump’s approval rating sits at 37% in the Silver Bulletin average. Rogan isn’t leading his audience away from Trump so much as following the rest of the country.

He hasn’t lost his access. In April, Rogan stood in the Oval Office as Trump signed an executive order to speed up federal review of psychedelic treatments, including ibogaine, a drug Rogan has championed for addiction. Rogan said the whole thing started with a text: he sent Trump some information, and the president wrote back offering FDA approval. “Literally that quick,” Rogan said.

That’s real power. But it’s a different kind of power. A man who once seemed to swing an election now gets a personal favor on a cause he cares about, while his broader warnings about war and the Epstein files go unheeded. That’s not a kingmaker. That’s a very well-connected lobbyist.