Joe Rogan briefly took aim at Vice President JD Vance this week, accusing him of trying to score political points during an appearance on his podcast last month.
Vance, 42, appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience in mid-July.
On Tuesday, Rogan's guest, fellow podcaster Jesse Michels, brought up an exchange the two had where Vance reaffirmed his belief that aliens may be either demons or angels.
'He didn’t really have a good explanation for that. I pressed him on that,' Rogan remembered.
Michels highlighted how the Republican 'laughed' and appeared to react 'very uncomfortably' when grilled by the host.
Rogan went on to offer his opinion but first issued a disclaimer.
'I think, with all due respect to Mr. Vance who I really like as a person, I think he’s a very nice guy...
'I think he’s signaling to the tribe.'
Joe Rogan didn't hold back on JD Vance after a guest brought up the pair's recent conversation about demons on the podcast on Tuesday
Vance, 42, was put on the spot by Rogan at the time, over the claims the vice president made to conservative podcaster Benny Johnson in April, that aliens may be either demons or angels
Michels agreed, framing Vance's approach as 'a political polemic.'
'You're not looking at the data.
'Like he says, "I want to look into the UFO issue, I just haven't had the time."'
Vance told conservative podcaster Benny Johnson in April: 'I think [aliens are] demons anyway.' Johnson had asked whether the vice president had seen any of the files about unidentified flying objects that the President has promised to release.
'I actually haven’t,' Vance said at the time. 'I have not been able to spend enough time on this, but I am going to. Trust me, I’m obsessed with this.'
Rogan followed up about two hours into the Joe Rogan Experience that was released on July 15 by outright asking Vance: 'What did you mean by that?'
Vance, with a laugh and a sigh, first noted that mystical elements are present in many religions.
'I'm not one of these people who's, like, a hyper-rationalist. I think that there are things happening in the world that we're not always seeing. I believe in God,' he explained.
'But I think that there is a kind of - what's what's the word I'm looking for? ... supernatural. There are supernatural things that are happening.'
Rogan suggested Vance was playing likeminded conservatives, ahead of a potential presidential run
He pointed to historical occurrences he said bear similarities to 'alien phenomenon.'
'Where, oh, some strange being, it kind of looks like a human being ... but that's not human, and it shows a particular interest in human beings? And then it takes the human beings and does weird experiments on them?'
'Just because I believe in the supernatural doesn't mean I believe in everything supernatural,' Vance continued.
'But if we're talking about an extraterrestrial being that is human-like but not human, that contains effectively infinite powers and is torturing human beings, you can call it an alien if you want.
'But I think there's a lot of historical precedent to call that a demon.'
Rogan reacted this week: 'I kind of understand it, but kind of don’t. Plenty of time to go to church. Like, bro, look into it.'
He accused the conservative of attempting to win over 'Christian believers.' Vance is currently being floated as a potential presidential candidate.
He also brought up how Tucker Carlson, another conservative who has been accused of grifting, following his 2023 exit from Fox, offered Americans a similar, demon-related theory in October 2024, during an appearance on Orthodox Christian writer Rod Dreher's documentary about Christianity released the following year.
🚨 VP JD VANCE just dropped a BOMBSHELL: UFOs aren’t ALIENS, they’re DEMONS!
“I Think They’re DEMONS.”
Vance says he’s OBSESSED and heading straight to AREA 51 with his TOP SECRET clearance to investigate, plus New Mexico and Hangar 18!
He PROMISES full UFO DISCLOSURE and… pic.twitter.com/XxXwk88lpL
'I think there’s a certain aspect of people that are believers. When I say believers, I’m talking about, like, Christian believers,' Rogan said.
'You will attract those people. It will resonate with certain people.
'And I do think, very unfortunately, that there are politicians that say things - we both know this - that they don’t necessarily believe because they think that their base wants to hear it.'
Vance converted to Catholicism from Protestantism in 2019. He released a book about his conversion in June.
The 304-page memoir was framed as 'an intimate account of why [he] strayed from the Christianity of his youth and what led him back to faith.'
In doing so, Vance joined a number of Catholics, late and living, associated with the US right.
He also became 'the most senior Catholic in the United States government,' he wrote in 'Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith.'
