Joe Rogan mocks Gettr less than a month after joining: ‘I don’t know how to get off’

Mr Rogan complained that the site artificially bloats follower counts by including a person’s Twitter following on their profile

To a certain section of the internet, the opinions of Joe Rogan – the former host of Fear Factor who now slings supplements and vaccine scepticism while hosting one of the most successful podcasts in history – hold an enormous amount of weight.

That fact could prove to be a nightmare for the MAGA minds behind Gettr, the social media app hawked by former Donald Trump aide Jason Miller, as Mr Rogan has publicly criticised the app.

The Daily Beast reported the story.

When the app launched, it was billed as the one true "free speech" social media app for conservatives, the latest in a long line of lackluster apps to claim the title. When Mr Rogan joined the site, he wrote "rejoice."

Mr Rogan’s honeymoon period on the right-wing social media app was short-lived. Less than a month after joining, Mr Rogan appears to have some regrets.

"I might be part of the Chinese Communist Party now, I believe," he said during a Monday talk show appearance, referencing that the app is backed by Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui.

During his appearance on The Tim Dillon Show, Mr Rogan claimed that the number of people who joined the site after he did increased "by 1,150 per cent or something."

When Mr Dillion pointed out that Mr Rogan has "like 9 million followers on Gettr," his guest hand-waved the number.

"Yeah, it's not real though," Mr Rogan said. "Gettr doesn't even have 9 million people."

Mr Rogan claimed that Gettr combines the pre-existing number of people following an individual on Twitter to their user profiles on the app. This softens the blow for figures with large social media presences who do not want to start fresh when joining a new platform.

As Mr Rogan puts it, it is "f***ery."

“This is where the f***ery is,” Mr Rogan said. “They take all my Twitter followers... and then they port those over.”

The podcaster said he would consider removing his profile from the app but that he did not know how to do so.

"I don't know how to get off," he said. "Like if I get off of Gettr, I don't think I can."

Mr Dillion joked that he would have to personally sit down with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and ask her permission.

“She’s gonna tell me all about what’s in the basement of Comet Pizza,” Mr Rogan joked back, referencing the right-wing "pizza-gate" conspiracy theory.

Because of Mr Rogan's immense popularity, particularly among those who would be prime candidates for an app like Gettr, Mr Miller issued a statement to The Daily Beast saying he was working to address the podcaster's claims.

“We’ve been in contact with Joe Rogan’s team and hope that we have addressed any concerns he may have,” Mr Miller said in the statement. He also noted that Twitter followers were included in the number of Gettr followers because the app will reportedly soon include cross-platform posting.

Mr Rogan is not the only prominent voice questioning the app. Right-wing commentators like Elijah Schaffer of Blaze TV and radio shock jock Stew Peters have also criticised the app.

“It’s interesting that Joe Rogan is also suspicious of Gettr," Mr Schaffer said "after learning about the Chinese funding, follower inflation, blocking of political dissidents they disagree with, leftist dog whistles in [terms of service], Democrat background of staff, AWS servers.”

Mr Peters claimed the site was an "intelligence gathering platform for the enemy to America."