California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) called podcaster Joe Rogan “too chicken” to have him on his podcast after Rogan dismissed him for not being a “real person.”

Newsom responded to Rogan’s latest criticism of him through a tweet sent out through his press office’s X account, where the governor often models his statements after President Donald Trump’s blunt and aggressive style. Newsom was responding to Rogan unfavorably comparing him to Trump.

Rogan was once a vocal supporter of the president, but he’s grown far more critical in recent months over the Iran war and more. That doesn’t mean the comedian and UFC commentator has changed his opinion about Newsom, though.

Newsom responded on Thursday night to a clip from Rogan’s The Joe Rogan Experience podcast where he torched the governor. Rogan left California for Texas in 2020, citing Newsom’s leadership, Covid regulations, high taxes, and more as his reason for ditching California.

Rogan called Newsom a “f**king con man” who is a “stone cold, narrative-driven politician.”

He said:

Nobody wants President Newsom either. Nobody believes in that guy. That guy’s a f**king con man. I mean, everything he did in California, from trying to mandate vaccines for kids when it was totally unnecessary to being caught out in public without a mask and lying about the fact that he was outdoors. All of it. It’s just, nobody believes in the guy. He’s just a politician, just a stone-cold, narrative-driven politician, you know, and nobody thinks he’s a real human. Whether you like Trump or not, whether you think he’s corrupt or not, that’s a human being. You know what that guy is. Same thing with [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]. Whether you believe that he’s correct about vaccines or whether you believe his policies would be effective, you know that’s a human being. With Newsom, you get like this construct, this cardboard cutout of a person.

Newsom responded by calling Rogan “too chicken” to have him on the podcast — while also claiming Rogan’s podcast is growing irrelevant. The governor called Rogan a “LITTLE GUY” while declaring he’s ready to come on the podcast.

“JOE “LITTLE GUY” ROGAN IS TOO CHICKEN TO HAVE ME ON HIS FAILING PODCAST BECAUSE HE KNOW I’D CRUSH HIM, SO HE TAKES CHEAP SHOTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY AS HE GETS RELEGATED TO IRRELEVANCY,” the governor wrote. “ALL TALK, NO ACTION. I’M READY WHEN YOU ARE, ‘LITTLE GUY.’ OR KEEP HIDING!!!!””

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