By Marni Rose McFall

Copyright newsweek

Joe Rogan has issued a message of support after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth gave a speech to top military commanders, outlining his proposed changes to the U.S. military.

Rogan said that it would be nice that there would be no more “identity politics and b*******.”

Why It Matters

In a speech given on September 30 at an event with U.S. military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, Hegseth said that the U.S. military will be imposing the “highest” male standards for all combat roles. This will in turn, mean that fewer women will be able to serve in combat roles. His speech was met with a mixed response and was criticized by female veterans.

Joe Rogan, left, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 12, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images). Right, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth addresses senior military officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on September 30, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik / POOL / AFP)

Rogan endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election and interviewed him on his podcast, which is one of the most popular in the country. He later attended Trump’s inauguration, but is no stranger to criticizing the president and his administration, and has been critical over issues including ICE raids and the administration’s handling of the Epstein files.

What To Know

In Tuesday’s episode of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, which featured the country group, the Red Clay Stray’s Band, Rogan spoke about Hegseth’s speech and the changes in the military and said, “The most important thing is be ready. Be ready, have the best, most capable military that’s humanly possible.”

“This is what our goal is, this is what our job is,” Rogan said.

Rogan was then asked by Andrew Bishop, the bass player of the Red Clay Strays if it was necessary to “call everybody together,” for the meeting, to which Rogan replied, “You saw what the f*** was going on over the last four years,” criticizing the Biden administration.

He said in a mocking tone, “The most important thing about the military is inclusivity.”

Rogan then appeared to reference Sam Brinton, a nuclear engineer and LGBTQ activist who became the country’s first openly gender-fluid senior government official back in 2022. Brinton was let go from their role at the Department of Energy over two separate allegations of luggage theft.

“We had crazy people that were in charge of very important positions… that guy who was stealing women’s clothes? That guy was in charge of f***** nuclear waste, and he’s running around stealing people’s underwear with lipstick and a bald head.”

Hegseth discussed changes to the U.S. military during his speech in Virginia. “This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department to rip out the politics,” he said, adding, “No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses.”

Hegseth was criticized for the speech, including by former defense secretary Leon Panetta, who said he was injecting identity politics and delivering a misguided message. He told Newsweek after the speech, “When you use either political words or political attacks of one kind or another when addressing the military, I think that is frankly the wrong place. You ought to respect the fact that our military is not to be political.”

Hegseth had previously been vocal in his opposition to women serving in combat roles and said in the speech, “If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. It will also mean that weak men won’t qualify because we’re not playing games. This is combat. This is life or death.”

What People Are Saying

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in his speech to military leaders in Virginia: “This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the social justice, politically correct and toxic ideological garbage that had infected our department, to rip out the politics. No more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses, no more climate change worship, no more division, distraction, or gender delusions, no more debris. As I’ve said before and will say again, we are done with that shit. I’ve made it my mission to uproot the obvious distractions that made us less capable and less lethal.”

Joe Rogan, speaking during his podcast: “Supposedly, what they’re doing is giving, they want to get all the generals together and give them some sort of a moral and ethical mandate. Preparedness, this is what we want the military to be.”

Former US Marine Fighter Pilot, Amy McGarth, said in a video on Instagram: “I am sick and tired of Pete Hegseth lying about women in the military and standards. There has always been one standard for those jobs. There was never a man’s standard or a woman’s standard for flying a jet.”

What’s Next

The New York Times previously reported that Hegseth …