Joe Rogan warns United States “on the way to a bonafide civil war”
Two months after the assassination of conservative political activist and Turning Point USA (TPUSA) co-founder Charlie Kirk, UFC commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan believes the United States is headed towards civil war.
“Charlie Kirk gets shot and people are celebrating like, ‘whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You want people to die that you disagree with?’ Like, where are we right now on the scale of one-to-civil war? Where are we? Are we at seven? Because I thought we were at a five. I thought we were like four. Four or five,” he said on the Tuesday’s episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “But after the Charlie Kirk thing, I’m like, ‘Oh, we might be like seven.’ This might be like step seven on the way to a bonafide civil war.”
Days after Kirk’s assassination, Rogan said his murder “opened up” his eyes and never would have thought so many people would celebrate a man’s murder.
On September 10, 2025, Kirk was assassinated by gunfire during a “Prove Me Wrong” debate event at Utah Valley University, marking a tragic end to his rising influence. The incident sparked widespread condemnation of political violence from leaders across the spectrum, though it also drew polarized reactions, with some online celebrations leading to workplace repercussions for hundreds of individuals and heightened fears of civil unrest—prompting podcaster Joe Rogan to warn of America edging toward “civil war.”
President Trump posthumously awarded Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom in October 2025.
