Joe Rogan Suggests Protests in Minnesota Are 'Distractions' From Tim Walz's Alleged Fraud Scandal — 'Now All Anybody Cares About is ICE, Fascists and Nazis'
Joe Rogan suggested anti-ICE protests in Minnesota are a 'distraction' from Gov. Tim Walz's alleged fraud scandal.
Jan. 29 2026, Published 1:25 p.m. ET
Joe Rogan has suggested anti-ICE protests in Minnesota following the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good are "distractions" from Governor Tim Walz's alleged fraud scandal, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Pretti, 37, a VA ICU nurse, was gunned down on a Minneapolis street in broad daylight after stepping between a woman and a federal agent who shoved her.
Shocking video footage captured the group of agents tackling the nurse to the ground, removing his concealed firearm, which he was licensed to carry, and discharging 10 shots in a matter of seconds as he lay on the ground.
His death came less than three weeks after Good, 37, was fatally shot by an ICE agent on January 7 in Minneapolis.
Rogan Suggests Minnesota Anti-ICE Protests 'Distract' From Alleged Fraud Scandal
Rogan suggested protests in Minnesota were 'distracting' from Gov. Walz's alleged fraud scandal.
Rogan discussed the ongoing chaos and unrest in Minnesota with guest Andrew Wilson on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
He suggested residents have taken to the streets not to demand the withdrawal of federal agents from their state after Pretti and Good's deaths, but rather to distract from fraud investigations.
"Why riots in the place where there's an ungodly amount of fraud that has been discovered?" Rogan wondered. "Everybody forgets about the fraud."
Anti-ICE protests have been ongoing in Minnesota after the deaths of Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti.
"Now all anybody cares about is ICE and fascists and Nazis," Rogan added.
Rogan also questioned Signal chats shared by FBI director Kash Patel and believed the alleged communications supported his belief that protests were not organic.
Patel recently announced investigations into the group chats, which he claimed were being used to relay information on federal agents' movements.
While discussing the situation in Minnesota under Donald Trump's anti-immigration crackdown, dubbed "Operation Metro Surge," Rogan made it clear he didn't believe Pretti should have been killed while claiming there's "more nuance" to the shooting.
Rogen Questions Alex Pretti's Actions
Rogan claimed 'everybody forgets about the fraud' scandal in Minnesota amid protests.
"Regardless of how you feel, I don't believe that guy should have been shot," Rogan said of Pretti before he suggested there was "more nuance" to the situation.
He claimed Border Patrol and ICE agents are "being harassed" by people "calling for violence," which he said put agents on "red alert."
The podcaster also questioned why Pretti stepped between the woman and the federal agent, especially if he was armed, which Rogan called a "giant no."
"You do not engage with law enforcement when you're armed," he added.
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Rogan said Pretti should not have been killed but claimed there's 'more nuance' to the situation.
While Rogan has largely been credited as one of the high-profile figures who helped re-elect Trump, whom he invited on his podcast before the 2024 election, he's become increasingly critical of the president and his administration.
After Good's death, which was also caught on video, Rogan slammed the Trump administration's narrative of the fatal shooting.
Rogan said it's "very ugly to watch someone shoot a U.S. citizen, especially a woman, in the face" while noting it "seemed like she was turning the car away" in an attempt to avoid hitting an agent, which directly clashed with the Trump administration's claims that she "weaponized" her vehicle and hit the agent.
