Joe Rogan said he warned Tony Hinchcliffe about his infamous Puerto Rico joke, telling him “that’s going to be the one who stabs you.”
Rogan made the comments on his podcast Wednesday with guests Francis Foster, a comedian, and Konstantin Kisin, a satirist and author.
Hinchcliffe, a roast comedian who hosts the live podcast ‘Kill Tony,’ told a joke at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally this weekend that referred to Puerto Rico as a ‘floating island of garbage.’
At the time, the audience of about 20,000 had a mixed reaction, but the real consequences came later, when Hinchcliffe experienced a wave of criticism from Puerto Rican pop stars like Bad Bunny, Democratic politicians and even Florida Republicans.
Rogan explained that Hinchcliffe had already told the joke in comedy clubs, where it “kills.” But Rogan always thought he would eventually catch up.
Joe Rogan, pictured on Wednesday’s edition of The Joe Rogan Experience, said Hinchcliffe’s joke about the “floating island of garbage” over Puerto Rico would be “the one that would stab you.”
Tony Hinchcliffe is pictured at Trump’s rally on Sunday, where he told the joke.
—I have to tell you that joke kills in comedy clubs. I don’t like the joke, (but) it kills,’ he said on The Joe Rogan Experience.
‘It’s like if you’re Puerto Rican and you hear that in the audience, you’re like (groans). But it’s a funny joke. The joke comes out well.
But I said, “Dude, that’s the one who’s going to stab you.” And he used to talk about it on stage, saying, “Joe Rogan always says that’s the one who’s going to get me stabbed.”
Rogan also argued that comedians should not perform at events that have a political agenda, calling it “a terrible setup.”
‘I tell all comedians to never do comedy at anything other than a comedy event. Don’t do it,’ he said. “And it’s a political rally and you’re making jokes like you’re in a comedy club.”
Rogan said that if he had had the chance to sit down with Hinchcliffe before the Trump rally, he would have advised him: ‘Don’t you dare make that joke.’
“I didn’t know what parts he was going to do, but then I heard he made that joke and I thought, ‘Oh, God, Tony. “Here it comes,” Rogan said.
Hinchcliffe said vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others, have “taken (the joke) out of context to make it appear racist.”
Pictured: Hinchcliffe’s full response to the backlash
Donald Trump, pictured during his appearance at the Joe Rogan Experience on Friday, said he had “never heard of” Hinchcliffe after the controversy.
Rogan, although clearly concerned about Hinchcliffe, said he thought the controversy would end “as all these things do.”
Hinchcliffe responded to the criticism he received by accusing Democrats of “having no sense of humor.”
He said vice presidential hopeful Tim Walz and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others, have “taken (the joke) out of context to make it appear racist.”
‘I love Puerto Rico and vacationing there. I made fun of everyone… watch the full set,” Hinchcliffe wrote in an X post.
Trump’s normally bellicose campaign also took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe, with a senior aide stating that “this joke does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.”
Trump himself told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that he has “never heard of” Hinchcliffe.
‘I have no idea who he is. Someone said there was a comedian who joked about Puerto Rico or something, and I have no idea who it was. “I’ve never seen him, I’ve never heard of him, and I don’t want to hear about him,” Trump said.
But a recent poll suggested that the Puerto Rico joke won’t have much effect on the election outcome.
Only 0.7 percent of the electorate have a more negative opinion of Trump after the incident, according to an exhaustive final poll before Election Day by DailyMail.com and JL Partners, which surveyed 1,003 people.
