A post shared on Facebook purportedly shows a statement released by former President Donald Trump on TruthSocial that refers to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as “gutless” and comedian Joe Rogan as “Lyin’ Joe Rogan.”
Verdict: False
There is no record of Trump issuing such a statement.
Fact Check:
In late June, Rogan said on his podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” that he thought DeSantis “would work as a good president,” according to The Hill. Rogan also recently claimed to have turned down multiple offers for Trump to appear on his show, USA Today reported.
The Facebook post’s image appears to show a TruthSocial post from Trump in which he claims to have rejected Rogan’s requests for him to appear on the podcast. The post goes on to state, “Lyin’ Joe would rather have a second-rate President like Gutless Ron DeSantis on his LOW RATED show.”
There is no evidence Trump posted such a message, on TruthSocial or elsewhere. None of Trump’s actual TruthSocial posts include the purported statement nor could it be found on the former president’s website, where all his statements are published. There are likewise no credible news reports about Trump targeting Rogan and DeSantis with such a message.
Trump did state that he believes he would beat DeSantis if both ran for president in 2024, according to Insider. The two are considered front runners to be the next GOP presidential candidate, though neither has announced a run yet, The Washington Post reports.
This is not the first time a fake statement attributed to Trump has gone viral. Check Your Fact previously debunked a viral post that claimed to show a statement from the former president in which he criticized both DeSantis and former Vice President Dick Cheney.
via dailycaller