Joe Rogan said he warned Tony Hinchcliffe about his infamous Puerto Rico prank, telling him that “that’s going to be the one that gets you stabbed.”
Rogan made the comments on his Wednesday podcast with guests Francis Foster, a comedian, and Konstantin Kisin, a satirist and author.
Hinchcliffe, a real-life comedian who hosts the live podcast “Kill Tony,” told a joke at Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally this weekend calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of trash.”
At that point, the audience of about 20,000 people had mixed reactions, but the real fallout came next, when Hinchcliffe faced a groundswell of criticism from Puerto Rican pop stars like Bad Bunny, Democratic politicians and even Florida Republicans.
Rogan explained that Hinchcliffe had previously told the joke in comedy clubs, where “it kills.” But Rogan always thought it would catch up with him eventually.
Joe Rogan, pictured on Wednesday’s edition of The Joe Rogan Experience, said Hinchcliffe’s “floating island of trash” joke about Puerto Rico would be “the joke that gets you stabbed”
Tony Hinchcliffe is pictured at the Trump rally on Sunday where he delivered the joke
“I gotta tell you, that joke kills in comedy clubs. I don’t like the joke [but] it is deadly,” he said on The Joe Rogan Experience.
“It’s just 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 works well.
“But I told him, ‘Dude, that’s the one that’s going to get you stabbed.’ And he always talked about it on stage and said, “Joe Rogan always says this is the one that’s going to get me stabbed.”
Rogan also argued that comedians should not be allowed to do their sets at events with a political agenda, calling it “a terrible setup.”
“I tell all comedians never to do comedy at anything that isn’t a comedy event. Don’t do it,” he said. “And it’s a political meeting and you’re making jokes like you’re in a comedy club.”
Rogan said that if he had had the opportunity to sit down with Hinchcliffe before the Trump rally, he would have advised, “Don’t you dare make that joke.”
“I didn’t know what he was going to do, but when I heard he made that joke, I thought, ‘Oh Jesus, Tony. Here it comes,'” Rogan said.
Hinchcliffe said Vice Presidential hopeful Tim Walz and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, among others, have taken [the joke] taken out of context to make it seem racist’
Pictured: Hinchcliffe’s full response to the comment
Donald Trump, pictured during his Friday appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience, said he ‘never heard of’ Hinchcliffe after the controversy
Rogan was clearly concerned about Hinchcliffe, but said he thought the controversy would blow over “just like 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] taken out of context to make it seem racist.”
‘I love Puerto Rico and my holidays there. I made fun of everyone…watch the whole set,” Hinchcliffe wrote in an X post.
Trump’s normally combative campaign also took the rare step of distancing itself from Hinchcliffe, with a senior adviser 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 making fun of Puerto Rico or something, and I have no idea who that was. “I’ve never seen him, never heard of him, and don’t want to hear from him,” Trump said.
But a recent poll suggested the Puerto Rico joke won’t have much impact on the election outcome.
Only 0.7 percent of the electorate has a more negative view of Trump after the incident, according to an extensive final poll before election day by DailyMail.com and JL Partners, which surveyed 1,003 people.