Joe Rogan Experience #1693 - Evan Hafer
Evan Hafer (guest), Joe Rogan (host), Narrator, Narrator, Narrator
In this episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring Evan Hafer and Joe Rogan, Joe Rogan Experience #1693 - Evan Hafer explores evan Hafer Confronts Cancel Culture, Media Spin, And Freedom’s Future Joe Rogan and Black Rifle Coffee founder Evan Hafer unpack the New York Times profile that triggered a right‑wing dogpile, how online mobs misread his comments about racists and antisemites, and what it’s like to be ‘canceled’ by your own political side.
Evan Hafer Confronts Cancel Culture, Media Spin, And Freedom’s Future
Joe Rogan and Black Rifle Coffee founder Evan Hafer unpack the New York Times profile that triggered a right‑wing dogpile, how online mobs misread his comments about racists and antisemites, and what it’s like to be ‘canceled’ by your own political side.
Hafer details the brutal, unglamorous grind of building Black Rifle Coffee, his deep commitments to veterans and Afghan allies, and why accusations that he’s anti‑conservative or anti‑American infuriate him.
They broaden the conversation into media bias, social‑media outrage dynamics, vaccine passports and government overreach, the fragility and uniqueness of American freedoms, and the dangers of extreme partisanship.
The episode closes with discussions on parenting, purpose, comedy, discipline, and why both men try to stay positive and refuse to be dragged into perpetual online negativity.
Key Takeaways
Narratives often precede facts in mainstream coverage.
Hafer describes how the New York Times came in with a pre‑set frame (“Starbucks of the right,” ‘lucky’ founders) that minimized years of risk, sleep deprivation, and personal debt, showing how legacy outlets frequently retrofit facts to serve audience expectations.
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Outrage mobs exist on both the left and the right.
After the article, right‑wing influencers distorted Hafer’s comment about not wanting racist or antisemitic customers into ‘hating his fans,’ illustrating that cancel‑culture dynamics and bad‑faith amplification are now bipartisan.
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Building a mission‑driven company demands extreme personal sacrifice.
Hafer recounts selling everything, running up $36,000 in credit‑card debt, sleeping 4 hours a night on a pad under his desk, and still donating tens of thousands to veteran nonprofits—underscoring that real entrepreneurial success is mostly grind, not luck.
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Social media is a terrible medium for complex ideas.
Rogan and Hafer argue that 240‑character posts, clipped videos, and meme‑based ‘news’ strip away context, reward anger, and create false impressions (e. ...
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Principled lines matter: you can be pro‑conservative and anti‑bigotry.
Hafer reaffirms he’s a conservative who supports veterans, law enforcement, and the Second Amendment, but draws a hard boundary against racists and antisemites as customers—both morally and to keep those ideologies from defining conservatism.
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Armed citizens and skepticism of power are core American safeguards.
They link Afghanistan, Hong Kong, and U. ...
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Purpose and gratitude can immunize you against online toxicity.
Hafer says he won’t be dragged into digital mud‑wrestling because he feels a daily ethical obligation to his family and wounded peers: to stay positive, build jobs, fund adaptive sports and mobility gear, and turn ‘brown water’ profits into tangible help.
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Notable Quotes
““Luck is what you capitalize on after you put in a fuckton of hard work.””
— Evan Hafer
““There’s just not a chance in hell I want to shit on my customers… I’m a conservative. I’m not self‑loathing.””
— Evan Hafer
““If you’re getting your news from memes, you have a fucking big problem.””
— Evan Hafer
““Up until 1776, every fucking country that has ever existed was run by dictators… This is the first experiment in self‑government that actually worked, and it created the greatest superpower the world’s ever known.””
— Joe Rogan
““Psychology is more infectious than COVID. You spread negative shit, it’s gonna spread everywhere.””
— Evan Hafer
Questions Answered in This Episode
How should mission‑driven entrepreneurs decide when to engage with hostile or biased media versus refusing the platform entirely?
Joe Rogan and Black Rifle Coffee founder Evan Hafer unpack the New York Times profile that triggered a right‑wing dogpile, how online mobs misread his comments about racists and antisemites, and what it’s like to be ‘canceled’ by your own political side.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
What practical steps can individuals take to resist being swept up in social‑media outrage cycles and headline‑driven misinformation?
Hafer details the brutal, unglamorous grind of building Black Rifle Coffee, his deep commitments to veterans and Afghan allies, and why accusations that he’s anti‑conservative or anti‑American infuriate him.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Where should conservatives draw the line between defending free association and actively expelling racist or antisemitic elements from their movement?
They broaden the conversation into media bias, social‑media outrage dynamics, vaccine passports and government overreach, the fragility and uniqueness of American freedoms, and the dangers of extreme partisanship.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
Can the U.S. realistically transition away from a two‑party system, and what kind of leader or structure would be required to make a viable centrist alternative?
The episode closes with discussions on parenting, purpose, comedy, discipline, and why both men try to stay positive and refuse to be dragged into perpetual online negativity.
Get the full analysis with uListen AI
How can veteran‑run businesses most effectively support wounded warriors and wartime allies (like Afghan commandos) beyond hiring and donations?
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Transcript Preview
(drumbeats) Joe Rogan podcast, check it out. The Joe Rogan Experience.
Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night. All day. (instrumental music plays) Hello, Evan.
Hey, it's Joe, my friend.
Good to see you. How are you? Cheers.
Great to see you, buddy.
Was, was that coffee? Or-
It is coffee, but I- I just grabbed it-
But both?
... 'cause it was here.
You gotta, you gotta cheers.
There we go.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Booze to booze.
Booze to booze.
Booze to coffee seems odd. Mm-hmm.
Hmm.
So it's good seeing you, man.
Oh, that's good.
Yeah, so-
God, it's great to see you, man.
Good to see you. Still Austin. Shout out to Still Austin.
God, that is good.
It is good stuff. Made here, I think. I don't know. Maybe just, it's just the name. Uh, I really have no idea.
So I, I feel like you're-
It's good shit, though.
... like wining and dining me. I got cigars and whiskey.
(laughs)
This is gonna be a great episode, I hope.
Yeah, man. Come on.
I can't wait to see what happens after.
Well, when people were attacking you, I got butt hurt.
Ah, dude.
I was like, "Come on, Evan?"
(laughs)
"Get the fuck outta here." I was like, "I gotta have you in." It just, it d- it was so weird to see cancel culture come from the right.
Yeah.
I was like, "I didn't know it worked that way. I didn't know you fucking idiots would do the same shit." Like, what, what, what is going on?
(sighs)
It didn't make sense. It made no sense. It was the weirdest dog pile I've ever watched.
I, you know, I've tried to figure it out. I, and I haven't really spent a ton of time on it.
(laughs)
Other than ... Because, honestly, I got better shit to do with my life than figure out, like, what anonymous accounts in Twitters are s- you know-
Right.
... in Twitter is saying, what about me. Uh, but I think, I think there's just such a mistrust with mainstream media. And that's bred this, uh, hyper divisive gaslighting on both sides. And I think conservatives at times are also looking for the conspiracy inside the party.
Mm.
So they kind of spin themselves up a little bit. Uh, but it was such a strange scenario for me to be in because I think I've been so open for seven years, as like who we are, what we do. Uh, I, I haven't really held anything back. So I think it's, it's a combination of things going on. Like, people are super pissed off. Like, the pandemic has been a complete shitshow. You got a mistrust in the government, you got a mistrust in mainstream media. And you're looking for the bogeyman. And I mean, uh, it, it's, it's crazy to see misinformation being put out about yourself.
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