Gavin Newsom wants on The Joe Rogan Experience. He’s asked—publicly, repeatedly, and with growing frustration. Joe Rogan has never answered.

The California governor’s latest jab came October 28 on CNN. “He refuses to invite me,” Newsom told host Elex Michaelson. “He doesn’t have the confidence to do it.” He branded Rogan “the Facebook of podcasting” and insisted the host can’t handle California’s record.

That record is...not great, and it’s become the core of the standoff.

Homelessness remains the nation’s worst: more than 187,000 people on the streets, nearly a quarter of America’s total in a state with just 12 percent of its population. Los Angeles County alone counts over 75,000 unhoused, most without shelter. Violent crime remains 5.9 percent above 2019, the year before Newsom took office on January 7. Property theft, especially car break-ins and catalytic converter thefts, continues to plague Oakland and San Francisco. And while California’s economy is the world’s fourth-largest at $4.1 trillion, it ranks 47th in economic outlook, carries the highest unemployment rate, and has seen hundreds of thousands of residents leave since 2020—taking $24 billion in income with them in 2022 alone.

Newsom has tried to flip the script. On October 9, he tweeted at Rogan: “Invite me on any time, @joerogan :)” and attached a highlight reel of state wins. The next day, on the Higher Learning podcast, he doubled down: “He should have me on the show. Let’s do it, Joe.”

Rogan has stayed silent on the invites.

But he hasn’t been quiet about Newsom. “California was already the best state before Gavin Newsom got there,” he said on JRE #2219. “He’s taking credit for things already in motion.” A day later: “Homelessness is out of control, crime is up, people are leaving in droves—Gavin Newsom doesn’t have answers for any of this.”

He’s gone further. “He’d cook himself if he came on,” Rogan said in July. “I’d just ask simple questions: Why are 200,000 people leaving every year? Why is San Francisco a disaster? He doesn’t have real answers—just talking points.”

Rogan has even suggested he’s doing Newsom a favor by not inviting him. “If he came on mine, he’d get destroyed by basic questions he can’t answer,” he said in May.

Rogan did host Donald Trump for three hours on October 25. He has not extended the same to Newsom.

He has turned down Newsom’s own podcast. “I’m not interested,” he said. “I’ll talk to anybody, but that guy.”

As of today, Joe Rogan has never said “no” to having Gavin Newsom on JRE. He’s never said “refuse,” “won’t,” or anything close.

Newsom’s claim of refusal stands on his word alone.

The back-and-forth has become a spectacle—part political theater, part podcast beef. Some see Newsom angling for national attention ahead of 2028. Others see Rogan’s silence, paired with his blunt assessment of California’s struggles, as the real answer.

Until Rogan speaks, the invitation hangs in the air—unanswered, unrefused, and unresolved, while Newsom's claim remains unsubstantiated.