Rogan backs reality TV star Spencer Pratt’s bid for LA Mayor, says ‘I’d vote for you’
Podcaster Joe Rogan endorsed former reality TV star Spencer Pratt on Wednesday to become the mayor of Los Angeles, noting that even if he no longer lives in California, he hopes he wins.
Pratt, best known for his villainous on-screen persona on MTV’s "The Hills," decided to run for office after his home was destroyed in the California wildfire. He believes because of local officials' incompetence, the disaster was far worse than what it should have been.
"To be clear, I never wanted to run for any political office or have anything to do with politicians. What happened was after spending a year uncovering how my house and my parents’ house burned down, and my neighbors burned alive and 7,000 houses burned, and then I realized there's a cover-up going on," Pratt told Rogan.
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"Nobody is stepping up to run against the mayor who's responsible for this disaster and so many other disasters,' he continued.
Pratt said he realized he did not want to be a mere "yapper," a person who complains or demands action without actually doing anything themselves.
"I'm making these videos. I'm telling the truth. I got a congressional investigation. I went to Washington. And I met with everyone possible that I could do as just a citizen, and I was like, ‘Okay, well, game on now. I'm going to go into your headquarters and just take your job and then remove all these toxic entities that are destroying our way of life in Los Angeles.’"
Pratt argued that with his efforts, he does not have some grand vision of what LA could be, but something more practical, declaring, "I don't have a new utopia of what LA should be. I want LA back. I want the LA I grew up in."
Part of his vision, he said, would be using police to actually enforce the law and clean up local streets that have been plagued by crime, homelessness, and overdoses.
"We're going around, and we're just arresting people and the people that aren't getting arrested, we're getting to mandatory medical treatment, and we're just going to start clearing the streets, clearing the encampments," he said. "Imagine the communities, like how pumped people are going to be in these neighborhoods when I come in, and I'm like, ‘This is done.’"
Later in the interview, Pratt recalled how he leaned in to being a heel on-screen in reality TV shows, but after being hated for so many years, learned it is better to be loved by people for trying to make a difference in real life.
"Listen, man. I'm voting for you. I can't vote for you, but I'm rooting for you," Rogan said, noting he is a Texas resident and no longer a Californian. "I mean, if I lived in Los Angeles, no question whatsoever, I would vote for you."
Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Bass' campaign and did not receive an immediate reply.