Joe Rogan said the legacy media downplayed Elon Musk and SpaceX’s rescue of two astronauts stuck at the space station

Joe Rogan stated on his podcast that the legacy media downplayed the rescue of two astronauts stranded at the space station by Elon Musk and SpaceX, and there are some facts and context behind this claim.

Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX, recently (in March 2025) safely brought back two NASA astronauts, Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, from the space station. These astronauts were stuck there for over 9 months due to technical issues with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, even though their original mission was only supposed to last 8 days.

SpaceX carried out this rescue mission using its Dragon spacecraft, which successfully landed off the coast of Florida on March 18, 2025. Joe Rogan claims that this event didn’t receive the attention it deserved from the media.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk claimed that the Biden administration rejected SpaceX’s earlier proposal to rescue the astronauts for “political reasons.” Trump made it a priority and claimed that the rescue happened quickly under his direction.

On the other hand, NASA stated that the delay was due to safety concerns and staffing needs, not politics. Some people believe that the legacy media has a negative bias toward Elon Musk, especially because of his controversial statements and closeness to Trump, which is why this SpaceX achievement wasn’t promoted as much.

Some news agencies (like Reuters and Fox News) did cover the event, but it perhaps didn’t get the kind of national celebration status that Rogan felt it deserved.

While SpaceX’s accomplishment was technically impressive, it was also seen as part of a routine crew rotation mission rather than an extraordinary “rescue.” Still, Rogan’s statement that “this should have been a huge national event” reflects his view that it was a major story that didn’t get enough coverage.