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Quick Take
Social media posts, some pointing to comments by podcaster Joe Rogan, are spreading unsupported claims that members of the Patriot Front are federal agents and that the group disbanded after the recent leadership change at the FBI. But days after Kash Patel was confirmed as FBI director, the Patriot Front had two public rallies, and its website refutes the claims.
Full Story
The Patriot Front has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a “white nationalist hate group” that splintered off from another organization, Vanguard America, following the “Unite the Right” rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, 2017. On the second day of that rally, counterprotester Heather Heyer was killed and dozens were injured when Alex Fields Jr., a white nationalist, drove his car into the counterprotesters.
The Anti-Defamation League says the Patriot Front “falls into the alt right segment of the white supremacist movement but presents itself as a ‘patriotic’ nationalist group.” George Washington University’s Program on Extremism identifies the group’s founder as Thomas Rousseau, and says the organization is “known for its propaganda campaigns, including distributing flyers, staging marches, and defacing public art, all aimed at spreading its white nationalist message.”
But social media posts have made other, unsupported claims about the membership and current status of the Patriot Front.
Some posts have shared a clip from podcaster Joe Rogan’s March 5 show, in which Rogan repeats a previous, unfounded claim he’s made that the Patriot Front members are federal agents. “Where’s the fat people? They’re all wearing the same uniforms. … These are feds,” Rogan says, referring to the khaki pants, dark blue jackets and masks most members wear at their public rallies. Rogan also wrongly claims, “the day after Kash Patel gets in [as FBI director], they disband.”
Rogan made similar claims during his Feb. 28 show with guest Elon Musk, an adviser to President Donald Trump. On that episode, Rogan showed a screengrab of a Dec. 16 Substack article with the headline, “Shocker: ‘Patriot Front’ Disbands One Day After FBI Director Chris Wray Resigns — Updated.”
Rogan suggested that the Patriot Front members were actually undercover FBI agents, and they “disbanded” after the change in the bureau’s leadership.
Wray resigned in January, and Patel was confirmed on Feb. 20.
That same day, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah pushed these ideas, retweeting an X post that said, “Who wants to bet ‘Patriot Front’ disappears now that Kash Patel has been confirmed as Director of the FBI?” Lee added the comment: “I hope @Kash_Patel fires the ‘Patriot Front’ wing of the FBI before tomorrow morning.”
But the Patriot Front did not disband after the leadership change. Two days after Patel’s confirmation, one chapter of the group marched around the Iowa Capitol Complex in Des Moines, and other members rallied near the Massachusetts State House in Boston, according to local news reports.
The Patriot Front responded to Rogan’s claims in a post on its website on March 3, saying, “Patriot Front discussed on The Joe Rogan Experience by Rogan and Elon Musk. In the video, Rogan justifies his ‘fed’ accusation by referencing the high level of fitness standards and organization in PF. Rogan then proceeds to claim that Patriot Front disbanded, showing a substack post based on an article published by a satirical website.”
The Patriot Front post later says, “Rogan and other social media influencers will have to invent increasingly elaborate narratives to justify PF’s continued activity despite their misinformed claims that PF has disbanded.”
It’s worth noting that the FBI has extensive investigative records on the Patriot Front. We asked the FBI for comment on the claims made by Rogan and others but did not receive a response.
We also reached out to Rogan for any other evidence that federal agents are members of Patriot Front or that the group recently disbanded, but we did not get a response.
Sources
Anti-Defamation League. “Patriot Front.” Accessed 6 Mar 2025.
Farrar, Molly. “White supremacist group marches in downtown Boston with ‘Reclaim America’ banner.” Boston.com. 23 Feb 2025.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI Records: The Vault. “Patriot Front.” Accessed 6 Mar 2025.
George Washington University. Program on Extremism. “Patriot Front.” Accessed 6 Mar 2025.
PBS News. “Man who drove into Charlottesville protest, killing Heath Heyer, convicted of first-degree murder.” 7 Dec 2018.
Pelley, Scott, et al. “FBI Director Christopher Wray on why he’s resigning and the threats facing America.” CBS News. 12 Jan 2025.
Southern Poverty Law Center. “Patriot Front.” Accessed 6 Mar 2025.
Tucker, Eric. “Trump loyalist Kash Patel is confirmed as FBI director by the Senate despite deep Democratic doubts.” Associated Press. 20 Feb 2025.
Source: FactCheck
