Trump's prominent supporter and renowned podcast host Joe Rogan has criticised US President Donald Trump over the deportation of a professional makeup artist to the El Salvador prison, calling it "horrific".
Andry José Hernández Romero is gay, and had sought asylum in the US, and told officials that he faced prosecution because of his sexual orientation and political views.
However, the US immigration officers argued that the crown tattoos on his wrists were proof he was part of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuelan gang. Romero told the officials that he was not a member.
Also read: Trump administration erroneously deports man to El Salvador, says he was member of criminal gang
Last month, Romero was flown from Texas to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, Trump's favourite prison, which Romero's lawyer said was "one of the worst places in the world”.
'Horrific'
Rogan in his podcast on March 29, said that it was "horrific" and "that people who aren’t criminals are getting lassoed up and deported”.
Rogan has been a fan of Trump and also endorsed him for the president last year.
“This is kind of crazy that that could be possible,” Rogan said. “And that’s bad for the cause. The cause is let’s get the gang members out – everybody agrees – but let’s not let innocent gay hairdressers get lumped up with the gangs.”
He further argued that conducting deportation operations recklessly would cost Trump supporters.
'F***ing crazy'
“If you want compassionate people to be on board with you, you can’t deport gay hairdressers seeking asylum – that’s fucking crazy – and then throw them in an El Salvador prison,” he said.
On the contrary, Rogan in his last week's episode, criticised Joe Biden's immigration policies, saying "an “open border” brought criminals into the US.
Rogan, a former mixed martial arts commentator and comedian has a large following and has gained attention as well as criticism for his controversial guests including Kanye West, Elon Musk, and Alex Jones.
He also suggested that pro-Palestinian protests at US universities had been paid for, and suggested that people were being paid to protest against Tesla.
(With inputs from agencies)