Vice President JD Vance is likely to cause traffic delays and flight restrictions as he visits Austin today. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore

On Tuesday, Austin’s police presence increased, some of its streets were shut down and flights there were restricted.

All in anticipation of Vice President JD Vance arriving for an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.

CBS Austin caught footage of the heavy police presence outside of Rogan’s studio ahead of the visit. Air Force Two touched down in Austin Tuesday morning, according to the Austin-American Statesman.

Vance had originally been scheduled to be on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

The veep was set to speak at the House Republican Conference as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, seeks to restart House business after repeated Republican clashes over the SAVE America Act.

However, Vance canceled the appearance citing a “scheduling conflict,” CBS Austin reports. Instead, he’s paying a visit to the studio of the nation’s most-listened-to podcast.

After the sudden change of plans, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a last-minute flight restriction. The notice limited flights in a seven-mile radius of Austin-Bergstrom Airport due to “VIP Movement.” The temporary restriction stands from 11:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The podcast appearance occurs at a strategic juncture for Vance as he attempts to distance himself from President Donald Trump’s war with Iran — a conflict Rogan has loudly criticized.

“We might’ve fucked it up by going to Iran. I mean, this war is not something anybody that’s conservative wanted. Most people don’t want it, except supporters of Israel,” Rogan said last Wednesday on an episode of his podcast.


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Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.