WATCH: Joe Rogan asks why the media ignores child sex trafficking

Appearing on the Joe Rogan Experience, a candidate for Congress in Texas's Seventh Congressional District says that Houston has become a hub for child trafficking in the United States.

Hunt and Rogan were discussing the rescue of 72 missing children in August and September of 2020. The busts took place in Ohio, Georgia, and Indiana.

Hunt argued that it is imperative that we create a culture where people are willing to work with local law enforcement to combat child trafficking, further stating that the signs are easy to spot when you know what to look for. He pointed to a story from 2017 when a flight attendant was able to identify and save a victim of child trafficking on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco.

"If we are just acutely aware of the abnormalities and the behaviour of young children, who clearly are under duress, we can't turn a blind eye to it," explained Hunt.

Hunt also stated that the US should establish "a task force to address this in known hotspots" such as Houston. He explained that port cities are especially major hubs of human trafficking due to the volume of imports and exports going through the ports on a daily basis. He further claimed that if people "hang out around these areas then [they'll] see a lot more of it."

The port of Houston is the busiest port in the United States.

According to Hunt, the kids being trafficked in the United states are coming from "all over the world," particularly impoverished communities and countries where missing children may not be noticed by local authorities. He also said a lot of children "come from right here in the US."

Hunt said one of the biggest problems is that there is a cultural appetite for sex with children. He called for "extreme punishment" for those who "partake in this behaviour." He continued "it could be happening right next door to you to somebody who seems to be a normal human being."

Rogan and Hunt lamented the lack of interest in child trafficking by the general public, noting how news on the topic is overshadowed by what they consider to be frivolities. Rogan brought up a recent scandal regarding Ellen DeGeneres's alleged mistreatment of staff as an example.

Rogan blamed this in part on "our addiction to social media," causing people to focus on "things that are trivial and nonsensical." According to Jamie Vernon, who works on Rogan's podcast, most stories on the matter are only covered by local news and rarely make it on to big, mainstream media platforms.

Hunt, who is a father of two girls, told Rogan "that's our role now, you know, as fathers and as responsible human beings, is keeping our young people safe."