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Chelsea Clinton has come out firing against podcast host Joe Rogan after he slammed a scientist about his views on vaccines.
The former First Daughter tweeted her support of Dr. Peter Hotez, dean at the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, who Rogan targeted on Twitter after he had criticized one of the episodes of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
Hotez disapproved of an interview Rogan did with Democratic presidential hopeful and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. earlier this month.
The son of former Attorney-General Robert F. Kennedy Sr. spoke about baseless claims of vaccine injury, especially that they can cause autism—a notion that has been repeatedly disproven. Hotez said it was "vaccine misinformation."
After his criticism of Rogan, the podcast host offered the vaccine expert $100,000 to debate with RFK Jr. on his show.
"Peter, if you claim what RFKjr is saying is 'misinformation' I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if you're willing to debate him on my show with no time limit," Rogan tweeted.
The attention from Rogan led to Hotez trending on Twitter and receiving online abuse. Hotez also claimed he had been "stalked" in front of his home by a "couple of antivaxers taunting me to debate RFKJr," in a tweet from June 18.
Clinton was the latest person to wade into the debate, labeling the "attacks" on Hotez as troubling and saying that she stood in solidarity with him.
"Deeply troubled by the online attacks against Dr.@PeterHotez. Standing in solidarity with Peter & all our public health and medical professionals committed to delivering science-backed health information, particularly about vaccines," Clinton tweeted.
Deeply troubled by the online attacks against Dr. @PeterHotez. Standing in solidarity with Peter & all our public health and medical professionals committed to delivering science-backed health information, particularly about vaccines. https://t.co/Q5raP3kjWq
— Chelsea Clinton (@ChelseaClinton) June 22, 2023
Clinton tweeted her support and also shared an article from online publication Vox by its senior public health reporter, Keren Landman.
Landman argued Hotez was right not to take up Rogan's offer because "debates are bad for communicating science."
Following the controversial episode with RFK Jr., many called for a boycott of Rogan's podcast.
"Time to boycott @Spotify in defence of public health," wrote Canadian journalist Geoffrey P. Johnston. "Unless @Spotify brings anti-Vaxx @joerogan to heel, consumers should turn their backs on and close their wallets to @Spotify."
Another person tweeted: "The whole narrative of counter-debating and giving equal airtime to conspiracy crooks is what is leading us towards climate catastrophe. Every serious professional should boycott Joe Rogan."
RFK Jr., who entered the race for the 2024 Democratic nomination this year was named in the 2021 Center for Countering Digital Hate's "Disinformation Dozen." He was one of only 12 people the organization believed were responsible for spreading the bulk of falsehoods about COVID and vaccines.
As for Rogan, he has come under fire multiple times for his stance on the COVID vaccine, and in 2022 he was widely criticized by medical and scientific experts for airing false statements on vaccines and the pandemic.
That outcry also led to a backlash from several musicians, such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, who took their music off Spotify in protest against sharing a platform with the podcaster.
Spotify subsequently began adding an advisory to any podcast episodes that discussed the pandemic as a result of the backlash.
About the writer
Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more