It’s all kicking off on Twitter after Joe Rogan had outspoken antivaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr – the 69-year-old nephew of President John F Kennedy and son of Robert F Kennedy – on his podcast, in which he spent the whole time sh*tting on vaccines, claiming they cause autism (among other things).
He also claimed that Wi-Fi and 5G cause autism, food allergies, asthma, eczema, and other chronic illnesses (even Joe Rogan told him that was “unlikely”).
Anyway, a VICE article ripping into the episode was Retweeted by vaccine scientist Professor Peter Hotez, who echoed the article’s sentiments that RFK Jr was peddling dangerous ‘misinformation’ during the 3-hour talk. Joe Rogan then responded to Hotez’s Tweet by offering him $100,000 to a charity of his choice, if he took on RFK Jr on a live debate on his podcast:
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. https://t.co/m0HxYek0GX
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) June 17, 2023
This is a non answer. I challenged you publicly because you publicly quote tweeted and agreed with that dogshit vice article. If you’re really serious about what you stand for, you now have a massive opportunity for a debate that will reach the largest audience a discussion… https://t.co/g1FGalC0Ym
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) June 17, 2023
Again, I’m going to ask you very clearly, are you willing to debate @RobertKennedyJr on my podcast? https://t.co/vFkzW9CCBq
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) June 18, 2023
It seems the professor wasn’t so keen on having a live debate opposite RFK Jr on Joe Rogan’s podcast, so others got involved to up the ante, including Andrew Tate (obviously):
I will add $100,000 making it $600K! Debate him.
Sadly, Hotez, nor any other “expert” will not debate any “misinformation superspreader.”
They are all afraid of things like facts and data.
— Steve Kirsch (@stkirsch) June 18, 2023
I’ll add 500k.
But I also want to state a lot of the nerds who are anti vax now we’re total Covid pussies at the start. A lot of them even took the vaccine.
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) June 18, 2023
So the offer to a charity of Dr. Hotez’s choosing is now at well over $1 million but it doesn’t seem like he’s going to budge. Some people reckon that’s because his knowledge and data won’t stand up to live scrutiny, whereas others think he’s wisely avoiding a biased platform where he’s just going to get bullied the whole time while RFK Jr makes up stats from thin air.
Interestingly, Hotez has been on Joe Rogan’s podcast previously, where they had this viral exchange:
.@JoeRogan grills Dr. Peter Hotez for exclusively promoting vaccines while disregarding exercise, vitamins, and a healthy diet:
“There’s a large body of data that connects poor diet to a host of diseases… You don’t think vitamins are needed while you eat junk food?” pic.twitter.com/5RNmAEReTf
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) June 18, 2023
Honestly it would be must-watch content if this debate were to ever go down, but I doubt we’ll ever see it, especially after this interview Dr. Hotez gave to Mehdi Hasan earlier:
.@PeterHotez responds to being asked to debate anti-vaxxer RFK Jr.
“Anti-vaccine disinformation…is now a lethal force in the United States. I offered to go on Joe Rogan but not to turn it into the Jerry Springer show with having RFK Jr. on.” pic.twitter.com/9ydNLXnxeS
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) June 19, 2023
How about hosting it on a neutral platform, and both sides bring a team of fact-checkers with them that can look things up in real time as the conversation happens? Does such a neutral platform even exist? That could be the problem…
For the anti-vax folk singer who died after deliberately catching Covid so she could obtain a health pass, click HERE.