Podcaster Joe Rogan, of the Joe Rogan Experience, has come under fire after he discussed the efficacy of vaccine passports on his show, claiming that the requirement means the country is “moving one step closer to dictatorship”.
In an episode uploaded to Spotify on Friday, the comedian – whose series boasts a reported 11 million listeners per upload - told guest Evan Hafer that “the problem with applauding vaccine passports” is that politicians “are not going to give that power up”.
He said: “As soon as you give politicians power – any kind of power that didn’t exist previously – historically, they don’t relinquish that power. They find new reasons to use it.
“’You can’t work anymore unless you do what I say – that’s essentially what a vaccine passport is. You can’t do what you want to do unless you do what I want you to do.’”
“Up until 1776, every f**king country that has ever existed was run by dictators – all of them. This is the first one where you have elected officials.”
Rogan then went on to add that the US is “the first experiment in self-government that actually worked”, which has created “the greatest cultural machine”.
“How did we do that? We did it through freedom, because when you give people freedom, let people do whatever the f**k they want to do, they actually find ways to succeed and grow and thrive, but as soon as you put the boots to them … now you have a mini dictator.
“You have one step away from a king … You’re moving one step closer to dictatorship. That’s what the f**k is happening,” he continued.
Twitter users have since criticised Rogan for his remarks, with some calling for the host to lose his platform on Spotify:
When I remember that 11 million people listen to the Joe Rogan podcast pic.twitter.com/gcMJKEnczr
— Jude "Ask Your Comic Shop to Stock MAW" Doyle (@sadydoyle) August 8, 2021
I really enjoy the Joe Rogan podcast. I’ve been listening for years. Whenever people get mad at him, I usually think it’s a bit outrageous. However, the recent episode where he talks about vaccines was the first time I thought “Ok, wtf?”
— Linz DeFranco (@LinzDeFranco) August 7, 2021
my fav part abt joe rogan & the "elites forcing masks on us for control" conspiracy is that they already exert control over every part of our lives. also, nobody likes the masks- they want us to take the vaccine so we can all get back to work without filling up the ICUs. thats it
— hasanabi (@hasanthehun) August 7, 2021
Not sure what's going on, although in some cases I can source the origins of his talking points. He's not speaking to COVID experts, even though any of us would talk to him in a heartbeat. Joe has enormous influence, the potential to be a great ally to fully vaccinate the nation https://t.co/ubIPR4fAxP
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) August 7, 2021
Joe Rogan really went on his show that 11 million people listen to and said that vaccines are causing covid mutations and the reason scientists aren't talking about it is because they're afraid of getting canceled. We are all going to die.
— Jake Flores (@feraljokes) August 6, 2021
My favorite part of the Joe Rogan clip regarding vaccine passports was when he said that 1776 America was the first country with elected officials, and everything else was a dictatorship.
— Steve Hofstetter (@SteveHofstetter) August 7, 2021
The first elected officials were in 508 BCE in Athens.
Hey, @SpotifyUSA? It’s time to deplatform Joe Rogan https://t.co/AFWmpi8kwR
— Cara Zelaya #CancelStudentDebt (@carazelaya) August 7, 2021
Others, meanwhile, praised Rogan for his honest response, with Donald Trump Jr amongst those commending the presenter:
Joe Rogan gets it #VaccinePassports pic.twitter.com/8sdagislGf
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) August 7, 2021
As far as I can tell, @joerogan is on the money here. pic.twitter.com/FQxo4vX3Nt
— Article V Convention of States please (@philthatremains) August 7, 2021
“They don’t understand history, they don’t understand human beings.” @joerogan absolutely nails it here: pic.twitter.com/hXRucRNPYO
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) August 7, 2021
Rogan has also shared further information about vaccinations on Twitter, where he retweeted an image of an NPR article from February stating that vaccines could “drive the evolution of more Covid-19 mutants”.
In April 2021, Rogan was condemned for telling “healthy 21-year-olds” to not get the Covid vaccine, including criticism from Dr Anthony Fauci.
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