Joe Rogan has been accused of “accidentally spreading antisemitism” on his hit podcast while trying to defend under-fire progressive Rep. Ilhan Omar from the same charge.
The UFC commentator was discussing how certain terms lead people to cancel when he pointed to a Democratic “squad” member being booted from the House Foreign Affairs Committee for his past anti-Semitic comments. Denied.
He highlighted Omar’s apologies for talking about “it’s all about Benjamin,” he said of the congresswoman’s 2019 message about American support for Israel.
“It’s just about money — she’s just talking about money,” Rogan said on an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” posted on Spotify Saturday.
“It’s not an anti-Semitic statement, I don’t think it is,” Rogan insisted, referring to the term that has been widely condemned as a racist trope.
Benjamin is money. The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. It’s like Italians aren’t into pizza. This is stupid. It’s stupid,” he said.
Rogan then said that “whether you agree with it or not,” Omar “expressed a bold opinion.”
“And this opinion is not his own – there are many people who have this opinion, and they should be represented,” he said.
However, he soon found himself under attack, with some critics even tagging Spotify about the streaming service being “happy” he was a “multi-million dollar podcaster”. “Incidentally making anti-Semitic noises.”
British comedian David Bedell – author of a book about anti-Semitism “Jews don’t count” is said – also accused the podcaster of spreading “racist mythology” on the show “With a big smile.”
“I’d actually like to stop beating the ‘Jews Don’t Count’ drum at some point, but it’s hard to do that when a racist myth about Jews is just… on one of the biggest podcasts in the world,” said the loud voice. goes and no one gives. af-k.” Badil tweeted. 880,000 of his followers as of early Tuesday.
“It’s hard to understand, ‘Jews are into money’ not ‘Italians are into pizza,'” he asserted.
“Because unless my history lessons really missed something, nobody wiped out a large part of the entire Italian community for their love of pepperoni,” he quipped.
“Also, Joe Rogan has a $200 million deal with Spotify. And yet apparently it’s the Jews who are in the money,” he tweeted.
Alex Zelden, columnist for the Forward – formerly The Jewish Daily Forward – replied sarcastically that “Jews are just money-makers.
“The rest of you who don’t have jobs to earn an income and bills to pay and money to support a family and that’s not a cynical point of view at all that kills Jews.”
A Jewish journalist tweeted that “If only my relatives Those who were lined up and shot were in money, they had enough to escape the Nazis.”
Rogan made his comments ironically while discussing the dangers of canceling culture with his guests, “Breaking Points” journalists Crystal Ball and Sagar Njitti.
Ball agreed that Omar “shouldn’t have apologized” for his “Benjamins” tweet, while the congresswoman admitted that it “could have been phrased in a different way so that people would be less upset.” have to face.”
But can’t you talk about the influence of money in DC? I mean, it’s pretty obvious,” Ball said.
“There’s a clear reason why throughout my life there’s been a one-party consensus on our policy vis-Ã -vis the Israeli government,” he said, adding that “support for Israel is driven by money” just like everything else. The king’s interest DC.”
Enjiti, meanwhile, told Rogan: “I don’t agree with Ilhan Omar very much. I also don’t think it should be out of bounds to talk about the influence of any government,” “hypocrisy” in politics. Saying “drives me crazy.”
Rogan did not appear to have addressed the backlash for his comments, and his representatives did not immediately return messages Tuesday. Spotify also did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Earlier in the week’s podcast, Rogan told his guests that he had long ago stopped “paying attention to the comments” on his shows, though the commercial did not include constructive criticism.
Instead, she suggested they follow her example and tell viewers, “Look, I love you guys — I’m not just reading your writing.”
Read full article here