Connect with us

News

White House Slams Joe Rogan After Right Wing Podcaster Tells Younger Listeners to Not Get COVID Vaccine

Published

on

“Did Joe Rogan become a medical doctor while we weren’t looking?”

In a rare move several Biden White House officials are responding to podcaster Joe Rogan, a popular culture warrior on the right who appeals to a wide audience, in an effort to combat vaccine hesitancy as COVID inoculations drop thanks to conservatives spreading false information and misinformed opinions – which Rogan shared last Friday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) who also serves as President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor blasted Rogan for telling listeners younger Americans should not get the coronavirus vaccine – an opinion not based in science.

That’s incorrect,” the usually diplomatic immunologist told “TODAY” show co-host Savannah Guthrie Wednesday, “and the reason why is you’re talking about yourself in a vacuum then.”

“You’re worried about yourself getting infected and the likelihood that you’re not gonna get any symptoms,” he added. “But you can get infected and will get infected if you put yourself at risk. And even if you don’t have any symptoms, you’re propagating the outbreak because it is likely that you — even if you have no symptoms — that you may inadvertently and innocently then infect someone else who might infect someone who really could have a problem with a severe outcome.”

Rogan on his Spotify podcast (the company paid him $100 million to license his show), said, “you should get vaccinated if you’re vulnerable,” but added “it’s crazy” that it’s “controversial” to say “I’m not going to inject my child with the vaccine.”

“We are not talking about even the flu, that we just found out killed 20,000 people last year, we’re not talking about that right, we’re talking about something that is not statistically dangerous for children,” Rogan told his millions of listeners, spreading more misinformation that will likely help even more Americans decide to not get vaccinated.

“COVID-19 has killed thousands of young Americans,” a January Business Insider article revealed. Countless articles over the past six months, especially in local news outlets, detail deaths of younger Americans, and especially those who are people of color.

“Are you healthy?” Rogan said he would ask a 21-year old. “Are you a healthy person? Like, look, don’t do anything stupid, but you should take care of yourself. You should – if you’re a healthy person, and you’re exercising all the time, and you’re young, and you’re eating well, like, I don’t think you need to worry about this,” meaning the coronavirus.

While the death rate for younger Americans is less than that of middle aged and older Americans, children and young adults do contract the disease, and do die from it. They also are more likely to spread the virus to others, given their often asymptomatic status. And death is not the only concern, as millions with “long COVID” can attest.

Fauci is not the only Biden official to criticize Rogan.

“I guess my first question would be, did Joe Rogan become a medical doctor while we weren’t looking? I’m not sure that taking scientific and medical advice from Joe Rogan is perhaps the most productive way for people to get their information,” White House communications director Kate Bedingfield told CNN on Wednesday (relevant segment begins at 4:16 mark):

 

 

Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

‘Divine Providence’: Johnson Paints Trump as ‘Miraculously’ Spared by God

Published

on

House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson paid tribute to President Donald Trump on Tuesday, portraying him less as an elected leader and more as a divinely chosen figure. He declared that Trump had been “miraculously” spared from an assassination attempt during the 2024 campaign, so that he could go on to enact his “America First” agenda by signing into law the GOP budget—his so-called One Big Beautiful Bill, a sweeping package of tax cuts and government spending.

Speaker Johnson, widely viewed as a Christian nationalist, told reporters (video below) that during last year’s assassination attempt that left one bystander dead, “God miraculously spared the president’s life.”

“I think it’s undeniable, and he did it for an obvious purpose. And his presidency and his life are the fruits of divine providence,” declared Johnson. “He points that out, obviously, now all the time, and he’s right to do so.”

READ MORE: ‘Dumb-Dumb’: Fox News Host Declares Rising Democrat a ‘Mental Deficient’ Amid Senate Buzz

“As President Trump has lived since with the acknowledgment, everyday since, he has acknowledged that each new day isn’t guaranteed to us,” Johnson claimed. “It isn’t to any of us, and that’s why we’re not wasting any time. That’s why he remains so strong and resilient. It’s why we have such a sense of urgency. President Trump took a bullet to his head. He got up shortly thereafter. He pleaded with the crowd to fight, and then he went on to win a historic election, less than four months later. America’s changed because he survived that day.”

Johnson’s rhetoric contains several hallmarks of fascistic rhetoric, including deification of a leader and positioning him as a figure chosen by God to do God’s work.

Critics responded to Johnson’s remarks.

“How far is it from divine providence to divine right and absolutism?” asked journalist and author Nikolaus von Twickel.

READ MORE: ‘Absolute Cringe’: DHS Ridiculed After Attacking CNN Report—by Confirming It

“This is the Speaker of the House publicly and confidently espousing Christian Nationalist talking points and characterizing a profoundly, unrepentantly sinful man as a quasi-deity,” noted award-winning author Jennifer Erin Valent. “Every true believer needs to call this out for the blatant heresy that it is.”

Utah Democratic state Senator Nate Blouin declared, “this is insane rhetoric and it’s disturbing to see people of faith embrace it.”

“This nation was formed by patriots fleeing this kind [of] purple Dominionist cant,” television writer and playwright Hal Corley wrote. “Presidents are not anointed like divine right royalty and such doctrinaire rhetoric should be condemned.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: At Faith-Based Event Trump Courts Religious CEOs, Uses Expletive, Calls Dems ‘Evil’

Continue Reading

News

Trump Vowed to Slash Prices and ‘End Inflation’—Inflation Just Hit Highest Level in Months

Published

on

Despite President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that there is “no inflation,” consumer prices jumped in June, rising to an annual rate of 2.7%—the highest level in months. Economists cite the President’s tariffs, now beginning to take effect, along with rising costs for food, energy, and rent.

The Consumer Price Index increase “is slightly higher than expected and is up from an annual pace of 2.4 percent in May,” according to The New York Times.

ABC News called it “a notable surge of price increases as President Trump’s tariff policy took hold.”

“Worsening inflation poses a political challenge for President Donald Trump, who promised during last year’s presidential campaign to immediately lower costs,” the Associated Press reported Tuesday, noting that inflation “rose last month to its highest level since February as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs push up the cost of a range of goods.”

READ MORE: Rollins Slams Medicaid, Touts Healthy Food to Cut Health Care Costs—GOP Cut Both Programs

As far back as August of 2024, Trump vowed, “Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods.”

Days later, he added, “Under my administration, we will be slashing energy and electricity prices by half within 12 months, at a maximum 18 months.”

Fast forward to just one day before Election Day: “A vote for Trump means your groceries will be cheaper,” he promised.

READ MORE: ‘Absolute Cringe’: DHS Ridiculed After Attacking CNN Report—by Confirming It

Economists and economic experts say the Trump tariffs, a tax on certain imported goods from certain countries that are expected to jump August 1, are leading to higher prices for American consumers.

“Tariffs are starting to raise prices,” observed Heather Long, a Washington Post columnist and the chief economist at the Navy Federal Credit Union.

“This is just the beginning,” she added. “But we need to watch food closely. Increases there are really tough on middle class and moderate-income households.”

Long pointed to several categories of imports and listed their price jumps:

“Linens +5.9%, Oranges +4.7%, Olives +4.4%, Cookware +4%, Audio equipment +2.9%, Major appliances +2.4%, Coffee +2.2%, Sports equipment +1.8%, Toys +1.4%,” while noting that eggs are down 10.8 percent.

Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden, a former top Biden administration official, wrote simply, “Thanks for raising our cost of living with your inane tariffs @realDonaldTrump.”

U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) noted, “Trump and Republicans are hurting our economy and increasing your costs.”

READ MORE: At Faith-Based Event Trump Courts Religious CEOs, Uses Expletive, Calls Dems ‘Evil’

 

Image via Reuters

 

Continue Reading

News

Rollins Slams Medicaid, Touts Healthy Food to Cut Health Care Costs—GOP Cut Both Programs

Published

on

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins claimed Medicaid is “bankrupting” the states, while suggesting that “healthy” foods could serve to help reduce health care costs. Yet both Medicaid and nutrition programs like SNAP were slashed under President Donald Trump and Republicans’ so-called One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law just ten days ago.

“Medicaid is bankrupting almost every state,” Secretary Rollins claimed in remarks on Monday (video below).

With the Republicans gutting over $1 trillion in federal Medicaid funds, and approximately $200 billion in SNAP funds, states face either picking up that massive shortfall or cutting some programs, benefits, or users.

Medicaid is “taking between 30, 40, 45, 50 percent of the state budgets, and has for a really long time, for those of us who come from state policy, we know this very, very well,” Rollins continued. State funds for Medicaid (not including federal matching funds) account for less than 20 percent of state budgets, overall, according to the Pew Research Center.

READ MORE: At Faith-Based Event Trump Courts Religious CEOs, Uses Expletive, Calls Dems ‘Evil’

Secretary Rollins previously served as a policy director for Texas Governor Rick Perry and led the right-wing Texas Public Policy Foundation. More recently, she headed the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank dedicated to advancing President Trump’s first post-presidency agenda.

Rollins decried what she says is the number one purchase using SNAP funds: “sugary drinks and junk food.”

“Frankly, we have to make a change,” she insisted.

“So there is a lot of wholesale across the government that we can do, but there’s also a recognition that a lot of these communities that are part of the Medicaid program, they don’t always have access to healthy food,” Rollins continued, not mentioning the billions the BBB Act gutted from both.

Rollins insisted the federal government has to do “a better job through our nutrition programs, through our partnerships, et cetera, of ensuring that those communities have access to healthy foods.”

“So on the back end, we have programs that are not bankrupting our government.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Dumb-Dumb’: Fox News Host Declares Rising Democrat a ‘Mental Deficient’ Amid Senate Buzz

Image via Reuters

 

 

 

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2020 AlterNet Media.