Joe Rogan Gets Some Unexpected Support – Opinion

The left celebrated when musician Neil Young announced he would be removing his music from Spotify for hosting comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast. This particular ploy was the latest in an ongoing effort to cancel the podcaster for having conversations with people who express ideas the woke crowd doesn’t like.

Joni Mitchell followed the lead of other geriatric musicians. “Holy crap! Neil Young AND Joni Mitchell? Rogan is toast,” progressives seemed to think.

They were, however, wrong as they always are.

Not only has Spotify stood firm in their decision to host Rogan’s podcast, he has also received overwhelming support, some of which is coming from unexpected sources.

Marianne Williams, a former Democratic presidential candidate, tweeted her support for the comedian

I’m triple vaxxed, but (unless they’re standing for hate or calling for violence) banning someone’s podcast is too much like burning a book to me. Joe Rogan should talk on his podcast about whatever he damn well pleases.

Triple vaxxed is my opinion, however banning someone else’s podcast (unless they are calling for violence or standing for hatred) would be like me burning a book. Joe Rogan can talk about anything he likes on his podcast.

— Marianne Williamson (@marwilliamson) January 31, 2022

Actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson also expressed support for Rogan after the podcaster issued a statement in a video posted on Instagram. Johnson posted: “Great stuff here brother. Excellently stated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.”

Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard also chimed in, suggesting the left is using Rogan’s interviews with controversial figures with differing opinions on COVID-19 as an excuse to silence him for not being woke enough. Tweeted:

I get the feeling some people are using @joerogan’s  COVID interview as a pretext to silence his voice because he’s not woke. Zealots of wokeism try to censor voices who don’t agree with theirs, because they fear the absurdity and weakness of their positions will be exposed.

I get the feeling some people are using @joerogan‘s COVID interview as a pretext to silence his voice because he’s not woke. To protect their position, zealots who practice wokeism seek to silence those voices that don’t share their views.

— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) February 1, 2022

Politico ran an editorial slamming Rogan’s attempts to suppress it. Jack Shafer is the author.

You don’t have to be a fan of Rogan’s 12-year-old show (I’m not) or a Fox viewer (I mainly watch out of professional duty) to view the calls for boycott or de-platforming as attempts to suppress controversy and dissent in favor of samethink. By trying to mute Rogan, Young and his ilk seem to be saying that some ideas — even the stupid ones about vaccines and Covid that Rogan has endorsed — are so powerful that they will displace “good” public health ideas and that Rogan is guilty of inspiring Covid deaths.

Joe Rogan’s attempts to cancel his show have failed every time. In fact, by going so hard to silence the comedian, they have only made him more popular – powerful. They must see this by now, but they just can’t help themselves.

However, it is clear that Rogan’s censorship by the left isn’t because they worry about people being misinformed that this could impact their health. To be clear, they wouldn’t censor Rogan’s show. They will publish reports, op-eds and other evidence to prove them wrong. Instead of destroying the ideas they are trying to destroy them, they want to close them down.

They seem to believe that these views are true, despite their attempts to dismiss them. This means that they would rather cancel Rogan’s show than compete with his arguments. This isn’t only true of COVID-related conversations – it includes any discussion that goes against the tenets of wokeism. Rogan will be their friend, unfortunately.