Sanders Touts Controversial Comedian’s 2020 Support, Sparking Criticism
U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders’ decision to highlight an unofficial endorsement from Joe Rogan drew criticism on Friday due to the comedian’s brand of humor that some see as dismissive of issues like equal pay and transgender rights.
The online flap comes as Sanders, a U.S. senator from Vermont, has been trying to move past a weeks-long controversy over whether he told rival Elizabeth Warren, a friend and progressive ally, in a 2018 meeting that a woman could not beat Republican President Donald Trump, a charge he has denied.
Sanders, who is leading some opinion polls in the important early-voting state of Iowa, tweeted a video clip of Rogan on Thursday saying he would “probably vote for Bernie. He’s been insanely consistent his entire life.”
“Look, you could dig up dirt on every single human being that’s ever existed if you catch them in their worst moment and you magnify those moments,” Rogan continued in explaining his support.
Sanders has been criticized in the past for failing to denounce a following of “Bernie Bros,” men who levy gender-based attacks at women political rivals on social media.
Sanders spokeswoman Briahna Joy Gray said that building a coalition to beat Trump requires “sharing a big tent” that includes “those who do not share every one of our beliefs, while always making clear that we will never compromise our values.”
Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience,” is downloaded millions of times each month. In the show, which is ideologically inconsistent and often veers into territory that is deemed not politically correct, Rogan has interviewed politicians, including Sanders and fellow 2020 rivals Andrew Yang and congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
Rogan has also been accused of criticizing transgender individuals, has said divorce laws are anti-feminist and biased against men, and has argued that a gender-based pay gap does not exist or companies would hire all women to save money.
“Men don’t make more money because they do the same job and make more money at that job than the woman does; they do different jobs,” Rogan said in a 2018 podcast episode.
While some studies showing a gender pay gap compare the median annual pay of all women working full-time to the median annual pay of all men working full-time, others that compare pay within occupations and industries also show gender-based compensation differences.
“Deeply disappointing to see you celebrate this,” Democratic consultant Evan Sutton responded to Sanders on Twitter.
(Reporting by Amanda Becker; editing by Ginger Gibson and Nick Macfie)
“WOW confuction you still don’t get it do you. fascism is on your side of the room.” The Real Bob
If King Donald The Loser is not a fascist, then what is he?
Pick a lane, The Real Bob.
Joe Rogan is a comedian and radio personality. For someone who recently criticized “know nothings and inexperienced” in the diplomatic corps, the Genital is suddenly all about a “know nothing and inexperienced” endorsement for his cult leader?
Again I say the Genital is confused and contused. Also not too bright and a liar.
Sergeant, arrest I Ching for insubordination, under Section 85/108.13 of the National Defence Act, and throw him in the brig!
What am I confused about and what am I lying about? You didn’t say what, so that was meaningless.
Rogan has a large following, so as far as his influence goes, it will only add to Bernie Sander’s strength.
And talking about cult leaders, how is yours doing? Oh yeah, that’s right. He just got impeached.
Genital,
You ARE confused and a perfect example of cognitive dissonance.
You are wrong saying “King Donald the Loser”. WE elected him in 2016 and we will again in 2020. He WON the election.
Your remarks indicate an opposition to royalty YET you support a system where apparatchiks and the elite will “royally” decree how much you pay, where and how you live, what you eat, etc. while reserving privileges for themselves.
You are confused and I am so happy your paycheck goes to supportvia entitlements those too stupid/careless/etc. to support or care for themselves
That’s what you want, right?
Sergeant, arrest I Ching for insubordination, under Section 85/108.13 of the National Defence Act, and throw him in the brig!
You don’t understand. Your time is up. From here on out you are in decline. The younger voters have been awakened and are on their assent.
Now that King Donald The Loser is in office, it doesn’t get any better. Where can you go from here? He either lasts a few more months, or by shear trickery, one more term, then what? What’s your end goal?
Are you planning to work towards uplifting the poor masses by creating plenty of better jobs for them? Are you willing to fight to end corruption? Are you going to elect better politicians because the last three generations of them haven’t done so well? Are you going to help to end the forever wars?
If you are, then you had better get going. Your time is running out.
“If you buy any of the communist BS then you better seek some counseling on the subject” Tom Bodine
You do realize that all of this communism and socialism crap is not going to convince any young people to fear them, right? You are wasting your time.
Young people are repressed so much by what we have today that they are searching for alternatives. Bernie is looking pretty good to them, and their numbers are greater than you old guys that ruined capitalism and politics for them. They are getting active politically, now, so watch out. Change is acoming.
WOW confuction you still don’t get it do you. fascism is on your side of the room. It is a party of racism, hate, violence and criminals. You would NOT exist as a party unless you had all those things. Your party is socialist and each and every dictatorship is socialist in that they control everything in government and the people. So you can stop lying to everyone now. I will refute you every time you post this lie. You are the party of totalitarian rule and it must be destroyed before this country loses it’s freedom.
No matter how often you repeat a falsehood, it will always be untrue.
You can’t really blame Bernie for accepting the support of his base.
If you buy any of the communist BS then you better seek some counseling on the subject and hope you have a well armed neighbor to bail your a+s out when the sh+t hits the fan.
You do realize that all of this communism and socialism crap is not going to convince any young people to fear them, right? You are wasting your time.
Young people are repressed so much by what we have today that they are searching for alternatives. Bernie is looking pretty good to them, and their numbers are greater than you old guys that ruined capitalism and politics for them. They are getting active politically, now, so watch out. Change is acoming.
Incorrect what ruined the last two generation was the NEA and the liberal indoctrination instead of an education plus the lack of proper parenting and massive drug use.
The “Bernie bros” idea is a false narrative.
EVERY campaign, at the local, state or national level, will have somebody, somewhere supporting it that are outspoken, obnoxious, and wrong, especially online. The American Fascist Party has them, the Democratic party has them, and independents have them, too. Get over it.
There is only one thing that separates Bernie bros from any other group. They support Bernie, therefore EVERYBODY who oppose him points to them and says, “See?”, because they are threatened by what Bernie will do once he is in the Whitehouse.
Comrade Sanders does have a huge following both here in the US and in most communist countries.