Joe Rogan Challenges Vaccine Researcher to Debate Anti-vaxxer RFK Jr
Prominent podcaster and billionaire Joe Rogan has challenged pediatrician and vaccine developer Dr. Peter Hotez to a debate on his podcast show, following Hotez’s criticism of Rogan’s interview with anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In the interview, Kennedy repeated his debunked claims that common childhood vaccines cause autism, which Hotez called “just awful”. Rogan fired back with a challenge, offering to donate $100,000 to the charity of Hotez’s choice if he’s willing to debate Kennedy on Rogan’s show, with no time limit.
The drama escalated when Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, goaded on the debate on social media, accusing Hotez of being “afraid of a public debate” and “hating charity.”
Hotez, however, indicated his willingness to appear on Rogan’s podcast, tweeting that he respects Rogan and his show and that he’s happy to have a “meaningful discussion.” Kennedy also expressed his willingness to engage with Hotez, tweeting that they should have a “respectful, congenial, informative debate.”
Kennedy has made a name for himself as a prominent anti-vaxxer, and his involvement in the anti-vaccine movement intensified during the pandemic. His anti-vaccine charity, Children’s Health Defense, saw revenues more than double in 2020 to $6.8 million. Kennedy has released a book in 2021, The Real Anthony Fauci, where he accused the US’s top infectious disease doctor of assisting in “a historic coup d’etat against Western democracy” and promoted unproven COVID-19 treatments.
