The NFL season hasn’t even begun, but the New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers is already taking shots.
Or he’s actually not taking shots if you remember the whole “immunized” thing…
Dr. Peter Hotez has been a two-time guest on the popular The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, both before the COVID pandemic began, and then again in 2020 after it started. He has been known to be a very passionate advocate for the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as vaccines in general, explicitly arguing that they do not cause autism in children.
However, he recently made headlines after Joe Rogan had anti-vaxxer and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the show. Dr. Hotez was critical of the appearance and was disappointed in the information shared during the episode, calling it “nonsense” and “awful.”
Rogan offered to donate $100,000 to a charity of Hotez’s choice if he came on to debate RFK Jr. about the COVID pandemic and vaccine use, which Hotez has quickly rejected.
Peter, if you claim what RFKjr is saying is “misinformation” I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if you’re willing to debate him on my show with no time limit. https://t.co/m0HxYek0GX
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) June 17, 2023
Patrick Bet-David, Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and many others chipped in and drove the charity offer up over $3 million, and then Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban jumped in to defend Dr. Hotez… it was quite the Twitter battle that even Elon Musk, himself, dove into the middle of.
Way to talk in generalities Joe. Not saying there aren't a lot of fucked up things about pharma. That's why we created https://t.co/jYSNkP7amr. But to ignore that the same industry has saved who knows how many lives is bullshit and you know it.
It's also disrespectful to all… https://t.co/bUawoBgbH6— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) June 18, 2023
Enter Aaron Rodgers.
The New York Jets quarterback took to his Instagram to call out Dr. Hotez amongst all of the controversy, saying:
“Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would mop this bum.”
Aaron Rodgers rips Dr. Peter Hotez after Joe Rogan-RFK Jr. debate dare
Aaron Rodgers and Dr. Peter Hotez are going a second round. Dr. Hotez, a staunch COVID-19 vaccine advocate, heavily criticized Joe Rogan for having anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on his popular podcas… pic.twitter.com/Da9lOjc1Eg— Dr.LyndaBarnes (@MrsBarnesII) June 21, 2023
His comment also included “I don’t take health advice from unhealthy people” in regards to this clip from Dr. Hotez’s podcast with Joe:
.@JoeRogan grills Dr. Peter Hotez for exclusively promoting vaccines while disregarding exercise, vitamins, and a healthy diet:
"There's a large body of data that connects poor diet to a host of diseases… You don't think vitamins are needed while you eat junk food?" pic.twitter.com/5RNmAEReTf
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) June 18, 2023
And because this is just how the world works nowadays, Dr. Peter Hotez didn’t take that jab (accidental COVID vaccine joke) from Aaron Rodgers laying down, and decided to “clap back” on Twitter and call out the former Packers quarterback.
Hotez stated in his post:
“Disappointed he (Rodgers) took a cheap shot at me this week. In 2021, during our awful delta wave, we were losing 2,000 Americans per day, of which 80% were among unvaccinated, when vaccines were 90% protective against death and serious illness.
I criticized him for his public anti-vaccine stance.”
Disappointed he took a cheap shot vs me this wk. In 2021 during our awful delta wave we were losing 2,000 Americans/day, >80% among unvaccinated, when vaccines were 90% protective vs death/serious illness, I criticized him for his public antivaccine stance https://t.co/ov1EMPvPU2
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) June 21, 2023
The doctor then continued in the below thread of the tweet:
“This is so unnecessary, I have no bad thoughts for Aaron, I needed to speak out in 2021 to try and save lives.
200,000 unvaccinated Americans needlessly perished during those delta BA.1 waves in last half of 2021 early 2022. I detail this in my new book.”
This is so unnecessary, I have no bad thoughts for Aaron, I needed to speak out in 2021 to try and save lives. 200,000 unvaccinated Americans needlessly perished during those delta BA.1 waves in last half of 2021 early 2022. I detail this in my new book https://t.co/2Bm25ohgCf
— Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD (@PeterHotez) June 21, 2023
Always have to get the book plug in below your post that you know will garner lots of attention. Well done Dr. Hotez, and way to defend against one of the NFL’s most potent offensive stars.
And as for the possibility of that public debate happening between Hotez and RFK Jr., things aren’t looking great. Hotez called out Rogan for “low-balling” him with $100,000 dollars, and instead countered with a “$50 million dollar endowment” and a public apology from Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for spreading anti-vaccine information.
By the way, @PeterHotez , I saw this tweet that you deleted. pic.twitter.com/eS7ynkGqGO
— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) June 17, 2023
Yeah, that’s not going to happen…
Rodgers also defended is own notable “immunization” controversy on Joe Rogan’s podcast back in August of 2022:
