Joe Rogan is accused of 'casually spouting antisemitism' after trying to defend ... trends now
Controversial podcaster Joe Rogan is being accused of 'casually spouting anti-Semitism' after trying to defend woke Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.
The 55-year-old was decrying cancel culture in the most recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience when he denounced Republicans for booting the Democrat from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over her past anti-Semitic statements.
He brought up a tweet from 2019, in which Omar spoke out against American support for Israel, saying: 'It's all about the Benjamins, baby.'
Omar has since apologized for the tweet and conceded that it was anti-Semitic - but Rogan said she should not have done so, claiming: 'The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That's like saying Italians aren't into pizza.'
Almost immediately afterwards, people took to social media to denounce his remarks, saying he was 'casually spouting anti-Semitism.'
Podcaster Joe Rogan likened the trope that Jews are 'into money' to Italians liking pizza in the most recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience
Critics on Twitter accused him of 'casually spouting anti-Semitism' on Spotify
In the episode, which aired Saturday on Spotify, Rogan brought up the idea of cancel culture with his guests, Breaking Points journalists Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti when he made the controversial comments.
'It's just money, she's just talking about money,' the podcaster said, insisting: 'That's not an anti-Semitic statement. I don't think it is.
'Benjamins are money,' he continued. 'You know, the idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That's like saying Italians aren't into pizza. It's f****** stupid, it's f****** stupid.'
At that point, Ball — the progressive commentator on Breaking Points — agreed that Omar 'shouldn't have apologized' for the tweet, while conceding that the Democrat from Minnesota 'could have phrased it a different way so that people would have less of a freak out.
'But can you not talk about the influence of money in DC?' she asked. 'I mean, there's a very obvious reason why for my entire life there's been a uni-party consensus vis-à-vis the Israeli government.'
She added that money is behind supporting Israel 'just like every other f***** interest in DC' and went on to praise Omar for 'calling out hypocrisy' in US foreign policy.
'It's actually kind of a real loss that she got kicked off that committee.'
Rogan later agreed, saying that 'whether you agree or not,' Omar shared 'a bold opinion.'
'And that opinion is not her own — there's many people that have that opinion and they should be represented.'
