In a move that we’re frankly amazed hasn’t happened sooner, Donald Trump has weighed in on the Joe Rogan fiasco, and naturally, he’s encouraging Rogan to stick to his worst impulses and to stop apologizing. In an official statement from his PAC, Trump came to Rogan’s defense after the podcaster admitted and apologized for using the N-word several times on his podcast after Spotify pulled over 70 episodes (and counting) off its platform amidst the growing controversy around the content on Rogan’s show.
In the statement, Trump advises Rogan to stop apologizing, which has clearly been a winning strategy for the one-term president. Via Mediaite:
Joe Rogan is an interesting and popular guy, but he’s got to stop apologizing to the Fake News and Radical Left maniacs and lunatics. How many ways can you say you’re sorry? Joe, just go about what you do so well and don’t let them make you look weak and frightened. That’s not you and it never will be!
Going by Trump’s statement, it’s clear that Rogan has become a cause célèbre for the right who, to put it bluntly, really like that the podcaster says racist things and pushes COVID misinformation. After Rogan’s episodes were pulled, the right-wing video platform Rumble offered him a $100 million contract along with the promise of restoring the episodes pulled by Spotify. So far Rogan has not accepted the offer, and he appears to be sticking by the promises in both of his apology videos to do better.
Of course, after the first video, Rogan shared a debunked article about ivermectin just a few hours later, but he did delete it after being called out on the blunder. Baby steps.
(Via Mediaite)