President Joe Biden‘s White House is pushing back against podcaster Joe Rogan‘s recent comments on vaccines.
Per Yahoo News, Rogan suggested on Tuesday that young and healthy individuals should not get vaccinated.
“If you’re a healthy person, and you’re exercising all the time, and you’re young, and you’re eating well, like, I don’t think you need to worry about this.”
In response to Rogans’ comments, some Biden officials have spoken out against the remarks, which they suggested he is not qualified to make.
Anthony Fauci Criticized Rogan’s Remarks
Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, took aim at Rogan‘s comments, which did not address the reported increase in hospitalizations of young people with coronavirus.
“So you have to put a little bit of societal responsibility in your choices, and that’s why I disagree with Mr. Rogan under that circumstance,” he said during a CNN interview on Wednesday.
According to Birmingham Live, the India coronavirus variant appears to pose a particular risk to young people.
Biden’s Communications Director Slammed Rogan
During another CNN interview before Fauci, Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s communications director, also took issue with Rogan’s comments.
“I guess my first question would be, ‘Did Joe Rogan become a medical doctor while we weren’t looking?'”
Bedingfield suggested that taking medical and scientific advice from Rogan is not a “productive” means of obtaining their information.
Despite pushback from his administration, Biden himself has yet to comment on Rogan’s remarks.
According to a Media Monitors survey, Rogan’s audience skews male, and the average age of his viewers is 24.
Spotify Stands Behind Rogan
Spotify, which exclusively hosts his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, continues to stand behind Rogan amid the backlash for his remarks.
According to CNN, Daniel Ek, the platform’s CEO, suggested the comments were not a violation of its content policy.
“We have a content policy and we do remove pieces that violate it.”
Elk also underlined that there are 8 million creators on the platform and noted that they produce hundreds of millions of pieces of content.
According to a previous Spotify earnings report, Rogan has been a boon for the company in terms of its ad-supported business and adding new users and engagement.
Bill Burr Previously Pushed Back On Rogan’s Coronavirus Comments
Comedian Bill Burr, who is a close friend of Rogan’s, previously pushed back on the podcaster’s remarks on wearing masks to prevent coronavirus, Newsweek reported.
“I’m not going to sit here with no medical degree, listening to you with no medical degree, with an American flag behind you, smoking a cigar, acting like we know what’s up better than the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],” he said.
Burr’s comments came after Rogan appeared to oppose the idea of Americans wearing masks outside.
