Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, defended podcast host Joe Rogan against claims he has spread misinformation about COVID-19.
Rogan has come under intense scrutiny by the left after musicians Neil Young and Joni Mitchell pulled their music from Spotify in protest for the company’s contract with the podcaster and refusal to take down videos that allegedly contained COVID-19 misinformation.
"I get the feeling some people are using @joerogan's COVID interview as a pretext to silence his voice because he's not woke," Gabbard tweeted early Tuesday morning.
"Zealots of wokeism try to censor voices who don't agree with theirs, because they fear the absurdity and weakness of their positions will be exposed."
Gabbard, who campaigned for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, appears at odds with the progressives who have seized control of the party.
On Monday, Gabbard blasted President Joe Biden for playing "identity politics" that are "destroying our country."
She criticized Biden for the reason he chose Vice President Kamala Harris to join him on the national ticket, and for pledging to nominate a Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"Biden chose Harris as his VP because of the color of her skin and sex — not qualification. She's been a disaster," Gabbard tweeted. "Now he promises to choose Supreme Court nominee on the same criteria. Identity politics is destroying our country."
Gabbard previously attacked Biden for his response in dealing with COVID-19.
"Biden should stop undermining the health of the American people by interfering with our access to proven therapeutics, like monoclonals — and stop your cruel joke of telling us we can take the highly effective therapeutic Paxlovid when you know it isn’t really available," she tweeted Wednesday.
Rogan issued a bit of an apology Monday, and also explained his COVID-19 interviews included Peter McCullough, a leading cardiologist, and virologist Robert Malone, a pioneer of the mRNA technology used to develop COVID-19 vaccines.
"If I pissed you off, I'm sorry," Rogan said. "I will do my best to try to balance out these more controversial viewpoints with other people's perspectives so we can maybe find a better point of view."
According to an Echelon Insights poll released Monday, Rogan has a greater net approval rating among voters than Biden.
Rogan's podcast is exclusive on Spotify and wildly popular, finishing No. 1 on the platform for 2021.
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