Top proponent of COVID-Inc refuses to debate RFK Jr on vaccines after Joe Rogan offer
Recently, RFK Jr. went on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast to do what seems to be a favorite pastime of his, spew conspiracies. Among them? His belief that he may be taken out by US intelligence agencies, that vaccines cause autism, and that wifi causes cancer.
The interview made quite the splash given the outlandishness of some of the claims and the massive size of Rogan’s show, which continues to rake in 11 million listeners per episode. But one person took particular issue with RFK’s statements, Peter Hotez.
https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1670040001751445504
Have you heard of him? Probably not. Has your life been impacted by him over the past three years? Undoubtedly. Hotez is a scientist specializing in vaccine development, efficacy, and availability. Specifically, he developed one of the COVID vaccines that many Americans were forced by the government to take against their will.
https://twitter.com/RepThomasMassie/status/1671476315747147776
As you can see from Hotez’s initial tweet, he’s not only a proponent of vaccines, but also a proponent of censorship around the subject. His complaint is that Spotify isn’t doing enough to silence someone saying things he disagrees with.
In response to Hotez’s criticism, Joe Rogan offered him an opportunity to debate RFK Jr. on his platform, and even included a hefty sum of cash as enticement.
https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/1670196590928068609
This would seem to be an excellent opportunity for anyone who believes in the product they’re pushing to defend it against a conspiracy theorist and set the record straight on the data for Rogan’s 11 million listeners.
But interestingly enough, Hotez has profusely refused to engage in such a conversation.
https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/1670217682640072704
And it’s this stance that is currently dividing the internet. Those in Hotez’s camp say that Rogan’s audience is too dumb to take in such a debate and determine the truth.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1670869981288857618 https://twitter.com/ComicDaveSmith/status/1670990917518360579 https://twitter.com/HannahDCox/status/1671133962079465474 https://twitter.com/dannagal/status/1670250032849727488 https://twitter.com/HannahDCox/status/1670609628986482691
Woof. Where to begin.
Hotez and his camp, the ‘experts,’” scientists, healthcare workers, and bureaucrats have been colossally wrong about practically everything during the pandemic. From masks, to lockdowns, to school closures, to even yes, the vaccine’s efficacy. And yet they still maintain their feelings of superiority and a staunch belief that they are beyond reproach, debate, and open discourse with the plebs they so openly disdain.
But newsflash guys: You don’t have a lot of credibility left. You lost the battle. You can’t just censor opinions and statistics that push back on your preferred narrative, and no, Americans are not just going to blindly trust this community again.
https://twitter.com/HannahDCox/status/1671147037683863553
The jig is up, and you do once again have to actually participate in the marketplace of ideas if you want your agenda to succeed.
A heck of a lot more people listen to Joe Rogan and RFK Jr. than most of the scientific community combined. And given the outlandishness of some of RFK Jr’s claims, this shouldn’t be a particularly hard debate for someone with Hotez’s resume to win—if the facts are actually on his side.
And yet he continues to claim that he is above holding conversations on his subject of expertise simply because he dislikes his opponent.
https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1671574367971549185
It’s ironic how much Democrats run around whining about threats to democracy when they refuse to actually engage in the process at almost every turn. These are the same people who will tell you polarization is a top threat to democracy too, and yet won’t hold open conversations with their political opponents. Make it make sense.
https://twitter.com/HannahDCox/status/1671171286444171264
The fight over this debate has taken over Twitter, and a whole lot more than 11 million people are paying attention now. Hotez and co.’s refusal to engage is not making them look more credible, it’s making them look arrogant, elitist, and like they don’t actually have the facts on their side—which is ultimately going to give a lot more credence to the conspiracy theories they want people to turn away from.
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