Dr. Peter Hotez pushed back on Joe Rogan’s controversial debate challenge in which he found himself to MSNBC’s Medhi Hassan Sunday evening interview.
A massive Twitter blow-up developed after Hotez called out a recent interview Rogan had with noted anti-vax activist and challenger to President Joe Biden to be the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate. The Dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College objected to Rogan’s platforming Kennedy by linking to a Vice article that decried the interview as proof that Spotify is no longer applying the publishing rules on Rogan they did when they decided to start putting advisory labels on podcasts that discussed the coronavirus pandemic.
Rogan took offense at Hotez’s comments and challenged him to debate Kennedy, offering a $100,000 charitable donation. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman offered an additional $150,000, which became a whole thing on Twitter, especially as Elon Musk got involved after Hotez declined to get involved.