Spotify’s Joe Rogan baselessly claims the Biden administration is limiting monoclonal antibodies because the treatment “discourages people from getting vaccinated”
Rogan also lied that the mRNA coronavirus vaccines are “not a vaccine. This is essentially a gene therapy.”
Written by Alex Paterson
Published
Spotify’s Joe Rogan has repeatedly spread the baseless claim that the Biden administration is trying to stop people from receiving monoclonal antibodies, a COVID-19 treatment, “because it discourages people from getting vaccinated.” He has also repeatedly lied that the mRNA coronavirus vaccines are “not a vaccine” but “essentially a gene therapy.”
As COVID-19 cases rose sharply at the end of August, the Biden administration ordered more monoclonal antibody treatments in September to ward off a potential shortage. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services took over the distribution of the treatment in order to stave off shortages and ensure states were allocated equitable amounts. On September 13, the agency announced the changes to the distribution process, stating, “The increased incidence of the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 has caused a substantial surge in the utilization of monoclonal antibody (mAb) drugs, particularly in areas of the country with low vaccination rates. HHS is committed to helping ensure consistent availability of these critical drugs for current and future patients in all geographic areas of the country.”
Nonetheless, Rogan distorted the facts around monoclonal antibodies to attack the Biden administration and spread medical misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines.
The Joe Rogan Experience is broadcast exclusively on Spotify and was the most popular podcast on the platform in 2020. As The Washington Post has noted, “With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, Rogan reaches nearly four times as many people as prime-time cable hosts such as Sean Hannity of Fox News Channel and Rachel Maddow of MSNBC.” Rogan has frequently used his platform to espouse COVID-19 misinformation.
Rogan has repeatedly lied that the federal government is trying to stop people from receiving monoclonal antibody treatments and that mRNA vaccines are “gene therapy”
During the November 8 edition of his show, Rogan baselessly asserted, “It’s not like there is a … supply problem with monoclonal antibodies. It’s the government actually trying to restrict people’s access to it.”
Citation From the November 8, 2021, edition of Spotify's The Joe Rogan Experience
JOE ROGAN (HOST): You know there has to be some influence by the pharmaceutical companies that are influencing this and trying to get people to get vaccinated even if they don't need it.
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ROGAN: Which is why you're not hearing about the monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies fix people up.
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ROGAN: They are trying to keep it from people. The government is trying to restrict it. They are trying to -- Ron Desantis was handing it out in Florida and the Biden administration tried to stop the amount of monoclonal antibodies that were coming to Florida. They are saying they were evenly distributing in the country. But what they are really doing is -- this is the guy who was looking for them. He was actively seeking them, and they were limiting the amount that he could get. It’s not like there is a -- like a supply problem with monoclonal antibodies. It’s the government actually trying to restrict people’s access to it. And I think it’s because if you do have access to it, even if you're unvaccinated, if you get monoclonal antibodies when you’re sick, you get better really quickly.
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ROGAN: Now we know for sure that even if you're vaccinated, you’re still spreading it. You’re still spreading it. You’re still getting it. It’s like once time has passed -- unless we are going to keep shooting people up with booster shots till the end of time, there’s going to come a time where we realize you got to revert back to what it used to be, letting people have autonomy about their own bodies and let them have their own personal choices about what to do and what not to do, because this is not a vaccine like the polio vaccine or the measles or something that actually stops you from ever getting it. This is different. This is a gene therapy.
Rogan also spread misinformation about monoclonal antibodies with right-wing pundit Ben Shapiro during the November 10 edition of his Spotify podcast. Shapiro attributed the government’s move to federalize the treatment’s supply chain as an effort “to punish Florida.” Rogan added, “It's not just trying to punish Florida, it’s trying to make it far more difficult to get this stuff because it discourages people from getting vaccinated.”
Rogan also lied that mRNA vaccines are actually “gene therapy,” a claim he had also made on the November 8 edition of his podcast. Before that, he had spread this false claim in August.
Citation From the November 10, 2021, edition of Spotify's The Joe Rogan Experience
BEN SHAPIRO (DAILY WIRE EDITOR EMERITUS): Monoclonal antibodies is the same thing, right. Desantis was saying monoclonal antibodies and then Biden said it. And then it was like oh monoclonal antibodies work, guys.
JOE ROGAN (HOST): Well they are restricting the use of it. They are trying to stop people from getting it.
SHAPIRO: Well they seized the -- they rejiggered the supply, right. It was being done at the state level and then they federalized the supply chain and they said OK now we are going to distribute it. And they said it’s not because we're trying to punish Florida, but it is a little because we’re trying to punish Florida.
ROGAN: It's not just trying to punish Florida, it’s trying to make it far more difficult to get this stuff because it discourages people from getting vaccinated.
SHAPIRO: Right.
ROGAN: It’s the same thing that we were just talking about. It’s one treatment option. This is it. The vaccine. This is one binary option. And that’s how people are looking at it. And they are not taking into consideration all these other points of data that show that obesity is a factor, that diet and exercise are a factor, that vitamin supplementation is a factor. There are a lot of factors that are involved in keeping your body healthy. But this is not -- it’s not conducive to this “brought to you by Pfizer.” It’s not conducive to that narrative. This fucking narrative is scary.
SHAPIRO: Yeah, it's the lack of willingness to expose information is totally crazy.
ROGAN: Yeah.
SHAPIRO: And again, this is coming from someone who is very pro-vaccine and thinks the vast majority of adults should get the vaccine.
ROGAN: Well I am very pro-vaccine. This is not a vaccine. This is essentially a gene therapy. They’ve changed the term what a vaccine means because of this.
During the September 23 edition of his podcast, Rogan also twisted the facts around the treatment, saying, “The thing is they don’t want to encourage anything that could potentially discourage vaccine or cause vaccine hesitancy.
Citation From the September 23, 2021, edition of Spotify's The Joe Rogan Experience
ROGAN: The thing is they don’t want to encourage anything that could potentially discourage vaccine or cause vaccine hesitancy. The mandate is get the vaccine into everybody. That’s what they want.