CNN | Bernie Sanders is facing a backlash from some Democrats after his campaign trumpeted an endorsement from comedian Joe Rogan, a popular podcast and YouTube talk show host with a history of making racist, homophobic and transphobic comments.
The Sanders campaign touted the endorsement in a tweet on Thursday afternoon, featuring a clip of Rogan's supportive remarks.
"I
think I'll probably vote for Bernie. Him as a human being, when I was
hanging out with him, I believe in him, I like him, I like him a lot,"
Rogan said on an earlier episode of his show.
"What
Bernie stands for is a guy -- look, you could dig up dirt on every
single human being that's ever existed if you catch them in their worst
moment and you magnify those moments and you cut out everything else and
you only display those worst moments. That said, you can't find very
many with Bernie. He's been insanely consistent his entire life. He's
basically been saying the same thing, been for the same thing his whole
life. And that in and of itself is a very powerful structure to operate
from."
Rogan,
a libertarian-leaning broadcaster with a public persona in the mold of
Howard Stern, is a divisive figure who has said the N-word on his show
and in 2013 questioned -- using offensive language -- whether a
transgender MMA fighter should be able to compete against other women.
"If
you want to be a woman in the bedroom and, you know, you want to play
house and all of that other sh-t and you feel like you have, your body
is really a woman's body trapped inside a man's frame and so you got a
operation, that's all good in the hood," Rogan said. "But you can't
fight chicks.".
The
decision to highlight Rogan's support has divided opinion among
Democrats and activists, particularly online, where it has sparked a
heated debate over whether Sanders should have aligned himself with
Rogan in any form or context.
Sanders'
strategic targeting of young, unaffiliated and working class voters
often takes him to places, and onto platforms -- like Twitch
-- that most Democratic candidates rarely venture. But that practice,
when it brings a figure like Rogan into the political spotlight, also
carries the risk of alienating parts of a liberal base that, especially
in the Trump era, has become increasingly cautious about the company it
keeps -- and what that signals to marginalized communities.
On Saturday, the progressive group MoveOn called on Sanders "to apologize and stop elevating this endorsement."
"It's one thing for Joe Rogan to endorse a candidate," MoveOn said in a tweet
from its official account. "It's another for @BernieSanders' campaign
to produce a video bolstering the endorsement of someone known for
promoting transphobia, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism and misogyny."
Let’s be clear: Transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time. There is no room for compromise when it comes to basic human rights.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 25, 2020
Less than an hour later, former Vice President Joe Biden appeared to enter the fray.
"Let's be clear: Transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time," Biden tweeted. "There is no room for compromise when it comes to basic human rights."
