Following an anti-police riot over the weekend in Atlanta in which property was set on fire or destroyed by a mob of participants linked to Antifa, Joe Rogan railed against CNN’s coverage of the events.
In a rant on his “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, the media personality took aim at journalism he believes wrongly portrayed violent riots as peaceful despite numerous instances of damaged property and fires. Calling out CNN, he said, “You’re not the propaganda department.”
“You’re willing to overlook some awful s— on your side, and you’re willing to exaggerate some s— on the other side,” he said, adding, “You’re not the propaganda department. You can’t define things in a way to calm people down. That’s not what your f—ing job is. You’re bulls—ing people. You’re acting as a propagandist. It’s not mostly peaceful when a car’s on fire.”
Rogan’s rant came during a conversation with former MTV host Adam Curry as the two delved into what they perceived as American media herding into a “team mentality” that pushes the country into tribalism over political ideologies. The pair also took aim at media outlets that support a “trust the science” sentiment promoted by the feds.
“It’s also this natural, territorial tribal instinct we have to claim land and ideas,” Fox News quoted Rogan as saying. “We claim ideas, and then we shove them down people’s throats. That’s what religion has always done. There’s a lot of people who are atheists that don’t think of themselves as being religious, but you are religious, you’re acting exactly that way, you just don’t believe in a deity.”
That’s what brought Rogan to what he perceived as the media’s – specifically CNN’s – downplaying “left-wing riots the country.”
Rogan saved the harshest criticism for CNN, noting the anti-police riots occurred in the Atlanta-headquartered cable giant’s “backyard.” The outspoken podcaster added, “You have to f—ing pretend that these people lighting churches on fire aren’t f—ing a–holes. These people lighting schools on fire, lighting courthouses on fire.”
