Kyle Kulinski Defends Joe Rogan After Backlash For Bernie Sanders Endorsement

After Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders highlighted Joe Rogan‘s likely endorsement for his presidency, the comedian and podcaster received a great degree of backlash for controversial comments he has made in the past. In response, progressive commentator Kyle Kulinski explained why he believes Rogan’s show can be a positive force.

The 31-year-old political commentator began by noting the many right-wing guests Rogan has spoken to, including Milo Yiannopoulos, Steven Crowder, and Alex Jones. He then highlighted the “same curiosity” led him to converse with progressive guests, including himself, Sanders, David Pakman, Jimmy Dore, Abby Martin, Cornel West, and Russell Brand.

Kulinski claimed that the people making an issue of Rogan’s comments are pretending like “talking sh*t isn’t a thing.”

“One of the reasons Rogan is popular is bc he has the same convos on air that he has off air!” he tweeted. “The establishment freaks have public & private faces.”

“They don’t see having no filter and talking sh*t as authentic, they see it as a breach of decorum & civility. This is why they have few fans and he’s #1. This freak out proves exactly why his endorsement actually matters and theirs is irrelevant.”

Kulinski also noted the irony of the fact that during the video of Rogan’s Sanders endorsement, he notes that anyone can be made to look bad by magnifying their “worst moments,” which appears to be the strategy used by those attacking Rogan’s character.

“I think I'll probably vote for 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.” -Joe Rogan pic.twitter.com/fuQP0KwGGI

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) January 23, 2020

Kulinski also noted that many of the people outraged about Rogan’s endorsement were supportive of Henry Kissinger’s support of Hillary Clinton. He was echoed by Omar Baddar, a Washington, D.C., political analyst and human rights advocate, who blasted Neera Tanden, who has worked with both Bill and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns.

Baddar accused Tanden of believing that “celebrating a war criminal” like Kissinger is “morally better” than Sanders spotlighting the endorsement from Rogan, whom he called a “podcaster who sometimes says bad things.”

Per The New Yorker, Kissinger has been accused of war crimes by many. Notably, the late Christopher Hitchens called for Kissinger’s prosecution in his book, The Trial of Henry Kissinger. Hitchens claimed Kissinger should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and offenses against common or customary or international law.

Writing for The Nation, Greg Grandin said that Clinton’s 2016 embrace of Kissinger — who he called a “unique monster” — was a sign that her presidency would not take on Donald Trump’s “fascism” but instead be “blood business as usual.”