Joe Rogan has been slammed for saying on the latest episode of his popular podcast that Jewish people are “into money,” during a discussion on the U.S. House’s move last week to remove Rep. Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee.
“It’s crazy,” said Rogan. “Did you see him sitting next to Ilhan Omar, where she’s apologizing for talking about ‘it’s all about the Benjamins’? Which is just about money. She’s talking about money. That’s not an antisemitic comment, I don’t think that is. Benjamins are money. The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That’s like saying Italians aren’t into pizza. It’s f****** stupid,” he added.
He was referring to a 2019 tweet by Omar in which she wrote that pro-Israel votes in Congress were “all about the Benjamins.” Republicans cited the tweet, one in a series of antisemitic remarks made by Omar, as one of the reasons for booting her off the committee.
Omar has also accused Israel of having “hypnotized the world,” and Jews of buying control of Congress. She called Israel an “apartheid state” and likened it to the terrorist groups Taliban and Hamas.
“Whether you agree with her or not, she has a bold opinion, and that opinion is not her own. There’s many people that have that opinion, and they should be represented,” Rogan said of the Minnesota Democrat.
“Joe Rogan is once again spewing antisemitic misinformation to his millions of followers, this time irresponsibly spreading an age-old trope about Jews and money, and then minimizing it by comparing it to Italians and pizza. Last time we checked, Italians weren’t the victims of genocide for their love of pizza,” said Liora Rez, executive director of StopAntisemitism.
Notably, Rogan’s guest, Krystal Ball, defended Omar, stating that the congresswoman should not have apologized for the Benjamins comment. Ball then implied that Israel was untouchable because of Jewish money influencing Washington, D.C.
“Joe Rogan can no longer be protected by free speech when his horrific rhetoric will ultimately lead to further violence against Jews. StopAntisemitism is calling on Joe Rogan and Krystal Ball to apologize for their remarks and for Spotify and The Joe Rogan Experience to invite guests on to have a conversation about antisemitism and how comments like his and his guests are not just controversial, but dangerous for the Jewish people,” added Raz.
Rogan’s show has an estimated 11 million listeners per episode and is the most popular podcast on Spotify’s platform.
