Ivermectin fan Joe Rogan thought an Australian comedy sketch was ‘propaganda’
<p dir="ltr">Former reality TV host and podcaster Joe Rogan shared a video on his Instagram on Monday night, writing, “Not only has Australia had the worst reaction to the pandemic with dystopian, police-state measures that are truly inconceivable to the rest of the civilized world, but they also have the absolute dumbest propaganda.”</p>
<blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVvyYXzgrD2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
<div style="padding: 16px;">
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CVvyYXzgrD2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by Joe Rogan (@joerogan)</a></p>
</div>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr">The biggest problem with his caption was that the video was from the satirical ABC show<span> </span><em>Gruen,<span> </span></em>and Rogan had just made the embarrassing mistake of being unable to distinguish between satire and reality.</p>
<p dir="ltr">An easy mistake to make for someone who can’t differentiate between human medicine and horse medicine; after contracting COVID-19, Rogan<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.npr.org/2021/09/01/1033485152/joe-rogan-covid-ivermectin" target="_blank">made sure his fans knew</a><span> </span>that he had included Ivermectin as part of his treatment, despite the FDA confirming it to be ineffective against COVID-19.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This isn't Rogan's first time expressing concern about the plight of innocent Australians who are living in a police state and being force fed dumb propaganda; he<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ladbible.com/news/latest-joe-rogans-interview-with-yeonmi-park-is-being-called-his-best-ever-20210805" target="_blank">told North Korean defector Yeonmi Park that</a>, “There’s some crazy s*** going on right now where the army is trying to keep people inside in Australia."</p>
<p dir="ltr">He continued, "They have full-on government lockdowns where the government is flying helicopters over the streets (and telling people) ‘go back indoors, you’re not allowed to be outside’, which is crazy.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The<span> </span><em>Gruen<span> </span></em>video features a man falling to the floor while having an allergic reaction, and a woman crouched over him, reassuring him while getting ready to use an EpiPen on him. He stops her and asks, “Wait, what brand EpiPen is that?”, “What’s in it?”, “Medicine? How long was it researched for?”, “What are the stats from Europe?”, and, most importantly, and why Rogan posted the video, the man wheezes as his throat is closing up, “What does Joe Rogan say?” before grabbing her by the shoulders, croaking out “Call Joe”, and dying.</p>
<p dir="ltr">To an even slightly informed viewer, it’s an obvious send-up of anti-vaxxers who get their information from increasingly dubious sources like relatives on Facebook, Joe Rogan and other podcasters with no medical or scientific qualifications or expertise, or dodgy websites based in Eastern Europe. To Joe Rogan, it was another example of how the tyrannical Australian government was fighting back against COVID-19, apparently.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A lot of his supporters seemed to also believe the sketch was genuine, with one commenting, “Australia is fine as long as you don’t watch the free TV”, and another, Australian jiujitsu black belt holder Kit Dale, commenting, “Australia has become weak”. Others pointed out that Rogan, who self-identifies as a comedian, should be able to take jokes about him since he’s more than happy to make jokes at the expense of others.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rogan eventually edited the caption to add, “apparently this is not a real ad. It’s from a satirical show.” Yeah Joe, we know. Thirty seconds of doing your own research would have told you that from the beginning.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The video's creators continue to have a good sense of humour, with Paper Moose CEO Nick Hunter<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/joe-rogan-calls-gruen-transfer-covid-19-vaccine-satire-advertisement-australian-propaganda/ac0c5bb5-45fa-404f-9715-e56fdac74088" target="_blank">telling 9News.com.au</a>, "Gruen is a satirical show. The point of the video was to talk about some of the issues anti-vaxxers have and put it in a humorous context to show the ridiculousness of what is out there."</p>
<p dir="ltr">"Its literally a demonstration of the problem we are trying to solve in the world today, so it was kind of hilarious that Joe Rogan reacted the way he did."</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Michael S. Schwartz/Getty Images</em></p>
