A podcast host, a billionaire, and a Kennedy ganged up on a renowned vaccine scientist, asking him to join a debate against anti-vaxxers. Then, trolls actually showed up outside the scientist’s home.
@EVYSTADIUM reports:
https://t.co/GFRgAkH1k6 pic.twitter.com/1RwndQfjOc- VICE News (@VICENews)
June 19, 2023 It started Saturday, after Peter Hotez tweeted a Vice article that was critical of an interview Joe Rogan did with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. on his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, in which Kennedy presented false claims about vaccines - including links to autism that most experts have discredited - which Hotez described as “nonsense.”
Rogan responded to Hotez’s criticism by inviting the vaccine scientist onto his podcast to debate Kennedy and pledging $100,000 to any charity of his choice if Hotez agreed.
Billionaire Bill Ackman then pledged an additional $150,000 if Hotez agreed to the debate, which led to other public figures and vaccine skeptics to make similar pledges, bringing the total charitable pledges up to around $600,000.
Hotez (who has previously appeared on Rogan’s show) agreed to go on Rogan’s podcast “to clear the air,” but in separate tweets Hotez said he wanted to discuss getting more people vaccines and vaccine misinformation - an offer that Rogan didn’t see as a response to his request for Hotez to debate Kennedy.
Hotez told his Twitter followers Sunday that the Houston resident “was stalked in front of my home by a couple of antivaxers taunting me to debate RFKJr” - less than 24 hours after the initial Twitter argument began.
Minutes later,
a Twitter troll posted a video that appeared to show himself and another person shouting questions at Hotez outside a home, asking why Hotez wasn’t going to debate Kennedy.
Mark Cuban defended Hotez, and
called out Elon Musk and Joe Rogan.
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