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Joe Rogan’s declaration over the weekend that he plans to vote for Republican Party candidates because of Democrats’ “errors” in their management of the COVID pandemic has ignited calls to boycott his streaming home, Spotify.
The host of the popular “Joe Rogan Experience” told his guest, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, on Saturday that he and others should “vote Republican.”
The two men agreed that Democratic governors and state legislatures imposed mitigation measures and lockdowns that were deemed by some to be heavy-handed, such as closures of businesses, restaurants, and schools.
Rogan and Rodgers also mentioned California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s outing at a restaurant where he sat unmasked in close proximity to other diners while his state banned indoor dining.
“I hope there’s lessons learned in this because this is a new thing,” Rogan said.
“We had never had this before. No one that was alive today had ever experienced a true pandemic and I’m hoping that now that this is over, people are going to recognize that some serious errors were made and not repeat those.”
“As far as compensation for all of those people that were forced to close their businesses and keep their doors shuttered and lost everything they had worked for decades to build — no, they’re just going to be angry.”
A group called “Occupy Democrats” tweeted in response that Rogan was “ignorantly urg[ing] Americans” to back the GOP “as a form of supposed payback for businesses closing down due to the pandemic — dangerous rhetoric as the GOP embraces full fascism.”
“If you support a boycott of Spotify until they drop Joe Rogan’s podcast…please retweet and follow us!” the group wrote. As of Wednesday morning, the tweet generated nearly 4,000 retweets and over 7,900 reactions.
Rogan, who signed an exclusive licensing deal with Spotify in 2020 for a reported $200 million, is no stranger to controversy.
Critics have accused the stand-up comedian, who commands an audience of some 11 million listeners, of giving a wide platform to vaccine skeptics and others who have questioned coronavirus lockdown measures.
Grunge rock legend Neil Young pulled his songs from Spotify in protest of Rogan’s presence on the streaming service — as have other artists including Ava DuVernay, Joni Mitchell, Nils Lofgren, India Arie, Graham Nash, David Crosby and Stephen Stills.
Rogan has also come under fire for interviews with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
Nonetheless, Spotify management has resisted calls to terminate its arrangement the popular podcaster.
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