You know that old saying about how even broken clocks are right twice a day?
Podcaster Joe Rogan may have made a career out of amplifying alt-right figures and conspiracy theorists, and may support virulently anti-LGBTQ far-right Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for President in 2024.
But he wants it known that overturning the right to same-sex marriage is where he draws the line.
In a recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," Rogan gave full-throated support for same-sex marriage rights and criticized the GOP's opposition, as well as their crusade against abortion rights. See his comments below.
Speaking with comedian Andrew Schulz, Rogan said:
“It’s not just abortion rights but now they’re going after gay marriage too, which is so strange to me."
Rogan then referenced Republican Florida Senator Marco Rubio's recent comments criticizing Congressional Democrats' efforts to codify same-sex marriage rights into law.
Democrats are attempting to protect same-sex marriage after the Supreme Court's recent overturn of Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which were based in interpretations of constitutional rights that also underpin the landmark Supreme Court rulings on same-sex relationships and marriage, Lawrence v. Texas and Obergefell v. Hodges.
In his concurring opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, the case that overturned Roe and Casey, Justice Clarence Thomas argued that Lawrence and Obergefell should be overturned on the same bases used to overturn Roe and Casey.
Rubio called the resulting efforts to codify same-sex marriage rights into law "a stupid waste of time."
Rogan pointedly disagreed.
"Gay marriage is not silly. It’s marriage — it’s marriage from people that are homosexual and it’s for them. It’s important. They want it. They want to affirm their love and their relationship."
Rogan went on to call the attacks on same-sex marriage an effort to divide the electorate and distract us from the GOP's attacks on freedom.
"They wanna divide us in the best way they can."
"And this is the best way for them to keep pulling off all the bullsh*t they’re doing behind the scenes is to get us to fight over things like gay marriage or get us to fight over things like abortion or it’s just like, why are you removing freedoms?..."
"The fact that they’re going after [same-sex marriage] now, like that’s the kind of sh*t that keeps me from being a Republican."
The comments were surprising given Rogan's support for DeSantis, who has used his tenure as Florida's governor to launch an all-out attack against LGBTQ people in the state, especially children, and has led a sustained campaign to smear LGBTQ people as pedophiles.
On Twitter, some people were grateful to Rogan for speaking out in support of LGBTQ rights like same-sex marriage.
But the inconsistencies in Rogan's stated political beliefs did not go unnoticed.
Regardless of the inconsistencies, Rogan was emphatic in the episode that he is not a Republican, telling those who accuse him of being one, "you can suck my d*ck," and calling himself "a bleeding heart liberal" on many issues.
