"Joe Rogan, the comedian turned massively influential podcaster who endorsed Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in the last two elections, offered some thoughts on the Jimmy Kimmel controversy on Tuesday. He turned on conservatives, with whom he has a large following, calling them "crazy" to celebrate Kimmel's suspension over comments related to Charlie Kirk. But he also called for the country to come together in a "community" and advocated for some traditionally left-wing solutions, namely, a "strong social safety net.""
"In his September 15 monologue, Kimmel criticized Trump supporters' response to Kirk's death, saying "The MAGA gang is desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and they are doing everything they can to score political points from it." Kimmel returned to the airwaves on Tuesday night in roughly 75% of ABC stations, with major affiliates Nexstar and Sinclair refusing to broadcast the program."
"Rogan was unequivocal in his defense of Kimmel's right to speak freely, while acknowledging that Kimmel's remarks characterizing the shooter as a MAGA supporter were "factually inaccurate." Rogan then cast doubt on the official "narrative" of the Kirk shooting. (For years, Rogan has received criticism for the conspiratorial tone of his super-popular podcast.) "I definitely don't think that the government should be involved ever in dictating what a comedian can or cannot say in a monologue," Rogan"
A prominent podcaster defended a late-night host's right to free speech while criticizing conservative supporters for celebrating the host's suspension. The podcaster acknowledged factual inaccuracies in the host's characterizations of a shooter and expressed skepticism about the official narrative of the shooting. The podcaster urged national unity, called for a sense of community, and advocated for traditionally left-leaning policy responses including a strong social safety net to address unprecedented societal disruption. The late-night host resumed broadcasting on many ABC affiliates while some major stations declined to air the program.
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