Former Democrat presidential candidate Andrew Yang (D) deleted a tweet over the weekend where he expressed the opinion that Joe Rogan — who has come under the wringer following an ongoing censorship battle with Spotify and the subsequent surfacing of a video compilation, showing him using the N-word on his podcast — is “not racist,” deeming his original defense of Rogan “wrong-headed” and hurtful.
The famed podcaster, who is facing censorship from Spotify after far-leftists accused him of spreading “misinformation” about the Chinese coronavirus on his podcast — namely, hosting Dr. Peter McCullough and Dr. Robert Malone — apologized over the weekend after the compilation surfaced.
“It’s a video that’s made of clips taken out of context of me of 12 years of conversations on my podcast, and it’s all smushed together, and it looks fucking horrible, even to me,” Rogan said of the clip posted by India Arie, who followed Neil Young’s lead, having her music pulled from Spotify.
“I know that to most people, there’s no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly, on a podcast, and I agree with that now,” Rogan continued, noting he has not said it “in years.”
“But for a long time, when I would bring that word up — like if it were to come up in a conversation — instead of saying ‘the N-word,’ I would just say the word. I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing,” he added.
Andrew Yang is among those who initially came to Rogan’s defense.
“I don’t think Joe Rogan is a racist – the man interacts with and works with black people literally all of the time,” Yang said in a Sunday tweet, adding, “Do I know black friends of Joe’s who would swear by him? Yes I do.”
Just past midnight on Monday, Yang explained why he ended up deleting the tweet.
“I like to believe the best of people – especially if I’ve met and spent time with that person. Sometimes it makes me miss something. I think we should have the capacity to forgive people – whether a podcaster or a mayor – if they mess up. Maybe it’s because I mess up too,” he began, stating that racism is “real, deep, corrosive and even lethal.”
“I know that. I made a mistake in an earlier tweet tonight that downplayed these realities,” he said, explaining he deleted the tweet because “it was wrong-headed.”
It also hurt people, which is never my intent. I’m sorry. I’m learning and appreciate those who reached out to express their feelings,” he said, ultimately promising to do more to create a “more fair, equitable, and just country,” partially by pushing for Universal Basic Income — a hallmark of his failed presidential campaign:
In his apology, Rogan reemphasized that he never used the N-word to be racist “because I ‘m not racist.”
“But whenever you’re in a situation where you have to say, ‘I’m not racist,’ you fucked up. And I clearly have fucked up,” Rogan added.
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