Podcast host Joe Rogan grilled CNN medical expert Sanjay Gupta during an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” this week over whether he thought it was a problem that CNN falsely claimed that Rogan took horse dewormer to combat COVID-19.
Gupta acknowledged that the false claim “bothered” Rogan, to which Rogan responded, “It should bother you too. They’re lying at your network about people taking human drugs vs drugs for veterinary–”
“Calling it a horse dewormer is not a flattering thing,” Gupta responded. “I get that.”
“It’s a lie. It’s a lie on a news network,” Rogan responded. “And it’s a lie, that’s a willing, that’s that’s a lie that they’re conscious of, this is not a mistake.”
“Yeah,” Gupta acknowledged.
Some of Rogan’s other top lines on the matter from the interview included:
- “Why would you say that when you’re talking about a drug that’s been given out to billions and billions of people. A drug that was responsible for one of the inventors of it making, winning the Nobel Prize in 2015. A drug that has been shown to stop viral replication in vitro. You know that, right? Why would they lie and say that’s horse dewormer? I can afford people medicine, motherf***er. This is ridiculous. It’s just a lie. But don’t you think that a lie like that is dangerous on a news network when you know that they know they’re lying. You know that they know that I took medicine–“
- “Do you think that’s a problem, that your news network lies?”
- “But my point is, you’re working for a news organization. If they’re lying about a comedian, taking horse medication, what are they telling us about Russia? What are they telling us about Syria? Do you understand that that’s why people get concerned about the veracity of the news?”
WATCH:
TRANSCRIPT:
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL REPORTER: So for you, Joe Rogan.
JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: Yes.
GUPTA: I would say you’ve had it.
ROGAN: Yes.
GUPTA: So now get one shot of the vaccine.
ROGAN: No.
GUPTA: Why not?
ROGAN: Because I have better immunity than I would if I was vaccinated, right?
GUPTA: So, yes.
ROGAN: Right? Don’t I?
GUPTA: Yes. I think your immunity is really good.
ROGAN: So why if I’ve already gotten through COVID, and I was really only sick for a day, and then five days later, I was negative, and I do have the natural antibodies now, why would I take a chance and getting vaccinated on top of that?
GUPTA: By the way, I’m glad you’re better.
ROGAN: Thank you.
GUPTA: I’m glad it only lasted a day.
ROGAN: You’re probably the only one at CNN that’s glad. … The rest of them are all lying about me taking horse medication. We should talk about that.
GUPTA: That bothered you.
ROGAN: It should bother you too. They’re lying at your network about people taking human drugs vs drugs for veterinary–
GUPTA: Calling it a horse dewormer is not a flattering thing. I get that.
ROGAN: It’s a lie. It’s a lie on a news network. And it’s a lie, that’s a willing, that’s that’s a lie that they’re conscious of, this is not a mistake.
GUPTA: Yeah.
ROGAN: They’re unfavorably framing it as veterinary medicine.
GUPTA: Well, the FDA put this thing out, you saw that? Did you see that thing that the FDA put out?
ROGAN: What did the FDA put out?
GUPTA: It was a tweet and it was snarky. I admit it. They said you are not a horse. You are not a cow. Stop taking this stuff or something like that.
ROGAN: Why would you say that when you’re talking about a drug that’s been given out to billions and billions of people. A drug that was responsible for one of the inventors of it making, winning the Nobel Prize in 2015. A drug that has been shown to stop viral replication in vitro. You know that, right? Why would they lie and say that’s horse dewormer? I can afford people medicine, motherf***er. This is ridiculous. It’s just a lie. But don’t you think that a lie like that is dangerous on a news network when you know that they know they’re lying. You know that they know that I took medicine–
GUPTA: The thing is, we’re like going so fast, like I feel like I’m missing–
ROGAN: Do you think that’s a problem, that your news network lies?
GUPTA: Well, I don’t–
ROGAN: Dude–
GUPTA: What did they say–
ROGAN: They lied and said I was taking horse dewormer. First of all, it was prescribed to me by a doctor along with a bunch of other medications.
GUPTA: If you got a human pill, because there were people taking it, the veterinary medication, and you’re not, obviously, you got it from a doctor. So that shouldn’t be called that. Ivermectin can be a very effective medication for parasitic disease and as you say, it’s probably, you know, a quarter billion people have taken it around the world. I get that.
ROGAN: More, way more. Billions of people have taken it.
GUPTA: Can I just come back to the one, and I want to talk about, two things–
ROGAN: No, no, no. You have, before we get to that, does it bother you that the news network you work for out and out lied? Just outright lied about me taking horse dewormer.
GUPTA: They shouldn’t have said that.
ROGAN: Why did they do that?
GUPTA: I don’t know.
ROGAN: You didn’t ask? You’re the medical guy over there.
GUPTA: I didn’t ask. I should’ve asked before [inaudible]–
ROGAN: But they did it with such glee–
GUPTA: No, no.
ROGAN: Yes they did. I watched.
GUPTA: You watched?
ROGAN: I watched.
GUPTA: You watched.
ROGAN: Yes they did.
…
[PLAYS VIDEO OF CNN HOST ACCUSING ROGAN OF TAKING IVERMECTIN]
…
ROGAN: Well, it was more Brian Stelter who’s the gleeful one. But the point is, that’s a lie.
GUPTA: It can be used for humans, I get it.
ROGAN: Not just could be used for humans. Is often used for humans along with all the other drugs I took, all human drugs. They know it’s a human drug. And they lied. It’s defamatory.
GUPTA: It is a, they shouldn’t have done that.
ROGAN: It’s defamatory, right?
GUPTA: Well, I don’t know if it’s defamatory.
ROGAN: I bet it is.
GUPTA: I’m not a lawyer. I’m not a lawyer.
ROGAN: It’s a lie.
GUPTA: Well, see, here’s the thing, we can have nuanced discussions about this.
ROGAN: No you can’t.
GUPTA: Yeah you can.
ROGAN: You can’t have nuanced discussions about lying about someone taking horse dewormer.
…
ROGAN: But my point is, you’re working for a news organization. If they’re lying about a comedian, taking horse medication, what are they telling us about Russia? What are they telling us about Syria? Do you understand that that’s why people get concerned about the veracity of the news?