Comedian Jon Stewart defended Joe Rogan again Thursday by discussing his opposition to the Iraq War and how it was considered a promotion of misinformation at the time.
Stewart previously came to the defense of Rogan in early February. He defended the podcaster and comedian again during a conversation with Harvard professor Dr. Joan Donovan, writers Jay Jurden and Kris Acimovic in the latest episode of “The Problem With Jon Stewart.”
“First of all, I know Joe, so I think you always grant more understanding and nuance to people you know, because you know them as more three-dimensionally than what that appearance is, and we always demonize those who feel alien to us,” Stewart began. “I’m already guilty of a bias.”
Stewart then noted that Dr. Donovan had brought up weapons of mass destruction earlier in the conversation. He argued that in the lead up to the Iraq War, the New York Times was a “giant purveyor of misinformation and disinformation” on the presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
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As a vocal opponent to the Iraq War, Stewart claimed he could have easily been censored by his employers at the time. “In the Iraq War, I was on the side of what [the mainstream] would think is misinformation. I was promoting what they would think of as misinformation, but in time it turned out to be right years later, and the establishment media was wrong,” he said. (RELATED: Joe Rogan Says Campaign Against Him Is Just ‘A Political Hit Job’)
“Not only were [the New York Times and mainstream media] wrong in some respects, you could make the case that they enabled a war that killed hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people, and never paid a price for it, and never had accountability,” Stewart continued. He then compared the instances of the media’s misinformation on the Iraq War to their alleged hypocrisy in the current attacks on Rogan.
While media outlets and celebrities have piled on to attack Rogan, the CEO of Rumble has offered Rogan $100 million to host his episodes. Rogan recently declined the offer and said he would stick with Spotify.