Joe Rogan Blasts Media for Acting as ‘Propaganda Department’ Covering Police Protests as Atlanta Declares State of Emergency
Joe Rogan accused some in the media of acting as a “propaganda department” in their coverage of police protests, the latest occurring in Atlanta where Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) declared a state of emergency ahead of more expected demonstrations.
Kemp activated one thousand National Guard troops after last weekend’s violence, which stemmed from a shooting that left a man dead and a state trooper wounded.
CBS reported:
The state of emergency is in effect until Feb. 9, according to the document, unless renewed by the governor.
The Atlanta protests center around the building of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, nicknamed “Cop City.” Protestors have been at the site for months, but on Jan. 18, a protestor identified as Manuel Esteban Paez Teran was shot and killed by law enforcement after authorities said he shot and wounded a Georgia state trooper during a planned multi-agency operation to remove protestors from the area. The trooper was hospitalized and survived.
On his podcast this week, Rogan accused some in the media of downplaying the violence of the protests, claiming it was happening “again” after coverage of widespread 2020 police protests, some of which turned violent.
Rogan was discussing tribalism in media and modern politics with Adam Curry when he cited coverage of police protests as an example of media bias. Rogan mentioned the Atlanta protests as the latest example, but he cited the infamous “mostly peaceful” line from a CNN reporter standing in front of a large fire that has been memed endlessly.
“You have to fucking pretend that these people lighting churches on fire aren’t fucking assholes. These people lighting schools on fire, lighting courthouses on fire,” Rogan said, his comments getting play by Fox News and others in reports on the Atlanta protests.
He claimed he saw people once again defending violence while covering the Atlanta protests, but CNN did refer to the demonstrations as violent in their coverage.
“‘Mostly peaceful! Oh, it’s mostly peaceful.’ I fucking saw someone again say this because of what happened in Atlanta — they were calling it mostly peaceful.” It is not clear what specific channel or reporter Rogan claimed he saw say this.
Rogan compared the tribalism in today’s culture to rigid religious beliefs and called out the media as a whole for framing stories to meet a certain goal.
“You’re not the fucking propaganda department, you can’t define things in a way to calm people down,” he said. “That’s not what your fucking job is. You’re bullshitting people, you’re acting as a propagandist. It’s not ‘mostly peaceful’ when a car is on fire.”
Watch above via Fox News.
