Joe Rogan Suggests the U.S. ‘Is an Authoritarian State’ Because of Its Treatment of Edward Snowden
Joe Rogan cited Edward Snowden’s exile to Russia as evidence the United States may be an “authoritarian state.”
He made the comment on an hours-long podcast with comedian Tom Segura last week that flew largely under the radar until Tuesday.
During a three-hour and eleven-minute episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the host concluded Snowden’s only crime was telling the American people they were being monitored by their government.
As a result, he is hiding out in one of the world’s largest surveillance states.
“Isn’t it ironic that Edward Snowden exposes the United States, exposes this, like, deep underlying surveillance system that is essentially monitoring everybody and violating all of our constitutional rights,” Rogan said. “He gets kicked out of the country and goes to Russia, and Russia takes him in. He’s happy over there. Fine in Russia.”
Segura noted the obvious: Russia was more than happy to take in someone such as Snowden, given the optics.
“That’s of course deliberate on their part,” Segura said, to which Rogan agreed.
“The way they treated him, the way they treat Julian Assange, you could absolutely make the argument that this is an authoritarian state,” Rogan concluded. “And he leaves here to a far worse one, and there, he’s protected.”
Snowden leaked thousands of documents wish showed the scope of government overreach in 2013 while he was working as a contractor for the National Security Agency.
Insider reported:
Snowden downloaded up to 1.5 million files, according to national intelligence officials, before jetting from Hawaii to Hong Kong to meet with journalists Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras. After he handed off his treasure trove of documents, he flew from Hong Kong and later became stranded in Moscow. His future was far from certain, as the journalists he trusted started revealing his secrets.
A court ruled in 2020 that a democratic surveillance program uncovered by Snowden was illegal.
He as remained in exile in Russia since leaving Hong Kong.
