Vaccine Scientist Peter Hotez Responds to Joe Rogan’s Call to Debate RFK Jr.

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Dr. Peter Hotez in file photos. Lisa Lake/Getty Images for SiriusXM; AP Photo/John Mone

A vaccine scientist who was challenged by podcaster Joe Rogan to debate 2024 Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. responded to the demands and claimed that scientists “don’t typically do debates.”

“In science, we don’t typically do debates,” Dr. Peter Hotez said in an MSNBC interview over the past weekend, responding to Rogan’s request. “What we do is we write scientific papers … one doesn’t typically debate science. Maybe the one-off discussion of evolution versus creationism and that sort of thing, but that’s not what we do in science.”

And he went a step further, saying: “Anti-vaccine disinformation ... is now a lethal force in the United States. I offered to go on Joe Rogan but not to turn it into the Jerry Springer show with having RFK, Jr. on.”

Hotez also spoke with an individual, Alex Rosen, during an interaction that went viral, telling Rosen that it’s “harassment” when he asked him about the debate. While Hotez mostly remained silent, Rosen asked questions about whether he believes in “vaccine injuries.”

And on Sunday, Hotez told his Twitter followers that he “was stalked in front of my home by a couple of antivaxers taunting me to debate RFKJr,” coming about 24 hours after his initial posts were made.

Joe Rogan during UFC 274 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, on May 7, 2022. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The incident started when Hotez posted a Vice article that was published late last week that criticized Rogan and Kennedy, who has long been a critic of childhood vaccines. Rogan had spoken to Kennedy in a wide-ranging interview on his podcast in which the presidential candidate touched on vaccine injuries.

In response, Rogan called for Hotez to debate Kennedy on his podcast, offering him $100,000 to a charity of his choice. Hotez, a vaccine proponent who has been a frequent guest on MSNBC and CNN during the COVID-19 pandemic, responded by asking for Rogan and Spotify, which hosts his show, to donate $50 million to various causes before he deleted the Twitter post.

His initial response was, “Joe, you have my cell, my email, I’m always willing to speak with you.”

But Rogan wasn’t pleased. “This is a non answer. I challenged you publicly because you publicly quote tweeted and agreed with that [expletive] Vice article,” he wrote in response. “If you’re really serious about what you stand for, you now have a massive opportunity for a debate that will reach the largest audience a discussion like this has ever had. If you think someone else is better qualified, suggest that person.”

“Peter, if you claim what RFKjr is saying is ‘misinformation’ I am offering you $100,000.00 to the charity of your choice if you’re willing to debate him on my show with no time limit,” he added.

Billionaire Bill Ackman also pledged another $150,000 if Hotez agreed to the debate, leading other public figures to make similar pledges for the debate. Reports indicate that at least $2.6 million has been pledged for a public debate between Kennedy and Hotez.

“I am not part of the gang of three, but I strongly believe that an open long-form debate on vaccines with you and @RobertKennedyJr moderated by @joerogan would enable the public to better understand these issues,” Ackman, a well-known investor, wrote in a Twitter post on Saturday.

“If you are truly interested in saving lives, you need to further the public’s understanding of the truth about vaccines,” Ackman also wrote, adding: “This is a debate that you cannot walk away from. It will be watched by millions. I write from the perspective of three jabs and my fully vaccinated children.”

Hotez—a professor of pediatrics and virology at the Baylor College of Medicine—had frequently criticized what he described as misinformation surrounding COVID-19 vaccines and the virus over the past several years. He has also made numerous appearances on MSNBC, NBC News, CNN, and other major broadcasters.

Before the pandemic, in 2019, Hotez appeared on Rogan’s podcast in which Rogan questioned Hotez about why he likes to eat “junk food” and doesn’t take vitamin supplements, an interaction that has resurfaced amid the Twitter fracas.

Kennedy is one of two major Democratic primary challengers to President Joe Biden, and recent polls show that he is trailing the president by about 45 percentage points. Self-help author and 2020 candidate Marianne Williamson is polling at around 4 percent in a recent Harvard-Harris survey.

Over the years, Kennedy has drawn controversy for his claims about vaccines, including one saying that certain shots are linked to childhood autism. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website that there is no link between vaccines and autism.

Also in the Rogan interview, Kennedy told the podcast host that he is taking precautions to avoid being assassinated in light of the 1960s deaths of his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, and father, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy has long said that he believes the CIA was involved in the JFK assassination, although the U.S. government has maintained that shooter Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone.