Holocaust survivor accuses Joe Rogan of promoting antisemitism over Instagram video comparing vaccines to the Holocaust

A Holocaust survivor has accused podcaster Joe Rogan of promoting antisemitism after he uploaded a video to his Instagram where comparisons were made between COVID-19 vaccines and the Holocaust.

The video in question featured an audio excerpt from one of Mr Rogan’s podcasts in which he reportedly professes the importance of freedom in response to the idea of having to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination whilst various images are featured on screen, including footage from the Holocaust that shows Nazi officers, Adolf Hitler, white Star of David armbands and the Jewish ghettos in Europe.

Mr Rogan can be heard saying: “As soon as you give politicians power, any kind of power that didn’t exist previously, if they can figure out a way to force you into carrying something that lets you enter businesses or lets you do this or lets businesses open, historically, they are not gonna give that power up. They find new reasons to use it. We have to protect those freedoms at all cost, whether you agree with people’s choices or not, because it is the foundation that this country was founded on: freedom.”

“It is the literal structure that allows this country to be so f**king amazing…anything that comes along that can inhibit your freedom is, by definition, anti-American,” he adds.

The video is understood not to have been created by Mr Rogan but was uploaded to his Instagram account, and was posted with the caption: “FREEDOM. It’s the most important thing we have. It’s what makes this place special. It’s rare, and it’s fragile. Protect it at all costs.”

In response to this, 86-year-old Holocaust survivor Gideon Lev created two TikTok videos in which he criticised Mr Rogan for uploading and seemingly endorsing the video. In one of his videos, Mr Lev said: “I am an 86-year-old-survivor of the Holocaust and saw your video on American freedom and the COVID-19 vaccine. It included images of the Holocaust and of Adolf Hitler, the monster who murdered my father, 26 members of my family, and six million Jews and others in gas chambers, in ditches, in firing squads, and even in gas trucks.”

Mr Lev continues: “You are absolutely not promoting freedom, but promoting hate, antisemitism, and possibly even more violence and constant hate. You should apologise to us all, remove the video immediately. It is disgusting and thoughtless and careless and I am shocked by your lack of sensitivity. You want to speak about freedom? Come and speak to me.”

Anti-lockdown and anti-vaccination networks have become known as hotbeds of antisemitic conspiracy theories and tropes.

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