Vaccine scientist Peter Hotez addresses the harassment he’s faced from some highly influential people.
On Sunday night, Hotez sat down with MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan and opened up about the tag-teaming he’s been receiving from Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“You know, the attacks from the anti-vaccine lobby do come in waves. And this time, though, it’s been one of the tougher ones. Because, as you pointed out, the physical stalking and the incessant threatening emails,” Hotez said.
He added, “And the stuff online is just total whack-a-doodle. And let’s face it, when you have RFK Jr. and Joe Rogan, and Elon Musk, all tag-teaming, those tres hombres at the same time. That probably includes just about every follower on Twitter. So, it’s pretty overwhelming.”
That same day, Hotez revealed that he has experienced harassment from certain anti-vaxxers at his residence.
“Ugh I just was stalked in front of my home by a couple of antivaxers taunting me to debate RFKJr,” Hotez wrote. “Of course I was looking my Sunday best in our brutal heat wave. What is it with people?”
Hotez faced extensive backlash and became the subject of widespread criticism following his tweet supporting a Vice article titled “Spotify Has Stopped Even Sort of Trying to Stem Joe Rogan’s Vaccine Misinformation.” The article discussed an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” featuring Robert F. Kennedy Jr., where he expounded on his conspiracy-driven views regarding vaccines.
Nevertheless, Hotez said he’s not interested in debating anyone on Rogan’s podcast.
“I offered to go on Joe Rogan but not to turn it into the Jerry Springer show with having RFK Jr. on,” Hotez said. “I’m not even certain I know how to ‘debate’ in this case. And then there is the particular problem of debating RFK Jr on this.”
