Earlier this morning, the Bernie Sanders Campaign announced the endorsement of television and podcast personality Joe Rogan. In response, HRC President Alphonso David issued the following statement:

“Bernie Sanders has run a campaign unabashedly supportive of the rights of LGBTQ people. Rogan, however, has attacked transgender people, gay men, women, people of color and countless marginalized groups at every opportunity. For example, Rogan’s statements compared a Black community to the Planet of the Apes. Further, Rogan's vicious rhetoric has dehumanized transgender people by misgendering them and promoting misinformation. In 2019, 25 transgender and gender non-confirming people were killed because of the type of transphobia that Rogan stokes.

“We should always be willing to educate individuals who operate from a place of bias but we should not directly or indirectly validate or celebrate them.

“Given Rogan’s comments, it is disappointing that the Sanders campaign has accepted and promoted the endorsement. The Sanders campaign must reconsider this endorsement and the decision to publicize the views of someone who has consistently attacked and dehumanized marginalized people. ”