Summary

Former Ukrainian boxing champion Wladimir Klitschko accused podcaster Joe Rogan of “repeating Russian propaganda” after Rogan criticized U.S. military aid to Ukraine and suggested it could escalate into World War III.

Klitschko defended Ukraine’s resistance against Russia, highlighting the country’s fight for freedom and condemning Rogan’s remarks as aiding Putin’s agenda.

He invited Rogan to discuss their differences on the podcast “like free men.”

Rogan, who recently endorsed Donald Trump, called the war a “proxy war” and criticized Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russian soil with U.S.-supplied missiles.

  • blazeknave@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    Like my dad taught me, give bullies everything they want all the time so they don’t take stuff or hurt you.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    19 hours ago

    “I listen to your latest podcast,” said Klitschko, whose brother Vitali Klitschko was also a world champion boxer and is now mayor of Kyiv.

    “I’m sending you this video to let you know that I disagree. You talk about these American weapons being sent to Ukraine, which you believe will lead to the third world war. So let me tell you that you’re repeating Russian propaganda.”

    . . . Rogan said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was “100% wrong” but remarked of the Ukrainian president: “[Volodymyr] Zelenskyy says Putin is terrified. Fuck you, man. You fucking people are about to start world war three.”

    He added: “The whole thing is a proxy war … it is fucking insane.”

    Putin has long claimed US assistance for Ukraine is part of a proxy war aimed at weakening Russia.

    “Putin’s Russia is in trouble, so they want to scare you and people like you,” Klitschko said in his message to Rogan. “His war was supposed to last three days. It has lasted three years thanks to the heroism and sacrifice of us Ukrainians. So you’re using the only weapon that Putin really intends to use, propaganda, and this weapon really weakens our democracies.

    “Putin’s Russia wants to destroy Ukraine quietly. They want America to stay quiet. Not great, but quiet. A great America is not an America that abandons countries that defend freedom with their lives.

    “In short, you see, I have quite a few points of difference. If you invite me on your podcast, we could discuss them like free men.”

    Brilliant. But someone get him a fediverse account please. It’s crazy this is on Xitter.

    • Naz@sh.itjust.works
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      12 hours ago

      I have watched Klitschko in the ring at Madison Square Garden. He’s a modern day Heracles. Insane upper body strength.

  • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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    20 hours ago

    I have recently been trying to enlighten my Joe Rogan loving relative as to his (what I would consider, clear) political leanings and tendency to spew propaganda. “I’m just asking questions” is one of the most powerful propaganda tactics, since it can be used to relatively quickly normalize any topic.

    As one might expect, the conversations haven’t gone well. People who listen to Joe Rogan tend to think they are well informed by virtue of listening to Joe Rogan.

    I think collectively we need to start referring to him only as “the former host of Fear Factor” to really drive home exactly who it is these people are idolizing.

    • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      I watched a lot of early Rogan… And even though he was an idiot, there were so many wonderful conversations with interesting people.

      Then came the likes of Jocko Willink, and slowly you saw more right wing people creep into his orbit. The early Peterson was even fun to listen to and said some good stuff… but the conversation became more political, more right wing and in my opinion less interesting… Just regurgitation of right wing talking points. Once Rogan was in talks with Spotify… there was nothing interesting left. Rogan probably got info from Spotify on demographics, targeting, subjects that do best and decided a 100 million was enough to sell gis soul. Then by constantly being in the same room with the ghouls and smelling their farts… they managed to convince him the farts smelled nice.

      • ArtieShaw@fedia.io
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        18 hours ago

        I’ve said it before, but he was good in Fear Factor. I don’t like Rogan, but it’s like this man was born to convince aspiring actors and models to eat maggoty cheese or sort tarantulas with their mouths.

        “C’mon, man. I know you want that key!!! Get in there!!! Pick up those spiders. You’ve only got seven and you need at least nine to beat Brock. The clock is counting!!!”

  • MrSpArkle@lemmy.ca
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    18 hours ago

    Bless this guys heart, but after the Dibble affair it is clear there is no point debating insane positions in front of an insane audience.

  • MataVatnik@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    I now see Rogan as our generations Rush Limbaugh. He fell so far, I used to enjoy listening to his podcast and now he’s just a rich, bitter, insular propaganda mouthpiece.

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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      15 hours ago

      Yea he had some great guests and it was interesting, now it’s Alex jones and right wing shit wagons… it’s really fucked.

      But with these comments from him, he can go fuck his self. He’s repeating russian propaganda. Fuck him and fuck russia.

      Slava Ukraini

      • fluxion@lemmy.world
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        19 hours ago

        He went from supporting Bernie Sanders to being a fascist bootlicker of the most anti-worker administration ever.

        • krashmo@lemmy.world
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          18 hours ago

          I wouldn’t do what Rogan has done as a response but I don’t blame people for being disillusioned with the way Bernie was treated either. All the bad stuff people say about Trump is true but he wasn’t the one that did everything in his power to prevent a progressive with grassroots support from getting the nomination to run for president. That was all the DNC. They shouldn’t be surprised to see backlash to that kind of treatment. Obviously it would have been much better for everyone if that backlash had occurred when Republicans were running a relatively sane candidate but here we are.

          • Alex@lemmy.world
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            13 hours ago

            Yea Rogan and a good amount of Trump-supporters don’t care about his policies, he’s just a vessel for them to wreck the system so it can be built anew, without fptp-voting and with laws applied equally. Many of them expect a civil war because they’re revolutionaries but since that word is associated with the radical left they don’t actually use it, they just prep and vote for whatever nutjobs the current system enables to exist, in their minds bringing them closer to eating the rich and “fixing” the system, king or no king.

        • ArtieShaw@fedia.io
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          17 hours ago

          I’d say that he was fine in News Radio, but that was an incredibly one-note character. Seemed harmless compared to Andy Dick.

          My, how the turntables.

          I wonder what Russian propaganda or piles of cocaine Dave Foley is up to these days.

        • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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          19 hours ago

          Wasn’t that character supposed to be a one off, but they liked how dumb Rogan was so they made him part of the show?

    • atro_city@fedia.io
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      18 hours ago

      Crazy that he once had Bernie Sanders on his show and sat there agreeing with him on so many things. I think he also had Andrew Yang on it and nodded his head most of the way through it. I wonder what it was that made him turn to the dark side. For Musk, it was his child transitioning, but for Rogan? No idea…

      • bitchkat@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        It wasn’t just Elon’s daughter transitioning, Claire dating Chelsea Manning is something else the man child can’t handle.

      • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥@lemmy.world
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        13 hours ago

        I’ve never heard his show but isn’t a common critique of him is that he almost never pushes back or questions the guest? He wasn’t just agreeing with progressives, he was agreeing with everyone and that eventually turned progressives away from him.

        • atro_city@fedia.io
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          4 hours ago

          He did push back sometimes and he wasn’t always agreeing with people. Letting somebody speak isn’t the same as agreeing with them, but there are too many people who mistake one for the other.

          Joe was one of the few people who would let people actually voice their opinions - good or bad, in their nigh entirety. His show was one of the few where people like Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang could talk about their ideas in depth, without being constantly interrupted by some biased TV show host to try and get a sound bite or clip for the next headline.

          What was missing was Joe’s critical thinking. He let them say a lot and did ask questions, but he, in my opinion, lacks the mental acuity to be able to deeply analyse what came out of his guests. It was also a reason why some people went there. They knew Joe was going to ask questions, but he was high quite often and the questions weren’t going to be as pointed or sharp as say Sam Harris.

          And of course, Joe likes to talk about apes.

  • Carrolade@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    If Rogan accepts him on his show, I’ll actually gain a touch of respect for him.

    • takeda@lemmy.world
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      21 hours ago

      In my eyes it is the opposite.

      Klitschko is a heavy weight world champion, Rogan should be excited to have him.

      If he ignores it, it will be a clear signal that he isn’t independent as he claims to be, but also gets paid to spread Russian propaganda.

      I don’t see how one would reject such guest unless the goal is spreading disinformation.

      • NoiseColor @lemmy.world
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        20 hours ago

        He is not paid by the Russian propaganda. He is honest in his beliefs.

        He is a prime example of a person that is not a bad person per se, but just too dumb to understand the complexities and chaotic nature of the world. So they invent shortcuts in their brain, the same kind right wing demagogues are pushing. It is inevitable that he becomes a right wing propagandist.

        • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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          9 hours ago

          What makes you so sure he is not involved directly with Russian propaganda?

          He could be compromised which is something Russia is known for.

          Just because he has hundreds of millions doesn’t mean he doesn’t want billions either. This is a high stakes game like never before.

        • aStonedSanta@lemm.ee
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          19 hours ago

          I think this is my take also. I don’t think he’s purposely malicious or has any idea of the impact he has. I think he just shows up and does his job and smiles. 😆

          • Pips@lemmy.sdf.org
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            18 hours ago

            There is no world in which he doesn’t know his impact. He’s got a number one podcast in terms of listenership. He’s an idiot but there’s no way he’s that far gone.

  • nednobbins@lemm.ee
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    18 hours ago

    Why is “proxy war” in scare quotes?

    It’s just a war where at least one of the belligerents is supported by at least one third party. Is there anyone who doubts that the Ukraine war meets any part of that definition?

    • Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world
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      8 hours ago

      I don’t consider it a proxy war.

      Ukraine isn’t a US proxy nor is Russia anyone’s proxy.

      • nednobbins@lemm.ee
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        2 hours ago

        I’m not sure why people keep saying this.

        A proxy war has nothing to do with either side being “a proxy.” It only means that one of the sides is being supported by some nations that’s not part of the war. That’s very obviously the case here.

        • Hobbes_Dent@lemmy.world
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          1 hour ago

          In political science, a proxy war is an armed conflict where at least one of the belligerents is directed or supported by an external third-party power. In the term proxy war, a belligerent with external support is the proxy; both belligerents in a proxy war can be considered proxies if both are receiving foreign military aid from a third party country. Acting either as a nation-state government or as a conventional force, a proxy belligerent acts in behalf of a third-party state sponsor.[1]

          I imagine it’s the latter part of the above from Wikipedia and long-term use in Cold War language with that part stressed.

          The “in behalf” is what I believe is missing in the current example unless then Russia is also a proxy of China and North Korea.

      • nednobbins@lemm.ee
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        17 hours ago

        I get that people don’t want to associate Ukraine with the US’s horrible track record with proxy wars but the term is still just a dry political definition and the Ukraine war fits it perfectly.

        It would stop being a proxy war if the US (and everyone else) cut off funding or if they actually engaged in hostilities. As long as the US (or any nation) aids Russia or Ukraine without directly participating, it’s a proxy war because that’s how proxy wars are defined.

        • _cryptagion@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          17 hours ago

          Would Iran, North Korea, and the other countries sending arms to Russia need to cut their support for it to stop being a proxy war? Or do they get a free pass for being the underdogs?

  • masterofn001@lemmy.ca
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    19 hours ago

    I would ppv to see this guy smash rogan’s face.

    With facts and logic. And his fists.

  • urno@lemmy.world
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    20 hours ago

    I’m interested to see how JR responds. I heard the “Kamala was a chicken” line pre-election because she avoided him, for whatever reason. Now the tables have been turned! It’s a win-win for me because either I can sing out “Rogan is a chicken” or he actually has a discussion with Klitschko and many will have their positions challenged.

  • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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    21 hours ago

    I thought they meant Vitali, but I didn’t know his brother was a boxer too.