Aaron Rodgers used to be such a strong LGBTQ+ ally, with lustful fans speculating whether he was gay himself for years. The all-time great QB condemned homophobic chants and publicly supported an out gay former teammate. He even rose to the occasion and denounced a fan who made anti-Muslim remarks after religious extremists killed 129 people in an attack on Paris.
In a sea of football toxicity, Rodgers seemed to be enlightened. That’s why his dark turn is so startling.
The New York Jets QB is deep down the conspiratorial rabbit hole, spending the last couple of years ranting about Anthony Fauci and vaccines. Earlier this year, Rodgers caused a crisis at Disney, when he insinuated Jimmy Kimmel was on Jeffrey Epstein’s list while appearing on an ESPN program (Disney owns ESPN).
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But his latest comments might be his most outrageous, especially to his now-former LGBTQ+ fans. Appearing on a podcast called “Look Into It,” Rodgers floated a conspiracy theory about the AIDS epidemic. He says the virus was created by the U.S. government.
Though Rodgers made the comments in February, they were resurfaced this week on social media. His theory amounts to… Fauci created AIDS in the late ’80s to earn hundreds of millions, and something about… COVID?
The four-time MVP espoused the following nonsense:
The blueprint, the game plan, was made in the 80s. Create a pandemic with a virus that’s going wild. Only, Fauci was given over $350 million to research this, to come up with drugs, new or repurposed, to handle the AIDS pandemic. And all they came up with was AZT. Do even a smidge of research. I’m not an epidemiologist, I’m not a doctor, I’m not an immunologist, whatever the f—. I can read though. I can learn. I can look things up. Just like any normal person I can do my own research, which is so vilified, to even question authority. But that was the game plan back then. Create an environment where only one thing works. Back then AZT, now Remdesivir until we get a vaccine. We know Fauci has taken the Moderna vaccine and we know Pfizer is one of the most criminally corrupt ever, the fine they paid was the biggest in the history of the DOJ in 2009. What are we talking about? We’re going to put our full trust in science that can’t be questioned?
Like many conspiracy theorists, Rodgers’ premise falls apart when one looks at the facts. AZT was the first AIDS treatment developed in a long line of them, and is still used today, along with other antiretroviral drugs. While its approval was controversial, it was viewed as potentially life-saving at the time.
Also… What?! While LGBTQ+ activists originally criticized Fauci when he was head of the government’s AIDS response, he helped develop the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which has saved more than 20 million lives.
“Dr. Fauci walked through the fire with us, and his friendships with AIDS activists deepened with time, bound by a shared trauma,” a former member of ACT UP wrote in the New York Times.
We could rebut all of Rodgers’ points, but that would be futile. This election cycle, he’s aligned himself with fellow conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy Jr., one of the country’s foremost anti-vaxxers.
RFK’s craziness doesn’t stop at vaccines, either. He’s repeatedly spread the the unfounded idea that man-made chemicals in the environment could be making kids gay or transgender.
As an example, he cites atrazine, a chemical found in poppers.
“If you expose frogs to atrazine, male frogs, it changes their sex and they can actually bear young. They can lay eggs, fertile eggs,” he said in June 2022.
“And so the capacity for these chemicals that we are just raining down on our children right now to induce these very profound sexual changes in them is something we need to be thinking about as a society,” added the wealthy scion.
Kennedy offered a similar line on Canadian far-right pundit Jordan Peterson’s show.
“A lot of the problems we see in kids, and particularly boys, it’s probably underappreciated that how much of that is coming from chemical exposures, including a lot of the sexual dysphoria that we’re seeing,” he wrongly observed.
Much like RFK, Rodgers’ appetites for mistruths is vast. Apparently, he believes 9/11 was an inside job, and questions whether the Sandy Hook school shooting was real.
For a couple of weeks, Rodgers was floated as a possible VP candidate for RFK. Instead, he picked Nicole Shanahan, the very wealthy ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
That means Rodgers should spend his Sundays on the football field this season, and not on the campaign trail. But he will still be doing podcasts.
Now, allow us to roll our eyes… 🙄
abfab
MTG’s dream boy.
bachy
Gasp!… another creepy antivax “conspiracy” that only delusional hysterics know about. So glad to know we have someone to turn to for the science and the facts!
/s
Fahd
Quarterbacks are usually spared the rough part of the game, but maybe there’s some football-related
brain injury thing going on here. Wonder how many times he’s been in the concussion protocal.
With all the film and video of him, there’s at least one Netflix and HBO documentary (each) here tracking the progression of his descent into madness.
Unsettling!
Bosch
…it rains poppers?
still_onthemark
No, he thinks male frogs that use poppers turn into female frogs and start laying eggs. Or something.
SoloMcDaniel
Frogs have the ability to adapt to to their environment. Males can lay eggs if it’s necessary for the survival of the “brood”. That’s the whole basis for the dinosaurs being able to lay eggs in Jurassic Park.
abfab
Even Kermitt knows that! : )
ShaverC
Of course everyone is jumping up and down claiming he’s crazy for simply questioning something. He could be wrong or he could be right… but it should not be a crime to simply question a narrative. Remember how people were ridiculed when they questioned the COVID “animal market” origin story? Now we know it was leaked from a lab.
still_onthemark
It’s possible but we don’t “know” yet it came from a lab.
Donston
Evidence has shown that the exact opposite of “leaked from a lab” theory is likely. So, you’re just pulling stuff out of your behind and presenting as facts just like Aaron.
monty clift
This AIDS conspiracy theory isn’t new, though. People were saying some variation of this way back in the 80s, even in the gay community.
Mr Columbus is acting like he discovered all of this for the first time.
frapachino
@ Monty Clift exactly, the gay press in the 80s use to come down really hard on Fuaci for good reason he was not popular in the community at all. But today if one questions any narrative that is grounds for ridicule and condemnation. Truly amazing how things have changed. Imagine where we would be if societies NEVER questioned the status quo? Question everything!
abfab
A nice collection of republicans. You all sound so very over the top giddy with your new poster-child!
dmarcus
@Monty the conspiracy theory from the 80s within the gay community was that HIV/ AIDS was created by the gov to kill off gay men and to prevent ppl from becoming gay. Not from making profits. Republicans and conservatives such as Ronald Reagan did nothing to help and was glad gay ppl were dying which furthered that conspiracy. Of course AIDS is not gov created to kill of gay men because it affected straight ppl too. Theres still no clarity of where HIV/ AIDS came from but research has pointed to STI among chimpanzee & bushmeat. And at that time the gov and WHO did nothing to help dying gay men or to make profits like producing medicine to sell in masses. The CDC was trying to figure out this new illnesses which went through many stages & names.
dbmcvey
The gay press and AIDS activists in the ’80s came down on Fauci because he was in charge, but also, he did listen. He was capable of change. Larry Kramer always went after Fauci because doing so encouraged him to change the things that weren’t working.
It was no secret that Larry had a crush on Fauci. They talked to each other, Fauci took advice from Larry.
ShaverC
Donston, You are wrong. Fauci admitted to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic back in Jan 2024 that “… the “6 feet apart” social distancing recommendation promoted by federal health officials was likely not based on any data. “It just sort of appeared.””
And
“Dr. Fauci acknowledged that the lab-leak hypothesis is not a conspiracy theory.”
still_onthemark
@Shaver: Early in the pandemic there was a well-meaning, misguided media effort to quash the lab-leak theory as “racist” – which never made sense because if someone hates the evil rulers of the People’s Republic of China, that’s hardly the same thing as hating Chinese people in general. Lots of actual Chinese people hate the evil rulers of the PRC. Anyway, not Dr. Fauci’s fault (unless someone has a cite to the contrary).
ShaverC
still_onthemark, There is nothing well-meaning about the media knowingly lying to us. It wasn’t to squash racism against the Chinese people because they still made them the scapegoats by claiming it was through contaminations in animal markets, which really sounded stupid. I remember how they would have stories about different types of animals being in cages, stacked on top of another and they claimed COVID jumped from animal to animal and eventually to us, but completely ignored the biomedical engineering going on in the Wu Han lab down the street! That’s not “well-meaning”
Fauci is not a “doctor” anymore, he’s been a politician for decades and plays by their rules.
abfab
Warning! Shaver is spreading false information. Again.
Donston
It’s rather strange (and also telling) how almost all of his conspiracy theories involves vilifying a person who’s alive. It seems as if he has a strong desire to himself as a victim and desire to point a figure at a specific person for every issues. What’s really awful and dangerous is that he clearly does zero real research on any of these topics to support these theories. If he did even a drip-drop of research he’d know that the first cases of HIV were discovered quite a while before the late 80s. He’s literally just saying anything. His rant towards Jimmy Kimmel after Jimmy made fun of him showed that he will truly say anything about someone if he perceives them as an “enemy”.
The man is a cuckcoo bird. Never mind how he had a years long affair with his male assistant then dumped him when too many people started catching on. His queer traumas and insecurities at least something to do with how clearly embittered and paranoid and mentally damaged he’s become. CTE probably did the rest of the work. No wonder none of these chicks he keeps getting engaged to will marry him.
Kangol2
Now, now, Donston, the affair was an allegation based on cryptic messages posted by Kevin Lanflisi, a team trainer who allegedly was Rodgers’ roommate and friend. No relationship was confirmed. 😉
Donston
But we (or at least some) use our common sense and deductive skills. Besides, he gives very “I thought I was ‘gay’ and had a relationship with man but I experienced some degrees of fluidity and mental health struggles, and now I’m crazy and really dislike all y’all unabashed queers” stereotype the T.
Herman75
So is he all done with State Farm? LMFAO
Fahd
It’s more likely that State Farm is done with him. They have received a lot of complaints about him having been a spokesperson.
still_onthemark
He would be good at playing “Mayhem” on the Allstate commercials.
Mister P
Covid was not leaked from a lab and we know Rogers is full of it just like Shaves.
JOJO
It’s times like these that a character like Joe Dirt comes to mind. Not the brightest bulb…Probably only made it 1/2 way through 9th grade and may be on welfare. HOWEVER. He can do one thing the rest of us can do. VOTE. If he can do that, so can everyone else like him, and his numbers are many.
That being said. #Get.Him.On.Your.Side. Making fun of a guy or people, especially famous ones who have millions of followers, is a BAD IDEA! Making friends with a guy this popular is a GOOD IDEA! West Hollywood and Chelsea are only 2 small neighborhoods in a VERY large country.
abfab
Not the brightest bulb……………..careful there, JOJO.
JOJO
Party of 1 is a lonely number. No man is an island.
frapachino
The gay community was NOT on Faucis side back in the 80s because of his shady AIDS policies. And no I am not defending Rodgers.
abfab
Pointless.
dbmcvey
Fauci was not “shady” he was working within a system that needed to change and the AIDS activists of the era pushed him because he did change things. I was there, I was a member of ACT UP. Yes, we criticized Fauci and pushed him because he did change and changed things.
dbmcvey
Just as activists now push people who should be on their side because those are the people who will bring about change while the people who are dug in on their own side will not.
abfab
Bring back Tim Tebow!
abfab
”I’m not an epidemiologist, I’m not a doctor, I’m not an immunologist”. You don’t say.
still_onthemark
“But I play one on TV!”
abfab
DId someone consider him for VP?
dbmcvey
There seems to be this group of mostly men, mostly straight who think they are the smartest person in the room and it always seems to lead them to this weird thing where they pretend to be scientific and rational but actually dismiss science when it comes to medicine. Whether it’s Aaron Rodgers, Bill Maher, Dave Rubin or Joe Rogan. They always go down a dark path.
bachy
I’ve often felt that straight men experience fear in a manner that is different from other groups. An inability to acknowledge that you are afraid causes it to exhibit in curious, circuitous and very paranoid ways.
abfab
I’ve often felt straight men………..that’s hot.
dmarcus
Conspiracy theorists are cuckoo birds. Based only on hunches and made up rhetoric, not facts. It’s always use to vilify a person or group. Because if AIDS was made by the gov to make profits then cancer & heart disease should be at the top of the list. Heck even the common cold. The amount of money I spent on Tylenol and DayQuil each year for my family is a lot. CT and Republicans, stop targeting Dr Faucci and tricking gay men into thinking they are victims. You are making us into victims by always voting against us! Conspiracy Theorists are not a job, stop trying to be a podcast influencer. These are not real jobs nor does it benefits the US economy. Get out there and get a real job. Solve world hunger, solve the housing crisis, solve wages disparity, and stop making up stories. We are not in kindergarten, grow the f*ck up.
bachy
Great comment. Conspiracy theorists are people who are extremely frightened, and who are incapable of sitting for any length of time with the “unknown.” They are like children, viscerally desperate for explanations NOW, willing to do anything to assuage their fears even if their “solutions” are clearly misguided and fraudulent. They cannot patiently wait for science to come up with answers. Experimentation and testing, the rigor of science, is too slow. They demand immediate action, and the idea of being dependent on another person or system timetable is anathema.
abfab
Except if it’s Jesus.
Stefano
@bachy : You sum up their way of thinking pretty well. I’d also add that they have a lot of trouble accepting reality and that we humans can’t control everything.
JOJO
Let’s make it clear that Roger’s didn’t say anything homophobic. He didn’t. He didn’t say he hates gays. He didn’t say he hates anybody or anything remotely close. This doesn’t even rise to the dog whistle level. Relax.
abfab
crazeecran, your friend is back in the news:
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Israel aid amendment calls for “space lasers” at the border
The Georgia Republican believes a technology that doesn’t exist could help secure the U.S.-Mexico border
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is going off about Jewish “space lasers” again, but this time she’s suggesting they could be used against immigrants, making them a good thing.
dbmcvey
He said some pretty sketchy things on Joe Rogan. He’s going down the same path that so many of these guys do. He is saying we’re “going after the children.”
But then, he probably gets his info the same places you do.
jp47
Could we all agree that Rodgers “research” is when he puts on his aluminum foil hat and channels every crackpot conspiracy theory imaginable. Perhaps it’s not fair to brand every sports/entertainment figure as a soft headed nincompoop, but come on, no one should take any of their ramblings as sound advice.
JOJO
Why does any of this matter? Seriously! He’s on your side. Try hard to not turn a friend into an enemy.
dbmcvey
What do you mean by “your side?”
JOJO
Meaning he’s okay with the gays. He’s basically as the kids would say ‘an ally’. Considering the political climate today, we can’t do without those and articles like this really don’t help.
abfab
db………you had to ask………..
dbmcvey
He said some truly bizarre things on the Joe Rogan show about “us.”
dbmcvey
Also, are you not on our side?
abfab
Conspiracy is a term which gets slighted, Mr. Rodgers said. Conspiracy theories have been right about a lot of things in the last couple of years. Sure Jan.
Mister P
Why are my comments being moderated but not published. I do not think I am violating your policy.
abfab
You just can’t have nice things when there are right wingers around.
still_onthemark
It’s hard to figure out. But the new system doesn’t like overly long posts, or anything with more than ONE paragraph break. And certain words…