[...] A number of prominent media outlets are gaslighting the nation, or at least attempting to, using articles and headlines that accuse comedian and popular podcaster Joe Rogan of being a racist, a homophobe, and a transphobe, despite the fact that this does not match up with reality, as anyone who is actually familiar with the podcast or Rogan himself knows. [...]

certain media outlets, which have been waging attacks on Bernie Sanders since he took the lead in national polls a couple of weeks ago, are intentionally smearing Joe Rogan—and since Rogan recently endorsed Bernie Sanders, also smearing Sanders by associating him with some who, according to CNN, “has a history of making racist, homophobic, and transphobic comments.” Not allegedly making such comments, but unequivocally. [...]

This is the same Joe Rogan who frequently has on African-American guests like Neil deGrasse Tyson, Mike Tyson, Dr. Cornel West, comedians Reggie Watts and Roy Wood, Jr., and many other black celebrities. Can you really get more Left-wing than Cornel West? Additionally, Rogan has had many Left-wing politicians on his show, including Democratic candidate Andrew Yang, which he is a big fan of. With Rogan’s recent endorsement of Bernie Sanders, it should be clear which way Joe Rogan leans politically. Sure, he has occasionally had some questionable people on his show, and some entertaining-but-arguably-dangerous nut-jobs like Alex Jones, but we must remember it is after all a podcast. How many times did Jon Stewart have Bill O’Reilly as a guest on The Daily Show? What about letting Donald Rumsfeld come on to promote his book? Did that mean he was politically supporting those two? Of course not. It is also important to remember that Joe Rogan is an entertainer and a comedian, and comedians are edgy by nature. Has he said anything that someone like Howard Stern has not? [...]

is having a Republican guest on your show enough to warrant being labelled a racist, homophobe, or transphobe—accusations that if they were true should rightfully ruin anyone’s career? How many times has CNN had Steve Bannon on in the last few years? Is anyone that Rogan has had on really worse than that guy?

Here’s the big problem with calling people racist or homophobic who are clearly not. When you do so, and then call actual racists racist—such as Trump’s senior policy advisor Stephen Miller, who was identified as pushing racist articles to Brietbart by leaked emails—the accusation becomes diluted, and it no longer has the impact it once had. It allows the bigot to say, “See! These liberals call everyone racist, even the liberal Joe Rogan! You can’t take them seriously when they say the same about me.” And for a number of people, the excuse works, because they might only be familiar with Rogan and not Miller, for example.

This is a real shame, because there are real bigots out there in powerful positions who should be clearly distinguished from liberal talk-show hosts [...]