Aaron Rodgers touted “Atlas Shrugged,” a controversial book by Ayn Rand he has never actually read.
In a wide-ranging interview with ESPN, Rodgers revealed that when he appeared on “Manningcast” earlier this month and pointed to the novel on his bookshelf, he was just doing it to get a rise out of the audience.
“I was laughing about it before,” Rodgers told ESPN. “I was moving some books over and replacing some things behind me, I was like, ‘Oh dude, I could never read this book.’ It’s however many pages. That’s how stupid this thing is. I’m reading some mentions or Twitter stuff and these people are loving me up. They’re like, ‘Oh yeah, libertarian, blah, blah, blah.’ I’m like, ‘What the f—?’ And then the people on the other side canceled me. ‘That’s kind of trashy, he’s reading Ayn Rand.’
“I’m like, I haven’t read it! And even if I did, who gives a s—? It’s a book. I can read something and not immediately have it overtake my personal ideologies. And that’s the problem with society, is everything is triggering and offensive. It’s wild.”
“Atlas Shrugged” is a libertarian, individualist novel that has become something of a flashpoint in the never-ending culture wars.
A sampling of the result of the trolling? A headline in Esquire that reads “Of Course Aaron Rodgers loved ‘Atlas Shrugged.”
Rodgers also touched on his decision to recommend a podcast with Joe Rogan and Dr. Robert Malone, a virologist banned from Twitter and YouTube who believes side effects of the COVID-19 vaccine are being withheld by the government and the media — and probably at the behest of Big Pharma.
Rodgers used the episode to advocate for free speech.
“When in the course of human history has the side that’s doing the censoring and trying to shut people up and make them show papers and marginalize a part of the community ever been [the correct side]?” he said. “We’re censoring dissenting opinions? What are we trying to do? Save people from being able to determine the validity on their own or to listen and to think about things and come to their own conclusion? Freedom of speech is dangerous now if it doesn’t align with the mainstream narrative? That’s, I think first and foremost, what I wanted people to understand, and what people should understand is that there’s censorship in this country going on right now.
“Are they censoring terrorists or pedophiles? Criminals who have Twitter profiles? No, they’re censoring people, and they’re shadow-banning people who have dissenting opinions about vaccines. Why is that? Is that because Pfizer cleared $33 billion last year and Big Pharma has more lobbyists in Washington than senators and representatives combined? Why is the reason? Either way, if you want to be an open-minded person, you should hear both sides, which is why I listen to people like Dr. Robert Malone, Dr. Peter McCullough. I have people on the other side as well. I read stuff on the vaccine-hesitancy side, and I read stuff on the vaccines-are-the-greatest-thing-in-the-world side.”
Rodgers and the Packers face the 49ers on Saturday night in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs at Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
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