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There have been rumors circulating that Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback for the New York Jets, may be considered as a potential running mate for Robert F Kennedy Jr’s independent presidential campaign.
Recently, Mr. Kennedy Jr. stated to The New York Times that he is considering former wrestler and Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura or Mr. Rodgers as his potential running mate in the future.
He informed the newspaper that he had been in constant communication with Mr. Rodgers and had also been in contact with Mr. Ventura since meeting him at an event in Arizona last month.
While there are reports that Mr. Kennedy Jr. is exploring other possibilities, his statement has brought the New York Jets player back into the public eye. Many have denounced him as a conspiracy theorist and an individual opposed to vaccination.
Throughout his career, Mr. Rodgers has faced numerous controversies. These include a well-known dispute with Jimmy Kimmel and allegations of promoting conspiracy theories regarding events such as the Sandy Hook school shooting and 9/11, as well as the Covid-19 vaccine.
Please find below a comprehensive compilation of all the disputes and schemes surrounding Aaron Rodgers.
Family Feud
The media has heavily covered Mr. Rodger’s separation from his family. According to Mr. Rodger’s father, Ed Rodgers, he stopped communicating with his family shortly after starting a relationship with Olivia Munn in 2014.
He stated to The New York Times in 2017 that fame has the power to alter things.
In 2018, one year following their separation, Ms Munn refuted responsibility for the conflict, stating that Mr. Rodgers had not communicated with his family for eight months prior to their relationship began.
In 2016, reports of a conflict within the family surfaced when Mr. Rodger’s brother, Jordan Rodgers, revealed to his future wife, JoJo Fletcher, while competing on The Bachelorette, that he and Aaron did not have a close relationship.
Jordan shared that his brother has chosen a certain lifestyle, while he has chosen to stay connected with his family, including his parents and brother. He acknowledged that their current situation is not ideal, and he still cares for his brother despite not fully understanding the pressure and expectations that come with his position. He holds no resentment towards his brother and accepts that this is just how things are at the moment.
In a subsequent interview with WISN 12 News, Aaron Rodgers declined to discuss his family dynamic.
“I have not watched the show, to be completely honest, so it has not had much of an impact on me,” he stated. “When it comes to these matters, I personally feel it is not appropriate to discuss family affairs publicly, so I will not comment on them. However, I do wish him the best in the competition.”
Since that time, the brother’s relationship has seemed to deteriorate further, as Jordan publicly criticized Aaron in 2018 for not reaching out to his family during the wildfires in California.
After Aaron publicly shared his donation of $1 million to assist those affected by the fires on Twitter, his brother reacted by commenting in a now-deleted post: “PLEASE GIVE, RAISE AWARENESS & SHOW LOVE. But when your own mother is alone at home during the fires, with her car packed and ready to evacuate, and you fail to show basic compassion by checking on her safety… Everything else just seems insincere.”
The quarterback has recently addressed ending his dispute with his family.
In the year 2022, during an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus” podcast, Mr. Rodgers expressed that he holds no resentment towards his family. He stated, “I am a firm believer in the power of healing and the potential for reconciliation in the future.”
Covid-19 vaccine drama
Mr Rodgers has repeatedly questioned the safety of the Covid-19 vaccines and labelled the US’s pandemic response czar Anthony Fauci as “one of the biggest spreaders of misinformation,” pointing people in the direction of anti-vaxxer RFK Jr instead.
In November 2021, he received backlash for testing positive for Covid-19, even though he previously claimed to have been “immunized” against the virus three months prior. Mr. Rodgers had to conduct the press conference online due to his refusal to wear a mask.
The individual later acknowledged testing positive for Covid-19, however, maintained that they did not deceive others about being vaccinated.
During a virtual interview on The Pat McAfee Show, the speaker stated that if there had been a subsequent discussion about his immunization, he would have clarified that he is not opposed to vaccines or a believer in a flat Earth. He identified himself as a critical thinker.
I am a firm believer in having control over one’s own body and being able to make decisions about it. I do not think anyone should be forced to comply with societal pressures or demands of a particular group of people.
Mr. Rodgers stated that he discovered a different “immunization procedure” due to his allergies to certain components found in two of the FDA-approved vaccines.
“After my good friend Joe Rogan contracted Covid, I sought his advice and have since been implementing many of his recommendations,” the individual stated.
The NFL analysts did not discover any proof that Mr. Rodgers’ treatments were successful. As a result, he was fined $14,650 for violating the NFL’s Covid-19 safety guidelines as an unvaccinated athlete.
After the uproar, Jimmy Kimmel criticized Mr. Rodgers for what he did.
On his show, he said that being in close contact with others without being vaccinated is even worse than not getting vaccinated at all. He compared it to the idea of pretending to be vaccinated when you’re actually not, which is like the Covid version of a condom falling off.
In a recent interview, Mr. Rodgers once again spoke about the backlash surrounding his opinions on the vaccine earlier this year.
During a subsequent visit to The Pat McAfee Show in January, he expressed strong opinions about the Covid-19 vaccine and referenced multiple studies to support his argument that wearing masks and getting vaccinated were not effective measures against the virus.
Mr. Rodgers made an incorrect statement claiming that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former Chief Medical Advisor, had a monetary motivation to advocate for vaccinations. He also commended RFK Jr. for his book, The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, which has received significant backlash for spreading false information.
9/11 conspiracy theory
Mr. Rodgers has been accused of promoting conspiracy theories about 9/11. On The Breneman Show podcast in November 2022, Packers backup quarterback DeShone Kizer stated that Rodgers had advised him to doubt the validity of the September 11 attacks.
‘He shut the door, and the first thing that comes out of Aaron Rodgers’ mouth was ‘Do you believe in 9/11?’” Kizer recalled, noting that Mr Rodgers wanted him to “‘read up on that’” and to “go back and look into some of the conspiracies around it.”
Kizer also mentioned that he and Mr. Rodgers talked about various other conspiracies such as “Inner Earth,” the moon landing, and the existence of reptilian beings.
Feud with Jimmy Kimmel
Mr Rodgers has been involved in a long-running spat with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, which first began when Mr Kimmel slammed the New York Jets player for lying about whether he was vaccinated against Covid-19 in 2021.
In February of 2023, Mr. Kimmel once again criticized Mr. Rodgers, calling him a “conspiracy theorist” for expressing interest in knowing the names on Jeffrey Epstein’s client list.
In January 2024, tensions between the two men heightened once more when Mr. Rodgers insinuated that Mr. Kimmel was concerned about the disclosure of Mr. Epstein’s list of clients.
There’s a lot of people, including Jimmy Kimmel, that are really hoping that doesn’t come out,” Mr Rodgers said on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Mr Kimmel threatened legal action against Mr Rodgers in a post on X and demanded he apologise for his remarks.
According to Mr. Kimmel, calling someone a paedophile is not merely an opinion or disrespectful chatter.
Mr. Rodgers was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show on January 9th where he refuted claims that he referred to Mr. Kimmel as a paedophile.
“I am relieved that Jimmy is not included on the list. I truly am, and I do not think he fits the description of the P-word,” he stated, but did not apologize to Mr Kimmel.
On January 10th, Mr. McAfee made a statement that Mr. Rodgers will not make another appearance on the show to discuss politics for the remainder of the NFL season.
The notion that the Sandy Hook shooting was a staged event planned by the government.
Recently, CNN released a shocking report alleging that Mr. Rodgers spread false claims and conspiracy theories surrounding the tragic Sandy Hook mass shooting.
According to the report, he purportedly informed CNN reporter Pamela Brown that the shooting was orchestrated by the government and that the media was purposely disregarding this.
According to the report, he reportedly questioned Ms. Brown about a peculiar situation where there were men dressed in black in the woods near the school. He falsely asserted that these men were working for the government.
According to another undisclosed individual mentioned by CNN, Mr. Rodgers allegedly asserted several years ago that the event known as “Sandy Hook” did not actually occur.
“He purportedly claimed that those children were never real and were just actors.”
After the report was released, Mr. Rodgers rejected the claim that he believed the shooting did not occur.
In a statement shared on X, he reiterated his sentiments expressed in the past that the events at Sandy Hook were an absolute tragedy and that he never doubted their occurrence. He also expressed hope that we can learn from this and similar tragedies to recognize warning signs and prevent unnecessary loss of life. He continued to offer his thoughts and prayers to the families affected and the Sandy Hook community as a whole.
The families of the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting filed a lawsuit against Infowars host Alex Jones, citing his promotion of conspiracy theories.
The families of the victims were able to successfully file a lawsuit against Mr. Jones last year. He had continuously claimed that the shooting did not take place and that the deceased children were “crisis actors”.
Last October, a judge declared that Mr. Jones was not permitted to utilize bankruptcy safeguards as a means of escaping paying $1.5 billion in compensation to the families.
The massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School resulted in the tragic deaths of 20 young students and six educators, making it the deadliest shooting in US history to occur at an elementary school.
“The Independent”
The publication called “The Independent”