Episode 1228: Bari Weiss
Episode 1228: Bari Weiss
TL;DR: Bari Weiss came on Rogan’s show and smeared Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as an “Assad toadie” — then could not produce a single example to back it up when Rogan pressed her. The episode also features sweeping, poorly-sourced claims about Ilhan Omar, Linda Sarsour, and Israel-Palestine.
Bari Weiss was, at the time, a New York Times opinion editor and writer who had recently published a book on antisemitism. The episode is most remembered for a moment that became a viral example of an opinion writer making a serious accusation she could not defend.
To Rogan’s credit, he pressed her — this is one of the episodes where he genuinely pushed back on a guest. But the broader interview still platformed a series of unsourced characterizations that deserve scrutiny.
The “Assad Toadie” Smear
Weiss called then-Congresswoman and Democratic primary candidate Tulsi Gabbard an “Assad toadie.”
When Rogan asked her what that meant and what Gabbard had actually said or done to qualify, Weiss could not answer.
- She said: “I think that I used that word correctly.”
- When pressed: “that’s proven… that’s known.”
- When pressed again for specifics: “I don’t remember the details.”
Why this matters
- Gabbard, a sitting member of Congress and Iraq War veteran, had met with Assad in 2017 — a meeting she defended as part of her opposition to U.S. regime-change wars.
- “Assad toadie” implies she is a sycophant or stooge of the Syrian dictator. That is a serious public accusation.
- Making that accusation on the largest podcast in the world and then admitting you can’t substantiate it is the textbook definition of a smear.
The exchange has been repeatedly resurfaced — including after Gabbard’s appointment as Director of National Intelligence in 2025 — precisely because it is such a clean example of opinion-journalism-as-vibe. Mondoweiss coverage
Claims About Ilhan Omar and Linda Sarsour
Weiss extended similar treatment to Rep. Ilhan Omar and activist Linda Sarsour, characterizing both as antisemites largely on the basis of selectively framed quotes.
- Omar’s 2012 tweet using the word “hypnotized” about Israel was presented as definitive evidence of antisemitism, with little engagement with the underlying context of the 2012 Gaza war.
- Sarsour was lumped in with Louis Farrakhan via guilt-by-association framing rather than examination of her actual stated positions.
What critics noted
- Current Affairs (2019): Documented a pattern in Weiss’s work of “smearing critics of Israel as antisemites” while ignoring substantive policy critiques. Current Affairs
- Mondoweiss (2019): Characterized her Rogan appearance as a recitation of “old hasbara talking points” without engagement with Palestinian perspectives. Mondoweiss
These are contested political claims, not settled facts — but Weiss presented them as obvious, with no countervailing voices on the show.
Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism
Weiss argued that anti-Zionism is functionally identical to antisemitism — a position she also published in the NYT around this time.
Why this matters
- This is a genuinely contested claim, including among Jewish scholars, rabbis, and historians.
- Conflating opposition to a specific state’s policies with bigotry against an ethnic/religious group is itself a political move, not a neutral observation.
- Presenting it as self-evident on a massive platform, unchallenged by any opposing expert voice, misleads listeners about the state of the debate.
Jewish Currents and other Jewish publications have extensively documented the diversity of Jewish thought on Zionism that Weiss’s framing erases.
Joe Rogan’s Role
This episode is genuinely mixed on Rogan.
Credit where due:
- Rogan pushed back hard on the Gabbard smear. He asked direct, simple questions: what did she do? what did she say? He did not let Weiss off the hook when she dodged.
- That moment is the reason this exchange went viral — Rogan acted like a journalist would.
Where he fell short:
- He largely accepted Weiss’s framing on Omar, Sarsour, and anti-Zionism without similar pushback.
- He platformed sweeping characterizations of political figures and movements without booking any guest with an opposing view — a recurring pattern on the show.
- His “just asking questions” mode worked on Gabbard but failed elsewhere in the same episode.
Real-World Harm
- The “Assad toadie” framing followed Gabbard for years, shaping her media coverage and contributing to a narrative that affected her political career.
- The Omar “antisemitism” framing fed directly into a sustained harassment campaign against a sitting Congresswoman, including death threats serious enough to require Capitol Police protection.
- Smear-by-vibe journalism — accusations you can’t back up but say with confidence — is corrosive to public discourse regardless of the target.