Aaron Rodgers’ HIV Comments Spark Furious Backlash

Comments Aaron Rodgers previously made about HIV have resurfaced online, resulting in furious backlash from social media users.

During an appearance on the Look Into It with Eddie Bravo podcast in March, the New York Jets quarterback suggested the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s was engineered by the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases with help from the federal government.

He also said that this was the “blueprint” for the COVID-19 pandemic, with both health crises being handled by Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former chief medical advisor to the president of the United States.

Now the clip is making the rounds on X, formerly Twitter, after being shared by the account @_MLFootball. It has been viewed over 5.1 million times.

Newsweek emailed a spokesperson for Rodgers for comment on Wednesday.

“The blueprint, the game plan was made in the ’80s,” Rodgers said during the conversation over Zoom.

“Create a pandemic, you know, with a virus that’s going wild, right? Only—he was given, 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 AZ—was AZT.

“And if you do even a smidge of research—and I know, I’m not an epidemiologist, I’m not a doctor, I’m not an immunologist, whatever the f***—I can read, though. And I can learn and look things up just like any normal person, you know. I can do my own research, which is so vilified, to even question authority.”

Fauci was instrumental in developing treatments that enable people with HIV to live long lives but in the 1980s, he was often criticized for the government’s response to the AIDS epidemic. Additionally, under the administrations of Donald Trump and Joe Biden, he oversaw the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, which Rodgers has frequently criticized.

Also during the podcast episode, Rodgers tried to connect Fauci’s handling of the HIV/AIDS epidemic to the government’s response to the coronavirus.

“But that was the game plan back then: create an environment where only one thing works. Back then, AZT. Now? Remdesivir—Remdesiviruntil we get a vaccine,” Rodgers continued, with Remdesivir being an antiviral medication that stops the virus that causes COVID-19 from growing in the body.

He also claimed that Fauci had a “stake in the Moderna vaccine,” though he offered no evidence to support this claim or any other claims he made during the episode.

Rodgers added: “And we know Pfizer is one of the most criminally corrupt organizations ever. The fine they paid was the biggest in the history of the DOJ [Department of Justice] in 2009. Like, what are we talking about? We’re going to put our full trust in science that can’t be questioned.”

People were quick to slam Rodgers’ comments and show their support for Fauci.

“Can someone please take Aaron Rodgers home and make him stay inside until his head is fixed?” one person asked.

“Just a reminder, Dr Fauci is a hero. Aaron Rodgers is a clown,” said another.

“Aaron Rodgers is the worst type of idiot—the one who’s convinced he’s a genius,” someone else wrote.

A fourth person added: “Please keep Aaron Rodgers & his weird conspiracy theories off of my timeline. Dude has choked on one too many shrooms dipped in acid.”

While the majority of people online are critical of Rodgers’ theories, there are a select few who support his thinking.

“People are finally speaking out,” one person wrote.

“In 3-5yrs everything Rodgers is saying will be considered fact and all the non-thinkers, unwilling to deviate from what TV tells them, will deny calling Rodgers a conspiracy theorist. I’ve seen this one before…” said another.

Rodgers is no stranger to controversy as he has often expressed his skepticism of the COVID-19 vaccine.

He faced backlash in 2022 after refusing to take the vaccine. In 2021, the quarterback told reporters he was immunized against the virus, suggesting he had been vaccinated, but he turned out to be using a homeopathic treatment instead.