Vance pushes anti-vaccine message during Joe Rogan podcast, says people become trans to improve Ivy League chances

With days until Election Day, GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance appeared on the "Joe Rogan Experience" Thursday and voiced skepticism about the COVID-19 vaccine.

During the three-hour conversation on Thursday, Vance talked about the vaccine to Rogan, who himself has pushed false claims about vaccines on his show, which has millions of followers.

The COVID-19 vaccines have been proven effective in preventing serious illnesses and death from the virus. Some side effects of the vaccine include "pain, redness or swelling at the injection site, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever, and nausea," and typically resolve themselves in a few days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Vance, who said he's had COVID-19 five times, claimed on the show he was "red-pilled" after he had side effects following taking an unidentified vaccine.

"We're not even allowed to talk about the fact that I was as sick as I've ever been for two days, and the worst COVID experience I had was like a sinus infection. I'm not really willing to trade that," Vance claimed.

Vance also said he's worried that there may be a "conflict" in 30 to 40 years with developing countries because they have a negative perception of Westerners for "giving them health care that isn't actually health care," referring to vaccines.

Vance's comments are notable given that his running mate, former President Donald Trump, has also sent mix messages on the COVID-19 vaccine. Trump has called it "one of the greatest achievements," but then said people have a choice to get it and has slammed vaccine mandates.

Vance spoke with Rogan amid news that Trump surrogate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spent years fueling misinformation around the safety of vaccines, has been privately advising the Trump transition team on prospects for Cabinet positions -- including recommending a fellow vaccine skeptic, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, as a candidate to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services.

Also, Kennedy said earlier this week that Trump has "promised" him "control of the public health agencies" should Trump win back the White House.

Ladapo drew criticism for repeatedly questioning the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines, which were developed under the Trump administration. Under Ladapo, Florida defied guidelines from the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.

Recent comments from both Vance and Kennedy could be signaling how a Trump administration could undermine confidence in vaccines.

In August 2024, a Gallup poll found that fewer Americans today consider childhood vaccines -- with 40% saying it is extremely important for parents to have their children vaccinated, down from 58% in 2019 and 64% in 2001.

The New York Time's reported that Trump's former Surgeon General, Jerome Adams, said at the American Public Health Association Annual meeting on Monday that if Kennedy has any influence on the next administration, it would hurt America's health.

"If RFK has a significant influence on the next administration, that could further erode people's willingness to get up to date with recommended vaccines, and I am worried about the impact that could have on our nation's health, on our nation's economy, on our global security," Adams said at the conference.

Also during Vance's Rogan interview, falsely claimed that people become transgender or gender nonbinary to reject their white privilege and participate in diversity, equity and inclusion programs to get into Ivy League colleges.

"If you are a, you know, middle-class or upper-middle-class white parent and the only thing that you care about is whether your child goes into Harvard or Yale, like obviously, that pathway has become a lot harder for a lot of upper-middle-class kids, but the one way that those people can participate in the DEI bureaucracy in this country is to be trans, and is there a dynamic that's going on where, if you become trans, that is the way to reject your white privilege," Vance said.