New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers has had harsh words for President Joe Biden in the past, and he took another shot on Tuesday's episode of The Pat McAfee Show.
As his appearance on the show wound down, Rodgers and McAfee discussed a backdrop behind McAfee that depicted a wintery scene of falling snow under a night sky. McAfee noted that people in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have been drawing obscene pictures in the snow.
Rodgers claimed he misheard McAfee.
"I thought you said 'Snowden,'" Rodgers said. "I thought we were going to get into a new conversation about Ed Snowden."
Snowden was a computer intelligence consultant and whistleblower who revealed a number of global surveillance programs, many of which were run by the National Security Agency (NSA). Snowden now lives in Russia after the U.S. Department of Justice charged him with three felonies.
Rodgers believes Snowden should be pardoned by Biden, in addition to fellow whistleblowers Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.
"I think 'Weekend at Bernie's' should pardon Snowden and [Julian] Assange," Rodgers said. "That's a start. And [Chelsea] Manning. Manning, Snowden and Assange. ... Pardon them all. 'Weekend at Bernie's,' if you're listening, pardon them all."
Assange, who founded WikiLeaks, is wanted in the United States and faces extradition from Britain on 18 counts after the site released confidential U.S. military records and diplomatic cables. Manning disclosed nearly 750,000 classified or sensitive documents to WikiLeaks. Then-President Barack Obama commuted Manning's 35-year prison sentence but did not issue her a pardon.
Rodgers appeared to be using "Weekend At Bernie's," the 1989 hit movie in which two employees prop up their dead boss to look alive, as a reference to Biden, with whom he has had public disagreements in the past.
Newsweek reached out to the Jets via email requesting comment on Rodgers' thoughts.
The injured Rodgers, 40, is a vocal critic of the COVID-19 vaccine, and in 2021, Biden told a woman in a Packers jersey to tell "that quarterback to get the vaccine." Rodgers responded with a rant to ESPN about Biden's stance on the vaccine, calling attention to Biden's "attempts at public speaking" and ripping Biden's comments that COVID-19 was "a pandemic of the unvaccinated."
"When you say stuff like that, and then you have the CDC, which, how do you even trust them, but then they come out and talk about 75 percent of the COVID deaths have at least four co-morbidities," Rodgers told ESPN. "And you still have this fake White House set saying that this is the pandemic of the unvaccinated, that's not helping the conversation."
The CDC recommends the vaccine for anyone 6 months or older, noting that "vaccination remains the best protection against COVID-19-related hospitalization and death. Vaccination also reduces your chance of suffering the effects of Long COVID, which can develop during or following acute infection and last for an extended duration."
On McAfee's show Tuesday, Rodgers said he doesn't believe Biden remembers their spat.
"He doesn't remember any of it," Rodgers said. "He might have said something at some point. He doesn't remember that either."
The hosts of The Pat McAfee Show, which included former Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk, all appeared amused by Rodgers' comments.
"I wish we brought this up when we were still on the network," Rodgers said, referencing the time each Tuesday that ESPN airs McAfee's feed. "But I do appreciate it."
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Tom Westerholm is a Sports & Culture Reporter for Newsweek. Prior to joining Newsweek, he was the Boston Celtics beat ... Read more
