UFC legend Joe Rogan has come under scathing criticism from both The White House and Dr Anthony Fauci after his polarising take on the coronavirus vaccine.
The 53-year-old American star hit out at the idea that a young, healthy person would need to take up the vaccine to protect themselves amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan said: "I think you should get vaccinated if you're vulnerable.
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"I think you should get vaccinated if you feel like... my parents are vaccinated. I've encouraged a lot of people to get... and people say, do you think it's safe to get vaccinated?
"I've said, yeah, I think for the most part it's safe to get vaccinated. I do. I do. But if you're like 21 years old, and you say to me, 'Should I get vaccinated?' I'll go no.
"Are you healthy? Are you a healthy person? Like, look, don't do anything stupid, but you should take care of yourself.
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"You should -- if you're a healthy person, and you're exercising all the time, and you're young, and you're eating well, like, I don't think you need to worry about this."
Rogan's comments sparked a huge backlash on social media as he was condemned by some for suggesting to his young listeners that they should skip the vaccine.
Kate Bedingfield, who is the communications director for The White House, has now hit out at the UFC commentator by questioning his scientific and medical expertise.
The 39-year-old American political advisor told CNN's New Day: "I guess my first question would be, did Joe Rogan become a medical doctor while we weren't looking?
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"I'm not sure that taking scientific and medical advice from Joe Rogan is perhaps the most productive way for people to get their information.
"I think what we're seeing, and what we have seen in the data and what we've seen as people continue to get vaccinated, is the people who are most influential in encouraging people to get vaccinated are their friends, their neighbours, people who have received the shot themselves who they know and they trust.
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"And so, what we see is the number of people who say that they are willing to get vaccinated is rising. It's now up to, I believe, 67 per cent in a recent public poll."
Dr Fauci, who is the chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden's administration, also branded Rogan as "incorrect" over his comments on younger people taking the vaccine.
Speaking to NBC on Wednesday, the 80-year-old explained: "That's incorrect. You're talking about yourself in a vacuum.
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"You're worried about yourself getting infected and the likelihood that you're not going to get any symptoms.
"But you can get infected, and will get infected, if you put yourself at risk and even if you don't have any symptoms, you are propagating the outbreak."
Featured Image Credit: The Joe Rogan Experience/PA
