Joe Rogan under fire for saying Jews 'into money' like Italians 'into pizza' in defending Omar

Podcaster Joe Rogan is being criticized for comparing Jews being "into money" to Italians being "into pizza" when he defended Rep. Ilhan Omar as not being anti-Semitic when she tied U.S. support of Israel to money.

Omar, a Minnesota Democrat, was kicked off the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week in part for tweeting in 2019, "It's all about the Benjamins baby," in response to a post about then-Rep. Kevin McCarthy's defense of Israel in Congress.

"That's not an anti-Semitic statement," Rogan said Saturday on his podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience," featuring Breaking Points Host Krystal Ball.

"Benjamins are money. The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous. That's like saying Italians aren't into pizza. It's f****** stupid," Rogan said. 

"There's many people that have that opinion and they should be represented," he said.

"It's despicable language like this that leads to attacks and threats against Jewish people," Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) tweeted in response to a clip of Rogan's remarks.

Washington Examiner columnist Ian Haworth tweeted that Rogan's comments "would make sense if Jews invented money and/or Italians had been massacred because of a conspiracy that they control the world through pizza."

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) tweeted: "The notion that interest in money is uniquely Jewish is Antisemitic garbage that should never be fed to an audience of millions."

Former Trump State Department Deputy Anti-Semitism Envoy Ellie Cohanim tweeted, "Not all Jews are 'into money'—but spreading that belief is one of the oldest antisemitic tropes" and "Israel's support in US is NOT due to the "Benjamins": educated folks understand Israel's strategic value as only Democracy in MidEast."