Joe Rogan said the story he shared last month about a school that allowed a “furry” student to use a litter box in the girl’s bathroom was unfounded.
Last month, the Spotify podcaster told former Congressman Tulsi Gabbard that his friend’s wife was a teacher at “a school that had to put a litter box in the girls’ room because there’s a furry girl.”
Rogan has since come back to his story, saying on Wednesday: “I don’t think they really did it. I think there was some discussion about it because there was one particularly insane mom, but there’s – there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that they put a litter box in there.
The Rogan statement comes from Republican Senate candidate Don Boluc of New Hampshire,” who doubled down on the debunked claim conservatives often used in the culture war over gender identities and toilets in schools.
Joe Rogan admitted on Wednesday (above) that the story he shared last month about a school installing litter boxes in girls’ bathrooms wasn’t true
He initially made the claim on Oct. 12 (above). The podcaster has since lamented spreading the baseless rumors, which have become a popular conservative talking point in the Culture War over gender and school toilets
When author Michael Shermer was interviewed on Wednesday’s episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, the author spoke to Rogan about the false stories about kitty litter at school.
When Shermer pointed out that attacking liberals was a topic of conversation, Rogan lamented that he, too, had been caught up in the rumours.
“I went into it,” he said, noting he’d gone back to the source of his original story but couldn’t confirm that it was real.
Fact-checkers say the false claim is based on reports that some schools have stocked up on litter boxes if children are cooped up in classrooms for hours during an active shooter event.
Rogan added that he’s inclined to believe the rumor because he saw it when he came across a furry convention in Pittsburg at a UFC event 10 years ago.
“So we check into the hotel … the front desk said how crazy it was that these people asked for their food to be delivered in bowls on the floor so they could eat it like animals,” Rogan recalled.
“And then he said they asked for a litter box in the lobby. Now they didn’t put a litter box in the lobby but someone asked him for a litter box according to this man.’
While Rogan worked to squash the rumors about kids using litter boxes in schools, Boluc has kept repeating the false claims.
NEW: Don Bolduc- go ahead @NBCNews says the school he accused of using litter boxes on children who identify as animals needs to “prove” the claim false.
He tells me that a parent and a student told him it’s happening and he’s “not giving in”. pic.twitter.com/s7CLx09uu2— Ryan Nobles (@ryanobles) November 2, 2022
Don Bolduc is running for the Senate in New Hampshire. On Wednesday, he defended his claims about schools giving litter boxes to students who identify as cats
Bolduc, a retired Army brigadier general who is challenging Democratic Senator Maggie Hassan in New Hampshire, shared the hoax at a weekend event.
When challenged over his claim on Wednesday, Bolduc was careful not to say it was true. Instead, he said it was what he was told.
“So what I was talking about is all the craziness that’s going on in our schools. And that’s just one of them,” he told NBC News.
“And I had a parent and a student in that audience who came up to me and told me all about it. I’ve had this all over the state.
“So I’m just articulating what I’ve heard from Granite Staters, parents, kids.”
Culture wars over gender identity and education have led to the litter box hoax being taken up by a number of Republican politicians.
At a luncheon for Republican women in Colorado last month, Rep. Laurent Boebert claimed schools are “putting cat boxes in schools for people who identify as cats.”
A Minnesota governor candidate, Scott Jensen, reportedly asked a month earlier during a campaign stop, “Why do we have litter boxes in some school districts for kids to pee in because they identify as furry?”
The debunked rumor has had a long online life and has been seized upon by conservatives trying to make a point about education and gender identity – prompting mockery
A recent NBC News review found that at least 20 Conservative candidates or elected officials had made similar claims.
Although “furries” exist as a subculture of people who enjoy dressing up in animal costumes, school districts have repeatedly denied that litter boxes were ever used to feed children who identify as cats.
But a Colorado school district told NBC that it included kitty litter in “Go buckets,” which hold emergency supplies in case students are locked in a classroom during a shooting.
That hasn’t stopped the myth from flaring up further on social media and in conservative discourse about gender identity and education.
CNN obtained audio from Bolduc, who made similar claims
‘Guess what? We have furries and fuzzies in the classrooms,” he told the crowd. “They lick themselves, they are cats.
“If they don’t like something, they hiss — people walk down the hallway and jump out,” he said after a hiss was heard.
“And get this, get this: they put up litter boxes, right? litter boxes for that. …’