Podcaster Joe Rogan and Tesla CEO Elon Musk roasted MSNBC for a Monday tweet highlighting an article about the "far right’s obsession with fitness" that linked fitness and nutrition efforts to Adolf Hitler and White supremacist ideology.
The column, originally from 2022, was revived online after MSNBC’s official Twitter account reposted it on Monday.
"The far right’s obsession with fitness is going digital," MSNBC tweeted.
MSNBC OPINION ARTICLE RIDICULED FOR WARNING ABOUT 'FASCIST FITNESS'
"MSNBC thinks you’re a nazi if you work out lmaooo," Musk wrote in a viral tweet Monday with over 5 million views.
"Being healthy is ‘far right.’ Holy f---," Rogan, wrote. While Rogan is most famous for his popular podcast, "The Joe Rogan Experience," he has also competed in martial arts competitions throughout his life and served as a UFC commentator.
The column claimed that researchers have discovered "fascist fitness" groups online that are "radicalizing young men with neo-Nazi and White supremacist extremist ideologies." Recruitment methods allegedly include giving men "health tips and strategies for positive physical changes" where they later are exposed to "far-right content."
"It appears the far right has taken advantage of pandemic at-home fitness trends to expand its decade-plus radicalization of physical mixed martial arts (MMA) and combat sports spaces," the MSNBC column argued.
The column also name-dropped Adolf Hitler in order to discredit the interest in fitness and nutrition on the "far-right."
"Physical fitness has always been central to the far right. In ‘Mein Kampf,’ Hitler fixated on boxing and jujitsu, believing they could help him create an army of millions whose aggressive spirit and impeccably trained bodies, combined with ‘fanatical love of the fatherland,’ would do more for the German nation than any ‘mediocre’ tactical weapons training."
The MSNBC column briefly acknowledged that fitness is not always a slipstream to "far-right," "neo-Nazi" or "White supremacist extremist ideologies."
"Fitness of course is a staple and a hobby for many people, for whom it is enjoyable and rewarding for brain health and overall well-being. Physical fitness channels dopamine, adrenalin [sic] and serotonin in ways that literally feel good."
The MSNBC column was also mocked in 2022, with Washington Examiner editor Seth Mandel joking that "exercise is nazi."
The Federalist correspondent Tristan Justice tweeted at the time, "In a country where a minority of the population is at a healthy weight, I'm of the opinion that a greater obsession with fitness would be a good thing."
Fox News’ Lindsay Kornick contributed to this report.
