Why Pat McAfee didn't push back on false claims during Aaron Rodgers interview

Pat McAfee's interview with Aaron Rodgers on Friday captured the internet — it was the first time since being diagnosed with COVID that the Green Bay quarterback spoke about his vaccine status.

The interview covered a wide range of topics, from ivermectin to vaccines to Joe Rogan. On his show Monday, McAfee said he has gotten pushback from people for allowing Rodgers to talk about unsubstantiated (and false) claims about COVID and vaccines without pushing back.

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McAfee said it wasn't his goal to push back, but rather to give Rodgers a platform so that people could hear his side of the story.

"He had a prepared speech to answer what everybody had been saying about him and the situation in a pretty one-sided affair, I think," McAfee said. "Aaron hadn't spoken to anybody. He had pages of notes. I feel like I did ask some follow up (questions) — ‘There's gonna be people that say this, there's gonna be people that say this.’ It was literally an opportunity to hear what Aaron Rodgers was thinking about the entire situation.

"There's a lot of people saying that I potentially should’ve pressured him with more questions or whatever. I didn't ask enough tough (questions). If that had happened (before) then we wouldn't be in a situation. But we're in this situation and now that we're in it, it is hot. I mean, it is a hot situation now. I didn't let it affect me that much. When it comes to things like what we had been talking about in that situation like that, I did not have a 500 page report. I am vaccinated, but I am also a guy that would like to hear people's thoughts. I like to hear people's reasons behind things. I think the reason why I like to do that is because I'm naturally a curious person."

McAfee did acknowledge that when Rodgers mentioned consulting with Joe Rogan, he knew what was coming next.

"I'm thinking to myself, if he says Joe Rogan's name right now, the whole place is going to go bananas," he said.

Rodgers has been a regular guest on McAfee's show, appearing every Tuesday.

Follow IndyStar trending sports reporter Matthew VanTryon on Twitter @MVanTryon and email him story ideas at matthew.vantryon@indystar.com.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pat McAfee interview with Aaron Rodgers: Why there wasn't pushback