Aaron Rodgers Responds to Sandy Hook Conspiracy Theory Report

Aaron Rodgers found himself in the political waters this week thanks to a New York Times report revealing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was considering Rodgers as his running mate for his independent presidential campaign. The New York Jets quarterback was reported to be open to the overtures RFK Jr. made and the story took off from there.

On Wednesday, CNN changed the tenor of the whole conversation by reporting a disturbing conversation between Rodgers and one of the network's reporters, Pamela Brown, from 2013. Brown met Rodgers at the Kentucky Derby that year and the quarterback allegedly claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting that resulted in the death of 20 children and six adults was actually a hoax. Brown and Jake Tapper further reported that Rodgers had that conversation with another source as well. Per the article:

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has confirmed that among his potential vice-presidential prospects is New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who in private conversations shared deranged conspiracy theories about the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting not being real.

CNN knows of two people with whom Rodgers has enthusiastically shared these stories, including with Pamela Brown, one of the journalists writing this piece.

Brown was covering the Kentucky Derby for CNN in 2013 when she was introduced to Rodgers, then with the Green Bay Packers, at a post-Derby party. Hearing that she was a journalist with CNN, Rodgers immediately began attacking the news media for covering up important stories. Rodgers brought up the tragic killing of 20 children and 6 adults by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School, claiming it was actually a government inside job and the media was intentionally ignoring it.

These are obviously horrifying allegations and they have dominated the Rodgers discussion over the last day. On Thursday, the Jets quarterback took to Twitter to deny he said those things and to lend his support to the Sandy Hook community.

As he claims, Rodgers is indeed on the record calling the shooting a tragedy. He said as much during an interview on ESPN Radio in December of 2012. Per Fox 6:

On Tuesday, December 18th, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers spoke about the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. He shares what he hopes comes out of this tragedy. 

"I hope that we can learn from this and look for the signs more and not ever have something like this happen. And keep this on our minds. This is something that effects us directly or indirectly. This needs to be something that we learn from," said Rodgers on ESPN Radio.

As is always the case, however, wording is important with Rodgers and some will note he did not deny CNN's report in his tweet. He said he has never been of the opinion that the shooting didn't take place and hopes we learn from it, but didn't specifically address any other allegations. This is relevant because a media firestorm surrounding Rodgers was sparked in 2021 when he was asked if he received the COVID-19 vaccine and he said he was "immunized." Later it was revealed he did not actually get the vaccine and insisted he did not lie at any point about it.

What a messed up world we live in where this is the biggest plotline of the sports week.