Aaron Rodgers Sparks Outrage After Outlandish Claims About U.S. Government, Dr. Anthony Fauci Creating HIV/AIDS

New York Jets star Aaron Rodgers has seemingly made as many headlines for his words off the field as he has for his work on the field. In his latest resurfaced controversial claim, the Super Bowl champ suggested that the HIV/AIDS pandemic that broke out in the 1980s was entirely manmade, and connected it to former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci.

Rodgers explained his position on the Look Into It podcast back in March. According to the Jets quarterback, Fauci fumbled the fight against HIV and the rollout of antiretroviral drug AZT. Rodgers called this move the "blueprint" for the U.S. government's COVID response.

"The blueprint, the game plan, was made in the '80s. Create a pandemic with a virus that’s going wild," he said. "Fauci was given over $350 million to research this, to come up with drugs—new or repurposed—to handle the AIDS pandemic. And all they came up with was AZT."

"And if you do even a smidge of research, and I know, I’m not an epidemiologist, I’m not a doctor, I’m not an immunologist, whatever the f--k. I can read, though. And I can learn and I can look things up just like any normal person. I can do my own research, which was so vilified, to even question authority," he added. "But that was the game plan back then. Create an environment where only one thing works. Back then AZT; now, Remdesivir until we get a vaccine."

"By the way, we know Fauci had [a] stake in the Moderna vaccine and we know Pfizer is one of the most criminally corrupt ever, the fine they paid was the biggest in the history of the [Department of Justice] in 2009," he continued. "What are we talking about? We’re going to put our full trust in science that can’t be questioned?"

Fauci's purported links to Moderna, which presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (who coincidentally was reportedly considering choosing Rodgers as a running mate) also espoused, have long been debunked. Rodgers' claims of Fauci and other researchers engineering HIV with the help of the U.S. government for the purpose of unleashing a pandemic on the public have—to put it lightly—not been historically or factually proven. The virus is believed to have jumped from primates to humans as early as the late 1800s.

Related: Aaron Rodgers Says He's Lost Millions Due to His COVID Stances

Many online were furious about Rodgers' comments as they began to recirculate on social media. "So cool that the NFL effectively blacklisted Colin Kaepernick for his racial justice stances. But Aaron Rodgers can spout reckless conspiracies about HIV, Sandy Hook, etc., and continue to be one of the highest-paid players in the league," one person wrote on X.

Another user jokingly contrasted some of Rodgers' public statements with those of retired seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.

"Tom Brady last week: 'I’m gonna work harder. I’m gonna care more. I’m gonna show up earlier. I’m gonna put more time in. I’m gonna work later. I’m gonna study more. I’m gonna do things other people aren’t willing to do.' Aaron Rodgers this week: 'The government created HIV,'" they said, adding, "It has been simultaneously overcovered and undercovered that one of the greatest athletes in history had their brain melted by COVID and is now a full-blown loon."

"The first recorded AIDS death was a teenager in St. Louis in the late '60s. There's some evidence that HIV goes back to the 1920s. Aaron Rodgers is such a maroon [sic]," another chimed in.

Others added to the chorus of evidence that HIV existed years before the panic of the '80s. "My uncle was a medical doctor in Africa. HIV existed decades before 1980s America. Aaron Rodgers is a f--king moron," one person stated plainly.

While Rodgers himself acknowledged he's not a medical professional, one person online pointed out that he doesn't even have any education credentials beyond a high school diploma.

"Aaron Rodgers has no college degree. He majored in American Studies while he was at UC Berkeley. He left school early to join the NFL before he graduated and never return to finished his degree in American Studies. So obviously he’s an expert about the origins of HIV," they said.

Another X user wants Fauci to take legal action against Rodgers for his reckless statements. "I really hope Dr. Fauci sues Aaron Rodgers into oblivion after he said Fauci created AIDS along with the U.S. government," they said.

Rodgers is set to return to the field with the Jets later this year after his first season with the team ended after just four plays last year. Fauci stepped down from his longtime position as director of NIAID in 2022 and is now a faculty member at Georgetown University.