Right-wing podcast suggests gay Captain America will ‘battle AIDS’
Conservative podcast "Louder with Chowder" also repeatedly misgendered Elliot Page during a recent episode
A right-wing podcast has suggested that a gay Captain America would suffer from complications related to AIDS.
Louder with Crowder drew criticism earlier this month after its host Steven Crowder, a former Fox News contributor, engaged in a racist rant about Black farmers that included references to slavery. It was widely condemned and YouTube ultimately took down the video.
The following day, on March 17, guest host Dave Landau took the reins and led a transphobic and homophobic episode that included discussion of trans actor Elliot Page‘s body and the insinuation that a gay Captain America would succumb to AIDS, Media Matters reports.
Landau repeatedly misgendered Page until a co-host corrected him. He apologized, saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to misgender. I’m dead serious, don’t get all pissed off.”
He then claimed that Page’s “breasts will be auctioned off on eBay” while he and co-host Gerald Morgan discussed gender confirmation surgery.
In a later segment, the hosts turned to Marvel’s recent announcement that a new limited edition Captain America comic would feature the first gay Captain America, teenager Aaron Fischer.
Landau launched into an anti-gay rant that included suggesting Fischer would battle “complications” from AIDS rather than Nazis.
“Marvel has reimagined Captain America to be a gay man,” Landau said. “Yeah, I guess — I don’t know if you’ve seen the picture of him, he does, he looks like a twink which I don’t get. Couldn’t he just be gay and look like Captain America always looks?”
He continued: “Does he have to look like he sells ecstasy outside of a rave in the year 2001? Like he looks like he hacked up Angel Melendez and threw him in the river.”
Landau then claimed that Louder with Crowder had “obtained some exclusive new story details.”
“Cap’s main conflict is not with the Nazis. No,” he said. “But instead he battles against complications arising from sharing his super serum needles.”
The podcast then displayed an image of Fischer in a hospital bed, with an animated graphic of the word “AIDS” superimposed over Marvel’s comic panel followed by the sound of a heart rate monitor flatlining.
“Captain America brought AIDS into this office,” Landau continued. “Marvel is really playing catch up since DC actually did this first with AIDS Superman. Did you know that? Yeah. That’s a real ad in France to prevent AIDS. Because it’s not just kryptonite that affects Superman, it’s also three other, three letters that brought him to his final resting place. TLC.”
After being widely condemned for racism, “Louder with Crowder” crew doubles down on bigotry.
Here's the guest host suggesting that a new gay Captain America character will contract AIDShttps://t.co/cY8CK7OrsN pic.twitter.com/YLhV3QdIqE
— Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) March 17, 2021
Landau referenced a French government initiative in 2004 aimed at preventing new HIV infections, which featured images of both Superman and Wonder Woman suffering from complications related to AIDS.
Marvel unveiled the character of Fischer as part of its 80th anniversary celebration of the debut of Captain America.
Read more: Marvel unveils first gay Captain America in new comic series
New limited series comic The United States of Captain America will focus on Steve Rogers and his companions Falcon (Sam Wilson), Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes), and U.S. Agent (John Walker) as they venture out to find the Cap’s stolen shield, Entertainment Weekly reports.
While on the hunt, the foursome meet various people who have adopted Captain America’s name in order to defend their own communities from ne’er-do-wells.
One of those such people is Aaron Fischer, the “Captain America of the Railways,” a “fearless teen who stepped up to protect fellow runaways and the unhoused.”
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