Podcaster Joe Rogan blasted what he described as a "push towards communism" among young Americans as he spoke to legendary comedian Yakov Smirnoff, who grew up in the USSR.Smirnoff, a Soviet-born comedian who became popular in the U.S.in the 1980s, described to Rogan how he and his father would secretly listen to Voice of America, a U.S.
government-funded international news broadcaster, late at night, knowing that they would get in trouble if anybody knew.He also described how his mother was greatly concerned over what might happen if others found out that they were yearning for America.Later in life, after working aboard cruise ships, he proposed that he and his family leave the USSR and apply for a visa to the U.S., and he recalled his mother warned that they might face repercussions if they did so, warning that it would be like "You're going to go through hell." Smirnoff then recalled, "And my dad said, ‘Yeah, we will.’ And she said, ‘Well, if you're willing to do it, so am I.’"Smirnoff said the process of getting a visa to America was only possible because of a deal involving the Carter administration, Soviet emigration and U.S.
grain.VANCE WARNS THERE WILL BE A 'SOCIALIST PRESIDENT IN THIS COUNTRY' IF GOP DOESN'T FIX ECONOMY FOR YOUNG PEOPLEJoe Rogan announces the fight during the UFC 290 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 8, 2023, in Las Vegas, Nevada.(Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)"[Carter] wanted to see some human rights in the Soviet Union.
And the Soviet leadership was — they were starving.They didn't have food.
So they needed food from America.So Jimmy Carter made a deal that we're going to give you grain, and you allow people to get out, and that's how we were kind of exchanged for some wheat, you know," he said.
"That's how we got out.""Wow.Holy s---, man … you sometimes need to be reminded how fortunate you are," Rogan said of Americans like himself.
"You know, Americans in particular, we're very, you know, it's not our fault.Y...