Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is facing backlash for promoting a clip of Joe Rogan saying he would probably vote for Sanders for president.

On his The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the mixed martial arts color commentator said that he would “probably vote” for Sanders in November. The Sanders campaign on Thursday tweeted out a video of Rogan's support.

A backlash quickly followed over comments Rogan previously made against gay men and transgender people.

In a statement, the Sanders campaign responded to the controversy, citing the need to defeat President Donald Trump in the upcoming election.

“The goal of our campaign is to build a multi-racial, multi-generational movement that is large enough to defeat Donald Trump and the powerful special interests whose greed and corruption is the root cause of the outrageous inequality in America,” a spokesperson said in a statement given to the Washington Blade. “Sharing a big tent requires including those who do not share every one of our beliefs, while always making clear that we will never compromise our values. The truth is that by standing together in solidarity, we share the values of love and respect that will move us in the direction of a more humane, more equal world.”

On Saturday, former Vice President Joe Biden, who leads in national polls for the Democratic presidential nomination, appeared to take a swipe at Sanders, saying in a tweet that “transgender equality is the civil rights issue of our time.”

Rogan has repeatedly stated that transgender women should not compete in sports against other women.

“I say no fucking way. I say if you had a dick at one point in time, you also have all the bone structure that comes with having a dick. You have bigger hands. You have bigger shoulder joints. You're a fucking man. That's a man, OK?” he said in 2013 about transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox.

He also for years defended the use of the word “faggot,” claiming that it wasn't a slur to gay men. In 2010, he said he would no longer use the word.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate, also criticized Sander's promotion of Rogan's support.

“Given Rogan’s comments, it is disappointing that the Sanders campaign has accepted and promoted the endorsement,” HRC President Alphonso David said in a statement. “The Sanders campaign must reconsider this endorsement and the decision to publicize the views of someone who has consistently attacked and dehumanized marginalized people.”