During a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience with comedian Joey Diaz, a conversation about Donald Trump’s attendance at an NBA playoff game led to a notable contradiction from Rogan regarding Trump’s reception at sporting events.
The discussion began when Diaz mentioned the backlash surrounding Trump’s appearance at the game, particularly because of the extensive security measures that accompany a former president’s visit.
“People were so upset that Trump was going to go to the NBA because if he’s there then they have all these crazy security protocols,” Rogan said. “It makes the traffic even worse.”
Diaz agreed, noting how much the event was disrupted by the added security. “There was no parties. There was no nothing,” Diaz said.
Rogan then suggested that Trump is better received at UFC events than in other sports settings.
“He should stick to the UFC,” Rogan said. “They’re going to boo him everywhere else.”
Diaz quickly pushed back, claiming Trump had also been booed at the NBA game. “Oh, they booed him,” Diaz said. “I didn’t watch the whole game. I was out.”
Rogan acknowledged that the reaction inside the arena wasn’t entirely one-sided.
“Some people cheered,” he said. “I heard it was like cheers and boos, but the problem is if there’s cheers and any boos there, if there’s like 50/50, don’t go to that spot. Go to the UFC.”
The conversation then shifted to Trump’s appearances at UFC events, where Rogan stated that Trump has never been booed.
“People say he got booed at the UFC,” Rogan said. “I’ve seen him at the UFC six times or something like that. I don’t know how many times. Never get booed.”
Rogan went even further, insisting that reports of boos at UFC events were simply inaccurate.
“He’s never gotten booed,” he said. “They cheer.”
He continued by accusing critics of misrepresenting what actually happens when Trump enters a UFC arena.
“The people that say they’re booing him, you’re distorting reality. It’s not true,” Rogan said.
He then described the atmosphere that typically surrounds Trump’s appearances.
“They cheer him like he walks in there to the American bada*s song,” Rogan said. “Especially if Kid Rock is with him and Dana White’s behind him and then sometimes Tucker Carlson was there too back when they were close.”
Rogan capped off the description with a joke. “It was like the Conservative Avengers,” he said.
The issue with Rogan’s comments is that they appear to contradict remarks he made six years earlier on an episode of his podcast with comedian Greg Fitzsimmons.
While discussing Trump’s appearance at UFC 244 in 2019, Rogan recalled being cageside when the former president entered the arena. According to Rogan’s account at the time, he deliberately removed his headphones so he could clearly hear the crowd’s reaction.
What he said he heard was overwhelmingly boos rather than cheers.
Rogan stated, “They booed the f**k out of him at the UFC… I took my headphones off just to listen, and it was ‘boooo.’ 18,000 people going ‘booo.'”
Rogan also disputed claims made by Trump’s son that the crowd was chanting “USA.” He said, “Maybe four people behind him were chanting ‘USA.'”
According to his earlier recollection, only a small group of supporters near Trump were chanting, while much of the arena responded negatively.
