The latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience put Rogan in an uncomfortable position when the topic of the new White House East Wing Ballroom came up, and he found himself reaching for arguments that did not quite land.
The conversation came up in the context of a UFC heavyweight event held at the White House, where Derrick Lewis, the athlere with the most knockouts in the sport’s history, was on the losing end of the main event.
Rogan’s producer Jamie looked up the details mid-conversation: the new White House East Wing Ballroom is projected to cost approximately $600 million, with roughly half, just over $300 million, coming from taxpayer-funded government accounts, despite earlier promises that the project would be entirely taxpayer-free.
Rogan’s defense was to frame the number against a backdrop of broader government waste.
“300 million sounds like a lot until you find out how much money they spend on other things,” he said. “When you find out how much fraud there is in nonprofits, how much fraud is in insider trading and propping up companies so that they can get better deals, the whole thing is fraud.”
His guest, comedian Ali Siddiq, was not satisfied with the comparison.
“The thing is, if you’re spending any money, that’s my money. I don’t know that I need it, or that’s not really the aim, the goal,” Siddiq said, keeping the focus on the taxpayer-funded portion rather than allowing a wider discussion of government mismanagement to serve as cover.
Rogan conceded the principle quickly enough.
“You should be able to vote on it,” he said. Siddiq agreed and pushed further: “You should be able to vote on where all your tax money goes.”
The conversation then drifted without resolution. Siddiq talked education as a more worthy target for public investment: “How much tax money is being spilled on getting smart people in places? Making smart children.”
Pointing to other examples of wasteful spending does not answer why $300 million in public funds should go toward a ballroom, particularly one that has hosted a private sporting organization’s events.
Rogan, who serves as a UFC color commentator and has a long personal relationship with the organization, may not be the most neutral voice on whether federal money should fund spaces where the UFC holds matches.
