Joe Rogan Tells Donald Trump to Stick With UFC After Madison Square Garden Boos

Joe Rogan thinks President Donald Trump should know his arenas better.

After Trump was loudly booed at New York City’s Madison Square Garden during Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Rogan argued on the June 10 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience that Trump’s public appearances work best in friendlier territory.

“He should stick to the UFC. They’re gonna boo him everywhere else,” Rogan said during a conversation with comedian Joey Diaz.

The boos came after cameras panned to Trump during the National Anthem as the New York Knicks faced the San Antonio Spurs. Trump watched from a suite after being invited by Knicks owner James Dolan, a donor to his campaigns. His visit brought tighter security around MSG, where the usual public watch party outside the arena was restricted.

Rogan said Trump is better off avoiding venues where the reaction could be split.

“If there’s 50/50 [cheers and boos], don’t go to that spot,” Rogan said. “Go to the UFC.”

Rogan joked that Trump “never gets booed” at UFC events, especially when surrounded by familiar conservative figures.

“Especially if Kid Rock is with him, and Dana White is behind him, and then sometimes Tucker Carlson was there too... it was like the Conservative Avengers. I was like... this is ridiculous,” Rogan said.

“A figure like Rogan can absolutely redirect the narrative around the traditional politics and sports crossover,” said media and cultural analyst Kaivan Shroff.

“Rogan's response was essentially…’of course he got booed there,’ that's not his crowd,” Shroff explained. “It is a reframe that actually helps Trump shift the narrative from ‘Trump got booed’ to ‘does it really matter that he got booed in this specific arena?’”

According to Shroff, Rogan’s quip can easily compete with the mainstream narrative.

“Clips are king right now,” he said, “so how Rogan frames the situation on his podcast and then clips it up and puts it out can drive just as much of the conversation.”

“Joe Rogan just gave Trump the most honest piece of political advice he will receive this week. And he did it on a podcast with 50 million listeners,” said Amore Philip, founder of Apples and Oranges Public Relations.

“The concept of arena politics is real and it is built entirely on audience identity. UFC crowds and NBA crowds are not the same people. They do not share cultural identity, the same relationship to authority, or the same relationship to Trump,” she explained.

“Walking into an NBA Finals game in New York City as a sitting president is not a neutral appearance,” she added. “It is a test of whether your political brand travels beyond its home territory. Monday night's answer was no.”