By all indications, Joe Rogan had the time of his life at UFC Freedom 250. The long-time UFC color commentator sat cageside and marveled over the seven-fight spectacle the UFC had spent $60 million to put together. He liked it so much, in fact, that the 58-year-old called it the “greatest night of fights of all time” on his podcast recently. However, he did not like the partisan controversy that followed it. After critics blasted the event as well those who attended it, ie Shane Gillis and Nate Bargatze, Rogan told those criticizing the event to “shut the f–k up.” But now, former President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, has clapped back with a pointed retort.

“Dear Joe, I wish I could sit down with you face to face and explain why so many of us were offended by the UFC fight on the South Lawn of the White House,” Hunter Biden stated on X. “For me, it had nothing to do with the UFC or who showed up for the fights. The brand you and Dana have built is a bona fide American success story… As for the fighters… anyone brave enough to put it all on the line in the arena is remarkable to witness. And as for the people who attended, I, for one, love Shane Gillis. I think he’s hilarious and brilliant. It was a show. A once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to witness it firsthand.

“My problem is that I believe some of our public spaces are sacred. And unlike many of the great powers that came before us, these American monuments belong to all of us. Not to whoever happens to hold power at the moment.”

While it’s true that Joe Rogan personally convinced many like Shane Gillis and Nate Bargatze to attend the event, the two did indeed attended the event to simply watch the fights and not partake in partisan politics. However, images of Bargatze with HSS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and GOP Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders did take away from idea of the event being not partisan. And that seems to be Hunter Biden’s primary point of contention as well.

“The White House does not belong to Donald Trump. It does not belong to any President. It belongs to the people,” Biden added. “To treat it as Caesar treated the Colosseum is antithetical to everything our founding fathers fought for. This is not Rome. Presidents are not emperors doling out bread and circuses for the peasants. The White House is the People’s House. This “celebration” could have happened in any stadium within a stone’s throw of the South Lawn. No one would have had an issue with it. But that was obviously Donald Trump’s whole point.

“By holding the event on the South Lawn, what he was saying to the rest of us is: ‘This is my house. I own it. I will do with it what I please. I’ll build a colosseum and have the gladiators fight under my gaze. I’ll tear down the East Wing. I’ll pave over the Rose Garden. I’ll cover everything in gold and marble. I’ll erase the names of all the men who came before me.’

Here the 56-year-old was referring to the highly controversial demolition of the historic East Wing of the White House to make way for a $300 million, 90,000-square-foot ballroom envisioned by Donald Trump, as well as the $1.9 million transformation of the iconic White House Rose Garden into a stone patio. Many of this were done without the necessary authorization from the US congress. While Biden Jr loves UFC, the circumstances surrounding the event as well as its location are something he, like many, are unable to look beyond.

“The fights were an exhibition of imperial domination, not a celebration of our 250th anniversary as a democracy. The White House is not Buckingham Palace. It is not the Palace of Versailles. It is not the Forbidden City of Beijing. It does not belong to an emperor, or a king, or a commissar. The White House belongs to us. All of us. The person who sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office is nothing more than an honored guest. A temporary caretaker. The President is our servant. Not our Caesar.”

Biden ended his message by calling for a fight against Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. anywhere but the White House. This isn’t the first time Hunter Biden has blasted the UFC event at the White House spoken out against the event. 

Joe Rogan changes tune over UFC Freedom 250

Last week, just days before the June 14 spectacle, Hunter Biden criticized the event’s political undertones during a conversation with California Governor Gavin Newsom. Despite his love for UFC, he couldn’t get over the idea that UFC was forcing people to pick sides with the Freedome 250 event. This may also explain why several celebrities, including Dwayne Johnson, Adam Sandler, Jared Leto, and others, declined invitations to attend event. Many critics viewed the event as more of a celebration of Donald Trump’s 80th birthday than a commemoration of America’s 250th anniversary.

The absence of celebrities was particularly notable because figures like ‘The Rock’ have attended UFC events in the past without hesitation. The event also drew criticism for staging fighter walkouts through several iconic rooms inside the White House designated and reserved for high-level diplomatic functions. This led some critics to argue that the spectacle diminished the significance of those historic rooms. Then there were also the brawls that broke out near the Ellipse, while the evnt was in full swing.

The biggest talking point though, has been Joe Rogan’s apparent change of heart. Before the event, Rogan criticized the decision to stage UFC fights outdoors, arguing that championship bouts should not be held in open-air venues because of the potential impact on the fighters. After attending the event, however, he appeared to have softened his stance.

Many, like Hunter Biden didn’t want the event to happen at the White House. Days before the event was scheduled to take place on the South Lawn, it faced a federal lawsuit from the Public Integrity Project, which sought to block it from going ahead. A judge however dismissed the case, ruling that the challenge had been filed too late to halt the event.

At the end of the day, the event was a success in many ways, whether people liked it or not. Although Hunter Biden made excellent points to support his criticism, it would be difficult for many to overlook his bias as a political rival on this point.