Royce White defends campaign spending at strip club, says it was spent on food, not strippers

After a report about U.S. Senate candidate Royce White spending campaign money at a strip club, White claimed that the money was spent only on food during an interview on “The David Pakman Show.”

Eleven minutes into the interview, Pakman asked White about the validity of a recent report from The Daily Beast, which shined light on FEC filings from White’s 2022 congressional run that showed campaign money was spent at a strip club. White insisted that the money was used to buy food at the strip club, not on strippers themselves. White also falsely accused the Daily Beast and Pakman of saying the money was specifically used on strippers.

PAKMAN: “Your claim is there were filings which said you spent campaign funds at a strip club, but they were incorrect filings?”

WHITE: “No they didn’t say I spent the funds at a strip club, or let’s say, they didn’t say I spent the funds on strippers.”

PAKMAN: “But it was spent at a strip club?”

WHITE: “Well, they sell food at the strip club, don’t they?”

White went on to interrogate Pakman on whether he knew that strip clubs sell food or not because he seemed “very unfamiliar with strippers and strip clubs.”

NEW: Minnesota GOP-endorsed Senate candidate Royce White explains FEC reports that show he spent campaign funds at a strip club:

“They sell food at the strip club, don’t they? … So to say it was spent on strippers is not based on factual evidence.” pic.twitter.com/UU0kHpwkeL

— Heartland Signal (@HeartlandSignal) June 11, 2024

The 16-minute interview descended into chaos after Pakman accused the former NBA player of lying when White implied that someone else in his campaign used the money at the strip club. White refused to say who spent the money, saying “you white liberals have a lot of nerve.”

White’s 2022 campaign failed to make it past the primary election, where he lost to Cicely Davis by 1,076 votes. Davis went on to overwhelmingly lose (74.3%-24.5%) in the general election to incumbent Rep. Ilhan Omar (D). White is now running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D) with the backing of the Republican Party of Minnesota.