Why Fix It When Fraud Pays So Well? [WATCH]

Fox News anchor Trace Gallagher and conservative commentator Benny Johnson sharply criticized California’s handling of homelessness during an on-air exchange, questioning how billions of taxpayer dollars have been spent while the state continues to struggle with widespread homelessness.

The discussion centered on California’s reported $24 billion expenditure aimed at addressing homelessness, a figure Gallagher raised sarcastically to highlight the lack of visible improvement across the state.

“I think that’s impossible, but they spent $24 billion on the homeless. It’s all cleaned up. I mean, it’s all it’s all healed,” Gallagher said.

Johnson responded by pointing to the continued presence of homeless encampments throughout California, disputing any suggestion that the crisis has improved.

“Yeah, that’s right, trace. It’s just healed on every single street corner, every single bridge and underpass, every single on ramp or off ramp, and in every single neighborhood there is homelessness in this state,” Johnson said.

“Why is that exactly?”

Gallagher agreed that the situation raised serious questions.

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“That’s a great question?” Gallagher said.

Johnson argued that the scale of spending compared to the lack of results suggests deeper problems, including possible misuse of funds. He said the issue becomes clearer when the cost is broken down per individual.

“You got to ask the question, How much money are they spending here?” Johnson said.

“And this is why it reeks of fraud.”

Johnson said he believes investigations in California have uncovered troubling information that could lead to further scrutiny at the federal level.

“And we believe that in our investigations out here in California, we have truly uncovered some major bombshells that will lead to federal investigations of fraud here in this state,” he said.

“Some of them are already ongoing.”

He then walked through the math behind the spending.

“And you got to run the numbers, 24 billion,” Johnson said. “Well, wait a second, that means $170,000 is being spent per homeless person in this state where I’m from, trace. That’s the price of a house.”

Johnson argued that the money, if used differently, could directly resolve the issue for many individuals.

“You could just buy a home for every homeless person,” he said. “So something’s happening here.”

Johnson described what he called a system that benefits from keeping the problem unresolved.

“And we call it the homeless industrial complex,” Johnson said.

“There is an ecosystem built in this state in order to profit from nonprofits, and that’s precisely what is happening.”

According to Johnson, the continued existence of homelessness benefits organizations and individuals who receive funding tied to the problem itself.

“The homelessness problem in this state is not really a problem for people that are making money off of it,” he said.

“And there’s a ton of money to be made, billions of dollars.”

Johnson concluded by questioning the incentive structure behind the state’s homelessness programs.

“Why would you want to fix something that is making you so rich?” he said.

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