Rand Paul Slams $300,000 in US Funds for 'Clown School' in Argentina

Sen. Rand Paul chided the federal government in his annual report of wasteful spending, saying the U.S. "spent $324,015 to pay for a clown school in Argentina."

Here's the Kentucky Republican's tweet, from Saturday:

The Inter-American Foundation, a federal agency that provides foreign aid, began funding Circo Social del Sur in Argentina in 2008, BizPac Review reports.

The school employs "circus arts to teach other skills to children, teenagers, and young adults in poor neighborhoods in Buenos Aires."

While technically not a "clown school" — as Paul asserted in his report — it seeks to lower youth unemployment by teaching children acrobatics, dance, and trapeze gymnastics, according to the report.

The Daily Caller News Foundation found grants for the school totaling about $285,000 between 2008 and 2012, just short of the figure cited by Paul, BizPac Review reports.

Since 1972, the federal foundation has awarded 5,100 grants totaling more than $720 million to "the most creative ideas for self-help" in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the report.

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