Quotes
Cutting funding to these essential efforts sends the wrong signal to dictatorships and undermines the brave individuals fighting for freedom."
Thor Halvorssen, founder of the Human Rights Foundation Smart move by Elon Musk, trying to plug USAID's deep throat. Let's hope the deep state doesn't swallow him whole."
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council stated Your tax dollars should be spent on America or the government should just tax you less,
I know this is going to sound weird but I feel like I haven't even begun to unload on USAID and how dark it all goes,
It's a big organization in a huge government, and clearly there are lots of inefficiencies, plenty of programs that I'm sure any sensible American would find that we're spending too much money on or that shouldn't be continued,
All of these things have been in the mix for a long time,
said Joseph Uscinski, a professor at the University of Miami who studies conspiracy theories So our U.S. tax dollars were used effectively to, in the end, kill Americans, which is insane,
Musk said of USAID in an X Space on Monday But now many of those influencers have immense power, both financial and political,
Two narratives permeate the MAGA argument against USAID,
said Eric Curwin, Pyrra's chief technology officer If you ask me does an organization like USAID scream for reform, along with pretty much every part of the U.S. government, the answer is, of course, yes,
Benz runs the same playbook every time,
said Renee DiResta, an associate research professor at Georgetown University and author of a book about how fringe creators, including Benz, increasingly influence public opinion The money laundering is done through several intermediaries,
I don’t think anybody’s going to die because we don’t give the Taliban any more condoms.”
Mocking the move, he remarked Now is the moment when these international networks have to be taken down, they have to be swept away,
It's a shame, ... the fund
said Kovcheg's founder, Anastasia Burakova, Without immediate alternative support, these crucial activities may not continue at the same scale or effectiveness,
said Ion Manole, the association’s executive director Without their existence, our work will become significantly more difficult,
a spokesman for OVD-Info said USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die."
Elon Musk posted on X, formerly Twitter, on February 2: The Mandate does lament that USAID's spending and bureaucracy have grown too large, calling out the 'aid industrial complex' that they claim has developed in response to an agency that needs more oversight. But the Mandate does not suggest—or even hint at—doing away with the agency wholesale, as Musk has done."
The author of the Tracking Project 2025 blog said in a Thursday post USAID, run by radical lunatics, and we're getting them out, and then we'll make a decision."
President Donald Trump told reporters on February 2:
