Given what we know about USAID’s relationships with a host of liberal media outlets, these remarks from Politico’s White House correspondent are entertaining. It’s funny how tone-deaf it is, given the outlet was exposed for having USAID as its sugar daddy. Even more fun is how Politico reacted when this sordid relationship got exposed, thanks to the Department of Government Efficiency. Last Sunday on Washington Week with The Atlantic, Politico’s White House reporter Eugene Daniels said, “They [DOGE] say they've gone in, they found all of this waste that has been happening. We haven't seen it“ (via RealClearPolitics):
JEFFREY GOLDBERG, THE ATLANTIC, HOST: But I have to ask, I mean, there are many documented cases of government waste, including in USAID. I've covered countries where USAID was not the most efficient deliverer of services. Did they set themselves up in a kind of way? Was there a kind of a laxity in the way that these things were administered that allowed this to happen, or is that just an unfair --
EUGENE DANIELS, POLITICO: I mean, I think when you have a bunch of humans doing one thing and the bigger the organization gets, there's always going to be some thing that is missed. I think what we have not --
GOLDBERG: This show, for instance.
DANIELS: But what we've seen -- what we have not seen from Elon Musk or this administration is in the evidence of all of this abuse that they're talking about, right? Like they say they've gone in, they found all of this waste that has been happening. We haven't seen it.
I will say though, it matters -- it's a test case and it matters who or what organizations or groups of people push back. We're not seeing a lot of pushback on the Hill, where there's absolute -- where they are supposed to have the power of the purse. They created these organizations. Republicans are not saying anything. I've talked to many of them, Republicans. Why do you think you don't have the power?
If USAID were paying my employer millions, I would say, ‘I see nothing,’ too, guy. Also, this show is the cesspool of swamp propaganda. Enter The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum, who claims the closing of USAID means the death of everyone, everywhere…forever:
"If USAID is destroyed, if it's not blocked by the courts, USAID is about 40% of all the humanitarian aid given in the world," said @anneapplebaum.
— Washington Week with The Atlantic | PBS (@washingtonweek) February 8, 2025
"Removing USAID means probably the collapse of food aid programs across Africa, probably the collapse of aid to help refugees." pic.twitter.com/5GD4j2rkci
“I don’t really care, Margaret.”
Here are more ways USAID found to waste your tax dollars. pic.twitter.com/IbBzQ1555Q
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) February 11, 2025
That’s all I have to say about any liberal whining about what Trump is doing in downsizing the federal workforce. And USAID has its fingerprints all over the Trump impeachment, the Russian collusion hoax, and is the primary driver in creating a media echo chamber at home and abroad, touting the interests of the political class. We have the receipts now, and business is closed.
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