· X post
Musk calls USAID a 'criminal organization' and amplifies disputed claim of condom funding for Gaza
…criminal organization
What he said or did
Musk wrote that USAID was a criminal organization
and that It needs to die,
and said on an X livestream that DOGE was in the process of shutting it down (NPR). He also promoted a claim that the US had planned to spend $50 million on condoms for Gaza (CNN).
Background
The condom claim followed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt's 28 January statement that $50 million in funding for condoms for Gaza had been blocked (CNN; L'Orient Today).
Official response
Senator Chuck Schumer said dissolving USAID would be illegal and against our national interests
(NPR).
Fact-checks and findings
L'Orient Today reported that aid experts called the story fabricated and official figures showed no USAID condom funding anywhere in the Middle East in fiscal years 2021–2023; CNN reported USAID condom aid totalled about $8 million worldwide in fiscal 2023, none of it to Mozambique, whose Gaza province had been suggested as the source of the confusion.
What happened next
In the Oval Office on 11 February, after a reporter raised the claim, Musk acknowledged that some things he says will be incorrect and should be corrected (CNN; L'Orient Today).
Sources
- NPR2 Feb 2025
- L'Orient Today13 Feb 2025
- CNN (via KTVZ)13 Feb 2025
This entry records what was publicly said or done, as reported by the sources above. Quotes are attributed to the person who made them.
