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Eugene

(64,247 posts)
Thu Feb 20, 2025, 07:51 AM Feb 20

Elon Musk's Empty Hunt for Condoms Is Causing Real Harm

Source: The Rolling Stone

Elon Musk’s Empty Hunt for Condoms Is Causing Real Harm

Mac William Bishop
Wed, February 19, 2025 at 10:36 AM EST 9 min read

Multiple aid agencies have effectively ceased operations preventing the global spread of HIV and treating patients with AIDS in the wake of funding cuts by the Trump administration.

That’s the result of Elon Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) appearing to take special aim at programs that include the word “condoms” or “contraceptives” in their funding documents. This includes virtually every initiative related to a global HIV/AIDS response program administered by the State Department known as the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

The furor over aid funding that includes contraceptives eventually led to the false allegation that the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, was trying to supply condoms to a designated terror group, Hamas. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said late last month that Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had found that $50 million worth of taxpayer money was ready to go “out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” adding: “That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.”

President Donald Trump, himself, claimed: “We identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas.”

The allegation formed the centerpiece of the campaign to abolish USAID amid claims of “massive fraud” at the agency.

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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-empty-hunt-condoms-153652407.html

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