Karoline Leavitt Just Delivered a Costly Message That Politico and Other Media Outlets Will NOT Like
http://twitchy.com/dougp/2025/02/05/karoline-leavitt-has-a-costly-message-politico-and-other-media-outlets-will-not-like-n2407898
As we told you earlier, Democrats are having more fits simply because the Trump administration, with help from Elon Musk's DOGE, have been exposing where taxpayer dollars have been spent via USAID and elsewhere.
The Dems say USAID is crucial to national security and global stability, but as it turns out the organization has in fact been largely important to Democrat security and stability. It's looking like millions and millions of taxpayer dollars have been sent via USAID and government agencies to select media outlets, including Politico, the New York Times and others in the form of purchasing subscriptions for gov't employees:
Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) ~ The Politico scandal is worse than you think. It’s not $8M that Politico received from USAID. It’s $34.3M that Politico has received from various swampy federal govt agencies. Politico is, without a doubt, a totally corrupt propaganda arm of the swamp. Follow along below.
Nothing to see here, just U.S. government agencies handing out taxpayer money to media outlets that report on the government.
Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) ~ The US Government gave the New York Times tens of millions of dollars over just the past 5 years despite paying relatively little money to the NYT in the years preceding 2021. For instance, in August 2024, the US government awarded $4.1 million to the NYT.
The bulk of the funds came from the US Department of Health and Human Services at $26.90m, followed by the National Science Foundation at $19.15m
Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) ~ It's not just Politico. The Associated Press has been raking in millions of dollars in government money for years. The AP's bias also makes perfect sense.
Trump press secretary Karoline Leavitt went to the White House briefing room today to remind some media outlets that this particular gravy train is over:
Townhall.com (@townhallcom) ~ @PressSec on Legacy Media outlets receiving funding from USAID:
"The more than 8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to @politico... will no longer be happening. The @DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now."
Video ~ http://twitter.com/i/status/1887208928297296302
Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) ~ Good. These aren’t charities.
No, they're Democrat propaganda outlets.
The Dank Knight (@capeandcowell) ~ "Journalists" finding out live they’re about to lose their paycheck. This day can’t get any better.
At least now we know why one of the co-founders of Politico was so troubled by DOGE's efforts:
NeverTweet (@LOLNeverTweet) ~ Politico Co-Founder @JimVandeHei
“My message to @ElonMusk is: Bullshit — You are not the media.”
Apparently, USAID is the media.
Video ~ http://twitter.com/i/status/1887171657803923892
That makes even MORE sense now.
Perhaps not coincidentally Politico's staffers were reportedly paid late:
Politico staffers received their bi-weekly direct deposits late this week, irking staffers who believe Elon Musk’s crackdown on government spending played a role in the late payment.
Politico has received at least $8.2 million from the U.S. government in recent years, with $44,000 of that coming from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), according to USAspending.gov. Musk, the world’s richest man now in charge of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has announced plans to cut funding for USAID.
Where will losing all this USAID money lead for the affected media outlets? Stay tuned.
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