Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods
As the Trump administration works to dismantle the aid agency, right-wing influencers have flooded the internet with falsehoods about its work.
The video falsely claiming that the United States Agency for International Development paid Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and other actors millions of dollars to travel to Ukraine appeared to be a clip from E!News, though it never appeared on the entertainment channel.
In fact, the video first surfaced on X in a post from an account that researchers have said spreads Russian disinformation.
Within hours it drew the attention of Elon Musk, who reposted it. So did President Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr.
They amplified the false video as Mr. Musk pressed a crusade to shut down U.S.A.I.D., the agency that has distributed much of the government’s foreign aid since 1961. Working with Mr. Trump’s blessing as the head of a government efficiency campaign, Mr. Musk and others in the administration have taken over the agency’s headquarters, frozen grants and notified employees that nearly all of them will be laid off.
The dismantling of the agency has been accompanied by a torrent of anger online from right-wing influencers and accounts that are promoting false claims and conspiratorial thinking.
While some politicians and voters have long questioned the value of foreign aid, those attacking the agency have often distorted facts and, wittingly or unwittingly, embraced as true anything that could help justify targeting U.S.A.I.D.
Posts on X About Politico and U.S.A.I.D.
Nearly 15,000 posts on X over two days mentioned U.S.A.I.D. and Politico, with many users falsely claiming that the humanitarian organization paid the news website millions of dollars.
Cumulative views
80 million
Viktor Orban
Prime minister
of Hungary
70
Nearly 10 hours after his first post,
the same independent journalist
clarifies that U.S.A.I.D. had paid
Politico only $24,000 for 2024.
60
50
40
Benny Johnson
Podcaster
30
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Republican of Georgia
20
Charlie Kirk
Podcaster
10
An independent journalist goes viral suggesting
that U.S.A.I.D. paid Politico more than $8 million.
0
1,000
3,000
5,000
7,000
9,000
11,000
13,000
Cumulative number of posts
Cumulative views
80 million
Viktor Orban
Prime minister
of Hungary
Nearly 10 hours after his first post, the same journalist clarifies that U.S.A.I.D.
had paid Politico only $24,000 for 2024.
70
60
50
40
Benny Johnson
Podcaster
30
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Republican of Georgia
20
Charlie Kirk
Podcaster
10
An independent journalist suggests that U.S.A.I.D. paid Politico more than $8 million.
0
1,000
7,000
13,000
Cumulative number of posts
Viral Disinformation About U.S.A.I.D.
A false video, claiming that celebrities were paid by U.S.A.I.D. for visiting Ukraine, went viral online and was reposted by Elon Musk, X’s owner and most-followed user. It appeared to be part of a Russian influence campaign, according to Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub.
