In an era when free speech and misinformation continue to duke it out, Elon Musk has come under fire for his latest appearance at the White House. The world's richest man is firmly at the side of President Donald Trump, and while he might have failed to secure an office at the White House, he's wasted no time in showing how much power he has the potential to wield.
The father of 12 was called to task over claims that the Biden administration had earmarked $50 million of USAid aid to distribute condoms to the Gaza Strip.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned the figure as the current administration put a freeze on almost all US foreign aid.
Leavitt said the figure had been discovered by the Department of Government Efficiency, with Musk calling it "the tip of the iceberg" on X.
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It comes after Musk has settled into his position as the head of the DOGE in an attempt to slash $2 trillion from government spending. Even though Musk has admitted it might not be possible, he's seemingly trying his hardest to make it happen. The National Space Council and USAid have already been gutted, while the Department of Education is also in the firing line and Musk has been accused of a 'hostile takeover' of the government.
Speaking to The Times of Isreal, Andrew Miller, who served as deputy assistant secretary for Israeli-Palestinian affairs under former US president Joe Biden, referred to the condom claims as outlandish and reiterated: "It’s possible that $50 million is put aside for sexual health or something of that nature, which would include gynecology and many other services, but definitely not condoms alone."
Appearing in his first press conference on February 11, Musk sported a black Make America Great Again cap and appeared alongside his son, X Æ A-Xii (who he calls X). With X on his shoulders, Musk was pressed on how his mention of $50 million worth of condoms being sent to Gaza was referring to the Gaza Province in Mozambique, with the aim being to protect against HIV.
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The head of the DOGE admitted: "Well, first of all, some of the things that I say will be incorrect and should be corrected. So nobody’s going to bat a thousand. I mean, any, you know, we will make mistakes but will act quickly to correct any mistakes.”
He went on to tell the press at the White House: "I'm not sure we should be sending $50 million worth of condoms to anywhere, frankly. I'm not sure that's something Americans would be really excited about."
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As President Trump chuckled from the sidelines, Musk concluded: "That is really an enormous number of condoms when you think about it, but if it went to Mozambique instead of Gaza, I'm like, 'Okay, that's not as bad.'"
The journalist who asked the original question had quizzed Musk on how we could fact-check everything he says and trust his claims of fraud within the government.
Defending his actions, Musk has since reposted the interaction alongside a caption reading: "$50M of condoms is a LOT of condoms."