Posted on 02/08/2025 6:05:20 AM PST by where's_the_Outrage?
President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on Thursday that he has uncovered what he says “could be the biggest scandal of them all, perhaps the biggest in history!” He alleged (in capital letters) that “billions of dollars have been stollen [sic] at USAID, and other agencies, much of it going to the fake news media as a ‘payoff’ for creating good stories about the Democrats.” The president went on to claim Politico had received $8 million from the federal government, and questioned if The New York Times and other media outlets had also received payments.
Even for a man with a long record of spreading misinformation and disinformation, this ranks up there as one of his most stupefying conspiracy theories to date.
What Trump is describing as scandalous state funding of media outlets is in fact the banal business of government agencies paying for subscriptions from those outlets. Not only is this not corrupt, it’s a good thing for a functioning democracy that federal workers stay up to date on the news. The administration’s subsequent decision to cancel all subscriptions to media outlets, billed as a way to make the government more “efficient” and less corrupt, distills the militantly know-nothing attitude of the contemporary American right......
These accusations are nonsense. First of all, “billions” of dollars are not going to these media outlets; in the case of Politico, in 2023 and 2024, USAID paid a total of $44,000 to the media outlet. Furthermore, there is nothing unseemly about subscribing to a newspaper, just as it isn’t scandalous for the government to pay a laptop manufacturer for a laptop.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
As noted on another FR post, where are the same subscriptions to conservative publications such as the Washington Times, NY Post, etc?
Exactly!
Funny the lefties are all in on Deep State now.
What will happen if it is revealed Deep State was
behind murder, say, of JFK, MLK, and RFK?
Or do they no longer care?
They’ll lie to the last gasp because the lie is the point.
They talk about a free press, so why does the government have to pay for it? /sarc
DOGE found out that millions of dollars were spent on subscriptions that nobody even looked at!
“ questioned if The New York Times and other media outlets had also received payments.”
Perhaps MSNBC would be able to explain how this bankrupt and ever-decreasingly circulated rag does get its money
Young people get news strictly from the internet and they’re not buying the Times on line
Politico is reported as receiving 8 million in hundreds of USAID grants.
It is a far cry from $44,000.
You wouldn’t really expect an upright, honest, news organization like PMSNBC to approve the government subscribing to such conservative fake news publications like the Wahington Times, NY Post, etc., do you? (sarcasm)
Zeesh, an—Operation Mockingbird lying and distorting defense if I’ve seen one.
They can’t handle it, their play book doesn’t allow for reality check.
Please stick with the 20 out of the 80/20
The ”celebration” of the left is over, just wailing and gnashing of teeth
It’s fun to watch MSNBC and CNN try to gaslight. They have no audience, are stand alone entities and can’t accept that losing Facebook and Twitter were death blows. By the time they spew their lies, they have been debunked on X snd have reached an audience 50x as large.
Well, it depends. If an agency spends a few 10s of thousnads on subscriptions for its readers, that’s one thing. If it spends tons of money on $10,000 premium subscriptions to Politico, on the other hand, it may be a convenient way of laundering payments to Politico to carry that agency’s water.
Being a slow thinker I don’t understand how they hire someone to write BS then read the BS convincing themselves it is the truth.
I didn’t kill him your honor...
The gun did...
THAT is like ‘PAYING “ HUGE SUMS IN ADVANCE FOR A BOOK THAT NEVER SELLS.
HOW many copies of Hillary’s book actually sold.???
So let me get this straight: the government is spending $millions to find out what’s going on in government?
Mad Hatter material.
And BBC says that 8% of their overall budget is paid for by USAID. That’s a lot of Pay per view!
Even for a man with a long record of spreading misinformation and disinformation, this ranks up there as one of his most stupefying conspiracy theories to date.
We must remember that they are showing us that change is not in thier agenda they will stop at nothing so we must stop at nothing to crush them into dust
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.