Hoosier Congressman Criticizes ‘Woke’ USAID Spending
Source: (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — President Trump recently called to “close [the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)] down.” One Hoosier Congressman supports this effort.
USAID is an organization tasked with administering various forms of foreign aid. It was established in 1961 under the leadership of President Kennedy.
But, in recent days, it has been heavily scrutinized by the Trump administration, which claims that it is misusing funds and abusing its power at the expense of the American people.
In a video posted to his Twitter page, Hoosier Congressman Jim Baird argued that China has continued to “expand its global presence” while USAID and the U.S. State Department have been “pushing DEI and other woke projects overseas.”
Baird listed examples of what he calls the agency’s “ridiculous” spending, including:
- $446,700 spent “to promote the expansion of Atheism in Nepal”
- $1 million spent “to boost French-speaking LGBTQ+ groups in west and central Africa”
- $14 million given “in cash vouchers for migrants at the southern border”
- $20,600 spent on a “drag show in Ecuador”
- $47,020 spent on a “transgender opera in Colombia”
- $32,000 spent on an “LGBTQ+-centered comic book in Peru”
- $3,315,436 spent in support of LGBTQ+ people in the Caribbean
- $80,000 spent on an “LGBTQ+ community center in Slovakia”
- $3.2 million given to “help Tunisian migrants readjust to life in Tunisia after deportation”
- $1.5 million spent to “promote job opportunities for LGBTQ+ individuals in Serbia”
- $70,884 spent on a “musical to promote DEI in Ireland”
- $2.5 million spent to help “build EV charging stations in Vietnam”
- $425,622 spent to support Indonesian coffee companies in becoming “more climate and gender friendly.”
He called these efforts a waste of taxpayer dollars.
