Lauren Boebert Smacked Down For Raging Against Media ‘No One Trusts’ — That She Also Pays For
Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) joined in spreading the latest MAGA-world accusation against USAID on Wednesday, but it was quickly revealed that the claim was grossly misrepresented and that Boebert herself was engaged in the same practice she was raging about.
Boebert shared a Politico report on the many false allegations Elon Musk has spread against USAID and captioned the image by writing, “LOL. @politico is trying to attack @elonmusk because he’s exposing their grift. NEWS FLASH: No one trusts media funded by the deep state!!”
Musk and others had claimed earlier in the day that Politico was receiving millions of dollars in funding from USAID, based on spending reports that Musk’s DOGE had apparently seized from the humanitarian aid organization. Musk has unilaterally moved to shutter the agency, which was created and funded through federal law.
The claim made its way to Trump’s White House and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during her Wednesday briefing, “I was made aware of the funding of USAID to media outlets, including Politico … And I can confirm that the more than eight million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer’s dime will no longer be happening. The DOGE team is working on canceling those payments now.”
The claim was quickly fact-checked by various media outlets, which found that USAID had actually been a subscriber to Politico Pro – a resource that tracks legislation on Capitol Hill. Of the $8.2 million that government agencies had spent on Politico Pro, USAID had spent $24,000 on the widely relied-upon service, reported Axios.
Community Notes was quick to add context to Boebert’s tweet and noted that her Congressional office also pays for the news service, which she claimed “no one trusts.” “Members of Congress and administration officials pay for Politico Pro, a service that provides policy updates. Lauren Boebert also pays for this service in her office,” read the community note affixed by X to Boebert’s tweet.
Reason’s Billy Binion went through Boebert’s expense report and found the line item with the exact amount, he reported, “Here it is. Lauren Boebert’s office paid Politico LLC $7,150 for a yearlong subscription starting on Jan 27 last year. This is just a remarkably stupid news cycle.”
Musk-sourced claims regarding Politico receiving government funding are just the latest debunked accusation made by the Tesle billionaire and Trump mega-donor. Leavitt last week claimed that USAID had planned to spend $50 million for condoms in Gaza, which Trump this week doubled to $100 million for “condoms for Hamas” – reporters quickly debunked both claims.
Veteran investigative journalist Robert Mackey noted this week that Musk’s team had taken down much of USAID’s website, including publicly available spending information that was used to debunk he claim. “Among the USAID reports now taken offline by @elonmusk’s ‘Doge’ is the one I used on Tuesday to prove the US has spent exactly $0 on condoms for Gaza, not $50 million — false information the White House press secretary said she got from @elonmusk’s ‘Doge,’” wrote Mackey.
Below are some more fact-checks of recent claims regarding USAID:
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