Former Rep. Liz Cheney emphatically acknowledged her past work for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) when responding to a tweet by Elon Musk.
Musk, who is spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to slash government waste and fraud, has the agency in his crosshairs.
“Interesting,” Musk wrote in response to a post in which Mike Benz, founder and executive director of the Foundation for Freedom Online, said Cheney had been “spawned out of USAID.” Benz shared a screenshot from an article that said Cheney had worked at the agency.
“Damn right, @Elon. I’m proud of what America did to win the Cold War, defeat Soviet communism, and defend democracy. Our nation stood for freedom. You may be unfamiliar with that part of our history since you weren’t yet an American citizen,” Cheney declared when retweeting Musk.
USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY
Benz shared screenshots of Cheney’s post and of Musk’s post, and wrote, “‘Damn right I was spawned out of USAID.’ – Liz Cheney.”
“No kidding,” Musk replied when retweeting Benz.
President Donald Trump shared a screenshot of Musk’s post on Truth Social.
The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress notes that Cheney was a staffer at USAID from 1989-1992.
She was one of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.
Last year she endorsed, and even campaigned with, former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate who lost to Trump.
During her congressional tenure, Cheney served on the House Select Committee that probed the Jan. 6 episode.
President Joe Biden, who awarded Cheney the Presidential Citizens Medal, pardoned lawmakers and staffers who served on the committee out of concern that they could be targeted in “politically motivated prosecutions.”
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During a recent X spaces, Musk said that unlike an apple contaminated by a worm, USAID is “a bowl of worms.”
“There is no apple,” he said. “It’s beyond repair.”
