The White House pushed back after leftist actor Richard Gere blasted the Trump administration for doing away with the wasteful USAID program, which for decades sent billions of American tax dollars to fund far-left programs and politicians in foreign countries.
Gere spoke to the Associated Press recently while doing press availability for season two of the Paramount+ spy series, The Agency, and instead of sticking to talking of his TV series, in many of these interviews he went on the attack against Trump.
As he so often does, Gere took aim at Trump once again in his AP interview, where he blasted the president on immigration, Israel policy, and the cutting of USAID.
As to USAID, Gere lamented its elimination, saying, “USAID was probably the most pure thing America did up to that moment. It was a giveaway program to needy people. He stopped that day one. It was insane. He wouldn’t even know what it stands for, USAID. He has idiots around him who have the same ignorance about it.”
The White House did not let that pass without comment. The official White House Rapid Response account on X tore into Gere’s comments.
“What will the world do without millions for Guatemalan sex changes or DEI in Serbia? Because that’s the type of bullshit USAID was funding,” the X account asked.
“It was a slush fund for Radical Left activists to enrich themselves and undermine America’s interests.”
Indeed, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio addressed this issue head on. Rubio pointed out that only a tiny fraction of the money Americans pumped into USAID went to help needy people. In May of last year, Rubio revealed that only a mere 12 cents of every USAID dollar actually helped anyone in need. The rest went to administrators and left-wing programs and politicians and activists in foreign countries without helping anyone in need.
“At USAID, 12 cents of every dollar was reaching the recipient. That means that in order for us to get aid to somebody, we had to spend all this other money supporting this foreign aid industrial complex,” Rubio said.
“We’re going to find more efficient ways to deliver aid to people directly. It’s going to be directed by our regional bureaus. It’s going to sponsor programs that make a difference. And it’s going to be part of a holistic approach to our foreign policy.”
See Gere’s AP interview below:
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