{"id":4630,"date":"2025-02-08T00:10:26","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T00:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/"},"modified":"2025-02-08T00:10:26","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T00:10:26","slug":"right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/","title":{"rendered":"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The video falsely claiming that the United States Agency for International Development paid Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and other actors millions of dollars to travel to Ukraine appeared to be a clip from E!News, though it never appeared on the entertainment channel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In fact, the video first surfaced on X in a post from an account that researchers have said<span class=\"css-8l6xbc evw5hdy0\">  <\/span>spreads Russian disinformation. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Within hours it drew the attention of Elon Musk, who reposted it. So did President Trump\u2019s son Donald Trump Jr.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They amplified the false video as Mr. Musk pressed a crusade to shut down U.S.A.I.D., the agency that has distributed much of the government\u2019s foreign aid since 1961. Working with Mr. Trump\u2019s blessing as the head of a government efficiency campaign, Mr. Musk and others in the administration have taken over the agency\u2019s headquarters, frozen grants and notified employees that <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/06\/us\/politics\/usaid-job-cuts.html\" title=\"\">nearly all<\/a> of them will be laid off.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The dismantling of the agency has been accompanied by a torrent of anger online from right-wing influencers and accounts that are promoting false claims and conspiratorial thinking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">While some politicians and voters have long questioned the value of foreign aid, those attacking the agency have often distorted facts and, wittingly or unwittingly, embraced as true anything that could help justify targeting U.S.A.I.D.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That includes Mr. Musk himself, who has used the platform he took over in 2022 as <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/04\/technology\/elon-musk-x-doge.html\" title=\"\">a megaphone<\/a> for the effort to slash the federal bureaucracy. On Sunday Mr. Musk called it \u201ca criminal organization,\u201d without explaining the basis for such an accusation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cHe\u2019s exploiting ignorance about the way government works, and the lack of oversight over anything he\u2019s doing,\u201d said Mike Rothschild, a disinformation researcher and author of \u201cJewish Space Lasers,\u201d a book about conspiracy theories. \u201cAll of it is incredibly dangerous, and happening right in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The flurry of attacks also <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/03\/23\/technology\/russia-american-far-right-ukraine.html\" title=\"\">underscored once again<\/a> how much Republican views have increasingly <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/09\/07\/business\/media\/russia-tenet-media-tim-pool.html\" title=\"\">converged with propaganda<\/a> emanating from the Kremlin or with narratives aligned with its international goals, especially on Mr. Musk\u2019s platform. The false video about the celebrities appeared to be the work of an influence campaign that has produced dozens of similar fakes about Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine, according to Clemson University\u2019s Media Forensics Hub.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cRussian anti-Ukraine propaganda has thoroughly infiltrated certain communities on X,\u201d said Darren L. Linvill, a researcher there, who traced the spread of the faked clip from its origin on X through a network of accounts that has distributed Russian fakes before.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cGiven how much time Musk spends on his platform,\u201d Dr. Linvill said, \u201cit was probably inevitable that some fabricated Russian message would resonate with him, and this one seemed almost designed to do just that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Neither Mr. Musk nor Donald Trump Jr. responded immediately to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">X didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment about the spread of misinformation about U.S.A.I.D. on the platform, though it has added a note to posts sharing the video about the actors, noting that it is not real.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Much of the frenzy online this week has centered on U.S.A.I.D.\u2019s many grants, information about which has been publicly available for years. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One viral claim, for example, started after an account on X with more than half a million followers suggested that Politico, the Washington news website, had received more than $8 million from U.S.A.I.D.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That wasn\u2019t true. The website had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/06\/business\/trump-politico-usaid-spending-conspiracy.html\" title=\"\">received about $44,000<\/a> from U.S.A.I.D. for subscriptions to its premium environmental and energy publication over two years, and more than $8 million in subscription revenue from a variety of agencies, including the Department of Energy.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Even so, the claim shot rapidly across social media, as influencers and politicians with even more followers amplified the idea.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">That set off a round of other misleading claims about U.S.A.I.D. granting money to the BBC and The New York Times. (The agency has instead granted money to an independent charity that shares a name <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/mediaaction\/press-release\/4-feb-25\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">with the BBC<\/a>. The most viral claim about The New York Times was based on an inaccurate search of government records that included grants to unrelated, but similar-sounding groups, like New York University. <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NYTimesPR\/status\/1887604934578712752\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">In a statement<\/a>, The Times said that the payments it had received were for subscriptions; <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.usaspending.gov\/search\/?hash=1c52a31366e909b012b06d036d389cc1\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">government data shows<\/a> it has also received some advertising revenue from the government. In a memo to staff, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/06\/business\/trump-politico-usaid-spending-conspiracy.html\" title=\"\">Politico\u2019s leaders said<\/a> the publication had \u201cnever been a beneficiary of government programs or subsidies.\u201d)<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The facts failed to reach a significant audience online, but the misinformation was elevated by prominent podcasters, politicians and Trump allies within hours.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Accounts devoted to sharing conspiracy theories said the claims were somehow evidence that the Democrats used U.S.A.I.D. to fund a \u201cfake news empire.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">By Wednesday afternoon, Viktor Orban, Hungary\u2019s prime minister and authoritarian leader, echoed the claims swirling in the United States, writing on X that payments to Politico somehow financed \u201cbasically the entire left-wing media in Hungary\u201d \u2014 a viral post that received more than 26 million views.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Soon the idea spread to the Oval Office, where Mr. Trump used his Truth Social account to criticize the government\u2019s news subscriptions \u2014 payments that had occurred during his first presidency as well \u2014 as \u201cpayoffs\u201d for \u201ccreating good stories about the Democrats.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cThis could be the biggest scandal of them all, perhaps the biggest in history!\u201d he wrote in all-caps on Thursday morning as other users demanded criminal investigations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Karoline Leavitt, the White House\u2019s press secretary, announced that the administration would cancel all Politico subscriptions. On Thursday, the Agriculture Department said it had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/06\/business\/media\/politico-news-subscriptions-white-house.html\" title=\"\">canceled<\/a> its Politico subscriptions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For Russia and China, the American conservative uproar over U.S.A.I.D. has been met with startled glee.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Both nations, echoing Mr. Orban\u2019s complaint, have blamed the agency for supporting subversive programs in their countries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Chen Weihua, a prominent bureau chief and columnist for the state news organization China Daily, cited reports about the agency\u2019s funding as vindication for China\u2019s previous claims. He suggested that the BBC\u2019s reporters in China were \u201call bought\u201d by the Central Intelligence Agency and the British secret service, MI6.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cIf you have questions why BBC reporters in China keep smearing China all these years and talking BS, you might find answers now,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia banned U.S.A.I.D. grants in 2012 and expelled the agency\u2019s workers, accusing the United States of funding opponents of his rule. (Officials from Republican and Democratic administrations have argued that the programs simply promoted civil society in Russia.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ridiculed a series of grants that have been criticized in the United States, too, and claimed the agency\u2019s underlying purpose was to promote political uprisings, citing protests in Egypt in 2011, Ukraine in 2014 and Georgia last year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The false video that went viral this week claiming U.S.A.I.D. funded celebrity travel overseas fit Russia\u2019s recurring narrative that the United States furtively supports Ukraine with resources that American voters would rather spend at home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The video appeared to be the work of an influence campaign known to researchers as Operation Overload or Matryoshka, after the Russian nesting dolls, according to Clemson\u2019s Media Forensics Hub. That work is led by a private company with links to the Kremlin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The footage showed photographs or clips of a number of well-known actors meeting with Ukraine\u2019s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, while a narrator with a British accent claimed the actors had received large payments from U.S.A.I.D. for the appearance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Jolie, the narrator says, received $20 million; Orlando Bloom, $8 million; and Sean Penn, $5 million; and so on. \u201cThis was done to increase Zelensky\u2019s popularity among foreign audiences, particularly in the United States,\u201d the narrator claims. \u201cThe involvement of celebrities made it easy to coordinate funding programs for Ukraine during the conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">After the video appeared on the X account, articles about its claims appeared on the sites of at least two Russian news organizations, Tsargrad and Pravda. The video was picked up by a number of accounts that have previously shared Russian disinformation, but soon expanded beyond that to Americans cheering the Trump administration on. By Thursday, users on TikTok and Mr. Trump\u2019s Truth Social platform had shared the video as commenters expressed outrage and called for U.S.A.I.D. to be eliminated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There is no evidence of the payments in any of the agency\u2019s programs. A spokesman for E!News also said in a statement that \u201cthe video is not authentic and did not originate from E!News.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The actor Ben Stiller, said to have been paid $4 million for a visit to Ukraine, took to social media to try to refute the claim. \u201cThese are lies coming from Russian media,\u201d he wrote on X. \u201cI completely self-funded my humanitarian trip to Ukraine. There was no funding from USAID and certainly no payment of any kind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">More conspiratorially minded supporters of Mr. Musk continue to cheer the billionaire on anyway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">They include a food service worker and Army National Guard veteran who was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.adl.org\/resources\/article\/unmasking-clandestine-figure-behind-viral-ukrainian-biolab-conspiracy-theory\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">blamed<\/a> in 2022 for starting a conspiracy theory about American biological weapons laboratories in Ukraine. In attacking U.S.A.I.D., he wrote in posts on X and Telegram this week, Mr. Musk had exposed \u201can Orwellian dystopia\u201d by detailing the agency\u2019s supposed support for the media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe live on a foundation of lies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- ItShrt World News -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-6606220950177433\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"1882483372\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/02\/07\/business\/usaid-conspiracy-theories-disinformation.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The video falsely claiming that the United States Agency for International Development paid Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and other actors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4631,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[1965,694,114,317,511,510,1770,1327,605,932,852,118,1964,113,400,168,983,111,316,606,125],"class_list":["post-4630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-ben","tag-conservatism-us-politics","tag-donald-j","tag-downloads-and-streaming","tag-elon","tag-musk","tag-news-and-news-media","tag-propaganda","tag-putin","tag-rumors-and-misinformation","tag-russia","tag-social-media","tag-stiller","tag-trump","tag-ukraine","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-agency-for-international-development","tag-united-states-politics-and-government","tag-video-recordings","tag-vladimir-v","tag-x-formerly-twitter"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods - World News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods - World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The video falsely claiming that the United States Agency for International Development paid Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and other actors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"News\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2\"},\"headline\":\"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/\"},\"wordCount\":1626,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"Ben\",\"Conservatism (US Politics)\",\"Donald J\",\"Downloads and Streaming\",\"Elon\",\"Musk\",\"News and News Media\",\"Propaganda\",\"Putin\",\"Rumors and Misinformation\",\"Russia\",\"Social Media\",\"Stiller\",\"Trump\",\"Ukraine\",\"United States\",\"United States Agency for International Development\",\"United States Politics and Government\",\"Video Recordings\",\"Vladimir V\",\"X (Formerly Twitter)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/\",\"name\":\"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods - World News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1\",\"width\":1050,\"height\":550},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\",\"name\":\"World News\",\"description\":\"World News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png\",\"width\":581,\"height\":581,\"caption\":\"World News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2\",\"name\":\"News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods - World News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods - World News","og_description":"The video falsely claiming that the United States Agency for International Development paid Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and other actors","og_url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/","og_site_name":"World News","article_published_time":"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_image":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"News","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/"},"author":{"name":"News","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2"},"headline":"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods","datePublished":"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/"},"wordCount":1626,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1","keywords":["Ben","Conservatism (US Politics)","Donald J","Downloads and Streaming","Elon","Musk","News and News Media","Propaganda","Putin","Rumors and Misinformation","Russia","Social Media","Stiller","Trump","Ukraine","United States","United States Agency for International Development","United States Politics and Government","Video Recordings","Vladimir V","X (Formerly Twitter)"],"articleSection":["Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/","name":"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods - World News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-08T00:10:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1","width":1050,"height":550},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/right-wing-crusade-against-usaid-has-been-fueled-by-falsehoods\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Right-Wing Crusade Against USAID Has Been Fueled by Falsehoods"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#website","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/","name":"World News","description":"World News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#organization","name":"World News","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/13\/2025\/01\/cropped-download.png","width":581,"height":581,"caption":"World News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/#\/schema\/person\/1d8ae7348e048cb7984f26b4dd818ff2","name":"News","url":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1","medium":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1","medium_large":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=768&resize=768,0&ssl=1","large":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1024&resize=1024,1024&ssl=1","1536x1536":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1536&resize=1536,1536&ssl=1","2048x2048":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=2048&resize=2048,2048&ssl=1","colormag-highlighted-post":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=392&resize=392,272&ssl=1","colormag-featured-post-medium":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=390&resize=390,205&ssl=1","colormag-featured-post-small":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=130&resize=130,90&ssl=1","colormag-featured-image":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=800&resize=800,445&ssl=1","colormag-default-news":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1","colormag-featured-image-large":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1400&resize=1400,600&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-block-extra-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1155&resize=1155,480&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=600&resize=600,417&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-small-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=285&resize=285,450&ssl=1","colormag-elementor-grid-medium-large-thumbnail":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=575&resize=575,198&ssl=1"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"News","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e85cf08852547781a5f631f3713dbb5197ed4b54e32ae19c7d5769b8c8504897?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":false,"magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"The video falsely claiming that the United States Agency for International Development paid Ben Stiller, Angelina Jolie and other actors","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["Technology"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":60,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":9,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=1050&resize=1050,550&ssl=1",1050,550,false],"medium":["https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=300&resize=300,300&ssl=1",300,300,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/02\/06\/multimedia\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp\/00USAID-Disinfo-fkwp-facebookJumbo.jpg?w=150&resize=150,150&ssl=1",150,150,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"News","author_link":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/author\/admin\/"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e85cf08852547781a5f631f3713dbb5197ed4b54e32ae19c7d5769b8c8504897?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-39\">Technology<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4630"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4630\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4630"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4630"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/site.itshrt.com\/worldnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4630"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}