Look, we don’t make the rules.
www.thebulwark.com
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Look, we don’t make the rules. |
ELON MUSK HAS HAD a busy week. Must be something in the
ketamine water.
Specifically, he’s been busy accusing Bill Kristol,
Politico, Ben Stiller, and many, many others of secretly taking government funds to finance their nefarious activities.
It’s a sleight of hand, meant to stir outrage among his followers (and support for his DOGE mission) on a bed of conspiracies. Here’s how it actually works in the real world:
Some government agencies, like USAID, do make grants to philanthropic foundations. Those foundations, in turn, disburse funds to other organizations, including donor-advised funds. And those donor-advised funds, in turn, grant the money to outside organizations.
It’s neither nefarious nor shadowy. And yet, here’s Elon’s version of it:
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I wrote a primer on the situation
here. Or read
this explainer on how all of this actually works.
The TLDR is this: Elon has no idea what he’s talking about. Want proof? If we followed Elon’s own logic, then he too would be guilty of being in on this sinister government gravy train. Take a journey with me.
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It’s important to note that much of this has been fueled by a very active Twitter account called
@DataRepublican. All week, this person (and it is, apparently,
a real person) has been sending tweets—which Elon has been amplifying—accusing various people of being government-funded.
To back this up, DataRepublican came out with very complex-looking charts that seem to show, well, something!
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Their methodology seems to be 1) look at the database of federal grant disbursements, 2) see which foundations receive taxpayer-funded grants, and 3) accuse anyone who received grants from a taxpayer-funded foundation—or is even remotely connected with those foundations—of being government-funded.
This is, to put it mildly, moronic methodology. Just look at what happens when you apply it to groups aligned with MAGA and Musk.
Finding #1: Elon Musk is government-funded.
USAID spent
$3 million on Elon’s Starlink terminals. And the federal government gave him
close to $5 billion in Tesla subsidies.
In total, Elon’s companies receive
over $15 billion in government contracts.
Elon Musk: government welfare queen.¹
Finding #2: MAGA think tank America First Policy Institute benefits from your tax dollars.
Here are just some of the
connections, according to DataRepublican’s own website: The Austin Community Foundation INC, which received $2,631,000 in taxpayer funding, gave $187,497 to the America First Policy Institute.
The Tides Center, which received $35,365,170 in taxpayer funds, gave $1,000,000 to the National Philanthropic Trust. The National Philanthropic Trust gave $375,000 to the America First Policy Institute.
That’s just the start. Follow the money, guys.
Finding #3: Anti-immigrant gollum and Trump consigliere Stephen Miller has deep connections to USAID.
The board of trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University received $1.5 billion in taxpayer funds and gave $245,000 to Schwab Charitable Fund, also according to DataRepublican. Schwab Charitable Fund gave $230,846 to Miller’s
America First Legal Foundation.
Stephen Miller: You have been exposed.
Finding #4: The Heritage Foundation, which spearheaded Project 2025, is government-funded.
World Vision Inc., which DataRepublican says is filled with taxpayer dollars, gave $104,696 to Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund gave $1,694,475 to the Heritage Foundation.
Heritage Foundation: tool of the Deep State.
