内容摘要：Leonie Hanne poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘The Mastermind’ at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 23, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

Leonie Hanne poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film ‘The Mastermind’ at the 78th international film festival, Cannes, southern France, Friday, May 23, 2025. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt/Invision/AP)

The posts raise questions about funding for certain projects and organizations, often claiming without evidence that the money was used inappropriately.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said to reporters Tuesday that USAID had spent “$1.5 million to advance DEI in Serbia’s workplaces; $70,000 for the production of a DEI musical in Ireland; $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia, $32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru.” Those claims were picked up and spread widely on social media throughout the week.

to a Serbian organization called Grupa Izadji was awarded by USAID. Its stated aim is to “to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.”The rest were awarded by the State Department’s Office of the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs., it granted $70,884 to an Irish company for “a live musical event to promote the U.S. and Irish shared values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility.”

for $25,000 was awarded in 2021 to a university in Colombia “to raise awareness and increase the transgender representation” through the production of an opera, with an additional $22,020 coming from non-federal funding. And $32,0002022 to a Peruvian organization funded “a tailored-made comic, featuring an LGBTQ+ hero to address social and mental health issues.”

“The information environment about what USAID does and does not do has gotten to a very difficult place, where there’s a lot of false and misleading information being circulated,” said Rachel Bonnifield, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development. “And I would hope everybody could hew back to the facts, which are publicly available, and we can have a good faith discussion about what USAID should and should not be doing based on those.”

Sean Roberts, a professor of international affairs at George Washington University and director of the school’s international development studies master’s program, explained that it “makes sense” that these programs were funded by the under secretary’s office.The Nasdaq is down 239.57 or 1.3%.

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