“Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver on Sunday delivered a damning deep dive into Donald Trump’s gutting of USAID — the United States Agency for International Development — during his second term.
Trump “absolutely hates” the organization, which was once described as the “world’s largest humanitarian donor,” said Oliver, who explained how it had been brought “to its knees” by the Trump administration despite its positive outcomes and the fact it accounted for less than 1% of the federal budget.
Oliver noted that USAID’s objectives have shifted over the years depending on the political party of the president in office, sometimes sliding to the left or right — such as during Trump’s first term, when he “shifted its focus by deprioritizing areas like maternal health and family planning while increasing funding for emergency responses and digital infrastructure.”
But this time around, Oliver said, “vast damage” has been caused by Trump officials — including Elon Musk, the former leader of the unofficial Department of Government Efficiency, who spearheaded the obliteration of the agency.
These cuts “have cost lives,” said Oliver, slamming House Republicans who celebrated the demise of USAID by posting memes on social media as “jibjabbed fucks.”
At one point, Oliver also torched Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) over what he described as “homophobic” comments praising the nixing of funding “to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex advocacy in Uganda.”
“Wow, that is some pretty homophobic stuff coming from a man wearing the single cuntiest pair of glasses I think I’ve ever seen,” said Oliver.
Concluding, Oliver urged people not to forget what had been done to USAID.
“I know the Trump administration’s constantly spitting out disasters. I really do,” he said. “And I’m sure they’d like nothing more than for people to move on from this, but it is crucial not to let what they’ve done be forgotten.
“USAID was not perfect, but it was working miracles,” he added. “And this government decided to retract those miracles on purpose. This is a man-made disaster.”
