NY Times columnist compares Elon Musk to history’s worst murderers over USAID cuts

New York Times columnist David Brooks suggested Elon Musk belongs connected a database of history’s top wide murderers, including Pol Pot, Mao and Stalin owed to DOGE’S cuts to USAID. 

"So far, 55,000 adults person died of AIDS successful the 4 months since Trump was elected; 6,000 children are dormant due to the fact that of what DOGE did. That’s conscionable PEPFAR, the HIV. You adhd them each up, that’s 300,000 dead, and we’re 4 months in. You adhd that each up and accumulate that implicit 4 years the fig of dormant grows precise high," Brooks said connected PBS News Hour Saturday.

"There are wide murderers successful the world, Pol Pot, Mao Tse Tung, Stalin. We don’t person anybody connected the database from America," Brooks added.

New York Times' David Brooks trashed Elon Musk and DOGE's USAID cuts connected "PBS Newshour" Saturday.  (Screenshot/PBS)

TRUMP 'AGREED' ON SHUTTING DOWN USAID, ELON MUSK SAYS

The New York Times columnist conceded the alleged deaths that helium claims Musk is liable for are not "the aforesaid benignant of genocide" perpetrated by the despots helium cited, but maintained that Musk’s closure of USAID made him partially liable for wide deaths. 

The casualty counts Brooks cited were provided by a Boston University integer tracker that monitors deaths that it claims hap from changes successful U.S. overseas assistance created by Global Health Professor Brooke Nichols. When filtered for USAID cuts, the tracker states that 99,528 adults and 207,680 children person died this twelvemonth from "funding discontinuation."

The communist authorities Khmer Rouge killed betwixt 1.5-3 cardinal people betwixt 1975 and 1979 successful the Cambodian Genocide erstwhile the radical plunged the state into wide unit targeting intellectuals and spiritual minorities pursuing their overthrow of the Cambodian Monarchy and installation of Pol Pot arsenic dictator successful 1975. 

Thirty-eight cardinal radical died of starvation during Mao’s Great Leap Forward and the ensuing famine it produced. Mao biographers Jung Chang and Jon Halliday estimation that Mao was liable for implicit 70 cardinal peacetime deaths. 

Stalin killed implicit six cardinal of his ain citizens successful the gulags, the Great Terror and different actions.

Brooks implied that Musk's USAID cuts marque him comparable to immoderate of humanity's worst wide murderers.  (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

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Brooks is purpotedly 1 of the fewer blimpish voices astatine the New York Times. However, the columnist has espoused wide views connected a big of topics and has praised Biden’s presidency. He has besides positioned himself arsenic a fierce professional of President Donald Trump. 

"Trumpism tin beryllium seen arsenic a elephantine effort to amputate the highest aspirations of the quality tone and to trim america to our astir primitive, atavistic tendencies," Brooks wrote in a caller column. 

USAID was acceptable up successful the aboriginal 1960s to enactment connected behalf of the U.S. to present assistance crossed the globe, peculiarly successful impoverished and underdeveloped regions. The bureau present operates successful 60 nations and employs immoderate 10,000 people, two-thirds of whom enactment overseas — though astir of the on-the-ground enactment is contracted retired to third-party organizations funded by USAID, according to a BBC report.

The Trump administration, however, has argued that USAID is simply a corrupt enactment that is mishandling U.S. payer dollars. DOGE froze USAID funds and sent overmuch of its unit location soon aft Trump took office. Musk, who was spearheading the DOGE effort to basal retired "waste, fraud and abuse" successful government, has said the bureau is beyond repair. The Trump medication announced that it would beryllium cutting 90% of each USAID contracts successful April. 

Brooks claimed that USAID cuts led to 300,000 deaths since Trump took office.  (AP Photo/Etienne Laurent, File)

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U2 frontman Bono precocious made a akin claim arsenic Brooks connected Joe Rogan's podcast, saying 300,000 radical person died owed to USAID cuts. Musk swiftly changeable backmost connected societal media, calling the Irish rocker a "liar/idiot" and claiming that determination person not been immoderate deaths from USAID cuts.

"He’s specified a liar/idiot Zero radical person died!" The Tesla CEO posted.

Musk and Brooks did not respond to Fox News Digital's petition to comment. 

Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.