GOP strategist Brad Todd pushed back against CNN host Anderson Cooper on Monday after Cooper attempted to steamroll him over his support for the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
In a discussion on X, Elon Musk announced Monday morning that he and President Donald Trump had agreed to end USAID, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio later confirming that he would be the agency’s new acting director. While discussing the shutdown of the agency on “Anderson Cooper 360,” CNN’s Van Jones said that people would “die in very large numbers around the world,” highlighting how individuals on HIV medication supplied through USAID’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) would no longer receive the care they need.
“That’s not an event today. Marco Rubio wrote congressional leaders to explain their moves on USAID and why they’re moving it to the State Department,” Todd responded.
Cooper immediately jumped in, saying that they were “specifically talking about HIV medication and PEPFAR.”
“Well, hold on just a second. The goal is to make sure the programs and the people administering them align with U.S. foreign policy goals. You know, we started USAID in 1961 as a way to counter the Soviet Union’s influence. Today, we need to use it to counter the Belt and Road Initiative is China,” Todd said.
Cooper responded.
“But PEPFAR, which is what Van was talking about, was actually started by George W. Bush, and it saved 25 million lives over it since that time,” Cooper said.
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Todd said that while PEPFAR “is a great program,” there was “no reason it shouldn’t be run directly out of the State Department,” before Cooper interrupted him again.
“Do you know anything about HIV medication? Because if you stop HIV medication, the virus flares back and it mutates. So if you have millions of people dependent on HIV medication,” Cooper said.
Todd then pushed back again, saying he wasn’t against PEPFAR, but Cooper responded that he seemed to be due to “avoiding answering any questions about it.” The two could be seen speaking over each other as Todd continued to clarify he wasn’t arguing about the HIV treatment. Cooper asked him if he believed it was wise to shut the program down.
“No, of course, it’s not wise. I’m not arguing it’s PEPFAR,” Todd said. “I’m arguing that you can administer that out of the State Department, and we can make sure that all those programs align with our foreign policy goals. That’s the objective here.”
In response to the shutdown and his new role over the USAID, Rubio told reporters Monday that taxpayers needed to be assured that “every dollar we are spending abroad is being spent on something that furthers our national interest,” saying USAID workers have refused to “cooperate.”
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/CNN/”Anderson Cooper 360″)
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