Billionaire Elon Musk seemed amused while speaking during President Donald Trump's cabinet meeting about "accidentally" cutting funding for ebola prevention amid an outbreak in Uganda.
Ebola can lead to severe illness and, without treatment, is often life-threatening. In the early stages of the illness, people with ebola may experience "dry" symptoms like fever, body aches, pains, and fatigue.
As the disease progresses, it typically develops into "wet" symptoms, which can include diarrhea, vomiting, and unexplained bleeding. Although some people recover from ebola, it remains a severe and often deadly disease.
All of this is undoubtedly serious but Musk chuckled as he explained how his DOGE team is going to sometimes "make mistakes":
"We will make mistakes. We won't be perfect. But when we make mistakes, we'll fix it very quickly. For example, with USAID, one of the things we accidentally canceled very briefly was ebola prevention. I think we all want ebola prevention so we restored ebola prevention immediately and there was no interruption."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
Amid the criticism of the (non-department) Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), particularly its gutting of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), many have condemned Musk's actions.
Monsters. Every single person in that room is a monster.
— 💙💚Bowie Maroney 💙💚 (@baxie71.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Who among us hasn’t accidentally canceled something like a vital program to combat a deadly disease? It happens.
— Paul Curran (@paulcurran.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Is this really happening, an unelected, conflict of interest fuelled, Nazi sympathiser, addressing a Cabinet Meeting in the USA making light of cancelling Ebola research? Is it just me, or should people in that room be asking him very direct and specific questions?
— Neil B (@firstclasspost.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 1:37 PM
So when Musk does it, he's making a "mistake," but when anyone else does it, it's "fraud, waste, or abuse"?
— Debbi (@creatinglifeandart.bsky.social) February 26, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Musk has acknowledged before that DOGE might make errors.
Musk has stated that his goal is to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion from the $6.75 trillion annual budget recorded in the last fiscal year, which ended on Sept. 30. According to DOGE, its initiatives have led to an estimated $55 billion in savings. However, recent reports indicate that the actual savings may be significantly lower.
In an earlier meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, Musk admitted he "would not bat 1,000." DOGE has also revised or deleted items from its "wall of receipts" showcasing spending cuts after some reports questioned their accuracy. For example, the group once claimed to have canceled an $8 billion contract — but the actual value was only $8 million.
What he doesn't seem to acknowledge is that his mistakes can cost people their lives and livelihoods.
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