BY MELISSA GOLDIN, Associated Press

As the Trump administration moves to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, false and misleading information is being pushed on social media to support the change, much of it spread by the administration and Elon Musk.

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.

Only the grant 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...

Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMie0FVX3lxTE93X0ZoemhTQldaRkxMRmFaYnN6...