Once a hero of the enviro-left for his electric Tesla cars, the broadcast networks have turned Elon Musk into a boogeyman who is heartlessly firing federal employees and endangering the public with cuts to food and airline safety programs.
Musk has been so villainized by the media that his once-beloved Teslas are being vandalized by the left.
There is another narrative that the lefties at ABC, CBS, NBC refuse to tell: How Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have already saved the hard-working American taxpayer billions of dollars by canceling boondoggle government contracts.
In 32 days of coverage (February 8 - March 12) ABC, CBS, NBC (on their evening and morning news shows) spent a total of (4 minutes, 43 seconds) citing specific dollar amounts that DOGE or President Donald Trump claimed to have saved the American taxpayer.
ABC (24 seconds) spent the least amount of time on specified DOGE savings. NBC just spent 1 minute, 5 seconds. CBS spent a total of 3 minutes, 14 seconds on DOGE savings examples.
For this study MRC analysts looked at the broadcast evening (ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News, NBC Nightly News) and morning news shows (ABC’s Good Morning America, CBS Mornings, CBS Saturday Morning, CBS Sunday Morning, NBC Today) from the morning of February 8 (the day after the first citation on DOGE’s website) through the morning of March 12.
Even then the claims were met with dismissive skepticism. This take from CBS correspondent Weijia Jang was typical: “Last night, DOGE posted on its website what it called a wall of receipts to show its findings to date. So far, it has identified roughly $14 billion worth of federal program cuts, including at least 140 DEI contracts and grants. But all the money allocated was approved by Congress. And DOGE did not provide evidence of a single case of fraud, or even alleged fraud.”
What the networks refused to tell their viewers about is how some of the contracts killed by DOGE funded leftist causes, for example: $74 million for “inclusive justice” in Colombia.
If the networks actually wanted to tell their viewers about specific savings in wasteful contracts they could’ve cited any of the following announcements (via DOGE’s official website):
DOGE Highlights 83 percent of USAID Programs Being Cancelled, “Tens of Billions” Saved
On March 10, DOGE re-posted Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement:
After a 6 week review we are officially cancelling 83% of the programs at USAID.
The 5200 contracts that are now cancelled spent tens of billions of dollars in ways that did not serve, (and in some cases even harmed), the core national interests of the United States.
In consultation with Congress, we intend for the remaining 18% of programs we are keeping (approximately 1000) to now be administered more effectively under the State Department.
Thank you to DOGE and our hardworking staff who worked very long hours to achieve this overdue and historic reform.
ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: Zero seconds. On the March 10 CBS Evening News co-anchor Maurice DuBois never uttered the amount of money being saved for the taxpayer but did offer this dismissive 10-second mention: “The gutting of USAID is over. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the 18 percent of foreign aid programs that survived will be absorbed by the State Department.”
DOGE Announces Cancellation of Grant to Study “Menstrual Cycles in Transgender Men”
On March 7, DOGE re-posted Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announcement:
CANCELLED: $600,000 grant to study “menstrual cycles in transgender men”
Keep sending us tips. THANK YOU, @approject! The insanity is ending and the restoration of America is underway.
ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: Zero seconds.
DOGE Announces NIH Cancels Contracts for “Transgender Experiments On Animals”
On March 5, DOGE announced:
Yesterday, @NIH cancelled seven grants for transgender experiments on animals including:
- $532K to “use a mouse model to investigate the effects of cross-sex testosterone treatment”
- $33K to test “feminizing hormone therapy in the male rat”
ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: Zero seconds.
DOGE Kills Foreign Grants Including $903,811 for Alpaca Farming in Peru
On March 4, DOGE Announced Canceled Inter-American Foundation Contracts:
The Inter-American Foundation, an agency whose primary action was to issue foreign grants ($60M budget), has been reduced to its statutory minimum (1 active employee). Examples of grants that were cancelled in the process:
- $903,811 for alpaca farming in Peru
- $364,500 to reduce social discrimination of recyclers in Bolivia
- $813,210 for vegetable gardens in El Salvador
- $323,633 to promote cultural understanding of Venezuelan migrants in Brazil
- $731,105 to improve marketability of mushrooms and peas in Guatemala
- $677,342 to expand fruit and jam sales in Honduras
- $483,345 to improve artisanal salt production in Ecuador
- $39,250 for beekeeping in Brazil
ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: Zero seconds.
DOGE Announces NIH Killed Grants Including $740K for Studying “Cannabis Use” Among “Sexual Minority Gender Diverse Individuals”
On March 11, DOGE announced:
Today, @NIH cancelled the following grants:
- $620K for “an LGB+ inclusive teen pregnancy prevention program for transgender boys”
- $699K for studying “cannabis use” among “sexual minority gender diverse individuals”
- $740K for examining “social networks” among “black and Latino sexual minority men in New Jersey”
- $50K for assessing “sexual health” among “LGTBQ+ Latinx youth in an agricultural community”
- $75K for researching “structural racism”
ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: Zero seconds.
DOGE Cancels NIH Grants Including $1.3 Million for “Transforming Health for Gender-Diverse Young Adults”
On February 28, DOGE announced:
Today NIH canceled grants for ~$10.9 million including:
-$1.7M for the “China Health and Retirement Longitudinal study” at Peking University in Beijing, China
-$135K for a research grant to China Medical University in Shenyang, China
-$142K for “using telehealth to improve access to gender-affirming care”
-$1.3M for “transforming health for gender-diverse young adults”
-$120K for “personalized 3-D avatar tool development” focused on “gender identities”
-$400K for researching “sources of minority stress and alcohol consumption” among “adults who report uncertainty about their sexual orientation”
-$160K for researching “racialized sexual discrimination” among “young sexual minority men of color”
-$241K for “an intervention to promote healthy relationships among transgender and gender expansive youth”
ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: Zero seconds.
DOGE Announces It Will Water the Eight Plants at Veterans Affairs Office, Saving Taxpayers Thousands
On March 6, DOGE announced:
The VA cancelled a $56,000 contract to water ~8 plants for 5 years. This is ~$1400/plant/year. The contract has been canceled and DOGE will water the plants free of charge.
ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: Zero seconds.
DOGE Cancels Millions In Contracts, Including $8 Million for Reducing “Stigma” Against LGBTQI+ Communities in Lesotho
On February 27, DOGE announced:
US taxpayer dollars were going to be spent on the following items, all which have been cancelled:
- $60M for "Indigenous Peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment"
- $74M for "inclusive justice" in Colombia
- $79M for "primary literacy" in Kenya
- $37M for "female empowerment" in Colombia
- $8M to "Reduce stigma, discrimination, and violence against LGBTQI+ communities" in Lesotho
- $3.3M for "being LGBTQI in the Caribbean"
- $25k to increase "Vegan Local Climate Action Innovation" in Zambia
ABC, CBS, NBC evening and morning show coverage: Zero seconds.
