Dems Will Freak: Trump Yanks Millions from WHO, Is Giving to Orgs Like Rev. Graham's Samaritan's Purse
Democrats already aren’t happy with the fact that President Donald Trump is halting U.S. funding for the World Health Organization.
They’re going to be a lot more unhappy when they realize that money is going to go to nongovernmental organization like Rev. Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse during the 60-day pause of funding to the WHO.
According to the New York Post, money that otherwise would have gone to the WHO will instead be redirected to NGOs like the Red Cross and, yes, Samaritan’s Purse. The move comes after the White House says the WHO was unable to properly vet coronavirus data coming out of China in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The United States’ annual dues to the international organization are $58 million, according to the Post, with the next installment due in September.
“Trump administration officials have ceased ‘voluntary’ contributions from agencies including USAID, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services — totaling about $300 million-$400 million a year,” the Post reported.
“An administration official told The Post that efforts were underway to redirect ‘every single pot of money’ from the WHO to other organizations. Large international relief organizations already are in many cases doing similar work, they said.”
One senior administration official likened the WHO to a construction company that can’t do the job you hired it to do.
“If you pay a contractor to build you a house and the roof falls in, you don’t keep paying them, you find a new contractor,” the unnamed official said in a statement to The Daily Caller.
“WHO clearly failed to do its job, and continues to make serious mistakes that puts our nation’s safety and security at risk, including allowing the reopening of wet markets. It shouldn’t be controversial for the U.S. to want to partner with international organizations that will actually protect international health.”
Others expressed disdain for the WHO’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
“Watching the Democrats rush to defend the World Health Organization, which uncritically took China at its word that COVID-19 wasn’t a threat or contagious among humans, is really something,” Rachel Bovard of the Conservative Partnership Institute told The Daily Caller.
“This is an organization which failed spectacularly at its primary mission. At the very least, a review of U.S. taxpayer contributions — which make up the largest amount of money the WHO receives from any country — is more than warranted.”
The Democrats remain unhappy over Trump’s decision to halt funding for the WHO.
“We can only be successful in defeating this global pandemic through a coordinated international response with respect for science and data,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.
“This decision is dangerous, illegal and will be swiftly challenged.”
Republicans were decidedly unconvinced by the House speaker’s statement.
“The World Health Organization should be ashamed that they relied on Chinese propaganda when deciding how to combat the coronavirus crisis. President Trump is right to question the WHO’s role in global health going forward,” House Oversight Committee ranking member Jim Jordan said.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, meanwhile, expressed his displeasure at Trump’s decision.
“Since the beginning, @WHO has been fighting the #COVID19 pandemic with every ounce of our soul and spirit,” he tweeted last week.
“We will continue to work with every country and every partner, to serve the people of the world, with a relentless commitment to science, solutions and solidarity.”
“The [United States] has been a longstanding & generous friend to @WHO & we hope it will continue to be so,” he added. “We regret the decision of [Trump] to order a halt in funding.”
The ?? has been a longstanding & generous friend to @WHO & we hope it will continue to be so. We regret the decision of @realDonaldTrump to order a halt in funding to WHO.
Together, we can improve the health of many of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. #COVID19— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 15, 2020
What a “longstanding friend” means to Tedros is a curious question when you consider the fact that the WHO has stood by China when it obviously shouldn’t have.
And therein lies the problem. Inasmuch as the WHO wants us to believe they’re our friend, they aren’t. They’re very much in China’s pocket.
It’s very difficult for us to say anything different at this point.
What can we say right now? That the WHO is our friend? That isn’t the case now and that won’t be the case anytime anytime soon. Until it is, we can judge them exactly how they deserve to be judged — not necessarily as an enemy, but not as a friend, either.
Either way, this all appears to mean that Samaritan’s Purse — not a huge friend of the left — will be getting a lot of the money that the WHO would have otherwise received during the 60-day pause of funding to the international organization.
And that’s the issue for leftists — how do you attack Samaritan’s Purse when the organization is putting its money where its mouth is, placing boots on the ground in New York City to aid coronavirus patients?
Good luck on that one.
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