Fox News Digital spoke with individuals protesting the sweep of USAID. (Fox News Digital)
"I don't want to hear anything about funding until we stop corporate welfare," one protester, who was wearing a mask, told Fox News Digital.
"I think before we talk about funding that we're sending off to other countries or devoting to poor people in this country that need help," he added, "we need to talk about the billions in subsidies that we give to corporations like Tesla, like Space X."
Another individual, also wearing a mask, said giving money to issues that don't prioritize helping Americans is "crazy."
"We need to be worrying about our people. We're not out here giving money to help our people here and suffering," they told Fox. "Any money going toward other issues is just crazy."
The protesters all expressed opposition to Musk's role leading efforts to cut costs within the federal government. (Fox News Digital)
Several Democratic lawmakers spoke at the rally, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, and Reps. John Garamendi and Lateefah Simon of California.
The White House issued a report that revealed where taxpayer dollars have been funneled through the agency, such as over $400,000 to "help Indonesian coffee companies become more climate and gender friendly through USAID."
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Musk said on X that he and President Donald Trump came to an agreement that the agency needed to be shut down.
Fox News Digital's Emma Woodhead contributed to this report.
Aubrie Spady is a Writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/usaid-activists-say-stopping-corporate-welfare-outweighs-ending-funds-terror-linked-groups