logo
Elon Musk's New USAID Stooge Once Threatened to Gut a Girl

Elon Musk's New USAID Stooge Once Threatened to Gut a Girl

Yahoo01-04-2025

Jeremy Lewin, the newly appointed head of the remaining shreds of USAID, has a history of violent outbursts and making racist remarks, according to an exclusive report from Rolling Stone.
Before Lewin was installed as the agency's chief operating officer earlier this month, he was DOGE's team lead overseeing the gutting of USAID. Six people told Rolling Stone that when Lewin attended Buckingham Browne & Nichols School, a prestigious high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he expressed explicitly racist views.
'I have a vivid memory of him telling me that he believed non-white people were inherently of 'lower value' than white people,' said one former acquaintance who spoke with Rolling Stone. That person described Lewin as 'blatantly racist.'
Others who knew him then said that he espoused ideas such as the 'great replacement theory' and claimed that white people were biologically more intelligent than people of other races.
One former acquaintance told Rolling Stone that news of Lewin's appointment gave them 'chills.'
'I thought he had no empathy. He was fashy, misogynistic, [and] really believed Western civilization was superior. I can see him enjoying taking away humanitarian programs in Africa. It's frightening. It's like letting Hannibal Lecter mind kids or something,' they told the magazine.
In school, Lewin also had a penchant for violent outbursts, and allegedly threw things at other students. Outside of school he was violent too. One girl, who was a minor at the time, told police that she feared for her life after Lewin threatened her with a knife at a party, asking why 'he shouldn't gut [her] and cut [her] right now,' according to police reports.
The 18-year-old Lewin had a hearing scheduled on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, but it was ultimately canceled for unknown reasons, according to Rolling Stone.
Lewin went on to attend Dartmouth University and Harvard Law School, before clerking for Judge Judith Rogers, a progressive who was the first Black woman appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
His new position at USAID was announced as U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang barred DOGE from taking any actions at the agency without permission of a USAID official, ruling that DOGE's efforts to shutter the agency likely violated the U.S. Constitution. Lewin's appointment was likely an effort to skirt the order.
After the government asked the judge to exempt Lewin from the order, the judge amended his order to specifically include Lewin. Chuang said his order purposefully included 'all individuals with a past or present affiliation' with DOGE to 'address the most likely perpetrators of constitutional violations.'
'Excluding Lewin from this class would undermine these purposes,' Chuang wrote in his order.
Still, Lewin sent out a memo Friday announcing that the USAID would terminate the vast majority of its employees on either July 1 or September 2, likely violating Chuang's direct order.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Surprising Trump-Musk rift worsens a huge Tesla problem
Surprising Trump-Musk rift worsens a huge Tesla problem

Miami Herald

time35 minutes ago

  • Miami Herald

Surprising Trump-Musk rift worsens a huge Tesla problem

Tesla CEO Elon Musk and President Donald Trump appear to be in the kind of chaotic relationship that social media lives to warn you about. First the two seemed to be enjoying a business alliance-turned-bromance when Musk was invited to become a special government employee in January and spearhead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter The pair cheerily appeared together in photographs as well as in the Oval Office, and they seemed to be harmoniously working together. Musk even donned a red baseball cap that read "Trump was right about everything," which sent a pretty clear statement about the billionaire's beliefs. Related: Elon Musk latest message sends Tesla stock surging Of course, things can change. And when Tesla's (TSLA) sales plummeted 71% as reported during its first quarter earnings call, Musk's tune began to do just that. The Tesla CEO said he would refocus on the EV business, and not long after, he announced he would be stepping away from DOGE entirely. Soon after that shift, Musk suddenly started to take shots at Trump's "big beautiful bill" on X, first disagreeing with it and then seemingly escalating the issue to an all-out war against the president. Now the two have been trading barbs and threats alike, and while it looks like they're having some sort of weird breakup spat that's bristling with resentment, the whole thing is having a bad effect on a situation that Musk promised he would work to repair. Image source: STR/AFP via Getty Images Tesla's reputation has taken a beating this year. Musk's involvement with President Trump and the government rubbed many the wrong way, leading the stock to tank in mid-March when Musk was heads down on the DOGE project. What followed was a rash of people either demonstrating outside Tesla dealerships, vandalizing them, or both. Tesla owners, uncomfortable at being yelled at on the streets, started to offload their cars. Related: Forget tariffs, automakers face an even bigger threat from China Meanwhile, Tesla sales are dropping fast in key markets such as Europe and California. "Tesla's sales in Europe dropped 49% year-over-year in April to 7,261 vehicles, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Meanwhile, total EV sales in the region rose 34%. So far, Tesla's Europe unit volume is down nearly 40% through the first four months of this year," TheStreet's Todd Campbell reports. Musk's public spat with Trump, including posting the whole thing on social media rather than having private conversations with the president, comes off as attention-seeking and inappropriate for a person of his status. And while the president has responded more or less in kind, it's really Tesla that will suffer further, as Trump is known for his outbursts, and they don't stand out that much from his regular behavior. Tesla, however, had already been beaten down by Musk's involvement with the GOP. While Musk is clearly trying to separate himself from Trump with these moves, the way he's handling them reflects poorly on his plans to reinvigorate the EV brand. It's exactly the move Tesla didn't need at this moment. Trump, in the meantime, has decided he has bigger things to focus on, telling CNN today, "I'm not even thinking about Elon. He's got a problem. The poor guy's got a problem." Related: Analyst says Tesla faces one big beautiful hit from Trump bill The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.

Elon Musk Deletes Tweet Linking Trump to ‘Epstein Files'
Elon Musk Deletes Tweet Linking Trump to ‘Epstein Files'

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Elon Musk Deletes Tweet Linking Trump to ‘Epstein Files'

Former 'First Buddy' Elon Musk has deleted a spate of explosive tweets in which he claimed President Donald Trump 'is in the Epstein files.' He added in the since-scrubbed June 5 tweet, 'That is the real reason they have not been made public.' He then promised, 'Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.' The dramatic claim came amid Musk's nearly three-day blitzkrieg attack against Trump, urging Congress to 'kill' the MAGA head's 'big beautiful bill,' ripping it as 'ugly and 'pork-filled,' and suggesting Trump should be impeached again for his plan to add an estimated $2.4 trillion to the federal deficit through the megabill. Yet Musk appears to have reset and climbed out of his 'Trump Derangement Syndrome,' as the president labeled it, amid MAGA's calls for the billionaire to make amends with the Republican president. Investor and former DOGE architect James Fishback—who told Politico that he left the so-called department amid the Trump-Musk feud—tweeted Friday that Musk owed Trump a 'full-throated apology.' He added, 'And every hour you delay, it'll make an eventual apology less sincere.' Amid disagreements on policy between the Trump and Musk, Fishback said Musk 'should not have baselessly and personally attacked him.' Musk used Fishback's tweet as an opportunity to share his side, writing in successive comments under the post: 'What's the apology for exactly.' He added, 'Be precise,' declaring, 'I will apologize profusely as soon as there is a full dump of the Epstein files.' Musk's comments under the post have also since been deleted. Keeping the pressure on Musk, Fishback followed up by sharing his Friday appearance on CNN with two specific directives on why the Tesla CEO should apologize to Trump. 'First, randomly calling for the impeachment of the duly elected President of the United States over a policy disagreement,' Fishback wrote. 'Second, and it just pains me to bring this up, is the slanderous accusation that somehow the President of the United States was a co-conspirator in a multi-decade sex trafficking ring of minors.' Attempting to play peacekeeper, Fishback added that it was 'not okay' for Musk to drag Trump 'in the mud' with 'scumbag' Epstein. 'As Americans, we are allowed to disagree on the substance of the issue—but ad hominem attacks have no place in the public square,' Fishback wrote. Another commentator added, 'The Epstein comment went too far, whether it is true or not.' However, other commentators weren't convinced Musk owed Trump anything at all. 'He owes Trump exactly nothing,' commented X user John Roush under Fishback's post. 'He made the mistake of believing Trump's talk about reigning in spending, agreed to try and help, ended up becoming one of the most reviled men in America, and then found out that Trump doesn't give a damn about spending & was just using him as an election prop.' Rumors have swirled that White House aides have set up a deescalation call between Trump and Musk. Despite this, BBC News reported that the president is 'not interested' in making up with Musk.

‘This is not over': Tesla Takedown protesters keep pressure on Elon Musk despite DOGE exit
‘This is not over': Tesla Takedown protesters keep pressure on Elon Musk despite DOGE exit

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

‘This is not over': Tesla Takedown protesters keep pressure on Elon Musk despite DOGE exit

Demonstrations against tech billionaire Elon Musk are continuing, even after the Tesla CEO stepped away from his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency and engaged in an all-out feud this week with Donald Trump over the president's massive tax and domestic policy bill known as the 'big, beautiful bill.' Musk, who contributed $288 million to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, called the bill a 'disgusting abomination' just days after announcing he would leave DOGE, his federal cost-cutting project. As the two traded jabs, Trump threatened to cut government contracts for Musk's companies and Musk claimed that 'Trump would have lost the election' without him. Anti-Musk sentiment spilled onto sidewalks outside of Tesla showrooms with 60 demonstrations scheduled Saturday in cities such as Delray Beach, Florida; Louisville, Kentucky; and Decatur, Georgia, as part of the Tesla Takedown movement, which began in mid-February amid Musk's role with DOGE. At 11:30 a.m. ET, a crowd of about 30 demonstrators had gathered outside of a Tesla showroom on a rainy morning in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. Attendance for the Tesla Takedown event was well short of the roughly 200 who showed up last week in Rockville, Maryland, according to local co-organizers Melissa Knutson and Sara Steffens, who cited the weather and Pride Month events for the lower turnout. 'This is not over because (Musk) decided to go home with his tail between his legs,' Knutson told CNN. The Tesla Takedown movement, according to its website, calls on people to 'sell your Teslas, dump your stock and join the picket lines' and believes that 'stopping Musk will help save lives and protect our democracy.' Tesla sales plunged 13% in the first three months of this year, the largest drop in deliveries in its history. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) dropped roughly 14% this week and are down nearly 47% from the high of $488.54 on December 18. Steffens said she 'was really encouraged' to see Tesla's stock plunge this week. 'It just shows none of this is normal,' she said. Musk, the world's richest man, has blamed a drop in sales on overall economic weakness and consumer uncertainty, though sales for competing EV models and other car companies rose. Neither Tesla nor Alex Winter, one of the initial lead organizers for Tesla Takedown, responded to CNN's requests for comment. Musk's exit from DOGE, his now-strained relationship with Trump, slumping Tesla sales and the drop in the company's share price do not mean the Tesla Takedown movement is ending anytime soon, according to attendees and organizers. After Musk announced he was leaving DOGE, the Bluesky account for Tesla Takedown called for protests on Saturday, June 28 (Musk's birthday), as a way of 'recommitting to the fight.' 'We are tired of the billionaire takeover and we are not letting up,' Knutson said. Steffens noted some protesters have called on pension funds to divest from Tesla. The public backlash is part of the reason that long-term institutional investors sent a letter to Tesla's board in late May raising concerns about the company. Many of the protesters in Georgetown on Saturday attended previous demonstrations and said they have no plans to stop protesting despite Musk's departure from DOGE. Jeanne Ferris told CNN that this was her fifth Tesla protest and that she agrees with organizers that 'Musk's tendrils' are still involved with the government. James Decherd said he attends protests almost every week because 'it's nice to be out with other people.' He added that he hopes to 'get people motivated' and 'mobilized.' Donna Powell says she and her husband have attended between 50 and 60 rallies against the Trump administration. She described Musk and Trump as 'billionaire brats having a tiff.' She does not expect Trump supporters to join the demonstrations as an act of solidarity with the president after Musk's attacks on X. She said Trump's base isn't 'the type to go 'anti-Musk.'' 'In the long run, (Trump and Musk) rely on each other, so they'll work something out,' said her husband, Don Powell. CNN's John Towfighi, Anna Cooban and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store