MSNBC anchor chokes up live on air as he blames Trump and Musk for African boy's HIV death
MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell held back tears while blaming the death of a 5-year-old African boy born with HIV on Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The Last Word host labeled the pair 'soulless, mindless entities' on Monday's show, claiming their cuts to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) caused the death of the South Sudanese boy.
' The richest person in the world carrying around his drug box of Ecstasy, Adderall, psychedelic mushrooms and then taking life-saving drugs away from the poorest people in the world is a picture only Donald Trump could have created,' O'Donnell said.
The host had been referring to a New York Times piece in March that detailed how Evan Anzoo died days after Trump and Musk halted all US foreign aid pending a review on January 20.
Eighty-three percent of USAID programs - including the one providing aid to Anzoo - have been terminated since.
The boy had been taking antiretroviral medicines that cost less than 12 cents per day, an emotional O'Donnell said, while also taking aim at Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
'Evan died on his watch,' the host said of Rubio, who last month told members of Congress that no children would die following the freezing of aid packages.
Scroll down for video:
'Evans of all ages are dying on Marco Rubio's watch, and no one is counting.
'And so we don't know as of tonight whether it's tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Evans, but we know it will be.'
O'Donnell cited a separate New York Times piece, headlined Elon Musk's Legacy is Disease, Starvation and Death, that stated the cuts have led to an estimated 300,000 deaths overseas.
'Most of them children,' the host said. 'And it will most likely lead to significantly more by the end of the year.'
'This is what Musk's foray into politics accomplished,' he continued. 'If there were justice in the world, Musk would never be able to repair his reputation - at least not without devoting the bulk of his fortune to easing the misery he's engendered.'
O'Donnell said that that Musk's time in government 'has revealed severe flaws in his character.'
'[It's shown] a blithe, dehumanizing cruelty and a deadly incuriosity,' he said.
Musk officially stepped down from his role in Trump 's administration over the weekend.
The move - which came months after the Tesla and SpaceX boss shelled out nearly $300 million in political spending to help re-elect Trump - brought an abrupt end to one of politics' most unconventional partnerships.
The funds that paid for Evan's medication, meanwhile, came from emergency plan for AIDS relief launched by George W. Bush in 2003.
Before being frozen, the program reportedly saved more than 26 million lives.
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