Former USAID Deputy White House Liaison Merritt Corrigan is speaking out against her former employers for promoting the “radical left’s social agenda” after leaving her position on Monday.
On Twitter, Corrigan lambasted USAID for undermining U.S. influence by advancing a progressive agenda that is out of touch with many developing countries.
I watched with horror this week as USAID distributed taxpayer funded documents claiming “we cannot tell someone’s sex or gender by looking at them” and that not calling oneself “cis-gendered” is a microagression
I’m not cis-anything. I’m a woman.
— Merritt Corrigan (@MerrittCorrigan) August 3, 2020
It was later reported by Politico this afternoon that she had left her position at USAID. The nature of her departure from the agency was not described, but House Democrats wrote a letter calling for her dismissal after tweets were unearthed where she criticized feminism and the global LGBTQI+ movement.
Corrigan subsequently gave an exclusive interview to the National File:
ER: You said on Twitter that the U.S. “is losing ground in the battle to garner influence through humanitarian aid because we now refuse to help countries who don’t celebrate sexual deviancy.” Can you provide an examples where this has taken place?
MC: The Department of Defense has refused to sell military equipment – needed in order to combat ISIS and other extremist groups – to certain countries in Africa because they did not have gay marriage. The State Department has attempted to enforce similar ideological conformity in Central American countries who wanted to cooperate with the US on immigration issues, but didn’t want to change their culture to fit the radical left’s social agenda.
ER: It’s been widely reported that USAID has provided financial support for Soros-backed organizations. What do you think about this, and why do you think this is taking place?
MC: Organizations like the Transatlantic Democracy Working Group, the German Marshall Fund, and other shadowy extreme-left groups create a facade of credibility for the foreign policy establishment’s promotion of far left “values” through letters, podcasts, briefings and hearings before the Helsinki Commission, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and others. They repackage far left social values under the guise of empty phrases such as “promoting liberal democracy,” and then funnel the money to various Soros-backed groups.
One notable example is the reintroduction of Radio Free Europe into Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria in 2019/2020. They are being targeted with left wing propaganda because they are not socially liberal enough.
ER: How would you describe the attitudes of career bureaucrats at USAID towards President Trump’s supporters?
MC: I received overt hostility from USAID career employees who accused me of creating a “hostile work environment” based on my deleted comments, when in fact I had never interacted with them in person.
ER: What’s the next step for you in your drive for greater accountability from the federal government?
MC: The vast majority of Americans have no idea how left-wing social ideology is being forced upon American allies and they would be horrified if they knew how their tax money is being spent. Smaller countries have no choice but to capitulate to American demands. I will continue to advocate for an America First foreign policy that does not attempt to enforce radical left ideology on American allies. Progressive social values should not be a prerequisite for cooperation with the United States.
Corrigan is set to hold a press conference elaborating on her experiences with “anti-Christian sentiment at USAID” on Thursday at 1:00pm EDT.
