CNN anchor Anderson Cooper bluntly called former Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu a “dick” on live television as he criticized the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for spending millions to house illegal migrants in “luxury” hotels.
Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), said his new agency learned that FEMA handed out $59 million to house illegal migrants in luxury hotels in New York City last week, standing in direct violation of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. Sununu defended Trump and Musk as Cooper and the rest of the panelists accused them of lacking transparency relating to their discoveries on wasteful government spending.
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“[Musk] is giving very specific things, but he’s not actually giving any evidence of that … Some of the details that have come out, like the $59 million spent on luxury hotels,” Cooper said.
“You’re talking about the FEMA money that was used for migrants, that was FEMA money for migrants, that’s okay now?” Sununu asked.
“No, I’m not saying it’s okay, don’t put words in my mouth,” Cooper said. “Don’t be a dick. What I’m saying is the portrayal by [Musk] is not factually accurate. He’s talking about luxury hotels. I was in Hurricane Katrina, I saw what FEMA does.”
Cooper apologized to Sununu for his harsh remark at the end of the segment.
Musk promised that efforts would be made to recover the funds spent by FEMA, though the details surrounding FEMA’s alleged spending are not currently clear. The Trump administration confirmed Wednesday that four FEMA employees, including its chief financial officer, were fired in connection to the matter and called the spending “egregious.”
Officials in the Big Apple denied that the federal money had been used on luxury hotels and claimed it had been properly allocated under former President Joe Biden’s administration in 2024. FEMA’s acting director, Cameron Hamilton, rushed to announce in a Monday statement that the payments had been “suspended” and that personnel “will be held accountable.”
New York City officials have housed illegal immigrants in four-star hotels as they struggled to find shelter as an increasing number of migrants flooded into the city. Officials converted the four-star Collective Paper Factory hotel, the Square Hotel, The Row and other upscale hotels throughout the Big Apple into emergency migrant shelters.
The Biden campaign accused Trump of lying about migrants being sheltered in hotels, though reports on the matter have been corroborated.
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As DOGE has investigated federal spending, Musk dismantled the U.S. Agency of International Development (USAID) on Feb. 3 for pouring billions of dollars into left-wing causes on a global scale. The agency handed a $2 million grant to Guatemala in order to fund sex change operations, sent 65.5 million condoms, 9.8 million injectable birth control products and 334,000 IUDs abroad in fiscal year 2022 and gave out $68 billion in foreign aid in 2023.
Trump said in the Oval Office on Tuesday that Musk will begin to investigate spending conducted by the Department of Education, the military and other federal agencies in the near future.
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First published by the Daily Caller News Foundation.