Elon Musk Supports Claim that Biden Administration Funded Efforts to Overthrow Sheikh Hasina’s Government

Staff Reporter

Mike Benz, a former U.S. official, has claimed that the Biden administration, through America’s “Deep State,” has pumped large sums of money into efforts to overthrow the government of Sheikh Hasina in Bangladesh. This claim has been supported by Elon Musk, who shared the allegation via a video on his X (formerly Twitter) account on February 7. In the video, Benz asserts that U.S. agencies like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the International Republican Institute (IRI), and USAID were involved in financing efforts to overthrow Hasina’s government.

The video features an interview with Benz and prominent journalist Glenn Greenwald, where Benz alleges that U.S. donor agencies funded LGBT groups and radical student activists to incite violent riots in Bangladesh, with the aim of ousting the ruling government.

Benz provides a detailed account of how these agencies—funded by USAID—helped in destabilizing the government, starting with a baseline assessment by IRI after the 2018 elections. According to Benz, U.S. State Department officials were displeased with the election results and sought advice from IRI on how to destabilize the government, eventually concluding that the only way to bring about a regime change was to incite instability in the country.

This claim has sparked new debates within Bangladesh’s political circles and among international diplomatic communities, with calls for further investigation.

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— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2025