Rep. Buddy Carter’s Claim of $15 Million in Condoms for the Taliban Sparks CNN Fact-Check
Rep. Buddy Carter asks questions during a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing. | Greg Nash/Pool via AP
There was unexpected confusion on CNN’s News Central on Thursday when Rep. Buddy Carter (R-GA) claimed the U.S. government spent $15 million on condoms for the Taliban. The statement, made during an interview with anchor Boris Sanchez, left the host visibly surprised and led to an immediate fact-checking push.
Carter, a member of the DOGE Caucus, which focuses on identifying government waste, asserted that U.S. aid money was being grossly misallocated. “The U.S. aid that was cut off should have been cut off. I mean, $15 million in condoms for the Taliban? $47,000 for a transgender opera in Colombia? Please!” Carter said.
His comments prompted Sanchez to interrupt. “Wait, sir—woah, woah, woah, woah, woah! $15 million for the Taliban?” the anchor asked, appearing stunned. “That’s what they discovered,” Carter insisted. Sanchez, skeptical of the claim, pressed further.
“Are you conflating things? Are you talking about the $50 million that was supposedly meant for condoms in Gaza? Are you conflating those, sir?” Carter stood by his assertion.
“I am not,” he replied. “This is the type of thing they’re finding, and this is the type of thing we want them to find. There is inefficiency there. When you find a government as big and as bloated as we have, you’re going to find inefficiencies like this. And that’s why we need DOGE.
That’s why we need to identify these inefficiencies. I was born at night, but I wasn’t born last night. Don’t try to pull this over me here, OK?”
Sanchez pushed back, questioning the plausibility of Carter’s claim.
“Congressman, I got to tell you, $50 million [sic] for condoms to the Taliban. The U.S. government apparently procures condoms at about three cents each. That’s a lot of condoms. Are you standing by that, sir? We’re going to fact-check it. We’re going to have you back on and ask you about it.”
“That’s fine,” Carter responded.
A video released by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, narrated by Chairman Brian Mast (R-FL), later backed Carter’s claim, stating that “$15 million for condoms to the Taliban through USAID” was part of “radical, far-left grants issued by the State Department and USAID under the Biden administration.” However, the video did not provide any direct evidence supporting the figure.
Meanwhile, the International Medical Corps refuted claims of U.S. funding being used to procure or distribute condoms for Hamas in Gaza, a similar claim previously circulated. The controversy now centers on whether Carter’s statement holds factual merit or if it is yet another misleading claim about federal spending—one that could soon face scrutiny under a formal fact check.
