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White House Issues Statement Following Debate About Study
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White House Issues Statement Following Debate About Study

CNN found itself scrambling yet again after launching a so-called “fact check” on President Donald Trump’s Tuesday night address—only to discover that the facts were, in fact, on Trump’s side. In an impassioned speech before a joint session of Congress, Trump detailed shocking examples of wasteful government spending uncovered by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Among them? A staggering $8 million allocated for transgender studies on mice.

It was a moment that sparked laughter in the chamber, but it didn’t take long for CNN to take the bait. Determined to prove Trump wrong, CNN’s Deidre McPhillips rushed to “fact-check” the claim, asserting that only about $500,000 had been spent on similar research involving monkeys. That might have been a convenient narrative—except it wasn’t true.

Within hours, the White House fired back with a blistering response, not only reaffirming Trump’s claim but providing hard numbers that completely undermined CNN’s reporting. The administration’s statement didn’t hold back:

“Last night, President Donald J. Trump highlighted many of the egregious examples of waste, fraud, and abuse funded by American taxpayers, including $8 million spent by the Biden Administration ‘for making mice transgender.’

The Fake News losers at CNN immediately tried to fact-check it, but President Trump was right (as usual).”

The statement then listed six National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants awarded under the Biden administration, totaling over $8.2 million. These grants funded studies on hormone therapy in mice, exploring everything from reproductive consequences to asthma outcomes. The breakdown was damning:

  • $455,000 to study how gender-affirming hormone therapy affects HIV vaccine responses in mice.
  • $2.5 million to examine reproductive consequences of steroid hormone treatments.
  • $299,940 to research the effects of testosterone therapy on breast cancer risk.
  • $735,113 to investigate microbiome changes caused by hormone therapy.
  • $1.2 million to study how androgens influence reproductive neuroendocrine function.
  • $3.1 million to analyze the role of gonadal hormones in asthma outcomes.

Total price tag? $8,290,053.

Game. Set. Match.

CNN, realizing it had walked straight into a factual minefield, scrambled to update its article. The original claim—that Trump had made a “false statement”—was quietly downgraded to “this claim needs context.” In translation, this is the journalistic equivalent of waving a white flag while still mumbling under your breath that you were kind of right.

But the damage was done. Once again, the so-called “fact-checkers” had exposed their real agenda—not to objectively assess claims, but to reflexively dispute anything that comes out of Trump’s mouth. When confronted with hard evidence, their only option was to retreat into the safe, vague language of “needing context.”

Written by Arthur Higgens - March 6, 2025