Let’s get one thing straight – President Donald Trump‘s speech to Congress was a masterclass in how to spew utter nonsense and still manage to keep a straight face. I mean, who needs facts when you’ve got an audience eating out of the palm of your hand, right? And among the many, many lies and distortions, one claim stood out – the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) supposedly uncovering an outrageous expenditure authorized by the previous administration: a whopping $8 million “for making mice transgender.”
Because, you know, that’s exactly what we need – more transgender mouse research. I mean, who cares about curing diseases or improving human health when we can spend millions on making mice change their gender? And let’s not forget the Elon Musk factor – because what’s a conversation about government waste without throwing in a billionaire’s pet project? But, I digress.
As it turns out, the number was pretty much pulled out of thin air – because, why bother with actual facts when you’ve got a narrative to push? And DOGE has been forced to delete many “receipts” of the supposed billions in wasteful spending it has identified because of absurd errors in its reporting. But, hey, who needs accuracy when you’ve got a good story to tell?
Now, about those “transgender” mice – it’s possible that the Trump regime’s sweeping efforts to root out language associated with diversity, equity, and inclusion led them to health studies that involve “transgenic” mice. Because, you know, transgenic mice are basically the same as transgender mice – said no scientist ever. And let’s not forget the transgenic mouse research that’s actually happening – but that’s not as sexy as making up stories about transgender mice, right?
But, I mean, seriously – in removing certain words from federal agency documents, the administration has repeatedly deleted documents unrelated to its culture war concerns. Like, who needs a database that helps doctors determine whether to test pregnant women for HIV when you can just delete it and pretend it never existed? And don’t even get me started on the IRS employee handbook – because, clearly, the most important thing is to remove any mention of “inequity” and “inclusion” as financial terms.
Yet, the White House doubled down on Trump’s line, sharing a government webpage that declared, in a slightly more nuanced phrasing: “Yes, Biden spent millions on transgender animal experiments.” Because, why bother with actual facts when you can just make stuff up and hope nobody notices? And, of course, the page tallies up spending in a completely misleading way in order to arrive at an arbitrary number.
Let’s take a look at some of the actual research that was cited – like the $3 million study examining how “sex-specific inflammatory mechanisms controlled by hormones” may contribute to asthma. Or the $1.2 million hormone study that used “transgenic” mice. Because, clearly, these studies are all about making mice transgender – said no scientist ever.
And, of course, there’s the $300,000 analysis of breast cancer risk for female-to-male trans individuals taking testosterone. Now, this one might actually have something to do with transgender health – but, hey, let’s not let facts get in the way of a good story.
But, in all seriousness, it appears that the president’s anti-DEI forces simply flagged a random selection of National Institutes of Health material that included some combination of hormones, mice, gender, and words with the prefix “trans,” then rolled this all up into the dumbed-down talking point Trump used on Tuesday night. And, of course, the White House can’t substantiate his comment – because, why bother with actual facts when you’ve got a narrative to push?
As Trump said early in his speech Tuesday night, “I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, and [Democrats] sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements.” But, with all the careless funding cuts at the institutions and facilities that find such cures, there may be no call for an ovation in the first place. Maybe we should focus on actually funding medical research instead of making up stories about transgender mice – just a thought.
Anyway, that’s my rant for the day – thanks for sticking with me, folks. And, hey, if you’re interested in medical research, you should totally check out some of the actual research that’s happening. Because, you know, facts are important – or at least, they should be.