CNN walked back a claim after wrongly stating Trump “falsely claimed” the Biden administration spent $8 million to make mice transgender.
During his address to Congress, Trump highlighted “appalling waste” in government spending. He pointed to NIH-funded studies on “gender-affirming” hormone treatments for mice, totaling $8.2 million. CNN’s Deidre McPhillips initially disputed it, claiming only $500,000 went to similar research in monkeys. But after a White House statement proved her wrong, CNN corrected its fact check.
“Last night, President Donald J. Trump highlighted many of the egregious examples of waste, fraud, and abuse funded by the American taxpayers,” the White House said. “The Fake News losers at CNN immediately tried to fact check it, but President Trump was right (as usual).”
CNN’s original fact check read, “Trump falsely claimed that the Department of Government Efficiency identified government spending of ‘$8 million for making mice transgender.’”
The White House then released documents listing six NIH-funded studies on hormone treatments in mice. The total? $8,290,053. Grants included $2.5 million for reproductive consequences of hormone therapy, $3.1 million for hormone effects on asthma, and $1.2 million for androgen effects on neuroendocrine function.
CNN’s initial report only focused on three studies. One was a $299,940 grant on breast cancer and testosterone therapy. Another, totaling $455,120, examined HIV vaccine responses in mice receiving cross-sex hormone therapy.
Later, CNN changed its wording. “Trump falsely claimed” became “This claim needs context.” The network admitted its mistake, saying, “An earlier version of this item incorrectly characterized as false Trump’s claim.”
McPhillips added a clarification, saying Trump “did not specify” the studies’ purposes. She emphasized the research was meant to study human health effects, not to “make mice transgender.”