He meant what he said, and said what he meant.
"Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified: ... $8 million for making mice transgender.
This is real." -- Donald Trump
*audible sigh*
In his first speech of this presidency to a joint session of Congress on March 4, 2025, the current President of the United States of America, Donald Trump, made the above (absurd?) claim. The quote became an instant hit on almost all news media outlets as well as every social media platform. The three most vocal responses to this indisputable fact were (and for the most part still are):
As to the first point, the
outrage came from the
transphobic, as one might imagine and can be construed as yet another rallying cry for their continued support. And outrage issued forth from the
LGBTQ+ community and their allies, too, as was to be expected by anyone possessing functioning neurons.
The incredulity came about first with, "Did he actually say that? I mean, everyone knows that transgenic and transgender aren't the same thing. Surely he meant transgenic." Well, we don't actually know that, unfortunately. Social media immediately took this approach, as did most news media. Until the fact-checking began. Well, that and the fact ignoring and the missing facts, not to mention context and intent. Some sites amended their articles, others continued the spread of mis- and disinformation. The White House took the opportunity on March 5, 2025, to publish the article "Yes, Biden Spent Millions on Transgender Animal Experiments," on their official site, further obfuscating the issue. Go, USA!
As for dumbass, that's what everyone not already mentioned thought and/or said out loud. Or, more probably, what they said was,
What a fucking dumbass!
Sources:
https://www.snopes.com/articles/469397/trump-transgenic-vs-transgender-mice/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/yes-biden-spent-millions-on-transgender-animal-experiments/