The $8 Million Gaffe? Try $240 Million: The Reality of Transgender Animal Testing

Donald Trump may have made headlines for his supposed $8 million “transgender gaffe,” but let’s talk about the real scandal: US taxpayers have actually been on the hook for at least $240 million in federal grants for transgender animal experiments. Yes, you read that correctly. While American families grapple with inflation and budget shortfalls, their hard-earned tax dollars are funding gender transition studies on mice, rats, and even monkeys.

[https://www.foxnews.com/politics/rep-eli-crane-stunned-insane-sum-taxpayer-funds-used-transgender-animal-studies]

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laLUBg1wGgs]

[https://oversight.house.gov/release/hearing-wrap-up-the-federal-government-wastes-millions-of-taxpayer-dollars-on-inapplicable-unnecessary-testing-that-is-cruel-to-animals]

This revelation, unearthed in a recent House hearing on taxpayer-funded animal testing, paints a disturbing picture of government waste. According to the White Coat Waste Project, a watchdog organization dedicated to exposing federal spending on inhumane and ineffective animal experiments, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been funneling millions into studies that force rodents and primates to undergo surgical gender transitions and hormone therapy. Some of these tests sought to determine whether transitioning female rats were more prone to overdosing on party drugs—a grotesque waste of resources that seems straight out of a dystopian novel.

Even more absurd, there was a study to determine if hormone therapy made male monkeys more susceptible to HIV. The problem? Monkeys can’t even contract HIV. So why are we funding experiments on them? The answer, as always in Washington, is to follow the money. These taxpayer-funded DEI grants are less about scientific progress and more about ideological posturing and academic cash grabs.

For decades, bureaucratic inertia has allowed animal testing to flourish under the guise of medical necessity. The reality? A staggering 90% of drugs that succeed in animal trials fail in human trials—proving that these experiments are as ineffective as they are inhumane. And yet, the funding flows uninterrupted. The NIH, along with the FDA, Department of Veterans Affairs, and even the Department of Defense, continue to prop up this failed system, ensuring that universities and research labs remain fat on federal handouts.

The irony of it all is that modern technology provides vastly superior alternatives. Organ-on-a-chip technology, AI-driven drug testing, and 3D bioprinting are revolutionizing the field, making animal testing not just unnecessary but obsolete. Yet, despite these advancements, our government remains committed to outdated, barbaric, and utterly pointless studies.

This is not just an animal rights issue—it’s a fiscal responsibility issue. The American taxpayer deserves transparency, oversight, and a firm commitment to ending these wasteful expenditures. The House hearing underscored one thing loud and clear: whether it’s transgender mice or kitten cannibalism experiments (yes, that was real, too), the US government is squandering billions while ignoring the ethical and economic consequences.

So, was Trump’s $8 million claim a gaffe? Perhaps. But the real scandal isn’t the number—it’s the fact that this insanity is happening at all. And until we put an end to it, taxpayers will continue to foot the bill for experiments that are as pointless as they are disturbing.