Irish Star: Mace 'eviscerated' over 'trans mice' as replies pile up
Jeremiah Hassel ·
The Irish Star rounds up the viral reaction to Nancy Mace's June 18, 2026 'TRANS MICE Act' post, which claimed the American taxpayer is funding experiments on 'trans mice.' The piece collects the X replies and quote-posts correcting her (transgenic, not transgender), reproduces the community note appended to the post, and quotes Mace's clapback defending the bill. The 'dumbest member of Congress' and 'bozo' framing is the commenters' and the outlet's own characterization.
The Irish Star, reporting by Jeremiah Hassel, wrote up the viral reaction to Nancy Mace's June 18, 2026 post promoting her "TRANS MICE Act," in which she claimed the American taxpayer is funding experiments on "trans mice." The piece collects the replies and quote-posts, reproduces the community note that corrected the premise, and quotes Mace's clapback.
The community note appended to her post read:
"'Trans mice' refers to transgenic mice not transgender mice. Transgenic mice are defined as mice that have incorporated foreign DNA into their genome, allowing for the study of gene function and disease mechanisms, particularly in cancer research."
Mace did not back down, replying:
"This post is not about transgenic mice. It is about federally funded transgender-related experiments on animals... The Community Note addresses 'transgenic mice,' which is a completely different topic."
The replies the Irish Star collected ran from correction to comedy:
"It's depressingly funny that these people don't understand the word transgenic. Transgenic research is how we now have mass produced insulin. Nobody is making trans'gender' mice. Wtf."
"As someone who works with transgenic mouse models for cancer research, this is objectively one of the funniest things I've seen a real life politician post."
"Translation: Not transgender. Transmission: Not transgender. Transportation: Not transgender. Transatlantic: Not transgender. Transgenic: Also not transgender. English is hard."
The Irish Star headlined the piece "Nancy Mace branded 'dumbest member of Congress' as she's eviscerated over 'trans mice' claim." That "dumbest member" and "eviscerated" wording belongs to the commenters and the outlet, not to any settled fact. The factual point underneath, that transgenic mice are genetically modified research animals rather than "transgender," is set out in the cited scientific sources.
Read it: Irish Star →
See our dispatch on the underlying post: "Radical transgender experiments": Mace's "TRANS MICE Act" goes to war with the transgenic lab mice scientists use to study cancer.