Fauci lied about gain-of-function. It cost us dearly. Thankfully, President Trump is ending gain-of-function research in the USA. Promises made. Promises kept.
| Claim | Result | Source Reference | Source Quote |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fauci lied about gain-of-function. | rejected | https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/10/29/repeated-claim-that-fauci-lied-congress-about-gain-of-function-research/ | But Cotton claimed NIH admitted that it had funded gain-of-function research. That’s wrong. No such admission appears in the letter, and NIH officials continue to insist that the EcoHealth work using NIH funds did not constitute gain-of-function research. |
| Fauci lied about gain-of-function. | inconclusive | https://reason.com/2024/06/04/anthony-fauci-gives-misleading-evasive-answers-about-nih-funded-research-at-wuhan-lab/ | |
| It cost us dearly. | verified | https://au.news.yahoo.com/cost-us-dearly-bellamy-fumes-173000605.html | To give away penalties when you have got the ball, it cost us. It cost us dearly. |
| It cost us dearly. | verified | https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/perspectives/annie-duke-pandemic-economy/index.html | By delaying painful decisions during the first and second waves, many American politicians have taken a lot of similar gambles that luck will somehow break our way — that the virus will disappear with the warm weather or a miracle cure will appear or an effective and safe vaccine will come ahead of schedule. And just as Kahneman and Tversky found, as a nation we have had to pay the economic price of taking that gamble. |
| President Trump is ending gain-of-function research in the USA. | rejected | https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/05/us/politics/trump-executive-order-restricts-gain-of-function-research-on-pathogens.html | The first Trump administration lifted that ban in 2017 and instituted a new procedure to review possibly dangerous research. |
| President Trump is ending gain-of-function research in the USA. | rejected | https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/05/trump-halts-medical-research-funding-china-covid-19/83462970007/ | Trump's order, signed May 5, aims to: ◾End any present and all future federal funding of gain-of-function research in countries of concern like China and Iran, which Trump deemed to have insufficient research oversight. |
| Promises made. Promises kept. | rejected | https://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/video/promises-made-promises-kept-1463321155607?featureFlag=true | President Trump has a record of making big policy promises, and when he can't deliver, he places the blame elsewhere. |
| Promises made. Promises kept. | rejected | https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/promises-made-promises-kept-evaluating-president-trump-after-year-one-1120054339541 | IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. |
🤖 Conclusion [15/100]: The statement presents several claims: that Dr. Fauci lied about gain-of-function research, that this deception 'cost us dearly,' that President Trump is ending gain-of-function (GoF) research in the USA, and that this fulfills his campaign promises. The source material offers the following:
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The claim that Fauci lied is strongly rejected by reputable sources; official communication and reporting clarify that NIH and Fauci consistently contended the funded work did not meet the technical definition of GoF, even if debates around semantics linger. Evidence for deliberate lying is lacking.
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The phrase 'It cost us dearly' is contextual and applied broadly to the general U.S. pandemic response, not specifically to gain-of-function research or Fauci's actions. The supporting quotes for this claim reference generalized pandemic failures, not specific financial, health, or safety consequences tied to the GoF controversy.
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That Trump is 'ending gain-of-function research in the USA' is rejected, as the prior ban was lifted in 2017 (during his administration) and his recent executive actions focus more on overseas research, particularly in China and Iran—not a domestic ban.
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'Promises made, promises kept' is generally rejected with evidence that Trump's promises around GoF (and more broadly) are inconsistent or incomplete.
Given these findings, the overall statement is misleading and largely untrue. There is minor truth within the general critique of U.S. pandemic handling, but the core assertions regarding Fauci's lying and Trump ending GoF research domestically are unsupported or incorrect. Score: 15/100.