Featured Image Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images
Topics: Celebrity, Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Health, Pregnancy, Women's Health, Parenting
Rhiannon Ingle
Topics: Celebrity, Donald Trump, Politics, US News, Health, Pregnancy, Women's Health, Parenting
Donald Trump has declared himself the 'fertilisation president' and it's left social media users a bit weirded out.
The 78-year-old Republican made the seriously bizarre comments during a Women’s History Month event held at the White House earlier this week on Wednesday (26 March).
The self-appointed moniker came about while Trump was discussing expanding access to in vitro fertilisation (IVF).
"We’re gonna have tremendous goodies in the bag for women too," Trump said about his administration’s plans (via NBC News).
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"The women, between the fertilisation and all the other things we’re talking about, it’s gonna be great."
"Fertilisation," he continued to a laughing crowd. "I’m still very proud of it, I don’t care. I’ll be known as the fertilisation president, and that’s okay."
While being cheered on by the crowd, Trump added: "That’s not bad.
"I’ve been called much worse. Actually, I like it, right?"
After catching light of Trump's comments, it's clear people couldn't hold in their reactions with many rushing to social media to share their thoughts.
One X user exclaimed: "Ewwwww!!!!!"
"Gross," penned a second, while a third chimed in: "This made my stomach turn … ewwww… just ewwww."
Another quipped: "Donald Trump is grinning inanely and says he's going to be known as the 'fertilisation' President. A passion killer, big time."
Trump, whose presidency has already been disastrous for reproductive rights, also once dubbed himself the 'father of IVF' while campaigning for his second presidential term in October of last year.
"Oh, I want to talk about IVF. I’m the father of IVF, so I want to hear this question," Trump said.
When responding to an attendee's concern that abortion bans could affect access to fertility treatments, however, he recalled how a female senator had 'explained' to him about IVF, MSNBC reports.
"So I got a call from Katie Britt, a young, just a fantastically attractive person from Alabama," he told the crowd. "She’s a senator, and she called me up like 'emergency, emergency' because an Alabama judge had ruled that the IVF clinics were illegal and they have to be closed down."
According to PEOPLE, the incident he was referring to was a ruling which decreed that frozen embryos at IVF clinics came under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act, leading several fertility clinics to withhold their services despite not being illegal.
"And I said, explain IVF, very IVF, very quickly. And within about two minutes, I understood it," Trump added. "We're totally in favour of IVF."
He has also previously issued a statement about IVF on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing: "Like the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of Americans, including the VAST MAJORITY of Republicans, Conservatives, Christians, and Pro-Life Americans, I strongly support the availability of IVF for couples who are trying to have a precious baby.
"Today, I am calling on the Alabama Legislature to act quickly to find an immediate solution to preserve the availability of IVF in Alabama."
In February, he also signed an executive order that asked for a list of policy recommendations to protect IVF access and 'aggressively reduce out-of-pocket and health plan costs for such treatments'.