Gain of Function Gets TKO'd, Israel Strikes Back, Beagles Shown Mercy, Grass Root Billionaires?

Trump's ban on risky gain-of-function research, Israel's airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, NIH closing their controversial Beagle testing lab, and the revelation that "grassroots" May Day protests received substantial billionaire funding. We explore each story with unfiltered commentary and context to help you understand what's really happening behind the headlines.

• Trump prepares executive order banning gain-of-function research in countries without proper oversight, five years after COVID pandemic
• Multiple intelligence agencies have concluded the pandemic likely originated from a lab accident in Wuhan
• Israel launches massive airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen following a missile attack on Tel Aviv's main airport
• NIH Director announces closure of notorious government research facility conducting cruel experiments on beagles for decades
• At least 2,100 beagles died during experiments where bacteria was pumped into their lungs
• May Day demonstrations across America received over $500,000 from billionaire donors including Hans-Jörg Wyss, George Soros, and the Arabella Network
• Participating protest groups publicly railed against billionaires while receiving millions from them

Follow us on X at Ranting RP. You can also catch our full episodes on YouTube, Spotify, iHeartRadio and Apple Podcasts. For more in-depth coverage and our complete news archive, visit us at RantingPolitics.com.

Source Credits:

https://nypost.com/2025/05/05/us-news/trump-to-ban-risky-gain-of-function-research-in-china-nations-lacking-proper-oversight/ https://nypost.com/2025/05/05/world-news/israel-hits-back-at-houthis-with-airstrikes-after-iran-backed-terrorists-struck-ben-gurion-airport/ https://nypost.com/2025/05/05/us-news/nih-shutters-notorious-lab-accused-of-slaughtering-beagles-for-four-decades/ https://nypost.com/2025/05/05/us-news/lefty-groups-behind-grassroots-may-day-protests-in-us-propped-up-by-billionaires-and-dark-money-network/ 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello America JOC here with your Ranting Politics
headline updates, where we arediving into today's most
explosive political stories thatyou need to know about Coming
up.
We're diving into four majorheadlines President Trump's
upcoming executive order banninggain-of-function research in
countries without properoversight, which comes years

(00:22):
after the COVID pandemic thatintelligence agencies believe
likely originated from a labaccident.
We'll also cover Israel's majorairstrikes against Houthi
targets in Yemen following amissile attack on Tel Aviv's
main airport.
The NIH's decision to finallyclose that notorious Beagle
testing lab after decades ofcontroversial experiments.

(00:43):
And the eye-opening revelationthat those supposedly grassroots
May Day protests were actuallybankrolled by billionaire donors
.
If you're just tuning in forthe first time, welcome to
America's fastest-growing dailynews rundown, designed
specifically for your commuterun or coffee time.
Stick around for all this andmore in your daily dose of

(01:04):
unfiltered news and common sensecommentary.
This is Ranting PoliticsHeadline Updates.

(01:27):
Big news out of Washington today, as President Trump prepares to
sign an executive order thatwill ban all federal funding of
risky gain-of-function researchin China, iran and other
countries lacking properoversight of these potentially
dangerous experiments.
This comes more than five yearsafter the start of the COVID-19
pandemic that US intelligenceagencies have since concluded

(01:49):
most likely resulted from a labaccident, according to a White
House fact sheet obtained by theNew York Post.
The executive order willimmediately cut funding from any
present and all futuregain-of-function research.
It will also task the NationalInstitutes of Health and other
agencies with identifyingbiological research that could
harm public health or threatennational security.

(02:10):
The White House specificallycalled out the kind of bat
coronavirus research conductedat the Wuhan Institute of
Virology, stating that these newmeasures will drastically
reduce the potential forlab-related incidents like those
that may have sparked theglobal pandemic.
This isn't just speculation,folks.
The FBI, energy Department andCIA have all pointed to a lab

(02:33):
leak as the most likelyexplanation for the COVID
outbreak.
Even former CDC Director, drRobert Redfield, has backed this
theory, though others, like DrAnthony Fauci, have maintained
that natural animal-to-humantransmission is more plausible.
Speaking of Fauci, rememberwhen he called lab leak
proponents conspiracy theorists?
Well, the evidence keepsmounting that taxpayer dollars

(02:57):
were flowing to some seriouslyquestionable research.
The NIAID, under Fauci, and theUS Agency for International
Development funneled over $1.4million through EcoHealth
Alliance to the Wuhan labbetween 2014 and 2021 for bat
coronavirus research.
The order goes further thanprevious restrictions, while

(03:17):
Biden had signed a ban on suchresearch in China in December
2022, that law allowed Healthand Human Services secretaries
to override the restriction.
After review, trump's orderappears to close that loophole.
Perhaps most concerning is whata Pentagon inspector general
found last year.
The feds haven't even been ableto track how much
gain-of-function research isbeing conducted in China or

(03:39):
other nations.
Their review found at least15.5 million flowing through
sub-recipients to researchorganizations in China and other
foreign countries for researchpotentially enhancing pandemic
pathogens.
Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa, whoforced an audit by including a
provision in the 2024 NationalDefense Authorization Act,
praised the move, saying I havebeen fighting for years to end

(04:02):
the insane practice of sendingtax dollars to China for sketchy
pseudoscience.
This is a great win for theAmerican people and common sense
.
The New York Post reporting onthis story highlights the
growing bipartisan consensusthat potentially
pandemic-causing research needsmuch stricter oversight,
especially when conducted innations with questionable

(04:23):
biosafety standards.
Israel has just launched adramatic series of airstrikes
against Houthi targets inYemen's port city of Hodeidah.
This military action comes indirect response to the Houthi
terrorists' brazen ballisticmissile attack on Ben Gurion
Airport in Tel Aviv, whichinjured six people and forced

(04:43):
foreign airlines to suspend allflights to Israel.
The operation was massive inscale.
Approximately 20 Israeli AirForce fighter jets were deployed
to the Yemeni coast, droppingaround 50 munitions on targets
in Hodeidah and a concretefactory in the nearby city of
Bajil.
According to the IDF, hodeidahwas specifically targeted

(05:04):
because it serves as a keytransfer point for Iranian
weapons equipment for militaryneeds and other terror purposes.
As for that concrete factory inBajil, israeli officials claim
it's an important economicresource for the Houthi terror
regime that's being used toconstruct tunnels and military
infrastructure.
While the Israeli Air Forcecarried out these strikes in

(05:25):
coordination with the UnitedStates, american forces,
reportedly, weren't activelyinvolved in the operation.
Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu isn't mincing words
about his intentions either.
In a video shared on X,formerly Twitter, he vowed
multiple attacks against theIran-backed group, stating we
operated against them in thepast and we will operate in the

(05:45):
future.
It's not bang, that's it, butthere will be bangs.
This marks Israel's firstbombing campaign in Yemen in
nearly four months.
Following a joint strike withUS and British forces back in
January, the United States hadpreviously launched its own
large-scale attacks against theHouthi in March.
After the group continuedtargeting American ships and

(06:06):
commercial vessels in the RedSea, the Houthis have been
escalating their attacks onIsrael since the outbreak of the
Gaza War, with this latestmissile strike on Ben Gurion
Airport representing asignificant escalation in their
capabilities and willingness todirectly target Israeli civilian
infrastructure.
The situation remains fluid, asIsrael appears committed to a

(06:28):
sustained response against theIran-backed militant group.
In a major development thatanimal rights advocates are
calling a long-overdue victory,nih Director Jay Bhattacharya
has officially announced theclosure of a notorious
government research facilitythat's been conducting what
critics describe as cruel drugexperiments on beagles for at

(06:48):
least four decades.
The NIH's controversialin-house clinical center,
located on its Bethesda,maryland campus, had been
accused of particularly brutalexperimentation, including
pushing pneumonia-causingbacteria into the lungs of over
2,000 beagles.
Patacharya confirmed theshutdown during an appearance on
Fox Friends Weekend, where heexplained the administration's

(07:11):
broader shift away from animaltesting.
We put forward a policy toreplace animals and research
with other technologicaladvancements AI and other tools
that actually translate betterto human health.
Patacharya stated we got rid ofall of the Beagle experiments
on NIH campus.
The closure represents asignificant policy shift under

(07:32):
the Trump administration, whichhas been actively working to
phase out animal testing acrossmultiple federal agencies.
The FDA recently revealed plansto eliminate such
experimentation for antibodytherapies.
While the EPA is moving toreinstate a phase-out of animal
testing that was pursued duringTrump's first term, details of

(07:52):
what happened at the facilityare genuinely disturbing.
According to investigations bythe White Coat Waste Project
Watchdog Group, scientists atthe lab would surgically insert
tubing into beagles' lungs topump deadly pneumonia-causing
bacteria into them.
These experiments, related toseptic shock and organ failure,
typically ended with the dogsbeing euthanized after about

(08:15):
four days and their bodiesstored in refrigerators.
At least 2,100 beagles diedduring these processes, with the
government reportedly payingbetween $1,000 and $1,500 per
dog from Envigo's puppy mill inCumberland, virginia.
The closure comes after years ofmounting pressure from both
sides of the political aisle.

(08:35):
White Coat Waste Projectfounder Anthony Bellotti praised
the decision, calling the NIH'sbeagle testing the biggest
animal testing scandal inhistory.
His organization has beencampaigning against the practice
for nine years.
During the COVID pandemic, drAnthony Fauci faced significant
criticism when it was revealedhe had signed off on the Beagle

(08:57):
experiments.
Fauci later defended hisactions, saying he approved them
because they were approved by apeer review, though critics
argued his position in the chainof command made him responsible
for what they described astaxpayer-funded torture of dogs.
The issue even generated rarebipartisan consensus, with
nearly two dozen lawmakers fromboth parties signing a letter to

(09:18):
Fauci condemning theexperiments.
Republican RepresentativeNicole Malliotakis of New York
expressed hope that this is onlythe beginning of NIH's efforts
to eliminate funding forinhumane and outdated animal
experiments, while Senator RogerMarshall of Kansas called for
testing on dogs of any breed tobe outlawed entirely.
According to the New York Post,the NIH had confirmed to

(09:41):
Congress just last month thatexperiments on dogs in that
laboratory were still ongoingand appeared to be seeking
additional funding for it,albeit significantly less than
in previous years.
Well folks, nothing says powerto the people, quite like
billionaire-funded protestsagainst billionaires In what
might be the most ironicdevelopment since Diet Soda.

(10:03):
It turns out those supposedlygrassroots mayday demonstrations
across America had someseriously deep-pocketed backers.
A new analysis reveals thatmore than $500,000 from Swiss
billionaire Hans-Jörg Wyss,george Soros' Open Society
Foundations and the shadowyArabella Network has flowed to
progressive groups organizingthe recent protests.

(10:25):
Talk about biting the hand thatfeeds you.
Just make sure.
The 50-51 movement, that's 50protests, 50 states, one
orchestrated over 1,000demonstrations nationwide
beginning May 1st.
Their public messaging railedagainst Trump and his
billionaire profiteers, claimingthey were demanding a country

(10:47):
that puts our families overtheir fortunes.
Meanwhile, the movement'sparticipating organizations were
quietly cashing checks with awhole lot of zeros from
different billionaires.
About three dozen groupsinvolved in these anti-Trump
demonstrations receivedapproximately $29.3 million from
Weiss's organizations, $47million from the Arabella
Network and $194 million fromSoros's Open Society Foundations

(11:12):
.
Some of the most prominentparticipants included the
Sunrise Movement, indivisibleand Planned Parenthood all
substantial beneficiaries ofthis funding pipeline.
Caitlin Sutherland, executivedirector of Americans for Public
Trust, didn't mince words aboutthe contradiction.
The hypocrisy of the May Dayprotests is glaring.

(11:32):
These organizations project theillusion of being driven by
everyday Americans, but inreality they're being bankrolled
by some of the biggest darkmoney mega donors in politics.
When contacted by the New YorkPost, representatives for open
society foundations insistedthey did not fund or coordinate
the May Day protests, while anArabella spokesperson stated

(11:53):
they have no connection to theMay Day protests.
Both organizations acknowledgesupporting various progressive
causes, but maintain that howthese groups engage politically
is their own decision.
Weiss, who, at 89 years old,has emerged as a major funder of
left-wing causes, despite beingunable to donate directly to US
political candidates due to hisSwiss citizenship, did not

(12:15):
respond to requests for comment.
The billionaire made hisfortune selling medical device
company Synthese to JohnsonJohnson over a decade ago,
perhaps the most on-the-noseexample of this funding
disconnect.
One of the largest protestparticipants was a group called
Families Over Billionaires,which is actually the trade name
for the 1630 Fund, a massiveliberal dark money organization

(12:38):
that received more than $278million from Weiss's
organizations.
Sometimes reality really isstranger than fiction, folks.
Or, as I like to say, followthe money and you'll find out
whose revolution it really is.
And that wraps up today'sRanting Politics headline
updates From Trump's decisiveaction on risky gain-of-function

(12:59):
research to Israel's strategicairstrikes against the Houthi,
the long-overdue closure of thathorrific Beagle testing lab and
the eye-opening revelationabout who's really bankrolling
those grassroots May Dayprotests.
If you found today's rundownvaluable, follow us on X at
Ranting RP.
You can also catch our fullepisodes on YouTube, spotify,

(13:20):
iheartradio and Apple Podcasts.
For more in-depth coverage andour complete news archive, visit
us at RantingPoliticscom.
This is JOC signing off andthank you, our loyal listeners,
for choosing Ranting Politicsheadline updates.
We'll be back soon with theupdates you need to navigate
these interesting times.
Remember we don't align with apolitical party.

(13:41):
We align with you, the Americancitizen.
Until then, stay tuned, stayinformed and, as always, stay
free.