The gender of the military canine who participated in the raid that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi has become a controversial topic since it has been labeled as both a male and female.
Conan, who is a Belgian Malinois and a veteran of more than 50 missions, was presented with a service award and certificate by President Trump on Monday in the Rose Garden. Trump, during his speech, referred to Conan as a male dog. However, later that day, the White House then issued a clarification saying that Conan is, in fact, female, but they then reversed course again.
You cannot make this sh*t up.
After being presented with the fact that a Pentagon official just told @ABC that Conan is FEMALE, a White House official tells us that the WH is still standing by its story that Conan is MALE (as Trump said). The official would not go on the record. https://t.co/XR63R0SD1l
— Terry Moran (@TerryMoran) November 26, 2019
A source in the White House told the Washington Examiner the dog is male, however, a Pentagon official has told ABC News that the dog is a female. The White House remained steadfast in their stance that Conan is a male dog even after being confronted with the Pentagon’s response.
OMIGERD! Now Conan is a female again……(according to some reports)
The one photo I have seen of the relevant area definitely looks like the dog has lady parts….but the resolution admittedly isn’t great.— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) November 26, 2019
Just in: #Conan, the hero dog from the al-Baghdadi raid, is in fact a GIRL, a US defense official tells ABC News. Yesterday, a WH official told the pool that Conan was a girl but later said the dog was actually a boy — after POTUS & VPOTUS used male pronouns to refer to Conan.
— Elizabeth McLaughlin (@Elizabeth_McLau) November 26, 2019
UPDATE to the Conan gender: Another US defense official now says that for sure Conan the hero dog is a male based on multiple internal checks.
— luis martinez (@LMartinezABC) November 26, 2019
I dare you to try to flip Conan over
— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) November 26, 2019
We’re headed into a White House gender reveal for a dog, aren’t we.
— Emily Nussbaum (@emilynussbaum) November 26, 2019
Perhaps Conan is like Lassie. There were 4 Lassies at any given time #CONANGATE
— John Roberts (@johnrobertsFox) November 26, 2019
The amount of conflicting info out there about the ostensibly easy-to-check fact of whether Conan is a boy or girl feels like a metaphor for the current media moment
— Peter J. Hasson (@peterjhasson) November 26, 2019
OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM THE PENTAGON TO @BUZZFEEDNEWS: “Per U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM), Conan is a male dog.” pic.twitter.com/7NQZn8epEn
— Ellie Hall (@ellievhall) November 26, 2019
It’s still unclear as to whether or not the dog’s gender could change again.
