NBC News issued an on-air explanation Tuesday about quoting the terms “biological male” and “biological female,” language drawn directly from the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“Just a quick note here,” anchor Craig Melvin said during the morning broadcast. “The terms that we’re using here during our reporting, biological male, biological female, the high court put those terms in quotations in their decision and their dissent.”

“But just so you know, we’re using those terms from the decision itself, biological male, biological female,” he added.

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NBC News’ White House correspondent Kelly O’Donnell had been on the air for a special report about the Supreme Court ruling to uphold state laws barring transgender girls and women from participating in school athletic teams, and she had used the “biological” terms several times.

She went on to clarify and seemingly downplay the decision, telling viewers, “it is also notable that it is narrow in the sense of the numbers of transgender athletes who are seeking to compete — that that is a very small pool, in many ways.”

The decision by NBC to explain using the phrase drew ridicule online, with legal expert Jonathan Turley commenting, “This is how the press becomes a parody of itself.”

ABC’s Supreme Court reporter, Devin Dwyer, described the ruling as “a blow” to members of the transgender community “on this last day of Pride Month,” and described the transgender-identifying plaintiffs who challenged the lower court’s ruling, saying they “bravely brought this case.”

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Defenders of female sports categories gather in front of the U.S. Supreme Court as they wait for rulings on June 30, 2026, in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Additionally, ABC White House correspondent Mary Bruce said of President Donald Trump, “Rarely does a day go by here at the White House when the president doesn’t rail against the participation of transgender female athletes in girls and women’s sports.”

The decision was handed down by the court’s six-justice conservative majority and determined that state bans in West Virginia and Idaho are not in violation of the Constitution — with 27 states throughout the country passing similar laws restricting transgender women in female sports and locker rooms.

The court also unanimously agreed that banning transgender females from school athletic teams does not go against Title IX, a federal law which prohibits sex discrimination in education settings. Liberal Justices Elena Kagan, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor partially agreed with the majority opinion, but dissented on other parts.

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Demonstrators protest with signs outside U.S. Supreme Court on June 29, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Justices released several opinions before departing on traditional summer recess. (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)

Justice Brett Kavanaugh penned the ruling, writing that “states may maintain women’s and girls’ sports for biological females,” in the interest of both safety and fairness for athletes.

“The Constitution and Title IX do not require an overhaul of women’s and girls’ sports throughout America,” Kavanaugh added.

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Trump took a victory lap after news of the landmark decision broke, marking a success for his administration after a 2025 executive order directed the federal government to withhold funding from any school that permitted transgender students to participate in female sports.

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“BIG WIN: The United States Supreme Court just RULED AGAINST MEN PLAYING IN WOMEN’S SPORTS,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “Wow! That takes that ridiculous situation off the table!!!”

Fox News Digital reached out to NBC and ABC News for comment.