Scientist: Some critics of public funding for this research project have maintained that only if it can be indicated how the public will benefit from the project is continued public funding for it justified. If the critics were right about this, then there would not be the tremendous public support for the project that even its critics acknowledge.
If the scientist's claims are true, that a public benefit can be indicated is not a requirement for the justification of the research project's continued public funding must also be true.