In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. And among those diseases could be COVID-19.
Antivaxxers are sometimes violent, often abusive, and always wrong. A leading anti-vaxxer is presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He has repeatedly compared vaccine mandates to the Holocaust. Rolling Stone and Salon retracted an RFK article linking vaccines to autism.
Dani Anguiano at The Guardian:
Inside the Million Dollar Theatre in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday night, comedians cracked jokes about wokeness, the “scamdemic”, Joe Biden’s age and stumbles – and Robert F Kennedy Jr made his pitch, of sorts, to voters.
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Kennedy has been campaigning across the country for months, and on Wednesday he was on his home turf of Los Angeles, where his wife, Cheryl Hines, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star, hosted a fundraiser in the form of a comedy show. The event was open to anyone with $150 to spare and promised a “Night of Laughter” with standup from names such as Adam Carolla, Jeremy Piven and Rob Schneider – the one-time SNL star and now conservative influencer.
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Kennedy has polled higher than expected and drawn support from both Democrats and Republicans, though a review by FiveThirtyEight of eight polls on his popularity found that he was better liked among Republicans, which some experts believe is due to his promotion of conspiracy theories and role as an anti-vaccine activist.
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Some comedians did not touch on politics at all, but jokes about Biden falling or the pandemic being “designed” drew rapturous applause, as did a line about Larry David’s support for Barack Obama. The creator of Curb Your Enthusiasm told the New York Times last year that he is not backing Kennedy’s candidacy. Mentions of California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, unsurprisingly also elicited boos.
A post on social media described the demonstration as the “Scamdemic Protest/March.” It advised participants to “please refrain from wearing Trump/MAGA attire as we want our statement to resonate with the sheeple. No flags but informational signs only.
