In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the myth that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. Examples include measles, COVID, flu, and polio.
A number of posts discussed Trump's support for the discredited notion.
Another 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. He is part of the "Disinformation Dozen."
Donald J. Trump plans to name his former rival, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Tulsi Gabbard, a one-time Democrat, as honorary co-chairs of a presidential transition team that will help him select the policies and personnel of any second Trump administration, according to a campaign senior adviser.
Mr. Kennedy, who ended his independent campaign for president and endorsed Mr. Trump on Friday, described his transition role briefly in an interview that aired Monday.
“I’ve been asked to go on the transition team, you know, and to help pick the people who will be running the government,” Mr. Kennedy told Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host, in an interview posted on X.
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When Mr. Kennedy announced on Friday that he was suspending his campaign and backing Mr. Trump, he had said that the former president had “asked to enlist me” in a second Trump administration, later elaborating that his role would involve health care and food and drug policy.
On Monday, Mr. Trump told reporters that he had not talked with Mr. Kennedy about making him his Health and Human Services secretary, but added that he “knows a lot about the subject and has been very well received by the party.” Advisers close to Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy acknowledge that Mr. Kennedy would face an uphill battle to pass Senate confirmation for any job and might be better suited for a role that does not require Senate confirmation.
Mr. Kennedy had also discussed a role in the first Trump administration.
In early January 2017, Mr. Kennedy met in Trump Tower with Mr. Trump, who was at the time president-elect and had expressed skepticism of vaccines during his campaign. After the meeting, Mr. Kennedy told reporters waiting in the lobby of the building that Mr. Trump had asked him to chair a “commission on vaccine safety and scientific integrity.”
There was an immediate backlash. Mr. Kennedy has a long history of spreading disproved theories imputing harm to childhood vaccines, including falsely linking them to autism. After concerns were raised, Mr. Trump’s aides talked Mr. Trump out of the idea and the Kennedy vaccine committee never materialized.
