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."
Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech at The Hill:
Health experts are worried about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could influence former President Trump’s public health policies in a second term, after the prominent anti-vaccine advocate suspended his independent campaign for president and jumped aboard Trump’s.
Upon announcing the move last week, Kennedy said Trump had “asked to enlist me in his administration.” Kennedy’s former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, said earlier this month Kennedy would do an “incredible job” as secretary of health and human services.
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Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., told conservative radio host Glenn Beck this month he would support Kennedy taking over a government agency to “blow it up.”
And this is exactly what many health experts fear would happen to a public health agency — like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Health — with Kennedy at the helm.
“From a health perspective this would be nothing short of chaos,” said Robert Murphy, a professor of infectious disease at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
“He’s proven himself to be a dangerous fanatic who doesn’t have a science background and who doesn’t believe in science.”
“We’re in a lot of trouble if he has any role, any leadership position related to many things, but health in particular,” he added.
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“The notion that RFK Jr. would have any say in who’s selected [to be part of Trump’s administration] is very worrisome to me and many of my colleagues in public health,” W. Ian Lipkin, the director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, told The Hill.
“Many of us are old enough to remember what happened before there was a polio vaccine or a measles vaccine…there were millions of children that were adversely impacted due to the lack of protection from these types of diseases,” said Lipkin.
