President Donald Trump seemed to elevate debunked theories linking vaccines to autism during a televised meeting with his cabinet after his administration already proposed cuts in local and state childhood vaccination programs.
Trump's cabinet met on Thursday, during which Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talked about eliminating autism within the U.S.
"At your direction, we are going to know by September. We've launched a massive testing and research effort that's going to involve hundreds of scientists from around the world," Kennedy said. "By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures."
"If you can come up with that answer, where you stop taking something, you stop eating something, or maybe it's a shot," Trump added. "Something is causing it."
RFK JR: By September we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we will be able to eliminate those exposures.
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) April 10, 2025
TRUMP: Maybe it's a shot.
(Not hard to see where this is headed ... ) pic.twitter.com/kmOIUtJs1C
Social media users reacted with shock after hearing the President perpetuate a theory which has already been repeatedly disproven.
"They are going to make curable diseases great again," said one user.
They are going to make curable diseases great again.
— BrianZeroFs (@BrianZeroFs) April 10, 2025
"I'll tell you now so we don't have to pretend its being researched. They'll blame the covid, flu, and many other vaccines with nothing real to back it up," said another.
I’ll tell you now so we don’t have to pretend its being researched. They’ll blame the covid, flu, and many other vaccines with nothing real to back it up.
— Mike (SUPER BOWL CHAMPS) (@Waffles12415) April 10, 2025
"Is he going to advocate for a shot of bleach? Again," wrote a third.
Is he going to advocate for a shot of bleach?
— Don McGowan (@donmcgowan) April 10, 2025
Again.
"It has been studied for decades but he will know by September? And perhaps it is NOT an epidemic but it is more frequently diagnosed than before," said a fourth.
It has been studied for decades but he will know by September? And perhaps it is NOT an epidemic but it is more frequently diagnosed than before.
— Lisa Andrzejczyk (@Ligaleagle) April 10, 2025
The Trump administration proposed $11 billion of cuts to local and state programs addressing infectious disease, mental health, addiction and childhood vaccination. When asked about the cuts, RFK Jr. admitted to not having known about them at all.
"No I'm not familiar with those cuts. We'd have to go ... the cuts were mainly DEI cuts, which the president ordered," said the Health Secretary.
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