Trump pressured RFK Jr to slash childhood vaccines over autism fears: report

Trump pressured RFK Jr to slash childhood vaccines over autism fears: report During a lunch in May, Trump reportedly accused Kennedy of having the ‘yips’ - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments President Donald Trump repeatedly pressed Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to slash childhood vaccine recommendations, driven by the president’s insistence that inoculations are linked to autism, according to a new report. At a lunch in May, Trump asked Kennedy why he had not done more to investigate the supposed connection, accusing him of having the “yips,” The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Yips is a sports term often used for poor performance caused by anxiety. The issue reportedly dominates nearly every conversation between the two men, with Trump having told Kennedy that reducing autism rates should be his top priority. At the same time, the 80-year-old president has privately expressed disappointment that, more than a year into Kennedy’s tenure at HHS, he has seen little progress. Kennedy, one of the nation’s most prominent vaccine skeptics, was surprised by Trump’s overtures because they conflicted with what White House advisers had told him. They had urged him to tone down his vaccine rhetoric, which had not polled well, ahead of the midterm elections, sources said. Now, HHS is scrambling to show progress amid growing concern that Kennedy could be ousted after November. White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the Journal that people worried about “skyrocketing autism rates have long been ignored if not mocked.” He added that the administration is “committed to leaving no stone unturned to finally address these concerns with Gold Standard Science.” HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard told the outlet: “Secretary Kennedy and President Trump are aligned in their commitment to confronting the chronic disease epidemic affecting America’s children through rigorous, gold-standard science.” The president, like Kennedy, has a long history of promoting the link between vaccines and autism. “When I was growing up, autism wasn’t really a factor,” Trump told a Florida newspaper in 2007. “And now all of a sudden, it’s an epidemic. Everybody has their theory. My theory, and I study it because I have young children, my theory is the shots. We’ve giving these massive injections at one time, and I really think it does something to the children.” In 2014, he wrote on Twitter, now X: “If I were President I would push for proper vaccinations but would not allow one time massive shots that a small child cannot take - AUTISM.” Among scientists, however, there is broad consensus that there is no evidence vaccines cause autism, and mainstream researchers say there is no justification for scaling back the childhood vaccine schedule. Autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder, affected about 1 in 150 children in 2000. By 2022, that figure had risen to about 1 in 31 8-year-olds. Scientists have suggested the increase may reflect genetics, older parents or improved diagnosis. Since taking office, Trump has specifically expressed interest in splitting the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into separate shots. Scientists, according to the Journal, say there is no reason to do that. Multiple studies have found no connection between the MMR vaccine and autism, including a 2019 study of more than 600,000 children. In May, Trump also signed an executive order directing HHS to reduce the number of recommended childhood vaccines, arguing that children in the U.S. receive more shots than children in other countries. Last winter, however, Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio found that vaccine skepticism was unpopular with the public, with one survey showing that only 34 percent of adults trusted health information from Kennedy. As a result, White House aides urged Kennedy to focus on other issues, including removing dyes from food, and the health secretary went along. In most of his public appearances since then, he has largely avoided discussing vaccines. Trump, though, has continued his campaign against vaccines, putting him at odds with some of his top aides, according to the Journal. That has left HHS officials racing to show progress on autism. Martin Kulldorff, a Harvard epidemiologist who now works at HHS, is leading a series of vaccine studies. In January, Kennedy proposed cutting the number of recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11, but a judge blocked that move in March. This month, the Centers for Disease Control quietly rewrote its vaccine-autism guidance, trading its longstanding statement that vaccines do not cause autism for language claiming that current science has not definitively ruled out a connection. Meanwhile, concern about Kennedy’s future persists. Some administration officials see him as an “ideas guy,” while Trump has expanded the portfolio of Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Some HHS staffers and lobbyists believe Oz may one day replace Kennedy, potentially after the midterm elections. Kennedy, for his part, wants to remain at his post — potentially even into the next administration. The Independent has contacted the White House and HHS for comment. 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