Trump privately pushed RFK Jr to pursue childhood vaccine cuts, report claims
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump privately urged Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr to pursue reducing childhood vaccines despite reported political caution ahead of the midterm elections, according to a new report.
The reported conversations spotlight Trump as the driving force behind the administration's renewed focus on childhood vaccine policy. They also describe an apparent disconnect between advice to temper the issue publicly and the president's private insistence that Kennedy make it a priority.
WSJ details Trump's private push
The Wall Street Journal report published on Monday, July 27, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Trump asked Kennedy in May why he was not doing more to investigate the alleged connection between vaccines and autism.
According to the report, Kennedy was "taken aback" because he had allegedly been instructed to ease off vaccine-related issues before the midterm elections.
Trump reportedly contradicted that approach by urging him to make the issue a priority.
The outlet further reported that "the president steers nearly every conversation with his health secretary back to the issue," adding that Trump wants Kennedy to reduce the number of vaccines recommended for children by updating federal guidance.
The reported push aligns with Trump's broader focus on autism rates. The story noted that autism diagnoses among 8-year-olds stood at 1 in 36 as of 2020 and later rose to 1 in 31 children, figures Kennedy has repeatedly highlighted.
Kennedy defends autism investigation
Last year, Kennedy announced a series of studies aimed at identifying what he called the environmental causes of autism.
"The epidemic is real," Kennedy said at the time.
He also argued, "Instead of listening to this canard of epidemic denial, all you have to do is start reading a little science, because the answer is very clear, and this is catastrophic for our country."
Kennedy added that autism represented "already astronomical healthcare costs" while calling it "a preventable disease."
He continued, "We know it's an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics."
The health secretary has also maintained that his goal is not to discourage vaccination but to ensure the public has "good information."
Trump has repeatedly questioned vaccine safety
Trump publicly raised similar concerns during a September press conference with health officials, where he warned pregnant women against using acetaminophen, commonly known as Tylenol, because of what he described as a "very increased risk of autism."
"I think I can say that there are certain groups of people that don't take vaccines and don't take any pills that have no autism. That have no autism. Does that tell you something?" Trump said.
"There are some studies that suggest that. Yeah, with the Amish for example," Kennedy replied.
The report also noted that Trump has described himself as a supporter of vaccines while arguing that the media and medical establishment should be more open to examining whether some vaccines could be harmful.
Under Trump's administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention removed the coronavirus vaccine from the recommended immunization schedule for healthy children and healthy pregnant women.
Kennedy also announced the removal of a mercury-based preservative from flu shots in the United States, while Trump signed an executive order in March directing the federal government to use a recent HHS scientific assessment on childhood vaccines as a guiding resource.
