President-elect Donald Trump said Monday that “I don’t like school vaccine mandates” and that “brilliant people” are investigating whether vaccinations cause autism — as did the famously vaccine-skeptic Health and Human Services secretary. The designer was visited by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Senators are considering his nomination.
Trump, 78, addressed the controversial topic during a 70-minute press conference at his Mar-a-Lago club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida — while also trying to allay fears that Kennedy, a former Democrat who Had endorsed his presidential bid, saying the vaccines would be phased out of use if confirmed.
“I think he will be less radical than you would think. I think he has a very open mind, otherwise I wouldn’t have had him there,” Trump said at one point, adding, “I found him very rational” and “you wouldn’t let the polio vaccine lose. ,
But when a reporter asked directly, “Vaccines and autism – do you think there’s a connection?” So Trump procrastinated.
“Well, I don’t know,” Trump began his answer, adding, “Look, right now, you have some very talented people looking at this.”
“I had dinner last night with the head of Pfizer, the head of Eli Lilly, and RFK, as you know, and (Dr. Mehmet) Oz, and 10 other people in our administration who were involved in this, Medicare, and We’re trying to figure that out,” Trump said.
“You know, if you look at autism, 30 years ago, we heard numbers of 1 in 200,000, 1 in 100,000, and now I’m hearing numbers of 1 in 100. So there’s something wrong. There’s something wrong and We will find out.”
“Would you want RFK Jr. to cancel any vaccines?” A journalist asked.
“No, I want him to come back with a report. Before floating pesticides as a possible cause of health conditions, Trump said, we’re going to have to find out a lot more.
“Europe does not use pesticides, and yet, their mortality rate is better than ours. They do not use pesticides. In fact, they use it as an excuse not to consume our agricultural produce. We spend billions of dollars on pesticides, and something bad is happening. Then, you look at autism today versus autism 20, 25 years ago, it’s not even believable,” Trump said.
“So we will have reports. No, nothing is going to happen very soon.”
A reporter asked, “Do you think schools should mandate vaccines?”
“I don’t like mandates. I am not a person with a big mandate,” Trump said, specifically mentioning his historical opposition to COVID-19 vaccines.
State school systems, rather than the federal government, typically set student vaccination mandates. currently, All 50 states required Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine for K-12 School Children as well as Polio vaccine – although states have broad policies allowing exemptions on medical, religious or philosophical grounds.
In many cases, unvaccinated children have been considered the cause. local measles outbreak,
The theory that vaccines may be linked to autism is considered a conspiracy theory by the medical establishment due to a lack of scientific evidence.
Kennedy’s stance on vaccines has worried some Senate Republicans — who have a 53-47 majority next month — and it’s unclear whether he can secure enough votes to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. .
“RFK has as much chance of being confirmed by the Senate as he has of getting the vaccine shot,” a Senate Republican source scoffed to The Post last month.
(TagstoTranslate)Politics(T)US News(T)Donald Trump(T)Robert F. Kennedy Jr (T) TK
