President-elect Donald Trump floated the idea of getting rid of “some” vaccinations if he believes they are “dangerous.”
Trump declared that he and his administration would do “what’s good for the country” during an interview with TIME after he was named the magazine’s “person of the year.”
“It could if I think it’s dangerous, if I think they are not beneficial, but I don’t think it’s going to be very controversial in the end,” Trump told the outlet when asked if he would consider removing requirements for vaccinations.
The question came during a discussion about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Trump nominated to lead the Department of Human and Health Services. RFK Jr. has repeatedly voiced skepticism about vaccines in the past, which Trump appeared to echo after he was asked if he would end child vaccination programs.
“We’re going to have a big discussion,” Trump told TIME. “The autism rate is at a level that nobody ever believed possible. If you look at things that are happening, there’s something causing it.”
Claims that vaccines caused autism have been debunked by various medical professionals for years. While autism diagnoses have been rising, experts largely attribute that to the fact that the criteria to diagnose children has changed and people are more aware of what autism symptoms can look like, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
RFK Jr. previously said during a 2023 interview with Fox News that “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.”
Various health advocates have spoken out against RFK Jr.’s nomination, including Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, a nonprofit and consumer rights advocacy group. He referred to RFK Jr. as “a clear and present danger to the nation’s health” following his nomination.
Trump said ultimately he is going to be “listening to Bobby,” who he said “does not disagree with vaccinations, all vaccinations,” but said he wanted to see “numbers” and studies before making decisions, as reported by…
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