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Presidential Candidate Donald Trump On Autism, Vaccines, And Mental Health
http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillingham/2015/08/05/presidential-candidate-donald-trump-on-autism-vaccines-and-mental-health/Donald Trump is leading the GOP field in polls of Republican voters. This fact has some grabbing the popcorn, others tearing out their hair, and still others shaking their heads at the state of U.S. politics today. But if you’re among the one in four adults in the US with a mental health condition, if you have an interest in children’s health, or if you love an autistic person, then you might view Trump as more troubling than bemusing or amusing.
First, there’s his willingness to apply mental illness as an epithet. Using Twitter, his favorite online tool, he has called into question Obama’s mental health, calling the president’s decision not to block flights from West Africa during the 2014 Ebola scare “psycho.” He doubled down on those comments later, stating in an interview that “there’s something wrong” with Obama, implying that the POTUS just isn’t quite right in head because his policies don’t align with The Donald’s. Of course, that scare ended without realization of the fears that motivated Trump’s outburst....
In contrast to our nation’s established, always improving, and successful childhood vaccination program, seven years later, Trump’s “theory” about autism and vaccines has remained unchanged in spite of substantial evidence debunking it. In the time since that 2007 press conference, abundant evidence covering millions of children supports no link between the two.
Yet just last year, Trump took to Twitter, again, to urge people to spread out vaccines. Why? Autism, of course. Indeed, he’s so sure about a non-evidence-based approach to vaccination—“spreading them out”—that he’s promised to make it part of his presidential agenda. Why? To quote The Donald himself: AUTISM.
First, there’s his willingness to apply mental illness as an epithet. Using Twitter, his favorite online tool, he has called into question Obama’s mental health, calling the president’s decision not to block flights from West Africa during the 2014 Ebola scare “psycho.” He doubled down on those comments later, stating in an interview that “there’s something wrong” with Obama, implying that the POTUS just isn’t quite right in head because his policies don’t align with The Donald’s. Of course, that scare ended without realization of the fears that motivated Trump’s outburst....
In contrast to our nation’s established, always improving, and successful childhood vaccination program, seven years later, Trump’s “theory” about autism and vaccines has remained unchanged in spite of substantial evidence debunking it. In the time since that 2007 press conference, abundant evidence covering millions of children supports no link between the two.
Yet just last year, Trump took to Twitter, again, to urge people to spread out vaccines. Why? Autism, of course. Indeed, he’s so sure about a non-evidence-based approach to vaccination—“spreading them out”—that he’s promised to make it part of his presidential agenda. Why? To quote The Donald himself: AUTISM.
Looks like I'm off the Trump bandwagon.
