‘Breaking his pledge’: Wall Street Journal slams RFK Jr.’s ‘ideological crusade’ at CDC
The Wall Street Journal's conservative editorial board slammed President Donald Trump's Health Secretary over his "ideological crusade" to turn the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into an anti-vaccine agency.
Last week, the CDC revised its Vaccine Safety page to include a new advisory for claims that "vaccines do not cause autism." The website now says the claim "is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism. Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.”
The new guidance cites a discredited study authored by a scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder, who wrote a newsletter for Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. led, WSJ's editors wrote in a new editorial.
Kennedy has repeatedly asserted that there are ties between vaccines and childhood rates of autism, although experts have questioned the evidence he's provided to support such claims.
The editors noted that the revised guidelines seem like a lawyerly attempt by Kennedy to keep his promise to GOP Senators like Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) not to change the CDC's vaccine advisory.
"He is also breaking his pledge to Mr. Cassidy not to push vaccines for children off the market," the editorial notes. "Early next month, Mr. Kennedy’s handpicked Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will discuss aluminum adjuvants and could require manufacturers to remove them from vaccines. That could force a dozen vaccines out of use."
"The aluminum ingredient in vaccines isn’t the same as what’s in kitchen foil," the editorial adds. "Aluminum is naturally present in plants, soil, water, and many foods, including vegetables, tea, and chocolate. During the first six months of life, infants ingest significantly more aluminum from breast milk or formula than they get from vaccines. But RFK Jr. is on an ideological crusade. Reformulating these vaccines with different adjuvants would cost billions of dollars and could take years."
Psychologist flags a sign that Trump may be experiencing a ‘serious cognitive problem’
A clinical psychologist flagged a sign that President Donald Trump may be experiencing a "serious cognitive problem" during a podcast interview that debuted on Sunday.
Trump has displayed some questionable behavior in recent days, including an instance where he snapped at a reporter on Air Force One and told her, "Be quiet, piggy." The event renewed conversations about Trump's cognitive health.
Dr. John Gartner, an author and former professor at Johns Hopkins University, discussed Trump's mental fitness during an interview with The Daily Beast's Joana Coles on a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast."
Gartner noted that Trump has admitted to taking multiple cognitive tests since taking office. Trump appears to be divulging the information to address concerns about his mental state, but Gartner said the admissions reveal a much larger problem.
"They said they did advanced imaging," Gartner said. "Okay, well, Trump said not once, not twice, but three times that he had taken cognitive tests. Plural. Okay, so not just a screening exam...They gave him multiple tests. We do not give people multiple cognitive tests unless we suspect there's a serious cognitive problem."
"We also never, ever...give someone an MRI unless we suspect or need to rule out a serious problem," he continued. "So, we know his doctors gave him multiple cognitive tests and an MRI. They didn't say explicitly because of the brain, but we can certainly be sure they scanned his brain. If they're giving him a neuropsychological battery, they're scanning his brain."
"If Donald Trump were just an ordinary patient and you saw these kinds of serious signs of dementia, a responsible doctor would give him both a neuropsychological battery and an MRI," he added. "Of course, they're not telling us why they gave those tests.
They're not telling us the results."
Trump backs down on dispute with ally while threatening to take another land mass by force
President Donald Trump walked back his criticism of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's agreement to transfer ownership of a strategically located island to Mauritius.
The 79-year-old president has complained that the United Kingdom plans to decolonize the Chagos Islands, including the site of the U.S. military base on Diego Garcia, but he said Starmer had reassured him on the transfer of sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago.
"I have had very productive discussions with Prime Minister Keir Starmer about the Island of Diego Garcia," Trump posted on Truth Social. "It is the site of a major U.S. Military Base, strategically situated in the middle of the Indian Ocean and, therefore, of great importance to the National Security of the United States."
"I understand that the deal Prime Minister Starmer has made, according to many, the best he could make," he added. "However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers U.S. operations and forces at our Base, I retain the right to Militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia."
Trump vowed to keep the base at Diego Garcia no matter what Mauritius might decide in the future.
"Let it be known that I will never allow our presence on a Base as important as this to ever be undermined or threatened by fake claims or environmental nonsense," he posted. "Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP."
