Daniel Engber

Well, I think RFK is kind of like the king of the anti-vaxxers category.

I mean, he describes himself as not being anti-vaccine. I don't think there's anyone who describes themselves as being anti-vaccine. So, you know, perhaps we should retire that term or maybe we should use it despite these people's protestations. But in any case...

I mean, he describes himself as not being anti-vaccine. I don't think there's anyone who describes themselves as being anti-vaccine. So, you know, perhaps we should retire that term or maybe we should use it despite these people's protestations. But in any case...

I mean, he describes himself as not being anti-vaccine. I don't think there's anyone who describes themselves as being anti-vaccine. So, you know, perhaps we should retire that term or maybe we should use it despite these people's protestations. But in any case...

He's very worried about the conflicts of interest behind the decisions that are made to approve and distribute vaccines, and particularly concerned about safety issues with certain vaccines. The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in particular, he's spread a lot of doubt about that and its potential link to autism, which has been demonstrated not to be a real connection.

He's very worried about the conflicts of interest behind the decisions that are made to approve and distribute vaccines, and particularly concerned about safety issues with certain vaccines. The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in particular, he's spread a lot of doubt about that and its potential link to autism, which has been demonstrated not to be a real connection.

He's very worried about the conflicts of interest behind the decisions that are made to approve and distribute vaccines, and particularly concerned about safety issues with certain vaccines. The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine in particular, he's spread a lot of doubt about that and its potential link to autism, which has been demonstrated not to be a real connection.

And also, he has a lot of concerns about mercury in vaccines, and he stepped away from it recently to run for president. But he was in charge of children's health defense, which described doubts about vaccines arising during the pandemic as the pandemic's silver lining and as good news that vaccination rates were dropping for the nation's children.

And also, he has a lot of concerns about mercury in vaccines, and he stepped away from it recently to run for president. But he was in charge of children's health defense, which described doubts about vaccines arising during the pandemic as the pandemic's silver lining and as good news that vaccination rates were dropping for the nation's children.

And also, he has a lot of concerns about mercury in vaccines, and he stepped away from it recently to run for president. But he was in charge of children's health defense, which described doubts about vaccines arising during the pandemic as the pandemic's silver lining and as good news that vaccination rates were dropping for the nation's children.

So I would say this is a radical organization on vaccine issues. So that's RFK. And then Dave Weldon, the former member of Congress from Florida, who has now been nominated to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has a long history of also being wary of vaccination, believing in the link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

So I would say this is a radical organization on vaccine issues. So that's RFK. And then Dave Weldon, the former member of Congress from Florida, who has now been nominated to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has a long history of also being wary of vaccination, believing in the link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

So I would say this is a radical organization on vaccine issues. So that's RFK. And then Dave Weldon, the former member of Congress from Florida, who has now been nominated to run the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He has a long history of also being wary of vaccination, believing in the link between the MMR vaccine and autism.

He invited Andrew Wakefield, who's best known for producing a study of the MMR vaccine and its alleged link to autism that has since been debunked. So Weldon invited Wakefield to come to Congress. You know, this is a couple of decades ago, but still, that's You know, that's the track record we have for Weldon, who has not really done a lot in public life recently.

He invited Andrew Wakefield, who's best known for producing a study of the MMR vaccine and its alleged link to autism that has since been debunked. So Weldon invited Wakefield to come to Congress. You know, this is a couple of decades ago, but still, that's You know, that's the track record we have for Weldon, who has not really done a lot in public life recently.

He invited Andrew Wakefield, who's best known for producing a study of the MMR vaccine and its alleged link to autism that has since been debunked. So Weldon invited Wakefield to come to Congress. You know, this is a couple of decades ago, but still, that's You know, that's the track record we have for Weldon, who has not really done a lot in public life recently.

Okay, well, I mean, fully out of the mainstream is how I would describe it, just in the sense that what we're talking about here really is rejecting standard public health advice, and standard public health advice is very mainstream. So more than 90% of the nation's children are getting this sort of standard set of immunizations. They're required for entry into school at kindergarten.

Okay, well, I mean, fully out of the mainstream is how I would describe it, just in the sense that what we're talking about here really is rejecting standard public health advice, and standard public health advice is very mainstream. So more than 90% of the nation's children are getting this sort of standard set of immunizations. They're required for entry into school at kindergarten.

Okay, well, I mean, fully out of the mainstream is how I would describe it, just in the sense that what we're talking about here really is rejecting standard public health advice, and standard public health advice is very mainstream. So more than 90% of the nation's children are getting this sort of standard set of immunizations. They're required for entry into school at kindergarten.

This is like not particularly a controversial issue for most Americans. It's even an understate for almost all Americans, right? So it's more than 90% of kids are getting these shots. And the people who don't, it often is as much to do with access or various other reasons that have nothing to do with like an ideological opposition or a dispositional skepticism of vaccines.