Since President Trump’s rambling Monday announcement about the supposed cause of autism and a purported new treatment, anti-vaccine groups have grappled with what the administration’s latest revelations mean for their movement. While some MAHA activists appeared to be overjoyed that the president had brought their cause to a national stage, others were frustrated that it was Tylenol, and not vaccines, that took the brunt of the blame.
The messaging of the press conference was wildly mixed. Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed that Tylenol and folate deficiency could cause autism, a conclusion that has not been reached by any credible medical body. At the same time, Kennedy also implied that further studies could also implicate vaccines and suggested such research was underway at HHS.
Many anti-vax groups were confused that vaccines weren’t explicitly blamed.
Trump also spent a great deal of apparently unscripted time demonizing Tylenol, while struggling to pronounce Acetaminophen, its generic name. But he also rambled on against vaccines: advocating for parents to visit the doctor “four or five times” for immunizations and further spread out their children’s injections. (This is nonsense; getting multiple vaccinations in a single visit is completely safe and well-studied, and not vaccinating a child on an established schedule carries its own serious risks. More broadly, experts believe autism is likely caused by a mix of environmental and genetic factors—actual research remains ongoing.)
Some longtime anti-vaccine activists reacted to the press conference with unalloyed joy. John Gilmore, who runs a website called the Autism Action Network, wrote in his newsletter, “The President couldn’t have made it clearer that he and his administration believe vaccines are a major, if not the major, cause of autism. No doubt, there will be much more to come.”
Nicole Shanahan, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s former running mate, has sometimes been critical of the administration’s appointments at HHS. But she lavished praise on every official taking part in the press conference.
“Today was incredibly bold,” she tweeted. “@POTUS you have exceeded my expectations in truth telling – we were only expecting to hear about the published work on Acetaminophen (pronounced AH-SEE-TOE-MET-O-FIN — you killed it btw).”
“Instead,” Shanahan continued, invoking assassinated MAGA commentator Charlie Kirk, “you channeled Charlie and spoke the truth that haunts millions of us on a daily basis: our nation’s approach to childhood vaccinations is reckless and is causing immense suffering.”
Others were less sure. As Ars Technica was first to point out, the focus on Tylenol led some anti-vaccine groups to push back. Many were confused about why vaccines weren’t explicitly blamed for autism, a central belief in their movement, albeit one that has been repeatedly and roundly debunked.
The discontented included, to a certain extent, Children’s Health Defense, where Kennedy served as chairman for many years before becoming HHS secretary. Mary Holland, CHD’s president and general counsel, said on Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast that the announcement was “something of a sideshow,” adding, “Tylenol is not the primary cause. Vaccines are the primary cause.” Bannon agreed, declaring, “This Tylenol thing stinks to high heaven.”
CHD wasn’t alone. Dr. Ben Tapper, a chiropractor and longtime anti-vaccine activist with 120,000 followers on X, posted, “The reason we have a huge increase in autism rates is not becuse of Tylenol. It’s when Tylenol is given to a child POST vaccination creating the perfect storm. In other words, the vaccines are to blame. The vaccines light the fire and tylenol throws the fuel.”
Dr. Simone Gold, the founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, a group that energetically spread Covid misinformation early in the pandemic, tweeted, “The Tylenol–autism link is real enough to warrant urgent concern—especially when used in pregnancy.” But, she added, “[L]et’s be clear: autism’s rise cannot be reduced to Tylenol alone. Toxins, vaccine ingredients/adjuvants, and Pharma’s disregard for safety must all be investigated.”
Others saw the focus on Tylenol as an insult to—or even a way to blame—the mothers of autistic kids who make up a large portion of the anti-vaccine world’s most devoted foot soldiers. Jessica Rojas, an anti-vaccine activist who describes herself on X as an “American WOMAN, Mother and critical thinker,” told her 213,000 followers, “Gaslighting ends here. It’s NOT the Tylenol. You’re not to blame, mamas. We believe you.”
“Tylenol is not the primary cause. Vaccines are the primary cause.”
One group seized on the confusion as an opportunity to promote products. Dr. Peter McCullough, a cardiologist who rose to prominence opposing Covid vaccines during the pandemic, told his 1.2 million followers on X that the “pathway to developmental regression begins with vaccines, not acetaminophen.” McCullough is the chief scientific officer of The Wellness Company, a business that sells supplements it says can detox the body from vaccines. In an email newsletter earlier this week, the Wellness Company derided Trump’s announcement of a new autism treatment, a form of Vitamin B called leucovorin, as “a sales pitch.” The email urged readers to “Stay sharp, stay skeptical, and don’t let headlines decide your health,” while providing a sales link and noting that “our Vitamin B Complex delivers the full spectrum of B vitamins—including folate—to support energy, mood, and cognitive clarity.”
Some activists appear to be shifting the blame for the Tylenol announcement away from Trump. One of those people is Derrick Evans, a 2020 election denier from West Virginia who was convicted of a felony after he admitted in court to unlawfully entering the Capitol on January 6, 2021 while yelling “Derrick Evans is in the Capitol!” (He was pardoned earlier this year by Trump.) On Tuesday, Evans tweeted to his 838,000 followers, “Neither Trump or RFK Jr. linked Tylenol with Autism. The dean of Harvard’s School of Public Health did.” (According to the New York Times, the dean in question, Andrea Baccarelli, was paid $150,000 in 2023 for his work as an expert witness on behalf of plaintiffs who sued Tylenol’s parent company, Kenvue, because they believed the drug had caused neurodevelopmental problems in their children. A federal judge dismissed the case, finding the evidence did not support their claims.)
The federal government, meanwhile, doubled down what Trump and Kennedy said about Tylenol during Monday’s press conference. On Wednesday, HHS reposted a now-viral 2017 tweet from Tylenol’s brand account where the company told a user that it doesn’t recommend taking the drug while pregnant. HHS didn’t mention in its repost the fact that guidelines for Tylenol, like those of practically all drugs, recommends that pregnant women consult their doctors before using it.
The anti-vaccine and “health freedom” movements have always held multiple, and sometimes conflicting, beliefs about the causes of autism and other conditions they blame on pharmaceuticals. Some lay the fault entirely on vaccines, while others also blame products like the weed-killer glyphosate. In the past, anti-vaccine groups have resolved these ideological differences by being vague about the causation and mechanisms to blame and instead foregrounding suspicion of the broader medical establishment. A 2020 study in the American Journal of Public Health found that anti-vaccine groups had shifted away from making specific medical arguments on social media and towards the message that rejecting vaccines is a civil liberties and freedom of choice issue.
While anti-vaccine groups have spent the last few days trying to figure out their messaging—and whether Tylenol is now among their targets—autism experts expressed shock and concern about the damage unleashed by the press conference.
“Any association between acetaminophen and autism is based on limited, conflicting, and inconsistent science and is premature,” warns Dr. Alycia Halladay in a statement; she’s chief science officer at the Autism Science Foundation, which tries to guide families towards safe, evidence-based treatments for autism. “This claim risks undermining public health while also misleading families who deserve clear, factual information. For many years, RFK and President Trump have shared their belief that vaccines cause autism, but this is also not supported by the science, which has shown no relationship between vaccines and autism.”
“We are unsure why this announcement came today and how the conclusions were drawn,” added Alison Singer, the foundation’s president, in the same statement. “No new data or scientific studies were presented or shared. No new studies have been published in the literature. No new presentations on this topic were made at scientific or medical conferences. Instead, President Trump talked about what he thinks and feels without offering scientific evidence. He said ‘tough it out,’ meaning don’t take Tylenol or give it to your child. It took me straight back to when moms were blamed for autism. If you can’t take the pain or deal with a fever, then it’s your fault if your child has autism. That was shocking. Simply shocking.”
