Donald Trump often casts himself as a mere observer – a commentator on American public life rather than its most powerful practitioner and influencer. Whether on Truth Social, in an interview or at a doorstep encounter, he is never shy about venturing his “take” on sport, television, celebrities, you name it. He loves to gossip about things he has “heard”.
Sometimes, this is charming. Often it is funny. When the stakes are low, it’s generally harmless. Not so when the president of the United States volunteers, at great length, his ill-informed and ill-conceived “feelpinions” about medicine – especially vaccines and autism.
US President Donald Trump gives his views on autism as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr watches.Credit: AP
Monday’s news conference made for genuine “head in your hands” watching. It was not enough for Trump to surround himself with vaccine sceptics like Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr or medical contrarians such as Food and Drug Administration commissioner Marty Makary, and have them announce a significant shift in official advice for pregnant women regarding paracetamol.
No, Trump had to give his own two cents. But it was more like $20, so lengthy, repetitive and potentially damaging were his contributions. It was ivermectin all over again.
Unfounded hearsay was given the full weight of the presidency. “There’s a rumour – and I don’t know if it’s so or not – that Cuba, they don’t have Tylenol, ’cos they don’t have the money for Tylenol. And they have virtually no autism. Tell me about that one!” Trump said. “And there are other parts of the world where they don’t have Tylenol where they don’t have autism. That tells you a lot.”
The FDA’s new advice pertains to pregnant women and Tylenol, sold as paracetamol in Australia. Medical experts have said there is no proven link between taking the medication and a higher risk of a child developing autism.
But Trump took it much further. In his freewheeling on Cuba, he seemed to be suggesting Tylenol was the cause of all autism. He also claimed, without evidence, that ADHD did not exist in the Amish community because they did not take “all of this junk”.
That’s not to mention his long spiel about how babies are given too many vaccines at once, and parents should spread them out over several years instead. “It’s too much liquid,” he said.
