Republican senator denounces Trump’s ‘crazy, stupid’ claims about MMR vaccine safety

Key Points:

• Republican Senator Bill Cassidy criticized former President Donald Trump’s claims that the combined MMR vaccine is dangerous, calling them “crazy” and “stupid” and warning they undermine public trust in immunization.
• Trump, alongside anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who he appointed as federal health secretary, pushed to replace the combined MMR vaccine with three separate shots, claiming the MMR vaccine is “like a nuclear weapon” and potentially lethal.
• Cassidy highlighted the practical and financial drawbacks of Trump’s proposal, noting it would increase doctor visits from two to six, raise insurance costs, and complicate vaccination schedules for parents.
• Despite voting to confirm Kennedy as health secretary, Cassidy extracted a promise that the CDC would maintain clear statements debunking the vaccine-autism link; however, after Kennedy’s appointment, the CDC website was altered to cast doubt on that scientific consensus and include language appealing to vaccine skeptics.
• Cassidy, who lost a Republican primary to a Trump-backed challenger and has been on Trump’s enemies list since voting to convict him for incitement of insurrection, continues to face criticism for supporting some of Trump’s nominees while opposing his vaccine misinformation.