As commentator-in-chief, Trump can be charming, even funny. Today he was dangerous

2 weeks ago 2

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.

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.

This was totally unrelated to the FDA announcement, but he wanted to put it out there nonetheless. And by doing this at a news conference that was ostensibly about Tylenol and pregnant women, he reinforced the debunked conspiracy theory that vaccines cause autism.

Trump was unbothered by the idea that these things might not be true. “I’m not a doctor, but I’m giving my opinion,” he said. It was based on “what I feel”. When Kennedy didn’t fully back him in on one of his points, Trump said Kennedy wanted to be careful with what he said, “but I’m not so careful with what I say”.

Donald Trump is joined at his press conference by (from left) US National Institutes of Health director Jayanta Bhattacharya, Food and Drug Administration commissioner Marty Makary and Kennedy.

Except he should be. Trump is the perfect case study in the astounding influence that can be carried by the US president: he has the MAGA movement and half the country in the palm of his hand. When he says something, people listen. And they act.

This calamitous news conference was also another reminder of the extent to which Trump and his team have curtailed any meaningful accountability from the White House press pool.

There was very little pushback from assembled reporters against the president’s flippant and dangerous claims. When one reporter began her question by saying, “Medical professionals have warned for decades”, Trump cut her off. “No, not you. You’re CNN, you’re fake news,” he said.

It’s one thing to freewheel on politics and current affairs, but to carelessly peddle myths and rumours about vaccines and autism to pregnant women is surely beyond the pale.

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for our weekly What in the World newsletter.