Echoing points often made by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his selection to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, President Donald Trump shared his concerns for autism rates on Tuesday.
Trump shared his thoughts in a post to Truth Social, in which he questioned why rates have increased and said that “we need” Kennedy in order to solve the situation.
“20 years ago, Autism in children was 1 in 10,000. NOW IT’S 1 in 34. WOW! Something’s really wrong. We need BOBBY!!! Thank You! DJT,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
While autism rates have risen since the turn of the century, they have not increased at the rate that Trump said in his post on social media.
According to the CDC, the latest data shows about 1 in 36 children have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, compared to 2000 when that figure was 1 in 150.
Trump has previously tried to make a connection between autism rates and vaccines, saying in December that he thinks there are “problems” with shots that children receive. He has also suggested that Kennedy may investigate a debunked link between the two if he is confirmed.
Kennedy was advanced on Tuesday morning by the Senate Finance Committee in a 14-13 party-line vote. There were concerns that Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) would vote “no” in moving Kennedy forward after he expressed concerns about Trump’s pick during hearings last week. However, he eventually voted “yes.”
While he was being questioned in his confirmation hearings last week, Kennedy refused to say that vaccines do not cause autism. He also brought up a 2014 paper that claimed vaccines do cause autism.
However, that study was later found to be flawed, as the researchers had murky backgrounds with previously retracted studies, the report wasn’t peer reviewed, it was funded by an anti-vaccine organization, and the data collected did not look into any specific vaccines, but instead medical billing information, according FactCheck.org.
At this time, the vast majority of the scientific world and medical research done has shown there to be no connection between childhood vaccines and autism, according to David Mandell, a psychiatric epidemiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, who spoke with the outlet.
Kennedy is now onto the next step in his confirmation process, a vote before the Senate, which is likely to happen in the coming days or next week.