New claims from the Oval Office about childhood vaccines are one thing. Proving them is another. When a reporter challenged President Donald Trump to provide evidence that the MMR vaccine is “quite lethal,” Trump struggled to answer, instead offering hearsay and making other eyebrow-raising assertions that soon had the internet laughing.
Asked Monday whether there was any evidence to support his claim that the MMR vaccine is potentially deadly, Trump did not cite a study, medical expert, or public health agency.
He basically acknowledged he had no evidence, saying only that he had “heard some people say it is that way.” He then called the combination of the three vaccines potentially “explosive.”
The exchange quickly spread online. Critics mocked the president for offering hearsay in place of scientific evidence as his administration moves to overhaul the nation’s childhood vaccination schedule.
Trump signed an executive order directing major changes to the recommendations, including a push to separate the MMR vaccine into three shots given during different doctor visits. The order also narrows the number of vaccines routinely recommended for all children and places several others into categories for high-risk children or “shared clinical decision-making.”
The move is part of a broader effort by Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reshape federal vaccine policy despite strong opposition from medical experts.
During the Oval Office signing ceremony, a reporter pressed Trump about his earlier description of the combined MMR vaccine as potentially lethal.
“I think I heard you say the MMR vaccine is quite lethal. Is there any evidence of that?” the reporter asked.
“No. I’ve heard some people say it is that way. I’ve heard when you put them together, they can be explosive,” Trump responded.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says doctors have used the MMR vaccine for decades and that it rarely causes serious adverse reactions. Extensive research has found no connection between the vaccine and autism.
Trump then made another unusual argument against giving multiple vaccines during the same visit, describing the amount of vaccine administered to children in vivid terms.
“At one year, you should have 5 separate visits for vaccines rather than getting them all in the same day,” the president claimed. “I’ve seen proof of where they have a vaccination thing that looks like the size of a bottle of soda and pour it into a little child’s body.”
Trump has repeatedly suggested that childhood vaccines have contributed to rising autism diagnoses. However, no evidence establishes such a connection.
During Monday’s ceremony, he again compared today’s recommended vaccines with the number of children who received vaccines decades ago.
“Decades ago, children received only a small fraction of the vaccines required today. In those times, people were much healthy, and of course, the high rates of autism now observed did not exist,” Trump said. “So there’s a reason for such epidemic rates of autism, and we’re going to bring it back to where it was.”
Medical experts have rejected that reasoning. The CDC says studies involving hundreds of thousands of children have found no connection between vaccines and autism.
The new policy recommends routine vaccination against 11 diseases for all children. It moves six other vaccines into different categories.
Those include vaccines for hepatitis A, hepatitis B, rotavirus, meningococcal disease, influenza and COVID-19.
The order also calls for splitting up the MMR vaccine. However, manufacturers do not currently offer the three vaccines separately in the United States.
Trump defended the changes as a matter of parental choice.
“Parents can still choose to give their children all of the vaccinations if they wish. It’s up to the parents,” Trump added. “However, this updated recommendation finally aligns the United States, nations around the world. More importantly, aligns us with common sense and knowledge.”
The CDC currently recommends two doses of the MMR vaccine. Children receive the first dose at 12 to 15 months.
They receive the second dose at 4 to 6 years. The agency calls vaccination the best protection against measles, mumps and rubella.
The CDC also warns that these diseases can cause serious health problems.
Trump nevertheless argued that doctors give children more vaccines than their bodies can handle.
“Very simply: Large amounts of vaccine, large amounts of — like vats — of vaccine are currently pumped into your child’s body,” Trump said, according to The Hill.
“Nothing bad can happen from what we’re doing,” Trump told reporters. He also said he broke up his own children’s vaccinations over several visits, with no ill effects.
The president acknowledged that requiring parents to make multiple trips to the doctor could be inconvenient.
“It’s inconvenient, it’s five stops, but it’s something that I think will have a huge impact on autism,” he told reporters after signing the order.
The policy immediately drew criticism from Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a physician who supported Kennedy’s confirmation but has previously expressed concerns about his long history of stridently anti-vaccine views. Cassidy lost his primary to a Trump-backed opponent this spring.
“This executive order is wrong. The President does not have the expertise to make these changes. Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism,” Cassidy wrote on X. “Breaking up vaccines will mean children have to get more shots to get the same protection, not fewer shots. It will increase hesitancy and make children less safe.”
The order follows an earlier attempt by Kennedy to reduce federal recommendations for childhood vaccines, which a federal judge temporarily blocked in March. That ruling also found that Kennedy likely violated federal procedures when he restructured the federal vaccine advisory committee.
Trump’s announcement prompted another round of disbelief on social media, particularly over his “explosive” description of the MMR vaccine.
One person asked, “So is this explosion right away or does it take time? My kids haven’t exploded after 26 years so do I still need to be concerned?”
Another wrote, “He has no clue…”A third joked, “No sir that’s TNT, I know abbreviations are confusing.”
Others declared they weren’t taking the president at his word.
“So clueless,” one said. Another added: “Trump’s entire body of scientific knowledge is, ‘I’ve heard someone say it, so it must be true.’”And one commenter jabbed, “The voices in his head are getting louder.”
