RFK Jr. says Trump ‘certainly’ wants him to investigate any link between autism and vaccines

Healthcare RFK Jr. says Trump ‘certainly’ wants him to investigate any link between autism and vaccines Comments: by Ryan Mancini - 08/02/26 3:48 PM ET Comments: Link copied by Ryan Mancini - 08/02/26 3:48 PM ET Comments: Link copied

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Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Sunday said President Trump “certainly” wants him to investigate perceived links between autism and vaccines.

Kennedy made the remark during a heated interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union,” when Bash asked if the Wall Street Journal was accurate in reporting that Trump wants Kennedy to “probe the link.”

“He certainly does,” Kennedy said.

Bash pressed on about why HHS does not study potential causes of autism after establishing that experts have “studied this for 25 years and found no link between autism and vaccines.” Kennedy attempted to address Tylenol, which the Trump administration late last year linked to autism, as an example of the work at HHS before Bash, as Kennedy remarked, began rolling her eyes.

“I am because I don’t want to have you use our air to say this,” Bash said. “There have been more than 40 studies involving 5.6 million people to conclude there is no link between vaccines and autism,” she continued, citing the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases.

Kennedy claimed that “none of the eight vaccines that are administered during the first six months of life have ever been studied for the relationship to autism,” and said what Bash referred to was regarding a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine ingredient.

The interview was part of a broader back-and-forth where the two clashed over vaccine safety and health protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. Kennedy claimed that Americans had their constitutional rights violated in response to the pandemic and accused Bash of being “part of the problem” with “absolute press malpractice” over the COVID-19 response.

“Are you going to — you want to sit here and attack me?” Bash replied. “Or do you want to have conversations about public health?”

“Well, you’re sitting here attacking me,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy has been an outspoken public health critic, having been vocal against vaccinations and an opponent of health officials. He used part of the interview with Bash to lambast Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the ⁠National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), over his advisories on how the public should respond to COVID-19.

The messaging from federal health officials since Kennedy was confirmed to lead HHS about autism and vaccines has been muddled, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) walking back its decades-old insistence that vaccines do not cause autism on its online page debunking any rumored link.

National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya in February told senators during a hearing that he has not seen any studies supporting the theory that any vaccines cause autism, breaking with Kennedy. He noted that several studies have established that there is “no link” between MMR vaccinations and autism but said other vaccines are “less well studied.”