Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump and his followers have long inhabited a very special world in which Trump wins every election in a landslide, solves every problem with a snap of his fingers, and creates economic prosperity for America with every decision he makes. In the last few days, he and his administration have been working extra hard to try to extend that reality beyond the MAGA bubble.
The biggest news on this front yesterday was the rambling, only semi-coherent press conference in which Trump formally unveiled the "medical insight" that he's been teasing for about a week: pregnant women should not take acetaminophen, because it can lead to autism in their unborn children. Trump struggled to pronounce "acetaminophen," by the way, and he also rambled on about vaccines, seemingly uncertain if they are good or bad.
A number of outlets (looking at you CNN) had sanewashing headlines along the lines of "Trump's claims about Tylenol (the brand name under which acetaminophen is often sold) are unproven" or "the science here is unsettled." This is nonsense and, to their credit, most outlets did not indulge in bothsidesism. The truth is that most studies have found no correlation between acetaminophen use and autism. Those studies that HAVE found a correlation say it's a weak correlation. Further, and let's all return to our approximately seventh-grade school lessons, correlation does not equal causation. Remember, for example, this very important academic analysis:
Similarly, even those studies that have found a link between acetaminophen use and autism have observed that the drug is often used to treat fevers in pregnant women, and it could very well be the fevers (or the underlying condition causing the fevers) that triggers the autism, not the acetaminophen.
Trump's newfound medical wisdom, which brings to mind his ideas for "treating" COVID-19, also fails to stand up to cursory data analysis. The rates at which autism is diagnosed in countries where women do not have access to acetaminophen are the same as those countries in which women do have access. Similarly, the rate at which pregnant women consume acetaminophen has been level for the last quarter-century, but the number of autism diagnoses has quadrupled. None of this makes sense if acetaminophen is a major cause of autism (or even a minor one).
There's also a rather troubling aspect to all of this, besides the whole "making up scientific crap out of thin air" angle. Other over-the-counter painkillers actually do have the potential to harm unborn babies. So, if you take acetaminophen off the table, you are basically telling pregnant women who have a headache or a fever that they just have to suck it up. The notion that "Republicans want to see pregnant women suffer" sure seems like a left-wing talking point, and yet, when one is presented with things like the anti-acetaminophen proclamation...
We must admit, we struggle to see what benefit there is for Trump or for "Health" and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in all of this. We do fully understand that some people find vaccines a little too inscrutable, or a little too invasive, and so they decide they don't like vaccines. We also understand that parents don't like the idea that their own genes might be the cause of junior's autism diagnosis, so it at least makes sense, on some perverse level, to link the vaccines with the autism. That pins the responsibility on something that is a bugaboo for some people, and takes responsibility away from the parents (who, let us be clear, aren't actually "to blame" since they aren't responsible for their own genes).
What we're not getting is why a new "culprit" is needed, as opposed to just repeating the "vaccines cause autism" canard. Is it because a lot of anti-vaxxers are having autistic kids, and something is needed to keep up the notion that autism is primarily/entirely caused by external factors? Is it because Kennedy and Trump fancy themselves to be "disruptors," and want to put their stamp on the whole situation? Is it something else? We just don't understand, sometimes.
In addition to platforming medical quackery, the Trump administration is also trying to reinvent reality by disappearing any WrongThink that runs contrary to its agenda. Everyone knows about Jimmy Kimmel (though see below). Similarly, we wrote last week about how the legally mandated DoJ annual report on sex trafficking, due to Congress on June 30 of each year, has yet to be submitted. We also noted that the report on how most domestic terrorism in the U.S. comes from right-wingers has been scrubbed from the website of the Department of Justice. Since we produced those items, the BLS has delayed the annual release of consumer expenditures data, which helps anticipate inflation. No explanation has been offered, nor has a new deadline been announced. In addition, with the BBB having slashed food stamps and other such aid, the White House has decided that the annual report on hunger in America is no longer needed, because it's become "too politicized."
In short, welcome to life in Oceania. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have to go, because our clock is striking thirteen, which means it's time for our reeducation class. (Z)