Trump's Big Autism Announcement and What It Means for the Disability Community

The MAHA team came out swinging today against vaccines, Tylenol and more. Their big autism announcement was riddled with eugenicist language designed to blame and punish people for their disabilities.

Today was a tough one for the disability community. Many people are rightfully scared of the eugenics undertones of the Trump regime, and the autism press conference only escalated those concerns.

If you’re low on spoons, please feel free to skip this article and come back to it when you’re feeling better.

I’m not going to discuss the science of vaccines or Tylenol, I will leave that to the myriad of experts who’ve been studying these issues for decades.

I’m also not going to write a lengthy article as I’m still trying to recover from a horrendous flare that has impaired my ability to write.

With all that said, I’m publishing today because I think Trump’s ‘Big Autism Announcement’ is something that our community simply can’t ignore.

I want to talk about the language and intention behind it. About the coded messages and what they mean for neurodivergent, disabled and pregnant people.

I want to appeal to the non disabled community for solidarity. To get them to understand the existential risk we’re facing, how scared we are and that we need their support more than ever.

I want to try and provide some comfort amidst the chaos, and some hope amidst the destruction.

Image Description: Photo of Trump at the Big Autism Announcement

What Was the Big “Breakthrough” on Autism?

First of all, it wasn’t a breakthrough at all. Trump, along with RFK Jr, Marty Makary, Dr Oz and Jay Bhattacharya announced that vaccines and Tylenol use in pregnancy are the likely causes of autism.

They had no science to back this up. In fact, there’s decades of research proving that vaccines and Tylenol are safe and effective and do not cause autism.

That didn’t stop Trump from telling people not to take Tylenol multiple times in a single press conference (can Tylenol sue him? I hope they can).

Needless to say, the conference was full of anti science and anti vaccine rhetoric that will only confuse and harm people.

But that’s not all it was. It was also a glimpse into their eugenicist movement. They let many comments slip that underscored what they think of disabled and autistic people. Of anyone they deem ‘weaker’ than them.

Trump said that he knows ‘tons of people who’ve never taken pills or vaccines and don’t have autism. What does that tell you?’

It tells me that he’s governing based on anecdotes. Of course there are people who’ve never taken any medication and don’t have autism, just like there’s plenty of people who’ve taken a ton of medication and don’t have autism. It proves nothing other than Trump’s inability to distinguish between anecdotes and settled science.

Perhaps one of the most concerning statements for me however, was when he said that pregnant women need to just ‘tough it out.’ He said they should refuse Tylenol at all costs, and if they absolutely couldn’t they should take as little as possible.

He put the blame on the women. He insinuated that if they ‘really’ cared about the health of their unborn child, they would be willing to endure any amount of fever, pain and suffering rather than take a safe and effective drug.

That’s why I say this is eugenics. As soon as you hear people start talking about ‘toughing it out’, or about how healthy the folks who don’t take medications are, you’re way down the slippery slope.

The inference is clear, those who require medication are ‘less than’. Those who can’t ‘tough it out’ are failing. Those who have disabilities like autism? They need to be cured because it’s ‘unacceptable’.

It’s terrifying to witness this blatant ableism disguised as compassion. It’s painful to watch them say they care about kids with autism while every statement they make about disabled people is dripping with blame and disdain.

Never mind the fact that everything they said was wrong, and a lot of it was downright dangerous. Tylenol is the only safe painkiller and fever reducer for use in pregnancy and for infants. If you scare mothers out of using it, you risk them using aspirin which we know causes death and disability to young children.

Trump’s advice was at best ignorant, and at worse actively harmful. I shudder to think how many pregnant women and children will die as a result of this eugenicist fear mongering. How many previously eradicated diseases will make a resurgence, and how much more disability we will see due to increased childhood viral illness.

But there’s also the giant elephant in the room which needs to be discussed… and it’s arguably the most important part for anyone living with disabilities.

Are Disabled People “Better Off Dead”?

At the Charlie Kirk memorial on Sunday, RFK Jr referenced all the ‘fates worth than death.’

At the press conference today, they spoke about autistic people as though it’s the worst thing in the world. Something to be prevented at all costs. That people with autism have a miserable existence and it’s completely unacceptable to permit any more autistic babies to be born.

Where have we heard that before? Nazi Germany. They went after disabled people. They called them ‘useless eaters’. They tested the gas chambers on them. Discarded them because they weren’t economically active, they weren’t strong and fit, and they didn’t want them to reproduce and contaminate the gene pool.

The rhetoric coming out of this regime is very similar, and the disability community desperately needs you to start paying attention.

I’m sure there are many people out there who do want a cure for autism, but I also know many autistic people who wouldn’t change a thing about their existence. Who are proud of their autism and their disabilities.

These racist, misogynistic men do not have the right to tell us that we are ‘less than’. They don’t have the right to tell us our lives are untenable when most of us feel differently. They don’t have the right to act as though being born with a disability is a fate worse than death. It’s not.

Disabled and autistic people can survive and thrive… but that’s very hard to do when there are fascists in charge.

How Can We Support One Another Right Now?

First of all, if you know someone who’s neurodivergent please check on them. Reach out and ask if they’re ok or if you can do anything to support them.

If you’re pregnant or know someone who is, make sure they follow their doctors advice and not this harmful nonsense.

More than anything, engage in disability justice. Speak out against ableism, eugenics and junk science. Protest. Boycott. Call your elected officials and demand RFK Jr and his team resign.

We are not powerless. Disabled people are not small in number and we are not giving up without a fight. When we work together, and especially when we have the support of the broader community, we can accomplish just about anything.

If people would decide that we are not expendable, if they would make a commitment to fighting for us, we would be much safer.

It’s easy to feel hopeless right now. I’m there with you. These last few weeks have been devastating to my baseline and I’ve lost hope more times than I can count.

But we must not give up. That’s what they want. They want us to roll over and accept our fate as ‘undesirables’. They want us to refuse to fight back. They want us to go quietly.

If you need proof that collective action works, look no further than what happened this week with Jimmy Kimmel. ABC suspended his show indefinitely due to comments he made about the Charlie Kirk shooting.

Trump and the FCC Chair put pressure on the network, and the network caved to fascism. They tossed the first amendment out the window and attempted to silence a comedian who did nothing wrong.

People were outraged. Celebrities urged their followers to cancel Disney and Hulu. Writers terminated projects with the network. And millions of regular people boycotted the service. There were so many cancellations that the website actually crashed.

What happened? They reinstated the show. Because at the end of the day those in power respond to money and public pressure. That’s it. It’s not about doing what’s right, it’s about what will make them the most money.

Disney underestimated the support Kimmel had. They underestimated how angry people would be at this blatant violation of free speech. So they changed course.

Now imagine if the larger community would stand in solidarity with disabled and autistic people? Imagine if they would work together to ensure this regime knows that they can’t treat us as expendable?

Imagine if they demanded an end to the junk science, eugenicist rhetoric and anti vaccine statements?

It’s possible, but we need people to see our value and speak up for us. We aren’t as popular as Kimmel. We don’t have his platform or celebrities willing to fight for us. But we’re here and we are worth fighting for.

There’s millions of us, and we don’t want to be left by the wayside.

How did you feel about today’s announcement? Are you concerned about accessing Tylenol or vaccines in the future?

What do you wish you could say to non disabled people to help them understand how hard this moment is for us? To help them understand why we need their support now more than ever?

Leave your comments below and let’s support each other through this difficult time.