Sen. Markwayne Mullin Gets Schooled After Defending RFK Jr.’s Vaccine Claims

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) defended Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, over his repeatedly debunked claims about vaccines.
“I’ve sat down and had a long conversation with [Kennedy], and I actually find the guy extremely intelligent when it comes to this stuff. And some of this stuff does raise a lot of questions,” Mullin said Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” when asked if Kennedy’s controversial skepticism about vaccinations would be a dealbreaker for him.
When asked by host Kristen Welker if he’s “concerned about RFK Jr. overseeing the largest health agency in the land,” Mullin replied, “I have said that there’s some positives to vaccinations. I’ve also questioned the vaccines multiple times, and I think they should be questioned.”
The Oklahoma senator, who previously backed the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine in a 2020 opinion article in Oklahoma’s Stilwell Democrat Journal, then raised questions about the long-debunked link between vaccines and autism.
“For instance, why is America highest in autism? What is causing that? Is it our diet, or is it some of the stuff we’re putting in our children’s system?” Mullin said.
Kennedy has made multiple claims that vaccines cause childhood neurological disorders, such as autism. His baseless assertions have been repeatedly refuted by medical experts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed that children’s vaccines do not lead to autism. The health organization stated that even after the alleged culprit, a mercury-containing preservative called thimerosal, was removed from childhood vaccines in 2001, autism rates continued to rise.
Mullin said that autism spectrum disorder “used to be almost not even heard of, then it went from 1 to 10,000, and then 1 to 5,000 and 1 to 2,000. In some races right now, 1 out of every 36 kids by the age of 3 had developed some form of autism. What is causing that?”
“And if it is the vaccines,” he added, “there’s nothing wrong with actually taking a hard look and finding out is that’s what’s causing it.”
Welker quickly shut down Mullin’s offhanded speculation, noting, “No credible expert or study has shown a link between vaccines and autism.”
“So I just want to be on the record with that,” she added.
After Mullin pushed back, saying that studies on the correlation have been “extremely vague,” Welker repeated her fact-check.
“Again, there’s just no scientific evidence for that,” she said.
Watch a clip from Mullin’s “Meet the Press” interview below.
Jeez — Sen. Markwayne Mullin defends RFK Jr’s nomination by going full anti-vaxxer and questioning whether vaccines cause autism (they don’t) pic.twitter.com/J5NQN6utSp