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Republican senators who voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of Health and Human Services seem to be baffled by his sudden public remarks about links between acetaminophen, autism and circumcision.
During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Kennedy, a longtime proponent of the unfounded theory that vaccines cause autism, went on a tangent about the causes of autism.
Specifically, he talked about how he saw a TikTok video of a pregnant woman “gobbling Tylenol.” Kennedy said that the woman took Tylenol “with a baby in her placenta,” even though the fetus develops in the uterus. In addition, Kennedy said that infant boys who are circumcised have double the rate of autism.
But Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who voted to confirm Kennedy both in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and on the Senate floor, expressed confusion.
“That’s new,” he told The Independent after chuckling.
“I want doctors to be doctors,” he said. “I want scientists to be scientists. If there's scientific evidence present that. That not interested in a non-practicing physician or scientist’s personal opinion.”
Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) also seemed confused when asked about it. Despite her objections to mant of Kennedy’s views, Murkowski voted to refer Kennedy’s nomination out of committee and on the Senate floor.
“You're giving me new news now with your second question, so I have not seen that yet,” Murkowski told The Independent.
“Well, the Tylenol, I have question[s], and I've said that,” she said. “In terms of what you've just referenced, in regards to circumcision, this is all brand new to me, so I guess I'm going to go read what you guys have reported.”
The Independent reached out to Sen. Bill Cassidy, the chairman of the HELP Committee and a physician who voted to confirm Kennedy despite his objections about Kennedy’s views about autism.
Trump and Kennedy have said they want to find the root causes of the “autism epidemic.” In the past 35 years, the number of autism diagnoses have increased, but most studies–including those from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention–attribute the increase to an increase in detection, particularly for girls, lower-income children, Black children and other ethnic minority groups.
Last month, Trump and Kennedy said they had found a link between mothers taking acetaminophen, Tylenol’s scientific name, during pregnancy and autism. But they did not announce a definitive link of causation between taking the over-the-counter drug, which mothers often take for fevers and pain during pregnancy, and autism.
Many Americans seem to not trust Trump and Kennedy’s claims. A poll from KFF found that just four percent of Americans believed their claims about Tylenol and autism were definitely true, while 30 percent said it was probably false and 35 percent said it was definitely false.
But Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), a member of the HELP Committee and a sharp critic of Kennedy, said Kennedy’s bizarre and unfounded claims are no laughing matter.
“We’re talking about whether or not parents can rely on the information provided by the Secretary of Health and Human Services,” she said. “ It's really not funny. This whole thing is dangerous. People will get sick and die based on it. And I think it's horrible.”
Since Kennedy has taken over the department, he has come under fire for many decisions, such as firing every member of the Advisory Mommittee on Immunization Practices. The panel also recommended against the combined measles and chickenpox vaccine for young children.
Last month, Susan Monarez testified before the Senate HELP Committee after Kennedy fired her as director of the CDC. Kennedy has received criticism even from Republican senators for his actions.
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