Why is RFK so interested in Autism?
- Kim Ing
- Apr 17
- 8 min read
Lately, the news has been nonstop. There’s so much misinformation out there, and somehow, fact-checking is being labelled as “woke.” More and more unqualified people are spreading harmful, debunked theories just to fit their own agendas.
Social media is a powerful tool, but it’s super easy to get caught up in posts and stories that have zero medical or scientific backing. Our goal is to break things down, fact-check when we can, and share reliable sources so you can dig into the info yourself.
A good place to start is with the wild claims that RFK has been making about autism. First, let’s take a quick look at who he is—some background on the guy now leading health policy over in the U.S.
RFK, or Robert Francis Kennedy Jr is the Nephew of former president John F Kennedy and son of former U.S Attorney General Robert F Kennedy Sr. His political career has seen him running for president in 2024 as a Democrat, before later running as an independent. He dropped out and endorsed Trump, who would go on to name him as Secretary of Health and Human service.
Before diving into politics, RFK Jr. made a name for himself as an environmental attorney. He worked for the Natural Resources Defence Council and co-founded the Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental group focused on protecting waterways. One of his big roles was with Hudson Riverkeeper, where he spent years fighting industrial pollution in New York’s Hudson River.
He was known for going after big corporations over environmental violations, especially when it came to water contamination and air pollution. RFK Jr. also taught environmental law and was involved in several high-profile legal battles tied to environmental justice. While many praised his passion and dedication, some of his methods and views—especially later on—started raising eyebrows.
77 Nobel Laureates wrote an open letter in the New York times urging for RFK not to be confirmed . They stated:
“In view of his record, placing Mr. Kennedy in charge of DHHS would put the public's health in jeopardy and undermine America's global leadership in the health sciences, in both the public and commercial sectors”
Not only that but by January 2025 over 17,000 Doctors had signed a letter urging the senate to reject RFK in his new position. Just let that sink in. 17,000 qualified medical professionals are concerned about the man running the Department of Health and Human services. But why is that? Why is everyone so concerned?
He is a prolific voice when it comes to vaccine misinformation and health misinformation. He was the chair of an anti vaccine advocacy group for many years. According to the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, RFK was one of 12 individuals who made up 65% of anti-vax content on Facebook and Twitter in 2021.
He has faced significant backlash for suggesting that COVID-19 was "ethnically targeted" to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people while disproportionately affecting Caucasians and Black individuals. During a dinner in New York City, he remarked that there is an argument COVID-19 "attacks certain races disproportionately," adding that the most immune groups were Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese. He also mentioned that there are studies indicating racial and ethnic differences in the virus's impact .
He has also claimed that atrazine, a chemical found in the water supply, is causing more children to identify as transgender—a statement that has been widely debunked by scientists and fact-checkers, who found no credible evidence to support any link between atrazine exposure and gender identity.
In the past few weeks, RFK Jr. announced that he and the Department of Health and Human Services are launching research into the causes of autism. Sounds like a good thing, right? More research and knowledge is never a bad idea. But here’s where it gets a little strange—RFK said they’ll identify the environmental toxins responsible and have answers by September. Now, putting a deadline on scientific research is already pretty optimistic, but deciding what you’re going to find before the study even starts? That’s just… baffling.
RFK Jr. has dismissed the role genetics play in autism and has repeatedly pointed to vaccines, heavy metals, and toxins as the cause. But we know by now that those claims just don’t hold up—there’s no solid evidence behind them. So, it really makes you wonder: is this new research just another way for him to push his anti-vax narrative all over again?
The whole “vaccines cause autism” myth really took off in the late '90s, mostly thanks to a British doctor named Andrew Wakefield. In 1998, he published a study in The Lancet claiming there was a link between the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps, and rubella) and autism. The media ran with it, and panic spread fast among parents.
But here’s the thing: the study was deeply flawed—small sample size, bad science, and, as it later turned out, undisclosed financial conflicts of interest. Multiple follow-up studies completely debunked his claims.
Wakefield’s 1998 study was based on just 12 children—a tiny and unreliable sample. He claimed these kids developed autism-like symptoms shortly after receiving the MMR vaccine. But it later came out that many of these children were already part of a lawsuit being prepared against MMR vaccine manufacturers. In fact, Wakefield had been hired and paid by a legal team to find evidence that could support the case. That’s a huge conflict of interest that he never disclosed in the paper.
And it gets worse—Wakefield also had a financial stake in an alternative measles vaccine and a diagnostic testing kit that he hoped to market as a safer replacement for the MMR shot. So if the MMR vaccine were discredited, he stood to make serious money.
Investigations later revealed that Wakefield had manipulated and misrepresented data in the study, including altering timelines of when symptoms appeared to better fit his narrative. All of this led to his eventual disbarment and the full retraction of the study by The Lancet.
Despite all of this, the damage was already done. His claims fuelled the modern anti-vax movement and continue to be referenced by people like RFK Jr., even though the science has long since moved on.
In a statement published on the American Government website RFK says
“The autism epidemic is running rampant,” said U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “One in 31 American children born in 2014 are disabled by autism. That’s up significantly from two years earlier and nearly five times higher than when the CDC first started running autism surveys”
When RFK Jr. refers to autism as an “epidemic,” it’s controversial, because autism isn’t an infectious disease—and much of the rise in diagnosis is due to better awareness, broader diagnostic criteria, and improved screening, not necessarily a real spike in how often it occurs.
“Autism is preventable and it is unforgivable that we have not yet identified the underlying causes. We should have had these answers 20 years ago”
Autism isn't something that can be prevented. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a complex condition rooted in genetics, with studies showing that genetics account for about 60–90% of the risk of developing it. While some prenatal factors, like maternal infections or older parental age, might increase the likelihood, these aren’t things we can prevent in the usual sense.
RFK Jr. announced plans to investigate potential environmental causes of autism, but while he’s been pretty vague about which specific toxins will be studied, we can guess that some usual suspects will be on the list.
The problem, though, is the timeline. RFK Jr. says that they’ll have answers by September 2025—which, honestly, feels like a pretty tight deadline. Autism research is notoriously complex, and figuring out environmental causes involves a ton of variables. It’s not something that can be rushed, so promising quick answers feels a little too optimistic. Plus, when you’re dealing with something this important, you want to make sure the studies are thorough, and that takes time.
Another concern is who’s behind the research. One of the people involved is Martin Kulldorff, a statistician with a bit of a controversial track record, especially when it comes to his views on COVID-19 and vaccines. Given RFK Jr.’s history with anti-vaccine rhetoric, the involvement of someone like Kulldorff raises a few eyebrows.
Another red flag with RFK Jr.'s push for autism research is his financial ties to vaccine litigation. He’s involved with a law firm, Wisner Baum, which is currently suing Merck over its HPV vaccine, Gardasil. Kennedy stands to make a significant cut—about 10% of the fees—if the firm wins any of these cases. While he says he’ll step back from consulting with the firm if he’s confirmed as Health Secretary, he’s still keeping his financial interest in these ongoing lawsuits. This means that, as he pushes for research into environmental causes of autism, he could financially benefit from lawsuits against vaccine manufacturers. It’s hard not to see this as a potential conflict of interest, especially when his work could influence vaccine policy.
While any new research into autism and its impact is welcome, it shouldn’t be used to promote false narratives that aren’t backed by science. A lot of the people involved in this research have financial stakes in the conclusions they’re pushing.
The way RFK is talking about autism is not just unhelpful—it’s harmful. His language fuels discrimination and piles onto the already heavy stigma that autistic and neurodivergent people deal with every day. It sends a message, whether intentional or not, that autistic people shouldn’t exist—that we’re some kind of burden. And that’s just not okay.
The truth is, many autistic people live full, meaningful lives. We have jobs, relationships, families—we contribute to our communities in countless ways. Not everyone is struggling, though of course, that doesn’t mean support isn’t needed. Some autistic people and their families do face challenges and struggles, they need high levels of support and this can be extremely difficult for the Autistic person and those caring for them. But what’s actually needed is better accommodations, proper funding, and real training to help support autistic people—not scare tactics or misleading narratives.
We’re not just a resource to pay tax or a statistic—we’re human beings. And we deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, not as problems to be solved.
If you want to do some further reading or look up anything mentioned in the blog post we have included a link to the sources we have used.
You can fact check anything you have heard or read on Social Media via
PolitiFact – Focuses on political statements, including ratings like “True” to “Pants on Fire.”
FactCheck.org – A nonpartisan, non profit that checks claims by politicians and media.
AP Fact Check – From the Associated Press; solid for checking news stories and quotes.
Reuters Fact Check – Good for international claims and news stories.
Full Fact (UK-based) – Great for UK-specific issues, but often covers international topics too.
Sources
Opmerkingen