In a move that reignites a long-debunked and dangerous conspiracy theory, President Donald Trump on Monday shared a video promoting the widely discredited claim that vaccines cause autism. The post, made on his social media platform, features David Geier—an anti-vaccine activist who’s recently been given an influential role under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—alongside his father, Dr. Mark Geier, whose medical license was revoked after allegedly endangering children with autism through unproven treatments.
The resurfaced video was quickly amplified online after Trump shared it. It shows the Geiers discussing their controversial and thoroughly debunked theories about thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative once used in some vaccines. The elder Geier lost his license in multiple states for, among other things, administering chemical castration drugs to autistic children as part of an unapproved “treatment.”
The timing of Trump’s post is striking. It comes just days after Kennedy was sharply questioned by a bipartisan group of senators—Republicans included—over his vaccine stance and his recent call to fire the CDC director. It’s also just weeks before a key meeting of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, where the group is expected to vote on updated Covid-19 and other vaccine recommendations.
Despite the firestorm, the White House is trying to contain the fallout. A White House official, speaking anonymously, insisted that neither the video nor Kennedy’s actions suggest the administration is anti-vaccine.
“It’s not a binary, you’re either fully in favor of vaccines and have no questions or concerns about them or you’re against them,” the official said. “That doesn’t mean that if there’s — in the case of thimerosal — concerns we shouldn’t also be taking an evidence-based look.”
The official defended the video as being focused solely on thimerosal. That’s the same ingredient Kennedy’s advisory panel voted in June to remove from multi-dose flu shots—a move framed by the White House as precautionary, not a repudiation of vaccine safety. Thimerosal was removed from childhood vaccines in 2001, and countless studies since have shown no link between it and autism. That hasn’t stopped anti-vaccine figures from keeping the theory alive.
The second White House official, also granted anonymity, downplayed any broader implications. “He’s opposed to mandates, but he believes in the more common, generic, long-standing vaccines that Americans have been receiving for decades, like polio, measles, etc., but he’s open,” the official said. “He’s open to, if you have evidence of something, show it to me.”
That openness appears to be what’s allowing Kennedy’s influence to grow inside the administration. At an August cabinet meeting, Kennedy promised Trump a report on the causes of autism by the end of the month. Trump encouraged the effort, saying, “There has to be something artificially causing this, meaning a drug or something. And I know you’re looking very strongly at different things, and I hope you can come out with that as soon as possible.”
In the same week, Trump publicly praised some vaccines as “so amazing” and said they “just pure and simple work.” But behind closed doors, his views appear more flexible—particularly when it comes to newer vaccines or state mandates. When Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo proposed eliminating vaccine mandates for children, Trump reportedly questioned it. “Why would they do that,” he asked, according to one official. He later softened after hearing the rationale, though he continued to advocate for caution on eliminating long-standing immunizations like the polio shot.
None of this makes the situation less volatile. Sharing a video promoting discredited voices like the Geiers—especially without context—sends a clear signal. At a time when vaccine misinformation remains a public health crisis, the fact that it’s being pushed from such a high level in government isn’t just a talking point. It’s a problem.
