WH Yanks Nomination Of Anti-Vax Nutbag To Lead CDC

CBS News reports:

The White House is withdrawing former Florida Rep. Dave Weldon’s nomination to be the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a White House official confirmed Thursday. The reason is not yet clear. Weldon, a vaccine critic, was set to appear before the Senate’s health committee on Thursday for his confirmation hearing. He is a physician and a former Republican member of Congress.

News of Weldon’s nomination being pulled came less than an hour before the Senate’s health committee was expected to question him over his nomination, including a long record criticizing vaccines and the agency he was asked to lead. Weldon would have been the first CDC director nominee to face Senate confirmation, after a change passed by Congress. Previous picks to head the Atlanta-based public health agency were able to assume their posts immediately.

From a December Washington Post report:

A Washington Post review of Weldon’s public comments, media appearances and congressional letters along with accounts of those who worked with him reveal a portrait of a politician and physician who emphasized the experiences of individuals while dismissing dozens of studies based on data from hundreds of thousands of patients that showed no link between vaccines and autism.

In Congress, Weldon was “absolutely and completely dismissive” of data showing vaccines were not associated with autism, recalled Josh Sharfstein, a former Democratic staff member on the House Government Reform Committee in the early 2000s when the Republicans who were in charge held regular hearings questioning vaccine safety.

An anti-abortion activist, Weldon has also led a consortium of scam Christian health insurance “sharing” programs.