Crackpots

The Associated Press reports: A Texas doctor who has been treating children in a measles outbreak was shown on video with a measles rash on his face in a clinic a week before Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. met him and praised him as an “extraordinary” healer. Dr. Ben Edwards appeared in the video posted March 31 by the …

“I’m approaching that agnostically. We’re going to be very transparent in how we design the studies. We’re going to farm the studies out to 15 premier research groups from all over the country. We’re going to look at mold. We’re going to look at the age of parents. We’re going to look at food and food additives. “We’re going to …

“This is the most basic of truths, man and woman. It’s the sheer essence of humanity, a truth we have never struggled to understand in the nearly two hundred and fifty years we’ve been established as a country and certainly much longer than that. Hate to break it to every single person listening to this, you are all here from …

Florida Politics reports: A bill placing “In God We Trust” language on school campuses is heading to the House floor. The Education and Employment Committee advanced the bill (HB 1009). If it passes, the slogan must be in “clearly visible location and public area of the school which is readily accessible to and widely used by students and in a …

Wired reports: Anti-vaccine activists with close ties to US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are falsely claiming that the measles public health crisis in Texas is caused by a “bioweapon” targeting the Mennonite community. These activists are now trying to sell their followers a range of pseudoscientific cures—some purportedly powered by artificial intelligence—that supposedly prevent customers from contracting measles. …

The Texas Tribune reports: When Daisy Hildebrand became the second Texas child to die of measles on April 3, her physicians reported – per the state health code – the 8-year-old’s death to local officials in Lubbock where she died and in tiny Gaines County where the girl lived. In deference to the girl’s family, who planned to bury her …

Axios reports: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the unusual step of publicly contradicting one of his own agencies’ autism studies on Tuesday, suggesting at a press conference that “environmental factors” including drugs, not improved screening, were causing a spike in confirmed cases. Kennedy’s assertion that researchers and the media are engaging in what he called “epidemic denial” could …

The Hill reports: Leadership at The Autism Society of America is pushing back against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s recent pledge to find the cause of autism spectrum disorder. Kennedy promised to launch a “massive testing and research effort” on Thursday to figure out what has caused the “autism epidemic” by September. “We find that unrealistic and …

“Will it lead to recession? I don’t know. I’ll leave that for people with much higher IQs. I went to community college. But is Scott Bessent on a warpath to create a wall around our home? And I like using the home analogy, the metaphor. I’m sorry, it’s gonna get old. But Scott Bessent is out there to reinforce against …

The Daily Beast reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. isn’t convinced that “society” should pay to treat people with unhealthy habits. Asked in a CBS interview about the basic level of care every American should receive and who should pay for it, Kennedy said that “when it comes to healthcare, that’s a difficult question” with moral and philosophical considerations. “People have …

NBC News reports: The measles outbreak in West Texas has reignited familiar anti-vaccine tactics: claiming there are readily available treatments for the disease while sowing doubt in the safety of vaccines. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. touted two particular medications that have not been shown to work as first-line treatments for measles: the steroid budesonide and the antibiotic clarithromycin. …

“Where was the Constitution when the Patriot Act was passed? Right, give me a break. Like, I had to be molested at the airport to go to Florida, right, just to get on an airplane, just because I’m not going to go through the ‘gay beam’ machine. I didn’t let CJ do it, I wouldn’t let him do it. “I …

Florida Politics reports: Capping a nearly two-month debate with no shortage of conspiracy theorizing from the public, the Senate has passed legislation to crack down on suspected weather modification and bioengineering in Florida. The bill (SB 56) passed after a back-and-forth on the chamber floor between its sponsor, Miami Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia, and Boca Raton Democratic Sen. Tina Scott …

“Susan Crawford did not win in Wisconsin and the media can grab that all they want! There’s a little bit of a deviation here. They vote in voter ID, but yet the candidate that doesn’t want voter ID wins. Hello! It doesn’t happen. My team’s digging into it. This is just disgusting! I’m just getting the numbers. Numbers don’t lie. …

Media Matters reports: Right-wing media helped dupe their audiences into believing that drugs like ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine were miracle cures for COVID-19. Now, conservative commentators are apparently cashing in on that credulity thanks to the paid sponsorship of a mail-order pharmacy that provides easy access to the medicines. The Florida-based All Family Pharmacy has sponsored a slew of right-wing commentators, …

Kyle Mantyla reports at Right Wing Watch: When a group of Satanists attempted to hold a black mass at the Kansas state capitol last week, Kansas resident and right-wing broadcaster Doug Billings was apoplectic, demanding that Gov. Laura Kelly arrest the activists and organize a militia, if necessary, to prevent them from getting anywhere near the statehouse. While Gov. Kelly …

The Florida Alligator reports: When Gov. Ron DeSantis hand-picked Joseph Ladapo as Florida’s surgeon general in September 2021, the role came with a second high-profile appointment: a tenured faculty position at UF. But Ladapo’s colleagues still aren’t sure what he does to earn his salary at the university. Some say not much. UF fast-tracked Ladapo into a $337,000-a-year contract as …

Politico reports: MAGA election conspiracy theorist and MyPillow founder Mike Lindell has eyes on what could be his next gig. And it isn’t selling pillows. Lindell on Monday teased a run for Minnesota governor, a race that could see him face off against popular incumbent Tim Walz, who is said to be sizing up a third term in the post. …

The Daily Mail reports: HHS Sec. Robert Kennedy Jr. paid a visit to West Virginia to tout a law banning certain food dyes in the state on Friday. But Kennedy turned heads when he fat shamed the state’s GOP governor and suggested monthly weigh-ins. Trump’s top health official singled out Gov. Patrick Morrisey after the West Virginia leader introduced him. …

Fox News reports: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants President Donald Trump to tap Sunshine State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo as CDC director. DeSantis contends that the public health official could do more for the state at the CDC than he can now. “Overhauling the CDC would be beneficial to FL. Joe could do more for FL as CDC Director …