‘Say The V Word’: RFK’s Approach To Solve Measles, Autism Epidemic Raises Questions From MAHA

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy’s Wednesday announcement that autism is likely caused by environmental toxins has driven a number of his formerly faithful supporters to start doubting his agency’s direction.

During a Wednesday press conference, Secretary Kennedy announced the findings of a landmark Centers for Disease Control (CDC) survey on autism. 

“Overall, the autism prevalence is increasing at an alarming rate. The ASD prevalence rate in eight-year-olds is now one in 31. Shocking. This is part of an unrelenting upward trend,” Kennedy announced.

President Trump has tasked me with identifying the root causes of the childhood chronic disease epidemic — including autism. At Wednesday’s press conference, I shared new data from @CDCgov Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network survey. Autism prevalence in the… pic.twitter.com/i2h6nYqKDX

— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) April 17, 2025

He also vowed to conduct a series of new studies to identify the environmental toxins that are causing the rise in prevalence. He specifically said the studies will look at mold, food additives, pesticides, air and water, and medicines.

While vaccines can be considered medicines, some of Kennedy’s followers appeared perturbed that he didn’t specifically mention vaccines as a root cause of autism.

“Bobby is going to have to say the V word at some point soon,” Toby Rogers, a fellow at the Brownstone Institute, tweeted:

Bobby is going to have to say the V word at some point soon. And follow that up with bold and decisive action. And defend that action against the most intense corporate backlash in history. Not sure when that’s going to happen but “the only way out is through.”

— Toby Rogers (@uTobian) April 17, 2025

The renewed skepticism follows a series of actions Kennedy took surrounding the measles outbreak in west Texas, which his most vaccine-skeptical supporters also questioned.

In a Fox News op-ed and again on X, Kennedy touted the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine, writing “The most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.”

I came to­ Gaines County, Texas, today to comfort the Hildebrand family after the loss of their 8-year-old daughter Daisy. I got to know the family of 6-year-old Kayley Fehr after she passed away in February. I also developed bonds with and deep affection for other members of…

— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) April 6, 2025

That appeared to contradict past statements. In an August 2024 interview with John Stossel, Kennedy said he would not give his children the MMR vaccine.

In that same interview, Kennedy also said, “autism is caused by vaccines.”

But now, appearing to be whistling a new tune, Kennedy has rubbed some of his own supporters the wrong way.

“I think we need to start looking in other directions,” Bryce Lipscomb, a former local government representative in Massachusetts, told the Daily Caller. 

Lipscomb, a self-stated former Republican, had built a large following on X largely with messages strongly supporting Kennedy’s independent presidential bid and his HHS Secretary nomination.

However, Lipscomb became disillusioned by what he viewed as a growing number of Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) branded content creators seeking to self-promote rather than enact change.

“I think the MAHA movement has been co-opted by individuals who are more interested in themselves and growing their fame than they are about helping Secretary Kennedy or helping Nicole Shanahan,” Lipscomb told the Caller. (RELATED: RFK’s National Health Movement Having Major Impact At State Level)

On Tuesday he announced he would no longer be identifying as MAHA.

“Instead I will focus on medical freedom, food freedom, & liberty activism. Movements tend to create a cult of personality & I’m no longer interested in helping cultivate that,” he tweeted.

After serious prayer & consideration, I have decided that I am no longer lending my name to “Movements”.

I will no longer identify myself as “MAHA” or anything like that.

Instead I will focus on medical freedom, food freedom, & liberty activism.

Movements tend to create cult…

— Bryce Lipscomb 🇺🇸 (@BryceMLipscomb) April 15, 2025

“I don’t think the MAHA movement has lived up to its promise. In fact, I think that it’s stagnated and is going in very weird directions. Every single person has a podcast now,” he continued. 

Lipscomb did note that he still believes in Kennedy, and thinks that his tiptoeing around vaccine rhetoric is part of a political long game. But he also expressed disappointment in a lack of transparency.

“If he has to play along to get along, let us know that this is what he’s doing. Let us know that, ‘hey guys, it’s a whole different thing being the Secretary of HHS. I thought we were going to be able to do X, Y and Z, [but that’s] not the reality that we live in right now,’” Lipscomb said.

“People have the right to be mad. He comes out and supporting the MMR vaccine, and people are like, whoa. You were just, not more than a few months ago, railing against the measles vaccine. What’s going on?” he asked. 

The idea that Kennedy has to go along to get along stems in part from a deal he made with Republican Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

Moments before the committee was set to determine whether or not they’d recommend Kennedy’s HHS nomination favorably to the Senate, Cassidy, the swing vote on the committee, revealed that he would be a yes vote on Kennedy’s confirmation. (RELATED: ‘The Evidence Is Overwhelming’: RFK Jr. Calls On CDC To Stop Recommending Fluoride)

Cassidy, a medical doctor, had previously expressed reservations about Kennedy taking the HHS mantle, citing concerns with his positions on vaccines. However, shortly after the HELP vote, Cassidy took to the senate floor to explain that Kennedy had made him a number of promises.

Those promises include regular meetings between Kennedy and Cassidy as well as a vow to not alter health agency messages on vaccines, Cassidy announced.

Senator Bill Cassidy just went to the senate floor to disclose the deals he made in exchange for a yes vote on RFK Jr.

Read below and let me know if it was worth it.

-RFK Jr will have a close working relationship with Cassidy with multiple meetings a month.
-Cassidy will… pic.twitter.com/GwwEPZk0PT

— Anna Matson (@AnnaRMatson) February 4, 2025

“I think Bill Cassidy is putting a significant amount of pressure on him,” Lipscomb told the Caller. His sentiment is one broadly shared by MAHA at large.

Lauren Lee, a popular political content creator, called Cassidy “MAHA’s public enemy #1” in an April tweet.

“This casts doubt on Cassidy’s scruples as well as his concern for scientific truth and patient well-being,” Dr. Kris Held tweeted in response to Cassidy’s floor speech in February.

Lipscomb cited the Trump administration’s decision to yank former Republican Florida Rep. Dave Weldon’s nomination to become CDC Director as evidence of Cassidy’s influence.

“His mission is to basically undermine anything that Kennedy will do. And the shitty thing is that Kennedy just has to kind of take it,” Lipscomb said.

The Trump administration pulled Weldon’s nomination in March.

While many MAHA supporters online blamed Cassidy and moderate Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins for not supporting Weldon’s nomination, staffers for both Senators previously told the Daily Caller they were undecided on Weldon and hadn’t made up their mind.

His eventual replacement, Susan Monarez, was formerly the deputy director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).

“She’s not MAHA. She stands for the worst. She wants to bring AI into our healthcare. There is nothing about this individual that screams make America healthy again. This screams let’s make our health trackable,” Lipscomb said.

The Daily Caller reached out to HHS and Senator Cassidy’s office for comment but did not hear back by publication.