The viewers of ABC News did not find out what Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. had to say about the safety of Covid shots and connections between childhood vaccines and autism, because the channel, instead of scrutinizing the claims, decided to simply edit them out.
Host Linsey Davis gave a warning ahead of the interview on Thursday night, telling viewers that the Biden challenger is “regularly peddling anti-vaccine rhetoric” and spreading “misinformation and disinformation” about vaccines. Could the audience be allowed to hear the arguments of the man who has been deeply involved in medical research and multiple lawsuits against the government regulatory agencies, and who is running for the highest office in the nation, and then be allowed to make up its own mind? Not a chance!
Davis explained after the interview, “We should note that during our conversation, Kennedy made false claims about the Covid-19 vaccines.” She backed her assumption by mentioning “data” that showed the shots had prevented “millions of deaths and hospitalizations from the disease.”
During the past two years, Kennedy has been vocal about the proven risks of the Covid shots, particularly myocarditis in young men. For example, speaking on December 6, 2021, before the Louisiana House regarding a proposal that would require students to get vaccinated against Covid before attending school, Kennedy said that the shots’ record reflected in the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS) “confirms that this is the deadliest vaccine ever made.”
When he mentioned the connection between vaccines and autism, Kennedy was told that his claim was “debunked.”
Kennedy asked, “Who debunked it?”
Davis stated, “We have not seen any scientific connection from the CDC and the World Health Organization, the National Academy of Sciences.”
Kennedy shot back, “Those organizations are captive agencies!”
“So you think they are all in cahoots?” asked the host.
And the reply was unequivocal, “Yes! They are all captive.”
Most likely, this is where Kennedy’s remarks were edited out because the interview goes on with questions about Kennedy’s family.
In a closing segment, Davis noted that the channel used its “editorial judgment” to exclude portions of the interview in which Kennedy made “false” and “misleading” claims:
[Kennedy] also made misleading claims about the relationship between vaccination and autism. Research shows that vaccines and the ingredients used in the vaccines do not cause autism, including multiple studies involving more than a million children and major medical associations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the advocacy group Autism Speaks.
Kennedy’s research and legal organization Children’s Health Defense has regularly published research on connections between vaccines, environmental toxins such as pesticides, commonly used drugs such as Tylenol, and autism. The latter has been on the rise for a few decades now, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The agency’s latest data for April 2023 shows that one in 36 children in America is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
