Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a hard man to pin down. If you ask him point-blank if he’s "anti-vaccine," he’ll usually tell you he isn't. He points to the fact that his children are vaccinated. He says he just wants better science. But then you look at his decades of advocacy, the speeches at the Lincoln Memorial, and his leadership of Children’s Health Defense, and a different picture starts to emerge. People are constantly asking: does rfk believe vaccines cause autism? It’s the question that has followed him from the courtrooms of the early 2000s all the way to the highest levels of American political discourse in 2026.
The answer isn't a simple yes or no because Kennedy uses very specific, lawyerly language. He often frames his arguments around "mercury," "thimerosal," and "toxic loads." He’s a litigator by trade. He knows how to build a case.
The Thimerosal Obsession
Back in 2005, Kennedy published a piece in Rolling Stone and Salon titled "Deadly Immunity." It was a bombshell. He alleged that the government was covering up a link between thimerosal—a mercury-based preservative used in vaccines—and the rising rates of autism. It was later retracted by Salon because of factual errors, but for Kennedy, the die was cast. He’s never really let go of that core idea.
Mercury is neurotoxic. We know this. It's why we don't eat too much swordfish. Kennedy’s argument is basically that injecting even trace amounts of ethylmercury into infants is a recipe for neurological disaster. He specifically targets the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the vaccine schedule expanded. He looks at the graph of autism diagnoses, looks at the graph of the expanded CDC schedule, and says the two are connected.
Correlation isn't always causation, though. Scientists like Dr. Peter Hotez have spent years explaining that the "autism epidemic" Kennedy talks about is largely a result of better screening and broader diagnostic criteria. In the 70s, you weren't "on the spectrum." You were just "strange" or "delayed." Now, we have a name for it.
The "Tobacco Science" Argument
Kennedy loves to use the phrase "tobacco science." He’s referring to how big tobacco companies paid off scientists to say cigarettes were safe. He thinks the pharmaceutical industry—Big Pharma—is doing the exact same thing with vaccines. To him, every study from the CDC or the FDA that says vaccines are safe is tainted by money.
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Honestly, it’s a compelling narrative for people who already distrust the government. He isn't just some guy on a soapbox; he’s a Kennedy. He has that name. He has that rasp in his voice (caused by spasmodic dysphonia, which he has also, at times, suggested could be related to environmental toxins). When he speaks, people listen. He tells them they are being lied to. He tells parents that their "gut feeling" about their child’s regression after a shot is more valid than a peer-reviewed paper in The Lancet.
Does RFK Believe Vaccines Cause Autism? The Evidence He Cites
If you sit down and listen to him for three hours on a podcast, he’ll throw a lot of data at you. He talks about the "Simpsonwood Meeting" in 2000. He claims this was a secret gathering where health officials realized thimerosal was causing autism and decided to hide the data.
The medical community sees that meeting differently. They say it was a standard review of preliminary data that didn't show a clear link but prompted them to remove thimerosal from childhood vaccines anyway, just to be safe. By 2001, thimerosal was out of almost all pediatric vaccines in the US (except some multi-dose flu shots).
Here’s the kicker: autism rates kept going up after the mercury was removed.
If the mercury was the cause, the numbers should have dropped. They didn't. Kennedy’s response to this is usually to shift the goalposts. He’ll start talking about aluminum adjuvants. Or he’ll talk about the sheer number of vaccines given at once. He’ll mention "synergistic toxicity." It's a moving target.
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The Simpsonwood Controversy
- RFK’s View: A smoke-filled room where the CDC buried "smoking gun" evidence of a mercury-autism link.
- Public Health View: A cautious discussion of messy data that ultimately led to the precautionary removal of mercury.
- The Result: Thimerosal is gone from kids' shots, but the debate is more alive than ever.
Challenging the "Safe and Effective" Mantra
Kennedy hates the phrase "safe and effective." He thinks it's a religious dogma, not science. He’s famously said that no vaccine has been properly tested against a "true saline placebo." This is a major talking point for him. He argues that if you test a new vaccine against an old vaccine (which he also thinks is "toxic"), you aren't really testing for safety.
The medical establishment calls this a misunderstanding of clinical ethics. You can't give a group of kids a salt-water shot and then expose them to polio or measles; that would be unethical. So, they compare the new version to the established standard of care. Kennedy says that’s a "shell game."
This is why he’s so effective. He takes a technical detail of clinical trials and turns it into a conspiracy. It sounds logical if you don't know the background. He’s not saying "don't vaccinate"; he’s saying "the trials are rigged." It’s a subtle distinction that allows him to keep his "pro-science" branding while simultaneously undermining public trust in every single vaccine on the market.
The Impact on Public Health
Whether or not he's right (and the vast majority of global health organizations—WHO, Mayo Clinic, American Academy of Pediatrics—say he’s wrong), his influence is massive. When a Kennedy says there's a link, people hesitate. We’ve seen measles outbreaks in places like Samoa, where Kennedy’s rhetoric was cited as a factor in declining vaccination rates. He visited the island shortly before a massive outbreak in 2019. He denies responsibility, of course, but the timing is hard to ignore.
In the US, his work with Children's Health Defense (CHD) has turned into a media empire. They have a news site, a "TV" channel, and they've published books that stay on the bestseller lists for weeks. He’s moved beyond just autism. He’s now talking about 5G, glyphosate (Roundup), and "forever chemicals."
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He sees a "chronic disease epidemic" in American children—ADHD, allergies, obesity, and autism—and he blames the "toxic soup" of modern life, with vaccines as a primary ingredient.
The Verdict on His Current Stance
So, where does he stand today? He’s more cautious now that he’s in the political spotlight. He uses words like "skeptical" or "concerned" rather than "certain." But if you read his 2021 book on Anthony Fauci, or his more recent interviews, the message is clear. He believes the current vaccine schedule is a major factor in the rise of autism. He believes the government knows this and is protecting the industry.
He often says, "I am not anti-vaccine. I just want safe vaccines." But when you ask him which vaccine is currently safe, he usually can't name one. That speaks volumes.
Moving Forward: What You Can Do
The "RFK effect" is real. It’s changed how people view their doctors and the CDC. If you're trying to navigate this information, don't just take a soundbite at face value.
- Read the Retractions: Look up why Salon pulled his 2005 article. Understanding the specific errors in his early work helps put his current claims in context.
- Check the Placebo Claims: Look at the FDA’s requirements for Phase 3 clinical trials. See how they actually use placebos and why they choose specific comparators.
- Look at the Timing: If someone claims a specific ingredient causes autism, look at when that ingredient was removed and what happened to autism rates afterward. The data is publicly available through the CDC and independent researchers.
- Consult a Specialist: If you have concerns about the vaccine schedule, talk to a pediatric neurologist or an immunologist—people who spend their lives studying the brain and the immune system, not just the law.
The debate isn't going away. As long as the causes of autism remain complex and multifaceted, there will be room for people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to offer "simple" explanations. The best defense is a deep understanding of how the science actually works, rather than how it's portrayed in a 15-second clip on social media.