Deconstructing the Trump – RFK Hatred Epidemic

by Helen Said, Autistic advocate, Melbourne Australia

Why is the anti-vaxxer US Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jnr, conducting a massive research and testing effort to find the causes of Autism before September? And why is Donald Trump targeting trans people, immigrants and DEI hires? Let’s do our own research and testing effort, and we are sure to get an answer, well before RFK publishes his anti-Autistic drivel in September.

 

Brown “genes”, “Black jobs”

In early October 2024, Donald Trump “questioned immigrants’ faulty genes, saying without support that ‘Many of them murdered far more than one person, and they are now happily living in the United States. You know, now a murderer, I believe this, it’s in their genes. And we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now.’ “ ¹ This came only a month after Trump made the baseless claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield were eating people’s pets. He also claimed, in June last year, that immigrants were taking “Black jobs”, an insult to both hard working immigrants and Black Americans.

These racist remarks are not just statements of belief; they scapegoat immigrants for the economic and political chaos that is unfolding in the US under Donald Trump. The dramatic ICE arrests, deportations and imprisonments of immigrants are a distraction from Elon Musk’s DOGE sackings, social security cutbacks and other disastrous Republican policies.

In setting the stage for his political comeback, Trump promised voters, “I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.” The American voters who fell for Trump’s hateful rhetoric were unaware that many of the wrongs and betrayals they face in fact come from the billionaire class that Donald Trump represents.

American voters are witnessing the hateful and divisive rounding up and imprisonment of immigrants by ICE, and attacks on international students. This show of force is supposedly to “Make America Great Again”. But behind this distraction, Donald Trump is legislating to pass the “Big Beautiful Bill” which will give tax cuts to billionaires by cutting safety net programs like Medicaid, the health care program for lower-income Americans and those with disabilities, and SNAP, which helps millions of lower-income Americans buy groceries every month.

 

Trans people’s safety and rights

The rise of the far right, including Trumpism, has fueled attacks on LGBTIQ people, especially trans women. This has had far reaching consequences worldwide. From shutting down Drag Queen Storytime in Australian libraries, to throwing butch looking women out of women’s toilets in Britain, in the wake of an anti-trans court ruling, to denying gender affirming health care to trans women in the US, to excluding intersex and trans people from international sports. These hateful acts, and the anxiety and isolation they cause to gender non-conforming folk, are perhaps the nastiest side of Trumpism. The sad part is that sections of the feminist movement, the very movement that is meant to liberate all women, have provided a progressive cover to these attacks.

Let’s get the facts straight - gender non-conforming folk have been around for centuries – here are some examples:

·         “It began hundreds of years ago, deep in the Albanian Alps—an unusual tradition where women, with limited options in life, took the oath of the burrnesha. A pledge to live as a man. To dress like a man, to work like a man, to assume the burdens and the liberties of a man….” ²

·         “The concept of Two-Spirit folks existed well before the arrival of European settlers on Turtle Island [North America]. Indigenous individuals who identified as Two-Spirit folks were seen as gifted and honoured in their community because they carried two spirits with them, both male and female. 2S folks were often the healers, medicine people, and visionaries within their given community and they were foundational members of their culture. Much of this can be attributed to the “double vision” 2S people are gifted with, being able to see both through the masculine and feminine lens.” ³

·         “There is documented evidence and oral history of Sistergirl identity in some [Australian Aboriginal] communities pre-dating colonisation. A number of historic and contemporary words exist to describe Sistergirls including ‘Kwarte Kwarte’ in Arrente, ‘Kungka Kungka’ in Pitjantjatjara and Luritja, ‘Yimpininni’ in Tiwi, ‘Karnta Pia’ in Warlpiri which can be interpreted as like a girl’. Whilst ‘Kungka Wati’ in Pintipi and ‘Girriji Kati’ in Waramungu literally mean ‘woman/man’ “ ⁴

In many cases, there are scientifically provable genetic, physical, brain differences and/or hormonal reasons why some people identify as trans or intersex, for example:

·         “Intersex people have innate sex characteristics that don’t fit medical and social norms for female or male bodies, and that create risks or experiences of stigma, discrimination and harm.” ⁵

·         “since sexual differentiation of the genitals takes place in the first two months of pregnancy and sexual differentiation of the brain starts in the second half of pregnancy, these two processes can be influenced independently, which may result in transsexuality.”⁶

·         “the underlying brain anatomy in transgender people is shifted away from their biological sex towards their gender identity.”⁷

As an older feminist, I am dismayed that some of my contemporaries support policies that align with Trumpism and deny the legitimacy of trans people. The existence of people who are neither cis men nor cis women disrupts their particular narrative, however the attacks on lesbian parents and butch women using public bathrooms are starting to shake up the debate. Sure, reasonable questions are being asked about trans women competing against cis women in sports - we should look to the science for answers, and seek creative solutions, so that all women - cis, trans and intersex - can enjoy sports without disadvantage or discrimination.

Since both science and history point to the legitimate, longstanding existence of trans people, why are we witnessing this Trump-inspired, anti-trans hatred epidemic? A conformist population is more easily controlled by the billionaire class oligarchy. They would rather keep all women producing babies, to build up the population, instead of relying on immigration, hence another feature of Trumpism – abortion bans. Non-conforming folk are the easiest to demonise as scapegoats. Trans people are conspicuous and easily misunderstood. It’s more convenient for Trump and his wealthy supporters to blame trans people for rape and child abuse, rather than blaming the rich friends of the late Jeffrey Epstein (Trump himself being one such friend). Trump has relied on religious fundamentalist bigots for electoral support. These religious supporters overlook Trump’s felony convictions and infidelities because he supports their anti-abortion and anti-trans views.

 

DEI phobia

One of Trump’s earliest attacks was on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion hiring practices, painting these as somehow causing air traffic accidents and discriminations of all kinds. Donald Trump even went so far as to threaten to cut off funding to research projects that supported “gender ideology” and “DEI”, and has since taken on Harvard University for failing to bend to his whims or enrol his youngest son Barron. But what exactly is objectionable about DEI; is it Diversity, Equity or Inclusion?

Australia has just witnessed the highest ever anti-conservative vote in its history, partly because the federal conservative leader drew his inspiration from Trumpism and opposed DEI. Although Australians don’t always get it right, and we have yet to Close the Gap in Indigenous health and opportunities, we largely embrace Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Diversity means we are one nation but many different people, Equity means that each person should have their needs met so that they can equally enjoy a prosperous and fulfilling life and Inclusion means we should feel respected and belong. All of these things are anathema to a hierarchical society where the rich get infinitely richer at the expense of poor people, women and minorities, and that’s the sort of government system that our American brothers, sisters and non-binary siblings are stuck with right now.

In particular, Donald Trump opposes DEI hiring practices, and the staff and programs which make this possible. Opponents of DEI try to make out that it stops people being hired on merit – in reality DEI stops women of merit, and members of minority groups of merit, from being overlooked by employers. Employers are traditionally wealthy, straight, white, able-bodied men who consciously or unconsciously favour their own kind, especially in professional occupations. These employers often aren’t aware of the workplace flexibility they need to adopt to accommodate, say, single mothers or disabled workers. But Trumpism does not support challenges to traditional hiring practices. Donald Trump went out of his way to inflame the prejudices of angry white men, and demonise DEI, as part of his electoral strategy. Anti-DEI sentiment suits exploitative employers who want sections of the workforce to be under-paid and desperate, so they will work for less pay and undercut higher paid union members. And now we have deconstructed another element of the Trumpist hatred epidemic.

 

RFK’s Autism obsession

Robert F Kennedy Jnr is completely unfit to be the United States Secretary of Health, a position he was promised after he quit the presidential race and endorsed Donald Trump. RFK is monumentally unfit to research Autism. His legendary anti-vaxxer views have led to children being  denied vaccines and dying from preventable diseases, as well as being a slur on Autistics. RFK ‘recently declared autism a national “epidemic,” calling it a “preventable disease” that is growing at an “alarming rate.”

‘He went on to cast autism as an “individual tragedy” that “destroys families,” while stating that many autistic people will “never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date.” ‘⁸

Honestly, this guy needs to take a look in the mirror before he tells Autistics that we will never go on a date, and then he needs to take a look at real scientific research about vaccines and Autism. Instead he has hired another quack to do his dirty work. “David Geier and his father Mark have a scandalous past of subjecting autistic children to unproven medical treatments for their own financial gain. They have published multiple fake studies claiming a link between vaccines and autism. Hiring David Geier is a clear indication that the Trump administration plans to rig the upcoming study and claim that it proves vaccines cause autism. This will set public health back decades at a time when vaccine hesitancy and infectious disease are both spreading at alarming rates.”⁹

“David Geier has sought access to federal database from which he was previously kicked out….An antivaccine activist recently hired by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has started hunting for proof that federal officials hid evidence that inoculations cause autism, according to people familiar with the matter.”¹⁰

"By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic and we'll be able to eliminate those exposures," Kennedy said. This is totally at odds with the scientific consensus that Autism is largely genetic.

So why would Trump and RFK be pushing anti-vaccine views when these cause death and obscure the real facts about Autism? The scientific community is ready to de-bunk the views of Trump, on every issue from climate scepticism to transphobia, from cuts to Medicaid to his weird claims about immigrants’ genes. Trump is desperate to shut down the intelligentsia who can show him up and expose him, so he slings mud at the medical profession. Also, Autistics are a poorly understood minority, whose support and education needs are easily scapegoated for budget deficits. I have an uncomfortable feeling that Trumpists will further try to scapegoat Autistics for mass shootings, and that Autism, rather than the American gun lobby (which Trump supports), will be depicted as the social problem.

Autistics are particularly troubling for the Oligarchy as we more readily question social hierarchy. Like Autistic Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg (who Trump hates), we don’t just switch off our social conscience and conform to the social expectation. We are ready to say “the emporor has no clothes” and “the president has no conscience.” So, through spreading anti-Autistic alarmism, the newly emerging Autism rights movement can be dismissed and sidelined before we get too organised.

We certainly know that Autistics have support needs and some Autistics have severe co-occurring conditions. If there is research to be done about Autism, it should be to enhance the lives of those Autistics who live with communication challenges, high sensory sensitivities, dyspraxia, medical conditions, intellectual disability or multiple neurodivergence.

Autism research could also focus on meaningfully utilising Autistic talents. Leading Autism experts, such as Cambridge Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Australian Professor Tony Attwood and Autistic scientist Dr Temple Grandin, are adamant that Autistics play a significant role in scientific endeavour and discovery, but this is not being highlighted by the anti-vaxxer, anti-Autistic quacks in charge of the US Autism inquiry.

Real scientists attribute the rising rate of Autism diagnoses to more awareness and better diagnostic criteria. There is no Autism epidemic. Rather, there is a hatred epidemic being deliberately perpetrated by the far right, Trumpists, religious bigots and conspiracy theorists, to marginalise diverse folk and promote an Oligarchy.

 

1.       1 The Conversation, 29/10/2024 How Trump’s racist talk of immigrant ‘bad genes’ echoes some of the last century’s darkest ideas about eugenics https://theconversation.com/how-trumps-racist-talk-of-immigrant-bad-genes-echoes-some-of-the-last-centurys-darkest-ideas-about-eugenics-241548

2.       2 GQ, The Mountains Where Women Live as Men https://www.gq.com/story/burrnesha-albanian-women-living-as-men

3.       3 The Indigenous Foundation, The History of Two-Spirit Folks Written By Isabella Thurston

https://www.theindigenousfoundation.org/articles/the-history-of-two-spirit-folks

4.       4 Indigenous Sistergirls’ Experiences of Family and Community, Damien W. Riggs & Kate Toone, chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://damienriggs.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Sistergirls-ASW.pdf

5.       5 Interaction for Health and Human Rights,  17 May 2025, Who are intersex people? https://interaction.org.au/18106/what-is-intersex/

6.       6 NIH National Library of Medicine, Sexual differentiation of the human brain in relation to gender identity and sexual orientation, Ivanka Savic ¹, Alicia Garcia-Falgueras, Dick F Swaab, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21094885/

7.      7 NIH National Library of Medicine, Brain Sex in Transgender Women Is Shifted towards Gender Identity, Identity, Florian Kurth, Christian Gaser, Francisco J Sánchez, Eileen Luders, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8955456/

8.       8 The Conversation, April 29 2025, RFK Jr. said many autistic people will never write a poem − even though there’s a rich history of neurodivergent poets and writers https://theconversation.com/rfk-jr-said-many-autistic-people-will-never-write-a-poem-even-though-theres-a-rich-history-of-neurodivergent-poets-and-writers-255367

9.       9 Autistic Self Advocacy Network ASAN Appalled by Hiring of Quack David Geier for HHS Study, March 26, 2025, https://autisticadvocacy.org/2025/03/asan-appalled-by-hiring-of-quack-david-geier-for-hhs-study/

11 10   The Wall Street Journal, June 5 2025, Vaccine Opponent Hired by RFK Jr. Scours Official Records for Link to Autism, By Liz Essley Whyte, Dominique Mosbergen, https://www.wsj.com/health/healthcare/vaccine-opponent-hired-by-rfk-jr-scours-official-records-for-link-to-autism-a1091eb4

11.