From ‘Aspie supremacy’ to vaccines: The toxic autism politics of Trump’s second administration

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Get our free Inside Washington email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. He has talked in public a number of times about having “Asperger’s syndrome” The concept of “Aspie supremacy” — a term some disability rights advocates coined for the deeply problematic idea that people with autism spectrum disorder who previously would be considered as having Asperger’s are superior to both neurotypical people and other autistic people — has been around for a while. One of the most common tics in Donald Trump’s language that many people have now adopted in their own cheap imitations of him is his use of the phrase “many such cases.” But few remember that he was using the term even way back in 2014, when he tweeted: “Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn't feel good and changes - AUTISM. Many such cases!” Trump and the ‘cure’ for autism He would repeat this claim during one of the first Republican debates — a claim that triggered television physician Mehmet Oz to tweet at the time: “Just a reminder: there is no evidence that there is any link between vaccines and autism.” Last month, Trump nominated Oz to serve as his director for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Many autistic people have objected to Autism Speaks’ approach, given its lack of autistic leaders and its historic support for finding an autism “cure” In his memoir, Wright said that he felt disappointed that President Barack Obama failed to light the White House blue — something the nonprofit had asked for as a gesture of support — during in his first year in office.