Science autism RFK Jr. vaccines

A scientist brilliantly explained the big problem with RFK Jr’s vaccine statement on the CDC website, using the idea of a squirrel in a trench coat

Oonagh Keating. Updated December 2nd, 2025

It’s no secret that the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK Jr, is a conspiracy theorist, particularly when it comes to vaccines.

The man in charge of America’s access to medication has wholeheartedly embraced a long-debunked claim by a charlatan that infant and childhood vaccines cause autism. Not only that, but he’s attempted to legitimise the nonsense with a unilateral change to the CDC website.

Here are some things people with fewer brain worm holes have been saying about the move.

Over on TikTok, Dr Noc shared the perfect analogy to explain why Kennedy’s ‘not an evidence-based claim’ statement is so problematic.

@dr.noc #science ♬ original sound – Dr.Noc

“Imagine you’re a scientist. You’ve been asked to confirm that not a single squirrel in the world is wearing a trench coat.

Over a few decades, you and teams across the world observe millions of squirrels in all manner of different environments. After that observation, with zero evidence of a trench coat, you feel pretty confident in your answer that no – squirrels don’t wear trench coats.

But then RFK Jr comes along and says that your efforts have not technically proven that squirrels don’t wear trench coats, because it’s possible in theory that there were some squirrels that you never observed that were wearing trench coats – because you didn’t observe every single squirrel.

That’s what RFK Jr’s CDC page is doing today.”

While we feel it’s not a good idea to put thoughts of squirrels in the mind of Roadkill Robbie, we can see Dr Noc’s point – and so could many TikTok users.

1.

We live in the upside down.
Steve Livingstone

2.

What’s crazy to me is nobody along the way can stop the flow of harmful information..? EVERYONE involved is just like yeah.. Change the website! Update all the guidance? NOBODY at the CDC is speaking up?? There should be a mob of angry scientists yelling from the rooftops.. i don’t get it.
B

3.

They have to prove the positive.
CH

4.

Technically autism could have caused vaccines.
brian reulecke

5.

Yes but if a squirrel wears a coat in the woods and there is nobody around to see it, does he make a sound.
Dragon Cake

6.

We all died and this is hell.
Matt

7.

I feel bad for the people working at the CDC that were so proud of where worked a year ago, and now have to balance embarrassment with their need for employment.
Jeff

8.

Fun fact: RFK jr is actually just thousands of squirrels in a trench coat.
Goldie

9.

We can’t trust the cdc. Or any other government source controlled by Trump.
Shawn Hughes

10.

Gonna sew a small trench coat and find a squirrel, I’m sure the rest of what you said was important, but it got a little distracted.
Mia

11.

This is the best explanation of anti-science that I have heard in a long time. Thank you for sharing. Also, and all of my 44+ years of living on this planet. I have yet to see a squirrel in a trenchcoat.
Ms Bionerd

Huey Li had another point about things being evidence-based.>

I can’t rule out that the worm is still in his brain. In fact, I believe it still is.

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Source Dr Noc Image Screengrab, Screengrab, Wikimedia Commons