Trump Surrogate Howard Lutnick Expresses Anti-Vax Views on CNN

The co-chair of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s transition team promoted the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism in a CNN interview Wednesday.

Howard Lutnick, the billionaire CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and a old friend of Trumptold the network’s Kaitlan Collins that vaccines are “not proven” safe. Lutnick said he recently received training on vaccines from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the former independent presidential candidate and anti-vaxxer who endorsed Trump.

Kennedy has said he would have significant influence over public health policy if Trump wins the White House.

“So I spent two and a half hours with Bobby Kennedy Jr. this week, and it was the most special thing. Because let’s face it, we’ve all heard all kinds of snarky comments about him on the news,” Lutnick told Collins.

Lutnick talked about his conversation with Kennedy and then made a connection between autism and the growth of vaccines discredited idea dating back to a withdrawn study from 1998 – before Collins interrupted to remind viewers that Lutnick is not a scientist.

“Wait a minute,” said the anchor. “Okay, neither of us are doctors. Vaccines are safe.”

“Why do you think vaccines are safe? There is no more product liability. They are not proven,” Lutnick said.

‘Because they are proven. Kids get them and they’re fine,” Collins said.

“What makes you think they are doing well?” Lutnick responded.

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond Thursday morning when asked whether the campaign stood behind Lutnick’s comments.

Lutnick went on to say that Kennedy wants vaccines taken off the market — and that Kennedy hopes a Trump administration can provide him with the data to achieve that.

“He wants the data so he can say, ‘These things are unsafe,’” Lutnick said. “He says, ‘If you give me the data, all I want is the data, and I’ll take the data and show it’s not secure.’ And if you remove product liability, the companies will immediately take these vaccines off the market.’ So that’s his point.”

The former president himself has long expressed skepticism about vaccines, and he has done just that promised to cut spending for schools that need them, playing into anti-vax conspiracy theories that do become mainstream in the Republican Party. (All states have variations in legislation that require certain vaccines.)

Trump also engaged in anti-vax talk with Kennedy during a July phone call that was captured in a leaked video.

“If you give a baby a vaccination, Bobby, which is made up of 38 different vaccines, and it looks like it’s appropriate for a horse, and not for a 10 or 20 pound baby, then it looks like you’re giving a horse this thing should give. Trump said during the phone call.

After Kennedy dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, the former president gave him a spot on his transition team.

Kennedy told his supporters earlier this week that Trump had promised give him “control” over key public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The key that I think I have — you know, that President Trump promised me — is control of public health authorities,” Kennedy said in a livestream, a video of which was obtained by CNN. He mentioned the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health, among others.

Trump was scheduled to appear with Kennedy at a campaign event in the swing state of Arizona on Thursday.