New Trump Spokesperson, Who Used to Work for Autism Charity: We 'Don't Know' If Vaccines Cause Autism

By Anna Merlan  |  May 2, 2016 | 4:55pm
Politics

Say you used to have a job at a large and well-respected nonprofit, one that advocates for people with a poorly-understood disorder. Then, some time later, you find yourself working for Donald Trump, a glistening, shouting gristle mass with a history of saying terrible and stupid things. Does that create some awkward situations? Let’s find out right now!

Elizabeth Emken is Donald Trump’s newest spokeswoman, a shiny and well-spoken professional Republican tasked with putting a non-insane face on the Trump campaign. Emken ran unsuccessfully for the Senate in California in 2012; she is also the former Vice President for Government Relations at Autism Speaks, the largest nonprofit focused on combatting autism.

Unfortunately for everyone, Donald Trump thinks maybe autism is caused by vaccines. It’s not, but he’s repeated and retweeted the idea dozens of times over the years:

You get the idea.

So that created a delicate situation for Emken on CNN Monday, when she appeared on Newsroom and was asked about her new boss’s bad opinions. Watch how carefully she threaded this terrible needle:

“The position of autism speaks has been, for quite a while, that we need to find out what’s going on,” she said. That said: “We don’t know” what causes it, she added. But we do know it’s not vaccines, Elizabeth. Or least we used to, before we went to work for Donald Trump.

Image via AP

 
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