Washington DC - President Donald Trump is reportedly urging his Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to push his vaccine conspiracy theories even harder.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the president asked the secretary in May why he wasn't doing more to probe the supposed connection between vaccines and autism, suggesting RFK "had the yips."
But Trump insisted that Kennedy do more to reduce the number of shots federally recommended for children, as he believed doing so would cause autism rates to drop.
Sources say the remarks caught Kennedy by surprise, as he had reportedly been told by White House political advisers to tone down his vaccine rhetoric ahead of the November midterms.
Prior to his Trump administration role, Kennedy was a prominent anti-vaccine advocate who long pushed the unfounded claim that they cause autism.
Since becoming secretary, Kennedy has made several moves aimed at curbing the administration of vaccines, including reducing the number of vaccines recommended to children earlier this year.
In March, a judge voided Kennedy's move, but the president – who has shared similar, unfounded vaccine conspiracies himself – has urged him to keep fighting it.
But as Republicans fight to maintain their majorities in both the House and Senate in the midterms, the party's views on vaccines has become something of a political liability.
Sources also claimed Trump has said privately that Kennedy "will be a failure" if he doesn't make progress on pushing the unfounded theories.