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Jill Stein: People Have ‘Real Questions’ About Vaccines and ‘Do Not Trust’ CDC

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Green Party Presidential Candidate Falsely Claims Confidence in Regulatory Agencies Like the CDC Is Low

Jill Stein says people have “real questions” about vaccines, but says they have been effective in battling disease. Stein, in a just-published interview with The Washington Post, titled, “Jill Stein on vaccines: People have ‘real questions,’” says, “there’s no question that vaccines have been absolutely critical in ridding us of the scourge of many diseases.”

Stein, a physician, told the Post, “I think there’s no question that vaccines have been absolutely critical in ridding us of the scourge of many diseases — smallpox, polio, etc. So vaccines are an invaluable medication.”

But Stein, the Green Party’s presumptive nominee for President of the United States, sows seeds of doubt and distrust in the safety of vaccines by claiming the general public’s level of “strong confidence” in regulatory agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is “somewhere around four percent.”

“Like any medication, they also should be — what shall we say? — approved by a regulatory board that people can trust. And I think right now, that is the problem. That people do not trust a Food and Drug Administration, or even the CDC for that matter, where corporate influence and the pharmaceutical industry has a lot of influence.”

In fact, the most recent Gallup poll in which Americans were asked about how they think the FDA and CDC are doing – just after the 2014 Ebola crisis – found 50 percent of Americans thought the CDC is doing an “excellent” or “good” job, down from 60 percent in 2013. Ratings for the FDA were consistent at 45 percent.

And in January of 2015, Pew found 70 percent of Americans view the CDC favorably.

The Post generously reports, “Stein’s warning about corporate influence in the vaccine approval process is often voiced by ‘anti-vaxxers.’ In reality, most members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee work at academic or medical institutions, not drug companies. But for Stein, the fact that people saw corporate and lobbying influence running rampant meant that some skepticism was warranted.”

Stein continued to sow seeds of doubt and distrust in her Washington Post interview.

“As a medical doctor, there was a time where I looked very closely at those issues, and not all those issues were completely resolved,” Stein said. “There were concerns among physicians about what the vaccination schedule meant, the toxic substances like mercury which used to be rampant in vaccines. There were real questions that needed to be addressed. I think some of them at least have been addressed. I don’t know if all of them have been addressed.”

She concluded, “it’s really important that the American public have confidence in our regulatory boards so that all of our medical treatments and medications actually are approved by people who do not have a vested interest in their promotion. In my experience, this is not a radical idea. This is basic common sense.”

But rather than investigate and offer proof that Americans trust the CDC, and rather than show, as the Post reports, “most members of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee work at academic or medical institutions, not drug companies,” Stein opted to key into what she claims are “real questions” and spread fear and doubt.

In a Reddit AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) two months ago, Stein also seeded doubt and distrust, without offering proof.

“In most countries, people trust their regulatory agencies and have very high rates of vaccination through voluntary programs. In the US, however, regulatory agencies are routinely packed with corporate lobbyists and CEOs. So the foxes are guarding the chicken coop as usual in the US. So who wouldn’t be skeptical?”

Feminist website Jezebel offered this sarcastic take on Stein’s interview with the Post.

“With one hand, then, Stein tell the Post and the public that there’s a ‘real, compelling need’ for vaccines, and with the other implies that there’s maybe something unsafe or sketchy about them. Very cool. Very responsible.”

The Hill notes, “Last year, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton weighed in on vaccine controversy, saying that ‘the science is clear.'”

On Twitter, some responses:

 

 

Image: Screenshot via Washington Post

 

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‘Prices Go Up’: Economist Mocks Treasury Secretary’s ‘Empty Shelves’ Position

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April 29, 2025

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A prominent economist is challenging U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s claims about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff war on Americans’ ability to access goods in stores and online.

Bessent, a hedge fund manager and Trump donor and fundraiser, was asked on Monday if he’s worried about the possibility of empty shelves.

“Not at present,” Bessent told Fox News. “We have some great retailers. I assume they preordered.”

Appearing to mock Bessent, Wolfers paraphrased the Treasury Secretary: “If I hurt the American consumer enough, we’ll see how quickly the Chinese want to deescalate.”

READ MORE: ‘Great Jobs of the Future’ Are Generations of Family Factory Work Says Commerce Secretary

“Well,” Wolfers continued, “I’m not sure which side’s meant to be looking out for us right now,” he told MSNBC’s Katy Tur.

“Bessent might be right to say that shelves aren’t going to be empty,” Wolfers explained, “but the reason that would be is, if we have less stuff coming into the country and we’re not making more stuff, the only way that the shelves don’t empty is if the prices go up.”

“So, I think at this point, any economist is forecasting, either the shelves empty or the prices go up a lot. I’m actually in camp prices go up, but these are two pretty terrible flavors.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Wolfers appeared to mock several top members of the Trump administration.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick “says he’s relying on Bessent to get a deal done with China, but on Sunday Bessent said he didn’t know whether or how often Trump has been calling Chinese President Xi, and Trump said he’s calling, but Xi said he’s not getting through,” Wolfers explained before asking, “Is anyone working on this?”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Lying Again’: Hegseth Ripped for Ending ‘Woke Biden Initiative’ Trump Signed Into Law

 

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‘Great Jobs of the Future’ Are Generations of Family Factory Work Says Commerce Secretary

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April 29, 2025

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In the wake of President Donald Trump moving to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education, his Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, says the “great jobs of the future” will be generations upon generations of Americans working in factories.

“It’s time to train people, not to do the jobs of the past, but to do the great jobs of the future,” Lutnick, a billionaire, told CNBC on Tuesday afternoon (video below). “You know, this is the new model, where you work in these kind of plants for the rest of your life and your kids work here and your grandkids work here.”

“You know, we let the auto plants go overseas,” continued Lutnick, the former president and chief executive officer of the major financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. “Right now, you should see an auto plant. It’s highly automated, but the people, the four, five thousand people who work there, they are trained to take care of those robotic arms. They’re trained to keep the air conditioned system.”

The Commerce Secretary began by saying that the “key is, where are you gonna find the people to work here, right?”

READ MORE: ‘Lying Again’: Hegseth Ripped for Ending ‘Woke Biden Initiative’ Trump Signed Into Law

“You go to the community colleges, and you train people, so all the community colleges around here,” he added, “all these community colleges here are training people right now, technicians, and these are really good paying jobs.”

Lutnick described the starting pay for these jobs as in the $70,000 to $90,000 range.

Professor of Economics Justin Wolfers asked, “Do you think Lutnick wants *his* kids and grandkids spending their lives in a manufacturing plant, or are these just aspirations for ‘other people’?”

Dean Baker, a senior economist at the Center for Economic & Policy Research, declared, “It’s amazing how off the wall this guy is. Does Lutnick really know nothing about the economy?”

Media Matters for America’s Matthew Gertz added, “‘People don’t want upward mobility for their kids and grandkids’ is an interesting take from a billionaire whose parents were college professors.”

“This isn’t how modern manufacturing works,” noted podcaster Fred Wellman. “They don’t even turn on the lights. These lunatics are disconnected from reality.”

READ MORE: Just 100 Days in and Trump White House Is Already Prepping for Impeachment: Report

Philosopher and theologian Jay Mallow observed: “Man who has never worked a factory job ignores the historical reality that entire generations worked factory jobs so their children WOULDN’T work those same jobs.”

“The reason those jobs were once so desirable was because the workers had unions and collective bargaining,” wrote economics journalist Patrick W. Watson. “Lutnick and Trump have no interest in restoring that part.”

CNN’s Rachel Sklar, commenting on Lutnick’s remarks, said simply, “You first.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Heads on Pikes’: Trump White House Accused of ‘Vaguely Fascist’ Display

 

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‘Lying Again’: Hegseth Ripped for Ending ‘Woke Biden Initiative’ Trump Signed Into Law

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12 hours ago

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April 29, 2025

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U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is being criticized after declaring he ended execution of a federal law promoting women, peace, and security that he described as “yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative” — which was promoted by current top members of the Trump administration and signed into law in 2017 by President Donald Trump.

“This morning, I proudly ENDED the “Women, Peace & Security” (WPS) program inside the @DeptofDefense,” Secretary Hegseth bragged on Tuesday. “WPS is yet another woke divisive/social justice/Biden initiative that overburdens our commanders and troops — distracting from our core task: WAR-FIGHTING.”

“WPS is a UNITED NATIONS program pushed by feminists and left-wing activists. Politicians fawn over it; troops HATE it,” he claimed. “DoD will hereby executive [sic] the minimum of WPS required by statute, and fight to end the program for our next budget. GOOD RIDDANCE WPS!”

In 2019, the Trump White House lauded the WPS program:

“The Trump Administration is committed to advancing women’s equality, seeking to protect the rights of women and girls, and promoting women and youth empowerment programs. The United States Strategy on Women, Peace, and Security (WPS Strategy) responds to the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, which President Donald J. Trump signed into law on October 6, 2017.”

READ MORE: Just 100 Days in and Trump White House Is Already Prepping for Impeachment: Report

“This is the first legislation of its kind globally, which makes the United States the first country in the world with a comprehensive law on WPS, and de facto, the first with a whole-of-government strategy that responds to such a domestic law. The WPS Strategy recognizes the diverse roles women play as agents of change in preventing and resolving conflict, countering terrorism and violent extremism, and building post conflict peace and stability.”

Critics blasted Hegseth, while reporters were quick to correct the record with fact checks.

The Washington Post’s military affairs reporter Dan Lamothe noted that Marco Rubio, now Trump’s Secretary of State, and Mike Waltz, now Trump’s National Security Advisor, were supporters of the Women, Peace, and Security Act.

Punchbowl News senior congressional reporter Andrew Desiderio added: “Marco Rubio was the lead Senate sponsor of WPS. Kristi Noem was the lead House sponsor. And Mike Waltz chaired the House’s WPS caucus.”

In addition to Secretary of State Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Noem, and National Security Advisor Waltz, Senior White House Advisor Ivanka Trump was also part of the U.S. strategy for implementing the Women, Peace, and Security Act.

Politico’s deputy managing editor of global security, Dave Brown, responded to Hegseth’s post, noting U.S, Secretary of State Marco Rubio just 28 days ago wrote: “President Trump also signed the Women, Peace, and Security Act, a bill that I was very proud to have been a co-sponsor of when I was in the Senate, and it was the first comprehensive law passed in any country in the world – the first law passed by any country anywhere in the world – focused on protecting women and promoting their participation in society.”

READ MORE: ‘Heads on Pikes’: Trump White House Accused of ‘Vaguely Fascist’ Display

CNN’s Pentagon reporter Haley Britzky pointed to a West Point Modern War Institute article that states, “the United States’ WPS Strategy…acknowledges that this inclusion is not a political human rights or social justice agenda, but a framework that advances US competitive advantage, allowing it to achieve national security objectives through harnessing women’s distinctive aptitudes, diversity of thought, and unique access to areas where women have specific roles in certain societies.”

“You are lying again,” responded Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot and former Democratic candidate. “WPS was enacted by Trump during his first admin. It’s not divisive. It’s a small program for DOD but one based on real data, so it doesn’t fit your cave man style understanding of security. Troops don’t hate it. Most don’t even know it exists.”

The Economist’s defense editor Shashank Joshi called Hegseth’s remarks “rank ignorance.”

RELATED: ‘Rank Incompetence’: Trump Says Hegseth Is ‘Safe’ Just Before Navy ‘Loses’ $60 Million Jet

 

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