This GOP Lawmaker Just Promised to Battle the CDC to Get ‘Real’ Data Showing Vaccines Cause Autism (They Don’t)

Republican Congressman-elect Mark Green is promising his new constituents in Tennessee he’s going to battle the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) so the public can get the “real” data on the link between autism and vaccines.

There is no link between autism and vaccines, but try telling that to Dr. Green (yes, he’s also a licensed physician).

On Tuesday, Green advocated for the repeatedly debunked theory (also held by President Donald Trump) that vaccines cause autism.

“Let me say this about autism,” Green, currently a state senator, told constituents at a town hall meeting on Tuesday, as The Tennessean reports.

“I have committed to people in my community, up in Montgomery County, to stand on the CDC’s desk and get the real data on vaccines. Because there is some concern that the rise in autism is the result of the preservatives that are in our vaccines,” he said, despite that “concern” being wholly debunked.

“As a physician, I can make that argument and I can look at it academically and make the argument against the CDC, if they really want to engage me on it,” Green added.

Congressman-elect Green was elected by Tennessee voters after he was forced to withdraw as President Donald Trump’s nominee to become Secretary of the Army.

Green drew outrage after staying he has a biblical responsibility to oppose the rights of transgender people, whom he calls an “evil” that must be “crushed,” and a “disease.” A creationist, Green does not believe in evolution, but he does believe the Second Amendment gives Americans the right to bear arms – all arms, anything the U.S. Military has, even an “aircraft carrier.”

On Tuesday, Green also told constituents, “it appears some of that data has been, honestly, maybe fraudulently managed,” he said of the CDC’s information on vaccines and autism. “So we’ve got to go up there and stand against that and make sure we get that fixed, that issue addressed.”

“There appears to be some evidence that as vaccine numbers increase, rates of autism increase,” Green continued. There is, in fact, no such evidence of any relation. “We need better research, and we need it fast. We also need complete transparency of any data. Vaccines are essential to good population health. But that does not mean we should not look closely at the correlation for any causation.”

Green has sponsored “a bill that would allow mental health providers to refuse to treat LGBT patients. He also supported legislation to prevent transgender high school and college students from using public bathroom facilities,” The Tennessean adds.