Obama slams President Trump’s claims about Tylenol causing autism: ‘Violence against the truth’

The former president accused the Trump administration of undermining public health after White House directive for pregnant women.

Former President Barack Obama is continuing to use his influential microphone to speak out against his successor, President Donald Trump, amid unprecedented actions.

On Wednesday, America’s first Black president slammed the Trump administration’s recent claims about autism and its unproven link to the drug acetaminophen, or Tylenol, as its brand name is known.

“We have the spectacle of my successor in the Oval Office making broad claims around certain drugs and autism that have been continuously disproved,” Obama said at London’s O2 Arena, according to a transcript of his remarks obtained by CNN.

On Monday, Trump announced that the Federal Drug Administration, or FDA, would inform doctors that the use of Tylenol during pregnancy can be associated with a “very increased risk of autism.” 

“Taking Tylenol is not good,” said Trump from the White House, despite decades-long research that disproved links between autism and Tylenol, as well as vaccines. The president urged pregnant women to “tough it out” should they encounter sickness while pregnant.

Obama slammed Trump, saying his administration’s new move under the Department of Health and Human Services is undermining public health.

“The degree to which that undermines public health, the degree to which that can do harm to women who are pregnant, the degree to which that creates anxiety for parents who do have children who are autistic, which by the way itself is subject to a spectrum, and a lot of what is being trumpeted as these massive increases actually have to do with a broadening of the criteria across that spectrum, so that people can actually get services and help,” said the former president.

He added, “All of that is violence against the truth.”

The former president said it was important for those who “believe in the truth and believe in science, to also examine truth when it is inconvenient for us.”

The day after Trump’s announcement and remarks about autism and Tylenol, Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, appeard to soften Trump’s public statements about pregnant women not taking Tylenol.

“If you have a high fever… you ought to be talking to a doctor anyway. The doctor’s almost certainly going to prescribe you something. Tylenol might be one of the things they give,” Oz told TMZ.

He added, “Pregnant women know lots of the typical things you would take for aches and pains and fevers are not a permissible product to be used during pregnancy. Acetaminophen is probably your best option, but take it when you really need it.”

Autism is a spectrum disorder described as a lifelong neurodevelopmental difference characterized by persistent challenges with social communication and interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, according to the American Psychiatric Association. The disorder affects about 1 in 6 (17%) children aged 3–17 years, according to the CDC.

Black children are disproportionately diagnosed with autism and are typically diagnosed later than white children. According to the CDC, in 2020, higher autism spectrum disorder prevalence was observed for the first time among historically underserved groups, including Black and Hispanic children.