Another Jeff substack writer that might shed some light on the spinning of words all to get us infighting and divided instead of supporting and giving RFK time to work his strategy:
Rupert Murdoch is the guy behind Dr. Andrew Wakefield getting screwed. He's a BOS… Fox News really just controlled opposition and not to be trusted either/anyway…😑 and owned by Murdoch…
Another similar take of rushing to judgement and manufactured lies, don’t fall for the trap, I guess unless one really had it in for RFK anyway:
Hey, I think it would be a good time for you to write about measles again, as a normal childhood detoxification, etc. never can it be re-iterated enough as there are always more hearts & minds out there to positively inform…so that they fear not and appreciate how wonderfully we have been created!
Notice the similarities in tone and messaging between the C&C post about RFK that linked and the C&C post from two days ago about Justice Coney Barrett:
In both cases C&C chids it's readers for "falling for a trap" when they notice and justifiably get upset with RFK for flip flopping and at Coney Barrett for siding with the Court's leftwing feminist jurists. C&C employs tortured logic based on specious speculation and pollyannish assertions that RFK and Coney Barrett are playing 3D chess. The message from C&C to its readership, which by the way is 80% female, is essentially "don't get your panties in a bunch" and "don't believe your eyes".
What C&C does is gaslight its audience. Anytime a Trump official or Trump himself does something contrary to the professed principals of MAGA populist conservativism C&C jumps into action and pushes out an apologia to excuse the actions of Trump et al. And C&C does this with sneering contemptuous attitude toward their readers that browbeats them for even questioning the motivations and honesty of the person under discussion.
This is the type of narrative control that authoritarian regimes utilize to mullify their populations and brush off, or silence, criticism.
Do yourself a favor. Unsubscribe from C&C. Look for contrarian substackers. Bill Rice is one of the best on this platform.
"What C&C does is gaslight its audience. Anytime a Trump official or Trump himself does something contrary to the professed principals of MAGA populist conservativism C&C jumps into action and pushes out an apologia to excuse the actions of Trump et al."
Yes, exactly. This is what I’ve been trying to explain to some of these people. I’m telling them they’re engaging in delusional thinking and not being realistic. Every time something blatantly wrong happens, his supporters quickly rush to defend him and the administration, trying to explain it away as if we didn’t just see and hear what actually happened. It’s pure gaslighting. That word, "gaslighting", is thrown around a lot, but I don't think many understand what it truly means. The article I mentioned by Celia follows the same pattern. Thankfully, many commenters pointed this out as well and were just as frustrated by it.
Childers writes this,
"I was all set to tackle an irreverent ‘first 40 days’ roundup when the Administration fumbled a Jeffrey Epstein-sized hand grenade into the national conversation. Was it Trump’s first mistake—or was it a genius masterstroke?"
"Was Epstein run by CIA? Mossad? The Mafia? All three, working together?"
Where does Trump fit into all of this? He’s completely overlooked by people like Childers because they can’t confront the uncomfortable truth that Trump and Epstein were close friends. Or, perhaps Childers is some sort of propagandist. The evidence is undeniable, yet right-wing commentators hardly ever address this glaring issue in their narrative. It’s remarkable how they continue to ignore this connection, as if it doesn’t exist, while the evidence is right in front of them. Again, another form of gaslighting—deny a damning aspect of something and reframe the topic.
These people will twist themselves into pretzels, trying to spin these actions into some "masterstroke" of genius, when in reality, they’re just damage control meant to keep crucial information from reaching the public. It’s all about deflecting attention and maintaining control, not some grand strategy. They’ll go to great lengths to make it seem like a brilliant move, when it’s just a desperate attempt to hide the truth.
"C&C employs tortured logic based on specious speculation and pollyannish assertions that RFK and Coney Barrett are playing 3D chess."
I’ve seen the same commentary for years about Trump, that he’s playing 4D chess and working to dismantle the 'deep state.' It’s all nonsense that foolish and gullible followers buy into, despite the clear evidence to the contrary. It’s a denial of reality. If we’re to entertain the idea that Trump is playing 4D chess to take down the 'deep state,' we must also acknowledge that he’s doing everything in his power to set up an authoritarian government and a police state—actions that directly contradict what he claims. Actions speak louder than words.
Finally, I found this comment amusing:
"Mega-podcaster Tim Pool is a pretty smart guy, which is one reason people enjoy his show."
Yes, someone who took millions from a Russian agent in agreement to spread disinformation is smart. Again, many of these characters are just players in a much larger game, and many of them are indirectly funded by the Trump administration. It’s all part of a web of influence, with power and money driving the narrative, not integrity or truth. The whole setup is much more about control and manipulation. They think the left leaning networks are bad, but they have nothing on these guys.
Most of the Trump/Russia collusion cases could not be proven in totality, but I do strongly believe there was indeed a connection. There is far too much circumstantial evidence to say otherwise.
Jeff, do you entertain the possibility that Trump may be driven by good intentions in his pursuit of state capitalist policy aims?
It seems as if everything Trump does from surrounding himself with a diverse retinue of pro-business and anti-establishment advisors and cabinet appointees to establishing government partnerships with the private sector is grafting onto the federal government of the same tactics and strategies Trump employed during his business career.
In this view, Trump, in his mind, is seeking to replicate at the national governmental level what he considers to have been the keys to his own personal success in the business world.
For instance Trump's expressed annoyance with bureaucracy and regulations from trivial matters such as flow restrictors in shower heads to the lengthy and costly process of permitting and environmental reviews on construction projects seems to be an sincerely held view rather than a cynical ploy to reward supporters.
But then you have examples such as Israel where his judgement seems clearly influenced by campaign contributions.
Good intentions don’t mean much when the end result tells a different story. Even if Trump truly believes he’s acting in the country’s best interest, his policies overwhelmingly serve the wealthy elite while consolidating power at the top. That’s not some grand, noble pursuit—it’s classic authoritarian maneuvering dressed up in populist rhetoric to keep his followers loyal, with 'good intentions' tossed in to throw more intuitive people off the trail.
Trump is mainly about making money, first and foremost. His entire career has been built on grifting, and the presidency was no different. He’s turned his political movement into a cash machine, scamming his own supporters with everything from laughable NFT trading cards to overpriced sneakers, $100,000 watches, and even million-dollar dinners. It’s a never-ending con, where every crisis, every indictment, and every controversy becomes another opportunity to milk his followers for more money.
If he truly had the people’s best interests at heart, his actions would reflect that in real, tangible ways. Instead, his economic policies funneled wealth upward, his businesses profited from his presidency, and his post-office ventures are little more than a desperate cash grab. So, whether he thinks he’s doing the right thing or not is beside the point. What matters is who benefits—and it’s clear that, more than anyone else, the person Trump is always working to serve is himself.
The real motivation behind his attacks on regulations has always been about removing obstacles for big business and, more importantly, for his own financial interests. His deregulation efforts overwhelmingly benefited corporations and real estate developers—the very people he’s always catered to. He wasn’t fighting against "government overreach" for the people; he was making it easier for his own projects and those of his wealthy allies to move forward unchecked.
Trump’s pursuit of power is more than just applying business tactics to government; it’s about ego, control, and an intense need for adoration. He thrives on loyalty and power, using it not for any higher cause but for its own sake—much like other authoritarian leaders, but the worst example I have ever seen in history. His obsession isn’t about making America great; it’s about elevating himself. The way he demands submission and builds a cult of personality is dangerous, revealing a deeply authoritarian mindset. More will be revealed in the coming days, weeks, and months.
On your last point I have to disagree. Mueller's team was choke full of establishment anti-trump partisans. If there was shred of evidence of coordination between Moscow and the Trump campaign they would have found it and even embellished it. I entertain the more contrarian possibility that Moscow intentionally fostered the appearance of collusion as a psyop to hobble the administration with investigations. The cacophony of conspiratorial media converge linking Trump to Moscow tainted and hobbled the Trump administration.
I glanced and scrolled through the comments for a recent Childers C&C post and most of the comments were from women. 8 consecutive comments were from posters with female names. Many of the comments under these daily C&C posts add nothing to the discussion. Instead they express what could be best described as a reverential gratitude to a church sermon. The relationship between C&C (Childers) and his readership has the characteristics of minister preaching to his congregation of supplicants. It's very cultish like most of Trump World.
Last year, during the campaign season, I began to notice some similarities between Trump and Dwight Eisenhower's pivot from a military careerist to a partisan politician. I began reading William Hitchcock's treatise on Eisenhower, "The Age of Eisenhower".
The corollaries between the circumstances of the 1952 election season and Eisenhower's 1952 campaign to Trump's 2024 presidential run are striking. There are similarities in the marketing approaches of Eisenhower and Trump. Both employed cult-like tactics and imagery to build a popular movement. Ike's campaign employed a propagandist TV and radio ad with a catchy tune "Everybody likes Ike" while Trump has his red MAGA hats. Both gambits leaned on the psychological tendency of humans for in-group preference, the desire to not be left out.
Another eerie similarity between the Ike and Trump trajectories is that Truman, just like Biden, felt compelled to not seek reelection after an early 1952 Gallup poll showed him losing 2:1 against a possible Eisenhower ticket. Just like 2024 the Democrats were unable to find a competent replacement candidate to take on the Republican juggernaut.
1952 and 2024 led to crushing defeats for the Dems. In the aftermath of 1952 Democrats were forced to pivot to the Right with the candidacy of JFK in 1960 after 8 years of Eisenhower. This is very similar to the effect that the Reagan era had on Democrats which led to the emergency of the Democratic Leadership Council and the pro-business soft-conservatism of the Bill Clinton administration.
Hitchcock's book details Eisenhower's personal life and his network of powerful friends that hailed from the business world. This is another example of shared characteristics between Ike and Trump. They both had and replied on a social circle of powerful industry titans.
A startling surprise in Hitchcock's book is the revelation that the once apolitical Eisenhower, once thrust into campaign mode, became an ardent partisan. Ike delivered powerful campaign speeches, including an convention acceptance speech, full of partisan rhetoric and red meat for the faithful. A very Trumpian trait.
Eisenhower is largely remembered for his final televised address in which he warned of a "Military Industrial Complex". But Hitchcock's book details how it was Eisenhower who built up this complex to begin with. Another failing of the Eisenhower administration that goes overlooked is that Eisenhower made a decision in the mid 1950s that effectively bonded the US to the security of South Vietnam after France chose to relinquish their claim to the territory. This strategic blunder would eventually lead to America's ill fated entry into military hostilities against the Viet Cong in the 1960s.
I bring these last two examples up because Trump committed similar blunders. He gave lethal aid to Ukraine that embolded Zelensky to take provocative measures in the Donsetsk region to suppress the Russian identifying population. This eventually prompted Russia to invade eastern Ukraine to gain control over the Donsetsk Oblast. Another blunder was the Trump Administration allowing an Obama era moratorium on Gain of Function research/grants to be lifted in 2017. Then there's the origins of the deadly and dangerous mRNA vaccines which Trump is largely responsible for bringing to the fore.
The resulting pandemic, vax-demic, and Ukraine war can be traced to Trump administration actions. But Trump has managed to escape culpability thanks to a fortuitous mix of circumstances that have compromised the judgement of legacy media and ironically turned them into collaborators in the cover up.
Fair enough, but in my assessment, Trump has far too many circumstantial ties to Russia to ignore. Take, for example, the way he treated Zelensky in the Oval Office—his demeanor was quite revealing. To me, it speaks volumes about where his true allegiances lie. I firmly believe there is a connection.
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:
1. U.S. intelligence agencies (CIA, NSA, FBI) concluded that Russia actively interfered in the election to help Trump and harm Clinton.
The Mueller Report confirmed this but did not establish a criminal conspiracy.
2. Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer, lied to Congress about the timeline, later admitting discussions continued into mid-2016.
3. Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with a Russian lawyer promising "dirt" on Clinton.
Emails showed Trump Jr. eagerly welcomed the meeting, stating, "If it's what you say, I love it."
Though no illegal coordination was proven, the meeting showed a willingness to work with Russia
4. Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman, had deep ties to Russian-backed Ukrainian oligarchs.
He gave internal campaign polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik, a suspected Russian intelligence operative.
5. In July 2016, Trump publicly asked, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails.”
The same day, Russian hackers targeted Clinton’s personal email accounts.
6. In July 2016, the Trump campaign changed the Republican platform to remove language supporting military aid to Ukraine, a key Russian priority.
7. Trump had multiple undisclosed meetings with Putin.
He took steps to conceal discussions, even seizing an interpreter’s notes.
8. Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, secretly talked to the Russian ambassador about lifting sanctions before Trump took office.
He later lied to the FBI and was convicted (though later pardoned by Trump).
9. Trump repeatedly tried to obstruct the Russia investigation, including firing FBI Director James Comey.
Mueller’s report outlined 10 instances of possible obstruction but did not make a criminal referral due to DOJ policy against indicting a sitting president.
As you can see, there is plenty of evidence for my assertion.
That's largely because Childers is a preacher, I believe. When you insert certain "Christian" rhetoric into the conversation, it has a way of drawing in a very specific, gullible type of audience. It’s a well-worn strategy—wrap something in religious language, and people who see the world through that lens will follow without question.
Many see Trump as a God-like figure because his followers believe he is divinely chosen, strategically battling against evil forces to save them. If you’re familiar with the Book of Revelation, the parallels between Trump and the figure described as the Beast are striking. The devotion, the deception, and the worship he commands all align closely with the prophecy, whether you believe in any of that or not.
C&C is a garbage substack for the sheep. It's the substack equivalent of the Daily Wire. Thursday's C&C post was focused on defending Justice Coney Barrett from justifiable criticism emanating from MAGA supporters.
C&C exists as sheep herder working on behalf and within the Republican Party's grasstops social media propaganda network. The goal of C&C and similar substacks, blogs, YouTube grifters, MAGA adjacent X accounts and "conservative" websites is to quell dissent within the MAGA/Conservative flock by managing and amplifying the preferred narrative of the puppetasters.
The context is the Fox News op-ed, not this Celia person. I read the article you linked, but this is the same routine ardent Trump supporters have been running for years. Trump says something completely stupid, and then his loyalists rush to explain that he didn’t really mean what he said, and that he actually meant something else. Then, months later, it usually turns out he meant exactly what he said, but they were too foolish to believe it. Project 2025 comes to mind. He knew all about it and lied about it. He’s now placing its members into his cabinet, but previously disavowed it to get elected because his supporters hated it. Now, RFK is pulling the same move, and instead of recognizing it, this person is outright denying RFK wrote what he wrote.
The author, Celia, might have had a point, IF RFK hadn’t reneged on a lot of his past statements during his Senate hearing, just as he is now, making this recent op-ed in sync. He's really all over the place.
The man was crystal clear in his op-ed:
"Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness with certain health risks, especially to unvaccinated individuals." - “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.” And there's more. Celia is engaging in wishful, but ultimately foolish thinking.
Jeff, I came across your substack yesterday and you have a good grasp of these issues and the dynamics at play. I responded to commenter "DL" up above in this comment section. I echoed what you wrote here about wagon circling that regularly occurs within the MAGA/Trump social media network. The messaging is tightly controlled by an echo chamber of MAGA aligned X, Substack, and YouTube and accounts along with the usual suspects in the conservative online media.
Trump is taking some actions that are contrary to the interests of the business and political elite as evidenced by the histrionics of traditional pro-buinesss rags such as the Wallstreet Journal. But the moves so far are largely shambolic or superficial. The focus of the administration is on optics and generating headlines that feed a desired narrative for obvious political reasons.
Under the surface the Trump administration is pursuing a traditional GOP pro-business, deregulation, and enrich the rich agenda. Nuggets and scraps are being tossed out to the plebs in live streamed oval office EO signing ceremonies. For right now that strategy seems to be succeeding in keeping the faithful satisfied. Everything will remain peachy until the second Trump recession hits. Then all of this comes to a end, right quick.
I completely agree with your take on what's happening with Trump. I'll respond to your other comments as well because you raised some important observations.
As you mentioned, optics are everything in this administration, and they’re using them to manipulate the public into thinking they have their best interests at heart. But, as you pointed out, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Writers like Childers of C&C shouldn’t be taken seriously as legitimate journalism or research. When you see claims made by Childer's article from last year asserting that Trump never uses a teleprompter, it really shows just how disingenuous C&C is.
Right now, we’re only a month and a half into the new term, but we’ll definitely see more negative developments as their full agenda unfolds. They are clearly paving the way for a totalitarian oligarchy. It’s almost surreal to witness. John Stewart made a very fitting comment on his last show. At the end, he pointed out that this is the New World Order, driven by the very people everyone thought would be working to protect us from it. How true, and how apt. It couldn’t be more perfect.
I'm surprised at how quickly Trump ushered in this oligarchy paradigm. Trump's consigliaries seem very confident that they will be successful in maintaining a of duality of populist messaging and Russian style state (crony) capitalism. The latter part of this strategy allows Trump to gain broader control over the direction of the economy by overseeing a network of industry titans. This explains why Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Ellison were recently brought into the fold.
In his *mind* Trump might think that he's doing the "right thing". He seems to envy the control that other super power leaders such as Putin and Xi possess over the direction of their economies and governments. But I think it's incongruent with American values, a huge mistake and will ultimately backfire.
I thought RFK Jr’s main stance on vaccines was that they have not been properly tested for safety and efficacy and so little data collected in so doing; he was never an anti-vaxxer but realized the shots were laden with chemicals and the danger that poses in children…and as a result that he would investigate the potential link between vaccines and autism as well as pledged to end corruption and the capture of public health agencies…https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1857198805919138235
It’s really not surprising if you watched his Senate confirmation hearing a few weeks ago, where he flip-flopped on various issues. I was willing to give RFK the benefit of the doubt and still hope he implements some of his food and pollution policies, but this is a concerning sign—it shows he’s willing to compromise fundamental principles he stood by for years in exchange for a position in the Trump administration and all that entails.
"I thought RFK Jr’s main stance on vaccines was that they have not been properly tested for safety and efficacy and so little data collected in so doing; he was never an anti-vaxxer but realized the shots were laden with chemicals and the danger that poses in children"
This is yet another issue he has flip-flopped on. He has repeatedly stated that he believes no vaccine is safe and that, by their very nature, they are inherently unsafe. It's as if one moment he is an antivaxxer, and the next moment, he is all for them—this is a total 180 on his part.
Do you really think Trump, who spearheaded Operation Warp Speed, would ever allow RFK to implement any kind of serious vaccine regulation? Absolutely not—it will never happen. In fact, when RFK was running for president, Trump basically called him a crazy nutjob. To align with the Trump administration, RFK has had to abandon many of his core principles.
Trump simply used him to pull a specific group of voters into his base, bringing them into the fold so that he would receive their vote. That’s why they struck a deal for RFK to join the Trump administration if RFK would step down—it was nothing more than a political maneuver, and RFK walked right into it. And I still think RFK will have a very limited capacity as HHS Secretary.
From the op-ed he wrote:
"Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness with certain health risks, especially to unvaccinated individuals." - “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”
This is the same trajectory that occurred in late 2018 and early 2019, when a measles outbreak was called an existential threat, right before COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency in 2020. The same arguments were made then: vaccine uptake is too low. Well, they solved they pretty quickly by 2021, didn't they? I also find it highly coincidental that, suddenly, there is a measles outbreak just as RFK becomes the HHS Secretary.
Never inject anything.
Another Jeff substack writer that might shed some light on the spinning of words all to get us infighting and divided instead of supporting and giving RFK time to work his strategy:
https://open.substack.com/pub/coffeeandcovid/p/inform-me-wednesday-march-5-2025?r=e3kwh&utm_medium=ios
Rupert Murdoch is the guy behind Dr. Andrew Wakefield getting screwed. He's a BOS… Fox News really just controlled opposition and not to be trusted either/anyway…😑 and owned by Murdoch…
Another similar take of rushing to judgement and manufactured lies, don’t fall for the trap, I guess unless one really had it in for RFK anyway:
https://open.substack.com/pub/thetruthaboutcancerofficial/p/rfk-jr-did-not-betray-ushes-fighting?r=e3kwh&utm_medium=ios
Hey, I think it would be a good time for you to write about measles again, as a normal childhood detoxification, etc. never can it be re-iterated enough as there are always more hearts & minds out there to positively inform…so that they fear not and appreciate how wonderfully we have been created!
Comment #2:
Notice the similarities in tone and messaging between the C&C post about RFK that linked and the C&C post from two days ago about Justice Coney Barrett:
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/little-red-hens-thursday-march-6?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=fcvda&triedRedirect=true
In both cases C&C chids it's readers for "falling for a trap" when they notice and justifiably get upset with RFK for flip flopping and at Coney Barrett for siding with the Court's leftwing feminist jurists. C&C employs tortured logic based on specious speculation and pollyannish assertions that RFK and Coney Barrett are playing 3D chess. The message from C&C to its readership, which by the way is 80% female, is essentially "don't get your panties in a bunch" and "don't believe your eyes".
What C&C does is gaslight its audience. Anytime a Trump official or Trump himself does something contrary to the professed principals of MAGA populist conservativism C&C jumps into action and pushes out an apologia to excuse the actions of Trump et al. And C&C does this with sneering contemptuous attitude toward their readers that browbeats them for even questioning the motivations and honesty of the person under discussion.
This is the type of narrative control that authoritarian regimes utilize to mullify their populations and brush off, or silence, criticism.
Do yourself a favor. Unsubscribe from C&C. Look for contrarian substackers. Bill Rice is one of the best on this platform.
"What C&C does is gaslight its audience. Anytime a Trump official or Trump himself does something contrary to the professed principals of MAGA populist conservativism C&C jumps into action and pushes out an apologia to excuse the actions of Trump et al."
Yes, exactly. This is what I’ve been trying to explain to some of these people. I’m telling them they’re engaging in delusional thinking and not being realistic. Every time something blatantly wrong happens, his supporters quickly rush to defend him and the administration, trying to explain it away as if we didn’t just see and hear what actually happened. It’s pure gaslighting. That word, "gaslighting", is thrown around a lot, but I don't think many understand what it truly means. The article I mentioned by Celia follows the same pattern. Thankfully, many commenters pointed this out as well and were just as frustrated by it.
Childers writes this,
"I was all set to tackle an irreverent ‘first 40 days’ roundup when the Administration fumbled a Jeffrey Epstein-sized hand grenade into the national conversation. Was it Trump’s first mistake—or was it a genius masterstroke?"
"Was Epstein run by CIA? Mossad? The Mafia? All three, working together?"
Where does Trump fit into all of this? He’s completely overlooked by people like Childers because they can’t confront the uncomfortable truth that Trump and Epstein were close friends. Or, perhaps Childers is some sort of propagandist. The evidence is undeniable, yet right-wing commentators hardly ever address this glaring issue in their narrative. It’s remarkable how they continue to ignore this connection, as if it doesn’t exist, while the evidence is right in front of them. Again, another form of gaslighting—deny a damning aspect of something and reframe the topic.
These people will twist themselves into pretzels, trying to spin these actions into some "masterstroke" of genius, when in reality, they’re just damage control meant to keep crucial information from reaching the public. It’s all about deflecting attention and maintaining control, not some grand strategy. They’ll go to great lengths to make it seem like a brilliant move, when it’s just a desperate attempt to hide the truth.
"C&C employs tortured logic based on specious speculation and pollyannish assertions that RFK and Coney Barrett are playing 3D chess."
I’ve seen the same commentary for years about Trump, that he’s playing 4D chess and working to dismantle the 'deep state.' It’s all nonsense that foolish and gullible followers buy into, despite the clear evidence to the contrary. It’s a denial of reality. If we’re to entertain the idea that Trump is playing 4D chess to take down the 'deep state,' we must also acknowledge that he’s doing everything in his power to set up an authoritarian government and a police state—actions that directly contradict what he claims. Actions speak louder than words.
Finally, I found this comment amusing:
"Mega-podcaster Tim Pool is a pretty smart guy, which is one reason people enjoy his show."
Yes, someone who took millions from a Russian agent in agreement to spread disinformation is smart. Again, many of these characters are just players in a much larger game, and many of them are indirectly funded by the Trump administration. It’s all part of a web of influence, with power and money driving the narrative, not integrity or truth. The whole setup is much more about control and manipulation. They think the left leaning networks are bad, but they have nothing on these guys.
Most of the Trump/Russia collusion cases could not be proven in totality, but I do strongly believe there was indeed a connection. There is far too much circumstantial evidence to say otherwise.
Jeff, do you entertain the possibility that Trump may be driven by good intentions in his pursuit of state capitalist policy aims?
It seems as if everything Trump does from surrounding himself with a diverse retinue of pro-business and anti-establishment advisors and cabinet appointees to establishing government partnerships with the private sector is grafting onto the federal government of the same tactics and strategies Trump employed during his business career.
In this view, Trump, in his mind, is seeking to replicate at the national governmental level what he considers to have been the keys to his own personal success in the business world.
For instance Trump's expressed annoyance with bureaucracy and regulations from trivial matters such as flow restrictors in shower heads to the lengthy and costly process of permitting and environmental reviews on construction projects seems to be an sincerely held view rather than a cynical ploy to reward supporters.
But then you have examples such as Israel where his judgement seems clearly influenced by campaign contributions.
I think the answer is complex. Trump is complex.
Good intentions don’t mean much when the end result tells a different story. Even if Trump truly believes he’s acting in the country’s best interest, his policies overwhelmingly serve the wealthy elite while consolidating power at the top. That’s not some grand, noble pursuit—it’s classic authoritarian maneuvering dressed up in populist rhetoric to keep his followers loyal, with 'good intentions' tossed in to throw more intuitive people off the trail.
Trump is mainly about making money, first and foremost. His entire career has been built on grifting, and the presidency was no different. He’s turned his political movement into a cash machine, scamming his own supporters with everything from laughable NFT trading cards to overpriced sneakers, $100,000 watches, and even million-dollar dinners. It’s a never-ending con, where every crisis, every indictment, and every controversy becomes another opportunity to milk his followers for more money.
If he truly had the people’s best interests at heart, his actions would reflect that in real, tangible ways. Instead, his economic policies funneled wealth upward, his businesses profited from his presidency, and his post-office ventures are little more than a desperate cash grab. So, whether he thinks he’s doing the right thing or not is beside the point. What matters is who benefits—and it’s clear that, more than anyone else, the person Trump is always working to serve is himself.
"𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩'𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝."
The real motivation behind his attacks on regulations has always been about removing obstacles for big business and, more importantly, for his own financial interests. His deregulation efforts overwhelmingly benefited corporations and real estate developers—the very people he’s always catered to. He wasn’t fighting against "government overreach" for the people; he was making it easier for his own projects and those of his wealthy allies to move forward unchecked.
Trump’s pursuit of power is more than just applying business tactics to government; it’s about ego, control, and an intense need for adoration. He thrives on loyalty and power, using it not for any higher cause but for its own sake—much like other authoritarian leaders, but the worst example I have ever seen in history. His obsession isn’t about making America great; it’s about elevating himself. The way he demands submission and builds a cult of personality is dangerous, revealing a deeply authoritarian mindset. More will be revealed in the coming days, weeks, and months.
On your last point I have to disagree. Mueller's team was choke full of establishment anti-trump partisans. If there was shred of evidence of coordination between Moscow and the Trump campaign they would have found it and even embellished it. I entertain the more contrarian possibility that Moscow intentionally fostered the appearance of collusion as a psyop to hobble the administration with investigations. The cacophony of conspiratorial media converge linking Trump to Moscow tainted and hobbled the Trump administration.
I glanced and scrolled through the comments for a recent Childers C&C post and most of the comments were from women. 8 consecutive comments were from posters with female names. Many of the comments under these daily C&C posts add nothing to the discussion. Instead they express what could be best described as a reverential gratitude to a church sermon. The relationship between C&C (Childers) and his readership has the characteristics of minister preaching to his congregation of supplicants. It's very cultish like most of Trump World.
Last year, during the campaign season, I began to notice some similarities between Trump and Dwight Eisenhower's pivot from a military careerist to a partisan politician. I began reading William Hitchcock's treatise on Eisenhower, "The Age of Eisenhower".
The corollaries between the circumstances of the 1952 election season and Eisenhower's 1952 campaign to Trump's 2024 presidential run are striking. There are similarities in the marketing approaches of Eisenhower and Trump. Both employed cult-like tactics and imagery to build a popular movement. Ike's campaign employed a propagandist TV and radio ad with a catchy tune "Everybody likes Ike" while Trump has his red MAGA hats. Both gambits leaned on the psychological tendency of humans for in-group preference, the desire to not be left out.
https://youtu.be/YP7WaUPACuY?si=MLC8L3yhZMZB0X0l
Another eerie similarity between the Ike and Trump trajectories is that Truman, just like Biden, felt compelled to not seek reelection after an early 1952 Gallup poll showed him losing 2:1 against a possible Eisenhower ticket. Just like 2024 the Democrats were unable to find a competent replacement candidate to take on the Republican juggernaut.
1952 and 2024 led to crushing defeats for the Dems. In the aftermath of 1952 Democrats were forced to pivot to the Right with the candidacy of JFK in 1960 after 8 years of Eisenhower. This is very similar to the effect that the Reagan era had on Democrats which led to the emergency of the Democratic Leadership Council and the pro-business soft-conservatism of the Bill Clinton administration.
Hitchcock's book details Eisenhower's personal life and his network of powerful friends that hailed from the business world. This is another example of shared characteristics between Ike and Trump. They both had and replied on a social circle of powerful industry titans.
A startling surprise in Hitchcock's book is the revelation that the once apolitical Eisenhower, once thrust into campaign mode, became an ardent partisan. Ike delivered powerful campaign speeches, including an convention acceptance speech, full of partisan rhetoric and red meat for the faithful. A very Trumpian trait.
Eisenhower is largely remembered for his final televised address in which he warned of a "Military Industrial Complex". But Hitchcock's book details how it was Eisenhower who built up this complex to begin with. Another failing of the Eisenhower administration that goes overlooked is that Eisenhower made a decision in the mid 1950s that effectively bonded the US to the security of South Vietnam after France chose to relinquish their claim to the territory. This strategic blunder would eventually lead to America's ill fated entry into military hostilities against the Viet Cong in the 1960s.
I bring these last two examples up because Trump committed similar blunders. He gave lethal aid to Ukraine that embolded Zelensky to take provocative measures in the Donsetsk region to suppress the Russian identifying population. This eventually prompted Russia to invade eastern Ukraine to gain control over the Donsetsk Oblast. Another blunder was the Trump Administration allowing an Obama era moratorium on Gain of Function research/grants to be lifted in 2017. Then there's the origins of the deadly and dangerous mRNA vaccines which Trump is largely responsible for bringing to the fore.
The resulting pandemic, vax-demic, and Ukraine war can be traced to Trump administration actions. But Trump has managed to escape culpability thanks to a fortuitous mix of circumstances that have compromised the judgement of legacy media and ironically turned them into collaborators in the cover up.
"𝐎𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞. 𝐌𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭."
Fair enough, but in my assessment, Trump has far too many circumstantial ties to Russia to ignore. Take, for example, the way he treated Zelensky in the Oval Office—his demeanor was quite revealing. To me, it speaks volumes about where his true allegiances lie. I firmly believe there is a connection.
𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:
1. U.S. intelligence agencies (CIA, NSA, FBI) concluded that Russia actively interfered in the election to help Trump and harm Clinton.
The Mueller Report confirmed this but did not establish a criminal conspiracy.
2. Michael Cohen, Trump's lawyer, lied to Congress about the timeline, later admitting discussions continued into mid-2016.
3. Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort met with a Russian lawyer promising "dirt" on Clinton.
Emails showed Trump Jr. eagerly welcomed the meeting, stating, "If it's what you say, I love it."
Though no illegal coordination was proven, the meeting showed a willingness to work with Russia
4. Paul Manafort, Trump's campaign chairman, had deep ties to Russian-backed Ukrainian oligarchs.
He gave internal campaign polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik, a suspected Russian intelligence operative.
5. In July 2016, Trump publicly asked, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails.”
The same day, Russian hackers targeted Clinton’s personal email accounts.
6. In July 2016, the Trump campaign changed the Republican platform to remove language supporting military aid to Ukraine, a key Russian priority.
7. Trump had multiple undisclosed meetings with Putin.
He took steps to conceal discussions, even seizing an interpreter’s notes.
8. Michael Flynn, Trump’s national security adviser, secretly talked to the Russian ambassador about lifting sanctions before Trump took office.
He later lied to the FBI and was convicted (though later pardoned by Trump).
9. Trump repeatedly tried to obstruct the Russia investigation, including firing FBI Director James Comey.
Mueller’s report outlined 10 instances of possible obstruction but did not make a criminal referral due to DOJ policy against indicting a sitting president.
As you can see, there is plenty of evidence for my assertion.
"𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐂&𝐂 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐂&𝐂 (𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬) 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝."
That's largely because Childers is a preacher, I believe. When you insert certain "Christian" rhetoric into the conversation, it has a way of drawing in a very specific, gullible type of audience. It’s a well-worn strategy—wrap something in religious language, and people who see the world through that lens will follow without question.
"𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐑𝐍𝐀 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞."
Ironic, isn't it? See my last point below.
𝐓𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭:
Many see Trump as a God-like figure because his followers believe he is divinely chosen, strategically battling against evil forces to save them. If you’re familiar with the Book of Revelation, the parallels between Trump and the figure described as the Beast are striking. The devotion, the deception, and the worship he commands all align closely with the prophecy, whether you believe in any of that or not.
C&C is a garbage substack for the sheep. It's the substack equivalent of the Daily Wire. Thursday's C&C post was focused on defending Justice Coney Barrett from justifiable criticism emanating from MAGA supporters.
C&C exists as sheep herder working on behalf and within the Republican Party's grasstops social media propaganda network. The goal of C&C and similar substacks, blogs, YouTube grifters, MAGA adjacent X accounts and "conservative" websites is to quell dissent within the MAGA/Conservative flock by managing and amplifying the preferred narrative of the puppetasters.
https://open.substack.com/pub/celiafarber/p/rfk-jr-responds-to-murdoch-media?r=e3kwh&utm_medium=ios
Context? And MSM never go together? 🤔
The context is the Fox News op-ed, not this Celia person. I read the article you linked, but this is the same routine ardent Trump supporters have been running for years. Trump says something completely stupid, and then his loyalists rush to explain that he didn’t really mean what he said, and that he actually meant something else. Then, months later, it usually turns out he meant exactly what he said, but they were too foolish to believe it. Project 2025 comes to mind. He knew all about it and lied about it. He’s now placing its members into his cabinet, but previously disavowed it to get elected because his supporters hated it. Now, RFK is pulling the same move, and instead of recognizing it, this person is outright denying RFK wrote what he wrote.
The author, Celia, might have had a point, IF RFK hadn’t reneged on a lot of his past statements during his Senate hearing, just as he is now, making this recent op-ed in sync. He's really all over the place.
The man was crystal clear in his op-ed:
"Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness with certain health risks, especially to unvaccinated individuals." - “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.” And there's more. Celia is engaging in wishful, but ultimately foolish thinking.
Jeff, I came across your substack yesterday and you have a good grasp of these issues and the dynamics at play. I responded to commenter "DL" up above in this comment section. I echoed what you wrote here about wagon circling that regularly occurs within the MAGA/Trump social media network. The messaging is tightly controlled by an echo chamber of MAGA aligned X, Substack, and YouTube and accounts along with the usual suspects in the conservative online media.
Trump is taking some actions that are contrary to the interests of the business and political elite as evidenced by the histrionics of traditional pro-buinesss rags such as the Wallstreet Journal. But the moves so far are largely shambolic or superficial. The focus of the administration is on optics and generating headlines that feed a desired narrative for obvious political reasons.
Under the surface the Trump administration is pursuing a traditional GOP pro-business, deregulation, and enrich the rich agenda. Nuggets and scraps are being tossed out to the plebs in live streamed oval office EO signing ceremonies. For right now that strategy seems to be succeeding in keeping the faithful satisfied. Everything will remain peachy until the second Trump recession hits. Then all of this comes to a end, right quick.
I completely agree with your take on what's happening with Trump. I'll respond to your other comments as well because you raised some important observations.
As you mentioned, optics are everything in this administration, and they’re using them to manipulate the public into thinking they have their best interests at heart. But, as you pointed out, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Writers like Childers of C&C shouldn’t be taken seriously as legitimate journalism or research. When you see claims made by Childer's article from last year asserting that Trump never uses a teleprompter, it really shows just how disingenuous C&C is.
Right now, we’re only a month and a half into the new term, but we’ll definitely see more negative developments as their full agenda unfolds. They are clearly paving the way for a totalitarian oligarchy. It’s almost surreal to witness. John Stewart made a very fitting comment on his last show. At the end, he pointed out that this is the New World Order, driven by the very people everyone thought would be working to protect us from it. How true, and how apt. It couldn’t be more perfect.
I'm surprised at how quickly Trump ushered in this oligarchy paradigm. Trump's consigliaries seem very confident that they will be successful in maintaining a of duality of populist messaging and Russian style state (crony) capitalism. The latter part of this strategy allows Trump to gain broader control over the direction of the economy by overseeing a network of industry titans. This explains why Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Ellison were recently brought into the fold.
In his *mind* Trump might think that he's doing the "right thing". He seems to envy the control that other super power leaders such as Putin and Xi possess over the direction of their economies and governments. But I think it's incongruent with American values, a huge mistake and will ultimately backfire.
I thought RFK Jr’s main stance on vaccines was that they have not been properly tested for safety and efficacy and so little data collected in so doing; he was never an anti-vaxxer but realized the shots were laden with chemicals and the danger that poses in children…and as a result that he would investigate the potential link between vaccines and autism as well as pledged to end corruption and the capture of public health agencies…https://x.com/RobertKennedyJr/status/1857198805919138235
This CHD article is a quick summary of RFK Jr’s background into the lead up to being chosen by Donald Trump as secretary of HHS: https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/rfk-jr-resigns-chairman-childrens-health-defense-hhs-secretary/
So it is surprising that he would now be in favor of the MMR vaccine…something doesn’t add up. 😑
It’s really not surprising if you watched his Senate confirmation hearing a few weeks ago, where he flip-flopped on various issues. I was willing to give RFK the benefit of the doubt and still hope he implements some of his food and pollution policies, but this is a concerning sign—it shows he’s willing to compromise fundamental principles he stood by for years in exchange for a position in the Trump administration and all that entails.
"I thought RFK Jr’s main stance on vaccines was that they have not been properly tested for safety and efficacy and so little data collected in so doing; he was never an anti-vaxxer but realized the shots were laden with chemicals and the danger that poses in children"
This is yet another issue he has flip-flopped on. He has repeatedly stated that he believes no vaccine is safe and that, by their very nature, they are inherently unsafe. It's as if one moment he is an antivaxxer, and the next moment, he is all for them—this is a total 180 on his part.
Do you really think Trump, who spearheaded Operation Warp Speed, would ever allow RFK to implement any kind of serious vaccine regulation? Absolutely not—it will never happen. In fact, when RFK was running for president, Trump basically called him a crazy nutjob. To align with the Trump administration, RFK has had to abandon many of his core principles.
Trump simply used him to pull a specific group of voters into his base, bringing them into the fold so that he would receive their vote. That’s why they struck a deal for RFK to join the Trump administration if RFK would step down—it was nothing more than a political maneuver, and RFK walked right into it. And I still think RFK will have a very limited capacity as HHS Secretary.
From the op-ed he wrote:
"Measles is a highly contagious respiratory illness with certain health risks, especially to unvaccinated individuals." - “Vaccines not only protect individual children from measles, but also contribute to community immunity, protecting those who are unable to be vaccinated due to medical reasons.”
This is the same trajectory that occurred in late 2018 and early 2019, when a measles outbreak was called an existential threat, right before COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency in 2020. The same arguments were made then: vaccine uptake is too low. Well, they solved they pretty quickly by 2021, didn't they? I also find it highly coincidental that, suddenly, there is a measles outbreak just as RFK becomes the HHS Secretary.