Last week, President Trump took the stage with HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., and expounded upon his knowledge of OTC medicines with unpronounceable names — therefore unsafe for HIM as well? He expanded his Department of War on Women by spewing conspiracy theories about Tylenol, taking his cues from RFK Jr, that the pain reliever when taken by pregnant women causes autism in their offspring — this in spite of the fact that studies don’t agree with these two unqualified non-holders of medical licenses, though both may hold documentation from Trump University. Kristofer Harrison of Dekleptocracy Alliance agrees that these claims are going to harm expectant mothers since Tylenol is the only pain reliever deemed safe during pregnancies, not to mention allowing fevers to go unchecked is a risk to the developing child. Also, Harrison’s quibble with this whole episode is the sickness that someone got rich off this “farce of an announcement.” It was noted that traders were shorting Tylenol’s parent company, Kenvue, even before the dynamic MAGADuo took to the podium, which is “not a natural market movement.” Someone had foreknowledge of the two fakers’ impending attack which Harrison calls a “textbook case for an insider trading investigation,” a consistent pattern with Trump insiders.

To Harrison, “it’s bad enough that Trump and his cronies are spreading misinformation, endangering kids with anti-vax conspiracies, and forcing pregnant women to suffer — it’s even worse that they’re getting rich while they do so. Trump’s administration is stacked with con artists. And when it comes to public policy, it’s clear that their first priority is always running to the stock market and cashing in.” Arwa Mahdawi writes in The Guardian, “Donald Trump is a man with no medical training. However, that’s’ never stopped the very stable genius from inflicting his unhinged health views on the rest of us, has it?” Mahdawi reminds us that in 2020, the makers of Dettol and Lysol had to issue urgent statements explaining that injecting disinfectants to fight COVID-19 was not a good suggestion — after The Don had proposed that cure. Attacking Trump’s “trademark eloquence” — “Taking Tylenol is, uuuuhhhhh, not good,” — and she recalls that Kennedy told Congress, “people shouldn’t take medical advice from me.” Case closed? Ha!

But Trump suggests his medical advice is, “if you’re feeling poorly while pregnant you should ‘fight like hell,'” and continue to suffer? Mahdawi says Trump’s point makes no sense and is advancing wildly irresponsible guidance, since there is no evidence for a causative link between the ingredient, acetaminophen, and autism. Even JD Vance restrained himself from advancing Trump’s advice, urging women to rely on their doctors. Trump’s misogynistic demand that women ‘tough it out’ also reminds us that women’s pain is often misunderstood or ignored, with the medical establishment taking more seriously a man’s suffering. Mahdawi references a 2022 study from the Journal of the American Heart Association, finding that chest pain in women resulted in a 29% longer wait in the emergency department for evaluation compared to men.

The Tylenol bugaboo is yet another instance of mom-shaming says sociology professor Martine Lappé. Studies have shown a link between advanced paternal age and autism, but society ignores that and doesn’t shame men for fathering children late in life. A 59- year-old Donald Trump sired Barron, resulting in his preening about his virility, of his staying young by producing offspring. The president’s concern is not for women’s health, rather another thumb on the scale for control. Mahdawi concludes her piece with, “It’s another way to reduce us to walking wombs rather than multidimensional human beings. This war on Tylenol is also very much a war on women. Now, if only there was a pill we could take to help us deal with this MAGA-induced malaise. As it is, we are ALL just going to have to ‘tough it out.'” And, remember, the only way to stop a bad guy with Tylenol is a good guy with Extra-Strength Tylenol.

Brett Meiselas of MeidasTouch/Meidas Health sat down with Dr. Vin Gupta last week to respond to the disinformation disgorged by Trump and the Kennedy family’s black sheep, RFK Jr. Terming it deliberate, malicious, reckless and dangerous, they sought to challenge these types of lies that will result in people dying. It was said that children “shouldn’t receive vaccines like MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) together,” insisting hepatitis B shots be delayed until age 12, and as RFK Jr declared he had never seen an elderly person with autism, “as if that were meaningful science,” Trump was nodding his head in agreement — or fighting off a nap. “And then came the lies about the Amish, about Cuba, about autism being virtually nonexistent in those populations because they ‘don’t take vaccines,'” writes Meiselas. “This wasn’t just ignorance. It was a calculated performance of disinformation designed to confuse, scare, and undermine public trust in medicine. We’ve seen this Trump Show before. During COVID, it was bleach injections and hydroxychloroquine. Now it’s Tylenol and childhood vaccines. The difference? Back then, his own advisors looked at him like he was insane. Today, he surrounds himself with professional sycophants nodding along, giving legitimacy to his gibberish.”

Dr. Gupta discussed the respected research on the Tylenol question in the 25-year Swedish study of 2.5 million children, which showed no link in acetaminophen use and autism. He says, “That’s not speculation. It’s peer-reviewed data published in top medical journals and affirmed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Denying that reality isn’t just irresponsible. It’s cruel. It’s telling women to grit their teeth and suffer, all in the service of Trump’s warped ego and RFK Jr’s long-debunked crusade.” Meiselas added to the discussion, saying what Trump is doing isn’t random: “It fits his authoritarian playbook. Strongmen across history have pretended that they alone can solve complex problems without experts, without science, without evidence. Trump thrives on bending reality, doubling down on lies, and creating chaos until people don’t know what’s true anymore. He doesn’t care if pregnant women suffer or if children die of preventable disease. What he cares about is control over truth, over institutions, over people’s very bodies. It’s the same pathology we’ve seen in his cover-ups, in his ‘hoax’ rhetoric, in his disdain for science and expertise.”

And now, we see the damage spreading across the country as pediatricians and OB-GYNs field frantic questions from parents, expectant mothers, with doctors already overburdened by the confusion strewn about by the Trump machine as it attacks our medical and health framework. This is real-world harm falling hardest on those who need clear, accurate guidance to obtain consistent access to healthcare. Meiselas says, “We need corporate America to show moral clarity and reject this nonsense. We need leaders across politics, business and culture to stand up and say ‘enough is enough.’ Short-term profit and transactional deals are meaningless if we allow authoritarian lies to dismantle the very fabric of public health.”

From The New York Times‘ headline, ‘President Ignores Science,’ Eliot Kirschner of Through the Fog on Substack surmises that Trump has wandered into flat Earth territory, with his “pure and unadulterated quack-doctoring b.s.” In actuality, Kirschner says the Times headline could be used on almost “any press run reporting on any day of this horrific administration…the president ignores data and goes with his gut (which some have pointed out seems a bit less ample these days likely because of the new weight loss drugs discovered by, yes, SCIENCE).” He suggests headlines that read ‘President Ignores Democracy; …the Law;…History;…Empathy;…National Security;…Our Allies;…Accountability;…Expertise;…Critical Thinking’ and on and on. “In this way, and others, Donald Trump is an ignoramus. The modern definition of the word some sources helpfully caution is ‘derogatory,’ an ignorant person. A dunce. The word’s origins come from the Latin, where ignoramus literally means ‘we do not know,” writes Kirschner.

In medieval times, grand juries not finding suitable evidence to bring charges against an accused, returned any investigative documents marked ‘ignoramus,’ and from which this legal jargon morphed into an epithet, today savored and used by many. Kirschner fears that the press, in taking baby steps in their honesty about reporting Trump’s spurning of truth, doesn’t even approach the full “picture of horror” we are experiencing. The president doesn’t stop at ignoring science, he is hostile toward it, and everything it represents, destroying it in his war on the truth, his war with democracy, and his war with reason. Kirschner concedes, “While Trump certainly fits the definition of an ignoramus, that term doesn’t begin to capture all of the other attributes that make him completely unfit for office — the malevolence, the cruelty, the corruption, and the hatred. We are too deep into this regime to give him any benefit of the doubt. ‘Ignores’ is far too benign a verb. What we see everyday is a mixture of power, stupidity, and cruelty that would be unimaginably shocking in any other presidency in our history. And that is a truth that should be impossible for any of us to ignore.”

As might be expected, humorist Andy Borowitz jumped into the Tylenol confusion: “According to a new study published on Monday, there is a strong link between Donald Trump being president and increased use of Tylenol. The study, which was published by the University of Minnesota Medical School, reports that consumption of the pain reliever has increased by nine thousand percent since Trump’s inauguration in January. Professor Davis Logsdon, who supervised the study, called the data ‘surprising,’ adding, ‘We expected the increase to be much greater.’ Logsdon said that the medical school would soon release additional findings linking Trump’s presidency to an increased use of alcohol, marijuana, and crack.”

Daily Kos reported that Boeing announced a deal with Uzbekistan to buy 14 planes, and perhaps another eight later on. That was Trump’s cue to jump on Truth Social, trying to take credit: “Earlier this month I spoke with the Highly Respected President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Today I want to congratulate President Mirziyoyev on signing a GREAT Deal with Boeing! Worth over $8 Billion Dollars, Uzbekistan Airways is purchasing 22,787 Dreamliners. This will create over 35,000 jobs in the United States. President Mirziyoyev is a man of his word, and we will continue to work together on many more items! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” So, Donnie Boy, that works out to $351,000 per plane, at an efficiency of 1.5 workers per plane? Yep, the ignoramus added a comma where there should have been a space, and no one felt empowered or emboldened enough to actually say, “Sir, ahem, Sir, that’s inaccurate, Sir.” Of course, his brain isn’t capable of doing the basic math that would have immediately have caught the error. His mention of creating 35,000 new jobs is also in error — the existing work force will be kept on the assembly line, with no lay offs — so ignore Trump’s claim of creating new jobs as well…ain’t happenin’.

The president’s Boeing Dreamliner post blunder is a good reminder of his statement recently at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, where he is seen on video telling chortling attendees, “Smart people don’t like me, you know? And they don’t like what we talk about.” Texas Representative Jasmine Crockett fired back on X, “I agree! So does MAGA know what this means…what he thinks of them?” Asked for comments on Crockett’s post, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told the Daily Beast, “All three of Jasmine Crockett’s brain cells are infected with Trump Derangement Syndrome.” As Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

Lee Moran writes on HuffPost, “Timothy Garton Ash, a professor of European studies at the University of Oxford, predicted in an essay for The Guardian that Americans have only 400 days to save their democracy.” “Hysterical hyperbole? I would love to think so,” admits Garton Ash, “but during seven weeks in the US this summer, I was shaken every day by the speed and executive brutality of President Trump’s assault on what had seemed settled norms of US democracy, and by the desperate weakness of resistance to that assault.” He says that despite the Democrats‘ muddled policies, and their current mess of leadership, Americans must hope that this party regains control of Congress to force the GOP to “start doing its job again” to keep the White House in check.