These days, it’s always @GOP. Although antivaccine beliefs are held by roughly the same percentages of people on the left and right, only one party has made pandering to antivaxxers a part of its strategy. It’s not surprising to see @WyomingGOP do this. It’s a GOP pattern. 1/https://twitter.com/PeterHotez/status/1206914157649563648 …
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So, yes, antivax have successfully linked their opposition to mandates to parental choice and rights, but why did
@GOP let them be so successful? Why do Republicans now regularly do things like this? 4/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2019/05/14/oregon-republicans-facilitate-antivaxers/ …Show this thread -
Why is nearly all the opposition to S2173, to eliminate nonmedical exemptions coming from the
@NJGOP? Yes, there were a handful of@NJDemocrat senators opposed, which delayed a final vote until next month, but the vast majority of the opposition comes from Republicans. 5/Show this thread -
Why did my ex-state rep chair an antivax “roundtable” before the 2018
@MIGOP primary and my ex-state senator, who was running for governor, attend? 6/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2018/08/03/jeff-noble-kerry-bentivolio-host-antivax/ …Show this thread -
That same state rep said that the
@MI_Republicans on the Health Policy Committee are the only ones receptive to “vaccine choice” initiatives, while the@MIHouseDems won’t even consider them and want to “shove vaccines down your throat (or arm).” 7/Show this thread -
Why are school vaccine mandates becoming so politicized, with
@GOP opposing expanding them out even advocating weakening them and@TheDemocrats supporting their expansion and opposing weakening them? 8/https://respectfulinsolence.com/2017/02/22/in-the-age-of-donald-trump-vaccine-policy-is-becoming-politicized-with-potentially-deadly-consequences/ …Show this thread -
Don’t get me wrong. There are antivax liberals/Democrats. (I’m talking to.) However, they are quite rightly viewed as fringe and have little influence. Compare them to
@RandPaul, who’s antivax and a powerful Senator. 9/Show this thread -
After all,
@RobertKennedyJr,@marwilliamson, and@DrJillStein are basically viewed as jokes on the left.@RandPaul is a highly influential senator. Dan Burton was a powerful Representative who uses his committee chairmanship to torture@CDCgov officials. I could go on. 10/Show this thread -
I think that the antigovernment conservative donors doing an advantage in the passion of antivaxxers that they can use in their all out war against the regulatory state. 11/
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In turn, antivaxxers benefit because some of the Republicans who are persuaded by the conflation of opposition to school vaccine mandates with “freedom” will be susceptible to the hard core antivax belief system and conspiracy theories. 12/
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Thus, for some (but not all) “freedom loving” conservatives, opposing school vaccine mandates in the name of “parental rights” will be the first step down the road to becoming full fledged antivaxxers. 13/
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It’s unfortunately a mutually beneficial alliance. Antivaxxers grain recruits and increasing influence in a major party, while the now Trumpified
@GOP gains foot soldiers in its war against the “deep state,”@TheDemocrats, and the old guard conservatives. 14/14Show this thread
End of conversation
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