{
  "id": 1343671,
  "title": "Cassidy on Trump's vaccine order, 'crazy, stupid' claims: 'This is why the president's poll numbers are going down'",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/16/cassidy-on-trumps-vaccine-order-crazy-stupid-claims-this-is-why-the",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-16T20:13:41.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hill",
    "slug": "the-hill",
    "url": "https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/6032232-cassidy-slams-trump-vaccine-order/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Senator Bill Cassidy, a physician and Republican from Louisiana, has criticized President Trump's executive order on childhood vaccinations. Cassidy described the claims behind the order as \"crazy, stupid\" and said they are contributing to the president's declining poll numbers, according to The Hill.\n\nThe order, signed by Trump, alters the recommended childhood vaccination schedule. It suggests splitting the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine into separate shots, which would result in children needing six shots instead of two. Cassidy told ABC News that this change would drive up costs, inconvenience families, and provide no medical benefit.\n\nCassidy also stated that there is \"no evidence whatsoever\" that vaccines cause autism. The Guardian reported that Trump's order was influenced by anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy, whom Cassidy had voted to confirm as a health secretary. The changes to the vaccination schedule have been met with concern from medical experts, who warn that they could undo public health advances.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 7,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Al Jazeera",
        "title": "WHO chief says Trump vaccine push goes against ‘decades of evidence’",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/who-chief-says-trump-vaccine-push-goes-against-decades-of-evidence",
        "published": "2026-08-12T15:30:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Global News",
        "title": "Trump’s new childhood vaccine order ‘not supported’ by evidence, experts say",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/trumps-new-childhood-vaccine-order-not-supported-by-evidence-experts",
        "published": "2026-08-13T18:48:26.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CNBC",
        "title": "Why experts think Trump’s push for an MMR vaccine split won’t pan out",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/why-experts-think-trumps-push-for-an-mmr-vaccine-split-wont-pan-out",
        "published": "2026-08-14T12:39:05.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "PBS NewsHour Health",
        "title": "Trump's vaccine order would require millions of individual shots last used decades ago",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/14/trumps-vaccine-order-would-require-millions-of-individual-shots-last",
        "published": "2026-08-14T20:16:56.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "ABC News (US)",
        "title": "GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy on Trump’s vaccine executive order: ‘Stupid thing to do’",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/16/gop-sen-bill-cassidy-on-trumps-vaccine-executive-order-stupid-thing",
        "published": "2026-08-16T14:20:10.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Guardian Australia",
        "title": "Australian health experts fear US vaccine scepticism is catching on as ‘anything Trump says filters through’",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/16/australian-health-experts-fear-us-vaccine-scepticism-is-catching-on",
        "published": "2026-08-16T15:00:29.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}