TEACHERS FOR CHOICE Currently Undecided on Presidential Endorsement
Internal Debate Continues Whether to Support Kennedy or Trump
After a steering committee meeting last night TEACHERS FOR CHOICE was unable to agree on an update to our original full endorsement of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for president.
The only thing we know for sure is it will never be Kamala Harris! It’s between Kennedy and Trump.
Some on our steering committee want a full endorsement of Trump; some want a Trump endorsement with a stated reservation; others want to keep our full endorsement of Kennedy where he is on the ballot; and other still even want people to write Kennedy’s name in if he is not on the ballot.
After our meeting last night I woke up this morning to an email from my dear friend and colleague John Gilmore of Autism Action Network expressing deep concerns about Trump ignoring Medical Freedom issues. Gilmore has been fighting for Medical Freedom for over 20 years in New York. He has known Bobby Kennedy personally for at least 15 years.
In Donald Trump: Convince Us, Gilmore writes:
We have been here before. In 2016 Trump met with many leading figures in the vaccine rights world, including Kennedy, and said all the right things. Trump made statements expressing his concern about the safety of the vaccine schedule in the US and his belief that vaccines could cause autism. Trump made plans to create a special federal vaccine safety commission to be headed by Kennedy.
Many people concerned about these issues voted for Trump because of the expectation of real reform. But they were bitterly disappointed. After inauguration, the vaccine safety commission petered out. Trump did nothing to reform the vaccine industry and the federal regulatory agencies that oversee it. Trump appointed drug industry insiders like Scott Gottlieb and Alex Azar to head major regulatory agencies. Trump did nothing to improve individual or parental choice over vaccines. And it all culminated in the disastrous response to COVID when the swamp creatures like Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins completely dominated Trump in making policy. Trump’s track record on medical freedom issues is awful.
Here is what TEACHERS FOR CHOICE needs to get behind Trump:
Trump needs a MEDICAL FREEDOM section on his campaign website,
Trump needs to make MEDICAL FREEDOM posts on Truth Social and X,
Trump needs to clearly adopt promises Kennedy has made,
Trump needs to clearly embrace #MAHA (Make America Healthy Again),
We need concrete ACTIONS that Trump will do on day one,
We need concrete ACTIONS that Trump will do in his first 100 days,
***
Perfect examples: Kennedy recently said on day one “we will declare a public emergency” to end the chronic disease crisis in America.
That is an amazing promise!
WHY ARE WE ONLY HEARING THAT FROM KENNEDY?!?
Kennedy will have no authority to make such a declaration, only Trump will.
Trump needs to say he will do this. He needs to put this on his campaign website. So far, Trump has said he is against covid shot mandates and mask mandates. He said he will set up a commission to investigate chronic illness, and also said he will “take on the corruption” at FDA, CDC and NIH with Bobby Kennedy.
Why is none of this on Trump’s campaign website?
On Trump’s official campaign website he currently has “20 CORE PROMISES TO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” Why isn’t this on there? Why isn’t #MAHA there? Why is there zero mention of medical freedom? If this is one of Trump’s “CORE PROMISES” we need to see it listed with his other core promises.
The Medical Freedom community is very skeptical. We’ve been burned many times. TEACHERS FOR CHOICE has no doubt in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s sincerity that he is working to end the chronic disease epidemic, protect parental rights and protect bodily autonomy. But many of us have valid doubts regarding Trump.
So today, I repeat the words of John Gilmore - DONALD TRUMP: CONVINCE US!
I’m glad to see some critical thinking regarding Trump! Lots of red flags people have been closing their eyes to just because he’s Trump. Thank you!
I'm inclined to agree with Gilmore. Trump has always sided with big business, whether it be vaccines, pesticides, fracking etc. It's in his DNA. Trump over Harris -- easy, he's a human being with some accomplishments. But voting for "NOT so and so" irks me. What a mess we are in, though?! Someone like Peggy Hall (who is great!) insists Bobby is TOO pro-vaccine.