So, who could be at risk? Could it be Andrew Wakefield, the disgraced British doctor whose bogus research brought forth modern anti-vaccine conspiracies? Del Bigtree, perhaps, the Austin-based podcaster and filmmaker whose 2016 documentary featuring Wakefield positioned him as an equivalent expert when Covid panic exacerbated existing suspicions. Or maybe Russell Brand, uncontested as the most famous name on the schedule but temperamentally unlikely to take himself out of harm’s way. The morning of day two, I saw him walk out the lobby in leopard-print swim trunks and a hotel bathrobe and slippers.
No one should feel like they’re in danger; people are allowed to respond to vague unease in the way that makes sense for them. On the other side of the metal detectors that I went through was a booth selling pendants and bracelets to protect against EMF radiation (including items for pets).
When the tanned, frizzy-haired woman at my table closed her eyes and gestured up, down, side, side, it was after we’d spent all morning bathed in the anti-vaccine movement’s newly explicit Christian coding (“God is an Anti-vaxxer,” as Del Bigtree put it). But when I tested my assumption by asking why she made the sign of the cross, she wrinkled her brow. “Oh no, it wasn’t that.”
No, she said—“a clearing.”
As she dissolved connections, the speakers on the stage kept winding a certain thread tighter: “Republicans need to remember that MAHA moms are why Donald Trump won the 2024 election,” and, “We need collectively to give Bobby Kennedy, a very brave and smart man, the support he needs.” In order to pass the “truckloads of medical freedom bills” they want to, “we need to hold the House.”
Mary Holland, CEO of CHD, put it almost regretfully: “This is a nonpartisan movement that has become partisan.”
The woman who brushed away the poisonous spiderweb was a bit of an outlier at my table on the first day. Next to me was a sparky retired former teacher from Nebraska who told me about the growing number of autistic children she’d see in her classes, echoing the suspicions that animate much of the movement. What could explain this explosion besides a change in the environment? On my other side, a man who introduced himself as a doctor from the Midwest. Our fifth was a female programmer. The conference was heavily dominated by women; most everyone (male and female) I met was a technical professional of some sort. It’s a big “do your own research” community, obviously, but the common thread ran deeper: When attendees were asked for those in the audience to stand up if they had a “vaccine-injured,” half rose to be counted.
You might think it’s a long walk from these stories to the MMR vaccine being primarily responsible for autism and the belief that the Covid pandemic was a full-blown hoax, but Humphries has us covered, constantly circling back to the central spine of all anti-government conspiracies: If they could do this, they can do anything.
When we broke for lunch, the would-be librettist stepped away. I asked the group what they thought of the Baker Vary story. There were some uncomfortable glances. They’d have to look into it some more.
I’ve also never been to a political conference that featured the kind of frank personal exchanges I participated in and overheard: People chatted about allergies and “gut issues,” an announcement asked for courtesy to be shown for the EMF-sensitive. Strangers shared home birth tips. I have been to home-schooling conventions where people are more reticent about what goes on behind closed doors. Maybe it’s the nature of vaccines, how they slip under the skin. Maybe it’s the grief. Maybe it’s the metal detectors.
I wanted to jump in to point out that junk food is better than no food at all, but the woman wanted to talk about a different injustice: Government-mandated vaccines “hurt Black boys the most.” They have the highest rates of autism in California, she claimed, citing a one-in-12 statistic I couldn’t trace later—though in April, RFK Jr. did announce that “one in 31 American children born in 2014 are disabled by autism” and that the number in California (among all races and genders) was one in 12.5.
“These children will never be toilet-trained,” another bemoaned. I heard this a lot. (According to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, most people with ASD are capable of independent toileting.)
But, obviously, that could never happen again.
“Just trying to learn,” I told him.
During the EMF panel, my new friend tapped his radiation-blocking phone case and smiled. During the panel on “turbo-cancers,” he took a few notes but acknowledged my eye-roll when panelist Derek Guillory encouraged the crowd to look into “oxidized urine therapy.” Guillory had teased us just prior, “How weird do you want to get?” And went on to suggest fasting as long as possible: “At day 7, if you don’t have a spiritual experience you should come talk to me.”
I told him I definitely didn’t think that. I did wonder who he had voted for.
Here in Austin, he admits that his numbers weren’t looking so good: Out of a handful of conversations, about half were people who immediately expressed some kind of negative reaction. A few were neutral. But, he said, there was one person who wholeheartedly endorsed their worldview. “It was the bellhop!” he exclaimed. Applause. Weinstein admits it’s an unscientific survey. But, he says, they’re convincing more people every day.
That fact has to be remembered before we give any anti-science a “hearing.” Hearings don’t level the playing field; they legitimize the premise. As “serial entrepreneur” Steve Kirsch bragged, “Today, I am a misinformation superspreader.”
Beating back all of the public health policies this movement has already unraveled will require separating the compassion we may feel for people on a personal level from the ruthlessness that will be required to put our house back in order after this age of Trumpian Lysenkoism passes. Pro-science people have to let results speak for themselves. They always have. Sometimes those consequences just don’t speak as quickly or as loudly as we’d like. Anti-vaccine advocates can point to dead and injured children as often as they want. Under the Trump administration, we might have more of those on our side too.
I resisted the impulse to comfort her.
Hence then, the article about my weekend with the anti vaxxers was published today ( ) and is available on The New Republic ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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