In The Politics of Autism, I analyze the discredited notion that vaccines cause autism. This bogus idea can hurt people by allowing diseases to spread. And among those diseases could be COVID-19.
Antivaxxers are sometimes violent, often abusive, and always wrong.
Alexandra Larkin at CBS:Republican candidate Hershel Walker, the former NFL player running for U.S. Senate in Georgia, canceled a fundraiser on Wednesday after the event's host was condemned for using a profile picture of a swastika made of vaccine syringes on social media.
Republican donor Bettina Sofia Viviano-Langlais, a Texas filmmaker, was scheduled to host the fundraiser in Parker, Texas, this weekend, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which first reported the story.
Viviano-Langlais's Twitter account has been taken down at the time of reporting, but a screengrab captured earlier shows the vaccine-swastika logo, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. The image has been used by opponents of vaccine mandates who liken the policy to the Nazi oppression and genocide of Jews — a comparison that's been widely condemned.
A Walker spokesperson told the newspaper: "This is clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic. Herschel unequivocally opposes anti-semitism and bigotry of all kinds."
The campaign later confirmed that the fundraiser was canceled, CBS Atlanta affiliate WGCL reported.
.@HerschelWalker spokeswoman responds, “This is clearly an anti-mandatory vaccination graphic. Herschel unequivocally opposes anti-semitism and bigotry of all kinds.” #gapol https://t.co/kzGX4roTzs
— Patricia Murphy (@politicalinsidr) October 13, 2021
