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Sen. Bill Cassidy Rips Trump Over Order To Break Up Vaccines: 'This Is So Wrong'

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) said Monday that President Donald Trump "does not have the expertise" to push his newly-signed executive order breaking up the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine ― and implored parents to listen to their child's doctor before anyone else.

"I'm a doctor. This executive order is wrong," Cassidy wrote on X. "The President does not have the expertise to make these changes."

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Earlier Monday, Trump signed an order overhauling childhood vaccine recommendations that enforce his long-held belief that such shots be more spaced out. The order specifically recommends splitting up the MMR vaccine into three different shots that children receive during separate visits.

Cassidy's concern echoes that of other doctors and public health experts who say spacing out vaccines in the way Trump wants can lead to an increased likelihood of children getting infected with a preventable disease before they return for another medical visit.

"Breaking up vaccines will mean children have to get more shots to get the same protection, not fewer shots," the Republican said. "It will increase hesitancy and make children less safe."

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Trump spent much of his press conference for the order fearmongering around the shots, playing up an imaginary danger of combining measles, mumps and rubella into one vaccine as "quite lethal." He later tried to hedge his comment before turning around and claiming, without evidence, the MMR vaccine "can be explosive."

The order is also part of the ongoing anti-vaccine campaign by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who continues to push debunked claims that vaccines cause autism in children. Scientific consensus and decades of research have concluded there is no link between childhood vaccines and autism, and Cassidy affirmed that science on Monday.

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"Vaccines are overwhelmingly safe. Vaccines are effective. Vaccines DO NOT cause autism," the senator said.

"Parents should listen to their child's pediatrician about vaccines rather than listening to an inaccurate executive order," he continued. "This is so wrong."

White House spokesman Kush Desai told HuffPost that Trump's executive order is based on the HHS vaccine safety assessment published earlier this year, "which was driven by Gold Standard Science." HHS did not respond to HuffPost's request for comment.