Monday, December 16, 2024

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1/ Trump downplayed concerns that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. – his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services – will revoke the polio vaccine despite reports that RFK Jr.’s personal attorney previously lobbied the FDA to suspend its approval of the polio vaccine. Trump said he is a “big believer in the polio vaccine […] You’re not gonna lose the polio vaccine. That’s not gonna happen.” Trump added that RFK Jr. is “going to be much less radical than you would think.” Trump then cited a discredited theory that vaccines cause autism and suggested that Kennedy, a leading anti-vaccine crusader, is “going to find out about it […] Something bad’s happening.” When asked whether schools should mandate vaccines, Trump responded: “I don’t like mandates. I’m not a big mandate person.” (New York Times / Washington Post / ABC News / CNN / Associated Press / Politico / The Guardian / Axios / The Hill)

2/ ABC News agreed to pay $15 million to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump. In March, Trump sued ABC News and George Stephanopoulos after the news anchor said Trump was found “liable for rape” in a civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll. Although the jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, it didn’t find him liable for rape because New York law defines rape as forcible penetration with the penis. The judge who oversaw the case later clarified that because of the narrow legal definition of rape, the jury’s verdict didn’t mean that Carroll had “failed to prove that Trump ‘raped’ her as many people commonly understand the word ‘rape.’” Trump was ordered to pay Carroll damages of $83.3 million. He is appealing the verdict. As part of the settlement, ABC News posted an editor’s note online expressing regret over Stephanopoulos’ statements and the network will pay $1 million in legal fees. The money will be transferred to “a Presidential foundation and museum to be established by or for” Trump. News organizations anticipate that the Trump administration will target journalists’ sources and pursue legal actions to curb critical media coverage. Discussions among Trump and his allies included subpoenaing news outlets, prosecuting journalists and their sources, revoking broadcast licenses, and cutting funding for public radio and television. (New York Times /

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