2016 GOP contenders corner Paul, Christie on vaccinations

The field of GOP presidential hopefuls is seizing on controversial comments from Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie that have sparked a national debate on vaccinations this week.

Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Govs. Scott Walker (R-Wis.) and Bobby Jindal (R-La.) aimed to put their potential rivals in a corner as they all said Tuesday that parents should vaccinate their children, a stance widely backed by science.

“There is a lot of fear mongering out there on this. I think it is irresponsible for leaders to undermine the public’s confidence in vaccinations that have been tested and proven to protect public health,” Jindal, a self-described health policy wonk, wrote in a sharply worded statement Tuesday afternoon.

“Governor Walker believes vaccinations help prevent serious health problems,” the Wisconsin governor’s spokesman Tom Evenson told The Hill. “That’s why his family is vaccinated and he encourages others to do the same.”

“There is absolutely no medical science or data whatsoever that links those vaccinations to onset of autism or anything of that nature,” Rubio told reporters on Tuesday. “Absolutely, all children in American should be vaccinated.”

And Cruz, a Tea Party favorite, said he agreed, though he blamed D.C. media for stirring the hype.

“This issue is largely silliness stirred up by the media,” Cruz told reporters Tuesday. “Nobody reasonably thinks Chris Christie is opposed to vaccinating kids, other than a bunch of reporters who want to write headlines.”

The presidential hopefuls joined scores of Republicans and Democrats who have forcefully argued in favor of vaccinations in light of Paul and Christie’s comments.

Paul, who has a medical degree, caused a furor Monday when he suggested in an interview that measles vaccines could be unsafe.  

“I’ve heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children, who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines,” Paul said, though he added that vaccines were “a good thing.”

Christie said initially that parents should have some “choice” when deciding whether to vaccinate, before walking back that statement.

The vaccine debate also became a central theme in a congressional panel Tuesday that was initially scheduled to discuss this year’s flu season. Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pa.), who led the hearing, asked four federal health officials to debunk Paul’s claims, without specifically mentioning the Kentucky senator.

The vaccination debate had long been considered extinct, though it has roared back to life amid a 14-state measles outbreak. The U.S. has already reported more cases in the last month than are usually reported in one year.

Anti-vaccine skepticism largely comes from a decade-old study that suggested the measles vaccine could cause autism, though it has since been debunked.

“You have a better chance of being struck by lightning than having a reaction,” said Dr. Robert Wergin, a Nebraska-based doctor and the president of the American Association of Family Physicians.

Rubio, Cruz and Jindal all declined requests to comment on vaccination from The Hill earlier this week.

The issue of whether to vaccinate also appears to have split the public on generational rather than party lines.

Earlier Tuesday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest chalked up some of the vaccination debate to “presidential politics,” though he avoided directly criticizing Paul’s comments. He said he did not want to suggest “that there is some how a Democratic and Republican divide” on the issue.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has made an urgent plea for vaccination after the high-profile Republicans’ comments, though he declined to say if their remarks are making his job tougher.

“You always respect people’s abilities to make their own decisions, but as a scientist and a public health person, I just want to bring out the facts,” Fauci told The Hill on Tuesday. “I don’t get into any political things. I’m a scientist.”

– Jonathan Easley contributed

This story was updated at 3:40 p.m.