{"id":2652570,"date":"2026-08-31T19:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T23:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-trump-claims-no-autism-cases-for-unvaccinated-amish-children\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T19:27:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T23:27:00","slug":"fact-check-trump-claims-no-autism-cases-for-unvaccinated-amish-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-trump-claims-no-autism-cases-for-unvaccinated-amish-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Fact check: Trump claims no autism cases for unvaccinated Amish children"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffact-check-trump-claims-no-autism-cases-for-unvaccinated-amish-children%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2652570&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President Donald Trump reposted a claim on Truth Social stating that, based on a 2010 study, there have been no documented cases of unvaccinated Amish children diagnosed with autism over their 330-year history, implying skepticism about the link between vaccination and autism. The graphic he shared suggests that there are no published cases of autism in unvaccinated Amish children, citing a study examining Amish children in ohio and Indiana in 2008-2009, which found 7 autism cases among 1,899 children, with no confirmed fully vaccinated cases. However, this claim is misleading because the study did not directly link autism diagnoses to vaccination status, nor did it cover the entire Amish population or the time since. Experts note that diagnostic criteria changes and genetic factors are likely responsible for autism prevalence differences, not vaccines. Trump has previously made similar assertions, including during a 2025 press conference claiming that unvaccinated Amish children do not have autism and criticizing vaccines-including the MMR-for causing autism. The repost coincides with a recent measles outbreak in Pennsylvania\u2019s Lancaster county, home to a large Amish community with low vaccination rates, which has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cnns-jim-acosta-admits-to-media-bias-against-the-president\/\" title=\"CNN\u2019S Jim Acosta admits to media bias against the President\">attracted national attention<\/a> and debates over vaccine misinformation and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/economic-freedom-index-shows-the-united-states-posting-worst-performance-ever\/\" title=\"\u2018Economic Freedom Index\u2019 Shows The United States ...ing Worst Performance Ever\">public health responses<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">President <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\">Donald Trump<\/a> reposted a claim Monday that there have been no documented cases of an unvaccinated Amish child being diagnosed with autism, adding to skepticism about public health officials\u2019 claims regarding the measles outbreak in Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The president\u2019s post on Truth Social consists of a graphic that contends there is not an \u201cexplicitly documented\u201d case of an unvaccinated Amish child with autism, citing a 2010 study.<\/p>\n<p>Traditional Amish communities have been subject to intense scrutiny because vaccination rates, particularly for the measles, mumps, and rubella or MMR vaccine, remain low in Amish communities and some Mennonite groups.<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s post cites that, across the entire 330-year history of distinct Amish communities in the United States, there has never been a recorded case of an unvaccinated child being diagnosed with autism.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4706478\/fact-check-trump-no-autism-cases-limited-timeline-unvaccinated-amish-children\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Fact check: Trump claims no autism cases among unvaccinated Amish children<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4706749\/trump-nine-mfn-deals-lower-prescription-prices\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Trump announces nine new most-favored-nation deals to lower prescription prices<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/4706098\/watch-live-trump-makes-announcement-healthcare-affordability-drug-prices\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>WATCH LIVE: Trump makes an announcement on healthcare affordability<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the claim is highly misleading and unsupported by the evidence cited.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-1\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-15\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-1\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<h2 id=\"h-the-narrow-claim-no-documented-cases\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The narrow claim: No documented cases <\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The text of the graphic reads, \u201cAmish + Autism 330 years later \u2026 No published case has explicitly documented an unvaccinated Amish child with autism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Disclaimer at the bottom of the graphic acknowledges that cases of autism have been documented in Amish children, but clarifies the claim as referring \u201cto the absence of a published case of both autism and zero vaccinations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The graphic cites a 2010 study, published by the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/imfar.confex.com\/imfar\/2010\/webprogram\/Paper7336.html\">International Society for Autism Research<\/a>, that screened 1,899 Amish children for autism and confirmed 7 cases. The study\u2019s findings indicate that, at the time, approximately 1 in 271 Amish children fit the 2010 definition of having autism, compared to roughly 1 in 91 in the general population at the time. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-2\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-16\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-2\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The graphic also says the researchers collected vaccination histories for the children, and the published abstract for the paper \u201cdid not report any confirmed case as completely vaccinated.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">Truth Social post from @realDonaldTrump 8\/31\/2026<\/p>\n<p>&#8221; data-large-file=&#8221;https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Trump-autism-truth-social.webp?w=490&#8243; &#8220;https:><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Truth Social post from @realDonaldTrump 8\/31\/2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"h-the-reality-a-misleading-statistic-and-skewed-evidence\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">The reality: A misleading statistic and skewed evidence<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The study does not directly support the graphic\u2019s claim that there is no recorded case of \u201can unvaccinated Amish child with autism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers collected the vaccine histories of the children involved in the study, but the version of the research paper referenced in the graphic does not link the Autism Spectrum Disorder screening results to each child\u2019s vaccination status. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-3\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-17\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-3\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In other words, the study does not say whether the children diagnosed with autism were vaccinated or unvaccinated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Further, the study does not support the claim that there has never been a confirmed case of an unvaccinated Amish child with autism because the study examines only a segment of time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Researchers surveyed Amish children screened in Ohio and Indiana in 2008 and 2009 and did not examine the entirety of Amish history. The data in the study are also not representative of the 16 years after its publication in 2010.<\/p>\n<p>The White House did not respond to the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em>\u2019s request for additional studies to support the claim of the social media post.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-4\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-25\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-4\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-how-diagnoses-play-a-role-in-autism-numbers\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">How diagnoses play a role in autism numbers<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/people\/adam-omary\">Adam Omary<\/a>, psychologist and biostatistician for the libertarian Cato Institute, told the <em>Washington Examiner<\/em> the most likely reason for a difference in autism diagnoses among the Amish compared to the general population is due to genetic differences within the Amish community, rather than an environmental exposure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no reliable evidence of any environmental exposures\u2014vaccines or otherwise\u2014causing autism,\u201d Omary said. \u201cThe single biggest risk factor is family history.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Omary has focused his research on how the expansion of diagnostic criteria in the 2014 DSM-5, the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >official mental health diagnostic manual<\/a>, has led to milder forms of autism receiving a formal diagnosis of ASD than in the past.<\/p>\n<p>The study cited by Trump, published before the new definition of ASD from the DSM-5, used the older and more conservative diagnostic criteria. Omary says this switch in diagnostic criteria contributes to what appears to be rising autism rates over time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven if the underlying psychology or symptomology of a population is unchanged, more conservative screening will produce lower prevalence estimates and more expansive screening will produce higher estimates,\u201d Omary said.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"h-trump-s-past-comments-about-autism-and-the-amish\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Trump\u2019s past comments about autism and the Amish<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s Truth Social post is not the first time that the president has made a connection between low vaccination rates and low autism rates among traditional Amish communities.<\/p>\n<p>During a <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3826323\/trump-stark-warning-pregnant-women-tylenol-use-vaccines\/\">press conference<\/a> in September 2025 on the risk of causing autism by taking Tylenol while pregnant, Trump made multiple comments that multi-virus vaccines can cause autism and that unvaccinated Amish children do not have autism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think I can say that there are certain groups of people that don\u2019t take vaccines and don\u2019t take any pills that have no autism \u2014 that have no autism. Does that tell you something?\u201d <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/cedmohub.eu\/trump-falsely-claims-amish-have-essentially-no-autism\/\">Trump said<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n<p>Trump during the event went on to say, \u201cThe Amish, as an example, they have essentially no autism.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump has also been a vocal critic of the MMR vaccine, calling it \u201clethal\u201d during an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4681510\/trump-order-shrinking-childhood-vaccination-schedule\/\">Oval Office event<\/a> in August announcing a reduction in the number of recommended childhood vaccines. He has also called on pharmaceutical companies to \u201cbreak up the shot,\u201d creating three separate vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wex-inarticle-ad wex-inarticle-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\">\n<div class=\"wex-ad-wrap wex-ad-art-dsk-inart-5\" style=\"min-height:90px\"><span class=\"wex-ad-label\" hidden>Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-3182201-26\" data-wex-ad=\"art-dsk-inart-5\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h2 id=\"h-measles-outbreak-among-the-amish-in-pennsylvania\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Measles outbreak among the Amish in Pennsylvania<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s post comes amid a sweeping measles outbreak across Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, home to the largest Amish community settlement in the U.S. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The outbreak has drawn <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4670727\/josh-shapiro-rfk-jr-measles-fight-2028-speculations\/\">national attention<\/a> following a dispute over vaccine misinformation between Gov. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/josh-shapiro\/\">Josh Shapiro<\/a> (D-PA) and Health and Human Services Secretary <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/robert-f-kennedy-jr\/\">Robert F. Kennedy Jr.<\/a>, who in the past has supported the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Department of Health last week announced <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/healthcare\/4701691\/josh-shapiro-rfk-jr-conspiracy-theories-measles-pennsylvania\/\">two measles-associated deaths in Lancaster County<\/a>, sparking an intense dispute over whether the cause of death for the two reported individuals was indeed measles.<\/p>\n<p>The Lancaster County Coroner reported last week one of the deaths was of a newborn infant, whose immediate cause of death was a lacerated spleen that the coroner concluded was not caused by a measles infection.<\/p>\n<p>The <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/health\/2026\/08\/pennsylvania-measles-infant-death-family\/688469\/\">infant\u2019s mother<\/a>, an unvaccinated Amish woman, had a severe case of measles during the last weeks of her pregnancy and had a difficult home birth as a result. The cause of death for the infant is <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AdamUrato1\/status\/2094374344256332038?s=20\">being debated<\/a> among physicians online.<\/p>\n<p>According to the nonprofit Association of Immunization Managers, the MMR vaccination rate in Lancaster County is roughly 87%. Only an estimated <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.immunizationmanagers.org\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Responding-to-Measles-Outbreaks-in-High-Priority-Populations-slides_041525.pdf\">25% of the Amish settlement<\/a> in the county is vaccinated against measles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trump claims no documented autism in unvaccinated Amish children<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2666,"featured_media":2652571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-collage-xwd2c6gdx-1788199617196-e1788211527280.jpg?1788197303&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[44712,16027,50510,3634,4031],"class_list":["post-2652570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-amish","tag-autism","tag-fact-check-2","tag-trump","tag-vaccines"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image-collage-xwd2c6gdx-1788199617196-e1788211527280.jpg?1788197303&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2666"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2652570"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2652587,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2652570\/revisions\/2652587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2652571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2652570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2652570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2652570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}