In a sharp exchange during today’s White House briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismantled CBS News senior White House correspondent Ed O’Keefe’s attempt to frame President Trump’s upcoming autism announcement as potentially misleading for pregnant women.
O’Keefe pressed: “There are reams of scientific research that suggest there’s no clear link between autism and acetaminophen usage… [this] has the potential to confuse women, especially pregnant women, about what to do.”
Leavitt fired back without missing a beat: “I think women, for many years, in fact, for decades, Ed, have been confused by the rapid increase in autism in this country, in the childhood epidemic, that chronic epidemic, disease epidemic that is plaguing America’s youth.”
“Women are confused about that and they want answers to that,” Leavitt added, further noting “I would encourage everyone in this room to… listen to what the president and his team of outsiders have to say about this.”
The back-and-forth comes ahead of Trump’s 4 p.m. ET remarks, where he’s expected to highlight a potential link between prenatal acetaminophen use (the active ingredient in Tylenol) and rising autism rates—a claim already drawing fire from medical experts and the drug’s manufacturer, who cite large-scale studies showing no causal connection.
Leavitt’s pivot refocused the narrative on the administration’s push for answers to what she called a “chronic disease epidemic,” urging reporters to approach the announcement with “critical thinking skills and open ears.”
Spot-on clapback—Leavitt turned a gotcha question into a masterclass in redirecting to the bigger picture.
Tylenol’s parent company earlier commented on the upcoming announcement, stating “We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk that this poses for expecting mothers.”
Hellbound and Down 