Reality star Brittany Cartwright has sparked backlash from some of her fans after calling President Trump’s recent claims about autism ‘misinformation.’
The Valley and Vanderpump Rules star, 36, was reacting to Donald Trump‘s recent announcement that Tylenol is linked to autism.
Cartwright, who shares an autistic sonCruz with ex-husband Jax Taylor, had a strong reaction to Trump’s unfounded claims.
‘Autism was recorded before Tylenol was ever invented,’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘There are many children on the spectrum who never had vaccines or whose mothers didn’t take Tylenol while pregnant. The word “virtually” is used many times here because there are obviously still cases of autism in those communities as well,’ she continued.
‘I am thankful autism is being looked into and hopefully someday we can learn more, but our children are wonderful and deserve better than misinformation by our own government.’
While many agreed with Cartwright, including Vanderpump Rules alum Stassi Schroeder, others slammed the star for her comments.
‘All Trump said was that the usage of Tylenol and autism are linked… He didn’t say it’s a guaranteed thing that WILL cause autism? Oxford and Harvard University did the research,’ commented one.
The Valley’s Brittany Cartwright has sparked backlash from some of her fans after calling President Trump’s recent claims about autism ‘misinformation’
The Valley and Vanderpump Rules star, 36, was reacting to President Trump’s announcement that Tylenol is linked to autism
‘It was a study released by Harvard, Brittany,’ wrote another, who followed their comment with a string of facepalm emojis.
‘Are we pretending that research is bad and it’s not okay for scientists to discover new things?’ wrote a third.
Another wrote, ‘Looks like someone didn’t read into the entire point that was made in this entire study. Typical celebrity.’
This isn’t the first time that Cartwright has slammed the Trump administration.
In April, she tore into Secretary of Health and Human ServicesRobert F. Kennedy Jr. on her When Reality Hits podcast, after he made sweeping generalizations about people on the autism spectrum.
Kennedy sparked outrage during a press conference when he announced a new directive to investigate so-called ‘environmental exposures’ that he suggested could be linked to the rise in autism diagnoses. But it was his bleak portrayal of autistic individuals that really set advocates off.
‘They’ll never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball, they’ll never write a poem, they’ll never go out on a date. Many of them will never use a toilet unassisted,’ Kennedy said.
Cartwright, whose son Cruz is autistic and nonverbal, fired back in an emotional rant on her podcast.
Cartwright shares autistic son Cruz with ex-husband Jax Taylor
‘He said that autism destroys families,’ she said on the April 18th episode.
‘He listed a bunch of things that kids with autism or people on the spectrum in general do not do. And that really upset me because the autism spectrum is so broad.’
She continued, ‘That is not everybody. That just kind of like rubbed me the wrong way a little bit.
‘It kind of made me sad because it’s just such a public platform and misinformation is a big deal.’
Prior to announcing the news, Cartwright explained she and her ex kept their son’s diagnosis to themselves and their closest family and friends for six months.
While telling her loved ones, she said she provided them a written paragraph talking about his diagnosis, what it meant and how they were working on it.
Additionally, she shared with them that she felt ‘meant for this.’
‘Yes, it might be challenging at times, but I couldn’t imagine my life being different,’ Cartwright told People.
In April, Cartwright tore into Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he made sweeping generalizations about people on the autism spectrum
‘It can be sad at times because you want them to live life to the fullest, and he does, he just does it in a different way.
‘What I really want people to understand about autism is he sees the world so much more vibrant and amazing than any of us ever will.’
The Kentucky native added that her son’s diagnosis won’t prevent him from being ‘the smartest in his class’ or working ‘for NASA one day.’
‘There aren’t any limitations to what he can do,’ she declared.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump made an extraordinary unproven claim about the possible causes of autism in a press conference this week.
The President said the FDA will immediately notify doctors to warn pregnant women to avoid taking acetaminophen, sold under the brand name Tylenol, ‘unless medically necessary,’ such as in cases of ‘extremely high fever’.
Despite there being no credible evidence linking acetaminophen to autism, Trump said pregnant women ‘have a responsibility’ to endure pain instead of taking Tylenol and should only take it if they ‘can’t tough it out’ or have an extremely high fever.
‘Fight like hell not to take it,’ Trump said, also urging parents not to give it to children.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump also criticized America’s ‘disgraceful’ vaccine schedule, despite the link between autism and vaccines being long disproven.
The President said he and RFK Jr had discussed the issue over 20 years ago and that they ‘understood a lot more [about autism] that a lot of the people who studied it.’
The Trump administration and RFK Jr have made it a top priority to tackle America’s rising autism rates, with 1 in 31 children now estimated to have the condition compared to 1 in 150 children in 2000.
Experts say the increase is largely due to a loosening of the definition of autism, and increased awareness as doctors become better at detecting the condition.
But others, including RFK Jr, have suggested toxins in the environment, older parents or maternal obesity could be behind the rise.
