Colin Meloy Tweet Inadvertently Highlights Jill Stein’s Anti-Vax Waffling

Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images

Colin Meloy Tweet Inadvertently Highlights Jill Stein’s Anti-Vax Waffling

Barry Brecheisen/Getty Images

Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party’s candidate for president in this increasingly terrifying election, has been trying to present herself as the only ethical candidate in this race. But in some recent statements, she’s played to the fringy idea that children’s vaccines may help cause autism. As Gizmodo points out, a Twitter user recently asked Stein directly whether vaccines cause autism. And interestingly enough, that Twitter user happened to be Colin Meloy, frontman of the Decemberists and vocal Bernie Sanders supporter.

Stein responded in a way that’s guaranteed to drive her skeptics nuts. First, she tweeted, “There’s no evidence that vaccines cause autism. Let’s do more to support autistic people & their families.” Then, five minutes later, she deleted that tweet and posted a different one instead: “I’m not aware of evidence linking autism with vaccines. Let’s do more to support autistic people & their families.” It’s a subtle change, but it’s one that explicitly plays to the anti-vaxxer crowd, leaving enough wiggle room to suggest that maybe there’s a link. The internet, of course, will notice when you tweet and delete something like that:

Stein is a medical doctor. So when you’re deciding how to vote in this election, you might want to keep in mind that the candidate who holds herself up as a paragon of leftist virtue is willing to play to a dangerous form of paranoia to get votes. Just saying.

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