This article originally appeared on vigilantfox.com and was republished with permission.
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. just held a press conference to respond to the CDC’s latest numbers on autism rates in the United States.
The findings were impossible to ignore, and Kennedy didn’t sugarcoat just how dire the situation had become.
He revealed that 1 in 31 American children are now diagnosed with autism.
For boys, the numbers are even worse—1 in 20.
And in California, where data tracking is considered the most thorough in the country, the rate may be as high as 1 in 12.5 boys. According to Kennedy, that figure likely reflects a national trend.
Just two years ago, the national rate was 1 in 36. Now, it’s jumped dramatically—and Kennedy says he’s determined to find out why.
“The ASD prevalence rate in 8-year-olds is now 1 in 31. Shocking. There is an extreme risk for boys. Overall, the risk for boys of getting an autism diagnosis in this country is now 1 in 20.
“And as high in California, which has the best data collection.
“So it probably also reflects the national trend—1 in 12.5 boys. This is part of an unrelenting upward trend. The prevalence two years ago was 1 in 36,” Kennedy lamented.
HHS Secretary RFK Jr. just held a press conference to respond to the CDC’s latest numbers on autism rates in the United States.
The findings were impossible to ignore, and Kennedy didn’t sugarcoat just how dire the situation had become.
He revealed that 1 in 31 American… pic.twitter.com/pR9S9AMGa5
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) April 16, 2025
He didn’t hold back in calling out the media and powerful industries, accusing them of covering up environmental factors that are contributing to the crisis.
Kennedy blasted the “epidemic denialists,” pointing to a 1992 ADDM report as proof that autism rates have exploded nearly fivefold in just three decades. Back then, the rate was 1 in 150. Today, it’s 1 in 31.
“It’s clear that the rates are real,” Kennedy stressed.
“Year by year there is a steady, relentless increase. I want it because this epidemic denial has become a feature in the mainstream media and it’s based on an industry canard.
“Obviously, there are people who don’t want us to look at environmental exposures,” he said.
He didn’t hold back in calling out the media and powerful industries, accusing them of covering up environmental factors that are contributing to the crisis.
Kennedy blasted the “epidemic denialists,” pointing to a 1992 ADDM report as proof that autism rates have exploded nearly… pic.twitter.com/UpEUxiwgIc
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) April 16, 2025
He also took direct aim at the claim that today’s rising autism rates are simply the result of better awareness or improved diagnosis.
To prove his point, Kennedy cited a peer-reviewed 1987 study from North Dakota, where researchers attempted to identify every child in the state with a developmental disorder.
They didn’t cut corners. They analyzed medical records, confirmed diagnoses, and even conducted in-person evaluations across a population of 180,000 children. Then, they followed that same group for 12 years.
If you still believe autism rates are only rising because doctors are “getting better at diagnosing it,” Kennedy said, you’d have to believe that the original researchers somehow missed nearly all the cases—98.8 percent of them.
But that’s not what happened.
“They went back in 2000 and found that they had missed exactly one child,” he said.
“They weren’t missing all these cases. The epidemic is real.”
He also took direct aim at the claim that today’s rising autism rates are simply the result of better awareness or improved diagnosis.
To prove his point, Kennedy cited a peer-reviewed 1987 study from North Dakota, where researchers attempted to identify every child in the state… pic.twitter.com/J7AOJ1idyl
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) April 16, 2025
Then came one of the most infuriating parts of the press conference: Kennedy revealed how autism research funding has been misdirected for years.
He said the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has pumped 10 to 20 times more money into studying genetic causes of autism than into researching environmental ones.
That, Kennedy said, is a dead end.
“This is a preventable disease. We know it’s an environmental exposure. It has to be. Genes do not cause epidemics,” he argued.
That’s why Kennedy says he’s redirecting resources toward the kind of research that’s long been neglected—into environmental factors.
“And that’s where we’re going to find the answer,” he added.
Then came one of the most infuriating parts of the press conference: Kennedy revealed how autism research funding has been misdirected for years.
He said the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has pumped 10 to 20 times more money into studying genetic causes of autism than into… pic.twitter.com/Nj5Ha0YVFE
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) April 16, 2025
The most emotional moment came at the end, when Kennedy spoke from the heart about what this epidemic is doing to children—and to families.
“These are children who should not be suffering like this,” he said.
“These are kids who, many of them, were fully functional and regressed because of some environmental exposure into autism when they’re two years old. These are kids who will 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.”
“We have to recognize we are doing this to our children and we need to put an end to it,” Kennedy declared.
The most emotional moment came at the end, when Kennedy spoke from the heart about what this epidemic is doing to children—and to families.
“These are children who should not be suffering like this,” he said.
“These are kids who, many of them, were fully functional and… pic.twitter.com/d4kfkd6E5s
— The Vigilant Fox (@VigilantFox) April 16, 2025
Copyright 2025 VigilantFox.com
The post RFK Jr. Exposes a Chilling New Autism Reality appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
