Trump surgeon general pick backs MMR vaccine, rejects link between childhood vaccines and autism
President Donald Trump's latest surgeon general nominee, Dr. Nicole Saphier, defended the MMR vaccine and rejected claims that childhood vaccines cause autism during a Senate confirmation hearing Wednesday.
Saphier, a radiologist and a former Fox News contributor, would serve as the federal government's top doctor and public health spokesperson at a time when measles cases are surging across the country.
"I believe the MMR vaccine is our greatest tool for combating measles," Saphier said during her appearance before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., the committee's chairman, asked Saphier whether she agreed with Trump's comments last month suggesting the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine could be "quite lethal."
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"As a physician, I can tell you that I do not believe the MMR vaccine to be lethal," Saphier responded.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Saphier would serve under if confirmed, has said multiple times throughout his tenure that people should get the MMR vaccine.
"The two-dose MMR vaccine is our safest and most effective tool to prevent this highly contagious illness," he told Fox News Digital in March 2025.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also continued to recommend the MMR vaccine, although the Trump administration eventually favors splitting it into three shots.
Saphier also differed with some of Kennedy’s past statements about a potential link between vaccines and autism.
"Well, humbly, I don't know what causes autism, but I have not seen reputable evidence that would suggest that vaccines cause autism," Saphier said. "I do not believe childhood vaccines cause autism."
In a 2023 Fox News interview, while running for president as a Democrat, Kennedy told host Jesse Watters: "I do believe that autism does come from vaccines."
Kennedy later backed away from claiming a definitive link between vaccines and autism, saying in his confirmation hearing last year that he would "do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines."
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Later, Saphier addressed a question from Cassidy, also a physician, about whether children should receive the hepatitis B vaccine at birth.
"Chairman Cassidy, you're speaking to someone who tells people they have cancer every day. And the hepatitis B vaccine is one of the most tangible ways we have to prevent cancer," she said, adding, "The most tried and true way to prevent hepatitis B infection and effectively lower hepatitis B associated illness is universal birth dosing."
Cassidy repeatedly pressed Saphier on whether she supported the Trump administration's move in December to stop universally recommending the vaccine at birth for babies whose mothers test negative for hepatitis B.
Saphier stopped short of saying whether she believed the policy should be reversed.
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Under questioning from other senators, Saphier said that as surgeon general, she would promote early cancer screening, review data on the harms of flavored e-cigarettes and study the mental health effects of AI chatbots on children and adolescents.
Saphier was nominated by Trump in April after his earlier pick for surgeon general, wellness influencer Dr. Casey Means, failed to gain enough traction in the Senate to be confirmed.
Before that, Trump withdrew his nomination of Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, another former Fox News contributor, in May 2025.
As the director of breast imaging at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's location in Monmouth, New Jersey, Saphier would bring extensive medical experience to the role.
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She has also authored several books on health and wellness, including "Make America Healthy Again: How Bad Behavior and Big Government Caused a Trillion-Dollar Crisis," published in April 2020, mere months after the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Kennedy later adopted the phrase "Make America Healthy Again" as the slogan for his presidential campaign before bringing it into the Trump administration's broader public health agenda.
Before being nominated, Saphier openly criticized Kennedy, writing in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last year that she was "deeply concerned" about his approach after he described autism as an "epidemic" and pledged to identify the cause of the developmental disorder by September 2025.
Specifically, she took issue with Kennedy hiring David Geier, a vaccine critic, to analyze CDC data on autism. She called his experience "limited" and said his research has been "widely criticized within the scientific and medical communities."
A review of the Health and Human Services employment database shows Geier still works at the department as a "senior data analyst."
"Families deserve more than passionate speeches and fringe science," Saphier wrote in the op-ed. "If Mr. Kennedy truly wants to be a champion for families facing autism spectrum disorder, he should form partnerships with the nation’s most reputable researchers."