President Donald Trump apparently did not prepare for his major declaration linking autism to the world’s most common over-the-counter pain reliever.
The president announced on Monday that the administration had found links between autism and pregnant women’s use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol.
However, the 79-year-old president collided head-on with the pronunciation of the medication while giving his remarks at the White House.
“Effective immediately,” he said, reading off a piece of paper, “the FDA will be notifying physicians that the use of… acedo—well, let’s see how we say that.”
The commander-in-chief continued his negotiation with the word, testing out another version: “Aceda… menophin.”
Trump, eyes narrowed, gave it one last try before finally getting it right. The American pronunciation of acetaminophen is “uh-see-duh-MIN-uh-fuhn,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
“Is that OK?” Trump asked, as Dr. Mehmet Oz—the celebrity doctor overseeing Medicaid, who was flanking the president—nodded in approval.
The president went on to say that the use of the drug during pregnancy “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.”
“So taking Tylenol is not good. Alright? I’ll say it: It’s not good,” he said.
Trump was also joined by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has made autism a key focus of his “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and has pushed the false claim that vaccines cause autism.
Trump claimed there are “certain groups of people that don’t take any vaccines or don’t take any pills that have no autism,” before asking Kennedy, “Is that a correct statement by the way?”
Kennedy replied that some studies have suggested as much, citing “the Amish” as an example, despite there being cases of autism in the Amish community.
However, while Trump may tout the supposed benefits of a lifestyle free from vaccines and pain relievers, he himself is vaccinated and takes at least three different medications, according to an April memo from his physician.
Trump’s health issues and frequent gaffes have fueled questions about his physical fitness and mental acuity during his second term.
He has rambled about an imaginary governor named “Kristi Whitman,” referred to St. Petersburg by its Soviet-era name, Leningrad, and invented a war between countries 4,000 miles apart that he claims to have “solved.”
Tylenol is considered the safest treatment to take during pregnancy to relieve pain and fever, according to CNBC.
The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology called the Trump administration’s attempt to link acetaminophen to autism “irresponsible” in a statement and said the announcement is “not backed by the full body of scientific evidence and dangerously simplifies the many and complex causes of neurologic challenges in children.”
The post Trump, 79, Mangles Pronunciation of World’s Most Common Medication appeared first on The Daily Beast.
