Barack Obama voiced Donald Trump's claims association of paracetamol with autism in infants is “violence against truth” and can harm pregnant women if they are too scared to take pain medication.
Obama, interviewed by David Olusoga at the O2 Arena, told the audience that Trump's statements about paracetamol – known as Tylenol in the USA. – have been “consistently debunked” and pose a public health risk.
“We see my successor in the Oval Office making sweeping statements regarding certain drugs and autism that are continually debunked,” he said. “It undermines public health… which can harm women.”
On Monday, Trump said: “Tylenol is harmful to take… All pregnant women should talk to their doctors about limiting the use of this medication during pregnancy.”
There were comments criticized British Health Minister Wes Streeting, who urged women to ignore the president's comments.
Obama said there is a “tug of war” between two visions for the future of the United States and humanity. On the one hand there is a progressive view that change comes through democracy, on the other there are populists, including Trump, who want to return to an older, more conservative worldview.
He said: “My successor wasn't particularly shy about it. The desire is to get back to a very specific way of thinking about America, where 'we the people' are just some people and not all the people. And where there is a pretty clear hierarchy in terms of status and who ranks where.”»
Obama also criticized progressives, who he said became “smug” and “smug” in the '90s and '00s, “stating that we believe in all these values because they have never been tested. Now they are being checked.”
The former president has generally maintained a low profile since leaving office. But his interventions are becoming more frequent as the US political landscape becomes more violent, turbulent and divided along party lines.
In London, Obama did not refer to Trump by name, only as “my successor.”
The evening began with Olusoga welcoming London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was criticized by Trump during his speech at the United Nations in New York on Tuesday. Khan replied saying Trump “has shown himself to be racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic.”
Obama is in London as part of a European speaking tour that includes another appearance in Dublin on Friday. He must get Freedom of Dublin on Thursday.
