Robert De Niro suggests a link between vaccines and son’s autism

Legendary actor Robert De Niro got very intense while talking about the anti-vaccination documentary Vaxxed in a segment aired this morning on Today.

The discussion revolved around DeNiro pulling the film from the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. During the candid interview, De Niro expressed that he believes there are connections between vaccinations and autism and suggested that his wife believes that vaccines are directly connected to their 18-year-old son’s autism.

The Oscar-award-winner said:

“I think the movie is something that people should see. There was a backlash which I haven’t fully explored and I will, but definitely there’s something to that movie… There’s a lot of information about things that are happening with the CDC, the pharmaceutical companies… There’s a lot of things that are not said. I, as a parent of a child who has autism, I’m concerned and I want to know the truth and I’m not anti-vaccine, I want safe vaccines.”

When another film about autism was discussed, De Niro jumped in, “It’s a beautiful film but it’s another thing. It’s not questioning how some people got autism. How the vaccines are dangerous to certain people who are more susceptible. Nobody seems to want to address that… There are many people who say, ‘I saw my kid change, like, overnight. I saw what happened and I should have done something and I didn’t.’ There’s more to this than meets the eye. Believe me.”

Trailer for Vaxxed:

When De Niro was asked if this was his experience with his son he said, “My wife says that, I don’t remember. But, there is something there that people aren’t addressing. And for me to get so upset on the air with you guys means there’s something there. All I want is for the movie to be seen. People can make their own judgment.”

Today’s Willie Geist pointed out that there’s a near consensus in the scientific community that there’s no link. “I believe it’s much more complicated than that. There is a link, they’re saying there isn’t but… The obvious one is thimerosal, which is a mercury based preservative. Let’s find out the truth.,” De Niro said.

Today’s Savannah Guthrie followed this up by arguing that this type of thinking may prevent parents from getting vaccinations for their children. Which, she said, has “led to a higher level of mumps and measles.” De Niro disagreed with this as well. “I don’t know if those statistics are accurate. I’m not the one to say. But I would question even that, there’s a kind of hysteria knee-jerk reaction.”