Self-professed “CEO of my home” Darla Shine, wife of White House Communications Director Bill Shine, had a real barn-burner of a take about vaccinations on Wednesday—by which I mean, a take that’s about as valuable to public health as locking people inside an actual barn and setting it on fire.
Hear that polio? Now’s your chance to stage that big comeback tour you’ve always dreamed about! And folks, she’s digging in!
Never mind the fact that measles have become one of the top 10 global health threats of the year, with a 30 percent increase in outbreaks globally. Never mind the fact that improved vaccination efforts could save an additional 1.3 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
Shine—a woman married to one of President Trump’s top advisers—is hardly a stranger to internet kookery, and general garbage opinions. She once insisted that women in the military should expect to be sexually harassed, whined about not being able to use the N-word, and declared sunscreen a “hoax.”
I’ve reached out to the White House to see whether Shine shares his wife’s opinions on vaccinations, and if he’s in turn shared those opinions with the president (a public proponent of anti-vaxx hysteria himself). I’ll update this story if the White House responds.
In the meantime, at least Darla is being honest about what she hopes to get out of sharing her garbage opinions with the world: