Byron Donalds Turns a Vaccine Question Back on MSNBC Contributor Molly Jong-Fast [VIDEO]

Adriana Stone 0 2 min read

Byron Donalds Turns a Vaccine Question Back on MSNBC Contributor Molly Jong-Fast

Byron Donalds faced a pointed vaccination question during an appearance on the Bill Maher show. The Florida Republican candidate for governor was pressed by MSNOW contributor Molly Jong-Fast about his comments on measles outbreaks and childhood vaccines.

Jong-Fast appeared to be challenging Donalds to explain whether he vaccinates his own children. Instead of taking the bait, Donalds focused on how vaccination schedules have changed over the years and argued that parents should have more say in medical decisions involving their children.

Bill Maher agreed with part of Donalds’ response. The exchange also drew applause from Maher’s audience, according to the source article.

Here is the exchange on childhood vaccination schedules:

MOLLY JONG-FAST: “You’ve had to say some stuff. Like last week on Margaret Brennan’s show, you said rampant illegal immigration was the cause for this measles outbreak and not not being vaccinated. I’m curious. Like, I have three kids. You have three kids. Do you not vaccinate your kids?”

BYRON DONALDS: “My oldest son is 23 years old. The vaccination schedule for him was less intense than the vaccination schedule for my 15-year-old son. And if you have talked to my mom, the vaccination schedule for me, being 47 years old, was not nearly as intense as it is for newborns today.

“So I think there are parents, there are mothers who have real concerns about the frequency of vaccines for young infants into just being a toddler. And so I think the order that came out the other day from the White House was, well, let’s just spread the vaccination schedule back out. Let parents have an ability to make those decisions for their children with informed consent. And then the last piece is, let’s also make sure that the human body in its infancy can actually manage the amount of vaccines that are being put into their child. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

BILL MAHER: “I don’t either.”

The discussion then moved to measles cases and Donalds’ claim that illegal immigration played a role in outbreaks at certain facilities and locations.

JONG-FAST: “We have people dying of measles. We had two people in Ohio die of measles. We were almost eradicated from measles and now we have measles again, and there’s a reason for that. And the idea that you said illegal immigration causes—”

DONALDS: “Under the previous administration, more than 10 million people came into the country illegally, and I know for a fact, just like everybody else — you can read your notes too — they weren’t checking their vaccination schedules coming into the United States. That’s a fact. That’s number one.

“Number two, there was a measles outbreak in a couple of the detention facilities on the southern border. There was a measles outbreak in El Paso, Texas. There was also one in Chicago at another illegal immigration facility. Those are the facts.

“So when you let that many people come into your country, when we already know in other countries they don’t have the vaccination schedule that we have, and then when the Department of Health and Human Services is talking about American children, now you’re finding fault with vaccination schedules for American children? I don’t think that’s an accurate way to look at it.”

The video of the exchange was shared by The Vigilant Fox on X. The clip highlights Jong-Fast’s question, Donalds’ response, and Maher’s agreement with his point about parental decision-making.

Donalds’ argument was straightforward: parents have legitimate concerns about the number and timing of vaccines given to young children, while border security and public-health screening also deserve scrutiny. The exchange gave him a chance to make that case directly in front of a largely liberal audience.

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