Trump Allies Deflect From Explosive Diarrhea Epidemic

“The real epidemic here is the relentless legacy media effort to attack Trump and Kennedy on public health issues.”

This piece has been updated from its original email version.

In an editorial for The Free Press and his Substack, former New York Times journalist Alex Berenson, known today for his polemical opposition to lifesaving mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, dismissed concerns surrounding the record-breaking cyclosporiasis outbreak sickening Americans in at least 41 states, calling them “yet another effort by legacy reporters to attack the Trump administration.”

The unpleasant condition, caused by the cyclospora parasite found in human feces, is marked by an array of gastrointestinal issues—most notably explosive, watery diarrhea lasting days to weeks—but is not generally life-threatening. Outbreaks happen every summer when temperatures are warmer, with the usual culprits being leafy greens and berries. The scale of this year’s multi-state blowout is unique.

The situation, coming months ahead of the midterm elections, has been another headache for the Trump administration and HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. Kennedy’s leadership has come under fire for what critics say has been a sluggish federal response, plagued by poor communication.

Earlier this month, the FDA announced that the outbreak was being fueled by iceberg lettuce sold at Taco Bell restaurants and produced by supplier Taylor Farms. But days later, the agency clarified that the sample it tested produced a false positive, while also reasserting that the agribusiness titan remained a likely source.

Staffing and funding cuts made by the administration, which hit the CDC, FDA, and other critical public health agencies, have come under increasing scrutiny. According to experts, the cuts have hindered the agency’s ability to track and respond to the outbreak, delaying necessary functions like sample testing.

Much of the political right and major anti-vaccine groups like Children’s Health Defense and the Independent Medical Alliance have engaged minimally with the outbreak, if at all. But a constellation of voices has emerged to respond—not by defending the government’s handling of the problem but by directing focus elsewhere.

Berenson, who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 and recently received a six-figure settlement from his Department of Justice while his Biden-Era censorship lawsuit was on appeal following a dismissal, rejected any connection between the cuts to public health infrastructure and the historic outbreak.

“The real epidemic here is the relentless legacy media effort to attack Trump and Kennedy on public health issues,” he wrote.

His editorial put forward a narrative that explained away all of the infectious disease outbreaks that have dogged the administration in recent months. He suggested that journalists had been deliberately overhyping the threat to Americans posed by hantavirus, Ebola, and even measles, which killed two unvaccinated children last year and is seeing a historic resurgence.

Vinay Prasad, formerly the director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research who spearheaded a campaign against mRNA vaccines, saw a different problem with the outbreak: the public health warnings.

In a video posted to his X account with the caption “Extreme public health advice,” the former official, who was unceremoniously ousted twice from his position, reacted to a July 13 NBC News tweet citing one expert’s recommendation to avoid produce for “the next week or so.”

“You tell all these people, ‘You’re not supposed to eat produce for the next few weeks until we get to the bottom of cyclosporiasis’—that’s the craziest recommendation I’ve ever heard in my life,” Prasad opined, invoking pandemic mitigation efforts.

Some of the right-wing responses to the parasitic outbreak focused on a favorite target of the administration: immigrants. The Daily Caller published a story earlier this month headlined, “Could Illegal Aliens Crapping In Your Food Be Why You’re Having Explosive Diarrhea?” The article asserted that “interviews with experts and research reviewed by the Daily Caller suggest poor field sanitation among illegal immigrant farmworkers could be a major source of the problem.”

Investigators have never been able to identify how human fecal matter is entering American agriculture.

Texas GOP Congressman Ronny Jackson also encouraged a connection between undocumented immigrants and cyclospora through a comparison. “Illegal immigrants and cyclosporiasis: both parasites coming from Mexico, spreading a SICKNESS across our country,” he wrote in a post on X. “BOTH need to be removed AS FAST AS POSSIBLE!!”

Last week, The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board published a piece defending the administration and reframing the cyclosporiasis outbreak as a failure of big government—in particular, the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act signed by President Barack Obama. The law gave the FDA an array of tools to improve food safety, including produce-safety standards, mandatory recall authority, and more required inspections of facilities.

“The Administration’s public messaging could be clearer, but it’s ironic that Democrats complain about the government response since they passed legislation in 2011 that they said would prevent outbreaks,“ the piece read.

Jeffrey Tucker, founder of the anti-vaccine Brownstone Institute, shared the article on X, calling it “a perfect editorial.” Brownstone itself has not published anything about the outbreak.

At least one prominent voice on the right offered mild criticism of the Trump administration. In a post on X, Dr. Peter McCullough, the former cardiologist who became famous for spreading misinformation about mRNA vaccines, wrote that “USDA and FDA MUST to do a better job protecting Americans from foodborne illness.” But McCullough’s critique was broader, primarily about “the system” and government bureaucracy. In a Substack post, he declared that “a $9 billion bureaucracy got outsmarted by tainted lettuce.”

“Should America Stop Eating Lettuce? No—but you should stop trusting the system to protect you,” the post read.

McCullough has also been using the outbreaks as an opportunity to hawk emergency medical kits sold by his supplements business, The Wellness Company. In an appearance on the far-right Real America’s Voice Network, which Important Context previously reported was featuring undisclosed paid content from Chinese billionaire fraudster Guo Wengui, McCullough made a promise to viewers.

”You don’t have to go to the ER or go through PCR testing,” he said while a chyron appeared on screen offering a promo code.