News/Commentary

Truth accidentally slips in CNN’s failed attempt to debunk RFK’s theory on gender dysphoria

July 14, 2023 | | Print Article

The liberal media is desperate to discredit presidential candidate Robert F. Kenndy, Jr. for his outspoken stands on controversial subjects, labeling him a “conspiracy theorist” for claiming that manmade “endocrine disruptors” such as Atrazine found in the nation’s water supply may be “affecting human sexual development and gender dysphoria.”

Most recently, CNN’s KFile reported on Thursday that Kennedy “has a history of repeatedly sharing unfounded conspiracies that man-made chemicals in the environment could be making children gay or transgender and causing the feminization of boys and masculinization of girls.”

“Kennedy on multiple occasions misconstrued endocrine disruptors’ studied ability to cause some male frogs to become female and produce viable eggs, suggesting that these chemicals could have similar effects on children and change their sexuality,” investigative journalists Andrew Kaczynski and Abby Turner wrote.

Kaczynski appeared on CNN’s “Inside Politics” on Thursday with the goal of debunking RFK’s claims once and for all, and in his haste went against the media narrative.

(Video: CNN)

“We talked to experts and they told us that this was basically comparing apples to oranges,” he told host Dana Bash. “Look, we’re humans. Frogs are amphibians. For humans, sex is determined at the moment of conception. For frogs, they can be determined by a number of things, including environmental factors.”

In his original reporting, Kaczynski cited Dr. Linda Kahn, an assistant professor in the departments of pediatrics and population health at New York University, who, according to the author, “said while general studies on endocrine disruptors have shown effects on puberty, no study has proven if atrazine, the chemical Kennedy often cites, specifically affects puberty in humans.”

He also spoke to Dr. Andrea Gore, professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Texas at Austin, who, Kaczynski reports, “added that, while general studies on endocrine disruptors have shown a trend in early onset puberty and a decreased sperm count in men, these effects are part of a multitude of factors affecting children’s development. Endocrine disruptors’ effects on puberty and reproduction functions are not linked to sexuality and gender expression in children.”

A spokesperson for Kennedy’s campaign told KFile in a statement that “Mr. Kennedy’s remarks are being mischaracterized.”

“He is not claiming that endocrine disruptors are the only or main cause of gender dysphoria,” the spokesperson said. “He is merely suggesting that, given copious research on the effects on other vertebrates, this possibility deserves further research.”

But that didn’t stop Kaczynski from writing that Kennedy “has a history of repeatedly sharing unfounded conspiracies that man-made chemicals in the environment could be making children gay or transgender and causing the feminization of boys and masculinization of girls.”

Fortunately for the intellectually curious, CNN is not the only arbiter of truth on such matters.

Fact-checkers quickly fact-checked the debunkers.

Armed with a mountain of receipts, American scientist and CEO James Lyons-Weiler wrote on Substack’s “Popular Rationalism” that there is a problem with those who would try to debunk RFK Jr.’s claims.

“The problem is there is not zero evidence,” Lyons-Weiler stated. “Studies have shown early onset of menarche in girls.”

“And Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) are not just Atrazine,” he continued. “They include many others. Bisphenol A. Phalates. Their sources are myriad, not just the water. Toys. Make-up (see the Hermosa study by Harley et al., 2016). They confound attempts for couples to become pregnant (Cabry et al., 2020).”

The author continues:

In 2013, the problem was recognized to be important enough to be discussed by a joint UNEP/WHO report, now no longer available on either organization’s website

WHO. (2013). WHO. Effects of Human Exposure to Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals Examined in Landmark UN Report. The original link is a 404: https://apps.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2013/hormone_disrupting_20130219/en/index.html

The Wayback Machine has a copy:

https://web.archive.org/web/20131030050716/https://www.unep.org/pdf/9789241505031_eng.pdf

 

One after another, Lyons-Weiler debunks Kaczynski’s debunking, citing studies and reviews to back up his fact-checking, including one “that found that atrazine levels are associated with early puberty in female humans, which we now know is early onset but late maturity.”

“Should RFK Jr. stop talking about EDCs including Atrazine?” Lyons-Weiler asked. “I don’t think so. I’m marking CNN’s coverage: FALSE.”

DONATE TO AMERICAN WIRE

If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to American Wire News to help us fight them.

$10
$15
$25
$50
Other
$
Thank you for your donation!
Melissa Fine
Latest posts by Melissa Fine (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles