Televangelist Pat Robertson on Tuesday said he was skeptical of two prominent public health measures in America: vaccination mandates and the fluoridation of water.
Robertson made his comments as the issue of vaccines has moved to the front of the national political debate after two potential GOP candidates for President said parents should have some choice about whether to vaccinate their children.
On his show “The 700 Club,” Robertson argued that “all vaccines are not benign” and that “natural immunity is a pretty good thing, and if you have some of these diseases when you’re a kid you have immunity the rest of your life.”
“You know, when I was a kid, we all got measles! We got mumps!” the 84-year-old Robertson said. “They didn’t vaccinate — we just got immune.”
Warning his viewers not to “fall for these nostrums,” he continued: “You know, you have to put fluoride in all the water because it will cut down on cavities. But what does fluoride do to people? We don’t know some of the consequences, that’s all I’m saying. We don’t have all the knowledge we need and we should be very careful not to force people to do stuff that they earnestly feel they shouldn’t do.”
Robertson added he wasn’t against vaccines in general but had doubts about government mandates.
Watch below, via Right Wing Watch:
