Marjorie Taylor Greene wants grand measles parties and every kid infected as massive outbreak in U.S. kills 2
Marjorie Taylor Greene might be your go-to person if you wanted advice on how to accidentally staple your finger or get abducted by aliens.
Heck, if you needed advice on how to make your brain cells spontaneously combust, Greene would be your gal. But if you’re looking for medical advice, public health strategies, or, frankly, anything remotely factual, you’d be better off consulting the moldy sandwich you left in your fridge three months ago. At least that sandwich is growing something — unlike Greene’s cognitive capacities.
Yet, with the audacity reserved exclusively for the spectacularly uninformed, Greene has proudly championed “measles parties” as the U.S. faces its worst measles outbreak. Recently, the measles resurgence tragically claimed two lives — two entirely preventable deaths. According to reports from the BBC, these fatalities startled a nation that hadn’t seen a measles-related death since 2015, and before that, not since 2003. But RFK Jr. still claims rising measles cases are “not unusual.”
Less than three months into 2025, measles infections have surged past 220 cases nationwide, rapidly approaching the total number of cases reported for all of 2024 (285 cases, per CDC data). Texas alone has become a hotbed, with nearly 200 cases reported in just days, and neighboring New Mexico tripling its count almost overnight. Thanks to anti-vaccine rhetoric.
Instead of encouraging vaccination, Greene is romanticizing the “good old days” when kids allegedly caught measles on purpose. Greene took to X to share a clip from The Brady Bunch, because apparently a 1970s sitcom is the standard for medical advice.
Watch entire video.
— Marjorie Taylor Greene ?? (@mtgreenee) March 7, 2025
They used to have measles parties, basically get all the kids together so they all catch it and develop immunity.
Then when I was a kid, they did the same thing with chicken pox.
Now, they demonize parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids. https://t.co/IPazGiD4ip
What’s especially galling is how she twists history to fit her narrative. Historically speaking, yes, some misguided parents did once intentionally expose their children to certain diseases like chickenpox. These infectious gatherings were never a universally accepted medical practice. Measles is vastly more contagious, more severe, and far deadlier. Even decades ago, competent doctors never recommended measles parties. In fact, such parties were always controversial, condemned by public health experts who accurately pointed out the enormous risks involved.
What kind of reckless #advice is this? Are you aware that this disease can be fatal.
— IslandGirl☮ (@IslandG41370138) March 7, 2025
Why not encourage #vaccination; full stop.
Is the desire of this administration to kill a large section of the populace?
The Measles virus lingers in the air for about two hours after an infected person leaves the room. Nine out of ten unvaccinated individuals exposed to measles will catch it. Symptoms include high fever, cough, runny nose, red watery eyes, and the notorious rash. But the truly chilling fact is that measles can cause dangerous complications like pneumonia, encephalitis (brain inflammation), blindness, deafness, permanent neurological damage, and death. Before the vaccine was introduced in 1963, measles killed 400–500 children in the U.S. every year. Then the vaccine changed everything. It reduced cases by 99% and saved millions of lives.
So how did we get here, back to a place where children are dying of a disease we eradicated decades ago? You see, it’s due to the anti-vaccine movement. This unholy alliance of conspiracy theorists, pseudoscientists, and far-right extremists has convinced a sizable chunk of the population that vaccines are more dangerous than the diseases they prevent. Thanks to their efforts, vaccination rates have plummeted in some communities. Herd immunity is breaking down, and diseases we thought we’d beaten are making a comeback. Measles is just the beginning.
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