‘Spectacle of my successor' : Barack Obama says Donald Trump's Tylenol warning can harm pregnant women; criticises 'broad claims'

NEW DELHI: Former US president Barack Obama has criticised Donald Trump’s claims linking paracetamol, branded Tylenol in the US, to autism in infants. He called the claims “violence against the truth” that could harm pregnant women if they were too scared to take pain relief.

Speaking at the O2 Arena in London during an interview with historian David Olusoga, Obama said Trump’s warnings had been “continuously disproved” and posed a threat to public health. “We have the spectacle of my successor in the Oval Office making broad claims around certain drugs and autism that have been continuously disproved,” he said. “It undermines public health … that can do harm to women.”


Trump had earlier advised pregnant women to limit the use of Tylenol, saying: “Taking Tylenol is not good … All pregnant women should talk to their doctors about limiting the use of this medication while pregnant.” His comments were criticised by UK health secretary Wes Streeting, who urged women to ignore them.

Obama also criticised the rise of populist politics and warned of a clash between progressive and conservative visions for the US. “My successor has not been particularly shy about it. That desire is to go back to a very particular way of thinking about America, where ‘we, the people’, is just some people, not all people. And where there are some pretty clear hierarchies in terms of status and who ranks where,” he said.

He also acknowledged complacency among progressives in the 1990s and 2000s, saying their values were “posturing” until tested in today’s political climate. Obama, who has generally maintained a low profile since leaving office, has become more vocal amid increasing political violence and partisanship in the US.

During the event, London mayor Sadiq Khan, who was criticised by Trump at the UN in New York, was welcomed on stage by Olusoga. Khan had previously called Trump “racist, sexist, misogynistic and Islamophobic.”

Obama’s London visit is part of a European speaking tour that includes a stop in Dublin on Friday, where he is scheduled to receive the Freedom of Dublin on Thursday.