Dear Friend,
Just when you thought things couldn’t get more surreal, this past week’s headlines proved otherwise. The top stories ranged from the alarming to the absurd. Here’s what happened:
President Donald Trump issued a presidential memorandum on Thursday targeting U.S. nonprofit organizations that his administration has called a “radical left-wing domestic terror network.” It empowers multiple federal agencies to investigate, prosecute, and otherwise “disrupt” advocacy groups the administration claims are involved in promoting civil unrest and political violence.
The memo asserts recent violent acts have undermined Americans’ “love of God” and have been fueled by “anti-Christianity” and “hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.” It directs the Attorney General to designate such groups “domestic terrorist organizations.”
Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller made the threat explicit: “We are going to use the entire force of the federal government to uproot these organizations, root and branch.” And Trump himself suggested filing racketeering charges against individuals and revoking the tax-exempt status of organizations allegedly “targeting conservatives.”
We knew this crackdown was coming. Now that it’s here, I hope American Atheists can count on your support. Nonprofits like ours are on the front lines of this fight — defending civil rights, speaking the truth, advancing secular values, and holding extremists to account. This government wants to criminalize our advocacy work when it’s needed most. Please make a donation of $25 or more today, so we can keep fighting tomorrow.
Earlier in the week, Trump suggested a link between acetaminophen and autism and announced the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will discourage the use of Tylenol by pregnant women.
Federal officials also endorsed leucovorin (a type of Vitamin B known as folinic acid) as a treatment for autism. Following reports that Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, held a large financial stake in iHerb, a supplement retailer that sells folinic acid, the celebrity doctor pledged to divest his shares.
Medical groups were quick to push back. The World Health Organization, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists all said there is not sufficient scientific evidence to support these changes. Even an epidemiologist who worked on the Harvard study cited by the administration said plainly: “There is absolutely no evidence out there to support the kind of strong statement that we heard from President Trump.”
Meanwhile, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., announced the FDA would begin its review of the safety and efficacy of mifepristone, an oral drug used for decades to manage early miscarriages and in nearly two-thirds of abortions. Kennedy referenced a dubious “study,” produced by the Heritage Foundation that was neither peer-reviewed nor published in a scientific journal.
In Oklahoma, Ryan Walters announced he was resigning as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, a post he used almost exclusively to impose his white Christian nationalist agenda on public schools.
Walters championed an unconstitutional religious charter school; spent taxpayer dollars to place Trump’s God Bless the USA Bible in every classroom; worked with PragerU to develop an ideological screening for prospective teachers; and just this week announced a mandate to establish Turning Point USA chapters in every high school.
The scandal-plagued school official will now serve as the CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, a conservative nonprofit where he promises to “destroy the teacher unions.” He leaves behind a state education system that is currently ranked 50th in the nation.
Finally, Christian TikTokers latched onto a South African man’s prediction that the #Rapture would occur this past Tuesday. It did not.
Until next week,
Melina Cohen
Director of Strategic Communications & Policy Engagement
PS: If you enjoy reading our Saturday emails and know of someone else who might, please encourage them to sign up here!
American Atheists is a 501(c)(3) non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization that relies on the support of members like you. Contributions are tax-deductible. Our Federal Tax ID Number is 74-2466507 and our Combined Federal Campaign number is 52217.
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