Amid the chaos that conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has wrought at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control via firings and pressured resignations, some Republicans in Congress are opting to distract from the turmoil with rank homophobia.
Much like deceased GOP Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who led the so-called Lavender Scare, a crusade to purge gay people from the government, the right is yet again demonizing gay people to serve its political interests. After Demetre Daskalakis, the (now-former) director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, joined other top CDC officials in resigning in protest after the ouster of CDC Director Susan Monarez, two Republicans are suggesting Daskalakis’ sexuality justified his departure.
Here’s a quote Sen. Rand Paul gave to The Hill this week, while bashing Daskalakis’ support for vaccinating infants against hepatitis B:








