title:  Trump’s Shady ‘Charity’ Hurt Children, And This is How
text: Donald Trump s controversial foundation is once again being exposed for engaging in unsavory practices. Already connected to possible tax evasion and use as a weird piggy bank for Trump and his family, now it is apparent that the Trump Foundation s funds were used to hurt children.The Daily Beast followed the money trail between the Trump Foundation and the anti-vaccination group Generation Rescue, headed by former Playboy model and actress Jenny McCarthy.Donald Trump has not only spread dangerous misinformation about the links between vaccines and autism, but he s also given money to the anti-vaxxer cause.His monetary support for the conspiracy theory came in the form of a $10,000 check to an anti-vaccine charity run by former Playboy model and television host Jenny McCarthy.Trump s monetary and moral support for McCarthy s discredited ideas have real, harmful effects they contribute to the mainstreaming of a conspiracy theory at a time when parents are increasingly deciding to opt out of vaccines despite medical advice.Vaccination is of supreme importance, especially among children who are susceptible to numerous diseases and are often exposed to them in a school environment where they must interact repeatedly with each other. Opposing vaccination and sowing doubt about them harms and kills children. The anti-science, anti-vaccination movement has led to a return of several diseases including whooping cough, which has now killed more children in the last 5 years than it has in a long time.Trump has previously gone on the record with his anti-vaccination views, pushing the idea that they are dangerous, which is absurd as his claim that climate change was a conspiracy created by the Chinese or that Ted Cruz s father was part of the operation to kill President John F. Kennedy.So in addition to the Trump Foundation being used to raise Trump s profile as a donor to charity   with him rarely actually putting any of his own money in   now it is enabling dangerous propaganda that hurts children.Featured image via Flickr/Flickr