Responding to RFK Jr.'s remarks, Representative Frost wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "This is disrespectful and a flat-out lie that further stigmatizes autism. It's not a virus or a disease — it's a neurological condition with a wide spectrum. Many Americans with autism work, pay taxes, and are living happy and healthy lives."

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. warned that U.S. autism diagnoses are rising at an “alarming rate," calling the condition a “preventable disease."