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."

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services secretary, has spoken several times in April about plans to find the origins of autism.