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Kiera Butler

@kieraevebutler.bsky.social

12K followers 650 following 110 posts

National Correspondent for Mother Jones. Extremism etc. https://www.motherjones.com/author/kiera-butler/ Tips: [email protected]

www.motherjones.com

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Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 1d

Ladapo's wife believes that even children choose the harm that they experience. In fact, some children opt for “lives of sacrifice,” an insight that emerged from a vision she had of herself as a young mother with three children, each of whom she was forced to watch get burned alive at the stake.

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 1d

NEW: Florida's surgeon general Joseph Ladapo isn't just guided by science—his beliefs are shaped by a wife who says she can speak to spirits and levitate, and an energy healer guru.

The latest from @juliannemcshane.bsky.social and @kieraevebutler.bsky.social:

From medicine to mysticism: the radicalization of Florida's top doc

Joseph Ladapo was a normie—until he met his wife and a guru into levitating and communicating with spirits.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 1d

I've worked on crazy stories, but this, with @juliannemcshane.bsky.social, might be the wildest. Joseph Ladapo, FL surgeon general who aims to end school vax laws, is influenced by 2 ppl who believe in communicating w spirits, levitating, & even weirder stuff. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

From medicine to mysticism: the radicalization of Florida's top doc

Joseph Ladapo was a normie—until he met his wife and a guru into levitating and communicating with spirits.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 2d

I joined @juliekkohler.bsky.social on the White Picket Fence podcast to discuss the growing pronatalist movement: who's behind it, what it stands for, and its links to Christian Nationalism. Listen here: lnk.to/wpf-ep3

Seizing the Means of Reproduction

Lately, our government has seemed a little...baby crazy. President Trump declared he will be the "fertilization president." Vice President JD Vance announced he wants to see "more babies in the United...

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 11d

Today Trump and Netanyahu announced a plan for ending the war in Gaza. Here's my piece about the one group that may have more power than any other over US Israel policy: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

God's "blank check": Christian Zionists are pouring billions of dollars into Israeli extremism

Evangelicals have become Israel's most important American allies.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 11d

“I am Charlie Kirk.”

Last week, I spoke to a group of anti-vaccine activists rallying near the Atlanta headquarters of the CDC in support of RFK Jr. Here's what some of them had to say.

Video over on X: x.com/MotherJones/...

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 15d

New from me: I talked to these people outside the CDC headquarters about Tylenol, vaccines, Charlie Kirk, and going "down the truth rabbit hole"

Anti-vax activists stage a rally exactly where an anti-vax gunman killed an officer last month

One sign read, "Anti-Science, Pro-Informed Consent.”

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Kiera Butler

Dan Friedman @dfriedman.bsky.social · 16d

Israeli settlers have an influential lobbyist working in Washington to push the Trump administration to okay annexation of the West Bank. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The settlers' man in Washington

How Yossi Dagan is pushing US lawmakers to support Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 16d

A giant thank you to the many people who made this story better, including the meticulous fact checking by @schuylermitchell.bsky.social and my amazing editor Marianne Szegedy-Maszak

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 16d

New from me: I wrote about how increasingly Israel's most important American allies are not Jews but evangelical Christians. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

God's "blank check": Christian Zionists are pouring billions of dollars into Israeli extremism

Evangelicals have become Israel's most important American allies.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Kiera Butler

Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 17d

Folks, we've got an epistemological crisis and it's not going well www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Anti-vax groups struggle to explain how Tylenol fits in with their whole thing

The White House's very weird autism announcement triggers a moment of opportunity and crisis.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 17d

Trouble in paradise! @annamerlan.bsky.social and I wrote about how some corners of the anti-vax universe are displeased by Trump's Tylenol announcement. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Anti-vax groups struggle to explain how Tylenol fits in with their whole thing

The White House's very weird autism announcement triggers a moment of opportunity and crisis.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 18d

Today @annamerlan.bsky.social and I have a piece about Trump's autism announcement, along with its weird connections to wellness people who are obsessed with folate deficiencies (and selling supplements for this supposed problem, naturally): www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The bonkers wellness myths that fueled Trump’s autism announcement

Tylenol, folate deficiency, and other still-undetermined “environmental factors” were all to blame.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 19d

Likewise!!!!

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 23d

Just a reminder that this is the guy who now has final say over any new CDC vaccine guidelines: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

"Like making Elon Musk the head of the FAA"—meet acting CDC director Jim O’Neill

He's not a scientist but has deep ties to Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley’s techno-utopia movement.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · 24d

New from me: I talked to @matthewboedy.bsky.social about his new book, which reveals Turning Point’s deep connections to a shadowy Christian nationalist movement.

His book on Charlie Kirk was about to come out. Then his subject was murdered.

Turning Point is "built to last" and "now has a martyr to honor."

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 11

J6ers and militia leaders are newly energized in the wake of Charlie Kirk's assassination. “I’m going to be rebuilding Oath Keepers,” vowed Stewart Rhodes, leader of the militia group. www.motherjones.com/politics/202... by @juliannemcshane.bsky.social and me

Pardoned insurrectionists are using Charlie Kirk’s death to call for civil war

“Charlie Kirk's assassination pulled me out of retirement. More work must be done.”

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 5

But they don't mention this bit from the discussion, which seems like v important context:

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 5

This seems to be the study they're referring to: ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Evaluation of the evidence on acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders using the Navigation Guide methodology - Environmental Health

Background Acetaminophen is the most commonly used over-the-counter pain and fever medication taken during pregnancy, with > 50% of pregnant women using acetaminophen worldwide. Numerous well-designed...

ehjournal.biomedcentral.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 5

Oh look it's RFK Jr.'s antivax group Children's Health Defense posting about tylenol supposedly causing autism a few days ago

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 4

New from me: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

RFK Jr. is living in a pretend anti-vax world

Unfortunately, he is wreaking havoc in the real one.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 4

Pastor Doug Wilson at the National Conservatism conference that's happening now. He also believes that women, who shouldn't be allowed to vote, are "the kind of people who people come out of."

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 3

And there it is. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Florida's surgeon general just said he will eliminate "all vaccine mandates"

Including those for shots that prevent catastrophic diseases like polio and measles.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 3

Curiously, the main organizers of the highly influential MAGA conference where JD Vance debuted his "America is a people" speech last year don't live in the US—they live in West Bank settlements. This year's conference is happening now. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Make America Israel Again?

If you want to see where MAGA is headed, look no further than this week's National Conservatism summit.

www.motherjones.com

Kiera Butler @kieraevebutler.bsky.social · Sep 2

Something to know about the folks behind America’s most influential nationalism movement is that the nation they’re most connected to is not America. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Make America Israel Again?

If you want to see where MAGA is headed, look no further than this week's National Conservatism summit.

www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Kiera Butler

Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · Aug 29

While he throws the CDC into chaos that may not be fixable, read @kieraevebutler.bsky.social and I on what else RFK Jr. is planning to do to vaccines, and remember the artificial September deadline he's set to "discover" the causes of autism: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The plot against vaccines

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his allies have hit on a way to undermine immunization.

www.motherjones.com