Aug. 23, 2026, 2:23 p.m. ET
Dr. Mehmet Oz split with President Donald Trump on the MMR vaccine during the Sunday, Aug. 23 edition of “Face the Nation” hosted by Margaret Brennan.
Once the host of the hit daytime talk show “Dr. Oz” and a one-time political candidate, Trump later appointed the cardiothoracic surgeon to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Oz was pressed during the interview with Brennan on comments Trump made earlier this month calling the MMR vaccine – which protects against measles, mumps, and rubella – “quite lethal.”
The former TV host’s admission Sunday that the vaccine is not lethal comes amid increased scrutiny by experts and Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy about the Trump administration’s health policies with November’s crucial midterms just over two months away.
Oz told Brennan, who asked if he wanted to clarify Trump’s assertions, that “we want patients to get the treatments for that their doctors are recommending to them, but we also want parents to have the autonomy to decide what their kids receive.” When Oz failed to offer a direct answer, Brennan pointed out that the MMR vaccine could take a decade to be administered three separate times because it currently is administered on a single instance.
Oz then told Brennan that “the MMR vaccine is not a lethal vaccine.” He also argued that the issue is about parental rights, a common talking point from the Department of Health of Human Services, which includes the CMS led by Oz.
Earlier in August, Trump made several unproven statements about vaccines while signing an executive order on the matter, telling reporters gathered at the White House that “together there could be a possibility [the MMR vaccine is] quite lethal and separately, it looks like they are not at all lethal, but just very effective.”
Medical experts say the MMR vaccine is not lethal when given in its current form, and medical research does not support Trump’s assertions that there are benefits to a child’s health by dividing the immunizations.
On Aug. 16, Sen. Cassidy, R-Louisiana, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Trump’s false assertions in the Oval Office were “potentially tragic” and “wrong on so many levels.”
