Florida Republican gubernatorial nominee and sitting U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds addressed state healthcare policies, childhood immunization mandates, and rising medical expenses during an appearance Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
When asked by host Margaret Brennan whether he would seek to repeal state-mandated vaccines such as polio and MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) if elected governor, Donalds stated that any changes would require review and collaboration with state lawmakers.
“When it comes to polio, MMR, those are things that we want to make sure we study and really engage in before we make those determinations and work with the legislature before we make any of those decisions about requirements for those vaccines,” Donalds said.
He expressed support for steps taken by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo regarding parental choice, adding that spreading out childhood vaccination schedules “makes sense” to allow an infant’s body to absorb the inoculations.
Addressing questions regarding Florida’s immunization rates falling below the 95% threshold typically cited for herd immunity against measles, Donalds attributed recent outbreaks to unauthorized immigration.
“The reason why we have seen a measles outbreak in certain parts of the country is because of rampant illegal immigration into the United States from the previous administration,” Donalds said, pointing to occurrences in El Paso, Texas, and Southwest Florida. “You can’t have an entire segment of people more than 10 million coming to your country without that vaccination schedule. That’s how you end up having some of these outbreaks.”
When asked for clarification on whether he supports vaccinating incoming immigrants, Donalds stated, “I just want legal immigration with assimilation. We cannot have open borders and we cannot have illegal immigration in our country.”
Throughout the interview, Donalds emphasized that rising consumer expenses remain his primary healthcare focus, criticizing the Affordable Care Act for contributing to higher premiums and deductibles over the past 15 years.
To counter these costs, Donalds proposed a price transparency initiative requiring hospitals and doctors’ offices to publish cash rates for their top 20 services, allowing patients to compare prices directly.
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