In anti-vaccine rant, wife of top Trump aide says it's time to 'bring back our childhood diseases'

Darla Shine's not a doctor, she just plays one on Twitter.
According to Shine — whose husband, Bill Shine, is White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and a former Fox News executive — having the measles as a child actually helps a person down the road. "The entire Baby Boom population alive today had the #Measles as kids," she tweeted Wednesday. "Bring back our #ChildhoodDiseases they keep you healthy and fight cancer."
Shine doesn't believe that the measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest is an issue, tweeting, "Here we go LOL #measlesoutbreak on #CNN #Fake #Hysteria." She also lamented the fact that her kids received the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination when they were younger: "I had the #Measles #Mumps #ChickenPox as a child and so did every kid I knew — Sadly my kids had #MMR so they will never have the life long natural immunity I have." When Shine wasn't tweeting rhapsodically about the joy of the measles, she was gleefully following along with the media coverage she was receiving and declaring there are "so many ignorant people on #Twitter."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that between 1994 and 2013, more than 70,000 measles cases were prevented in the United States because of vaccinations, People reports. Children who contract measles can die, and there is no scientific evidence that having the disease can prevent cancer or that vaccines lead to autism.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Deportations ensnare migrant families, U.S. citizens
Feature Trump's deportation crackdown is sweeping up more than just immigrants as ICE targets citizens, judges and nursing mothers
-
Trump shrugs off warnings over trade war costs
Feature Trump's tariffs are spiraling the U.S. toward an economic crisis as shipments slow down—and China doesn't plan to back down
-
A newly created gasoline giant in the Americas could change the industry landscape
The Explainer Sunoco and Parkland are two of the biggest fuel suppliers in the US and Canada, respectively
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump says he could bring back Ábgego García but won't
Speed Read At a rally to mark his 100th day in office, the president doubled down on his unpopular immigration and economic policies
-
Canada's Liberals, Carney win national election
Speed Read The party of Prime Minister Mark Carney beat Conservative Pierre Poilievre thanks in part to Trump's trade war
-
Trump's 100-day approval ratings at historic low
Speed Read Americans appear to be wary of Trump's sweeping tariffs and handling of the economy
-
Judge blocks key part of Trump's elections overhaul
Speed Read Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's decision temporarily bars federal officials from requiring Americans to prove they are citizens to register to vote