Phil Gingrey, Asshole of the Day for July 15, 2014

by TeaPartyCat (Follow @TeaPartyCat)

Yesterday we featured Louie Gohmert weighing in on the immigration crisis with his suggestion that we just start shooting 10-year-old kids crossing the border.

And today we have another congressman taking a different angle– Rep. Phil Gingrey is worried about the diseases these kids are bringing in since they probably aren’t vaccinated:

“Reports of illegal immigrants carrying deadly diseases such as swine flu, dengue fever, Ebola virus and tuberculosis are particularly concerning,” Gingrey wrote. “Many of the children who are coming across the border also lack basic vaccinations such as those to prevent chicken pox or measles.”

Sounds legit, but there is no evidence of children bringing in dangerous diseases; it’s just fear mongering. But that’s not the big problem with Gingrey railing about unvaccinated immigrant children, you see, because it turns out Gingrey has pushed to keep American children from getting vaccines:

Gingrey has long-standing ties to the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a far-right medical group that opposes all mandatory vaccines. The organization touts access to Gingrey as one of its membership perks. (The AAPS has, incidentally, taken the lead in pushing the idea that migrant children are disease carriers.) In 2007, he wrote an amendment that would allow parents to block their children from receiving HPV vaccines, which are designed to combat cervical cancer.

So he thinks it’s fine to let American children go without vaccines, but not refugee children. And for that, Phil Gingrey is Asshole of the Day.

It is Phil Gingrey’s second time as Asshole of the Day. His previous time was for complaining that he’s “stuck making $172,000” in Congress.

Full story: Mother Jones