Podcast host Joe Rogan on Friday used his platform on The Joe Rogan Experience to comment on a wave of social media videos in which pregnant women filmed [1] themselves consuming Tylenol in opposition to health guidance from President Donald Trump’s administration.
The protests emerged after the administration, with support from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced findings suggesting an association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism diagnoses in children.
The recommendation drew on a Harvard study, according to the administration.
“I’ve been fascinated by these videos of pregnant women taking Tylenol to show Trump that they don’t believe in what RFK Jr. is saying, that it’s somehow or another anti-science — when this science came from Harvard,” Rogan said during his show.
“That’s where the study came from. He’s not making things up. And these people are like on TikTok — they’re pregnant women taking Tylenol.”
TikTok users posted clips showing themselves ingesting the medication, often with captions dismissing the Trump administration’s recommendation.
In most videos reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation on Tuesday, women appeared to be consuming recommended doses rather than large quantities.
One widely viewed video displayed a pregnant woman holding two capsules before swallowing them, accompanied by the text: “Here’s is me, a PREGNANT woman, taking TYLENOL because I believe in science and not someone who has no medical background.”
The Trump administration’s position aligns with prior guidance issued during the Biden-Harris administration.
In 2021, the National Institutes of Health recommended that pregnant women “minimize exposure by using the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time” if acetaminophen use was necessary.
The debate intensified after internal pharmaceutical company records surfaced.
Documents obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation revealed that Johnson & Johnson, which marketed Tylenol until it spun off its consumer products division into Kenvue in 2023, had privately acknowledged concerns years earlier.
In 2018, Rachel Weinstein, U.S. director of epidemiology for Janssen, Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical division, wrote: “The weight of the evidence is starting to feel heavy to me.”
The records indicated that company officials had been aware of a potential link between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism.
And MANY studies in between also show the negative effects. To the point where even Tylenol issued a statement that they do not recommend using their products while pregnant. pic.twitter.com/eBhWf5aoIl [2]
— Freedom Piper (@FreeThinkerInc) September 24, 2025 [3]
Despite these concerns, many public health experts and media outlets have dismissed the Trump administration’s position, characterizing it as overstated or politically motivated.
Rogan’s remarks drew attention to the contradiction between the public dismissal of the study’s significance and private acknowledgment from the drug’s manufacturer that the evidence merited consideration.
“Taking Tylenol is not good. For this reason they are strongly recommending women limit Tylenol use when pregnant unless medically necessary,” President Trump said on Monday.
The guidance, based on the Harvard study and supported by existing recommendations from federal health authorities, has sparked controversy as political debate intersects with scientific findings.
For now, officials have not issued a ban on the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy but have reiterated the importance of caution and limited use when prescribed by a physician.
The issue remains under review as both policymakers and medical researchers examine potential risks linked to one of the most commonly used over-the-counter medications in the United States.