Americans are honoring Thanksgiving this year by once again spreading measles across the continent. In 2025, there have been 44 CDC-confirmed measles outbreaks (defined as three or more related cases) and 1,681 individual cases. This is a drastic increase from the 16 outbreaks and 285 cases seen in 2024. Few things could be truer to the spirit of Thanksgiving than a resurgence of measles, which spread through Indigenous populations following first contact with European settlers in the 16th century.
The White House denies both the allegations of active measles outbreaks and the concept of an Indigenous person, but it is still incorporating these themes into its Prager U retelling of the Thanksgiving story. In the new tale, a virile, Trump-esque pilgrim graciously accepts a gift turkey from an adoring American people who arrived on the continent by divine mandate and have long awaited their Messiah-King. The Messiah-King then comes, most of the evolutionarily weak people become aware of their inadequacy and die of sickness, the King’s bloodline persists, God’s land is established and everyone is grateful for it.
Public health officials warn against revisionism and pandemic apologia at a time when measles is on the rise and the federal government has no plan to handle it. But those same officials also haven’t had their heart in it for a while because the current situation is just too stupid. Nonetheless, many of those who haven’t tuned out say Indigenous populations decreases by as much as 95% after exposure to measles. The threat, they say, should not be downplayed. Others agree but argue that measles alone did not cause the sharp population decline, as war, displacement, environmental transformation and the breakdown of life-sustaining resources and social structures also imperiled Indigenous peoples. Americans say they are considering honoring Thanksgiving in those ways too.