How controversial is Trump’s pick of RFK Jr as US health secretary?
On Thursday, US President-elect Donald Trump nominated vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr to head up the country’s top health agency, the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I am thrilled to announce Robert F Kennedy Jr as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services [HHS],” Trump wrote on Thursday on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Who is Robert F Kennedy Jr?
Kennedy, 70, also known as RFK Jr, is an environmental lawyer and member of the American political Kennedy family.
He is the son of late US senator and attorney general Robert F Kennedy and nephew of John F Kennedy, who was US president between 1961 and 1963, when he was assassinated.
He is known for having a neurological disorder that affects his voice, and which US media has reported he blames on a flu vaccine he received.Kennedy initially announced that he would run for president in the 2024 election as a Democrat. Then, in October 2023, he declared that he would run as an independent. In late August this year, he dropped his presidential bid altogether to throw his support behind Trump instead.
Kennedy’s nomination as secretary of health and human services in the next Trump administration does not come as a surprise. Even before his election, Trump, during his rallies, was touting Kennedy as someone who “cares more about human beings, health and the environment than anybody”.
The president-elect told a New York City rally on October 27 that he would let Kennedy “go wild” on health, food and medicines.
Kennedy has coined the slogan “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA).
What does the US Department of Health and Human Services do?
The department oversees all federal health matters in the US.
It oversees the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the massive Medicare and Medicaid Services programmes, which provide health coverage for those with limited income, those aged 65 and older, and disabled people.
Where does Kennedy stand on health issues?
Kennedy has become subject to controversy due to his stance on several issues. These include:
Vaccines
Kennedy has long been sceptical of vaccines. He is the chair of the nonprofit activist group Children’s Health Defense, which largely spreads antivaccine information.
He also has tried to peddle the conspiracy theory that vaccines cause autism in children. One instance of this was during a 2005 interview with Joe Scarborough on US news channel MSNBC.
He repeated this theory in a 2023 episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The notion that vaccines cause autism has been disproven by myriad scientific studies.
