President-elect Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. For years, Kennedy has peddled crackpot ideas such as falsely claiming that vaccines cause autism — they don’t, studies have shown they don’t, study after study has shown they don’t. Before the election, Trump’s campaign had told voters that Kennedy would not be appointed as the HHS Secretary.
As Politico reports, “Kennedy, 70, may still face a steep slope to confirmation after his years of touting debunked claims that vaccines cause autism.”
As Center Square reports, “The lifelong Democrat became an Independent during his presidential campaign and then endorsed Trump, helping propel Trump to victory.” Behind the scenes, Trump may have promised Kennedy this position in exchange for his endorsement in the 2024 presidential election. After Kennedy endorsed Trump, Kennedy removed his name from the ballot in various states, and his supporters then voted mostly for Trump.
“Robert F Kennedy Jr will be The Secretary of Health and Human Services!” Donald Trump Jr. posted on X. “Promises Made Promises Kept.”
President-elect Trump announced, “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health. The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
The Senate has to approve Kennedy’s nomination before he can become the HHS Secretary. As the New York Post explains,
Kennedy, the son of the late attorney general and senator from New York will need to be confirmed by a simple majority of the Senate. While Republicans will have 53 votes in the next Congress, Kennedy’s vocal opposition to childhood vaccinations will make for a contentious confirmation process….
The septuagenarian’s health was publicly questioned after he disclosed a parasitic worm had once been found in his brain. His sanity was also queried after he admitted to leaving a dead bear in Central Park after picking it up off the side of the road in 2014….Kennedy ended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump…He also claimed Trump had promised him “control” of public health agencies — but transition co-chair and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick had insisted Kennedy would not be in the cabinet.
Kennedy helped cause a “deadly measles outbreak that occurred in Samoa in 2019 and claimed the lives of 83 people, mostly children.” He did that by spreading “misinformation that contributed to the decline in measles vaccination that preceded the lethal eruption.”
