A key figure in Donald Trump’s election campaign probable figure his recent administration includes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or RFK Jr. for short. After abandoning his own attitude towards the president, this distinguished anti-vaxxer supported and campaigned for Trump, helping him to victory.
Kennedy promoted the banner “Make America Healthy Again“during the campaign. Now Trump has made clear that Kennedy will play a significant role in health care.
He was promised “big role” in directing health policy, and Trump said he would enable Kennedy “go crazy” on health, food and medicines.
So who’s Kennedy and what could his vision of a healthy America mean for public health in the U.S. and around the world?
Who is RFK Jr?
RFK Jr was born into a famous American political dynasty. He is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, who served as United States Attorney General under his brother John F. Kennedy, who was president. Robert F. Kennedy was then a senator before he was assassinated during his 1968 presidential campaign.
His son, RFK Jr, was a distinguished and effective lawyer and environmental activist, helping litigate against corporations, including Montsanto AND DuPont.
However, over the last 20 years he has been higher known for his involvement in various causes conspiracy theories and as foremost source of disinformation about vaccines dissemination on social media.
Kennedy recently said that “it’sI’m not going to remove anyone’s vaccines“. However, he continues to make false claims about Covid-19 vaccines and promote false facts, if any, about vaccines and autism scientific consensus there isn’t any causal relationship.
What role will he play?
While Trump has publicly pledged that Kennedy will play a major role, it’s unclear what that role will likely be.
Based on video obtained by PolicyKennedy said he was promised control of federal public health agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services and its subagencies, in addition to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health.
Such broad powers can be unprecedented. Appointments to positions in major agencies and to positions in the U.S. government require congressional approval. Kennedy’s lack of experience in health care or public health, in addition to his lack of scientific training and qualifications, make such approval uncertain. His unscientific allegations will resurface and there’ll almost be a media circus.
Even if Kennedy had been in power, many changes to federal agencies would have required congressional oversight. For example, making any changes to the way drugs are approved can be difficult in the short term.
This will not be to underestimate the damage Kennedy can have caused. In Trump’s past bypassed congressional approval to numerous positions by appointing ‘acting officials’. So even without an official position, Kennedy’s potential influence on the Trump administration is alarming.
More disinformation
No wonder Trump deemed Kennedy “health tsar” of his second presidency. They each spread disinformation about Covid-19 and promote unproven treatments, especially at the starting of the pandemic. These include promoting hydrochloroquine (if there is robust evidence that it really works). toxic effect on the heart).
Kennedy uses the language of science to present an appearance of credibility. I promise return to health agencies “a rich tradition of evidence-based science of the highest standard” and “clean upagencies he accuses of corruption. He may withdraw regulatory inspections that protect Americans’ health from unproven treatments.
If Kennedy is to grow to be health czar during Trump’s presidency, his platform to recruit Americans to his anti-science agenda will likely be greatly strengthened. Result? A really real threat of degradation of public health.
The variety of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infections, corresponding to measles, will increase.
Many Americans also grew up with fluoridated water and didn’t witness the effects of widespread tooth decay (cavities). So Kennedy could also be in a good position to persuade enough Americans that fluoridated water is dangerous and that fluoride ought to be a person’s alternative.
Governments and public health officials could face an uphill battle to maintain fluoride in community water supplies, undoing one among the biggest public health achievements of the last century.
If Kennedy’s anti-science claims gain traction, his legacy will likely be the opposite of the banner “Make America Healthy Again“. The health of the American public will decline, with far-reaching consequences for many years to come back.
There are also global implications
The potential harm of elevating someone like Kennedy to positions of power and influence won’t only affect Americans.
For example, following the visit of Kennedy and his anti-vaccine organization to Samoa in 2019, the deaths of two children have been misattributed for measles vaccination. Vaccination rates in Samoa dropped to 31% (half the previous rate), and one other measles outbreak resulted in the death of 83 people.
Kennedy questioned whether the deaths were related to “defective vaccineand denied that he was involved in spreading disinformation.
One of the outstanding achievements of Trump’s previous presidency was Operation Warp Speedwhich has enabled the development, testing and mass production of Covid-19 vaccines at unprecedented speed, saving many tens of millions of lives around the world.
If one other pandemic breaks out in the next 4 years with Kennedy in the White House, it’s unlikely that the United States will provide similar leadership.
Kennedy has been deeply critical of the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, including: in his best-selling 2021 book: The real Anthony Fauciabout the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Kennedy said Covid-19 vaccines had not been sufficiently tested and continued to advocate for disproven Covid treatments, particularly hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.
On the podcast earlier this yr, Fauci recalled a presentation Kennedy gave him on vaccinations. For 40 minutes, Kennedy “showed slide after slide that . . . made no sense.”
Later, Fauci spoke to Kennedy, saying:
Bobby, I imagine you care about children and care about not wanting to harm them. But you have got to comprehend that from a scientific standpoint, what you are saying doesn’t make sense.
Unfortunately, in the distorted reality of the Trump administration with Kennedy at his side, truth and science may not matter. And the health of the world will suffer.
