#robert-f-kennedy-jr

#robert-f-kennedy-jr

In mid-February, on the day that the Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., as Secretary of Health and Human Services, Del Bigtree, an anti-vaccine activist who had served as the communications director of Kennedy's Presidential campaign, hosted an event at the National Press Club, in Washington, D.C. Bigtree was now the C.E.O. of the advocacy group MAHA Action, and the National Press Club event, where members of the media gathered in a modest room with a small stage, was a celebration of sorts.

After I told him I worked for the local congressman, Austin Murphy, he called me "Austin's boy," and that earned me a few freebies of his famously potent drinks. His "frog" voice was legendary, and it came, I assume, from cigarettes, and while it may have been rough around the edges, it was attached to a benevolent, gregarious man. Froggy died way too young, at 62, of emphysema.

Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), Senator John Kennedy (R-LA), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), all Republicans who voted to confirm [Kennedy], are saying we are denying people vaccines, said Tarlov. Watters then asked, What vaccines has he denied someone? Tarlov cited conservative radio personality Erick Erickson's wife, who was recently denied the Covid-19 vaccine under RFK's policies, before asking Watters, Why don't you ever prepare?!

In the combative three-hour hearing, Kennedy defended his dramatic firing of the CDC director last week, less than a month after her confirmation, which he effusively supported. Today, he repeatedly called her a liar and made the extraordinary claim that she openly confessed to him that she cannot be trusted. Kennedy went on to reiterate the dangerous claim that the CDC is corrupt.

Kennedy noted accurately that America is home to 4.2% of the world's population and had 20% of its covid deaths, without reference to rampant misinformation leading to public resistance to vaccine use that was not present elsewhere. We literally did worse than any country in the world, and the people at CDC who oversaw that process, who put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving.

In the past week, however, the efforts escalated: Kennedy, who rose to fame in part owing to his conspiracy theories about vaccinations, pushed to fire Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is part of H.H.S. This came after Monarez refused to follow the lead of Kennedy's advisers, who have tried to restrict vaccine access.

"The secretary of Health and Human Services said that mRNA research 'poses more risk than benefits for these respiratory viruses' although it doesn't."

Without fluoride in the water, "you're going to see probably slightly more cavities," RFK Jr. recently admitted on Fox News.

Kennedy's actions as secretary of Health and Human Services, including replacing vaccine advisory board members and restricting federal scientists' publications, reflect a significant political shift in public health policy.

President Trump highlighted the Patriot Games, a national competition for youth athletes, led by Secretary of Health Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling him 'a little different'.

"If you read these articles he sent, they're all this speculation about autism and just cause-and-effect, and mercury in vaccines, that maybe there's a connection."