RFK Jr condemned as ‘clear and present danger’ after Trump nomination

Donald Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the position of U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services has sparked extensive backlash against Kennedy. He is known for his anti-vaccine stance and has also supported various other discredited health conspiracy theories.

In a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said that Americans have been heavily impacted by large food and pharmaceutical companies. He mentioned that Kennedy aims to bring these agencies back to their roots of high-quality scientific research and transparency. According to Trump, this approach will help tackle the ongoing chronic disease crisis and work towards making America great and healthy once more!

Following Kennedy’s nomination, Public Citizen, a nonprofit group that advocates for consumer rights, expressed concern, stating: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. poses a serious threat to the health of our country. He shouldn't even be allowed in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), much less be given a leadership role in the nation’s public health agency.”

The organization stated, "Donald Trump's mismanagement of health policies during the Covid pandemic resulted in the loss of countless lives. By choosing Kennedy as his Secretary of Health and Human Services, Trump is inviting a new public health disaster fueled by poor policy decisions."

Apurva Akkad, a doctor specializing in infectious diseases at the University of Southern California, described the announcement as a "frightening moment for public health."

"I can't emphasize this enough – it's crucial that any public health decisions or changes are made solely based on solid evidence. I truly hope we've learned this lesson from the Covid experience," Akkad shared on X.

The conservative commentator and attorney George Conway also shared his thoughts on the nominations of Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard, and Matt Gaetz.

"I'm rarely surprised by Trump anymore. Each of his last three Cabinet choices—Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence, Gaetz for Attorney General, and RFK Jr. for Health and Human Services—could each be considered one of the worst selections in U.S. history. The sheer fact that he managed to announce all three in just about a day is truly remarkable," Conway stated.

California Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia described the nomination as “absolutely outrageous” on X, stating, “He’s someone who denies vaccines and promotes conspiracy theories. He’ll jeopardize our public health framework and disrupt our vaccine distribution efforts. This could lead to tragic consequences.”

Alastair McAlpine, a pediatric doctor at a children's hospital in British Columbia, commented, "It's difficult to accurately express how awful this decision is. RFK Jr lacks any formal medical education. He is an extreme opponent of vaccines and spreads false information. When he interfered in a state's health matters previously (in Samoa), it resulted in the deaths of 83 children from measles."

As reported by FactCheck.org, two babies in Samoa lost their lives in 2018 due to a mishap where nurses mistakenly mixed the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine with an outdated muscle relaxant instead of using water. In response to these tragic incidents, the Samoan government decided to temporarily halt the vaccination program.

The short-lived pause led Kennedy and his anti-vaccine organization, Children’s Health Defense, to allegedly disseminate numerous misinformation about vaccines throughout the island, which subsequently caused a significant drop in vaccination rates.

A year later, a traveler carrying the measles virus sparked an outbreak on the island, leading to over 57,000 infections and resulting in the deaths of 83 individuals, including children.

During a conversation for the documentary "Shot in the Arm," Kennedy stated that he does not feel accountable for the results.

In a different health-related matter, Kennedy has claimed that Trump would seek to remove fluoride from our drinking water. Fluoride is a mineral that helps strengthen teeth and decrease cavities, as stated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

During his independent campaign, Kennedy has promoted the benefits of raw milk and ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medication that has been shown to be ineffective against Covid. Beyond these health-related theories, he has also confessed to beheading a whale that washed ashore and keeping its head, as well as disposing of a dead bear cub in Central Park ten years ago because he was too busy to prepare it for food.

Kennedy mentioned that he experienced a worm in his brain that "consumed part of it before dying." He confidently declared that he could "consume five more brain worms and still outperform" Trump and Biden in a mock debate he participated in earlier this year.