The Senate confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr., one of America’s most notorious vaccine skeptics, to run the country’s leading health agency, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on Thursday, sparking outrage among public health experts who worry that Kennedy will harm public health and further erode trust in science and medicine.
Kennedy, 71, was one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees. For years, Kennedy has spread medical disinformation, enraging experts in the field. He’s repeated the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism—even though research overwhelmingly proves that vaccines are both safe and effective—and has made controversial statements about raw milk and fluoride in water.
Kennedy, 71, was one of President Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees. For years, Kennedy has spread medical disinformation, enraging experts in the field. He’s repeated the debunked claim that vaccines cause autism—even though research overwhelmingly proves that vaccines are both safe and effective—and has made controversial statements about raw milk and fluoride in water.
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00:00I, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States
00:15against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same,
00:27that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion,
00:40and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter.
00:52So help me God.
00:53So help me God.
00:54Congratulations, Mr. Secretary.
01:00My first time in this Oval Office was in 1961, and I came here to meet my—well, 1962.
01:10I came here, and I had a meeting with my uncle, who was president, where we talked about the environment.
01:17He was involved deeply, as we all know, in restoring physical fitness in this country.
01:24And most recently, I greatly appreciate it, and I called you the day that you announced the termination of USAID.
01:32My uncle started USAID in 1961 for humanitarian purposes, to put our country on the side of the poor.
01:41It has been captured by the military-industrial complex.
01:45It has become a sinister propagator of totalitarianism and war across the globe.
01:52And very few people understand how sinister this agency really is.
01:58When people actually hear what I think about vaccines, which is common sense, which is vaccines should be tested,
02:05they should be safe, everybody should have informed consent,
02:10people are reacting because they hear things about me that aren't true.
02:15They hear characterizations of things that I've said that are simply not true.
02:19When they hear what I have to say, actually, about vaccines, everybody supports it.