Donald Trump to Nominate Anti-Vaccine Activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Oversee US Public Health

President-elect Donald Trump announced that helium would nominate erstwhile autarkic statesmanlike campaigner Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to tally the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It’s the fulfillment of an implied committedness that Trump made astatine a rally astatine Madison Square Garden successful New York successful precocious October, wherever helium said helium would fto Kennedy “go chaotic connected health.”

Kennedy, a erstwhile Democrat and scion of the affluent governmental family, archetypal roseate to prominence arsenic an biology lawyer and anti-vaccine activist. Around 2015, helium joined the committee of the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense (CHD), which alleges that conditions similar autism and attraction shortage hyperactivity upset (ADHD) are caused by biology factors, including harmful agents successful vaccines. Kennedy has repeatedly dispersed misinformation astir vaccines, and successful 2021 was named by the Center for Countering Digital Hate arsenic 1 of the “disinformation dozen,” spreading misinformation astir the Covid-19 pandemic crossed Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

He has suggested, successful contradiction to each reputable technological research, that Covid-19 whitethorn person been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese radical and that HIV does not origin AIDS, and implied that vaccine mandates are worse than the Holocaust. He besides said successful a 2012 deposition that a worm ate portion of his encephalon and past died.

Kennedy’s relationship was banned from Instagram successful 2021 for spreading vaccine misinformation. His relationship was restored successful 2023, erstwhile helium announced his tally for office.

In August, Kennedy suspended his run and threw his enactment down Trump, saying, “If President Trump is elected and honors his word, the immense load of chronic illness that burdens and bankrupts the state volition disappear,” astatine the time. He launched a parallel slogan to Trump’s MAGA—Make America Healthy Again (MAHA)—focused connected “prioritizing regenerative agriculture, preserving earthy habitats, and eliminating toxins from our food, water, and air.”

HHS oversees 13 national agencies—which Kennedy has indicated helium would gut—including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Kennedy’s position, however, is inactive contingent connected legislature approval. Previous HHS leaders person had agelong careers successful the nationalist wellness tract oregon wrong the section itself earlier serving arsenic the head. A Republican-controlled Senate mightiness defer to Trump, oregon mightiness constituent to Kennedy’s assertive promotion of conspiracy theories, agelong vocation arsenic a loyal Democrat, and muddled positions connected abortion arsenic reasons to artifact his accession.

Though Kennedy has promised to overhaul the full system, experts who spoke to WIRED accidental that helium would apt come up against longstanding regulations that would beryllium hard to outmaneuver. Health policies are besides heavy informed by advisory committees, which are stacked with aesculapian and nationalist wellness experts, and would instrumentality clip to displacement successful bid to afloat alteration the government’s recommendations.

Still, Kennedy arsenic HHS manager would person important power to disregard unit and state nationalist wellness emergencies.