You Thought Anti-Vax Was Bad? These Are RFK Jr.’s Most Disturbing Beliefs About Health

The antivax chickens person travel location to roost. Late past week, President-elect Donald Trump announced helium would beryllium nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. arsenic caput of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump made the announcement precocious Thursday, pursuing media speculation earlier successful the day. It’s a determination that would efficaciously spot Kennedy successful complaint of the country’s nationalist health, arsenic helium would oversee agencies similar the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arsenic good arsenic the Food and Drug Administration. Should the information spell through, it’d beryllium the culmination of RFK’s long-running crusade against science—one with the imaginable to harm Americans nationwide.

Trump’s information of Kennedy is somewhat a backtrack (members of his modulation unit previously denied that RFK would get immoderate occupation astatine HHS), but it’s not excessively astonishing a decision. In the months and weeks starring up to Trump’s decisive electoral victory, helium made it wide that helium afloat embraced Kennedy, a erstwhile 3rd enactment campaigner who dropped retired of the contention and lent his enactment to Trump successful precocious August. During his triumph nighttime speech, Trump reiterated that helium would let Kennedy to “make America steadfast again,” echoing Kennedy’s slogan during his ain campaign. But thing astir Kennedy’s way grounds suggests that the country’s nationalist wellness would amended with him astatine the helm.

The astir concerning facet of RFK’s imaginable docket concerns vaccination. He’s been 1 of the world’s astir salient anti-vaccination advocates, peculiarly successful his erstwhile presumption arsenic caput of the radical Children’s Health Defense. As portion of that resume, amidst lowering vaccination rates, helium and different activists were involved with the section anti-vaccination movement successful Samoa successful 2019. Months earlier the state experienced a disastrous measles outbreak, helium visited the land federation that summertime to enactment these efforts and adjacent met with authorities officials, including the premier curate and wellness authorities. Local wellness attraction professionals told the AP past twelvemonth that his sojourn galvanized activists. The consequent outbreak killed astatine slightest 83 people, mostly children nether five. Kennedy aboriginal denied immoderate relation successful the debacle, stating that helium ne'er told anyone not to get vaccinated.

Kennedy has continued to beforehand the thoroughly debunked assertion that vaccines are linked to autism—a content that Trump appears to person shared successful the past arsenic good (Trump, years earlier becoming president, repeatedly tweeted successful support of the alleged link). Should helium wield important powerfulness astatine the HHS, it’s imaginable that Kennedy could interaction the country’s vaccination rate, either done imaginable argumentation changes oregon by amplifying the anti-vaccination question further.

RFK’s anti-science rhetoric doesn’t halt astatine vaccines, though. He’s besides raised concerns astir fluoride, contempt the bulk of studies uncovering no important nexus to cancer oregon different large wellness risks astatine recommended levels. While immoderate probe suggests imaginable impacts connected neurodevelopment with precocious exposure, nationalist wellness experts broadly enactment the usage of fluoride.

In his 2021 book, The Real Anthony Fauci, Kennedy questions whether AIDS was caused by HIV (it is), and has antecedently suggested that a “gay lifestyle,” peculiarly the usage of recreational drugs specified arsenic poppers among the cheery community, was the existent origin of AIDS.

Kennedy has suggested that botched vaccine probe played a relation successful the emergence of diseases similar HIV and the 1918 flu pandemic (while determination were aboriginal attempts to make a flu vaccine backmost then, the existent microorganism wasn’t identified until the 1930s). At a property lawsuit past year, helium wondered retired loud if the covid-19 microorganism was bioengineered to “attack Caucasians and Black people” portion sparing Chinese and Jewish people. He’s besides warned astir the expected evils of chemtrails—the conspiratorial belief that planes are deliberately releasing hazardous chemicals into the atmosphere; successful actuality, the trails these planes permission down are mostly h2o vapor. In a station connected X this past summer, RFK indicated helium would halt the “crime” of chemtrails if fixed the opportunity.

And adjacent erstwhile Kennedy does deed upon a nugget of information and highlights a genuine problem, he’s speedy to constituent the blasted astatine targets not supported by technological evidence. Americans bash mostly person unhealthy diets and we could basal to devour little processed foods, immoderate of which incorporate ingredients tied to a higher hazard of chronic disease. RFK, however, has singled retired nutrient ingredients similar effect oils, oregon refined plant-based rootlike oils, arsenic a large crushed wherefore we’re little steadfast compared to different countries. But probe successful wide hasn’t shown a nexus betwixt seed lipid depletion and worsened health, portion immoderate studies person even suggested that replacing definite sources of saturated fats with effect oils tin amended cardiovascular outcomes. Meanwhile, a much pressing interest with galore processed foods is their precocious levels of sugar, salt, and fat.

It’s surely entertaining to poke amusive astatine RFK’s assorted eccentricities, from his repeated instances of mutilating dormant animals to virtually having a dead worm successful his brain (RFK stated successful 2012 that the worm contributed to his cognitive problems astatine the time, but that specified symptoms person since cleared up). But America has plentifulness of real, enduring nationalist wellness issues, and there’s small denotation helium plans to earnestly code immoderate of them. His focus, instead, has been connected amplifying fringe ideas and undermining established science. As a caller example, Kennedy has promised to suspend government-funded probe connected cause improvement and infectious diseases for 8 years—fresh disconnected the heels of a pandemic that killed implicit a cardinal Americans.

Prior to this latest statesmanlike campaign, RFK and his inane ideas were arguably supported by a divers conjugation of people. More recently, it’s go wide that his backers are oregon person go mostly right-leaning. That said, it’s not a warrant that Kennedy’s information volition clear, though perchance lone due to the fact that immoderate GOP members aren’t consenting to place his erstwhile pro-choice presumption (Mike Pence stated past Friday that his enactment to HHS was “an abrupt departure from the pro-life grounds of our administration.”). Assuming helium does go caput of HHS, his docket volition beryllium excused and championed chiefly by the Republican party.

Whatever RFK has successful store for us, it’ll beryllium the furthest happening from making America steadfast again.