Robert F Kennedy Jr, whom Donald Trump has recently nominated to lead the US Department of Health and Human Services, is known to be an anti-vaccine activist. In 2021, he was also the ‘top spreader of online misinformation’ about the Covid-19 vaccine.
A 2019 study revealed that Kennedy's organisation was one of the top two financial backers of anti-vaccine advertisements on Facebook. In 2021, the Center for Countering Digital Hate identified him as one of the 12 leading promoters of online misinformation regarding the Covid-19 vaccine, reported The Guardian.
Coming from one of America's most prominent political families, Kennedy is the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of US President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963.
Robert F Kennedy Jr initially contested against President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination last year before running as an independent. However, he eventually dropped out of the race after reaching a deal to endorse Donald Trump, with the promise of a role overseeing health policy in a potential second Trump administration.
RFK Jr is known to have spread unfounded claims linking vaccines to autism in children, and propagating the false notion that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. Additionally, he also suggested that certain antidepressants are connected to an increase in school shootings.
While RFK Jr's fate as the head of the US Department of Health and Human Services is yet to be sealed by the Senate, experts believe his return would also bring back ‘diseases which have been controlled for decades’.
“We forget what this country was like 50 years ago – how many children died every year from polio, pertussis [whooping cough], measles…We’re going to see the return of diseases we have controlled for decades,” Dr Michael Osterholm, an infectious diseases expert, was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
RFK Jr has also recommended removing fluoride from drinking water, although fluoride levels are mandated by state and local governments.
