President-elect Donald Trump is nominating anti-vaccine activist and former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, a sprawling bureaucracy with control over a wide range of health and drug-related policies.
Trump announced the nomination on Thursday afternoon, following through on his campaign promise to let Kennedy “go wild” on health and food policy and setting up another tough confirmation battle in the soon-to-be GOP-controlled Senate. Politico first reported on Trump’s planned announcement.
“I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said.
“The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country.”
In October, Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick told CNN Kennedy would not be in charge of HHS, despite Trump’s statements to the contrary. Kennedy endorsed Trump and became one of his most prominent campaign surrogates after suspending his independent presidential bid in late August.
The Department of Health and Human Services’s policy suite goes far beyond Kennedy’s issue priorities on food and vaccines. The agency is tasked with overseeing Medicare and Medicaid, while exercising a tremendous amount of control over abortion policy — potentially creating another clash between Trump and the pro-life movement.
As a Democrat and then independent candidate, Kennedy experienced an unexpected surge in popularity until spending issues and a surge of negative headlines about his past behavior tanked his campaign. His family name initially brought with it a considerable amount of Democratic support until voters gained exposure to his views.
While running for president, Kennedy gained popularity with the online MAGA movement for his blistering critiques of the public-health bureaucracy and his steadfast opposition to American support for Ukraine’s war against Russia.
Most of all, Kennedy is known for opposing vaccines and blaming them for the sharp increase in childhood autism diagnoses over the past few decades. He frequently makes false claims about the efficacy of vaccines and questions the demonstrated success of vaccines in eradicating diseases like polio and smallpox.
Kennedy has said he will push the incoming Trump administration to take fluoride out of drinking water and routinely promises to “Make America Healthy Again,” a spin on Trump’s famous campaign slogan. The MAHA movement claims to be focused on reevaluating federal funding for healthcare research, banning food additives, publishing more vaccine data, and ending the closeness between food and health bureaucrats and large corporations.
Like Trump, Kennedy became popular across the male-oriented podcast circuit where anti-establishment outsiders tend to be well-received. Comedian and podcast king Joe Rogan has praised Kennedy for his work as an environmental lawyer and for his polemical book about Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Last year, Rogan pushed for a public-health expert to debate Kennedy on the efficacy of vaccines after Kennedy appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience and spoke at length about where his skepticism of vaccines comes from.
Kennedy’s bestselling book, The Real Anthony Fauci, tapped into anger over Fauci’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic during the Trump and Biden administrations, and questioned Fauci’s judgement on public health matters across his decades-long career. Fauci was a leading proponent of pandemic lockdowns, school closures, mask mandates, vaccine mandates, and booster shots for potentially vulnerable patients.
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