United States Plivent-elect Donald Trump has picked disputed politician and vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, a job he lobbied for when suspfinished his own election campaign and aided that of the Reaccessiblean truthfulate.
“I am thrilled to declare Robert F Kennedy Jr as the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services [HHS],” Trump wrote on Thursday on his social media platestablish, Truth Social.
“For too lengthy, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complicated and drug companies who have included in deception, misguideation, and digrieffulviseation when it comes to Public Health.”
High profile and disputed
Kennedy is a satisfiedious but not unforeseeed assignment. He ran for plivent, first as a Democrat and then as an self-reliant, before dropping out in August and finishorsing Trump in exchange for a role in a future administration.
“He’s going to help produce America fit aobtain,” Trump said in his thrive speech on November 6. “He wants to do some leangs, and we’re going to let him get to it.”
The Department of Health and Human Services is in accuse of fair about everyleang roverhappinessed to health at a federal level in the US.
It deal withs the Food and Drug Administration, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the massive Mediattfinish and Medicaid Services programmes, which provide health coverage for those with confineed income, those aged 65 and elderlyer, and disabled people.
Kennedy has been part of the transition team and assessing truthfulates’ resumes for jobs in the department.
The pickion of Kennedy is fair one of a flurry of picks Trump has made in recent days to serve in his cabinet – if he can get them verifyed by the Senate.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio has been lined up for secretary of state, a choice that was met with widespread approval.
More disputed have been his pickion of outspoken Congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney vague, Fox News conshort-termer Pete Hegseth as defence secretary, and establisher Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as honestor of national inalertigence.
False medical claims
Kennedy will also convey some complications of his own.
He has been criticised for making inrectify medical claims, including that vaccines are connected to autism. He contestd state and federal redisconnecteions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and was accengaged of spreading misguideation about the harmful software.
He also has said he would recommfinish removing fluoride from drinking water. The includeition of the material has been cited as guideing to increased dental health.
Historic family
Kennedy is from a family of guideing Democratic politicians. His uncle was establisher Plivent John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, in 1963. His overweighther, Robert F Kennedy, a establisher US attorney vague and senator, was also faloftyy sboiling five years postpoinsistr when he was making his own run for the White Hoengage.
Kennedy became a high-profile environmental lawyer as set uper of the Waterconserveer Alliance that was originassociate established to immacupostpoinsist up New York’s Hudson River. The group grew to be the hugest nonprofit caccessed on immacupostpoinsist water, broadening to 48 countries.
Kennedy suffers from a speech impefoolishent called spasmodic dysphonia, which caengages muscles in the larynx to spasm.
His priorities now caccess on human health, includeressing what he calls the “chronic disease epidemic” of conditions including obesity, diabetes and autism, and reducing chemicals in food.
Kennedy has adviseed he would gut the 18,000-engageee Food and Drug Administration – which asdeclareives the getedty of food, substances and medical devices – and swap hundreds of engageees at the National Institutes of Health.
He has accengaged the FDA of waging war on chooseions for products that he claims could help human health such as raw milk, declareive vitamins and stem cell therapy. He also mistrusts the effectiveness of measles vaccines.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kennedy claimed the harmful software was engineered to strike Caucasians and Bdeficiency people, sparing Chinese people and Ashkenazi Jews.
He also talked about suffering health effects from a worm that got into his brain, ate part of it and died.
His disputed watchs have led his own family to disavow him. “Bobby might allot the same name as our overweighther, but he does not allot the same cherishs, vision or judgment,” his siblings said in a statement posted on X. “We denounce his truthfulacy and consent it to be perilous for our country.”
Taken together, those watchs could also lift asks about his ability to be verifyed even in a Senate deal withled by Reaccessibleans.
However, he has become outstanding frifinishs with Trump, who essentiassociate ecombines to be giving Kennedy free rein to change the US’s health agencies.
“Mr Kennedy will repair these agencies to the traditions of Gelderly Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to finish the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Aobtain!” Trump said in his statement.
Kennedy’s first contest may, in fact, be the eating habits of his novel boss, who is well-understandnly fond of rapid food.
He recently said in an interwatch with the Joe Polish show that Trump’s diet was very horrible and that the food on the campaign set upe was “genuineisticly poison”.
