A Vaccine and Fluoride Skeptic, He Wants Focus on Healthier Food, Chronic Disease
Robert Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s controversial nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, has raised alarm bells over his views on vaccine safety and fluoride in public water systems. If he survives confirmation hearings, he may find a more sympathetic ear for his advocacy of healthier food and a greater focus on chronic disease.
Kennedy’s views on vaccines, fluoride and public health often coexist with conspiracy theories. His view on the dangers of ultra-processed food and self-regulation of the food industry enjoy scientific cred. His concern about the lack of focus on chronic disease is also well-founded.
A study published in the British Medical Journal found people who consume high amounts of ultra-processed foods have increased risk of depression, obesity and diseases like colorectal cancer. According to NPR reporting, “The data come from more than 9 million people who participated in dozens of studies, which researchers analyzed as part of umbrella review.”
“Taking the body of literature as a whole, there was consistent evidence that regularly eating higher – compared to lower – amounts of ultra-processed foods was linked to these adverse health outcomes,” says study author Melissa Lane of Deakin University in Australia.
The telltale sign of ultra-processed food can be found on ingredient labels with contents like high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils or additives such as artificial colors, flavor enhancers, emulsifiers, anti-caking agents and thickeners. The European Union regulates food additives to ensure they are necessary and aren’t a health risk. In the United States, food processors aren’t similarly regulated. Kennedy may push for such regulation.
How a pro-regulation push on the food industry would fare in a Trump administration committed to deregulation is unknown. But it could be an issue that draws bipartisan support.
Chronic Illness
According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 60 percent of American adults have one or more chronic illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, autism and mental illness. Forty-two percent of Americans have two chronic illnesses. Twelve percent have five. The U.S. chronic disease rate is the highest in the world. Longer life expectancies suggest the numbers will grow.
Kennedy believes U.S. public health officials are too focused on infectious diseases even though chronic diseases are responsible for $1 trillion in annual medical costs and represent the leading cause of illness, disability and death. In 2021, nearly one million Americans died of cardiovascular disease.
Some chronic disease is preventable and can be checked by reducing excessive alcohol consumption, not smoking, regularly exercising and eating a healthier diet.
Controversial Nominations
Kennedy’s nomination is one of several Trump Cabinet picks likely to face scrutiny in Senate confirmation hearings. Controversial choices include former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general, current Trump criminal defense attorney Todd Blanche as deputy attorney general, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and America-First champion Kash Patel as FBI director. Gaetz has already withdrawn because of a lack of Senate support.
Kennedy can expect intense grilling over his views on vaccine safety, fluoride and Covid-19. For example, he claimed in a 2023 Fox News interview that “autism comes from vaccines,” which medical experts have refuted. Kennedy denies he’s opposed to vaccination, noting his children have been vaccinated. His critics warn his false claims about vaccines could set back global vaccination programs that have saved lives.
Kennedy rails against fluoridated water that is consumed by more than 60 percent of Americans. Fluoridation in public water systems was instigated decades ago to prevent tooth decay. Some observers say that’s less necessary now because of widespread availability of toothpaste and mouthwash containing fluoride.
Kennedy says fluoride is “associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease.” Experts say those outcomes require much higher exposure rates to fluoride than found in public water supplies.
In 2019 when an outbreak of measles occurred on Samoa, Kennedy sent a four-page letter to the Samoan prime minister suggesting the measles vaccine was the cause.
Perhaps Kennedy’s most startling assertion is that “Covid-19 was targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” Experts have countered saying, “Credible peer-reviewed Covid-19 studies have shown differences in Covid infections and deaths between socioeconomic and ethnic groups are related to inequalities, deprivation and living in larger or intergenerational households.”
Kennedy has responded to criticism by saying he does not “believe and never implied that the ethnic effect was deliberately engineered.” The author of the study Kennedy originally cited said his data didn’t support Kennedy’s conclusion.
Kennedy’s professional background is as an environmental attorney who successfully handled big-time legal cases against DuPont and Monsanto. He is the namesake son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. He doesn’t have any professional healthcare credentials.
Kennedy’s Rise to Prominence
He rose to national prominence during the pandemic when he took control of the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense. Despite his denial he is anti-vaccine, Kennedy said on a pandemic-era podcast, “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” He also urged parents to resist CDC guidelines on when children should be vaccinated. One of his policy goals was to strip liability protections from pharmaceutical companies.
Another controversial Kennedy claim suggested antidepressants can lead to school shootings. Kennedy also questioned whether HIV caused AIDS. Kennedy pointedly drinks raw milk despite Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warnings it can be a source of foodborne illness.
What Led to Kennedy’s Nomination
Kennedy wound up supporting Trump in the 2024 election after mounting his own campaign for president with the slogan “Make America Healthy Again”. He abandoned his campaign after failing to gain access to key state ballots and running out of cash. Kennedy then offered his support to both sides, presumably on a promise of a prominent role in a new government. Trump took the deal.
In nominating Kennedy, Trump gave him three “instructions” – to remove “corruption” from health agencies, to return to “evidence-based science and medicine” and “to end the chronic disease epidemic.”
The Department of Health and Human Services has a huge portfolio that includes drug and food safety, medical research and Medicare and Medicaid. Following Trump’s lead, Kennedy says he wants to fire and replace 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health, some of whom are scientists and researchers who aren’t political appointees. “We need to act fast, and we want to have those people in place on January 20, so that on January 21, 600 people are going to walk into offices at NIH and 600 people are going to leave,” Kennedy said in a video posted on YouTube. He also wants to end the revolving door of employees between HHS and pharmaceutical companies.
As often occurs in Trump World, the President-elect’s choice for press secretary said just a few months ago that Kennedy is a “communist”
