Trump Picks RFK Jr. as Health Secretary

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Nov 15, 2024

Above: Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a Turning Point Action campaign rally at the Gas South Arena on Oct. 23, 2024 in Duluth, Georgia. Image copyright: Anna Moneymaker/Staff/Getty Images News via Getty Imagesstory last updated Nov 16

The Facts

US Pres.-elect Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would nominate former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in his administration.
In a statement on Truth Social, Trump said Americans had "for too long" been "crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies," and that RFK Jr. would "restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research."

The Spin

Democratic narrative

Allowing RFK Jr. — one of the most persistent and influential vaccine deniers with a history of spreading health misinformation and medical conspiracy theories — to go wild with America's health and food policy will prove catastrophic. As Americans grapple with an enormous number of health challenges, RFK Jr., who is keen on appointing extremists and loyalists rather than experts and technocrats, isn't the best-qualified person to lead the US forward.

Republican narrative

RFK Jr. will do everything to make Americans the healthiest people on Earth again — remove the corrupt officials at the FDA and the CDC, stop the revolving door between Big Pharma and the government, and return federal health agencies to their rich tradition of evidence-based science. He isn't taking vaccines away from anyone, but he will surely fix America's substance abuse crisis, end the chronic disease epidemic, and protect the nation's children.