Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who President-elect Donald J. Trump has suggested would have a “big role” in his second administration, wasted no time laying out potential public health measures he would oversee if given the chance.
Mr. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer who has no medical or public health degrees and has promoted anti-vaccine conspiracies for years, told NBC News on Wednesday that he would not “take away anybody’s vaccines,” but that he wanted Americans to be informed with the “best information” available so they “can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them.”
“People ought to have choice,” he said, adding that he has “never been anti-vaccine.”
Mr. Kennedy has been a prominent critic of the childhood vaccination schedule and has frequently linked some vaccines to autism and other health issues. Studies have long shown no such connection.
On the topic of adding fluoride to drinking water, which helps to protect teeth, Mr. Kennedy said the mineral was “lowering I.Q. in our children,” despite decades’ worth of studies that show its efficacy and safety. “I think fluoride is on its way out,” he said. “I think the faster that it goes out, the better. I’m not going to compel anybody to take it out, but I’m going to advise the water districts about their legal liability.”
The treatment of public water with small amounts of fluoride has been widely hailed as one of the most important public health interventions of the past century; the American Dental Association has said that it reduces dental decay by at least 25 percent.
Mr. Kennedy also said that if he were given a position in Mr. Trump’s administration, he would focus on eliminating corruption at public health agencies like the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some departments, including those focused on nutrition, “have to go,” he told NBC. “They’re not protecting our kids.”
“Once Americans are getting good science and allowed to make their own choices, they’re going to get a lot healthier,” he added. As president, Mr. Trump would have only limited authority to make some of these changes, and some would need congressional approval. But on the campaign trail, Mr. Trump said he would let Mr. Kennedy “go wild on health.”
“I want to be in the White House, and he has assured me that I’m going to have that,” Mr. Kennedy said this week.
I think I’ve figured this out.
The idea that individual Americans should “do their research” about their health care and medicine is preposterous. Government exists, in part, to do this work for us. However, the Trump / GOP agenda is to strip these agencies from the federal government and replace them with private corporations.
So, who do we then get our medical advice from if not a medical professional at a government agency? The corporations who manufacture the drugs. And how do hear about them? “Sponsored posts” and “influencers” like Joe Rogan on platforms that we subscribe to. Privatization of government run agencies makes the wealthier more wealthy on the backs of clueless Americans still touting “trickle down economics” and “the free market”.
Americans, if they don’t die first, are about to go bankrupt in record numbers.
America played SHITHEAD bingo and marked every fucking spot. I fucking hate every person who voted for these fuckbags.
You’re not kidding. We got both of the bad options out of this.
Both? I live in Texas we played blackout fuckitup bingo and marked every fucking spot. Ted goddamn Cruz is back… and everyone hates that fuck head.
Even Ted Cruz hates Ted Cruz.
I believe this statement and so does he. But somehow its still fake news and the liberal agenda… probably also a caravan of immigrants
Removed by mod
I’m sad Trump won, but I’m glad you lost lol
I hope you enjoy your victory, moron.
Really, you think it’s ok to call anyone subhuman bitches?
As a scientist who works with all kinds of things humans ingest, I am very scared of this man and the deregulations he’ll bring. But you know, fuck science and education, cuz ‘Merica.
Side note, how do we reach people who reject science? I always thought education was the path forward, but they seem to be attacking that route too. Are we doomed to live in a world of conspiracy theories and misinformation?
Edit: The ACS is offering a course on “How to Navigate Trust in Science Conversations” I guess I’ll start here. It’s not the quick answer I’m looking for, but I guess it’s a start. I think it’s free for non-ACS members if anyone is interested.
You fucking can’t. There are nurses who don’t believe in the care they’re supposed to administer. This brain-dead chuckle-fuck is just going to validate their asinine ideals, just like the heathen who started the “vaccines cause autism” rumor.
You don’t reach these people because they truly believe that their ignorance is just as valid as your scientific education, experience and background.
Well, yeah. Bobs last comment on Facebook got like 50 likes, so he’s a scientist now.
They have been attacking education because it is the path forward.
If you ban books, defund public schools and make university/collage fees so insanely expensive, then you are asking for trouble.
I am curious if this is going to be in favor of big pharma. I mean he’s a anti vaccine dude. So, no vaccines means more sickness, and perhaps is more profitable to be on regular meds than just a cocktail you get ones for life…
Environmental lawyer in charge of health.
Maybe we can get a medical doctor in charge of the environment.
And a school teacher in charge of the military.
He put a neurosurgeon in charge of HUD last time.
Yes but he had a very nice office desk I’m told… So there’s that.
I’m just glad he didn’t have a program involving building
pyramidsgiant granaries to help feed the people.
lawyer, doctor, teacher - one of these things is not like the other.
There are indications that things like abortion bans will affect the number of present and futures doctors/specialists in particular in places like Texas. Perhaps if doctors and dentists come to the table in large #'s with meaningful pushback the damage can be mitigated.
I sincerely hope RFK’s promised position proves to be largely ceremonial, because his proposals could really impact nation-wide quality of life. Especially for kids who have no choice or voice.
Anyone else read this as a veiled threat? Like “we’re not going to tell you to stop adding fluoride, but it sure would be a shame if your grant money stopped”
That’s how I read it too. They’re going to inform water facilities about “liabilities” regarding fluoridated drinking water. Basically using federal pressure to get them to remove it or face litigation or funding cuts.
It seems RFK Jr is walking back some of his previous statements about vaccines. Notably, that he doesn’t seem to want to ban them all anymore. From just two days ago:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/04/election-trump-rfk-jr-vaccines-fluoride
He’s still planning on making everyone’s teeth rot though.
“Choice” is the kinder gentler form of “it’s going away.”
Like when you tell your kid “I’ll think about it” instead of “no” because you don’t want to deal with their shit.
Even if all they do is make it illegal for school districts to require enrolled students to be vaccinated (or at least have a waiver), then the result is that vaccines will be dramatically less effective at preventing disease.
This quote from your link really pisses me off:
“He says, ‘If you give me the data, all I want is the data, and I’ll take on the data and show that it’s not safe,’” Lutnick said. “Let’s give him the data. I think it’ll be pretty cool to give him the data. Let’s see what he comes up with. I think it’s pretty fun.”
THAT’S NOT HOW FUCKING SCIENCE WORKS! You don’t get to start with the premise “it’s not safe” and then go looking for data to support your premise. You start with the data and go where it leads you. That data is already available, BTW, and has been for ages. RFJ Jr has already been shown the data and refused to accept it many times. He’s convinced that some nameless agency is hiding the Truth from him.
Also, the idea of completely upending agencies that deal with public health so you can enforce your personal pet conspiracy theories is not “pretty fun.” It’s nightmare fuel.
This piece of shit is going to kill lots of innocent people before he’s done.
Just listened to all 4 parts of Behind the Bastards podcast on RFK Jr. and holy shit is this dude unhinged. He shouldn’t be in charge of anything, much less something as vital as public health
Dear RFK Jr,
Please put the brain worm back in and let him finish the damn job. Maybe share him with the rest of your nazi buddies.
They didn’t take it out, it died of starvation.
https://www.axios.com/2024/08/26/rfk-jr-whale-chainsaw-investigation
“Every time we accelerated on the highway, whale juice would pour into the windows of the car, and it was the rankest thing on the planet,” Kick said in the interview.
“We all had plastic bags over our heads with mouth holes cut out, and people on the highway were giving us the finger, but that was just normal day-to-day stuff for us.”
Remember when The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was enough that America collectively vomited and started requiring health codes? And now we have this man?
he would not “take away anybody’s vaccines,” but that he wanted Americans to be informed with the “best information” available so they “can make individual assessments about whether that product is going to be good for them.”
“People ought to have choice,” he said, adding that he has “never been anti-vaccine.”
Like you informed the people of Samoa, Bobby?
hypothetically, if they do stop water fluoridation, is it possible/practical to add the proper amount to one’s own water? or would getting the dose right and the required ingredients be dangerous? Or would just using a bit more toothpaste give enough of the effect to make such a thing not worth it anyway?
Here in Germany, fluoride is a typical additive to table salt (together with iodine), so I suppose the way you get it doesn’t really matter. Maybe you can even get salt with fluoride as well.
If anyone is reading this as an adult, you can do a Nano-HAP regimen to remineralize your teeth for like a month, then switch to fluoride products to strengthen them. Just have to make sure that the product is 10% or more Nano Hydroxyapatite.
You can get fluoride treatments from your dentist office too during your cleaning.
You can also get fluoride mouthwash. I use it because I have a nerve disorder in my face and it can often make tooth brushing too painful. It’s not a perfect alternative by any means, but it’s better than nothing.
This smug asshole is already running his mouth. Four more years of this shit.
It’ll swing back the other way, and once everything is stripped away we’ll be positioned to have a major change. That’s all I can hope for.
Unless elections are suspended, there’s absolutely no way such major changes where EVERYONE but the richest of the rich lose where the conservatives will stay in power. If they actually screw the idiots and take things away that are obvious then they will be so upset they won’t vote R quite so eagerly.
Imo the two worst things that the DNC has done was shutting out Bernie in place of Hillary, and then running fucking biden against dumpy. If they had put Bernie in 2016 then Trump would have lost hard. If they had offered up fresh blood with new ideas instead of an octogenarian clinging to the billionaire establishment with moderate conservative policy then they likely would have won this time.
Biden came in pretending to be not trump, but his stance on immigration, tariffs and many other topics are so disgusting it’s hard to see him (or his replacement) as anything other than a vote for the status quo… and the status quo right now is miserable.
You’ve neglected to include the part about having already been through a Trump presidency and that everyone has forgotten, in just four years, how his presidency was worse than we had anticipated.
Trump is going into office wholly unopposed. There is nothing, no one, to stop him from doing what he wants. We will be feeling the outcome of this election for generations, if not the lifespan of this country. Not to mention the lives and countries lost on the other side of the world as he allows Netanyahu and Putin and Xi to do whatever they want.
There is no pendulum. It’s a broken ass apple cart being pushed and pulled by a donkey and elephant grasping at the last straw of life.
There’s a pendulum, unfortunately it swung just a hair into blue while the country was in the middle of the second depression / first real global pandemic of the 21st century. The US may have recovered better than almost all countries on earth, but because it’s not better than when obama handed it off to dumpy, it’s the democrats fault.
Presidential immunity too. No way to hold him accountable.
This shit is going to be really, really bad.
Theres plenty of ways to hold him accountable, they just all happen to be fatal.
There were plenty of people this time around—these weren’t maga chuds, mind—who said it wasn’t even that bad, which I’m going to take to mean that they wanted it to be worse
People probably said the same thing before the last civil war.
