US President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he is nominating anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting him in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to Medicare. Research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.
“Americans have been crushed for too long by industrial food complexes and pharmaceutical companies that have engaged in deception, disinformation, and disinformation when it comes to public health,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social website announcing the appointment. Kennedy, he said, “will make America great and healthy again!”
Kennedy, a former Democrat who ran for president this year as an independent, abandoned his bid after reaching a deal giving Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role in health policy in the administration.
He and Trump have since become good friends, and Kennedy often received standing ovations at Trump rallies.
Kennedy was a longtime vaccine skeptic, a lawyer who built a loyal following over several decades of people who admired his lawsuits against pesticide and big pharmaceutical companies. He has pushed for tighter regulations around ingredients in foods.
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Through Trump’s campaign, he rallied support among young mothers in particular, with his message of making food healthier in the United States and promising to set a model for regulations imposed in Europe. In a nod to Trump’s original campaign slogan, the effort was called “Make America Healthy Again.”
It remains unclear how this would fit with Trump’s history of deregulating major industries, including food. For example, Trump has called for reducing inspections of the meat industry.
Kennedy’s stance on vaccines has also made him a controversial figure among Democrats and some Republicans, raising questions about his ability to get confirmed, even in the GOP-controlled Senate. Kennedy espoused misinformation about the safety of vaccines, including pushing a completely discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.
He also said he would recommend removing fluoride from drinking water. The addition of this substance has been cited as improving dental health.
HHS has more than 80,000 employees across the country. It includes the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the National Institutes of Health.
Kennedy’s anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, including The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about the coronavirus ( COVID-19) and coronavirus (COVID-19). 19 vaccines.
Kennedy took a leave of absence from the group when he announced his candidacy for president but was listed as one of its lawyers in the lawsuit.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
