NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� President-elect says he will nominate anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, putting a man whose views public health officials have decried as dangerous in charge of a massive agency that oversees everything from drug, vaccine and food safety to medical research and the social safety net programs Medicare and Medicaid.
鈥淔or too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,鈥� Trump said Thursday in a post on his Truth Social site announcing the appointment. Kennedy, he said, would 鈥渆nd the Chronic Disease epidemic" and 鈥淢ake America Great and Healthy Again!鈥�
Kennedy is one of the in the world and has long advanced the and other health issues.
Trump also announced Thursday that he has chosen Doug Collins, a former congressman from Georgia, to run the Department of Veterans Affairs. Collins is a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command. The Republican served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, and he helped defend Trump during his first impeachment process.
Hailing from one of the nation's most storied political families, Kennedy is the son of the late Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of President John F. Kennedy. He first challenged President Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination last year. He then ran as an independent before abandoning his bid after striking a deal to give Trump his endorsement with a promise to have a role overseeing health policy in a second Trump administration.
He and the president-elect have since become good friends. The two campaigned together extensively during the race's final stretch, and Trump had made clear he intended to give Kennedy a major role overseeing public health as part of a campaign to "Make America Healthy Again.鈥�
鈥淚'm going to let him go wild on health," Trump said at a rally last month.
During his victory speech in Palm Beach, Florida, last week, Trump exclaimed, "Go have a good time, Bobby!鈥�
Still, it was unclear precisely what job he would be offered. In an October interview on CNN, Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick assured there was no way Kennedy would receive the job he got.
The appointment drew alarms from public health experts.
鈥淩obert F. Kennedy, Jr., is not remotely qualified for the role and should be nowhere near the science-based agencies that safeguard our nutrition, food safety, and health,鈥� said Dr. Peter Lurie, president of the public health watchdog group Center for Science in the Public Interest.
Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told The Associated Press, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to go backwards and see children or adults suffer or lose their lives to remind us that vaccines work, and so I am concerned."
鈥淎ny misinformation coming from places of influence, of power, are concerning," she said.
During the campaign, Kennedy told NewsNation that Trump had asked him to 鈥渞eorganize鈥� agencies including the CDC, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration.
Kennedy has pushed against processed foods and the use of herbicides like Roundup weed killer. He has long criticized the large commercial farms and animal feeding operations that dominate the industry.
But he is perhaps best known for his criticism of childhood vaccines.
Again and again, Kennedy has made his opposition to vaccines clear. In July, he said in a podcast interview that 鈥淭here鈥檚 no vaccine that is safe and effective鈥� and told FOX News that he still believes in the that vaccines can cause autism.
In a 2021 podcast he urged people to 鈥渞esist鈥� CDC guidelines that advise when kids should receive routine vaccinations.
鈥淚 see somebody on a hiking trail carrying a little baby and I say to him, 鈥楤etter not get them vaccinated,鈥欌�� Kennedy said.
Repeated scientific studies in the U.S. and abroad have found no link between vaccines and autism. Vaccines have been proven safe and effective in laboratory testing and in real world use in hundreds of millions of people over decades. The World Health Organization credits childhood vaccines with
Trump during his first term launched Operation Warp Speed, an effort to speed the production and distribution of a vaccine to combat COVID-19. The resulting vaccines were widely credited, including by Trump himself, with saving many lives.
Trump, in his announcement, said that, under Kennedy, HHS would "play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country.鈥� But HHS does not have jurisdiction over many of those issues, which fall under the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Agriculture.
Kennedy is an attorney who has built a loyal following over several decades of people who admire his lawsuits against major pesticide and pharmaceutical companies. He has pushed for tighter regulations around the ingredients in foods.
With the Trump campaign, he worked to shore up support among young mothers in particular, with his message of making food more healthful in the U.S., promising to model regulations after those imposed in Europe. In a nod to Trump鈥檚 original campaign slogan, he named the effort 鈥淢ake America Healthy Again.鈥�
It remains unclear how that will square with Trump鈥檚 history of deregulation of big industries, including food. Trump has pushed for fewer inspections of the meat industry, for example.
Kennedy鈥檚 stance on vaccines raises question about his ability to get confirmed, even in a GOP-controlled Senate.
He also has said he would recommend removing fluoride from drinking water, although fluoride levels are mandated by state and local governments. The addition of the material has been cited as leading to improved dental health and is considered safe at low levels.
He has said he would seek to ban certain food additives, cracking down on substances such as food dyes and preservatives, which are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. He has also targeted pesticides, which are jointly regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency and the FDA.
Kennedy has also drawn headlines for his history with wild animals. He admitted to dumping a dead bear in New York鈥檚 Central Park 鈥� placing it as though it had been hit by a bike 鈥� and found himself the subject of a federal after his daughter revealed that he had cut off a beached whale鈥檚 head and strapped it to the roof of his car to take home.
HHS has more than 80,000 employees across the country. Kennedy has promised to take a serious look at those who work for HHS and its agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health and the CDC.
He has said he is especially focused on putting an end to the 鈥渞evolving door鈥� of employees who have previous history working for pharmaceutical companies or leave government service to work for that industry, his former campaign communications manager, Del Bigtree, told the AP last month. Bigtree is also an anti-vaccine organizer.
Kennedy said he wanted to fire 600 employees at the National Institutes of Health, which oversees vaccine research.
The expected appointment was first reported by Politico Thursday.
Kennedy鈥檚 anti-vaccine nonprofit group, Children鈥檚 Health Defense, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.
Trump also announced Thursday that he will nominate Jay Clayton, who served as chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission during his first term, to serve as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
__ Seitz reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller in Washington and JoNel Aleccia in Temecula, California contributed to this report.
Jill Colvin And Amanda Seitz, The Associated Press
