WASHINGTON (November 1, 2024) – Donald Trump, should he win the presidency, reportedly plans to give Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., influence over key public health agencies.
Liz Barratt-Brown, a former employee of the Natural Resources Defense Council where she worked with Kennedy, issued the following statement in response:
“Donald Trump’s plans to appoint RFK Jr. to a position overseeing vast swaths of American health should alarm every American — and especially America’s parents.
“As someone who used to work with him, I can see that RFK Jr. has taken a dangerously anti-science turn, embracing conspiracy theories on issues from the environment to public health, with his most extreme conspiracies focused on childhood vaccinations. Now, according to Trump’s own transition chief, Trump has embraced RFK Jr.’s crusade to ‘yank these vaccines right off, off of the market.’
“Vaccinations that have essentially eradicated deadly diseases and saved millions of children’s lives should not be discarded because of debunked conspiracy theories. It is particularly concerning that Trump would reportedly appoint him as some sort of White House ‘czar’ who could serve without Senate confirmation and still have power over multiple Cabinet Secretaries.
“We can’t afford to go back to Medieval times and let perfectly preventable diseases kill our children and other loved ones. RFK’s potential role in a Trump Administration could roll back a century of medical progress and threaten lives.”
