Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was already garnering attention with his anti-vaccine organization, Children’s Health Defense, and emerging as a prominent figure in spreading apprehension and skepticism regarding vaccines.
Now, with Donald Trump as President-elect, there are plans to nominate Kennedy for the position of Secretary of Health and Human Services, the agency responsible for overseeing vaccine regulation.
Kennedy has perpetuated the discredited notion that vaccines are linked to autism. Additionally, he has promoted various conspiracy theories, including one suggesting that COVID-19 may have been designed to target specific ethnicities while sparing others. He later claimed these remarks were taken out of context. Kennedy has repeatedly invoked references to the Holocaust in discussions regarding vaccination and health regulations.
While no medical procedure is without risk, the consensus among healthcare professionals is that the dangers posed by vaccine-preventable diseases far outweigh the risks associated with vaccination.
Vaccines have undergone extensive testing and have demonstrated their safety and effectiveness through practical application over decades, impacting countless lives. They are recognized as some of the most significant advancements in public health.
Kennedy has stated that he does not oppose vaccines per se but wants more rigorous testing to ensure their safety. However, he has voiced objections to many vaccination campaigns. During a podcast in 2023, he stated, “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective,” and reaffirmed his belief in the long-debunked correlation between vaccines and autism in a conversation with Fox News. In a podcast from 2021, he urged listeners to challenge CDC recommendations regarding childhood vaccinations.
Kennedy has been quoted advising a hiker carrying a baby against vaccinating their child.
In that same year, he participated in a video promoting a sticker campaign by his organization, appearing next to a sticker that read, “IF YOU’RE NOT AN ANTI-VAXXER YOU AREN’T PAYING ATTENTION.”
The World Health Organization estimates that vaccination efforts globally have saved over 154 million lives in the last half-century.
A 2021 study analyzing verified Twitter accounts concluded that Kennedy’s personal account was a leading source of vaccine-related misinformation on the platform, responsible for a staggering 13% of all reshares of false information—outpacing the second-most prolific account by more than threefold.
Kennedy has campaigned across various states, including New York, California, and Connecticut, either lobbying against or litigating over vaccine-related policies. His activism has extended internationally as well, as he has sought collaboration with anti-vaccine advocates worldwide.
He has also teamed up with certain business and interest groups, including anti-vaccine chiropractors, who benefit financially from the healthcare landscape while disseminating misleading health information.
Investigations uncovered that one chiropractic organization in California contributed $500,000 to his organization, amounting to about one-sixth of its total fundraising that year. Another inquiry identified him as an affiliate of an anti-vaccine video series, placing him among the top ten earners on their sales leaderboard.
Kennedy’s group has published several anti-vaccine works, many of which have faced debunking. One notable title, titled “Cause Unknown,” operates under the false assumption that there has been a rise in sudden deaths among young, healthy individuals linked to widespread COVID-19 vaccination. Experts indicate that such rare medical occurrences are not a recent phenomenon and have not increased in frequency.
A review of the book highlighted that numerous individuals featured within it passed away from identifiable causes unrelated to vaccines, such as suicide, overdose, choking, and allergic reactions; notably, one individual died in 2019.
Currently, Children’s Health Defense is engaged in a lawsuit against various media organizations, including The Associated Press, alleging these outlets breached antitrust laws while attempting to suppress misinformation regarding COVID-19 and its associated vaccines. Although Kennedy has stepped back from the organization during his presidential campaign, he is still listed as one of the attorneys involved in the lawsuit.