Trump wants raw milk enthusiast Robert F Kennedy Jr in charge of US health policy

United States President-elect Donald Trump has named sceptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr as his choice to be Health and Human Services Secretary.

Vaccine sceptic

In the latest in a series of controversial nominations, but one that should surprise no one, Trump has named Kennedy to be the US equivalent of Singapore's health minister on Nov. 14.

Kennedy had initially run for president as an independent candidate, having been part of the Democratic Party for a significant part of his life, like his father before him.

Kennedy is widely known as a vaccine sceptic, having opposed the Covid-19 vaccine mandates implemented by the U.S., but also many other parts of the world.

According to the Wall Street Journal, his health-based scepticism far predates the pandemic, however, and has argued against mandatory vaccinations of almost all types.

His opposition to vaccines also predates the pandemic, and he continues to pursue a repeatedly disproven theory that vaccines cause autism in children.

In the early part of his life, he was a renowned environmental lawyer, having worked against the use of the insecticide Roundup.

Roundup’s manufacturer is currently fighting multiple lawsuits in the U.S. over health claims.

Kennedy's approach appears to be a mix of more heavily regulating some common aspects of U.S. life, such as ultra processed foods, which is commonly understood to have negative health impacts; but aggressively deregulating other more tightly controlled substances such as psychedelics, ivermectin, stem cells and raw milk.

Raw milk is, for context, not allowed to be sold in Singapore, and the Singapore Food Agency has said it is a vector for the transmission of microorganisms,  such as the bacteria responsible for E. Coli and Salmonella, to name but a few.

In a tweet outlining his priorities as health minister, he highlighted his desire to shake up major agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration by telling them to "preserve your records, and pack your bags".

FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything…

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) October 25, 2024

Sceptic sceptics

The Guardian reported on a large number of RFK sceptics, who believed that his appointment, if successful, would be very damaging to the U.S.'s health system, with Kennedy being described as a "tin foil hat conspiracy theorist" and clear and present danger.

This point was illustrated  an anti-vaccine organisation linked to Kennedy, Children's Health Defense, spread "anti-vaccine misinformation" about the measles vaccination program in Samoa in 2018.

The subsequent outbreak of measles on Samoa in 2019 resulted in 57,000 infections and 83 deaths, including children.

Kennedy has taken no responsibility for what happened in Samoa.

Senate approval

Trump’s appointment of Kennedy keeps a promise made when Kennedy dropped out of the presidential race and chose to endorse Trump.

Trump had promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health policy, but whether it will actually happen is not certain, least of all because Kennedy’s role is very senior, and requires approval from the Senate.

The Senate is under Republican control, and in theory, this will allow Trump to get Kennedy, and other controversial picks such as Matt Gaetz for Attorney General, confirmed quickly.

However, the Senate is also known to be a more independent branch of the U.S. government, with several senators having terms that will outlast the single four-year term that Trump is allowed to serve.

Already there has been limited indication that Republican senators house some concerns over Kennedy, with the Wall Street Journal writing that the incoming Republican leader in the senate, John Thune, promising “plenty of scrutiny” for incoming candidates.

However, the leader of his party and soon-to-be president appears to have other ideas about how much scrutiny is needed.

The Senate will officially change to Republican control in January after the party won four seats from the Democrats and will be sworn in about a week before Trump’s inauguration.

The Wall Street Journal and Associated Press report that Trump has “demanded” that the Senate go “out of session” which will allow him to appoint critical positions such as cabinet secretaries, of which Kennedy’s position is one, without their formal approval.

Meanwhile, the Journal also reports that major vaccine producing pharmaceutical companies such as Moderna and Pfizer's stocks have fallen after reports emerged of Kennedy's appointment, despite Kennedy's statement that he was "not going to take vaccines from anybody".

Related stories

Top image via Robert F. Kennedy, Jr/Facebook