Trump taps RFK Jr. to lead Dept. of Health and Human Services

Shortly before the election, Trump had assured him that, if elected, he would let the longtime vaccine skeptic ‘go wild on health.’

By Andrew Lapin, JTA

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine questioner and onetime presidential candidate, is President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump announced his pick for the Cabinet position on Truth Social, his social network, on Thursday afternoon, saying he was “thrilled” to nominate Kennedy to lead the department.

“For 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,” Trump wrote.

“Mr. Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”

The nomination cemented the unlikely alliance between Trump and the scion of Democratic Party royalty, who suspended his third-party campaign to endorse the Republican this summer.

Shortly before the election, Trump had assured him that, if elected, he would let the longtime vaccine skeptic “go wild on health.”

In addition to his anti-vaccine views, Kennedy has also floated removing fluoride from drinking water.

Among the areas that would be under Kennedy’s purview at the department: the Food and Drug Administration; Medicare and Medicaid; the National Institutes of Health; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; agencies dealing with substance abuse, mental health and toxic substances; and the office of U.S. Surgeon General.

He is ardently pro-Israel and recently defended Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the late leader of the Chabad Hasidic movement, from attacks leveled by far-right commentator Candace Owens.

Some prominent Jews have declared themselves in Kennedy’s corner. After Thursday’s nomination announcement, he gained another one: Jared Polis, the Democratic governor of Colorado.

“I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint Robert Kennedy Jr.,” Polis wrote on social media, saying Kennedy had “helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019.”

Polis outlined several health-related policy positions he said he agreed with Kennedy on, including reforming federal nutrition standards, curbing pesticide usage and capping international drug prices.

Polis concluded, “He will face strong special interest opposition on these, but I look forward to partnering with him to truly make American healthy again and I hope that we can finally make progress on these important issues.”

Department of Health and Human ServicesRFKTrump administration