PBS report on RFK jr.’s anti-vaccine history (8:00)

Progress Iowa

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Contact: Parker Williamson, Press Secretary press@progressiowa.org

STATEMENT: RFK Jr. Can’t Walk Back His Decades-Long Reckless Anti-Vaccine Record

New reporting indicates that RFK Jr. is lying about his record on vaccines to get confirmed to lead HHS. While he’s telling GOP senators that he only wants “transparency” about vaccines, his record tells a fully different story. He has said that “there’s no vaccine that is safe or effective” and has spent years pushing dangerous conspiracy theories, including the long-debunked theory that vaccines cause autism – and his financial disclosures that dropped earlier today indicate that Kennedy and his law firm could still stand to profit from his anti-vaccine lawsuits. In response, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse issued the following statement: 

“RFK Jr. is gaslighting Senators and lying through his teeth. Despite a decade or more long record of leading the anti-vaccine movement in this country, claiming that none of them are safe, petitioning to have them removed, and preying on the fears of parents, he is now saying whatever he needs to say to get confirmed. RFK Jr.’s lies should not fool anyone. He is a con man who has been paid to promote anti-vaccine theories that have no scientific basis. If confirmed, he won’t follow the science or trust the experts but instead will embrace fringe ideas that will put the lives of scores of Americans in jeopardy. Mr. Brainworm is the last person we need in charge of America’s health care.”

Background

Read Protect Our Care’s Report on RFK Jr.’s Decades-Long Anti-Vaccine Record Here

RFK Jr.’s Record of Anti-Vaccine Extremism:

• RFK Jr. claims “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.” RFK Jr. has been a leading anti-vaccine voice for decades, falsely correlating vaccines with autism and calling vaccination a “Holocaust.” He says he urges strangers with babies not to vaccinate their children.

• RFK Jr. helped fuel a deadly measles vaccine in Samoa. 83 people died in a measles epidemic in Samoa after Kennedy visited the country and helped fuel a wave of vaccine hesitancy. He also questioned whether the MMR vaccine is necessary at all.

• RFK Jr. called the COVID-19 vaccine a “crime against humanity.” RFK Jr. also targeted dangerous and disproven anti-vaccine propaganda at the Black community during the pandemic.

• RFK Jr. has spread outrageous lies about the polio vaccine. RFK Jr. spread conspiracy theories that the polio vaccine “cause[d] more death than it avert[ed]” and falsely claimed that polio’s eradication was not due to the vaccine.

• RFK Jr. opposes the HPV vaccine — a critical tool to prevent cervical cancer. RFK Jr. has filed multiple lawsuits alleging that the HPV vaccine is unsafe despite numerous studies that have shown that the vaccine is incredibly effective against cervical cancer.

• RFK Jr. opposes vaccines for infectious diseases across the board. Kennedy has also spread false claims linking flu shots, Hepatitis B vaccines, and even 19th century vaccines to rare diseases, and his anti-vaccine views could undermine efforts to contain and prevent the spread of bird flu.

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Editor’s note:

In a related story on Thursday we have Kennedy receiving fees from pharmaceutical litigation and will continue to do so even if confirmed as head of HHS:

RFK to keep earning from drug litigation if confirmed as HHS secretary, raising ethical concerns

Nominee’s history of controversial views on vaccines fuels debate over his appointment

In a newly filed ethics report, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he plans to keep his financial stake in some pharmaceutical litigation if confirmed as Health and Human Services Secretary.

Kennedy said in the report that he has earned more than $2.4 million referring clients to the law firm WisnerBaum. That firm is suing a drug maker over its HPV vaccine, Gardasil.

Kennedy said he is contracted to receive 10% of contingency fees awarded to the firm.

Ethics records show he intends to keep collecting fees related to past referrals. That could pose an issue because, as head of Health and Human Services, he would be in a position to oversee policies that affect drug makers.

This whole administration will be nothing more than a giant confidence scheme to see which of Trump’s buddies can grift the biggest pot of money. If you voted for these criminals you should be ashamed.