President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday nominated former third-party candidate Robert F. Kennedy to lead the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department.
Trump announced in a written statement on social media:
I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). 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. The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. 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!
Donald Trump Jr., Trump’s son, wrote, “Robert F Kennedy Jr will be The Secretary of Health and Human Services! Promises Made Promises Kept.”
Trump has promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with healthcare policy over food and healthcare policy after the third-party candidate dropped out and endorsed Trump’s bid to become the 47th president.
“He’s going to help make America healthy again. … He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it,” Trump said in his victory speech, citing Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again [MAHA]” initiative. “Go have a good time, Bobby.”
Kennedy would have, if confirmed, sway over a wide swathe of healthcare regulatory bodies, which includes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Kennedy wrote in late October:
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 else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags.
Kennedy has been critical of childhood vaccination schedules, fluoride in drinking water, and processed vegetable oils in processed foods. He would likely push the federal government to advise local governments to stop including fluoride in water.
Kennedy has described fluoride as “an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease.”
He has referred to “seed oils” — such as canola oil, corn oil, and sunflower oil — as poison for their highly refined production processes.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a statement on Trump’s nomination of Kennedy for HHS, saying, “RFK Jr. has championed issues like healthy foods and the need for greater transparency in our public health infrastructure. I look forward to learning more about his other policy positions and how they will support a conservative, pro-American agenda.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.