Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a vaccine skeptic, sometimes a conspiracy theorist, and he could be part of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet. In August, Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed Trump; that same month, when asked, Trump said he would “probably” give him a job. “He’s a brilliant guy. He’s a very smart guy. I’ve known him for a long time,” Trump said at the time.
Maybe that job is in the world of public health. Kennedy’s background photo on About two weeks ago, Kennedy posted on is about to end. This includes the 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 promotes human health and cannot be patented by Pharma.”
He continued: “If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Save your information and 2. Pack your bags.”
In an interview Wednesday, Kennedy continued his attack. He said there are entire departments within the FDA “that need to go, that are not doing their jobs.”
The Food and Drug Administration has been around since 1906, although sometimes under different names before it officially became the FDA in 1930. Recently, Kennedy said that Trump has asked him to do three things: first, “clean up the corruption in our government health agencies”; second, “return those agencies to their rich tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science”; and third, “Make America Healthy Again by Ending the Chronic Disease Epidemic.” Apparently this may mean removing fluoride from water, banning pharmaceutical advertising and removing toxins from food, if Kennedy gets his way.
But he said in an interview, “I’m not going to take anyone’s vaccines away,” because he wants people to have a choice. Still, like the Wall Street Journal I pointed out that vaccine maker stocks fell the day Trump was elected.
In Trump’s early victory speech, he repeated the slogan “make America healthy again,” called Kennedy a “great guy” and joked that Kennedy should leave the oil to him, but “otherwise, go have a good time.” Days ago, before he was elected president, Trump said Kennedy would “work on women’s health and wellness.” This was after Trump said he would protect women, “whether the women like it or not.”
In case you’re unfamiliar, Kennedy is actually an environmental lawyer and does not appear to have any formal training in medicine or public health. Notably, he is also part of a famous Democratic family: nephew of President John F. Kennedy and son of JFK’s brother and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. RFK Jr. ran for president as a Democrat in April 2023 before becoming a third-party candidate later that year in October. Not to mention that Kennedy and Trump haven’t always had kind words for each other either. Kennedy once accused Trump of betraying his followers, and Trump once called him “the most radical left candidate in the race.”
A newsletter for the boldest, smartest leaders:
CEO Daily is your weekday morning dossier on the news, trends and talk business leaders need to know.
Sign up here.