News

Washington, DC – Today, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) sent a letter stating that if the enhanced premium tax credits are not extended, almost four million Americans will lose their health care and premiums will increase by up to 8% for millions more. These tax credits, passed in the Inflation Reduction Act, lowered the cost of health care for millions of people purchasing coverage on their own with working families saving an average of $2,400. As a result, a record-high of 21.4 million people enrolled in coverage in 2024. But Republicans want to raise costs on middle-class families while handing out tax breaks to the rich. Unless Congress acts now, costs will go up for millions of people, including small business owners, people living in high-cost rural areas, farmers, people with pre-existing conditions, older adults, and more. The letter was requested by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Representative Richard Neal (D-MA-01), Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), and Representative Lauren Underwood (D-IL-14).

In response, Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse issued the statement below:

“If Congress fails to act, health care will become out of reach for millions of Americans, leaving middle-class families to struggle and choose between seeing a doctor or keeping a roof over their heads or groceries in the fridge. Instead of helping hardworking families, Republicans have opposed measures to lower health care costs and have instead focused on delivering tax breaks to big corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Health coverage gives people peace of mind knowing they won’t go bankrupt over an injury or illness. Democrats stand ready to extend the tax credits to ensure everyone has access to affordable health care. It’s time for Republicans to get on board.”

Wall Street Journal Editorial Board Joins Broad Coalition Opposing RFK Jr.’s Nomination 

Washington D.C. — The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board came out against RFK Jr.’s nomination for HHS Secretary, calling him a “threat to American medical innovation.” RFK Jr. has said he’d fire over 600 people at the National Institutes of Health, putting medical innovations and cures at risk. As a historically unqualified nominee — with no meaningful leadership experience, let alone public health experience — RFK Jr. has received broad pushback from medical experts, scientists, and health officials for his conspiracy-driven views. 

“The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board is right,” said Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach. “If RFK Jr. gets his way, every American will be put at risk. RFK Jr. wants to halt critical investments in treatments and cures for conditions like cancer, Parkinson’s, dementia, and more. Combined with his dangerous anti-vaccine views, his agenda is anti-innovation and threatens to bring back completely preventable illnesses from measles to polio. We need a steady leader regulating the entire U.S. health care sector, not a dangerous conspiracy theorist.”  

KEY POINTS

Trump “May Owe His Life To The Pharmaceutical Industry That RFK Jr. And His Allies Decry.” “When sick with Covid in 2020, Mr. Trump was treated with Gilead’s antiviral remdesivir—pulled off the shelf from past research on Ebola—and the experimental monoclonal antibody Regeneron. He dubbed the latter a “cure.” He may owe his life to the pharmaceutical industry that RFK Jr. and his allies decry.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/4/24] 

RFK Jr. Could Use His Regulatory Power At HHS To “Make It Harder For Medicines To Come To Market.” “The danger is that RFK Jr. would use his regulatory power at HHS to further discourage biopharmaceutical investment and undermine innovation. He says he wants to end alleged corruption between drug makers and government—by which he seems to mean curbing pharmaceutical profits by making it harder for medicines to come to market.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/4/24] 

RFK Jr. Opposes Vaccines That Are “Essential To Preventing Disease In Children And Adults.” “But vaccines are also essential to preventing disease in children and adults. Childhood vaccines have all but vanquished deadly infectious diseases in the U.S. HPV vaccines have greatly reduced cervical cancer. Scientists have discovered that latent viruses like Epstein-Barr can trigger auto-immune conditions and cancers later in life, so developing anti-virus vaccines can ward off debilitating diseases.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/4/24] 

Trial Lawyers And China Will Benefit From RFK Jr.’s Agenda – Not Patients. “Who will benefit from RFK Jr.’s agenda? The trial lawyers and China, which is seeking to surpass the U.S. in biotech including mRNA. If RFK Jr. were a Democratic nominee, GOP Senators would oppose him as a threat to public health. If they confirm him, they’d better hope they won’t need the cures that won’t be developed.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/4/24] 

If RFK Jr. is Confirmed, It Will Cost American Lives.

Read the Report Here.

Washington, D.C. — Protect Our Care is releasing a new national report detailing how Donald Trump is undermining the health and well-being of millions of Americans by nominating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). RFK Jr. is unqualified and holds dangerous anti-science and anti-vaccination policy positions, ready to put the personal interests of Donald Trump ahead of the health and safety of the American people. The potential damage cannot be understated as HHS oversees health care for the 163 million Americans enrolled in ACA Marketplace plans, Basic Health plans, Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP – just under half of the U.S. population. Kennedy has vowed to fire and prosecute hundreds of NIH And FDA Employees while also putting a pause on critical vaccine and disease research. 

“People will lose their lives with RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary,” said Protect Our Care Executive Director Brad Woodhouse. “Make no mistake: RFK Jr. is a MAGA loyalist who has no problem being Trump’s puppet. Kennedy’s long history of espousing misinformation has had deadly consequences, and in a position like HHS secretary, the damage would be insurmountable. American families deserve a competent leader regulating the health sector, not some fringe conspiracy theorist dead set on dismantling public health as we know it.”

Here Are Five of the Many Ways RFK Jr. Threatens Public Health:

1. Kennedy Has Been A Leading Anti-Vaccine Voice For Decades, With Deadly Consequences. As early as 2005, Kennedy has been asserting anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, despite claiming he is fully vaccinated himself. He has said “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and called the life-saving COVID-19 vaccine “a crime against humanity.” He is responsible for a measles epidemic in Samoa costing 83 people their lives, primarily infants and children.
2. Kennedy Has No Experience Is Completely Unqualified To Lead America’s Health Care System. HHS secretaries are typically seasoned policymakers with lots of experience moving policy through government agencies, managing large organizations, and being accountable to the public. Kennedy has no relevant experience for this position, has never worked in government, and has never directed a large organization of any kind. Kennedy does have a long and well-documented history of erratic and bizarre behavior that may have been in part caused by parasitic brain worms and mercury poisoning.
3. Kennedy Says He Will Pause All Research On Drug Development And Infectious Disease. He wants to dismantle drug development and infectious disease research for eight years, and has also claimed that he will go after medical journals and redirect funding away from epidemiology, a practice that seeks to prevent and control the spread of disease.
4. Kennedy Will Destroy Women and LGBTQ+ Health Care. As the HHS Secretary, the fate of birth control accessibility and coverage would be in his hands, a man who backed a 15-week federal abortion ban. Kennedy has repeatedly shared unfounded conspiracies that man-made chemicals in the environment could be making children gay or transgender and uses gross and barbaric language referring to transgender therapies and medications as “castration drugs” and “surgical mutilation.”
5. Kennedy Pushes Racist Propaganda, Backing Pseudoscientific Conspiracies.  Kennedy has targeted dangerous and disproven anti-vaccine propaganda at the Black community, while also proposing that the COVID-19 virus may have been ethnically targeted to spare Jewish and Chinese people. Kennedy also claimed that the U.S. was collecting DNA from ethnic Chinese and Russians in order to develop so-called ethnic bio-weapons against foreign adversaries.

Yesterday, former New York City mayor and public health leader Michael Bloomberg spoke at the Bloomberg American Health Summit, urging Senate Republicans to reject the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement: 

“RFK Jr. is not a public health official fit for office but, instead, an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who embraces fringe ideas and won’t follow the science or trust the experts. His proposals threaten to raise costs and jeopardize jobs across the nation. The American people deserve a leader at HHS who believes in science, who believes in vaccines, and who is committed to lowering costs and protecting health care for families. Michael Bloomberg is right – if RFK Jr. is confirmed, health care for millions is at risk.”

CNBC: Mike Bloomberg Warns Making RFK Jr. HHS Secretary Risks Killing Americans, Urges Senate To Reject Him. 

• “Bloomberg in Tuesday’s speech appealed directly to U.S. senators not to confirm RFK Jr. to the Cabinet role in the next Trump administration. ‘We can’t allow Kennedy or Trump or anyone else to bring unimaginable suffering to the American people,’ he said.”
• “And if the government starts to invest in ‘nutty conspiracy theories,’ then funding for researching cures for other diseases could be set back by years, Bloomberg argued. ‘It boggles the mind that the Senate would even consider giving Kennedy any power whatsoever over American health policy,’ he said.”

HuffPost: Michael Bloomberg Said Putting RFK Jr. In Charge of Vaccines Would Be ‘Medical Malpractice.’ 

• “Speaking Tuesday at the Bloomberg American Health Summit in Washington D.C., Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, said putting Kennedy in charge of the nation’s public health agencies would be ‘beyond dangerous’ and ‘medical malpractice on a mass scale.’”
• “Bloomberg said it is ‘beyond comprehension’ that Kennedy would be nominated with such a history, and said he ‘doesn’t care about evidence.’”

The New York Times: Bloomberg Says Kennedy Would Be ‘Beyond Dangerous’ as Health Secretary. 

• “Mr. Bloomberg also assailed Mr. Kennedy for discouraging measles vaccination during an outbreak in the island nation of Samoa, where 83 people died.  ‘Parents who have been swayed by vaccine skepticism love their children and want to protect them, and we need leaders who will help them do that,’ he said, ‘not conspiracy theorists who will scare them into decisions that will put their children at risk of disease.’” 
• “With experts warning of a possible bird flu outbreak in humans, Mr. Bloomberg said senators would face some hard questions: ‘With the nation facing a possible bird flu outbreak, are they really prepared to roll the dice on the lives of their constituents, by placing someone in charge of public health who has made it clear that he will prevent the approval of lifesaving vaccines?’”

The Hill: Bloomberg: RFK Jr. Would Be ‘Beyond Dangerous’ As HHS Head. 

• “Speaking during the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg American Health Summit in Washington, Bloomberg said he wanted Senate Republicans to convince President-elect Trump to ‘rethink’ Kennedy’s nomination. ‘If the president-elect doesn’t reconsider the nomination, the Senate has a duty to our whole country, but especially to our children, to vote no,’ Bloomberg said.”
• “Kennedy has a long history of vaccine skepticism, including spreading the false and discredited claim that the measles, mumps and rubella shot can cause autism. If he’s confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary, Kennedy would oversee the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration, the agencies in charge of reviewing and approving new vaccines and recommending which shots people should get.”

***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 4 at 11:15 AM ET***

Congressman Don Beyer (VA-08) will join advocates and Protect Our Care Virginia to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will put Virginians’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. Additionally, his fringe views on vaccines and his disregard of science and public health makes him a danger to the American people.

As HHS Secretary, RFK Jr. will push radical policies that will undermine decades of progress to lower health care costs, conduct research on life-saving cures for diseases, and keep Virginians healthy. Virginians deserve a leader at HHS who believes in science, the efficacy of vaccines, and who is committed to strengthening and expanding health care policies enacted since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Speakers will discuss how RFK Jr.’s leadership will affect nearly every Virginian, as he will prioritize his own interests and bolster MAGA efforts to increase health care costs by slashing Medicaid, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and banning Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices.

PRESS CALL

WHO: 
U.S. Representative Don Beyer (VA-08)
Mary Wright Baylor, Nurse Educator and Medical Reserve Corps Vaccinator
Pablo Moulden, Community Health Specialist
Laura Packard, Cancer Survivor
Katie Baker, State Director of Protect Our Care Virginia

WHAT: Virtual Press Conference

WHEN: Wed. Dec. 4 at 11:15 AM ET

WHERE: Register for the virtual event here (Registration is required).

BACKGROUND
Washington Post: 10 RFK Jr. conspiracy theories and false claims, in his own words

Washington, D.C. — Today, former New York City mayor and public health leader Michael Bloomberg urged Republicans to “rethink” the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Per the New York Times, Bloomberg used his opening remarks at the Bloomberg American Health Summit to “warn that installing Mr. Kennedy as health secretary would be ‘beyond dangerous,’ and tantamount to ‘medical malpractice on a mass scale.’”

In response, Protect Our Care Chair Leslie Dach issued the following statement: 

“Michael Bloomberg understands that RFK Jr. is an existential threat to the health of every American. Instead of following the science and trusting experts, RFK Jr. will promote debunked ideas and conspiracies. His opposition to vaccines will lead to a resurgence of deadly childhood diseases like polio and measles that threaten our children’s lives. He will stop life-saving government research into drugs and cures, and he doesn’t have the expertise or the skills to manage Medicare, Medicaid, or the public health programs that Americans rely on. As Michael Bloomberg said, it is up to Republican Senators to draw a line in the sand and put a stop to this reckless nomination. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will cost lives. Period.” 

Background

FACT SHEET: Trump Threatens To Destroy America’s Top Health Institutions By Nominating RFK Jr. For HHS Secretary

Protect Our Care’s “Stop RFK War Room” is leading the fight against Donald Trump’s dangerous nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the next Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Protect Our Care is a nonprofit organization founded to protect the Affordable Care Act and is now working to expand better health care at lower costs.

Representatives Dan Goldman (NY-10), Wiley Nickel (NC-13), Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, State Senators Elvi Gray-Jackson (AK-01), Kim Jackson (GA-41), Elgin Rogers (OH-44), Michele Grim (OH-43), and Terrence Upchurch (OH-20), Arvind Venkat, MD (PA-30) Joined Protect Our Care Alongside Other Health Care Advocates

Over the past couple weeks, lawmakers and health care advocates joined Protect Our Care for 10 events across the nation to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. Members of Congress, local elected officials, and advocates headlined events in Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Maine, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Pennsylvania resulting in 26 clips from various news organizations. 

The consequences of this nomination and the other radical HHS nominations will touch nearly every household in the nation. Not only does RFK Jr. have a long history of pushing dangerous and outlandish health-related conspiracy theories, but he will undoubtedly support MAGA efforts to increase health care costs and slash coverage by repealing the Affordable Care Act, slashing Medicaid, and banning Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices. Between his fringe views on vaccines and his disregard of science and public health, RFK Jr. is unfit to lead HHS and is a danger to the American people. Read more here. 

ALASKA

Tuesday, November 26—RFK Jr Nomination Event with State Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson and Health Care Advocates: Alaska State Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson, AFL-CIO President Joelle Hall, and Alaska Caretaker’s Union Senior Political and Advocacy Advisor Judy Jessen joined Protect Our Care Alaska to call on Alaskans to raise their voices against Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). “Alaska is already grappling with critical health care challenges, including the opioid crisis, mental health care shortages, and rising health care costs. So, appointing someone like RFK to oversee U.S. health care policy would jeopardize the health care funding and support Alaskans rely on,” said Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson. You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here.

ARIZONA

Tuesday, November 26 – RFK Jr. Nomination Event with Arizona Families for Vaccines Director Ashley Chambers: Dr. Larry DeLuca, associate professor of emergency medicine at University of Arizona and Ashley Chambers, executive director of Arizona Families for Vaccines joined Protect Our Care Arizona to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will put Arizonans’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. Additionally, his fringe views on vaccines and his disregard of science and public health makes him a danger to the American people. “Who do we really need in charge of somewhere like HHS,” said Dr. DeLuca. “I would argue that it should be a physician, an epidemiologist, a public health expert of some sort. Robert Kennedy, for all of his accomplishments, is a lawyer.” You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here.

CALIFORNIA

Friday, November 22 – RFK Jr. Nomination Event with California Health Access and California Providers: Chris Noble with Health Access California and resident physician Dr. Diana Dayal joined Protect Our Care CA to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will put Californians’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. Additionally, his fringe views on vaccines and his disregard of science and public health makes him a danger to the American people. “I’m a first-time parent, and I need full confidence that my 18-month-old son won’t be put in harm’s way when he’s off to school. Nearly eradicated infectious diseases like Polio and Measles could come back into circulation under an RFK Jr. regime,” said Chris Noble. “If RFK Jr. becomes Secretary of HHS, over 20 million Californian lives that are covered under programs overseen by HHS could be at risk.” You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here. 

• Public News Service: Health experts speak out against RFK Jr. leading Health and Human Services
• Kiowa County Press: Healthcare Advocates Oppose RFK Jr.’s HHS Nomination Over Vaccine Views and Healthcare Stance

GEORGIA

Thursday, November 21 – RFK Jr Nomination Event with State Senator Kim Jackson and Health Care Advocates: State Senator Kim Jackson, Dr. Len Lichtenfeld and Sara Cherry joined Protect Our Care Georgia to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will put Georgians’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid. RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. Additionally, his fringe views on vaccines and his disregard for science and public health make him a danger to the American people. “I feel a profound obligation to speak out against the nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. This is not just a bad idea—it is a threat to the health and well-being of every Georgian and every American. Kennedy has spent decades undermining trust in vaccines, a cornerstone of modern medicine. Childhood vaccines alone have prevented over 500 million cases of disease, 32 million hospitalizations, and more than one million deaths in the United States in the last 30 years, according to the CDC,” said Senator Kim Jackson. You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here.

• WABE: Sen. Kim Jackson Joins Protect Our Care Georgia to Speak Out Against RFK Jr.’s HHS Nomination 

MAINE

Friday, November 22 — RFK Jr. Nomination Event with Maine Health Care Advocates: Medical professionals and activists joined Protect Our Care Maine to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will put Mainers’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. Additionally, his fringe views on vaccines and his disregard of science and public health makes him a danger to the American people. Dr. Patricia Hymanson, neurologist and past Chair of the Joint Committee on Health and Human Services in the Maine Legislature, said “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has no meaningful leadership experience and is unfit to run an agency that employs more than 80,000 people. He has zero demonstrated knowledge of the massive 11 agencies run by HHS, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Food and Drug Administration, and National Institutes of Health. His anti-vaccine group, Children’s Health Defense, lists fewer than ten staff members. Leading the Department is literally the job and Mr Kennedy has no qualifications to lead it.” You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here. 

• Portland Press Herald: Public health advocates rail against Trump’s nomination of RFK Jr. for Cabinet post
• Maine Public Radio: Medical professionals object to Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s nomination
• FOX 23: Maine medical professionals warn against RFK Jr. becoming head of DHHS
• WGME (CBS Portland): Maine medical professionals warn against RFK Jr. becoming head of DHHS
• WMTW (ABC Portland): “Protect Our Care” Warns Against Nomination of RFK Jr. to Lead HHS

MINNESOTA

Monday, December 2 – RFK Jr. Nomination Event with Attorney General Keith Ellison and Health Care Advocates: Attorney General Keith Ellison joined Protect Our Care Minnesota to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will put Minnesotans’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. “RFK Jr.’s anti-science plans puts access to medical innovations, including vaccines and cures for serious diseases, at risk,” said Attorney General Keith Ellison. “Millions of people could needlessly suffer because of his plans to stop research on cures and treatments. And all Minnesotans would suffer if he slashes our health care agencies and programs.” You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here.  

• WCCO radio: Keith Ellison warns RFK Jr. and his policies will harm Minnesotans
• MPR/KNOW-FM: AG Keith Ellison is asking the US Senate not to confirm RFK JR as HHS Secretary
• KVRR: Attorney General Keith Ellison and Protect Our Care Minnesota Raise Concerns Over RFK Jr. Nomination
• WCCO TV (preview clip): Minnesota AG plans to speak against RFK Jr. nomination
• KAAL TV: Minnesota Attorney General criticizes RFK Jr.

NEW YORK

Tuesday, November 26 – RFK Jr. Nomination Event with Congressman Dan Goldman and Health Care Advocates: Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10), Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and health care advocates joined Protect Our Care for a virtual press conference to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Speakers underscored that, if RFK Jr. were confirmed, it would put New Yorkers’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. They highlighted that RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position, as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. Additionally, his fringe views on vaccines and his disregard for science and public health make him a danger to the American people. “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a dangerous conspiracy theorist who has no business leading the Department of Health and Human Services,” said Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10). “He has no public health or science training or experience, and was clearly appointed to this vital position because he made a campaign deal with Donald Trump to trade his support for this appointment. His nomination represents an inflection point in the trajectory of the American health care system. Senate Republicans must place the health of our families and our nation above politics by rejecting this nomination.” You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here.

• Spectrum News NY1: Rep. Dan Goldman Joins Protect Our Care to Oppose RFK Jr. Nomination
• POLITICO: New York Playbook PM

NORTH CAROLINA

Tuesday, November 26 – RFK Jr. Nomination Event with Congressman Wiley Nickel and Health Care Advocates: Congressman Wiley Nickel and Haywood Watson joined Protect Our Care North Carolina to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. “Every U.S. Senator should oppose this nomination if they care about the health of their constituents. As an anti-science, anti-vax, conspiracy theorist, RFK Jr. is unfit to lead HHS. He poses a grave threat to the health of North Carolinians and the American people. Our country deserves leaders who believe in science and are committed to building on the progress we’ve made since the passage of the Affordable Care Act,” said Congressman Wiley Nickel. “Honestly this is insane. The levels that Trump and his MAGA entourage will stoop to, but I’m optimistic. I believe in North Carolina. I believe in the American people. I implore our senators to hear the people’s voice and reject RFK Jr.’s nomination because working families in our state are counting on you.” You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here.

OHIO 

Monday, November 25 – RFK Jr. Nomination Event with State Representatives and Health Care Advocates: State Representatives Elgin Rogers, Michele Grim, and Terrence Upchurch, as well as Dr. John Ross, joined Protect Our Care Ohio to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will put Ohioans’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. “We are here because we care about people, quality health care in Ohio, and America – and the future of health care in America,” said Representative Elgin Rogers. “The American people need someone who respects science and will utilize that science to make the best decisions to improve the health care of our nation and our state. We encourage everyone who believes in a healthy Ohio to join us in voicing your concern about this nomination.” You can watch the event here.

• Toledo Blade: Democrat legislators worried about future of health care under Trump administration
• Newsbreak: Democrat legislators worried about future of health care under Trump administration
• Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio legislators, medical leader fear vaccine hesitancy, health care impacts if RFK Jr. confirmed
• Mahoning Matters:  Ohio legislators, medical leader fear vaccine hesitancy, health care impacts if RFK Jr. confirmed

PENNSYLVANIA

Tuesday, November 26 – RFK Jr. Nomination Event with State Representative Armind Venkat, MD and Health Care Advocates: Representative Arvind Venkat, MD joined Protect Our Care Pennsylvania to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. “At a very fundamental level, RFK Jr. stands against the first responsibility of this position: to protect the health of our country. Someone who has no significant administrative experience, in addition to his conspiracy theories on proven public health interventions, endangers the lives of our fellow Pennsylvanians,” said Rep. Arvind Venkat. “I strongly urge Senator-elect McCormick along with Senator Fetterman to not vote for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to serve as Secretary for Health and Human Services. This is not simply differences in the health care agenda that the incoming Trump administration may have – this goes to whether we will protect our fellow Americans or not.” You can watch the event here, and view the post-event release here. 

• WTAE: Rep. Arvind Venkat joins Protect Our Care to speak out against RFK Jr.’s nomination
• WTAE: Raising concerns about the future of health coverage in the U.S.
• WTAE: Addressing concerns over the future of health care in America
• WHYY: Representative Venkat calls on Senators Fetterman and McCormick to vote against Kennedy’s confirmation
• WESA: Pa. state House member and ER doctor Arvind Venkat urges ‘no’ vote on RFK Jr.
• WTAE: Doctor-lawmaker, advocacy group label RFK Jr. as ‘threat to American health care’
• WVIA: Pa. state House member and ER doctor Arvind Venkat urges ‘no’ vote on RFK Jr.

More headlines are rolling in that make it clear that RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine beliefs are particularly dangerous as the world faces serious health threats, including the emergence of bird flu (H5N1) and the rise of whooping cough and measles. Vaccines have eradicated diseases from measles and smallpox to polio and will be essential to combatting other infectious disease threats. In addition to RFK Jr. endorsing dangerous anti-vaccination beliefs, he has spread baseless lies and conspiracy theories about fluoride in the water supply, school shootings and antidepressants, and HIV/AIDS, and he promised to stop research on drug development and infectious diseases. 

RFK Jr. is not a public health official fit for office but, instead, an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist who embraces fringe ideas and won’t follow the science or trust the experts. His proposals threaten to raise costs and jeopardize jobs across the nation. The American people deserve a leader at HHS who believes in science, who believes in vaccines, and who is committed to lowering costs and protecting health care for families. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, health care for millions is at risk.

HEADLINES 

Stat: Former Trump FDA Chief Is Seeking to Undermine RFK Jr.’s Senate Confirmation.

• “‘I’ve had conversations, and I’ve raised my concerns and I will continue to raise my concerns,’ Gottlieb said on CNBC in response to a question about whether he’s spoken with individual senators about the prospect of confirming RFK Jr. Gottlieb’s remarks reflect an effort to undermine RFK Jr.’s. nomination before the Senate reconvenes after its Thanksgiving break, when RFK Jr. could begin meeting with senators to discuss his confirmation.” 
• “Beyond his criticism of RFK Jr., Gottlieb also called David Weldon, Trump’s pick to lead the CDC, a ‘very committed anti-vaxxer.’” 

HuffPost: Ex-FDA Commissioner Says RFK Jr. ‘Will Cost Lives’ As Head Of Health Department. 

• “‘If RFK follows through on his intentions — and I believe he will, and I believe he can — it will cost lives in this country,’ Gottlieb said Friday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” ‘You’re going to see measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates go down,” he said, citing research that suggests just a 5% drop in measles vaccinations would likely have an outsized impact and lead to ‘large measles outbreaks.’”
• “‘I’m not sure how people really understand how Kennedy’s intentions are going to translate into policy, and how serious he is,’ he added on CNBC.

NBC: Trump’s Former FDA Commissioner: ‘It Will Cost Lives in This Country’ if RFK Jr. Follows Through on Intentions.

• “‘I think if RFK follows through on his intentions, and I believe he will, and I believe he can, it will cost lives in this country,” Gottlieb told CNBC, referring to Kennedy, whom President-elect Donald Trump has said he will nominate for health secretary. ‘You’re going to see measles, mumps and rubella vaccination rates go down,’ Gottlieb, who led the FDA under Trump’s first administration, added. ‘And like I said, if we lose another 5%, which could happen the next year or two, we will see large measles outbreaks. For every 1,000 cases of measles that occur in children, there will be one death. And we are not good in this country at diagnosing and treating measles.’”

Washington Post: Trump’s Former FDA Commissioner Warns RFK Jr. Could ‘Cost Lives’ if Confirmed.

• “The nation is approaching a ‘tipping point,’ Gottlieb said, where a continued decline in childhood vaccines could soon lead to measles outbreaks and deaths of children. ‘We’re going to start seeing epidemics of diseases that have long been vanquished, and, God forbid, we see polio reemerge in this country, he said.”
• “He added that Kennedy, who founded one of the country’s most prominent antivaccine groups, had ‘smart people’ around him who could take immediate steps to affect Americans’ access to vaccines, such as changing federal vaccine recommendations. ‘There’s a lot of things that they could do day one, very easily, administratively,’ Gottlieb said.”

NBC: RFK Jr. attacked the CDC’s ‘fascism’ and likened vaccinating children to abuse by the Catholic Church

• “At a 2013 speech for AutismOne, self-described as the largest parent-run autism conference, Kennedy vilified a nebulous group, including vaccine scientists, involved in what he falsely claimed was a conspiracy to hide vaccines as the cause of autism. ‘Is it hyperbole when I say these people should be in jail? They should be in jail and the key should be thrown away,’ Kennedy told the cheering AutismOne crowd before invoking the Bible.” 
• “Del Bigtree, Kennedy’s campaign communications director and leader of the country’s second-best-funded anti-vaccine organization, posted last week that Kennedy, while “strategic,” remains committed to the anti-vaccine cause. ‘Bobby didn’t get dragged through the mud for over a decade just so he could compromise his values once he finally got inside the castle,’ Bigtree said.”

The Independent: RFK Jr Likened CDC to a ‘Nazi Death Camp’ and Vaccinating Children to ‘Sex Abuse in the Catholic Church.’ 

• “RFK Jr said it was not for him to say ‘why someone else is doing something’ before launching into a conspiracy theory about ‘secret’ vaccine letters and how institutions like the CDC ‘go to the extremes.’ ‘To me, this is like the Nazi death camps,’ he said. ‘What happened to these kids, one in 31 boys in this country, is you know, their minds are being robbed.’”
• “His views on the CDC hadn’t changed by 2019, when he spoke at the conference again and likened the federal agency’s vaccine division to ‘fascism.’”

MSNBC: Gov. Green Is Also a Doctor. Here’s Why He Thinks RFK, Jr. ‘Could Doom Us.’

• “83 children had just died, and over 5000 cases of measles that we diagnosed had been spread through the country. It was a disaster, and it was caused in large part by RFK Jr. So he is a terrible pick for HHS secretary, and if he does become our lead health official in the country, you’re going to see outbreaks like this in rural communities, in cities across America. Children will die or have severe disabilities.”

The Guardian: ‘We Learned the Hard Way’: Samoa Remembers a Deadly Measles Outbreak and a Visit From RFK Jr.

• “‘We cannot and should not stay silent. We know what this appointment means. It means more platforms for anti-vaxxers and less funding for vaccines and health programmes,’ Aiono Prof Alec Ekeroma, Samoa’s director general of health, told the Guardian. ‘It must be treated as a threat to our health security.’”

New York Times Opinion: I’ll Never Forget What Kennedy Did During Samoa’s Measles Outbreak.

• “I was in Samoa during that outbreak as part of my more than 16 years of reporting on the anti-vaccine movement. The cause of the outbreak was not the vaccine, but most likely an infected traveler who brought the virus from New Zealand, which that year had had the biggest measles outbreaks in decades, especially among that country’s Indigenous and Pacific Islander communities.” 
• “But, as an editorial in The New Zealand Medical Journal reported, so too was a factor that Mr. Kennedy specializes in: ‘increasing circulation of misinformation leading to distrust and reduced vaccination uptake.’ Samoa’s vaccination rates had fallen to fewer than a third of eligible 1-year-olds.”

Boston Globe Opinion: Rep. Jake Auchincloss: Senate Must Reject Kennedy as Health Secretary. 

• “Kennedy is not just unqualified, he is dangerous — particularly for children. The Senate must reject him.”
• “If Kennedy is charged with overseeing the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he will fuse his personal brand with organs of state to pump out quackery and conspiracy.”
• “Healthier school lunches and less ultraprocessed foods were good ideas when former First Lady Michelle Obama promoted them, and they’re good ideas now. There are thousands of respected health experts, though, who could execute that agenda without also bringing back polio.”

MSNBC: How Trump’s Public Health Picks Could Undermine Americans’ Safety.

• “Trump’s choice to lead that critical department is none other than Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He’s an environmental lawyer by trade, but over the years he has pushed anti-vaccine viewpoints. He said just this year that ‘there is no vaccine that is safe and effective.’”
• “He has pushed flat-out false statements that erode public trust in our top medical institutions, which will likely discourage people from opting to get vaccines that prevent deadly and debilitating diseases.”
• “Public health programs, especially disease prevention, work when enacted on a large scale by the government. When an effort to inoculate a population against a disease works, it’s largely invisible. The absence of an outbreak — or the lack of a crisis — is proof of a successful public health program. No one notices when it works, because that’s the goal. Nothing has gone wrong. When your public health system is strong, you don’t notice that kids don’t get measles, polio or whooping cough.”

New York Times: How Kennedy Has Worked Abroad to Weaken Global Public Health Policy

• “[Kennedy] also spent years working abroad to undermine policies that have been pillars of global health policy for a half-century, records show…by lending his celebrity, and the name of his nonprofit group, Children’s Health Defense, to a network of overseas chapters that sow distrust in vaccine safety and spread misinformation far and wide.”
• “Mr. Kennedy has partnered with, financed or promoted fringe figures — people who claim that 5G cellphone towers cause cancer, that homosexuality and contraceptive education are part of a global conspiracy to reduce African fertility and that the World Health Organization is trying to steal countries’ sovereignty.”

CNN: ‘Drastic and Terrible Impact’: What Kennedy’s Confirmation as HHS Secretary Could Mean for Global Health.

• “Health experts fear that he could undercut decades of work to control the spread of infectious diseases such as measles, polio and HIV; hamper international research collaborations; and scuttle current efforts to increase global coordination and cooperation ahead of future pandemics.”
• “‘Ultimately, the secretary is the CEO of the largest health, medical and scientific enterprise in the world,’ said Dr. Richard Carmona, who served as US surgeon general under President George W. Bush. ‘The world depends on us, for our science, for our emergency capabilities, for our ability to surge and help others.’”

Axios: How RFK Jr. Could Use Levers of HHS to Shape Vaccine and Drug Outcomes.

• “Experts say RFK Jr.’s public calls for more transparency and vows to shore up the trustworthiness of federal health agencies may translate into more requests for vaccine safety data and into appointing like-minded individuals to advisory panels that could influence coverage of drugs, services and devices. They also say it could result in shifting public health funding to chronic disease or environmental health and away from infectious disease, or a diversion of federal investment to study unproven health issues instead of known risks. And they’re expecting attempts to remove job protections from career federal employees who work in policymaking roles and reduce the ranks of officials who don’t align with RFK Jr.’s goals.”

Salon: Bird Flu Is Getting Worse. Disease Experts Worry Trump and RFK Jr. Will Mangle Response Like COVID.

• “Dr. Rajendram Rajnarayanan, of the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Arkansas, told Salon he’s concerned about proposed cuts to staff at various government agencies and how that will affect the future of bird flu monitoring. ‘Cuts to these agencies could severely diminish their capacity to monitor and respond to emerging infectious diseases,’ Rajnarayanan said.”

HuffPost: The Biden Administration Made A Big Decision On Ozempic, But RFK Jr. Could Tank It.

• “But the process of changing federal regulations can take months, or sometimes years. That means the fate of this proposal will be in the hands of Becerra’s successor, which means it could be in the hands of Kennedy. And Kennedy has made his opposition to the drugs clear.”

New York Times: Kennedy’s Inheritance: How Addiction and Trauma Shaped a Turbulent Life.

• “As an anti-vaccine advocate, Mr. Kennedy has plunged into dark and conspiratorial views of government, the press, scientific institutions and especially the drug industry. He has promoted wild and debunked theories, suggesting AIDS could be caused by ‘poppers,’ an inhaled drug popularized by gay men in the 1970s, rather than H.I.V. He backed a documentary asserting that the 2020 pandemic was a ‘plandemic’ — an event orchestrated by the government as part of an effort to undermine American liberties.”

Axios: RFK Jr.’s Past Could Haunt Nomination Process.

• “News stories published over the past few days highlight Kennedy’s key vulnerabilities, including the wildcard presented by his colorful past. A deeply reported piece by the New York Times discusses his ‘drug addiction, compulsive sexual behavior and deep dives into conspiracy theories,’ including his arrest and conviction for heroin possession and a journal he kept documenting sexual encounters with more than three dozen women in one year. Kennedy was accused of sexual assault in the late 1990s by a woman who interned at his law clinic and babysat for his family. The woman has said she’s willing to testify before the Senate, the Wall Street Journal reports.”

Mother Jones: A Super-PAC Backing RFK Offers Paid Access to Him at Mar-a-Lago.

• “The price of enjoying Kennedy’s company at the fundraiser, set to take place on the Trump-owned club’s Lakeview Terrace, is $25,000 each, or $40,000 for a couple. Experts on federal election law say that such a bald exchange—a large donation in exchange for access to a powerful incoming government official—is technically legal, but ethically ill-advised.”

***MEDIA ADVISORY FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, AT 12 PM CT // 1 PM ET***

RFK Jr.’s Nomination for HHS Secretary puts American Lives at Risk and Threatens the Future of Health Care

Saint Paul, Minn. – On Monday, December 2 at 12 PM CT // 1 PM ET, Attorney General Keith Ellison will join Protect Our Care Minnesota to sound the alarm on Donald Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary. If RFK Jr. is confirmed, it will put Minnesotans’ lives at risk and jeopardize critical programs like the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid. RFK Jr. is deeply unqualified to serve in this position as he has no leadership qualifications in any role in public health or a government agency. Additionally, his fringe views on vaccines and his disregard of science and public health makes him a danger to the American people.

As HHS Secretary, RFK Jr.’s sole focus will be pushing these radical policies that will undermine decades of progress to lower health care costs, conduct research on life-saving cures for diseases, and keep Minnesotans healthy. Minnesotans deserve a leader at HHS who believes in science, the efficacy of vaccines, and who is committed to strengthening and expanding health care policies enacted since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Speakers will discuss how RFK Jr.’s leadership will affect nearly every Minnesotan, as he will prioritize his own interests and bolster MAGA efforts to increase health care costs by slashing Medicaid, repealing the ACA, and banning Medicare from negotiating lower drug prices.

PRESS CALL

WHO:
Attorney General Keith Ellison
Patsy Stinchfield, NP, retired infectious disease consultant
Jessica Intermill, health care advocate
Laura Smith, Protect Our Care Minnesota

WHAT: Virtual Press Conference

WHEN: Monday, December 2, 2024 at 12 PM CT // 1 PM ET

WHERE: Register for the virtual event here (Registration required)