Washington D.C. — 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.