Washington, D.C. — Today, Hawaii Governor Josh Green, M.D., Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz, Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen and others joined Protect Our Care and doctors, nurses, advocates, and storytellers for a press conference ahead of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s confirmation hearings with the Senate Finance and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committees. Governor Green detailed the devastating measles outbreak in Samoa, which he saw firsthand while responding to the crisis. Speakers warned about the deadly consequences if RFK Jr. is at the helm of American health care.
Speakers said that this nomination will touch nearly every household in the nation. For years, Kennedy has fueled disinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccinations and has pledged to stop funding research for treatments and cures to deadly diseases. His opposition to vaccines will lead to a resurgence of childhood illnesses like polio and measles. In addition, RFK Jr. doesn’t have the experience and skills to run major health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid that over 125 million Americans rely on for their health care. If confirmed, he won’t follow the science or trust the experts but instead will embrace fringe ideas that will put the lives of millions of Americans in jeopardy.
“RFK Jr is absolutely the most dangerous nominee to run HHS in our history,” said Hawaii Governor Josh Green, M.D. “He spreads misinformation and he profits from it – unconscionable and immoral. Five years ago, there was a terrible outbreak of measles in Samoa. By the time we got there, dozens of people had already died of measles. RFK Jr. took advantage of that country – he swooped in and scared them. Measles spread like wildfire. If he becomes Health and Human Services Secretary, he will oversee the entirety of our national program to vaccinate children. He will cast doubt on the vaccination program, as he has done for years, and we will see outbreaks. He will put children in harm’s way, the way he did in Samoa, all across our country.”
“There was reporting that indicated that RFK Jr. wants to conduct the Tuskegee experiments on all of us,” said Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI). “He believes that the FDA process for determining the efficacy of medicine does not reach statistical significance and the only way to figure out whether something works or not is to administer placebos to half of the population and just see what happens. When I heard that he did that, I got a chill up and down my spine, to think it is more than 50 years later, and we are still fighting this fight.”
“The head of the HHS must believe in science to keep people healthy and believe the experts, not conspiracy theories,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). “Robert F Kennedy, Jr. does not meet that very simple requirement. It’s not just that he doesn’t believe in science and trust our experts — he actively undermines them. RFK Jr. is one of the top spreaders of misinformation about vaccines, peddling bogus conspiracy theories that these safe and effective protections for Americans are somehow harmful. In fact, he said once that ‘no vaccine is safe and effective.’ Take it from me, somebody who spent months in a hospital bed as a child: I know the consequences of not protecting our kids from serious illness. I also know what it’s like to have science-backed medicine and great health care. Americans deserve a leading health official who believes in science, not conspiracies.”
“There are very few people in the United States of America who are less qualified to lead the Department of Health and Human Services than Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT). “Not just because he is overtly hostile to vaccines. He has shown that he is just wildly open to believing any medical conspiracy theory that is put in front of him. You do not want a Secretary of HHS who is going to believe on a daily basis whatever new medical conspiracy theory is popular on the internet. That’s the last person you want in charge of this nation’s health care.”
“The Department of Health and Human Services Secretary is charged with protecting the health and safety of all Americans – a responsibility that demands qualified, science-based, and fact-driven leadership,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. represents the polar opposite: his promotion of anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and lack of expertise makes him unfit to lead this critical institution. If confirmed, he would be in a position to endanger public health and the lives of Americans of all walks of life while throwing decades of life-saving medical research and advancements into chaos. What’s more, I’m deeply concerned by his threats aimed at key research institutions like NIH, and the hardworking, dedicated men and women who work tirelessly on behalf of the American people day in and day out. I will oppose his nomination and will fight to protect the integrity of our science and public health agencies – as well as the people who drive them forward.”
“RFK Jr. is going to send us back 100 years, back to days when milk was not pasteurized and there were no vaccinations and children were dying,” said Peter Lurie, President and Executive Director, Center for Science in the Public Interest. “The greatest advancements in public health are the things he wants to turn his back on.”
“Robert F Kennedy Jr. is a clear and present danger to American Public Health,” said Rob Weissman, Co-President, Public Citizen. “He shouldn’t be allowed within 500 feet of the Department of Health and Human Services, let alone be put in charge of it. He is a conspiracist and an anti-science crusader. RFK is not an opponent of Big Pharma. He is an opponent of science.”
“With my latest film Shot In The Arm, I had the opportunity to research and expose Robert Kennedy, Jr. for what he is,” said Scott Hamilton Kennedy, Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, and director of the Shot In The Arm documentary. “He is a fraud, and he’s been spreading misinformation and confusion for decades. His disregard for scientific consensus and verifiable truth is very, very dangerous. Science and democracy thrive on the free exchange of ideas, empirical evidence, and accountability – all of which Robert Kennedy Jr. undermines.”
“I am a physician and I represent 27,000 physicians,” said Dr. Jan Krommes, Doctors for America. “We oppose the confirmation of Robert Kennedy as Secretary of Health and Human Services in the strongest of possible terms. We have studied and evaluated both his statements and his actions, and we have concluded that his inability to understand scientific data, that his use of a public platform over the period of 20 years to jeopardize public health for his own enrichment is disqualifying for the position that he seeks.”
“I’ve had patients in the hospital for entirely preventable reasons, like not being vaccinated,” said Dr. Andrey Ostrovsky, 314 Action Public Health Advisor. “They got misinformation from charlatans like RFK Jr. RFK Jr.’s track record of spreading misinformation about vaccines is very well documented and his back should be crushed carrying that guilt.”
“The people who would pay the price of the decisions RFK Jr. would be making isn’t RFK Jr.,” said Andrea Ducas, Vice President of Health Policy, Center for American Progress. “It’s kids. It’s scared parents. It’s American families who are just trying to do right day by day and who are having to compete with just a deluge of misinformation that’s intentionally designed to scare them so that someone can turn a profit.”
“RFK Jr. is deeply dangerous and if confirmed, more people will get sick and more people will die, including our most vulnerable populations,” said Brad Woodhouse, Executive Director, Protect Our Care. “What he did to Samoa will become a reality here in the United States. 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.”