A look at RFK Jr.’s record as Trump selects him to lead nation’s health agency

Geoff Bennett:

Welcome to the "News Hour."

Tonight, president-elect Donald Trump continues to roll out nominees to his Cabinet. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Mr. Trump's pick for secretary of the Health and Human Services Department.

Amna Nawaz:

Mr. Kennedy ran for president in 2024, first as a Democrat, then as an independent, before dropping out in August and endorsing then-candidate Trump. He's also an anti-vaccine activist and has pushed several conspiracies about the COVID-19 virus, including that it was designed to target certain races.

To help us understand the impact of this nomination, we're joined by our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez.

So, Laura, if Kennedy is confirmed to lead HHS, what kind of power does that give him? And what has he said about some of the other agencies that would be under his charge?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

It'll give him a lot of power, Amna.

He will be overseeing with — being the secretary of HHS, he will be overseeing 13 agencies that are under HHS, including the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration. And Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that he wants to fire experts at a number of these agencies.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. , Health and Human Services Secretary Nominee: In some categories, there are entire departments like the nutrition departments at FDA that are — that have to go, that are not doing their job. They're not protecting our kids.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

RFK Jr. also recently said that the Trump transition needs to act fast because they have to be ready with their own loyalists so that on January 21, 600 people are going to walk into offices at the National Institutes of Health and 600 people are going to leave, meaning they're going to be fired.

One source close to RFK Jr. told me that he also wants to focus on more standard priorities, like stricter food requirements in terms of food health safety and those health effects associated with ultra-processed foods.

But Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also said a lot of — spread a lot of conspiracy theories, things like baseless claims that vaccines cause autism. He has blamed school shootings on anti-depressant use. And he's claimed that the FDA is actively suppressing the use of raw milk.

Public health experts have warned that drinking raw milk can lead to illnesses.

Amna Nawaz:

So you have been talking to public health experts here. What kind of impact are they saying that Kennedy could have on Americans' health and also preparedness for another potential pandemic?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

RFK Jr. has spread a lot of conspiracies, like the ones I just talked about, Amna.

But he's also said that COVID-19 was engineered so, that that way, Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people would be immune to it.

And I spoke to Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, and he said that RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine rhetoric and the potential policies he might prioritize could have very dangerous ramifications.

Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director, American Public Health Association:

RFK Jr. has been on the record of saying there's no safe and effective vaccine. And, because of that, people are not going to take vaccines.

Even if he was to change his tune and promote vaccines, no one will know what to believe. So RFK is not the person for this job. He doesn't have the medical training, the skill of managing a large organization, and he is not a well-trusted individual. And because of that, we're going to see more people get sick, and I'm really, really concerned that more people will die.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Dr. Benjamin said that a lot of what the federal government does is by influence. It's not necessarily by regulation.

So when health guidances are put out or encouragement of an education of the public to receive vaccines, and so doctors like Georges Benjamin, as well as pediatrician Paul Offit, who I spoke to earlier this year, said that there are big dangerous ramifications when someone like RFK Jr. says that people shouldn't take vaccines, ramifications where there is a downtick in the number of people and children who get polio and measles vaccines, which can lead to deaths, Amna.

Amna Nawaz:

So, Laura, we have now seen a number of names put forward by president-elect Trump, people he wants to join his administration. Where does Kennedy's nomination fit into those picks? Is there a pattern here?

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Above all else, president-elect Trump is prioritizing loyalty. And sources close to the Trump transition told me that Donald Trump promised disruption to the status quo, that RFK Jr. is a very disruptive force, and that Donald Trump wants D.C. to be scrambling.

So when you look across these, that is what he's focused on.

Amna Nawaz:

Also today, president-elect Trump announced he's nominating Jay Clayton as his pick for U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. Tell us about him.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Clayton served as chair of the SEC, Securities and Exchange Commission, during Donald Trump's first administration.

And Clayton has no criminal law experience and he's going to have to shift to work on that for what is known as the sovereign district, one of the most independent districts, with this nomination. His role is notable because this office handles a lot of high-profile cases, particularly federal crimes and corruption cases.

And so the big question with this nomination, Amna, is, does Clayton help Donald Trump pursue what he campaigned on in terms of prosecuting his enemies? And then another announcement that we just got moments ago was that Donald Trump has nominated Todd Blanche to be deputy attorney general, so the second highest ranking official at the Justice Department, Todd Blanche, who is Donald Trump's personal attorney, who represented him for 18 months during the criminal hush money trial in Manhattan.

And when it comes to responses to a lot of these nominations so far, Amna, we did have one that our Lisa Desjardins got from Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor, in response to RFK Jr. He's the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor Pensions Committee. And he said ultimately he's open to RFK Jr.'s nomination and that he wants to learn more about it.

And that's kind of what we're hearing a decent amount from Senate Republicans, which is that they are open to a number of these nominations, despite the fact that many of these people appear to have very little experience in the roles that they may take.

Amna Nawaz:

Laura, if it speaks at all to the pace at which these names are coming out, we have also just gotten word the president-elect Trump has nominated former Congressman Doug Collins to be his VA secretary. The shape of this next administration is coming together.

White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez, always good to see you. Thanks.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Thank you.