Outcry after RFK Jr was linked to effort to withdraw US approval of polio vaccine | Donald Trump News

Backlash has been taking place in the United States following a news report linking one of President Donald Trump’s proposed cabinet members to an attempt to decertify the polio vaccine.

On Saturday, the Associated Press news agency published a statement from a spokesman for Robert F Kennedy Jr, whom Trump nominated to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

In a statement, Kennedy’s camp sought to distance the nominee from a New York Times report that his attorney, Aaron Siri, had called for a freeze on approval of the life-saving vaccine.

“Mr. Kennedy believes that the Polio Vaccine should be available to the public and properly researched,” said Katie Miller, Kennedy’s spokeswoman.

But a New York Times article raised concerns about Kennedy’s appointment of Health and Human Services, a department whose mission is to improve “the health and well-being of all Americans”.

Kennedy, like Siri, is a skeptic of the voice principle. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kennedy helped spread skepticism about vaccines designed to protect against the deadly virus, calling them “negligently tested” and potentially “killing”.

And in 2019, when a measles outbreak killed more than 80 children in Samoa, Kennedy wrote to the Samoan prime minister saying that a “defective vaccine” could be the cause. He also pushed conspiracy theories linking vaccinations to autism, a belief that has been widely disputed.

Kennedy has long denied that he is against vaccination, saying instead that he wants to ensure vaccine safety. But his family members have spoken out against his record of spreading vaccine misinformation.

Trump’s partner

In the 2024 presidential race, Kennedy ran on an independent ticket, before suspending his campaign in August and supporting Trump.

After that, he became a prominent Trump advocate, appearing many times on the campaign trail with the Republican leader.

Trump, for his part, teased early that he would nominate Kennedy for the presidency.

“I’m going to let him take his life,” Trump said at an October campaign stop at Madison Square Garden in New York. “I will let him take medication.”

Trump’s decision to pick Kennedy to run Health and Human Services has raised concerns in the medical community about the future of efforts to reduce the spread of preventable diseases.

That concern was amplified on Friday, according to a New York Times report. The article also included Siri’s 2022 request to the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw approval of the polio vaccine, as well as that of other vaccines.

Polio is a highly contagious disease that can cause disability and death. There is no cure once infected, but vaccines can prevent its spread.

Siri enjoyed a close relationship with Kennedy. The two campaigned together during Kennedy’s run for office, and NBC News reported that Kennedy had considered appointing Siri as his attorney general, should he win the White House.

A quick critique

The backlash to Friday’s report was swift, with criticism from both sides.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, issued a statement Friday warning that any attempt to defund the polio vaccine could threaten a Senate confirmation hearing.

He did not mention Kennedy by name, but McConnell, 82, is known as a childhood polio survivor, which left his left leg temporarily paralyzed.

“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven healing are not only ill-informed — they are dangerous,” McConnell wrote.

“Anyone seeking Senate approval to serve in the next administration would do well to avoid even the appearance of being associated with such efforts.”

Democrats also criticized Kennedy’s meeting with Siri.

“Say goodbye to your smile and say hello to polio,” Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a video posted on social media. “This is a man who wants to prevent children from contracting polio and measles.”

Another senator, Chuck Schumer, asked Kennedy to express his opinion on the polio vaccine.

“It is sad and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try to get rid of the polio vaccine that has eradicated polio in America and saved millions of lives,” wrote Schumer, the Senate majority leader. “RFK Jr. needs to have his say on this.”

Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and longtime rival of Trump, posted her own response, with a screenshot of the New York Times article.

“I think Trump voters would be surprised to hear that they voted to make polio great again,” he wrote, citing Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again”.