Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has reportedly taken on a role as a hiring manager for top jobs across the U.S government’s health agencies in signs that President-elect Donald Trump has allowed him to “go wild on health” as promised.
The former independent presidential candidate, who joined Trump’s team in late August, has been “reviewing candidate resumes” for leading roles across the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration, Reuters reported.
Kennedy has a long history of making up wacky theories about public healthcare.
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Among the most outlandish claims are that water chemicals turn children transgender, vaccines cause autism in children, Anthony Fauci was paid billions of dollars to make bioweapons and that 5G networks could damage human DNA.
He claims he is not an anti-vaxxer despite being the founder of Children’s Health Defense, one of the largest national organizations which has been accused of producing “deadly” misinformation campaigns on COVID-19 vaccines.
As early signs suggest, many of these theories are likely to inform policy making during the incoming Trump administration.
Two days before Americans went to the polls, Kennedy appeared to formally announce that fluoride would be removed from U.S water systems.
“Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease,” he said in a post on X.
The move would end 80 years of fluoridated water to more than 200 million Americans, despite the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention celebrating its introduction as one of the greatest public health interventions of the century.
Trump’s campaign team told Reuters that Kennedy would be a key player in Washington DC.
“The American people re-elected President Trump by resounding margins because they trust his judgment and support his policies, including his promise to Make America Healthy Again alongside well-respected leaders like RFK Jr,” Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in an email.
No confirmation has come from Trump’s presidential team on which position Kennedy will fill. He may only become an adviser, according to the Kennedy campaign’s former director of communications, Del Bigtree.
“President Trump is giving him two years to show success,” Bigtree said. “President Trump is keenly interested in the selections that Bobby Kennedy thinks would get the job done.”
He also said that Kennedy would recommend doctors who have no “conflicts of interest” with Big Pharma companies involved in vaccine and drug production.
Bigtree is involved in proposing appointees to Kennedy, having become the chief executive of the Make America Healthy Again Action organization, which seeks to follow on Kennedy’s healthcare campaign pledges.
Kennedy, a former environment lawyer who does not hold any degree in medicine or science, is also being assisted by his daughter-in-law Amaryllis Fox Kennedy and the investor Omeed Malik.
