Outcry after RFK Jr linked to effort to overturn US approval of polio vaccine | Donald Trump news

The backlash has been building in the United States following news linking one of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed cabinet members to an effort to overturn approval of the polio vaccine.

On Saturday, The Associated Press news agency published a statement from a spokesman for Robert F. Kennedy Jrwhom Trump has nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

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

“Mr. Kennedy believes that the polio vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and properly studied,” said Katie Miller, Kennedy’s spokeswoman.

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

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

And in 2019, when a measles outbreak killed more than 80 children in Samoa, Kennedy wrote to Samoa’s prime minister suggesting that a “flawed vaccine” might be to blame. It has also fueled conspiracy theories linking vaccination to autism, a widely debunked belief.

Kennedy has long denied being anti-vaccine, arguing instead that he simply wants to ensure vaccine safety. But members of his own family have spoken out against his record of spreading vaccine misinformation.

A Trump ally

In the 2024 presidential race, Kennedy ran on an independent ticket, earlier suspend your campaign in August and giving his support to Trump.

Afterward, he became a prominent surrogate for Trump, appearing numerous times on the campaign trail with the Republican leader.

Trump, in turn, teased early on that he would appoint Kennedy to his administration.

“I’m going to let him run wild with health,” Trump said in one October campaign stop at Madison Square Garden in New York. “I’m going to let him go with the meds.”

Trump’s decision to choose Kennedy, who heads Health and Human Services, has raised concerns in the medical community about the future of efforts to limit the spread of preventable diseases.

Those concerns were amplified Friday, with the New York Times report. The article resurfaced a 2022 petition Siri made to the Food and Drug Administration to rescind approval of the polio vaccine, along with other vaccines.

Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious disease, capable of causing paralysis and death. There is no cure once infected, but vaccines can prevent its spread.

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

Quick review

Reaction to Friday’s report was swift, with bipartisan condemnation.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, issued a statement Friday warning that any effort to discredit the polio vaccine could threaten the Senate nominee’s confirmation hearing.

He did not mention Kennedy by name, but McConnell, 82, is known for being a survivor of childhood polio, which left his left leg briefly paralyzed.

“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not only misinformed, they are dangerous,” McConnell wrote.

“Anyone seeking Senate consent to serve in the incoming administration would do well to avoid even the appearance of association with these efforts.”

Democrats also criticized Kennedy’s association with Siri.

“Say goodbye to your smile and say hello to polio,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren said in one video published on social networks. “This is a man who wants to prevent children from going against polio and measles.”

Another senator, Chuck Schumer, asked Kennedy to make his position on the polio vaccine clear.

“It’s outrageous and dangerous that Trump’s transition people are trying to get rid of the polio vaccine that has virtually eradicated polio in America and saved millions of lives,” Senate Majority Leader Schumer said. he wrote. “RFK Jr. needs to state his position on this.”

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

“I think Trump voters may be surprised to learn that they voted to make polio big again,” he said he wroteoffering a riff on Trump’s catchphrase, “Make America Great Again.”