RFK Jr. is the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, but the resemblance stops there. Photo courtesy of U.S. News and World Report.
REESE PARADOWSKI | OPINION EDITOR | rparadowski@butler.edu
“Autism destroys families. And more importantly, it destroys our greatest resource, which is our children.” These chilling words were from a news conference just five months ago, spoken by Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr (RFK Jr.).
RFK Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, has spewed several false claims about autism with no data or evidence, including that people with autism will never hold a job or pay taxes. For the record, 61% of people on the autism spectrum are employed.
Assistant professor of anthropology Dr. Julie Johnson Searcy explains how RFK Jr.’s false claims on autism are destructive to society.
“He wants to eradicate autism at any cost, including wanting to eliminate vaccinations that have had multiple science peer-reviewed tests showing they’re not the cause of autism,” Dr. Searcy said. “I think underneath that is him saying ‘the worst thing in the world is to be autistic.’ So there’s some really strong anti-disability messaging as part of this ‘we’re helping people be healthy’ movement.”
Not only is his anti-disability rhetoric jarring and inexcusable, but it’s even worse that RFK Jr. was somehow nominated to be a top public health leader in the United States.
In theory, Americans should be able to trust that their government’s health information is accurate, approved by health experts and supported by scientific evidence, not conspiracy theories.
Dr. Susanna Foxworthy Scott, an assistant professor of health sciences, explains how health communication has divided Americans.
“Health is always political,” Dr. Foxworthy Scott said. “But the closer we can get to speaking objective, evidence-based facts, the better. The issue right now is that the voices coming out are highly partisan, and so then ideas around health and science become highly political.”
Right now, how Americans view public health is subjective. It is subjective to who you voted for, where you’re from and how you grew up. It also doesn’t help that the president who nominates the HHS secretary changes every four or eight years, not to mention the president’s successor is usually of the opposing party.
The revolving door of health leaders creates a state of confusion and instability within the health community; Americans wonder what information they can trust.
As HHS secretary, RFK Jr. oversees the CDC, FDA, NIH and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Since his instating in January 2025, he has completely reshaped the landscape of the department, most notably with the launch of the Make America Healthy Again campaign.
The MAHA Strategy Report — released Sept. 9 — included a large focus on improving the health of American children, and “adding powerful new solutions that will end childhood chronic illnesses.” The report claimed poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and overmedicalization as the major factors of childhood chronic diseases.
Professor of health sciences Dr. Heidi Hancher-Rauch says the report is lacking an important factor in children’s health.
“He doesn’t even mention gun violence, and yet, the number one cause of death for children in the U.S. between ages one and 17 is from gun violence,” Dr. Hancher-Rauch said. “If you’re going to be a leader of public health, you can’t pick and choose and be pushed by political winds of a particular party. We need someone who can look at data and science and push for things that aren’t necessarily politically popular with leadership, but make evidence-based decisions.”
RFK Jr.’s transition from a lifelong Democrat to an independent presidential candidate to bending his knees to President Trump for a cabinet position reveals a discourse on his ever-changing values and greed for power.
Many of his family members have condemned his actions and beliefs — including his cousin Caroline Kennedy — who sent a letter to senators urging them to reject his confirmation, calling him a “predator.” She continued to call out how he vaccinates his own kids, but is “building a following hypocritically discouraging other parents from vaccinating theirs.”
RFK Jr.’s despicable theories about vaccines are a dangerous form of disinformation that could lead Americans to distrust the medical community. By knowingly spreading deceitful lies, he is pitting Americans against incredibly important institutions and vaccines that were created to protect them.
It’s a fact that vaccines are largely responsible for extending the human lifespan and are amazing medical breakthroughs. RFK Jr. should resign before he does any more irreversible damage. If he cared about his country and wasn’t a phony, he would.
