Backlash has been building in the United States following a news report linking one of Donald Trump's prospective cabinet members to an attempt to revoke approval for a polio vaccine.
On Saturday, The Associated Press news agency published a statement from a spokesperson for Robert F Kennedy Jrwho Trump has nominated to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
In the statement, the Kennedy camp tried to distance the nominee from a New York Times report that his lawyer Aaron Siri had petitioned to suspend approval for the life-saving vaccine.
“Mr. Kennedy believes that the Polio vaccine should be available to the public and thoroughly and accurately researched,” said Katie Miller, a Kennedy spokeswoman.
But the New York Times article has raised fears about Kennedy's nomination to Health and Human Services, a department that aims to strengthen “the health and well-being of all Americans.”
Kennedy, like Siri, is a vocal skeptic of the vaccine. 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 “suddenly experimental” and potentially “lethal”.
And in 2019, when a measles outbreak killed more than 80 children in Samoa, Kennedy wrote to the Samoan Prime Minister implying that “defective vaccination” may have been to blame. He has also pushed conspiracy theories linking vaccines to autism, a belief that has been widely discredited.
Kennedy has denied that he is anti-vaccine, arguing instead that he just wants to ensure vaccine safety. But members of his own family have spoken out against his history of spreading vaccine misinformation.
Dear Trump
In the 2024 presidential race, Kennedy ran on an independent ticket, previously cancel his campaign in August and throwing his support behind Trump.
After that, he became Trump's main surrogate, appearing several times on the campaign trail with the Republican leader.
Trump, in turn, said early on that he would nominate Kennedy to his administration.
“I'm going to let him go wild on health care,” Trump said at the The October campaign stopped at Madison Square Garden in New York. “I'm going to let him go wild on the meds.”
Trump at decide to choose Kennedy to head Health and Human Services has raised concerns in the medical community about the future of efforts to curb the spread of preventable illnesses.
Those concerns were amplified Friday, with a report by The New York Times. The article resurfaced Siri's 2022 petition to the Food and Drug Administration to suspend the approval of the polio vaccine, along with the approval of other vaccines.
Polio is a highly contagious disease, capable of causing paralysis and death. There is no cure for infection, but vaccines can prevent the spread.
Siri liked it intimate relationship by Kennedy. The two campaigned together during Kennedy's bid for office, and NBC News reported that Kennedy had considered appointing Siri as attorney general, had he succeeded in winning the White House.
Quick criticism
The backlash to Friday's report was swift, with bipartisan criticism pouring in.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, issued a statement on Friday warning that any attempt to discredit the polio vaccine could threaten the candidate's Senate confirmation hearing.
He did not mention Kennedy by name, but McConnell, 82, is known to have survived childhood polio, which left his left leg briefly paralyzed.
“Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven treatments aren't just uninformed — they're dangerous,” McConnell wrote.
“Anyone seeking Senate approval to serve in the incoming administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of such efforts. . “
Democrats also criticized Kennedy's connection to Siri.
“Drop your smile and say hello to polio,” said Senator Elizabeth Warren in a video posted to social media. “This is a guy who wants to stop kids from getting their polio and measles.”
Another senator, Chuck Schumer, called on Kennedy to make his position on the polio vaccine clear.
“It is terrible and dangerous for people in the Trump Transition to try to get rid of the polio vaccine that has nearly eradicated polio in America and saved millions of lives,” said Schumer, the majority leader of the t – Senate, write. “RFK Jr. must state his position in this regard.”
Hillary Clinton, the 2016 Democratic candidate for the presidency and a longtime rival of Trump, posted her own reunion, with a screenshot of the New York Times article.
“I think Trump voters might be surprised to find out that they voted to make polio good again,” she said. writeoffers a riff on Trump's slogan, “Make America Great Again”.
Source link
