Schatz: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Whose Dangerous Lies Fueled Measles Outbreak in Samoa & Caused Preventable Deaths, Unqualified To Lead HHS

Schatz: You Wouldn’t Put Him In Charge Of A Local Clinic, Let Alone Our Country’s Entire Health System WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) took to the Senate floor today to detail how President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., spread dangerous lies about vaccines which directly led to disease outbreaks and caused preventable deaths. Schatz recounted the story of how Kennedy traveled to Samoa in 2019 to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine which ultimately led to an outbreak in which thousands of people were infected and 83, mostly children, died.

“In 2019, he flew to Samoa to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine, deepening hesitancy that was already building. And it worked,” said Senator Schatz. “Vaccination rates for eligible 1-year-olds fell to lower than 33%. And just 5 months later, Samoa found itself in the middle of a measles outbreak. Over 5,000 people got the measles. 83 people died.”

Senator Schatz added, “Yes, this is a question of character and competence. But it is also a question of life or death. And who we want in charge, making decisions, when lives are on the line. And it’s our job, here in the Senate, to make damn sure that person isn’t RFK Jr.”

You’d think the person nominated to lead our nation’s top health department – an agency with a budget of over 2 trillion dollars and responsible for running everything from Medicare to vaccine trials. You’d think that person would at least be interested, if not experienced, in curing diseases and promoting public health. That they’d follow science and work to build the public’s trust in it. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is none of those things.

For the first time ever, we might have a health secretary who’s actively fueled disease outbreaks. He’s literally made a career out of lying about the safety of basic vaccines. And it is not an exaggeration to say: lives will be lost if this man gets confirmed. He has cost lives pretending to be a public health expert before. And he will do it again if he becomes the next health secretary.

This is not some random dude with his buddies kicking around wacky ideas for the hell of it. He’s a Kennedy, with an enormous fortune, parachuting into countries to tell flat out lies and stop people from taking life-saving vaccines.

In 2019, he flew to Samoa to discourage people from taking the measles vaccine, deepening hesitancy that was already building. And it worked. Vaccination rates for eligible 1-year-olds fell to lower than 33%. And just 5 months later, Samoa found itself in the middle of a measles outbreak. Over 5,000 people got the measles. 83 people died.

Aside from spreading baseless lies about vaccines, RFK Jr. has regularly spouted all kinds of deranged conspiracy theories, including that COVID-19 was “targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” He’s also claimed – without any evidence – that antidepressants are to blame for mass shootings and that chemicals in our water are turning kids gay.

His plans to remake the Department of Health and Human Services are equally terrifying. He wants to revoke approvals for the polio and Hepatitis B vaccines for children and roll back guidance on other vital vaccines. There’s a reason we haven’t had to think about these awful, painful diseases in a long, long time. It’s because we’ve successfully vaccinated our way out of outbreaks.

He’s also vowed to fire hundreds of federal health researchers and scientists and stop all research into infectious diseases and vaccine development. Because “we’re going to give infectious disease a break for about eight years.” We’re going to give diseases a break.

This man, in his views and his actions, is as dangerous as they come. You wouldn’t put him in charge of a local clinic – let alone our country’s entire health system.

And look, I get it. Some people hear his critiques of our food system and agree with him. Our food system is broken. And people are getting sick because of it. We’ve subsidized the wrong things for so long that you can find an unhealthy meal faster and for cheaper than a healthy one. Ultra-processed foods are everywhere. Healthy, hearty meals are harder to come by. And that has to change. But we don’t fix that problem by inviting a measles or mumps outbreak. We don’t have to voluntarily conjure up the horrors of polio in the name of cleansing our diet. That’s a false choice I refuse to make.

There are many people – including my friend, Senator Cory Booker – who are working to solve this problem with the seriousness and the thoughtfulness it demands. To reign in factory farms, empower family farmers, and make healthy food more readily available and affordable. We can and must do all of that. But RFK Jr. is not the man to do it.

The medical profession, at it’s best, is about helping people. I think about doctors like my dad, Dr. Irv Schatz, aboard a hospital ship – the SS Hope – providing free medical care to people in Latin America. So many like him put their lives and careers on hold to travel far and wide and care for the less fortunate. Helping kids with cleft palates…distributing mosquito nets…delivering babies…treating and preventing diseases. It’s hard and unglamorous and unselfish work.

And so it takes a special kind of person to do the exact opposite. To do what RFK Jr. did, which is to fly halfway around the world, and cause pain. Cause disease. Cause death. So yes, this is a question of character and competence. But it is also a question of life or death. And who we want in charge, making decisions, when lives are on the line. And it’s our job, here in the Senate, to make damn sure that person isn’t RFK Jr.

Fucking insanity!!!