By A new coalition of more than 700 public health professionals, scientists and activists signed an open letter to oppose Senate confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, saying his “fringe” views and inexperience would put the country at serious risk from severe infectious diseases.
The letter from the coalition called “Defend Public Health” said Kennedy’s “unfounded, fringe beliefs could significantly undermine public health practices across the country and around the world.”
The signatories include faculty members from public health schools at prestigious universities like Harvard, Yale and Emory.
The letter raised concerns about Kennedy’s lack of expertise in health care and his inexperience running a bureaucratic agency as sprawling as the Department of Health and Human Services. It also noted his long history of questioning vaccines.
“It is unfathomable that President Trump … would now be nominating someone who is decidedly anti-vaccine and could, if confirmed, undermine not only the progress we’ve made in saving lives from COVID-19 but also from life-threatening infectious diseases including polio, tetanus, measles, mumps, seasonal flu and more,” the letter stated.
Kennedy claims he is not anti-vaccine and is merely pushing for more transparency into their safety.
This latest anti-Kennedy push comes on top of a separate letter last week from more than 15,000 doctors, organized by the Democratic-aligned Committee to Protect Health Care, urging senators not to confirm him.
Kennedy has been on Capitol Hill in recent weeks holding meetings with dozens of senators who will consider his nomination. While there’s been no firm public opposition to Kennedy from Senate Republicans, he can afford to lose three votes if every Democrat opposes him.
Unlike other Republicans, Senate Health Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) did not immediately endorse Kennedy after his meeting and gave only a tepid statement on social media.
Cassidy briefly told reporters he and Kennedy spoke about “every permutation of vaccines” but declined to elaborate further after the nearly hourlong meeting.