President-elect Donald Trump is obviously quite busy attending UFC matches and tweeting fancam videos of himself, but in between all that, he still finds time to announce his controversial cabinet picks. His latest selection is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Department of Health and Human Services.
As expected, people immediately began scrutinizing his previous statements and views on the healthcare department. First of all, calling RFK Jr. an anti-vaxxer would be an understatement — he’s the literal poster child of the movement. He’s as synonymous with the movement as Mickey Mouse is with Disney. RFK Jr., known for his distinctive voice caused by a neurological disorder, actually blames the voice on a flu vaccine he once received.
That’s not the end of it, either. RFK Jr. is the chairman of Children’s Health Defense, which primarily exists to spread anti-vaxxer rhetoric. RFK Jr. even said on the Lex Fridman Podcast that there’s no single vaccine that he considers safe or effective. He then went on CNN, where he was put to task about these views on vaccines. The fact-checking was so thorough that it was quickly apparent that almost nothing RFK Jr. claimed could withstand any scrutiny, including his assertion that children today must undergo around 77 vaccine shots.
Furthermore, RFK Jr. believes that fluoride — which is added to 63 percent of the U.S. water supply — causes arthritis, low IQ, thyroid disease, and other issues. However, BBC reports that, according to King’s College Prof. Avijit Banerjee, “the potential harmful effects of fluoride cited have not been associated with the very low levels of fluoride used in water fluoridation programs.” In other words, the fluoride levels in tap water aren’t high enough to cause the dangers RFK Jr. claims.
But perhaps the most egregious conspiracy theory is RFK Jr.’s claim that the COVID-19 virus was engineered to specifically target people of a particular ethnicity. According to Trump, these are the kinds of minds he believes should lead the nation in how it deals with its healthcare.
People on social media, however, aren’t taking this lying down. The Republicans Against Trump page on X responded to the news of Trump selecting RFK Jr. by posting the interview with CNN, where RFK Jr. could clearly not back any of his wild claims. People in the comments reacted, with one person joking that RFK Jr.’s mind must be just as scrambled as Trump’s.
For Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey, this was simply an unacceptable nomination. He took to X, stating just three words: “Dangerous, unqualified, and unserious.”
“Unserious” is exactly what it was, because for some users, they didn’t even bother to dignify this nomination with a serious response. One user posted the famous still from one of Martin Scorsese’s best films Goodfellas, showing when Tommy got whacked, and joked that that’s what would happen to RFK Jr. at the Oval Office if he ever tried to ban Trump’s beloved Diet Coke.
Trump’s dangerous, cavalier method of running the country seems to just be getting started, and that calls for our unified attentiveness. We cannot afford to slack for even one second — especially with people like RFK Jr. at the wheel.
Published: Nov 17, 2024 07:32 am