RFK Jr tells antivaxxers they have a ‘friend’ in White House, says he cares about kids ‘dying or suffering or being injured by vaccine injuries’

Pennsylvania remains gripped by an ongoing measles outbreak. The state has so far reported four deaths, making this the deadliest outbreak in decades. All four of those who have died were unvaccinated, putting Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy firmly in the spotlight.

In 2021, while leading the anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, Kennedy spoke at a farm event in Lancaster County and minimized concerns, telling people that “the cure for measles is chicken soup and vitamin A” and that when he got measles as a kid he just “had to stay home and watch TV the whole week.”

Even in the face of a measles outbreak, Kennedy has maintained his antivax views, and this week he gave a 90-minute-long speech at a Children’s Health Defense DC conference reassuring them that he remains their ally and indicating that the true victims are vaccinated children.

“The truth is, he really is dangerous”

As per The Guardian, Kennedy told attendees, “Let me be clear. You have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House” and told them that he was hard at work on altering vaccination programs, apologizing that the law doesn’t let him go faster. Kennedy explained that in an ideal world he’d have made huge changes “on day one”, but needed to follow the law to make permanent alterations.

Kennedy underlined that he’s dealing with America’s vaccination programs “one day at a time”, indicating that he’s fighting for children he claims are being killed by them: “In our country we care about rare illnesses and deaths. We care about every child who dies from measles. They get headlines. I’d ask you to care about children who are dying or suffering or being injured by vaccine injuries.” He also emphasized that he’s in this fight for as long as he breathes, saying: “I spent 40 years in these battles. I intend to stay in this fight as long as I am able.” 

Children’s Health Defense has been widely and consistently criticized. Media Bias Fact Check describes them as “a strong conspiracy and quackery level advocacy group,” Associated Press dubbed them as using “slanted information, cherry-picked facts and conspiracy theories”, and the Center for Countering Digital Hate named them as part of their “Disinformation Dozen”, a small group responsible for a large share of anti-vaccine content online.

Also speaking at the event, Tony Lyons, Kennedy’s book publisher, said those accusing Kennedy of being “dangerous” are right:  “The truth is, he really is dangerous. I think Bobby Kennedy is the most dangerous individual to this system who’s come along in a generation.” The crowd reportedly applauded.