‘Well America, I hope you like measles’: A CNN news anchor bluntly roasts RFK Jr.
Donald Trump‘s cabinet is slowly shaping up, and after announcing a meme-worthy operation in the name of D.O.G.E. (Department of Government Efficiency), the president-elect has nominated RFK Jr. as U.S. secretary of health and human services.
CNN’s lead Washington anchor Jake Tapper has a comical and equally eye-opening message for the American audience, who is all but confirmed to lead the Health Department during Trump’s term. During a live discussion on the network with his co-hosts, Tapper quips sarcastically “Well America, I hope you like Measles.”
Tapper’s comments are not far from the truth, considering RFK Jr.’s concerning comments on various healthcare-related subjects over the years. Known for his extremely outlandish conspiracy theories, here are some controversial moments that RFK Jr. has been a part of over the years:
Measles outbreak in Samoa: A 2023 Measles outbreak in Samoa killed 83 people, months after RFK Jr. visited the country. During the visit, Kennedy’s Children’s Health Defense organization spread anti-vaccination propaganda without a second thought, potentially triggering a chain of events that led to the deadly outbreak. RFK Jr. refused to take responsibility for these deaths (most of which were children), shirking off the incident in the 2023 documentary Shot in the Arm.
Anti-vaccination stance and conspiracy theories: RFK Jr. is a long-time conspiracy theorist against the use and benefits of vaccination, with his organization Children’s Health Defense spreading the lie that it causes autism among the masses. He takes his unscientific opinion on the matter further in his controversial book The Real Anthony Fauci, where he accuses Fauci and Microsoft founder Bill Gates of colluding and over-exaggerating the implications of Covid-19 pandemic.
RFK Jr.’s rumor-mongering resulted in Meta deactivating his account his Instagram account in 2021, finally ending a series of his tirades against the Covid-19 vaccine. RFK Jr. and his camp spread repeated lies against the medicine, potentially influencing a sizeable crowd into avoiding the vaccine and joining the anti-vaccination front. RFK Jr. managed to combine his regressive views against science with his hate for minorities, emphatically claiming that Covid-19 targets “Caucasians and black people,” while “Ashkenazi Jews and the Chinese” are left unscathed.
To make matters worse, RFK Jr. compared US vaccine policies to Hitler and Germany’s decision-making during the Holocaust, proclaiming that Anne Frank was comparatively safer at the time. Despite repeatedly projecting himself as the poster boy for the anti-vaxxers camp, RFK Jr. has said that he and his family are fully vaccinated, except the Covid-19 vaccine. RFK Jr.’s other unscientific claims over the years includes him claiming wi-fi causes cancer, that the Food and Drug department is “public health” enemy number one and that AIDS is not caused by the HIV virus.
If RFK Jr. is confirmed as the head of US secretary of health and human services, he will oversee a division made up of 80,000 people, which includes bodies like FDA and CMS. Trump’s comments indicate that RFK Jr. will have full control of the department, which should come across as a warning sign for the American public.
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