Why is RFK Jr, Trump's pick for US health secretary, a contentious figure?

America’s anti-establishment President-elect Donald Trump has made another shocking move by nominating RFK Jr., a member of America’s powerful Kennedy political dynasty, to lead the country's Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Kennedy has been known for his unorthodox views on vaccines and once he said that “there is no vaccine that is, you know, safe and effective”. On Covid vaccines, he said he found them “deadliest vaccines ever made.” He even threatened to fire hundreds of employees of the National Institutes of Health, a subdepartment he will oversee if he is confirmed by the Congress.

Though US media has framed him as someone who doesn’t believe in vaccines, Kennedy denies that he is anti-vaccine.

Kennedy’s health policies, promoted under the familiar slogan “Make America Healthy Again!”, have left over 80,000 employees in the HHS bureaucracy – spanning 13 separate divisions – worried about their job security.

But for vaccine sceptics like Trump and his supporters, Kennedy is the best fit to run the department with an annual budget of $1.7 trillion, which funds three critical institutions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Against vaccines?

Kennedy, an environmental activist and lawyer, who changed his political orientation from Democrat to Independent last year, founded the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit, opposing official public health programs like vaccination and fluoridation of drinking water. In June, he restated his longtime claim that vaccines can lead to autism in children.

Many health experts say that Kennedy’s nonprofit spreads misinformation, which can put the lives of children in danger if they are not vaccinated on time. Experts point out different studies, which showed that vaccines have not led to autism.

But Trump, who nominated other controversial figures like former Congressman Matt Gaetz for the post of attorney general and Fox News host Pete Hegseth for defence secretary, finds Kennedy a good pitch for the HHS. Gaetz is under a FBI investigation on sex trafficking allegations involving underage girls and Hegseth suggested a “crusade” against Islam in defence of “Judeo-Christian values.”

“For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health,” Trump said, after his announcement of the Kennedy nomination.

“I am going to let him go wild on health. I am going to let him go wild on food. I am going to let him go wild on medicines,” he also said during a post-election rally.

Even some Democrats like Colorado Governor Jared Polis were excited about Kennedy's nomination writing on X that the former Democrat “helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA”.

During the Covid 19 pandemic, vaccine mandates were a big issue for many American states as well as other countries. Some US states, particularly led by Republicans, refused to implement vaccine mandates. Experts pointed out that the pandemic and the way Trump dealt with it played a critical role in the 2020 presidential election, favouring Democrat Joe Biden.

Might Kennedy have a point?

Not only politicians but also some health experts find that Kennedy might have a point at least on his criticism of how the food industry is “marketing products that increase a chronic disease crisis”, according to CNN, which has an unfavourable view on Trump’s Kennedy nomination.

“Food industry and big agriculture producers control the FDA, so they (FDA) are not worried about public health,” he said in a Fox News interview, claiming that the public institution only cares about advancing the interests of big food corporations, warning that Americans “can not afford to eat bad food because it’s going to affect your life and you are going to pay for it later.”

Kennedy’s call to remove processed foods from school lunches has also found many supporters across the US including in the health community. At least half of school lunches and 75 percent of food stamps depend on processed food across the US, putting so many lives in danger, according to Kennedy.

“These processed foods and meals are commonly served at schools and can have extremely harmful effects on our student’s health, academics, and wellness,” said one study penned by Laura Whiteland of Liberal Studies Program at California State University last year.

Another leading study finds school meals with processed foods “unhealthy”, which can lead to “a higher risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, inflammatory bowel disease and cancer.”

Kennedy promises that if he becomes the health secretary, he will “get processed food out of school lunches immediately.”