CNN's Jake Tapper gave a frank assessment of President-elect Donald Trump's selection of vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the next Secretary of Health, and when the news broke, he remained expressionless on air. “Well, America, I hope you like measles.”
Tapper, a longtime critic of Kennedy, spoke on Thursday's show about President Trump's other cabinet nominees, including scandal-scarred Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida), and other nominees for attorney general in the Biden administration. He made the joking comment during a discussion with former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield as a guest. .
Mr Kennedy, who suspended his presidential campaign as an independent in August and endorsed Mr Trump shortly thereafter, has been vocal about his belief that vaccines, particularly the COVID-19 jab, are ineffective.
Ahead of Kennedy's expected appointment, he said the coronavirus was “disproportionately attacking certain races” and that “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people are the most immune”. A video proposing the theory has been recirculated.
President Kennedy clarified last year that his comments were taken out of context and that he was expressing his belief that the United States was producing biological weapons that were “ethnically targeted.”
Mr. Tapper has been at odds with Mr. Kennedy for years over vaccines, including Mr. Kennedy's longstanding claims that vaccines cause autism.
When asked to debate President Kennedy in 2021, the CNN anchor said: called an invitation “It's really embarrassing,” he continued, “and I refuse to trust conspiracy theorists whose views are so false, unswayed, and dangerous to public health. His brothers have published op-eds against him. I feel the need to do so.”
During his campaign, Trump vowed that if Kennedy were elected, his administration would “go crazy on drugs.”
“For too long, the American people have been overwhelmed by the food complex and drug companies that have perpetrated deceit, misinformation, and disinformation about public health,” Trump said in a statement Thursday, adding that Kennedy It was announced that he has been selected as the head of the ministry. Department of Health and Human Services.
He added, “The safety and health of all Americans is the most important role for any administration, and HHS is committed to ensuring everyone is safe from harmful chemicals, contaminants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and food additives.” It will play a major role in helping protect the country.” It's contributing to the country's overwhelming health crisis. ”
Critics have slammed President Trump's decision, with the New York Post Editorial Board scathingly calling Kennedy's appointment “a violation of medical science's first principle of “doing no harm.” I wrote it in an editorial.
