Trust in the corporate media is at an all-time low, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation hearings as Secretary of Health and Human Services are giving Kennedy an opportunity to speak out without the filter of mainstream media. This could be a further blow. media lens.
President-elect Donald Trump announced that RFK Jr., son of former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of former President John F. He was selected to head HHS. .
Kennedy's nomination sparked a fierce backlash from the medical establishment and corporate media. He has been labeled a conspiracy theorist by his critics, and much of the opposition to him has focused on his past comments, particularly on vaccines and the environment.
A group of 77 Nobel Prize winners wrote a poignant piece on December 9th. letter He urged the Senate not to confirm Kennedy.
“We urge you to vote against his confirmation as Secretary of DHHS,” the letter said, citing Kennedy's past on vaccines, community water fluoridation, and lack of public health certifications. It labeled him a “belligerent critic,” citing his stance. It also includes some of the agencies that fall under his purview as HHS secretary, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). (Related: RFK Jr. wants to take fluoride out of water — and it's not as crazy as his detractors claim)
However, among actual voters, Kennedy Among the most popular Trump's previous nominations.
Net approval rating for Trump's nomination
Rubio +9
Vivec +5
RFK+4
Elon+4
Tulsi +3
Noem +1
Hegseth-2
Gates-11 pic.twitter.com/8hL7vJMdYV— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) November 19, 2024
“I'm not too worried about him being confirmed. I have great confidence that he's going to be confirmed. He's hugely popular, especially in the Republican Party,” American Values Political Action Committee member Mark Gordon, co-founder of the association, told The Daily Caller.
“People aren't fooled anymore. They know Big Food, Big Agriculture and Big Pharma aren't going to go down without a fight, but they know how the game is played. It’s no longer a secret,” Gordon’s PAC co-founder Tony Lyons told the Caller.
Despite overwhelmingly negative coverage from corporate media, Kennedy has garnered significant support from alternative media and health influencers.
Popular fitness expert Jillian Michaels touted Kennedy as the solution to America's cratering health problems. “If you're afraid of RFK, you've lost your mind. Put it off, let the experts in this field deal with it, and thank God when it starts to get better. Period.”
.@RobertKennedyJr He will do a great job of advocating for the American people, not big business or big government.
He will restore the integrity of scientific research and government agencies.
I look forward to working with him to end the corporate takeover of the federal government… pic.twitter.com/4J7TLb5S8h
— Sen. Ron Johnson (@SenRonJohnson) December 16, 2024
And even though the former Democrat-turned-independent is seen as a right-wing figure by critics on the left, several Democrats have criticized Kennedy for many of the issues he raises. I indicated that I agree. The health of the nation while he was on the hill.
Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont praised President Kennedy's rhetoric pointing to the food industry's role in perpetuating chronic disease.
Mr. Sanders said he looked forward to speaking with Mr. Kennedy, although he did not express full support.
“There's a process. I'm going to sit down and talk to him and have a hearing on it, but it's too early to say how I'm going to vote.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders on NBC: “Looking forward to sitting down and talking with RFK Jr.''
“We have an epidemic of diabetes and obesity in our country.”
Mr. Sanders highlighted his collaboration with RFK on the corrupt food industry and its role in the chronic disease crisis. pic.twitter.com/ms1YhrliPI
— American Values 🗽 (@AV24org) December 15, 2024
Other Democrats, including Cory Booker of New Jersey and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, echoed similar sentiments.
“I think there are a lot of issues where I can find common ground with Kennedy, and I look forward to considering those before deciding how to vote,” Gillibrand told CNN.
Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told CNN she may vote to confirm RFK Jr. as President Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services.
“RFK Jr. talked about food safety issues, and I care about that a lot.”
“I also appreciate his views on clean air and clean water.”
“I think there are many things… pic.twitter.com/UMhofizC51
— Holden Culotta (@Holden_Culotta) December 18, 2024
President Kennedy has already disputed the discrepancy between his actual plan and what the media is focusing on, and he will have the opportunity to further dispute it during his confirmation hearing.
Although the letter specifically cited opposition to the polio vaccine, Mr. Trump and Mr. Kennedy told reporters on Monday that Mr. Kennedy has no plans for a polio vaccine.
NEW — RFK Jr. entered the Capitol for his first Senate meeting and told our group: “I'm all for the polio vaccine,” he said, not answering any other questions when he entered Rick Scott's office.
His comments followed reports that a lawyer affiliated with him had petitioned the FDA…— Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 16, 2024
Callie Means, a health writer and businesswoman who became an evangelist for President Kennedy's Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, sought to clarify President Kennedy's position on vaccines.
“RFK says one thing about vaccines: they should be studied like any other medicine,” Means tweeted in December.
RFK says only vaccines should be studied like any other medicine.
The fact that the media's position is that these drugs should never be studied is dangerous and outrageous.
— Calley Means (@calleymeans) December 8, 2024
“He's open to science and wants there to be real science, not corporate science,” Lyons told the Caller. “It's not science, it's the product of collusion between government agencies and multibillion-dollar corporations trying to make as much money as possible.”
WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 16: President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., takes a break from a meeting with senators at the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on December 16. Get into the elevator. 2024, Washington DC. Candidates for the incoming Trump administration have been meeting with senators at the U.S. Capitol for weeks before the inauguration. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
“The idea that he is dangerous keeps coming up. And you're wondering what that means, right? Who is he dangerous to? It is clear that the medical and pharmaceutical industry as a whole has failed the American people. ” (RELATED: 'Very Dangerous': FMR CDC Officials Express Concerns About RFK, Say Vaccines Are Part of 'Social Contract')
President Kennedy has also proposed a ban on pharmaceutical advertising, which Lyons suggested would put him in the crosshairs of cable news and mainstream media, an industry whose main source of revenue is pharmaceutical advertising.
He blamed many of the news network's hits on Kennedy for fear of losing his most lucrative partner and suggested their efforts were anti-democratic.
“If you believe in democracy, you shouldn't let people write hateful articles, manipulate the system, or use lobbyists to try to control the narrative,” Lyons said. “We should respect that the people who have been in power have let the people of this country down, and that the people recognized that and voted a different way. And when it comes to health, Bobby said that different It represents the road.”
Although media and business interests form a bulwark against him, doctors across the country are counting on Kennedy's innovative approach to science and medicine.
Dr. Martin Kulldorff, epidemiologist and founder fellow The professor at Hillsdale College's Academy of Science and Freedom hopes Kennedy's tenure signals a return to evidence-based medicine that the scientific community believes has been avoided during the coronavirus pandemic. He told Caller that he was doing so.
“When Mr. Fauci said, trust the science. It’s not real science,” Kulldorff told the Caller.
“Various departments in the federal government, CDC, FDA, NIH, were denying the question of natural immunity, which we have known for 2,500 years, since the plague of 430 B.C. In a way, they didn't follow the “evidence-based approach.'' I think it was something very serious. ”
Dr. Kulldorf praised President Trump's selection of Mr. Kennedy and Dr. Marty McCulley to head the FDA, but noted that the new Cabinet will have an uphill battle to regain the public's trust.
“I'm an optimist, so I'm hopeful that the truth will prevail in the end, but I don't think it will be easy. I think it will be a long battle to restore the health of the medical community.” Mr. Kulldorf concluded.
