1 week Ago By Diana Glebova
President-elect Donald Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services Wednesday, vowing that the noted vaccine skeptic will end the “chronic disease epidemic.
” “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 wrote in his announcement, making rare use of his X account to broadcast a cabinet pick. “The Safety and Health of all Americans is the most important role of any Administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming Health Crisis in this Country. Mr.
Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!” Kennedy, 70, has been a staunch supporter of Trump since suspending his independent presidential bid in August, and the president-elect teased that he would let RFK Jr. “go wild” should the Republican nominee win the Nov. 5 election.
Trump’s decision to offer Kennedy the HHS position was first reported by Politico and comes one day after The Post reported that Kennedy — an honorary chair of the Trump transition team — was gunning hard for the secretary role while allies were pushing him to accept an advisory post . Neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson, the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development in Trump’s first term, was also aiming to run HHS, sources had told The Post.
Kennedy, the son of the late attorney general and senator from New York will need to be confirmed by a simple majority of the Senate. While Republicans will have 53 votes in the next Congress, Kennedy’s vocal opposition to childhood vaccinations will make for a contentious confirmation process. RFK Jr.
ran for president in 2024 — first as a Democrat and then as an independent — vowing to change health habits in America, bashing Big Pharma and the food industry. He and his running mate Nicole Shanahan questioned the need for some vaccines and the impacts they had on the body, and were publicly confused about their ticket’s abortion platform. The septuagenarian’s health was publicly questioned after he disclosed a parasitic worm had once been found in his brain.
His sanity was also queried after he admitted to leaving a dead bear in Central Park after picking it up off the side of the road in 2014. But the biggest shock came after Kennedy was found to have been engaging in a lewd sexting relationship with political reporter Olivia Nuzzi, who subsequently was relieved of her position at New York magazine. Kennedy ended his campaign in August and endorsed Trump, promptly coining the slogan “Make America Healthy Again.
” He also claimed Trump had promised him “control” of public health agencies — but transition co-chair and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick had insisted Kennedy would not be in the cabinet. “It’s very exciting, and I think it represents a huge change — and an opportunity for our federal health agencies to root out corruption,” one senior GOP staffer told The Post when informed of the nomination. Rep.
Chip Roy (R-Texas) told Fox News “Your World” host Neil Cavuto that Kennedy and Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard are “outside-the-box folks that are coming up here to, you know, challenge the status quo, drain the swamp.” “I think that’s critically important,” Roy added..
