US President-elect Donald Trump has selected Robert F Kennedy Jr, an environmental activist, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.
Kennedy ran for president in the 2024 election as an independent before dropping out in August and endorsing Trump in exchange for a role in the Republican’s administration.
“He’s going to help make America healthy again,” Trump said in his victory speech on November 6.
“He wants to do some things, and we’re going to let him get to it,” he said.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) oversees the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health and the massive Medicare and Medicaid Services programs, which provide health coverage for the poor, those aged 65 and older, and the disabled.
Kennedy, the son and nephew of two titans of Democratic politics, has been a part of Trump’s transition team and has been reviewing candidate resumes for the top jobs at US health agencies.
On X and interviews in recent weeks, Kennedy has indicated his priorities include addressing what he calls the “chronic disease epidemic” of conditions including obesity, diabetes and autism, and reducing chemicals in food.
Despite high levels of spending on health care and pharmaceuticals, Americans are unhealthier than their peers in wealthy countries around world, according to a report from the Commonwealth Fund in 2023.
Kennedy also suggested he would gut the 18,000-employee Food and Drug Administration – which ensures the safety of food, drugs and medical devices – and replace hundreds of employees at the National Institutes of Health.
“FDA’s war on public health is about to end,” he wrote on X in late October, adding that includes its “aggressive suppression” of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, sunshine, and other items.
“If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Preserve your records, and 2. Pack your bags,” he wrote.
In early November, he said he would recommend fluoride be removed from public water supplies, claiming on X that the chemical is associated with bone fractures and cancer. The American Dental Association says the decades-old intervention reduces tooth decay by more than 25 per cent in adults and children.
Kennedy has been criticised for making controversial medical claims, including that vaccines are linked to autism. He opposed state and federal restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic and was accused of spreading misinformation about the virus.
He disputes the anti-vaccine tag, saying he wants more rigorous testing of vaccines instead. However, he chaired the Children’s Health Defence, a nonprofit organisation that focuses on anti-vaccine messaging.
Kennedy, who first sought the Democratic nomination before becoming an independent, had a rocky presidential run marked by attention-grabbing media headlines.
During his campaign, he acknowledged in a video posted online that he dumped a dead bear in New York City’s Central Park a decade ago and staged it to look like a bike had hit it. He proclaimed he had “so many skeletons in my closet” after a former family babysitter accused him of sexual assault. He denied that a large animal in a picture of him posing with a barbecued carcass belonged to a canine.
Kennedy’s campaign also confirmed a report that he had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has since fully recovered.
