WASHINGTON — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Saturday that a Trump administration on its first day would “recommend all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water.”
Kennedy cited fluoride as linked to several diseases, even though major medical associations support water fluoridation, which they say is safe and a public health benefit.
“President @realDonaldTrump and First Lady @MELANIATRUMP want to make America healthy again,” the former Democratic presidential candidate wrote in a letter post on Xwith Michael Connett, an attorney who led a lawsuit opposing the fluoridation of public drinking water.
On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all US. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders and thyroid disease. President…
—Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (@RobertKennedyJr) November 2, 2024
Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who has a history of promoting conspiracy theories, is poised to play a key role in a future Trump administration’s health policy. Since withdrawing from the presidential race and endorsing Trump, Kennedy has appeared regularly on the campaign trail in support of the former president, and Trump said at a rally this week that if elected, Kennedy will “work on the health and women’s health’. .”
Trump has embraced Kennedy. At an event in Arizona earlier this week, the former president said Kennedy “can do anything he wants” in a potential Trump administration.
“He really wants to get into the pesticides and the, you know, all these different things. I said, ‘He can do it. He can do anything he wants.” He wants to look at the vaccines. He wants everything. I love it. I love it,” Trump had said.
In late October, Trump said that having Kennedy as an ally “is such a great honor,” adding that he would let Kennedy “run wild on health.”
“I’m going to let him go wild in terms of health. I’m going to let him go wild on the food. I’m going to make him go wild on drugs,” Trump had said.
Kennedy, a former independent presidential candidate, has touted widely debunked theories linking vaccines and autism. He also previously said he would support a national ban on abortion after three months of pregnancy, before quickly walking back his comments.
When contacted for comment on Kennedy’s proposal, Trump campaign senior adviser Danielle Alvarez pledged not to support the plan.
“While President Trump has received a variety of policy ideas, his focus is on Tuesday’s election,” Alvarez said in a statement.
Major public health groups such as the American Dental Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention support water fluoridation, citing studies showing the mineral helps fight cavities. Health groups also emphasize that the practice is safe.
“Water fluoridation is a fair and inexpensive way to ensure that dental disease prevention reaches everyone in a community,” says the American Academy of Pediatrics website.
The academy’s Campaign for Dental Health also says on its website that “there is no scientifically valid evidence showing that fluoride causes cancer, kidney disease or other conditions.”
Fluoride helps make teeth “stronger and more resistant to tooth decay,” according to the CDC website, and drinking fluoridated water “reduces cavities by about 25% in children and adults.”
“Documented risks of water fluoridation in the community are limited to dental fluorosis, a change in tooth enamel that is cosmetic in its most common form. Changes range from barely visible lacy white markings in milder cases to pitting of the teeth in the rare, severe form, says the CDC’s website, noting that most dental fluorosis seen in the U.S. today is “of the mildest form.”
Likewise, the American Dental Association says on its website that water fluoridation is “safe and effective.”
“Over more than 70 years of research and practical experience, the overwhelming weight of credible scientific evidence has consistently indicated that fluoridation of community water supplies is safe,” according to a fact sheet on the association’s website.
Water fluoridation is not ubiquitous, and the CDC does not mandate fluoridation programs. Some cities have made efforts to end public water fluoridation programs, as groups argue it should be up to them to decide whether to want fluoride in the public water supply.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
