Just last week, Dr. Jerome Adams, who served as Donald Trump’s surgeon general for nearly four years, raised public concerns about the former president’s embrace of conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. Apparently the former president is choosing to ignore these concerns . . For example, at an event in Arizona last week, the Republican said, referring to RFK Jr., “He can do anything he wants” in a possible second term.
A few days later, the Republican candidate moved on. NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would play a “major role in government” if he wins on Tuesday. He told NBC News in a telephone interview that he is open to some of his more controversial ideas. … When asked on Sunday whether banning certain vaccines would be an option during a second term, Trump did not rule it out.
The Republican said he would “make a decision” after speaking with RFK Jr. about the matter. and others, but he seemed to leave possible vaccine bans on the table.
On Friday, Kennedy said the Trump administration would pursue a ban on fluoride in drinking water from the start. Two days later, the former president told NBC News that such a move “sounds good to me.”
During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Senator Tim Scott chuckled to himself in response to a question from host Dana Bash about eliminating fluoride from water. “I’m laughing because I can’t believe we’re having a conversation about fluoride,” the South Carolina Republican responded.
I can’t believe it either, but therein lies the point: we’re “having a conversation about fluoride” because Scott’s party nominated an unqualified conspiracy theorist to the highest office in the land, and he’s turning to another, unqualified conspiracy theorist for advice on matters relating to public health.
It’s not the journalists’ fault that the presidential candidate Scott enthusiastically supports recently declared that Kennedy should “let go of health” and “take care of women’s health and your children’s health.”
As my MSNBC colleague Zeeshan Aleem recently explained, RFK Jr. “best known for fringe conspiracy theories related to vaccines and other medical interventions, such as the belief that antidepressants cause school shootings.”
NPR had a related report last year, which noted: “Wi-Fi causes cancer and ‘leaky brains,’ Kennedy told podcaster Joe Rogan. … Antidepressants are responsible for school shootings, he mused during an appearance with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. Chemicals in the water supply can make children transgender, he told right-wing Canadian psychologist and podcaster Jordan Peterson, echoing a false claim by serial fabulist Alex Jones. AIDS may not be caused by HIV, he has suggested several times.’
Kennedy’s views on Covid are equally bizarre and unserious.
But as a political and electoral issue, Kennedy’s beliefs and the extent to which they have been discredited by reality are little more than a curiosity—or at least they would be if he weren’t. ready to acquire a powerful position in the federal government in the event of a Republican victory.
It’s hard not to wonder how many Americans have struggled with the public health consequences of a possible second Trump administration.
This message updates our related previous reporting.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
