President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Robert F Kennedy Jr, an environmental advocate and vaccine sceptic, to steer the Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS). Mr Kennedy, who dropped his impartial presidential marketing campaign in August and endorsed Trump, has expressed his dedication to prioritising the battle towards persistent illnesses. His stance on vaccines, nevertheless, units him aside from earlier HHS leaders. Mr Kennedy has regularly challenged vaccine mandates.
“Kennedy will restore these companies to the traditions of gold commonplace scientific analysis, and beacons of transparency, to finish the persistent illness epidemic, and to Make America Nice and Wholesome Once more!” Trump mentioned.
Who’s Robert F Kennedy Jr?
Robert F Kennedy Jr. was born on January 17, 1954, in Washington, D.C. He’s the third of 11 youngsters of former US Legal professional Normal Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. Each his father and uncle had been assassinated within the Sixties.
He studied at Harvard College, attended the London Faculty of Economics, and earned a regulation diploma from the College of Virginia. Later, he accomplished a Grasp’s Diploma in Environmental Regulation from Tempo College Faculty of Regulation, the place he co-founded the Environmental Litigation Clinic and served on the college for over 30 years.
Within the Nineteen Eighties, Mr Kennedy based the Waterkeeper Alliance, an organisation centered on clear water advocacy, the place he labored as chairman and lawyer. His work to revive New York’s Hudson River earned him the title “Hero for the Planet” from TIME Journal and helped create over 300 related Waterkeeper teams worldwide. He additionally performed a key position within the New York Metropolis watershed settlement, now seen as a world instance of sustainable improvement.
Mr Kennedy based Youngsters’s Well being Protection to deal with their well being points and dangerous exposures, serving as chairman and lead counsel. Whereas claiming to help vaccine security, he has additionally been discovered spreading false theories, similar to vaccines inflicting autism and COVID-19 being focused at particular ethnic teams. Earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Kennedy was already main campaigns towards vaccines and collaborating with anti-vaccine teams. His organisation has additionally filed lawsuits towards information retailers, accusing them of bias towards anti-vaccine views. Research present his Twitter account was a serious supply of vaccine misinformation. Mr Kennedy has additionally met with anti-vaccine activists and supported anti-vaccine literature, regardless of proof that vaccines are protected and mandatory for public well being.
A few of Mr Kennedy’s authorized wins embody circumstances towards Monsanto in 2018 and DuPont in 2019 for contamination, which impressed the film Darkish Waters. He has additionally advocated for Indigenous teams in North and South America.
Mr Kennedy has authored a number of books, together with bestsellers Crimes Towards Nature (2005) and The Actual Anthony Fauci (2021). He has additionally written youngsters’s books on American historical past and Saint Francis of Assisi.
Robert F Kennedy Jr is married to actress Cheryl Hines and has seven youngsters from three marriages.