President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Robert F Kennedy Jr, an environmental advocate and vaccine sceptic, to guide the Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS). Mr Kennedy, who dropped his unbiased presidential marketing campaign in August and endorsed Trump, has expressed his dedication to prioritising the battle towards persistent ailments. His stance on vaccines, nonetheless, units him other than earlier HHS leaders. Mr Kennedy has incessantly challenged vaccine mandates.
“Kennedy will restore these businesses to the traditions of gold customary scientific analysis, and beacons of transparency, to finish the persistent illness epidemic, and to Make America Nice and Wholesome Once more!” Trump stated.
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 kids of former US Legal professional Common Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Skakel Kennedy, and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. Each his father and uncle have been assassinated within the Nineteen 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 Legislation from Tempo College Faculty of Legislation, 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 targeted 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 worldwide instance of sustainable improvement.
Mr Kennedy based Youngsters’s Well being Protection to handle their well being points and dangerous exposures, serving as chairman and lead counsel. Whereas claiming to assist vaccine security, he has additionally been discovered spreading false theories, corresponding 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 shops, 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 essential for public well being.
A few of Mr Kennedy’s authorized wins embrace instances 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 In opposition to Nature (2005) and The Actual Anthony Fauci (2021). He has additionally written kids’s books on American historical past and Saint Francis of Assisi.
Robert F Kennedy Jr is married to actress Cheryl Hines and has seven kids from three marriages.