Republicans Sucking Up to Trump Too Afraid to Criticize RFK Jr.

No one on the right seems to want to criticize Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks—even if they desperately warrant questioning.

Several major conservative politicos have ducked and weaved direct questions about Trump’s decision to tap Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a virulent opponent of all vaccines—to front the Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS, effectively handing the reins of the nation’s health policies to a renowned conspiracy theorist who doesn’t believe that AIDS is caused by HIV, insists that WiFi causes cancer, and wants to remove fluoride from U.S. drinking water (fluoride was first introduced into public waterways in 1945 and has reduced cavities and tooth decay in adults and children by as much as 25 percent, according to the American Dental Association).

In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Thursday, Indiana Senator-elect Jim Banks refused to come out on the side of science, backing Trump’s anti-vaccine Cabinet pick by entertaining the notion that a “thoughtful conversation about vaccines” is warranted.

“The scientific and medical community has been clear for years that what he says about vaccines is false. They don’t cause autism, there’s no direct link. Does that bother you at all?” asked Tapper.

“Look Jake, in the election Donald Trump won the popular vote, and one of the things that he promised on the campaign trail is to have a serious and thoughtful conversation about vaccines, especially after the pandemic,” Banks said, criticizing long-standing mandatory vaccine policy.

“Remember, it’s Congress that makes policy and works with the president—President Trump—to carry out his agenda,” Banks added. “I feel very comfortable with RFK Jr. having a significant seat at the table to lead big debates about this.”

Kennedy’s vaccine conspiracies aren’t just hogwash—they’ve caused legitimate, real-world harm. Preceding a deadly measles outbreak on the Pacific islands of Samoa in 2019, Kennedy’s anti-vax nonprofit, Children’s Health Defense, spread rampant misinformation about the efficacy of vaccines, causing the nation’s vaccination rate to plummet from the 60–70 percent range to just 31 percent, according to Mother Jones. That year, the country reported 5,707 cases of measles—an illness that was declared eliminated by the United States in 2000 thanks to advancements in modern medicine (read: vaccines)—as well as 83 measles-related deaths, the majority of which were children under the age of 5.

But at least one former member of Trumpworld has condemned Kennedy—though only because the ardent vaccine foe is too pro-choice.

“For the majority of his career, RFK Jr. has defended abortion on demand during all nine months of pregnancy, supports overturning the Dobbs decision and has called for legislation to codify Roe v Wade,” former Vice President Mike Pence said in a statement obtained by The Dispatch. “If confirmed, RFK, Jr. would be the most pro-abortion Republican appointed secretary of HHS in modern history.”

“On behalf of tens of millions of pro-life Americans, I respectfully urge Senate Republicans to reject this nomination and give the American people a leader who will respect the sanctity of life as secretary of Health and Human Services,” he added.

It should be reiterated that vaccines have proven to be one of the greatest accomplishments of modern medicine. The jabs are so effective at preventing illness that they have practically eradicated some of the worst diseases from our collective culture, from rabies to polio and smallpox, a fact that has possibly fooled some into believing that the viruses and their complications aren’t a significant threat for the average, health-conscious individual.