Push Admin

Trump names vaccine skeptic RFK to head health dept

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABQWech0_1FjKwXn&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script></div><p>Donald Trump on Thursday tapped anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy as his secretary of health in the latest provocative nomination from the incoming Republican president.</p><p>Trump announced on his Truth Social platform that he was &quot;thrilled&quot; to name Kennedy.</p><p>Moving quickly since his election last week, Trump has embarked on a campaign of political shock and awe as he rolls out an administration designed to upend -- and in some cases literally dismantle -- the US government.</p><p>Several of Trump&#x27;s choices for top jobs -- including a TV news anchor at the helm of the Pentagon and an ally embroiled in sexual misconduct allegations for attorney general -- have unnerved Washington.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/11/11/misinformation-fears-mount-over-second-trump-term-1027">Misinformation fears mount over second Trump term</a></div><p>Kennedy, a scion of the famous political family who is popularly known as RFK Jr., is a longtime environmental campaigner who abandoned a fringe bid for the presidency to endorse Trump against Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.</p><p>Trump has said he wants Kennedy to &quot;go wild&quot; in changing healthcare.</p><p>Kennedy, 70, who has posted shirtless photos to boast of his weight-lifting prowess, argues that fundamental change is needed to the way Americans eat, exercise and use medicines.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/8/24/robert-f-kennedy-jr-suspends-fringe-white-house-bid-endorses-trump-1352">Robert F. Kennedy Jr suspends fringe White House bid, endorses Trump</a></div><p>If approved by the Senate, which Trump&#x27;s Republican Party controls, he will take over the Health and Human Services Department, a mammoth institution with a budget of close to $2 trillion.</p><p>In his statement, Trump said Kennedy will &quot;Make America Great and Healthy Again!&quot;</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/11/11/trump-demands-senate-bypass-votes-to-confirm-appointees-904">Trump demands Senate bypass votes to confirm appointees</a></div><p>The 78-year-old president-elect echoed many of Kennedy&#x27;s talking points, saying &quot;Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation.&quot;</p><p>&quot;Mr Kennedy will restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic,&quot; Trump said.</p><p>The nomination will meet serious opposition, given Kennedy&#x27;s history of promoting medical conspiracy theories  -- including the disproven claim that childhood vaccines cause autism -- and saying that the COVID-19 vaccine was deadly.</p><div><strong>BRAIN WORM</strong></div><p>He is also burdened by a string of colorful and even bizarre stories about his personal life.</p><p>These include his statement that a worm once entered his &quot;brain and ate a portion of it and then died.&quot;</p><p>An admission this year that he was behind the long unsolved mystery of a dead bear dumped in New York&#x27;s Central Park a decade ago raised eyebrows, as did subsequent revelations that the married politician was in a sexting relationship with a well-known journalist.</p><p>Trump has yet to select treasury and commerce chiefs to enact tax and trade policy. He has also not revealed his pick for education -- a department he wants to abolish.</p><p>Trump&#x27;s first recruitments -- including secretary of state for Florida Senator Marco Rubio, a traditional conservative on foreign policy -- drew praise.</p><p>But then Trump dismayed Democrats and even some in the ultra-loyal Republican Party as he appeared to put preference for personal loyalty above expertise or suitability.</p><p>A major shock was naming Matt Gaetz -- a flamethrower on the Republican far right in Congress who was drawn into a years-long criminal probe into sex trafficking -- as future attorney general.</p><p>Gaetz denies wrongdoing and has never faced charges but was still being investigated by the House Ethics Committee.</p><p>That decision followed Trump&#x27;s nomination of former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard -- who met Syria&#x27;s president Bashar al-Assad and echoes Russian President Vladimir Putin&#x27;s talking points -- to take charge of the nation&#x27;s most sensitive secrets as director of national intelligence.</p><p>Trump recruited Pete Hegseth -- a combat veteran who has no experience running large organizations but is a host on Trump&#x27;s favorite Fox News network -- as defense secretary.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/11/13/trump-biden-shake-hands-in-white-house-220">&#x27;Welcome back&#x27;: Trump, Biden shake hands in White House</a></div><div><strong>CLEARING THE DECK</strong></div><p>Trump and his aides have vowed that much of his second term will be about clearing the deck of federal officials who acted as a restraining influence on his populist, right-wing agenda during his first term.</p><p>Gaetz&#x27;s appointment would hand Trump, whose election likely means being freed from a string of serious criminal investigations, the advantage of a fierce partisan at the top of the Justice Department.</p><p>Trump has repeatedly threatened to go after a variety of political opponents.</p><p>Although Republicans expect to have a three-seat majority in the incoming Senate, Gaetz is widely disliked and will struggle to win confirmation.</p><p>The naming of Gabbard has also sparked uproar, given her statements favorable to US adversary Russia, including her suggestion that Moscow&#x27;s invasion of Ukraine was the result of &quot;legitimate security concerns.&quot;</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/11/12/trump-makes-new-appointments-including-new-border-czar-923">Trump makes new appointments including new &#x27;border czar&#x27;</a></div><p>© Agence France-Presse</p>

<p>Donald Trump on Thursday tapped anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy as his secretary of health in the latest provocative nomination from the incoming Republican president.</p>

Donald Trump on Thursday tapped anti-vaccine activist and conspiracy theorist Robert F. Kennedy as his secretary of health in the latest provocative nomination from the incoming Republican president.