Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could play a key role in health care in the next administration if Donald Trump is re-elected, according to two people close to the campaign who are familiar with the plans.
The current thinking is that the former independent candidate’s role would be to lead what one of the people described as “Operation Warp Speed for chronic childhood diseases,” a reference to the title of the COVID vaccine development project during Trump’s first term.
Kennedy is known for his criticism and skepticism of the COVID vaccine and other vaccinations.
For example, Kennedy has repeatedly claimed that vaccines are linked to autism, even though decades of studies in multiple countries have debunked the link. Concerns about a possible link between autism and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine have persisted for years after a now-retracted 1998 paper alleged a link.
According to one person familiar with the matter, there are significant similarities between the Trump campaign and Kennedy’s when it comes to preventing conditions such as childhood obesity and diabetes. He stressed that the plans are still uncertain and that nothing has been decided yet.
Obesity and diabetes are major problems in the United States. Obesity affects nearly 15 million children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; thousands of children and teens have type 2 diabetes, a condition linked to obesity, and the numbers are rising. During the campaign, both Trump and Kennedy pitched a “Make America Healthy Again” movement. Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who has been openly critical of Kennedy, said that despite its missteps, “Operation Warp Speed” was “the single greatest achievement” of the administration during Trump’s term.
However, he was unsure how Warp Speed would be applied to chronic childhood diseases — or how it would help Kennedy.
“I think his denial of science makes him the wrong person for any kind of progress,” Offit said.
In an interview Wednesday, former CDC director Robert Redfield compared the project to President John F. Kennedy’s promise to set foot on the moon.
“He didn’t know how it would work, but he believed it was possible and he made it happen,” Redfield told NBC News. “Sometimes seeing the possible and being a leader and leading the nation to take action can make things that many people don’t think are possible become reality.”
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt also stressed that there were still “no formal decisions” about positions in a potential administration, but that Trump “has said he will work with passionate voices like RFK Jr. to make America healthy again by providing families with safe food and ending the chronic disease epidemic that is ravaging our children,” referring to type 2 diabetes.
“President Trump will also create a special presidential commission of independent minds and charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long rise in chronic disease,” she added.
At a meeting in Nevada with Kennedy on Thursday night, Trump said Kennedy “would work on health and women’s health.” He said he told Kennedy he wanted him to “look at the food in the food supply and what we’re doing to the food.”
Kennedy, in turn, said Trump told him to “end the epidemic of chronic disease.”
“And he doesn’t want me to take away people’s vaccines,” Kennedy said. “If you want to take a vaccine, you should be able to. We believe in free choice in this country, but you have to know the risks and benefits of everything you take.”
Kennedy recently claimed that Trump promised him “control over the public health agencies,” including the Department of Health and Human Services and its subagencies — the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. He will also be appointed to the Department of Agriculture, Kennedy claimed, “which — which, you know, is the key to making America healthy.”
That’s not without reason, according to one of the people familiar with the planning. If the plan goes ahead, Kennedy’s mandate would be an “all-of-government project” and allow him to marshal resources from all of these agencies for chronic childhood diseases. How the project would be paid for is unclear, although “Operation Warp Speed” — which ran from May 2020 to February 2021 — had a budget of as much as $18 billion for Covid vaccine development, funded by the private sector and American taxpayers.
In a statement to News, Kennedy said he was grateful to the former president “for his dedication to ending the chronic disease epidemic that now affects 50% of our children.”
“I stand ready to help him rid public health agencies of their pervasive conflict and corruption and restore their tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science,” he said.
Kennedy may also be interested in leading an agency like HHS or CDC, but that would require Senate confirmation, which could be a tough fight depending on the partisan divide in the chamber after Election Day.
Drew Altman, CEO of KFF, a nonpartisan group that researches health policy issues, said Kennedy’s anti-vaccination views and other controversial past positions could pose a problem there.
“I’m sure they want to avoid a Senate showdown and an ugly confirmation process,” he said.
What remains to be determined, Altman said, is how much — if any — authority the Warp Speed role would give Kennedy to lead agencies like the FDA or CDC. The role, the source said, would be appointed by the president and would not require congressional approval. Altman was skeptical.
“It allows them to give him a position, a position that they promised him, as a reward for however many votes they got by welcoming him into the ranks, but without any real power or authority over a major agency or department,” Altman said.
Kennedy is already getting to know public health leaders from Trump’s world. That i
des former Health Secretary Eric Hargan and former CDC Director Robert Redfield — an unlikely alliance, given that Kennedy has repeatedly attacked Redfield in his book.
Redfield, a former HIV researcher, led the CDC in the early days of the pandemic and has often been criticized for missteps, including controversial guidelines for Covid testing.
Trump’s transition co-chair Howard Lutnick also praised Kennedy in an interview with CNN Wednesday night and questioned whether vaccines are safe.
Kennedy is also making the rounds with state agriculture leaders, such as Texas’ Sidney Miller, as food will be a central focus of this potential endeavor. According to a source, Kennedy’s celebrity ally Russell Brand has also been involved in some of the meetings and conversations. Brand, the comedic actor turned wellness influencer, has been accused of sexual abuse by four women, allegations he has denied. Addiction and how it affects children and families is expected to be another top priority, a pet peeve of Brand, who is in recovery himself.