PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) 鈥� When the nation鈥檚 top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., endorsed the measles vaccine this month after an outbreak in Texas claimed the life of a second child, his comments made waves because he has spent that vaccines are unsafe.
Many of Kennedy's anti-vaccine allies stood by him anyway, trying to tamp down concerns from others who accused Kennedy of abandoning their movement.
That's because, according to doctors, public health experts and propaganda researchers who know Kennedy鈥檚 history well, the health and human services secretary is threading the needle between his agency's role as a neutral arbiter of science and the rhetoric of anti-vaccine activists. They say his word choices reflect that he is working from the anti-vaccine playbook he has used for much of his career in public life.
Below, The Associated Press examines his comments about the measles outbreak that has infected more than 700 people nationwide and killed three, how his allies have interpreted them, and the facts according to scientists.
A Kennedy spokesperson said the health secretary is not anti-vaccine and had 鈥渞esponded to the measles outbreak with clear guidance that vaccines are the most effective way to prevent measles.鈥� He did not respond to questions about how Kennedy鈥檚 comments were being interpreted by his allies in the anti-vaccine movement.
Endorsing vaccines, but then sowing doubt
WHAT KENNEDY SAID: 鈥淭he federal government鈥檚 position, my position, is people should get the measles vaccine, but the government should not be mandating those,鈥� Kennedy told CBS this month after an unvaccinated child in Texas died of measles.
Later, in the same interview, Kennedy , saying testing was inadequate. He also raised safety concerns about the vaccine for pertussis.
WHAT HIS ALLIES HEARD: Charlene Bollinger, who and other products, highlighted in a Substack post how Kennedy had raised safety concerns.
In posts on X, she urged critics of his comments to 鈥淭rust him. Trust me. He鈥檚 not walked through fire for years to abandon us now,鈥� then added, 鈥淩ead what he said carefully and with a critical spirit ... pay attention to the things he didn鈥檛 say. There are clues."
The group American Values, which was set up to support Kennedy鈥檚 presidential run, posted a thread on X that amplified Kennedy鈥檚 comments questioning vaccine safety.
THE FACTS, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS: The measles vaccine is , and protecting people from outbreaks requires nearly everyone to be vaccinated. Public schools in the United States generally require children to be vaccinated against measles to attend, though a growing number of parents have been avoiding those mandates for their children, in some cases by getting exemptions. That has fueled low vaccination rates in communities around the U.S., which has left them vulnerable to measles and other infectious diseases. Just got their required shots in 2023, below the 95% threshold for preventing outbreaks.
READING BETWEEN THE LINES: If Kennedy had truly changed his mind about the benefits of vaccines, he would have explained what he got wrong in the past, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. He didn鈥檛 do that and instead immediately questioned how vaccines are safety tested.
鈥淚f someone like RFK Jr. with his record were going to make an about-face on his position on the measles vaccine, you would expect an essay, an articulation of what he got wrong in the past. You鈥檙e not seeing that,鈥� Adalja said. 鈥淭he fact that he undercuts it almost immediately speaks to that.鈥�
Saying people who died of measles were 鈥榓lready sick鈥�
WHAT KENNEDY SAID: Health authorities have said the two children who died were both , that they died as a result of measles and that . But Kennedy during the outbreak were 鈥減eople who were already sick.鈥� He said the second child who died had various other health problems and asserted that 鈥� , but it was a bacteriological infection.鈥�
鈥淗er death was caused by pneumonia,鈥� Kennedy told Fox News. 鈥淪o, you know, her parents said that she was over measles two weeks before.鈥�
Kennedy鈥檚 spokesperson did not respond to questions asking where he got his information about the child鈥檚 medical history and to clarify why what he said conflicted with statements from health officials.
WHAT HIS ALLIES HEARD: The anti-vaccine group Kennedy led for years, Children鈥檚 Health Defense, promoted his comments, posting a clip online and saying it shows that Kennedy 鈥渃onfirms the so-called 鈥榤easles deaths鈥� are NOT actually measles deaths.鈥�
American Values wrote that his comments constituted a 鈥渂ombshell鈥� because the child 鈥渄id not pass away from measles, despite what the media claimed.鈥�
THE FACTS, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS: Pneumonia is a , and is the most common cause of death from measles in young children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a subsidiary of HHS.
READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Kennedy鈥檚 comments suggesting measles didn鈥檛 kill the child reflect longstanding tactics used to create doubt about vaccines, said Renee DiResta, a professor at Georgetown University who researches propaganda and has studied the anti-vaccine movement. She said Kennedy and Children鈥檚 Health Defense have spent years telling people that measles is a routine and harmless childhood illness to justify the argument that a safe vaccine is somehow more risky than the disease.
鈥淩eframing these deaths as something other than what they are 鈥� deaths from measles, which is not harmless at all 鈥� is necessary to prop up the dual pillars of anti-vaccine propaganda in play here,鈥� she said.
It reflects a similar narrative that emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people who wanted to minimize its seriousness suggested people were dying 鈥渨ith COVID鈥� rather than from COVID, said Richard Carpiano, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Riverside, who has closely followed Kennedy鈥檚 anti-vaccine work. It鈥檚 a way of minimizing the deadly nature of measles.
鈥楽tanding with the unvaccinated鈥� and personal choice
WHAT KENNEDY SAID: Kennedy attended the funeral of the 8-year-old girl who died, then posted online about meeting with her family and the family of a 6-year-old girl who died in February. In one post about the trip, he wrote that 鈥淭he most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine.鈥� He also posted photos of himself with the families.
WHAT HIS ALLIES HEARD: Kennedy鈥檚 positive comments about the measles vaccine prompted some criticism from his old group Children鈥檚 Health Defense. CEO Mary Holland said in a video that Kennedy no longer speaks for the group, and said he had put out what she called 鈥渧ery partial information.鈥� She claimed that a vaccination for measles had caused her son鈥檚 autism. But she went on to praise Kennedy鈥檚 actions.
鈥淧eople should not get lost in Bobby Kennedy saying that the vaccine can prevent measles,鈥� Holland said, adding, 鈥淏obby went to stand with the unvaccinated. And he has said it鈥檚 a personal choice.鈥�
Children鈥檚 Health Defense and Bollinger have sued a number of news organizations, among them the AP, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines.
THE FACTS, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS: Scientists have between vaccines and autism. Vaccines have saved an estimated 154 million lives in the past 50 years, according to the World Health Organization, which says immunization has been the greatest contribution to ensuring babies live until their first birthday.
READING BETWEEN THE LINES: Carpiano said Kennedy helped the anti-vaccine movement pivot to the idea that it is about personal rights, personal freedoms and medical freedom. While there is a libertarian bent to it, that framing leaves out an important piece.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the freedom to do whatever you want. A libertarian would say, 鈥榩rovided it doesn鈥檛 hurt other people,鈥欌�� he said. But when it comes to Kennedy and the anti-vaccine movement, the part about not hurting other people gets left out, Carpiano said. 鈥淎nd so basically becomes a tyranny of the minority,鈥� Carpiano said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something that he helps to keep promoting and legitimating.鈥�
Michelle R. Smith, The Associated Press
