Between a deadly measles epidemic, resignations from his new team, and a snub in the Senate, Robert Kennedy Jr., a former lawyer challenged for his vaccine-sceptic views, is having a rocky start as head of the US Department of Health.
Since taking the oath of office in mid-February, the septuagenarian has been facing a major health crisis with the resurgence of measles, a highly contagious and serious disease that was eliminated from the country in 2000 thanks to vaccination.
More than 300 people have been infected in Texas and New Mexico, the epicenters of the epidemic, with two deaths, the first recorded in a decade in the United States.
"We have measles epidemics every year," RFK Jr. recently put it in perspective during a Fox News interview, held in... a fast-food restaurant.
Between minimizing the seriousness of the situation, ambiguous comments on vaccination, and promoting alternative remedies, Donald Trump's Health Minister has sparked anger and concern among healthcare workers in recent weeks.
"He couldn't do any worse," pediatric infectious disease specialist Paul Offit told AFP. "People assumed that by becoming health minister he would become a little more responsible (...). They were wrong."
– Crisis management –
The new minister finally recalled in early March in an editorial on Fox News that vaccines "not only protect children against measles, but also contribute to everyone's immunity."
But at the same time, he continued to fuel doubts about them.
The vaccine "causes deaths every year. It causes all the diseases that measles itself causes: encephalitis, blindness, etc.," he said in mid-March on Fox News, while promoting Americans' right to choose freely.
"All these statements are simply and clearly false," thunders Paul Offit, also denouncing alternative treatments such as vitamin A put forward by the minister.
This supplement, recommended by the WHO to reduce the risk of complications, has "shown some effect in African countries where malnutrition is common," he explains. But "there has not been a single study in the United States" showing that it "in any way treats measles or limits mortality."
A crisis management that has been criticized even internally, leading to the resignation of one of its spokespersons, according to American media. It's even worrying some Republicans.
So much so that the White House withdrew at the last minute on Thursday the candidacy of one of his close associates, David Weldon, who was to head the CDC, the main public health agency, for fear that he would lack the necessary votes in the Senate.
– Transparency and beef fat –
Measles is making a comeback in the United States amid falling vaccination rates and growing distrust of authorities and pharmaceutical companies.
A phenomenon to which RFK Jr. is accused of having contributed by establishing a link between the mandatory MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine and autism, a theory stemming from a rigged study and repeatedly refuted by subsequent studies.
His ministry recently ordered a new investigation into the matter. "No avenue" should be overlooked, his spokesperson told AFP, citing rising autism rates and a need for "transparency."
A reference to the credo of the nephew of assassinated President JFK, who pledged to establish "radical transparency" and "make Americans healthy again," notably by fighting against ultra-processed food.
While he has indeed initiated a process to tighten regulations on food additives, RFK Jr. has at the same time promoted a fast-food chain that has adopted cooking with beef fat.
And on the transparency front, his critics accuse him of having implemented the exact opposite, notably by reversing a measure that allowed the public to give their opinion on health policies.
Between meetings canceled without reason, measures announced without internal consultation, and the centralization of power, American health agencies have transformed into a "black box," reports Nate Brought, who worked for one of them.
"The way things are being run is really not transparent," the official, who resigned in February, told AFP. "Everyone is being intentionally kept in the dark."
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