Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may be poised to play a key health role in the next administration should Donald Trump get re-elected, according to two people close to the campaign and familiar with the plans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current thinking is that the role for the former independent candidate would be spearheading what one of the people described as the \u201cOperation Warp Speed for childhood chronic disease,\u201d referring to the title of the Covid vaccine development project during Trump\u2019s first term. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kennedy is well-known for his criticism and skepticism of the Covid vaccine and other immunizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kennedy, for example, has repeatedly claimed that\u2002vaccines are linked to autism<\/a>, even though for decades numerous studies across several countries have debunked the association. Concerns about a potential link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine<\/a> have persisted for years after a now-retracted 1998 paper claimed a connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is significant common ground between the Trump campaign and Kennedy, on preventing conditions such as obesity and diabetes in children, a person familiar with the plans said, stressing that plans are still fluid and nothing has been decided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obesity and diabetes are major issues in the U.S. Obesity affects nearly 15 million children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>; thousands of kids and teens have Type 2 diabetes, a condition linked to obesity, and numbers are increasing<\/a>. On the campaign trail, both Trump and Kennedy have pitched a \u201cMake America Healthy Again\u201d movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia who has been an open critic of Kennedy, said that, despite the missteps, \u201cOperation Warp Speed\u201d during Trump\u2019s term was \u201cthe single greatest achievement\u201d of the administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, he wasn\u2019t sure how Warp Speed would apply to childhood chronic diseases \u2014 or in what way Kennedy would be helpful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think his science denialism<\/a> makes him the wrong person for any kind of progress,\u201d Offit said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In an interview Wednesday, former CDC director Robert Redfield compared the project to President John. F. Kennedy\u2019s pledge to set foot on the moon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t know how it would work but he believed it was possible and he made it happen,\u201d Redfield told NBC News. \u201cSometimes seeing the possible and being a leader and leading the nation to act can make things that many people think are not possible become reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt also emphasized that there still are \u201cno formal decisions\u201d about positions in a potential administration, but that Trump \u201chas said he will work alongside passionate voices like RFK Jr. to make America healthy again by providing families with safe food and ending the chronic disease epidemic plaguing our children,\u201d referring to type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPresident Trump will also establish a special presidential commission of independent minds and will charge them with investigating what is causing the decades-long increase in chronic illnesses,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At a rally in Nevada Thursday night with Kennedy, Trump said Kennedy was “going to work on health and women’s health.” He said he told Kennedy that he wanted him to “look at the food in the food supply and what we put on the food.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy, for his part, said Trump told him to “end the chronic disease epidemic.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n “And he doesn\u2019t want me to take vaccines away from people,” Kennedy said. “If you want to take a vaccine, you ought to be able to take it. We believe in free choice in this country, but you ought to know the risk and benefits of everything you take.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy has recently claimed that Trump promised him \u201ccontrol of the public health agencies,\u201d including the Department of Health and Human Services and its sub-agencies \u2014 the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. He\u2019ll get appointed to the Department of Agriculture as well, Kennedy claimed, \u201cwhich is \u2014 which, you know, is key to making America healthy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s not off-base, according to one of the people familiar with the planning. If the plan goes forward, Kennedy\u2019s mandate would be an \u201call-of-government-project\u201d and allow him to marshall resources from all of these agencies for childhood chronic disease. How the project would be paid for is unclear, although \u201cOperation Warp Speed\u201d \u2014 which operated between May 2020 through February 2021 \u2014 had a budget of as much as $18 billion for the development of Covid vaccines<\/a>, funded by the private sector and U.S. taxpayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement to NBC News, Kennedy said he was grateful to the former president \u201cfor his commitment to ending the chronic disease epidemic that now affects 50% of our children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI stand ready to help him rid the public health agencies of their pervasive conflicts and corruption and restore their tradition of gold-standard, evidence-based science,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy may also be interested in heading up an agency like HHS or CDC, but that would require Senate approval, which could be an uphill battle depending on the partisan breakdown in the chamber after Election Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Drew Altman, the CEO of KFF, a nonpartisan group that researches health policy issues, said Kennedy\u2019s anti-vaccine views and other controversial past positions could pose a problem there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m sure they would like to avoid a show in the Senate and an ugly confirmation process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s still to be determined, Altman said, is how much \u2014 if any \u2014 authority the Warp Speed role would give Kennedy to command agencies such as the FDA or CDC. The role, the source said, would be appointed by the president and wouldn\u2019t require congressional approval. Altman was skeptical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt allows them to give him a position, a position they promised to him, as a reward for however many votes they received from welcoming him into the fold but without any real power or authority for a major agency or department,\u201d Altman said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy is already getting to know public health leaders from Trump\u2019s world. That includes former HHS Secretary Eric Hargan and former CDC Director Robert Redfield \u2013\u2013 an unlikely alliance given Kennedy attacked Redfield multiple times in his book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Redfield, a former HIV researcher, headed the CDC during the early days of the pandemic and was\u2002often criticized for missteps<\/a>, including\u2002controversial Covid testing guidelines<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick also praised Kennedy in an interview with CNN Wednesday night, and questioned whether vaccines are actually safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy is also making the rounds with state agriculture leaders like Sidney Miller of Texas, given that food will be a central focus for this possible undertaking. Celebrity Kennedy ally Russell Brand has also been involved in some meetings and conversations, according to one source. Brand, the comic actor-turned-wellness influencer, has been accused of sexual assaults by four women, allegations which he has denied<\/a>. Addiction and how it affects children and families is expected to be another top priority, which is a pet issue for Brand who himself is in recovery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n