The nomination of husky-voiced, musclebound Robert F. Kennedy Jr – who once dumped a dead bear cub in Central Park – to be secretary of health and human services in the Trump administration has horrified ‘experts’, according to the BBC. A left-wing Democrat who admires the late Venezuelan Marxist dictator Hugo Chavez, hates big business, rails against the ultra-processed food that Donald Trump likes to eat and wants climate sceptics jailed, RFK Jr sounds like a BBC hero and hardly a natural member of the MAGA tribe. But his criticism of Covid vaccines catapulted him into the arms of Trump.
The experts who now bash him should reflect on their own role in making him popular. Anti-vax sentiment was a fringe concern until public health officials began misinforming the public about the efficacy and safety of Covid-19 vaccines, the origin of the disease and other aspects of the pandemic. They sowed the wind and are now reaping the whirlwind.
RFK Jr claims he just wants more transparent information about vaccines, but some of his criticisms are wacky, if not irresponsible. He made a film with the discredited medic Andrew Wakefield claiming that tetanus vaccines in Kenya were deliberately contaminated with hormone blockers to suppress fertility. He blames vaccines for the rise in allergies, autism, ADHD and other chronic problems. For this there is no good evidence. As Liz Wolfe wrote in the libertarian magazine Reason last year: ‘Kennedy frequently mistakes correlation for causation, gets his numbers wrong, and portrays complex trends as simpler than they really are.’
So why play into his hands? When, miraculously, the biotech industry came up with vaccines against Covid-19 in record time, the right way to sell them to the public would have been to say: we think they will save lives, especially among the elderly, but we don’t yet know if they will prevent transmission, especially if the virus mutates, so let’s not force them on people; also, they may have side effects so probably should not be given to children, who are at lower risk.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in