Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sounded the alarm over anti-vaccine advocate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect’s Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“Say goodbye to your smile and say hello to polio — that’s what’s on the horizon if Robert F. Kennedy Jr. becomes the Secretary of Health and Human Services,” Warren wrote in a post on social platform X Friday, along with a video message.
“You know, I would laugh if it weren’t so scary,” the Massachusetts Democrat said in the video.
The post comes as Trump’s choice to elevate Kennedy, an environmental lawyer, has sparked concern among Democrats and public health experts that he could meddle with key government agencies, amplify vaccine hesitancy and direct agency funding to favor his preferred views.
Kennedy, who suspended his own independent run for the White House and endorsed Trump, has been in the headlines lately after the president-elect signaled in a recent interview that the potential HHS chief would investigate a debunked link between vaccines and autism.
One of Kennedy’s more controversial ideas is eliminating the use of fluoride, a naturally occurring substance that has been used in drinking water since 1945, from “all” U.S. water systems.
He also claimed the mineral was “associated” with numerous medical issues, though the issues are linked to a higher exposure to fluoride than most experience while drinking water or brushing their teeth.
Fluoride is largely considered one of the most important public health measures of the 20th century.
Kennedy, who became a key surrogate for Trump’s campaign, has said federal health regulators are “sock puppets” held captive by industry special interests. He has promised to purge entire departments at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to eliminate corruption.
Warren, in her post, also took aim at Kennedy’s opposition to vaccinations, claiming that he wants to “stop kids from getting their polio and measles shots.”
Kennedy founded and led the anti-vaccine organization Children’s Health Defense (CHD) before stepping down to launch his presidential campaign in 2023. He has previously stated he believes the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal in vaccines causes childhood neurological disorders, autism in particular.
Though, in October, Kennedy wrote in a post on X that he won’t “take anyone’s vaccines away from them.”
“I just want to be sure every American knows the safety profile, the risk profile, and the efficacy of each vaccine,” he said. “That’s it.”