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.
The current thinking is that the role for the former independent candidate would be spearheading what one of the people described as the “Operation Warp Speed for childhood chronic disease,” referring to the title of the Covid vaccine development project during Trump’s first term.
Kennedy is well-known for his criticism and skepticism of the Covid vaccine and other immunizations.
Kennedy, for example, has repeatedly claimed that vaccines are linked to autism, 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 have persisted for years after a now-retracted 1998 paper claimed a connection.
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.
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; thousands of kids and teens have Type 2 diabetes, a condition linked to obesity, and numbers are increasing. On the campaign trail, both Trump and Kennedy have pitched a “Make America Healthy Again” movement.
Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who has been an open critic of Kennedy, said that, despite the missteps, “Operation Warp Speed” during Trump’s term was “the single greatest achievement” of the administration.
However, he wasn’t sure how Warp Speed would apply to childhood chronic diseases — or in what way Kennedy would be helpful.
“I think his science denialism makes him the wrong person for any kind of progress,” Offit said.
In an interview Wednesday, former CDC director Robert Redfield compared the project to President John. F. Kennedy’s pledge to set foot on the moon.
“He didn’t know how it would work but he believed it was possible and he made it happen,” Redfield told NBC News. “Sometimes 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.”
In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt also emphasized that there still are “no formal decisions” about positions in a potential administration, but that Trump “has 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,” referring to type 2 diabetes.
“President 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,” she added.
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.”
Kennedy, for his part, said Trump told him to “end the chronic disease epidemic.”
“And he doesn’t 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.”
Kennedy has recently claimed that Trump promised him “control of the public health agencies,” including the Department of Health and Human Services and its sub-agencies — the CDC, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health. He’ll get appointed to the Department of Agriculture as well, Kennedy claimed, “which is — which, you know, is key to making America healthy.”
That’s not off-base, according to one of the people familiar with the planning. If the plan goes forward, Kennedy’s mandate would be an “all-of-government-project” 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 “Operation Warp Speed” — which operated between May 2020 through February 2021 — had a budget of as much as $18 billion for the development of Covid vaccines, funded by the private sector and U.S. taxpayers.
In a statement to NBC News, Kennedy said he was grateful to the former president “for his commitment to ending the chronic disease epidemic that now affects 50% of our children.”
“I 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,” he said.
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.
Drew Altman, the CEO of KFF, a nonpartisan group that researches health policy issues, said Kennedy’s anti-vaccine views and other controversial past positions could pose a problem there.
“I’m sure they would like to avoid a show in the Senate and an ugly confirmation process,” he said.
What’s still to be determined, Altman said, is how much — if any — 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’t require congressional approval. Altman was skeptical.
“It 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,” Altman said.
Kennedy is already getting to know public health leaders from Trump’s world. That includes former HHS Secretary Eric Hargan and former CDC Director Robert Redfield –– an unlikely alliance given Kennedy attacked Redfield multiple times in his book.
Redfield, a former HIV researcher, headed the CDC during the early days of the pandemic and was often criticized for missteps, including controversial Covid testing guidelines.
Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick also praised Kennedy in an interview with CNN Wednesday night, and questioned whether vaccines are actually safe.
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. 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.