Hawaii Gov. Josh Inexperienced (D) warned that President-elect Trump’s nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to function secretary of Well being and Human Providers might “injury” the nation’s well being.
“The president has been reelected, and he has to steer a rustic in a method that may maintain our folks and defend people who find themselves weak. A few of his nominees usually are not the best decisions,” Inexperienced mentioned throughout a Monday night look on CNN’s “OutFront.”
Inexperienced mentioned his feedback weren’t primarily based on public dealing with interviews however private experiences with Kennedy in Samoa.
“RFK Jr. has actually given me pause about what he may do, he may truly injury the well being of our nation terribly if he behaves how he did in Samoa,” he informed anchor Erin Burnett.
The Hawaiian governor, who’s a physician, mentioned Kennedy in Samoa promoted “misinformation” and “torpedoed” the vaccination program. Afterward, measles instances elevated by 5,000, which totaled 83 deaths, principally kids, Inexperienced mentioned.
“When RFK Jr. bought to Samoa he went via the Kids‘s Protection Fund nonprofit he based and pushes, he used misinformation to scare all the folks of Samoa away from getting vaccinated. He didn’t share what occurred,” Inexperienced acknowledged.
The governor meant to reference the Kids’s Well being Protection, a non-profit activist group based by Kennedy which has no affiliation with the Kids’s Protection Fund.
“Torpedoes the vaccination program. Met with the prime minister and the minister of well being. I met with the identical folks. He scared them away from vaccinations, vaccinations dropped for measles, mumps, rubella all the way down to 31 % of their nation,” he continued.
“For those who get decrease than 90 or 95 % you get enormous outbreaks. So, abruptly, due to the misinformation he was sharing, nobody was vaccinated.”
Inexperienced urged Democratic and Republican lawmakers to dam Kennedy from being confirmed, elevating flags in regards to the chance of low vaccination charges spiking illness outbreaks in kids and others.
The Hill has reached out to Kennedy for remark.
Kennedy mentioned he wouldn’t take away vaccines throughout Trump’s second time period if confirmed by the Senate however would encourage folks to make “particular person assessments” on immunizations, in an interview with NBC Information.
“If vaccines are working for someone, I’m not going to take them away. Folks should have [a] selection, and that selection ought to be told by the very best data,” he mentioned.
“So I’m going to ensure scientific security research and efficacy are on the market, and folks could make particular person assessments about whether or not that product goes to be good for them,” Kennedy added.
Up to date at 4:29 pm ET.
