'Too much wackiness': Conservative newspaper slams key Trump nom as 'absolutely unfit'

04 February

Two of President Donald Trump's most controversial nominees are former Democrats: ex-Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (Trump's pick for national intelligence director) and anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's choice to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

Kennedy, son of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy Sr. (D-Massachusetts) and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, is controversial for a variety of reasons — including, critics say, his intense opposition to vaccines and his fondness for conspiracy theories.

Liberal Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts was among the Democrats who grilled RFK Jr. relentlessly during a Senate confirmation hearing in late January, making it clear that she considers him woefully unqualified. But not all of the criticism of Trump's HHS nominee is coming from the left.

In a scathing editorial published on February 3, the editorial board of the right-wing, Rupert Murdoch-owned New York Post argues that RFK Jr. is "absolutely unfit to head the Department of Health and Human Services" — and that his testimony at the hearing "did nothing to change anyone's minds."

The Post board writes, "Take his refusal to deny a link between vaccines and autism — despite mountains of scientific evidence refuting any such connections…. Likewise, he continued to ignore the science showing COVID-19 vaccines saved millions of lives. Look, it's never wrong to ask questions, even about 'settled' science. But Kennedy has spent a near-lifetime promoting a dangerous, outright lie about vaccines, even in the face of hard proof that they work."

The Post board continues, "That might've dissuaded many people from getting them and then later contracting illnesses they could've prevented. Oh, and by coincidence, his anti-big pharma claims just so happen to supply ammunition for fellow lawyers suing those companies."

In the editorial, the Post board acknowledges that RFK Jr. "does support some worthwhile lifestyle changes that can make folks healthier — like better diets and exercise."

"But there's too much wackiness in his background to trust America's health to such a figure," the editorial writers warn. "Senators need to block RFK Jr.'s nomination — and keep America healthy again."

Read the New York Post's full editorial at this link.

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