Robert F. Kennedy Jr. erupted in anger on Monday after a New York Times profile alleged he had effectively 'checked out' as secretary of Health and Human Services during the Ebola outbreak in Africa, accusing him of spending his days disengaged, scrolling on his phone and neglecting key parts of his brief in Washington, D.C.
The Times piece by veteran health and politics reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg, published on Sunday, painted a picture of RFK Jr. as a Cabinet secretary far more invested in his long-running campaign against vaccines and his personal 'Make America Healthy Again' agenda than in the day‑to‑day management of a sprawling federal department. Citing unnamed current and former staff, Stolberg argued that while Ebola raged abroad and public health infrastructure strained at home, Kennedy allegedly remained aloof, mistrustful of career officials and fixated on proving his controversial theories about vaccines, pesticides and nutrition.
