President elect Donald Trump says he plans to give Robert F. Kennedy Jr. a “big role” in health care in the new administration and let him “go wild” on health, food and medicine. Although Trump hasn’t confirmed what that role would be or what precisely “going wild” means, Kennedy could potentially be elected to any number of leadership positions in the administration, including as the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Kennedy — an environmental lawyer with no scientific degrees — has made multiple false or misleading claims about vaccines and once relied on a fringe far-right supporter base. But he is rapidly inching closer toward influencing the federal response to infectious disease, vaccines and public health — which many scientists say would be detrimental to the nation.
