Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of former President Donald Trump's 2024 transition team, echoed Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccination conspiracy theories on CNN Wednesday, days after Trump announced that he would let the one-time independent candidate "go wild on medicines" under his administration.
Kennedy, who dropped out of the presidential race and endorsed Trump, said that the GOP nominee promised him "control" over health care agencies in the event of a victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
On Wednesday, Lutnick described a recent conversation he had with Kennedy about vaccines, repeatedly making the unfounded claim that there is a link between the life-saving inoculations and autism. “Why do you think vaccines are safe?” he asked CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins. “They’re not proven.”
“Vaccines are safe,” she responded. “Kids get them and they’re fine.”
“We all know so many more people with autism than had when we were young. Oh, come on!” he protested. Scientists have generally attributed the increase in autism diagnoses to improved screening tools (as well as some potential misdiagnoses) and changes in diagnostic criteria. If external factors have any role, it is minimal compared to genetic risk and generally has to do with air pollution or vitamin deficiencies, not with vaccines.
When Collins suggested that people are concerned that a vaccine denier like Kennedy is being considered for a top government position, Lutnick claimed without evidence that scientists "were paid to say [RFK Jr.] pushes lies.” He acknowledged, however, that Kennedy wanted to collect data to investigate vaccines.
“I think it’d be pretty cool to give me the data we’ll see what he comes up with,” Lutnick said. “It’s pretty fun.”
Later, Lutnick backtracked somewhat, writing on X that "my wife and I trust our doctors and following their advice have vaccinated our children and ourselves." He also insisted, however, that "not everybody trusts such advice or the FDA ... we would be doing everyone a service if the government respected Bobby Kennedy’s request to make the full data available."
