What concerns health professionals most about RFK Jr. is what he omits in his health policy proposals

At his rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday, former President Donald Trump stated, “I’ll let him have free reign on health, food, and medicine. He can do whatever he wants.”

Trump was referring to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his former political adversary, who has increasingly been promised a major health role in Trump's administration if he wins a second term.

Trump’s proposals have raised concerns within the public health community, not just for Kennedy’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform but because of what’s notably missing from it: vaccines.

“It seems like he's attempting a rebrand just ahead of the election, but it’s not something to take seriously,” said Dr. Jason Schwartz, an associate professor at Yale School of Public Health.

Kennedy, founder of the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, which promotes anti-vaccine content like the recent documentary “Vaxed III: Authorized to Kill,” has lately shifted focus to chronic diseases, leaving out his usual stance on vaccines in a September opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal and during a Tuesday appearance on “Fox and Friends.”

Instead, Kennedy has pushed for stricter regulation of chemicals in food – including suggesting the replacement of seed oils with tallow fat in McDonald’s french fries to make them healthier – and wants to limit access to sugary drinks and processed foods through school lunches and SNAP benefits.

“He understands that vaccines are a controversial issue and one that doesn’t work in his favor,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

However, Osterholm cautioned, “I can’t think of anyone who would do more harm to vaccines and their use than RFK Jr.”

Emphasis on chronic diseases

During a livestreamed event with supporters on Monday, Kennedy stated that Trump had promised him leadership over several major public health agencies, including the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture.

“The main promise I’ve received from President Trump is control over key public health agencies such as HHS, CDC, FDA, NIH, and others, as well as the USDA, which plays a crucial role in making America healthier,” Kennedy said, according to a video of the event shared by Dinogo.

A representative for Kennedy did not directly address whether he anticipated heading an agency in a potential Trump administration but confirmed that the former president had tasked him with “clearing federal health agencies of conflicts and corruption and restoring them to a foundation of evidence-based science.”

“He has also asked him to tackle the chronic disease crisis, which now affects over 50% of Americans and is taking a heavy toll on the nation's health, economy, and global security,” said Stefanie Spear, Kennedy’s spokesperson.

Dinogo has reached out to the Trump campaign for a response.

Kennedy has recently turned his attention to issues like obesity, diabetes, kidney disease, autoimmune disorders, cancer, and addiction. In a Wall Street Journal article, he expressed a desire to overhaul the FDA’s funding model, which relies on fees from the pharmaceutical industry, cap drug prices to match European rates, and reevaluate the rules for pharmaceutical ads on TV.

He also proposed barring members of the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee from profiting from food or pharmaceutical companies, ensuring NIH grants don’t go to researchers with conflicts of interest, and reassessing standards for pesticides and chemicals.

“Americans are getting sicker, plagued by conditions that our healthcare system is failing to address effectively,” Kennedy wrote.

In a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Trump showcased a chart comparing global life expectancy and health spending, highlighting the US as a clear outlier in both categories.

“I’m going to send this to RFK Jr.,” Trump told Rogan, who responded, “I love that you two are teaming up.”

Trump’s campaign has received warnings from donors and business leaders about the potential consequences of appearing anti-science, and the challenges of managing potential outbreaks of diseases like measles and polio, according to Dr. Jerome Adams, former surgeon general under Trump, in a statement to Dinogo.

Adams expressed concern that Kennedy could “spread misinformation and regress us in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases,” but added that he hoped Kennedy would instead focus on “promoting general well-being.”

Trump’s allies argue that it’s undeniable the US healthcare system could use significant improvement.

“Who can deny that we’re spending vast amounts on healthcare and not getting the value we should?” Joe Grogan, former director of the Domestic Policy Council under Trump, told Dinogo. “We’re facing a mental health crisis, an obesity epidemic, widespread chronic diseases, and rising addiction and overdose rates. We’re not healthy, and we need to reassess where our resources are going.”

“Anything RFK can do to bring attention to these issues should be welcomed by anyone who cares about improving American health,” Grogan added. “No matter their political affiliation.”

‘Unexpected alliances’

Kennedy’s stance on food policy is striking a chord with some health professionals in the field.

“They’re calling for reforms to the food system, tackling diet-related chronic diseases, curbing corporate influence, ending conflicts of interest between industry and government, removing toxic chemicals from our food supply, and redirecting food policy and dietary advice toward promoting health,” wrote food policy expert Marion Nestle on her Food Politics blog.

Nestle was referencing a roundtable discussion on nutrition and policy, led by Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, which included Kennedy and other participants she described as “mainly influencers.”

“These are the issues I’ve been writing about for years,” Nestle said on her blog. “It’s hard to disagree with any of this, and I won’t.”

Still, she acknowledged, “Politics, as they say, makes for strange alliances.”

Nestle voiced further skepticism when contacted by email, telling Dinogo that while she agrees with some of Kennedy’s objectives, “there is no evidence” that he “can or will” achieve them, adding that there is ample evidence from Trump’s presidency that public health, education, and healthcare will be negatively impacted.

On the healthcare front, Kennedy’s failure to address vaccines in his latest policy proposals is heightening concerns among public health experts. Schwartz pointed out that anti-vaccine advocates often claim — without reliable evidence — that vaccines are linked to rising rates of chronic diseases, suggesting that vaccines are still a hidden focus in Kennedy’s current messaging.

Kennedy has also warned that he plans to dismantle federal agencies, including the FDA and NIH.

“FDA’s attack on public health is about to end,” he posted on Friday on X (formerly Twitter), criticizing the “aggressive suppression” of a range of health practices, including psychedelics, raw milk, ivermectin, vitamins, sunlight, and exercise — all things that “promote human health and can’t be patented by Big Pharma.”

“If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I have two messages for you: 1. Save your records,” Kennedy continued, “and 2. Pack your bags.”

Kennedy’s comments about halting NIH research into infectious diseases have caused concern among doctors in the field.

“Infectious diseases are a current reality and will remain a major concern in the future. And he wants to stop studying them?” asked Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center and an infectious diseases physician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

‘A science denier’

Offit criticized Kennedy for continuing to make misleading or outright false claims about the safety of the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine — including some statements linked to a deadly 2019 measles outbreak in Samoa — despite overwhelming evidence disproving those claims. Regarding vaccines, Offit declared, “he’s a science denier.”

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Schwartz described Kennedy’s recent shift away from discussing vaccines as a last-minute effort to clean up his image and present himself as a rational advocate for chronic disease prevention — likely in hopes of securing a role in a potential Trump administration. He called this move “utterly unconvincing.”

Osterholm, who has served in health policy roles during every presidential administration since Ronald Reagan’s and considers himself a “nonpartisan public health soldier,” said he felt compelled to speak out publicly, concerned about the potential policies of a Trump administration and what he described as Kennedy’s “pseudoscience.”

“Everything we know about what a Trump administration would entail points to a public health catastrophe in this country,” he said. “It would devastate it.”

Dinogo’s Aaron Pellish contributed to this report.