Former Obama adviser and CNN political commentator Van Jones on Thursday slammed Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for “making America sicker again” by encouraging the dismantling of vaccine requirements.
Prior to Senate confirmation, Kennedy launched the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda in an effort to weed out chronic diseases by reforming the country’s food, health and scientific systems.
“I mean, the slogan is, Make America Healthy Again, and he’s the main person making America sicker again and sicker for stuff that should have been in the history books, measles — children dying of measles, the United States of America and more pandemics coming to kill our children,” Jones said during a Thursday appearance on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360.”
“Why? Because he has made up in his mind that he knows better […] than everybody in the world,” he continued.
The Hill has contacted the White House and HHS for comment.
Earlier this year, dozens of children were infected with measles after an outbreak in Texas. Although multiple deaths occurred, months later, officials in Florida said they would move to remove school vaccine mandates.
The measure comes after anti-vaccine rhetoric was promoted by the HHS secretary and appointed advisers.
Kennedy has reportedly repeatedly declined to receive updates from top officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on measles, COVID-19 and the flu, instead relying on information from other sources.
Some have criticized the leader for not adhering to traditional practices that have ensured the nation’s public health remains stabilized.
Democrats and Republicans hammered Kennedy on Thursday for ousting CDC Director Susan Monarez and over false statements regarding access to the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I don’t see how you go over four weeks from a public health expert with unimpeachable scientific credentials, a long-time champion of MAHA [Make America Healthy Again] values … and four weeks later, fire her because, at least the public reports say, because she refused to fire people that work for her,” Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) said during the Senate Committee on Finance hearing.
Kennedy has argued adjustments have been made to ensure a “gold standard” of health is practiced at top agencies under the helm of his leadership.
“We are the sickest country in the world. That’s why we have to fire people at the CDC. They did not do their job,” Kennedy said in his opening statement on Thursday.
“I need to fire some of those people to make sure this doesn’t happen again…The people at CDC who … put masks on our children, who closed our schools, are the people who will be leaving.”
The White House has backed the secretary despite widespread criticism and urged naysayers to listen to his rhetoric.
“Secretary @RobertKennedyJr is taking flak because he’s over the target,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on the social platform X.
“The Trump Administration is addressing root causes of chronic disease, embracing transparency in government, and championing gold-standard science. Only the Democrats could attack that commonsense effort.”
However, Jones on Thursday noted the secretary already had a large audience that remains vulnerable to misinformation from the nation’s public health chief.
“When you’re a Kennedy people are going to listen to you,” he said.
