Covidiots

Politico reports: President-elect Donald Trump is expected to nominate former presidential candidate and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a person with direct knowledge of the selection. The expected pick, which will roil many public health experts, comes after Trump promised to let Kennedy “go wild” with health and …

“The stuff that he eats is really, like, bad. Campaign food is always bad, but the food that goes onto that airplane is like just poison. You have a choice between—you don’t have the choice, you’re either given KFC or Big Macs. “That’s when you’re lucky and then the rest of the stuff I consider kind of inedible. And then …

Mother Jones reports: Anti-vaccine activist and Donald Trump transition team member Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had said he’d fire and replace 600 people from the National Institutes of Health on “day one” of a second Trump term. The NIH is one of the public health agencies Kennedy loathes the most—and despite still lacking any defined role in a new administration, …

Michael Bloomberg writes for Bloomberg News: Trump should remember that Kennedy spread lies about the Covid vaccine, falsely calling it the “deadliest vaccine ever made.” In any position of influence, Kennedy would jeopardize decades of hard-won advances in public health and put American lives needlessly at risk. Thanks to vaccines, afflictions such as polio are now rare. Smallpox has been …

From the medical site STAT News: The health community is spinning with worry about the fate of science and evidence-based medicine if Trump makes good on his promise to let Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “go wild” on the nation’s leading health agencies. We are particularly concerned that RFK highlighted nutraceuticals, a subtype of dietary supplement, and peptide hormones, a common …

The Florida Phoenix reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday endorsed his own controversial State Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo for a top health care position in the next Trump administration. DeSantis went on social media, where he called on his followers to repost a picture of Ladapo if they want to see him serve as secretary of the Department of Health …

Courthouse News reports: Doctors skeptical of the efficacy of vaccines — represented by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — asked the Supreme Court for emergency intervention Monday to prevent medical boards from punishing health care workers for spreading vaccine disinformation that threatens to erode public trust in the medical profession. “The court should speak clearly and decisively to state actors, professional …

The Associated Press reports: A regional public health department in Idaho is no longer providing COVID-19 vaccines to residents in six counties after a narrow decision by its board. Southwest District Health appears to be the first in the nation to be restricted from giving COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccinations are an essential function of a public health department. Of the more …

The Associated Press reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent proponent of debunked public health claims whom Donald Trump has promised to put in charge of health initiatives, said Saturday that Trump would push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office. Fluoride strengthens teeth and reduces cavities by replacing minerals lost during normal wear and …

The Washington Post reports: Florida’s top health official, whose tenure has been marked by his warnings against vaccines, threats to TV stations for running abortion ads and frequent clashes with public health experts, has emerged as a candidate to run the Department of Health and Human Services in a potential Trump administration. Joseph A. Ladapo is on a list of …

The Huffington Post reports: Nicole Shanahan, the former running mate of independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., appeared to promote a conspiracy theory about government-led child abuse Thursday during an event featuring GOP nominee Donald Trump. “The parading of Jill Biden in a panda suit yesterday — right in front of our eyes,” Shanahan said in her speech at …

CNN reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told supporters on Monday that former President Donald Trump has promised to give him “control” of several public health agencies, including the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture, if he wins a second term in November. “The key that I think I’m – you know, that President …

“The Supreme Court has unfortunately today sided with the Secretary of State of Michigan and Wisconsin, both Democrats, to undermine election integrity and leave my name on the ballot in both those states. “It is a purely political move in the hope that folks who would have otherwise voted for Trump will throw away their vote by voting for me …

Courthouse News reports: The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s emergency appeal to remove his name from ballots in the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin. The former independent candidate endorsed Republican Donald Trump after dropping out of the race and argued that retaining his name on ballots would compromise his support for the former president. “Kennedy …

“FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma. If you work for the FDA and are part of this corrupt system, I …

Courthouse News reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked the Supreme Court Wednesday to remove his name from Wisconsin’s presidential ballots, claiming that his support for former President Donald Trump is being compromised. “In just the same manner as Kennedy has a right to access the ballot, he has a concomitant right to get off the ballot,” the former independent candidate …

“It’s kind of a paradox that Democrats see themselves as the party of tolerance. And, I think, you know, there is the intolerance, there’s vitriol, there’s poison, there’s anger on both sides, but I’ve found that it’s more that the Democrats are much less tolerant of somebody holding different political beliefs. “There is a tribalism and the orthodoxies are much …

Media Matters reports: The California Republican Party has been backing the state Assembly campaign of Denise Aguilar Mendez, a commentator who has a history of pushing far-right conspiracy theories. Aguilar shared a bizarre and antisemitic conspiracy theory essentially claiming that the power grid was turned off in parts of California in 2019 not to prevent fires but to stop the …

The Louisiana Illuminator reports: Dozens of anti-vaccine bills have died in the Louisiana Legislature since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but ultra-conservative lawmakers are gearing up for another fight. In the process, truth has become a major casualty. In two days of hearings last week on the state’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the House heard hours of testimony …

Mediaite reports: At least three women are claiming to have had romantic relationships with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in just the last year, as he pursued a long-shot bid for the presidency, Mediaite has learned. People close to Kennedy now fear the revelation of those alleged relationships could jeopardize his standing in Donald Trump’s orbit, particularly as the former president …