Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

For more than twenty years, Kennedy promoted claims linking certain vaccines, thimerosal or other vaccine components to autism, becoming one of the most influential figures in the American anti-vaccine movement. These positions persisted into his political career and his arrival at HHS.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Attribution

Personally implicated

Kennedy visited Samoa in 2019, when MMR vaccination had been suspended following two deaths caused by incorrect vaccine preparation and vaccination coverage had collapsed. During his confirmation hearings, he maintained that the visit had 'nothing to do with vaccines'. Documents obtained in 2026 by AP and The Guardian nevertheless show that he had written to Samoa's Prime Minister before the visit proposing to study MMR use and that his organisation was preparing government contacts on the subject.

State of the evidence

Documented

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Personally implicated

Under Kennedy, HHS replaced members of a major vaccine advisory committee and changed several national recommendations, reducing some universal childhood vaccinations or making them subject to shared decision-making, particularly for COVID-19, hepatitis B, influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A and meningococcal disease.

State of the evidence

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Directly implicated

A federal judge blocked significant elements of changes imposed on vaccine policy under Kennedy, finding problems with the administrative procedures used to alter the recommendations. The ruling represented a direct legal setback for the overhaul undertaken by HHS.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

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Reuters reported that Kennedy was pushing a research initiative into the causes of autism potentially worth up to $5 billion, which again included vaccines among the hypotheses to be studied. The proposal met with scientific resistance both internally and externally.

State of the evidence

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Directly implicated

On 10 August 2026, Donald Trump signed an order reducing the number of routine vaccinations recommended at federal level, a measure Reuters described as advancing a longstanding Kennedy objective. The change reduced the core universal recommendations and called, among other things, for consideration of separating the combined MMR vaccine.

State of the evidence

Documented

Documents obtained by the Associated Press and The Guardian showed that, before his 2019 trip to Samoa, Kennedy had written to the Prime Minister about studying the MMR vaccine, although he had told senators in 2025 that the trip had 'nothing to do with vaccines'. The disclosure raised questions about the accuracy of his confirmation testimony.

State of the evidence

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Personally implicated

Reuters reported that Kennedy had asked the CDC director to remove from federal figures two deaths that Pennsylvania classified as measles-related, with Kennedy disputing whether the available data allowed them to be attributed to the disease. The CDC amended its website and stated that it could not determine whether measles had caused or contributed to the deaths.

State of the evidence

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Directly implicated

The FDA experienced substantial instability under the HHS reorganisation, with over 3,000 departures, dismissals and several leadership changes in its drug and vaccine centres. In September 2026, HHS permanently appointed new leaders to four key positions in an effort to stabilise the agency.

State of the evidence

Documented

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Direct responsibility

Kennedy's nomination to lead HHS triggered particularly tense hearings concerning his vaccine positions, Medicaid, abortion and potential conflicts of interest. Several medical organisations and lawmakers considered his previous positions incompatible with leadership of federal public health. The Senate nevertheless confirmed him.

State of the evidence

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Directly implicated

Kennedy launched a major HHS restructuring involving 10,000 job cuts, in addition to approximately 10,000 voluntary departures, with substantial reductions at the FDA, CDC and NIH. Scientists, lawmakers and health officials warned that the cuts could slow drug approvals, disease surveillance and research. Functions and some employees were subsequently reinstated after cuts made in error were acknowledged.

State of the evidence

Documented

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Direct responsibility

During measles outbreaks in the United States, Kennedy was criticised for messaging that emphasised treatments or freedom of choice regarding vaccination and for claims regarded as misleading by experts, against a background of declining vaccination coverage.

State of the evidence

Documented

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Directly implicated

In 2024, Eliza Cooney, a former babysitter for the Kennedy family, accused Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of touching her sexually without consent in the late 1990s. Questioned after publication, Kennedy did not issue a detailed denial and replied that he had 'so many skeletons in my closet'. Cooney subsequently said that she had received an apologetic text message from him.

Attribution

Directly implicated

At a recorded dinner in 2023, Kennedy claimed there was an argument that COVID-19 was 'ethnically targeted', that it attacked Caucasian and Black people more severely and that those 'most immune' were Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. The remarks prompted immediate condemnation, including from the White House.

Attribution

Personally implicated

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was arrested in 1983 after falling ill aboard a plane bound for Rapid City; a small quantity of heroin was found in his luggage. In February 1984, he pleaded guilty to felony possession and received a suspended sentence, two years' probation, treatment, drug testing and 1,500 hours of community service.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Directly implicated