RFK Jr once claimed chemicals in the air might make kids trans – now he could be health secretary

Robert F Kennedy Jr, a vaccine skeptic who once claimed chemicals in the atmosphere might be turning children trans, is facing his Senate confirmation hearing to become the US health secretary. 

The environmental lawyer turned anti-vaccine activist, who ran for president in 2024 against Donald Trump, is now facing confirmation hearings to determine whether he could lead the health department after Trump nominated him for the role.

Kennedy, nephew of assassinated Democratic president John F Kennedy, ran in the US election as an independent candidate before dropping out in August and pledging his support for Trump.

Since winning the election, Trump has nominated key allies for posts in his administration with six positions – including Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Pete Hegseth as secretary of defence – confirmed so far. 

If approved by the senate, Kennedy would be responsible for overseeing various agencies covering vaccine and health policy to food safety. He is a controversial pick for this role due to his scepticism over vaccines, debunked claims over fluoride safety, and much-criticised statements around Covid-19 – including comparing vaccine requirements to the actions of Nazi Germany.

According to the Guardian, the 71-year-old will be in hearings from Wednesday (29 January) to Thursday (30 January), with a final vote scheduled for next week. 

Wyden: "Mr Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines. He has made it his life's work to sow doubt and to discourage parents from getting their kids lifesaving vaccines. It has been lucrative for… pic.twitter.com/zobcXOTzmv

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 29, 2025

As the hearings began, Fox News reported that RFK Jr is to stress that he is not “anti-vaccine”, and argue that his children are vaccinated.

“I want to make sure the Committee is clear about a few things. News reports have claimed that I am anti-vaccine or anti-industry. Well, I am neither; I am pro-safety,” Fox News reported Kennedy as preparing to say in his opening remarks. 

He is reported to say that “all of my kids are vaccinated, and I believe vaccines have a critical role in healthcare”, going on to say that he has “disturbed the status quo by asking uncomfortable questions”. 

However, Democrat senator Ron Wyden claimed during the hearings that RFK Jr has made it his “life’s work” to promote vaccine scepticism, and is therefore unfit for the role of health secretary. 

“Mr Kennedy has embraced conspiracy theories, quacks, charlatans, especially when it comes to the safety and efficacy of vaccines,” Wyden said.

“He has made it his life’s work to sow doubt and to discourage parents from getting their kids life-saving vaccines. It has been lucrative for him.”

So what else does RFK Jr believe, and what has he said about the LGBTQ+ community?

What does RFK Jr believe about vaccines?

While RFK Jr has denied that he is anti-vaccination and claimed he and his children are vaccinated, he has repeatedly shared debunked conspiracy theories about vaccines, as well as working with anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense.

One of the false claims, made in an interview with Fox News in 2023, was the debunked research that “autism comes from vaccines”. 

The conspiracy theory was popularised by UK doctor Andrew Wakefield, whose research was later retracted – multiple global studies since then have concluded that there is no link between vaccines and autism. 

He also claimed in a podcast interview that “there’s no vaccine that is safe and effective.”

However he claimed in a later interview that vaccines were “not going to be taken away from anybody” if he is made health secretary. 

Alongside his views on vaccination, RFK Jr has also falsely claimed that AIDS is not caused by HIV, and instead is caused by taking poppers. He was also criticised for his views on Covid-19, when he stated that the virus was “ethnically targeted” to attack certain ethnic groups, while claiming incorrectly that Ashkenazi Jewish people and Chinese people were immune to Covid. 

Where does the politician stand on LGBTQ+ rights?

RFK Jr has a poor record on LGBTQ+ issues, particularly with trans rights, having previously spouted the conspiracy theory claiming that chemicals in the atmosphere are causing kids to be transgender. 

According to fact-checking from LGBTQ+ organisation GLAAD, the politician has spoken out on a number of anti-LGBTQ+ talking points, including against gender-affirming care for trans young people. 

Under the guise of “protecting our children”, RFK Jr stated he disagrees with gender-affirming care, falsely claiming that it involves “castration drugs (puberty blockers) and surgical mutilation”.

“People with gender dysphoria or who want to change their gender deserve compassion and respect, but these terribly consequential procedures should be deferred till adulthood. We must protect our children,” he wrote on Twitter/X.

The more I learn, the more troubled I have become about giving puberty blockers to youth. Minors cannot drive, vote, join the army, get a tattoo, smoke, or drink, because we know that children do not fully understand the consequences of decisions with life-long ramifications. The…

— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 7, 2024

Alex Sheldon, executive director of GLMA, an association of LGBTQ health care professionals, spoke out against the politician, stating his views represent a “grave threat” to the LGBTQ+ community. 

“RFK Jr’s history of denying basic scientific truth, from the cause of AIDS to the legitimacy of transgender health care, they represent a grave threat to the health and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community, and he is poised now for one of the most powerful and consequential positions in shaping the nation’s health care and public health policies,” Sheldon said. 

“In this context, disinformation isn’t just harmful, it is deadly.”

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